To do righteousness—not simply to feel, or think, or speak righteously—is what is plainly enjoined upon you. Still, you must remember that you are not to propose to yourselves, as the approved course, the observance only of particular laws, the confining of religion to special times, and places, and objects, and deeds; the mere walking in a clearly marked out path, as though hands, and feet, and ears, and lips, without heart or mind, could work out salvation; as though, too, it were not practicable or desirable, that you should offer unto GOD any free-will service, something besides what He has asked you to do! Above all, having come to understand, that while the fruit of religion is in the life, the germ of it is in the heart; that without faith, and hope, and love, it is impossible to please GOD; that the law to you is spiritualised; that you are brought out of the bondage of servants into the glorious liberty of sons; that not the mere letter of the law, but the spirit of it is to be your guide; that outward deeds are not of themselves acceptable to GOD, but only as signs of enlightened hearty feeling—things done in faith and love; that worship in the temple is nothing, unless you worship out of the temple likewise; that bowing the knee, and praising with the lips, are an abomination, unless the spirit, too, is bowed and the soul upraised; that bodily sacrifice alone is no sacrifice, that it needs the broken and contrite heart, and the devoted spirit—while understanding, I say, all this, and rejoicing in the reasonable, heart-sprung, spiritual service of the Christian, beware lest you separate what GOD has joined, or substitute free-will for commanded service, using your liberty otherwise than as servants of GOD; carrying out, as you suppose, the spirit of the law wholly in your own way, instead of keeping, while you spiritualise the letter of the law. “The time is come when, neither in Jerusalem nor in this mountain, shall ye worship the Father,” does not mean that appointed places of worship shall not be resorted to, but that, besides, GOD shall be worshipped everywhere. A yearly celebration of the Passover is no longer necessary; but a continual feast is substituted for it. GOD seeks now to be worshipped in spirit and truth—that is, not without the body, but in addition to the body, with the spirit. The letter by itself killeth, because it is formal, and leaves the noblest powers and feelings of man unengaged for GOD; but the letter, as the carrying out of the Spirit, is still so imperative, so vital, that he who does not observe it foregoes the promise, “This do, and thou shalt live!” SERMON XIV. PRESENT SALVATION. II. CORINTHIANS, VI., 2. _Behold_, _now is the day of salvation_.