What we thus are enabled to conclude from the Old Testament, ^vill be still more distinctly exemplified from the Xew. Tlie evangelical writings do not, indeed, fre- quently offer directions expressly on the subject of mar- riage, the point appearing rather to be assumed than ar- gued, that in Christian marriage the husband and wife ought both, in the emphatic terms of the apostle Peter, to he and walk as being " heirs together of the grace of life." In the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the apos- tle Paul applies himself to a question which seems at that time to have been agitated — whether Christians who, yjrevious to their conversion, had contracted mar- riages with unbelievers, ought not to be actually di- vorced from the wives or husbands remaining in unbe- lief, because of the evil and peril attending tlie continu- ance of the alliance. Such an extreme, advocated by some, he considers as uncalled for (1 Cor. vii, 10-17). But, respecting the formation of a new matrimonial con- nection by a believer (the case taken being that of a believing widow, though the rule, of course, extends to all), tills is the direction : " She is at liberty to be mar- ried to wliom slic will, only in the Lord" (1 Cor. vii, 30). Here is a simple proclamation, the force of whicli is per- manent, and in submission to whicli Christians in everv period shuiild act. They are to marry "only in the Lord." They, being themselves '• in the Lord" — united to the Lord Jesus Ijy the divine Spirit, and possessing an interest in the redeeming blessings lie has purchased — are to marry only on Christian principles, and, of course, only such as are thus also "in the Lord" — believer with believer, and with none else. -This is the obvious mean- ing of ib.e passage, which no sophism can evade or frit- ter away.
It would be eas3' to employ the attention further, on the general statements contained in the A\'ord of Ciod,
respecting the character of separation from the world which ought to be sustained by his Church, the ends for which it is called, and the objects it is bound to perform •, statements which all bear on the principle as to marriage, operating to enforce and to confirm it (see especially 2 Cor. vi, l-i-18 ; vii, 1). But, without amplifying here, and satisfied that this principle receives, from tlie testi- mony already quoted, a convincing and solemn estab- lishment, the reader is requested to ponder a truth, which is as indubitable as it ought to be impressive, namely, that marriages formed by Christians in violation of the religious design of the institute, and of the express prin- ciples of their religion, are connected with evils many and calamitous, most earnestly to be deprecated, and most cautiously to be avoided. Is it, indeed, to be ex- pected, on the ground of religion, that an act can be committed against the expressed will of the Most High God without exposing the transgressor to the scourge of his chastisement? Is it to be expected, on the ground of reason, that an alliance can be formed between indi- viduals whose moral attributes and desires are essen- tially incompatible without creating the elements of uneasiness, discord, and disappointment? Excited im- agination and passion may delude with the belief of in- nocence and hope of escape, but religion and reason speak the language of unchangeable veracity, and are ever justified in the fulfilments of experience and of fact. The operation of the evil results whose origin is thus deduced, is of course susceptible of modifications from several circumstances in domestic and social life ; and, for many reasons, the degrees of public exhibition and of personal pressure may vary. 1. Yet it may be remark- ed uniformly, respecting these results — they are such as deeplj affect the character. A reference has already been mad3 to the moral influence of marriage, and as the marriages stigmatized under the patriarchal, and forbid- den and punished under the Jewish dispensation, were obnoxious on account of the contamination into which the}^ led the professed people of God, so are the mar- riages of Christians with worldlings in this age, a icorld'- ly spirit being still the essence of idolatry (James iv, 4 ; Col. iii, 5 ; 1 John ii, 15-17 ; Matt, vi, 24), the objects of censure and deprecation, because of the baneful effect they exert on those who are numbered among the re- deemed of the Lord. Such marriages as these present constant and insinuating temptations to seduce Chris- tians to worldly dispositions and pursuits; they enfee- ble their spiritual energies; interfere with their com- munion with God ; hinder their growth in the attain- ments of divine life ; check and oppose their perform- ance of duty and their pursuit of usefulness, in the fam- ily, the Church, and the world. There has probably nev- er been known a forbidden marriage -which, if its original character were continued, did not pollute and injure. Some instances have been most palpable and painful; nor can it be considered other than a truth, unquestiona- ble and notorious, that whoever will so transgress invokes a very bligliting of the soul. 2. It may be remarked re- specting these results, again, they are such as deeply af- fect happiness. Christian character and Christian hap- piness are closely connected: if the one be hurt, the other will not remain untouched. And who sees not in the unhallowed alliance a gathering of the elements of sorrow ? Are there not ample materials for secret and pungent accusations of conscience, that agitate the heart with the untold pangs of self-condemnation ami re- morse? Is there not reason for the bitterness of disap- pointment, and the sadness of foreboding fear, because the best intercourse is unknown — the jmrest affection is impossible — tlie noblest union is wanting — and the being on whom the spirit would repose is, to all that is the sweetest and most sublime in human sympathies, hu- man joys, and human prospects, an alien and a stran- ger? And what must be the liorror of that anticipa- tion which sets forth the event of a final separation at the bar of God, when, while the hope of personal salva- tion may be preserved, tlie partner of the bosom is seen