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SERMONS

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

OÏ

THE LATE REV. JAMES SAURIN.

VOL. in.

BY ROBERT ROBIJVSOJ\r.

SERMONS

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH 4

\\^ OF

THE LATE REV. JAMES SVURIN,

PASTOR OF THE FRENCH CHURCH AT THE HAGUS»

BY ROBERT ROBINSON.

VOLUME III.

ON THE PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY.

SECOND AMERICAN PROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION.

SCHEMECTADY : PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM J, M'CARTEB.

E. àf £, Husford — Printevs-^Alhany.

1813.

- uBLiC '.

ASTOR, LEf^^OX ^Na TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

R . 1910 L

THE

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST

EDITION OF THE TIIIRB VOLUME,

A HREE times bave I taken pen in hand to account to my subscribers in a preface for my choice of the sermons, that compose this volume : but one thought hath as often confused me at the outset, and obliged me to lay it aside. I am struck with an idea of the different degrees of labour necessary to two men, one of whom should conceive the project of disuni- ting Christians, and the other tliat of cementing them together in mutual love. The first need not trouble himself with study, examination, and argument; he would not be obliged either to divest himself of his own pi epossessions, or to expose those of others; he need not sit whole nights and days either to exasiiine coolly his own theses, or impartially to weigli those of his opponents; let him only take popular preju- dites, cover tliem with the sacred style of scripture, or conceal Ihejn under the impenetrable jargon of the schools; let him animate tbem with party spirit, call it religious zeal, and denounce judgment on all wl;o do not believe the whole to be essential to sal- vation ; and the work will be done. tSuch a man.

VI PREFACE.

methinks, resembles a light-heeled enemy tripping over a spacious field, and scattering, as he goes, the seeds of an endless number of weeds: while the man, who adopts a contrary plan, must be forced, like the patient prying weeder, to sto p and toil step by step, day after day, feeling many a pain, and fetching many a sigh, to pull the noxious produce up.

According to my first proposal, this volume out::ht to consist of sermons on the doctrines of Christianity/, My intimate friends, who first encouraged, and sub- scribed for this translation, thoioughly understood me : but I might have foreseen, that their partiality would procure other purchasers, unacquainted with my notions of men and things, and who probably might expect to find each his own system of religion in a volume of sermons on the doctrines of our com- mon Lord. I am necessitated therefore to explain myself, and to bespeak a candid attention, while I endeavour to do so.

Very early in life I w^as prepossessed in favour of the following positions. — Christianity is a religion of divine original — a religion of divine original must needs be a perfect religion, and answer all the ends, for which it was revealed, without human additions. — The Christian religion hath undergone considera- ble alterations since tlie times of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and yet, Jesus Christ was then account- ed the Jinisher, as well as the author of faith, Heb. xii. 2. — The doctrines of revelation, as they lie in the inspired writings, differ very much from the same doctrines, as they lie in creeds of human composi-

PREFACE. VU

lîon. — The moral piecepts, the positive institutes, and the religious afïëctions, which constitute the de- votion of most modern Christians, form a melancholy contrast to those, which are described by the guides, whom they profess to follow. — The light of nature, and that of revelation ; the operations of right rea- son, the spirit of the first, and the influence of the Holy Ghost, the soul of the last; both proceeding from the same uniform Supreme Being, cannot be supposed to be destructive of each other, or, even in the least degree, to clash together. — The finest idea, that can be formed of the Supreme Being, is that of an infinite intelligence always in harmony with itself; and, accordingly, the best way of prov- ing the truth of revelation is that of shewing the anal- ogy of the plan of redemption to that of creation and providence. — Simplicity and majesty character- ize both nature and scripture : simplicity reduces those benefits, Avhich are essential to the real happi- ness of man, to the size of all mankind; majesty makes a rich provision for the employment and su- per-added felicity of a few superior geniusses, who first improve themselves, and then felicitate their in- ferior brethren by simplifying their own ideas, by re- fining and elevating those of their fellow-creatures, by so establishing a social intercourse, consolidating fraternal love, and along with it all the reciprocal ties, that unite mankind. — Men's ideas of objects es- sential to their happiness are neither so dissimilar, nor so numerous, as inattentive spectators are apt to suppose. — Variety of sentiment, which is the life of society, cannot be destructive of real religion. —

Till PREFACE.

Mere mental errors, if they be not entirely innocent in the account of the supreme Governor of mankind, cannot be, however, objects of blame and punish- ment amonaj men. — Christianity could never be in- fended to destroy the just natural risfhts, or even to diminish the natural privileojes of mankind. — That re- ligion, which allows the just claims, and secures the social happiness of all mankind, must needs be a bet- ter religion tlian* that, which provides for only a part at the expence of the rest. — God is more glorified by the good actions of his creatures expressive of homage to him, and productive of universal, social good, than he is by uncertain conjectures, or even accurate notions, which originate in self-possession and terminate in social disunion, — How clear soever all these ujaxims may be, a certain degree of ambi- tion or avarice, ignorance or malice, presumption or diffidence, or any other irregular passion, will render a man blind to the clearest demonstration, and insensible to the most rational and aflfecting persua- sion.— These positions, mere opinions and prepos- sessions before examination, became demonstrative truths after a course of diligent search; and these general principles have operated in the choice of the sermons, which compose this volume of the princi- pal doctrines of Christianity.

But, previous to all inquiries concerning the doc- trines of Christianity, it is absolutely necessary to establish that of christian liberty; for, say we what we will, if this preliminary doctrine of right be dis- allowed, voluntary piety is the dream of an enthu- siast; the oracles of God in the Christian world, like

PREFACE. IX

those of the Sybils in pagan Rome, are sounds con» veiiible to senatorial sense; and the whole Christian ïïiission, from the first prophet down to the last min- ister, is one long muster-roll of statesmen's tools, a disgrace to their species, a contradiction to their pro- fession, a dishonour to then' God !

Christian liberty in Italy is liberty to be a Roman Catholic, that is, liberty to believe what the bishop of Rome affirms to be true, and liberty to perform what he commands to be done. Christian liberty in some reformed churches is liberty to renounce what the reformers renounced, to believe what they af- firmed, and to practise what they required. But w^e who have not learned Christ, define Cliristian liberty otherwise; and if we be asked. What is Christian liberty I we answer, It is liberty to be a ChristiaOé One part of Christianity consists of proposhions to be believed. Liberty to be a Christian believer is liberty to examine these propositions, to form a judg- ment of them, and to come to a self-determination, according to our own best abilities. Another part of Christianity consists of duties to be performed* Liberty to be a practical Chi istian is liberty to per- form these duties, either as they regard God, our neighbour, or ourselves. Liberty to be a Christian implies liberty not to be a Christian, as liberty to ex-, amine a proposition implies liberty to reject the ar- guments brought to support it, if they appear incon- clusive, as weil as liberty to admit them, if \\\g\ ap- pear demonstrative. I'o pretend to examine Chris- tianity, before we have established our right to dp

TOI. TII. 2

X PREFACE.

SO, is to pretend to cultivate an estate, before we Jiave made out our title to it.

The object of christian liberty, that, with which a man, who would examine Christianity, has to do, is a system of christian doctrine : but, having estab- lished the doctrine of right, before we proceed to exercise this right by examining the religion propo- sed to mankind by Jesus Cinist, it is absolutely ne- cessary to inquire what we ought, on sound princi- ples of just and fair reasoning, to expect to find in it. I know some truths without revelation. I have a full demonstration in nature, that there is one God — that it is impossible there should be more than one— that he is an intelligent Spirit — and that he is a wise and bountiful Being. Should any religion, which pretends to be divine, affirm, there is a plu- rality of gods — God is not an intelligent Spirit — God is an unwise and an unkind being — I should have a right to reject this pretended revelation. In- deed, should a revealed religion allow my demon- strations, and afterwards explain them in a manner quite subversive of my former explications of them: should it affirm, God is, as you say, a wise and bountiful being: but he displays his wisdom and goodness not in governing his intelligent creatures as you have imagined ; such a moral government, 1 will prove to you, would shew a defect of wisdom and goodness : but he displays the supreme perfec- tion of both by providing for such and such interests, and by bestowing such and such benefits, as have either escaped your notice, or were beyond your comprehension. In this case I ought not to reject

PREFACE. Xï

î.'evelation, for, although I can demonstrate without insphation the wisdom and goodness of God, yet I cannot pretend by the light of nature to know all the directions, and to ascertain all the limits of these perfections.

Lay Christianity before me who will, I expect to find three things in it, which I call analogy, propor- tion, and perfection. Each of these articles opens a wide field of not incurious speculation, and each ful- ly explained and applied would serve to guide any man in his choice of a religion, yea in his choice of a party among the various divisions of christians : but alas ! we are not employed novv-a-days in exam- ining and choosing religious principles for ourselves, but in subscribing, and defending those of our ances- tors ! A few hints then shall serve.

By analogy I mean resemblance, and, when I say revealed religion must bring along W' ith it an analog- ical evidence, I mean, it must resemble the just dic- tates of nature. I'be reason is plain. The same Supreme Being is the author of both. The Crod of nature has formed man for observing objects, com- paring them together, laying down principles, infer- ring consequences, reasoning and self-determining; he has not only empowered all mankind to exercise these abilities, but has even constrained them by a necessity of nature to do so ; he has not only render- ed it impossible for men to excel without this exer- cise, but he has even rendered it impossible for them to exist safely in society without it. In a word, the God of nature has made man in his own imasfe, a self-determining being, and, to say nolliing of tlie na-

Xll PREFACE.

ture of virtue, be has rendered free consent essential to every man's felicity and peace. With his own consent subjection makes Iiim happy ; without it do- minion over the universe would make him miserable.

The religion of nature, (I mean by this expression, here, the objects, which display the nature of the Deity, and thereby discover the obligations of man- kind) is in perfect harmony with the natural consti- tution of man. All natural objects offer evidence to all : but force it on none. A man may examine it, and he may not examine it : he may admit it, and he may reject it: and, if his rejection of the evidence of natural religion be not expressed in such overt acts as are injurious to the peace of civil society, no man is empowered to force him, or to punish him; the supreme moral Governor of the world liimself does not distinguish him here by any exterior pun- ishments ; at most he expresses his displeasure by marks attached to the person of the culprit, and con- cealed from all the rest of his fellow-creatures; and the glory of civil society is not to encroach on the moral oovernment of God.

Christianity comes, pretends to come from the God of nature ; I look for analogy, and I find it : but I find it in the holy scriptures, the first teacliers, and the primitive churches. In all these, I am con- sidered as a rational creature, objects are proposed, evidence is offered ; If I admit it, I am not entitled thereby to any temporal emoluments ; if I refuse it, I am not subjected to any temporal punishments: the whole is an afiair of conscience, and lies between each individual and his God, I ciioose to be a Chris-

PREFACE. XIU

tîan on this veiy account. Tliis freedom which I call a perfection of my nature ; this self determina- tion, the dignity of my species, the essence of my natural virtue; this I do not forfeit by becoming a Christian, this I retain, explained, confirmed, direct- ed, assisted by the regal grant of the Son of God. Thus the prerogatives of Christ, the laws of his reli- gion, and the natural rights of mankind lieing analo- gous, evidence arises of the divinity of the religion of Jesus.

I believe, it would be very easy to prove, that the Christianity of the cliurch of Rome, and that of ev- ery other establishment, because they are establish- ments, are totally destitute of this analogy. The re- ligion of nature is not capable of establishment, the religion of Jesus Christ is not capable of establish- ment: if the religion of any church be capable of establishment, it is not analogous to that of Scripture, or that of nature. A very simple example may ex- plain our meaning. Natural religion requires a man to pay a mental homage to the Deity, to venerate his perfections, by adoring and confiding in them. By what possible means can these pious operations of the mind be established ? could they be forced, their nature would be destroyed, and they would cease to be piety, which is an exercise of judgment and will. Revealed religion requires man to pay a mental homage to the Deity through Jesus Christ, to vene- rate his perfectioniB by adoring and confiding in thera as Christianity directs ; by repentance, by faith, by hope, and so on. How is it possible to establish those sph'ilual acts ? A human establishment requires

XIV PREFACE.

man to pay this Christian mental homage to the De- ity ^y performing some external ceremony, snppose bowing to the east. The ceremony, we grant, may be established : but, the voluntary exercise of the soul in the performance, which is essential to the Christianity of the action, who in the world can es- tablish this? If the religion of Jesus be considered as consisting of external rites and internal disposi- tions, the former may be established : but, be it re- membered, tlie establishment of the exterior not on- ly does not establish the interior, but the destruction of the last is previously essential to the establishment of the first.

No religion can be established without penal sanc- tions, and all penal sanctions in cases of religion are persecutions. Before a man can persecute, he must renounce the generous tolerant dispositions of a Christian, No religion can be established without human creeds; and subscription to all human creeds implies two dispositions contrary to true religion, and both expressly forbidden by the author of it. These two dispositions are, love of dominion over conscience in the imposer, and an abject preference of slavery in the subscriber. The first usurps the rights of Christ ; the last swears allegiance to a pre- tender. The first domineers, and gives laws like a tyrant ; the last truckles like a vassal. The first assumes a dominion incompatible with his frailty, impossible even to his dignity, yea denied to the dignity of angels ; the last yields a low submission, inconsistent with his own dignity, and ruinous to that very religion, which he pretends by this mean tt)

PREFACE. XV

supjX)rt. Jesus Christ does not recjuire, he does not allow, yea he expressly forbids both these dis- positions, well knowing, that an allowance of these would be a suppression of the finest dispositions of the human soul, and a degrading of revelation be- neath the religion of nature. If human inventions have formerly secularized Christianily, and render- ed such bad dispositions necessary in times of ig- norance, they ought to be exploded now, a& all Christians now allow this theory — The Son of God did not come to redeem one part of mankind to serve the secular views, and unworthy passions of the other : but he obtained freedom for both, that both might serve him without fear in holiness and righteous- ness all the clays of their lives, Luke i. 74, 75. When churches reduce this theory to practice, they real- ize in actual life what otherwise makes only a fine idea decyphered in books, and by so doing they adorn their Christianity with the glorious evidence of analoffv.

Suppose the God of nature should think proper to reveal a simple system of astronomy, and to require all mankind to examine and believe this revelation on pain of his displeasure. Suppose one civil govern- ment, having examined this revelation, and explain- ed the sense, in which they understood it, should en- deavour to establish their explication by temporal rewards and punishments. Suppose they should re- quire all their subjects to carry their infants in their arms to a public school, to answer certain astronomi- cal interrogatioDS, to be put by a professor of astro- nomy ; as, in general, Wilt thou, infant of eight days

XVI PREFACE.

old! Wilt tliou be an astronomer? Dost thou re» nounce all erroneous systems of astronomy ? In par- ticular, dost thou admit the true Copernican system? Dost thou believe the revealed explication of this system ? And dost thou also believe that explication of this revelation, which certain of our own prede- cessors in the profession believed, which we, your masters, and parents, in due obedience, receive? Sup- pose a proxy required to answer for this infant ; All, this, I, proxy for this child, do stedfastly believe; and suppose from this hour the child became a re- puted astronomer. Suppose yet further, this child should grow to manhood, and in junior life should be pressed, on account of Ihe obligation contracted in his infant state, to subscribe a certain paper called an astronomical creed, containing, mathematical de- finitions, astronomical propositions, and so on, and should be required for certain rewards to examine and approve, teach and defend this creed, and no other, without incurring the penalty of expulsion from all public schools, a deprivation of all honours, which he might be supposed on other accounts to merit, an exclusion from all offices of trust, credit, and profit, in some cases a loss of property, in oth- ers imprisonment, in others death. In this supposed case, I aslv, would not the establishment of this sys- tem be an opeu violation of the doctrine of analogy, and should I not have a right to reason thus? The revelation itself is infallible, and the author of it has given it me to examine : but the establishment of a given mcanm<j; of it renders examination needless, and perhaps dangerou>^. The God of nature hap

PREFACE. XVa

given me eyes, inslniments, powers, and inclinations to use them ; eyes, faculties, and dispositions as good as those of my ancestors, and instruments better : but all these advantages, which may be beneficial to me, if they confirm the truth of the explication, may be fatal to me, if they lag behind, or ken beyond the bound of the creed. Nature says, a constellation is a collection of stars, which in the heavens appear near to one another. This is a plain simple truth, I open my eyes, and admit the evidence. Revela- tion says, each fixt star is a sun, the centre of a sys- tem, consisting of planets inhabited by intelligent beings, who possess one sense and two faculties more than the inhabitants of this globe, and who worship the most high God in spirit and in truth. 1 cannot comprehend this whole proposition : but there is no- thing in it contrary to the nature of things : and I believe the truth of it on the testimony of the reveal- er. The established explication of this proposition is that of Ptolemy. He numbered the stars in the constellation Bootes, and found them, or supposed he found them, twenty-three, and this number I am to examine and approve, teach and defend against all opponents. What shall 1 say to Tycho, who af- firms, Bootes contains only eighteen ? Must I exe- crate Havelius, who makes them fifty-two ? After all, perhaps Flamstead may be right ; he says there are fifty-four. Does not this method of teaching as- tronomy suppose a hundred absurdities? Does it not imply the imperfection of the revealed system, the infallibility of Ptolemy, the erroneousness of the other astronomers, tlie folly of examination, or the. vol,, jii. 3

XTUl PREFACE.

still greater madness of allowing a conclusion after a denial of the premises, from which it pretends to be drawn ? When I was an infant, I am told, I was treated like a man, now 1 am a man, I am treated like an infant. I am an astronomer hy proxy. The plan of God requires faculties, and the exercise of them ; Ihot of my country exchanges both for quiet submission. I am, and I am not, a believer of as- tronomy.

Were it affirmed, that a revelation from heaven established such a method of maintaining a science of speculation, reasoning, and practice, every ration- al creature would have a right to doubt the truth of such a revelation ; for it would violate the doc- trine of analogy, by making the Deity inconsistent w ith himself. But we will pursue this track no fur- ther; we hope nothing said will be deemed illiberal; ^ve distinguish betw^een a constitution of things, and many wise and good men, who submit to it, and we only venture to guess, if they be wise and good men under such inconveniences, they would be wiser and better men without them: at all adventures, if we owe much respect to men, we owe more to truth,. to inconvertible unchangeable truth.

A second character of a divine revelation is pro- portion. By proportion I niean relative fitness, and, when I affirm, a divine revelation must bring along* with it proportional evidence, I mean to say, it must appear to be exactly fitted" to those intelligent creatures, for whose benefit it is intended. In the former article we required a simUarity between the iequisiti43ns of God and the faculties of men; in ihw

PREFACE. XIX

we require an exact quantily of requisition com- mensuiate vvitli tho^e faculties. The former regards the nature of a revelation; this lias for its object the limits of it. Were it possible for God, having form- ed a man only for walking, by a messenger from heaven to require him to fly, the doctrine of an- alogy would be violated by this requisition; and were he to determine a prodigious space, through which he required him to pass in a given time, were he to describe an immense distance, and to enjoin him to move through it with a degree of veloci- ty impossible to him, the doctrine of proportion, would be violated ; and the God of revelation would in both cases be made contradictory to the God of nature.

The Christian revelation, we presume, answers all our just expectations on these articles; for all the truths revealed by it are analogous to the na- ture of things, and every article in it bears an exact proportion to the abilities of all those, for whose benefit it is given. Our Saviour treats of the doc- trine of proportion in the parable of the talents, and supposes the Lord to apportion the number of talents, when he bestows them, and the rewards and punishments, which he distributes for the use, and. at>use of them, to the several abilily of each servant. Matt. XXV. 14. St. Paul depicts the primitive church in all the beauty of this proportional economy ; the same God worketh all diversities of operations in all différences of administrations, dividing to every man se- mrdi.i as he will, 1 Cor. xii. 5, 6, II. This economy, he SB,)S, assimilates the Christian church to the hu-

XX PREFACE.

man body, and gives to the one as to the other strength, symmetry, and beauty, evidently proving that the author of creation is the author of redemp- tion, framing both by one uniform rule of analogy and proportion.

Full of these just notions, we examine that descrip- tion of revelation, which human creeds exhibit, and we perceive at once, they are all destitute of propor- tional evidence. They all consist of multifarious pro- positions, each of which is considered as essential lo the whole, and the belief of all essential to an enjoy- ment of the benefits of Christianity, yea to those of civil society, in this life, and to a participation of eternal life in the world to come. In this case the free gifts of God to all are monopolized by a few, and sold out to the many at a price, far greater than nine- tenths of them can pay, and at a price, which the remaining part ought not to pay, because the donor has not empowered these salesmen to exact any price, because by his original grant all are made joint pro- prietors, and because the payment would be at once a renunciation of their right to hold by the original grant, and of their lord's prerogative to bestow.

What can a declaimer mean, when he repeats a number of propositions, and declares the belief of them all essential to the salvation of man ? or what could he reply to one, who should ask him, Which man do you mean, the man in the stall? Is it Sir Isaac IVewton : or the man in the aisle 1 Is it Tom Long, the carrier. God A hnighty, the Creator of both, has formed these two men with different organs of body, and different faculties of mind ; he has given them

PREFACE» XXI

different advantages and different opportunities of im- provino- them, he has placed them in different rela- tions, and empowered the one to teach what the other, depend on his belief what wili, is not capable of learning. Ten thousand Tom Longs go to make up one Newtonian soul. Is it credible, the God, who made these two men, who thoroughly knows them, who is the common parent, the just governor, and the kind benefactor of both, should require of men so different equal belief and practice ? Were such a thing supposeable, how unequal and dispro- portional, how inadequate and unlike himself must such a Deity be ! To grasp the terraqueous globe with a human hand, to make a tulip-cup contain the ocean, to gather all the light of the universe into one human eye, to hide the sun in a snuff-box, are the mighty projects of children's fancies. Is it possible, requisitions similar to these should proceed from the only wise God?

Inhere is, we have reason to believe, a certain portion of spirit, if I may be allowed to speak so, that constitutes a human soul ; there are infinitely, different degrees of capability imparted by the Cre- ator to the souls of mankind; and there is a certain ratio by necessity of nature between each degree of intelligence and a given number of ideas, as there is between a cup capable of containing a given quanti- ty, and a quantity of matter capable of being con- tained in it. In certain cases it might serve my in- terest could the pahn of my hand contain a hogs- head : but in general my interest is better served by an inability to contain so much. We apply these

XXll PREFACE.

certain principles to revelation, and we say, God hath given in the Christian religion an infinite multitude of ideas ; as in nature he hath created an infinite multitude of objects, Tliese objects are diversilied without end, they are of various sizes, colours, and shapes, and they are capable of innumerable motions, productive of multifarious effects, and ail placed in various degrees of perspicuity ; objects of thought in the Christian religion are exactly similar, there is no end of their variety, God and all his perfections, man and all his operations, the being and employ- ment of superior holy Spirits, the existence and dis- positions of fallen spirits, the creation and govern- ment of the whole world of matter, and that of spi- rit, the influences of God and the obligations of men, the dissolution of the universe, a resurrection, a judgment, a heaven, and a hell, all these, placed in various degrees of perspicuity, are exhibited in reli- gion to the contemplation of intelligent creatures. The creatures, who are required to contemplate these objects, have various degrees of contemplative ability ; and their duty, and consequently their vir- tue, which is nothing else but a performance of duty, consists in applying all their ability to understand as many of these objects, that is, to form as many ideas of tliem, as are apportioned to their own degree. So many oi)jects they are capable of seeing, so ma- ny objects it is their duty to see. So much of each object they are capable of comprehending, so nmch of each object it is their duty to comprehend. So many emotions they are capable of exercising, so nianv emotions it is tiieir duty to exercise. So nm-

PREFACE. XXlll

ny ac<s of devotion they can perform, so many Al- mighty God will reward them for performin», or pun- ish them for neglectin;^. This I call the doctrine of religious proportion. Tliis I have a right to ex- pect to find in a divine revelation, and this I find in the most splendid manner in Christianity, as it lies in the Bible, as it was in the first churches, and as it is in some modern communities. I wish I could ex- change the word some for all.

This doctrine of proportion would unroot every human creed in the world, at least it would annihi- late the imposition of any. Instead of making one creed for a wliole nation, which; by the way, provides for only one nation, and consigns over the rest of the world to the destroyer of mankind; instead of doing so, there should be as many creeds as creatures ; and instead of affirming, the belief of three hiuidred pro- positions is essential to the felirlty of every man in both worlds, we ought to affirm, the belief of half a proposition is essential to the salvation of Mary, and the belief of a whole one to that of John, the belief of six propositions, or, more properly the examina- tion of six propositions, is essential to the salvation of the reverend Edward, and the examination of six- ty to that of the right reverend Richard ; for, if I can prove, one has sixty degrees of capacity, anoth- er six, and another one, I can easily prove, it would be unjust to require the same exercises of all: and a champion ascribing such injustice to God would be no formidable adversary for the pompousness of his challenge, or tlje caparisons of his horse : his very

XXIV PREFACE.

sword could not conquer, though it might affright from the field.

The world and revelation, both the work of the same God, are both constructed on the same princi- ples ; and were the book of scripture like that of nature laid open to universal inspection, were all ideas of temporal rewards and punishments removed from the study of it, that would come to pass in the moral world, which has actually happened in the world of human science, each capacity would find its own object, and take its own quantum. Newtons will find stars Avithout penalties, Miltons will be po- ets, and Lard tiers Christians without rewards. Cal- vins will contemplate the decrees of God, and Bax- ters will try to assort them with the spontaneous vo- litions of men; all, like the celestial bodies, will roll on in the quiet majesty of simple proportion, each in his proper sphere shining to the glory of God the Creator. But alas! We have not so learned Christ !

Were this doctrine of proportion allowed, three consequences would follow. First, Subscription to human creeds, with all their appendages, both penal and pompous, would roll back into the turbulent ocean, the ^^ea I mean, from whence they came; the Bible would remain a placid emanation of wisdom from God ; and the belief of it a sufficient test of the obedience of his people. Secondly, Christians would be freed from the inhuman necessity of execra- ting one another, and by placing Christianity in be- lieving in Christ, and not in believing in one another, jliey would rid revelation of those intolerable abuses.

i*reface: XXV

which are fountains of sorrow to Christians, and sources of arguments to infidels. Tlsirdly, (oppor- tunity would be given to believers in Christ to exer- cise those dispositions, which the present dispropor- tional division of this common benefit obliges them to suppress, or conceal. O cruel theology, that makes it a crime to do what I have neither a right nor a power to leave undone !

1 call perfection a third necessary character of a divine revelation. Every production of an intelli- gent being bears the characters of the intelligence that produced it, J or as the man is, so is his strength^ Judg. viii. 21. A weak genius produces a work im- perfect and weak like itself. A wise, good being produces a work wise and good, and, if his power be equal to his wisdom and goodness, his work will resemble himself, and such a degree of wisdom, ani- mated by an ecjual degree of goodness, and assisted by an equal degree of power, will produce a work equally wise, equally beneficial, equally efi'ectual. The same degrees of goodness and power accom- panied with only half the degree of wisdojn, will produce a work as remarkable for a deficiency of skill as for a redundancy of efficiency and benevo- lence. Thus the flexibility of the hand may be known by the writing; the power of penetrating, and combining in the mind of the physician, may be known by the feelings of the patient, who has takea his prescription; and, by parity of reason, the uni- form perfections of an invisible God may be known by the uniform perfection of his productions,

YOL, III. 4

XXVI PREFACE.

I perceive, I must not launch into this wide ocean of the doctrine of perfection, and I will confine my- self to three characters of imperfection, which may- serve to explain my meaning. Proposing to obtain a great end without the use of proper means — the employing of great means to obtain no valuable end — and the destroying of the end by the use of the means employed to obtain it ; are three characters of imperfection frequently found in frail intelligent agents : and certainly they can never be attributed to the great Supreme. A violation of the doctrine of analogy would argue (iod an unjust being; and a violation of that of proportion would prove him an unkind being ; and a violation of this of perfec- tion would argue him a being void of wisdom. Were we to suppose him capable of proposing plans im- possible to be executed, and then punishing his creatures for not executing them, we should attri- bute to the best of beings the most odious disposi- tions of the most infamous of mankind. Heaven forbid the thought !

The first character of imperfection is proposing to ohtain a great end without the use of proper means. To propose a noble end argues a fund of goodness: but not to propose proper means to obtain it argues a defect of wisdom. Christianity proposes the noble end of assimilating man to God! and it em- ploys proper means of obtaining this end. God is an intelligent being happy in a perfection of wisdom ; the gospel assimilates the felicity of hu- man intelligences to that of the Deity by communi- cating the ideas of God on certain articles to men

PREFACE. XXVll

God is a bountiful bein»;, happy in a perfection of goodness ; the gospel assimilates the felicity of man to that of God by communicating certain benevo- lent dispositions to its disciples similar to the com- municative excellencies of God. God is an opera- tive being happy, in the display of exterior works be- neficent to his creatures; the gospel felicitates man by directing and enabling him to perform certain works beneficent to his fellow-creatures. God con- descends to propose this noble end, of assimilating man to himself, to the nalure of mankind, and not to certain distinctions foreign from the nature of man, and appendent on exterior circumstances. The boy, who feeds the farmer's meanest anima!s, the sailor, who spends his days on the ocean, the miner, who, secluded from the light of the day, and the society of his fi^llow-creatures, spends his life in a subterraneous cavern, as well as the renowned I e- roes of mankind, are all included in this condescend- ing benevolent design of God. The gospel proposes to assimilate all to God : but it proposes such an as- similation, or, may I say ? such a degree of moral excellence, as the nature of each can bear, and it directs to means so proper to obtain this end, and renders these directions so extremely plain, that the perfection of the designer shines with the utmost glory.

I have sometimes imagined a Pagan ship's crew in a vessel under sail in the wide ocean ; I have sup- posed not one soul aboard ever to have heard one word of Christianity ; I have imagined a bird drop- ping a New-Testament w ritten in tlie language of

XXVIU PREFACE.

the mariners on the upper deck ; I have imagined a fund of uneducated, unsophisticated good sense in this company, and I have required of this little world answers to two questions; first, What end does this book propose ? The answer is, This book was written, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life throtigh his name, John xx. 31. I ask se- condly, what means does this book authorise a foremast man, who believes, to employ to the rest of the crew to induce them to believe, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing they also with the foremast man, may have eternal felicity through his name ? I dare not answer this question : but I dare venture to guess, should this foremast man conceal the book from any of the crew, he would be unlike the God, who gave it to all ; or should he oblige the cabin- boy to admit his explication of the book, he would be unlike the God, who requires the boy to explain it to himself; and should he require the captain to enforce his explication by penalties, the captain ought to reprove his folly for counter-acting the end of the book, the felicity of all the mariners ; for turn- ing a message of peace into an engine of faction ; for employing means inadequate to the end ; and so for erasing that character of perfection, which the heavenly donor gave it.

A second character of imperfection is the employing of great means to obtain no valuable end. Whatever end the author of Christianity had in view, it is be- yond a doubt, he hath employed great means to ef- fect it. To use the language of a prophet, he hath

PREFACE. XXXI

shaken the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dru land. Has:, ii. 6, 7. When the desire of allnatio7is came, universal nature felt his approach, and preter- natural displays of wisdom, power, and goodness, liave ever attended his steps. The most valuable ends were answered by his coming. Conviction fol- lowed his preaching ; and truths, till then shut up in the counsels of God, were actually put into the possession of finite minds. A general manumission followed his meritorious death, and the earth resound- ed with the praises of a spiritual deliverer, who had set the sons of bondage free. The laws of his empire were published, and all his subjects were happy in obeying them. In his days the righteous flourished, and on his plan, abundance of peace would have continued as long as the moon endured, Psal. IxxiL 7. Plenty of instruction, liberty to examine it, and peace in obeying it, these were ends worthy of the great means used to obtain them.

Let us for a moment suppose a subversion of the seventy-second psalm, from whence I have borrow- ed these ideas ; let us imagine the kings of Tarshish and of the isles bringing presents, not to express their hoinage to Christ: but to purchase that dominion over tlie consciences of mankind, which belongs to Jesus Clirist ; let us suppose the boundless wisdom of tiie gospel, and the innumerable ideas of inspired men concerning it, shrivelled up into the narrow compass of one human creed ; let us suppose liberty of thought taken away; and the peace of the world interrupted by the introduction and support of bold usurpations, dry ceremonies, cant plirases, and pue-

XXX PREFACE.

rile inventions ; in this supposed case, tbe history of great means remains, the worthy ends to be answer- ed by them are taken away, and they, wlio should thus deprive mankind of the end of the sacred code, would chart^e themselves with the necessary obliga- tion of accounting for this character of imperfec- tion. Ye prophets, and apostles! ye ambassadors of Christ ! How do ye say. We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us '! Lo ! certainly in vain made he it, the pen of the scribes is in vain! Jer. viii. 8. Precarious wisdom, that must not be questioned! useless books, which must not be examined! vain le- gislation, that either cannot be obeyed, or ruins him who obeys it!

All the ends, that can be obtained by human mo- difications of divine revelation, can never compen- sate for the loss of that dignity, which the perfection of the system, as God gave it, acquires to him ; nor can it indemnify man for the loss of that spontanei- ty, which is the essence of every effort, tliat merits the name of human, and without which virtue itself is notliing but a name. Must we destroy the man to make the Christian ! What is there in a scholastic honour, what in an ecclesiastical emolument, what in an archiépiscopal throne, to indemnify for these loss- es ! Jesus Christ gave his life a ransom for men, not to empower them to enjoy these momentary distinc- tions; these are far inferior to the noble ends of his coming : the honour of God and the gospel at large ; the disinterested exercise of mental abilities, assimi- lating the free-born soul to its benevolent God; a copartnership with Christ in promoting the universal

PREFACE. XXXI

felicity of all mankind ; these, these are ends of re- ligion worthy of the blood of Jesus, and deserving the sacrifice of whatever is called great among men.

Thirdly, The destrvction of the end hy the use of the menns employed to obtain it, is another character of imperfection. St. Paul calls Christianity wiiti/, Eph. iv. 3, &c. He denominates it the vnity of the Spirit, on account of its auti or, object, and end. God the supreme Spirit, is the author of it, the spirits, or souls of men are the object, and the spirituality of hu- man souls, that is, the perfection of which finite spir- its are capable, is the end of it. The gospel pro- poses the re-union of men divided by sin, first to God, and then to one another, and, in order to effect it, reveals a religion, which teaches one God, one me- diator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, one rule of faith, one object of hope, 1 Tim. ii. 5. and, lest we should imagine this revelation to admit of no variety, we are told, Grace is given to every one according to the proportional measure of the gift of Christianity. Eacli believer is therefore exhorted to speak the truth in love, to ivalk nith cdl lowliness, meekness and long suffering, and to forbear anotl.-er m love. Here is a character of perfection, for these means employed to unite mankind are productive of union, the end of the means.

Should men take up the gospel in this simplicity ; and, accommodating it to their own itnaginary supe- rior wisdom, or to their own secular purposes, slould they explain this union so as to suit their designs, and employ means to produce it ; and should they denominate their system Ciuistianity, it would cer-

XXXll PREFACE.

tainly be, in spile of its name, a Christianity marked witli the imperfection of its authors; for in the Christian religion, in the thin^ itseli, and not in its appellation, shines the glorious character of perfec- tion.

The Christian religion unites mankind. By what common bond does it propose to do so ? By love. This is a bond of perfecincss, a most perfect bond. This is practicable, and productive of every desira- ble end, and the more we study human nature, the more fully shall we be convinced, that we cannot imagine any religion to do more, nor need we de- sire more, for this answers every end of being reli- gious. Had Jesus Christ formed his church on a sentimental plan, he must have employed many means, which he has not employed, and he must have omit- ted many directions, which he has given. One of his means of uniting mankind is contained in this di- rection. Search the scriptures, and call no man your master vpon earth; that is to say, exercise your very difïérent abilities, assisted by very difierent de- grees of aid, in periods of very different duration, and form your own notions of the doctrines contain- ed in the scriptures. Is not this injunction destruc- tive of a sentimental union ? Place ten thousand spectators in several circles around a statue erected on a spacious plain, bid some look at it through mag- nifying glasses, others through common spectacles, some with keen naked eyes, others with weak dis- eased eyes, each on a point of each circle different from that where another stands, and all receivings the picture of tlie object in the eye by different re-

PREFACE. XXXllî

riections and refractions of the rays of light, and say, will not a command to look destroy the idea of sen- timental union ; and, if the establishment of an exact union of sentiment be the end, will not looking, the mean appointed to obtain it, actually destroy it, and would not such a projector of uniformity mark his system with imperfection ?

Had Jesus Christ formed his Church on the plan of a ceremonial union, or on that of a professional un- ion, it is easy to see, the same reasoning might he- applied, the laws of such a legislator would coun- teract and destroy one another, and a s} stem so un- connected would discover the imperfection of its au- thor, and provide for the ruin of itself.

These principles being allowed, we proceed to examine the doctrines of Christianity, as they are presented to an inquisitive man, entirely at liberty to choose his religion, by our different churches in their several creeds. The church of Rome lays be- fore me the decisions of the council of Trent ; tho Lutheran church the confession of Augsburg: One nation gives me one account of Christianity, anoth- er a different account of it, a third contradicts th& other two, and no two creeds agree. The difference of these systems obliges me to allow, they could not all proceed from any one person, and much less could they all proceed from such a person, as all Christians affirm Jesus Christ to be. I am driven, then, to examine his account of his own religion contained in the allowed standard book, to which they all appeal, and here I find, or think I find, a right of reduction, that removes all those suspi.

VOL. iir. 5

XXXIV PREFACE.

cions, which variety in human creeds had excited in my mind concernin<^ the truth of Christianity.

The doctrines of Christianity, I presume to guess, according to the usual sense of the phrase, are divis- ible into two classes. The first contains the princi- pal truths, the pure genuine theology of Jesus Christ, essential to the system, and in which all Christians in our various communities agree. The other class consists of those less important propositions, which are meant to serve as explications of the principal truths. Tiie first is the matter of our holy religion, tlie last is our conception of the manner of its ope- ration. In the first we all agree, in the last our be- nevolent religion, constructed on principles of anal- ogy, proportion, and perfection, both enjoins and empowers us to agree to differ. The first is the light of the world, the last our sentiments on its na- ture, or our distribution of its effects.

In general each church calls its own creed a sys- tem of Christianity, a body of Christian doctrine, and perhaps not improperly : but then each divine ought to distinguish that part of his system, which is pure revelation, and so stands confessedly the doctrine of Jesus Christ, from tliat otlier part, which is human explication, and so may be either true or false, clear or obscure, presumptive or demonstrative, according to the abilities of the explainer, who compiled the creed. Without this distinction, we may incorpo- rate all our opinions with the infallible revelations of heaven, we may imagine each article of our be- lief essential to Christianity itself, we may subjoin a human codicil to a divine testament, and attribute

PREFACE. XXXV

equal aufheiiticity to both, we may account a pro- position confirmed by a synodical seal as fully au- thenticated as a truth confirmed by an apostolical mir- acle, and so we may bring ourselves to rank a con- scientious disciple of Christ, who denies the necessi- ty of episcopal ordination, with a brazen disciple of the devil, wlio denies the truth of revelation, and pretends to doubt the being of a God.

But here, I feel again the force of that observa- tion, with which this preface begins. How few, comparatively, will allow, that such a reduction of a large system to a very small number of clear, in- disputable, essential first principles, will serve the cause of Christianity! How many will pretend to think such a reduction dangerous to thirty-five out of thirty-nine articles of faith ! How many will con- found a denial of the essentiality (so to speak,) of a proposition, with a denial of the truth of it! How many will go further still, and execrate the latitudi- narian, who presumes in this manner to su])vert Christianity itself! I rejoice in prospect of that day^ when God shall judge the seer els of men by Jesus Christ according to his gospel, Rom. ii. 16. when we shall stand not at the tribunal of human prejudices and passions, but at the just bar of a clement God. Here, were I only concerned, I would rest, and my an- swer to all complainants should be a respectful si- lence before their oracles of reason and religion : but alas! I have nine children, and my ambition is (if it be not an unpardonable presumption to compare in- sects with angels,) my ambition is to engage them to ireat a spirit of intolerance, as Hamilcar taught Han^

XXXVl PREFACE.

nibal to treat tLe old Roman spirit of universal do- minion. The enthusiastic Carthaginian parent go- ing to offer a sacrifice to Jupiter for the success of an intended war, took with him his little son Hanni- bal, then only nine years of age, and eager to ac- company his father, led him to the altar, made him lay his little hand on the sacrifice, and swear, that he would never be in friendship with the Romany We may sanctify this thought by transferring it to other objects, and, while we sing in the church glo- ry to God in the highest, vow perpetual peace with all mankind, and reject all weapons except those, which are spiritual, we may, we must declare war against a spirit of intolerance from generation to ge- neration. Thus Moses wrote a memorial in a book, rehearsed it in the ears of Joshua, built an altar, called the name of it Jehovah my banner, and said, The Lord hath sworn, that the Loj'd will have war with Amaick from generation to generationy Exod. xvii. 14 — 16.

We are neither going to contrast human creeds ■with one another, nor with the bible ; we are not go- ing to affirm or deny any propositions contained in them ; we only design to prove, that all consist of human explications as well as divine revelations, and consecjuenlly, that all are not of equal importance, nor ought any to be imposed upon the disciples of Christ, either by those who are not disciples of the Son of God, or by those who are. The subject is delicate and difficult, not through any intricacy in itself, but tlnough a certain infelicity of the times. An error on the one side may be fatal to revelation, hy alluring us to sacrifice the pure doctrines of re-

PREFACE. XXXVl

ligion to a blind benevolence ; and on the other an error may be fatal to religion itself by inducing us to make it a patron of intolerance. We repeat it again, a system of Christian doctrine, is the object of Chris- tian liberty ; the articles, which compose a Imman system of Christian doctrine are divisible into the two classes of doctrines and explications ; the first we attribute to Christ, and call Christian doctrines, the last to some of his disciples^ and these we call human explications; the first ore true, the last ?nai/ he so; the first execrate intolerance, the last cannot be sup- ported without the spirit of it. I will endeavour to explain my meaning by an example.

Every believer of revelation allows the authenti- city of this passage of holy Scripture, God so loved the ivorld, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- soever helieveth in him should not perish : hut have ev- erlasting life, John iii. 16. If we cast this into pro- positional form, it will afford as many propositions as it contains ideas. Each idea clearly contained in the text I call an idea of Jesus Christ, a Cliristian sentiment, a truth of revelation, in a word, a Chris- tian doctrine. Each of these ideas of the text in forming itself into a proposition will naturally asso- ciate with itself a few other ideas of the expletive kind, these I call secondary ideas in distinction from the first, which I call primary ; or, in plainer style, ideas clearly of the text 1 name Christian doctrines, or doctrines of Christ, and all the rest I call human explications of these doctrines; they may be Chris- tian, they may not; for I am not sure, that the next idea, which always follows a first in my mind, wa$

XXXV 111 PREFACE.

the next idea to the first in the mind of Jesus Christ; the first is certainly his, he declares it, the second might be his : but as he is silent, I can say nothing certain; where he stops, my infallibility ends, and my uncertain reason begins.

The following propositions are evidently in the text, and consequently they are Christian doctrines emanating from the author of Christianity, and paus- ing to be examined before the intelligent powers of his creatures. — There is an everlasting life, a future state of eternal happiness — ^the mediation of the only hegoften Son of God is necessary to men's enjoyment of eternal happiness — helieving in Christ is essential to a participation of eternal felicity — every believer in Christ shall have everlasting life — unbelievers shall perish — all the blessings of Christianity orginate in God, display his love, and are given to the world. These, methinks, we may venture to call primary ideas of Christianity, genuine truths of revelation: but each doctrine will give occasion to many ques- tions, and although différent expositors will agree in the matter of each proposition, they will conjec- ture very differently concerning the manner of its operation.

One disciple of Christ, whom we call Richard, having read tlîis text, having exercised his thoughts on the meaning of it, and having arranged them in the prepositional form now mentioned, if he would convince another disciple, whom we name Robert, of tlie truth of any one of his propositions, would be obliged to unfold his own train of thinking, which consists of an associated concatenation of ideas, some

PREFACE. XXXIK

of which are primary ideas of Jesus Christ, and oth- ers secondary notions of his own, additions, perhaps of his wisdom, perhaps of his folly, perhaps of both : but all, hovvev'^er, intended to explicate his notion of the text, and to facilitate the evidence of his notion to his brother. Robert admits the proposition : but not exactly in Richard's sense. In this case, we as- sort ideas, we take what both allow to be the origin- al ideas of our common Lord, and we reckon thus, Here are nine ideas in this proposition, numbers one, three, six, nine, genuine, primary ideas of Christ; numbers two, four, five, secondary ideas of Richard; numbers seven, eight, secondary ideas of Robert; the first constitute a divine doctrine, the last a hu- man explication ; the first forms one divine object, the last two human notions of its mode of existence, manner of operation, or soînething similar: but, be each what it may, it is human explication, and nei- ther synod nor senate can make it more.

No divine will dispute the truth of this proposition, God gave Jesus Christ to believers ; for it is demon- strably in the text. To this, therefore, Beza and Zanchy, Melancthon and Luther, Calvin and Armi- nius, Baxter and Crisp agree, all allowing it a Chris- tian doctrine : but, each associating with tlie idea of gift other ideas of time, place, relation, condition and so on, explains the doctrine so as to contain all his own additional ideas.

One class of expositors take the idea of timey and

by it explain the proposition. God and believers,

says one, are to be considered contemplatively he-

jore the creation in the light of Creator and creatures,

Xl PREFACE.

abstracted from all moral considerations whatever ; then God united Christ to his church in the pure mass of creatureship, without the contemplation of Adam's fall. Another affirms, God sjave a Saviour to men in design before the existence of creatures: but in full contemplation, however, of the misery induced by the fall. A third says, God gave Christ to believ- ers, not in purpose before the fall : but in promise immediately after it. A fourth adds, God gives Christ to believers on their believing, by putting them in possession of the benefits of Christianity. In all these systems, the ideas of God, Christ, believers, and gift, remain the pure genuine ideas of the text ; and the association of time distinguisheth and vari- eth the systems.

A second class of expositors take the idea of rela- tion, and one affirms, (iod and believers are to be considered in the relative liglit of governor and sub- jects, the characters of a perfect government are dis- cernible in the giving of a Saviour, justice vindicates the honour of government by punishing some, mer- cy displays the benefit of government by pardoning others, and royal prerogative both disculpâtes and elevates the guilty ; however, as the governor is a God, he retains and displays his absolute right of dispensing hh favours as he pleases. A second says, God and believers are to be considered in the light of parent and children, and Christ is not given to be- lievers according to mere maxims of exact govern- ment: but he is bestowed by God, the common Fa- ther, impartially on all his cliikhen. A third says, God and believers axe to be considered in tlie light

PREFACE. Xli

of master and servants, and God rewards the imper- fect services of liis creatures witli the ricli benefits of Christianity. A fourth considers God and believ- ers in the relation of King and consorty and say, God gave Christianity as an inalienable dowry to his chosen associate. In all these systems, God, Christ, believers, and gift remain, the pure genuine ideas of the text; and the association of the idea of relation distinguishes and vaiies the systems.

In general, we form the ideas of the Supreme Be- ing, and we think, such a being ought to act so and so, and therefore we conclude he does act so and so. God gives Christ to believers conditionally, says one, for so it becomes a holy Being to bestow all his gifts. God gives Christ unconditionally, says another; for so it becomes a merciful being to bestow his gifts on the miserable. I repeat it again, opposite as these may appear, they both retain the notions of the same God, the same Jesus, the same believers, the same giving: but an idea concerning the fittest may of be- stowing the gift distinguishes and varies the sys- tems. I call it the same giving, because all di- vines, even they, who go most into a scheme of con- ditional salvation, allow, that Christ is a blessing infinitely beyond all that is due to the conditions which they perform in order to their enjoyment of him.

Let us for a moment suppose, that this proposi- tion, God gives Clirist to believers, is the whole of revelation on this subject. A divine, who should af- firm, that his ideas of time, relation, and condition were necessarily contained in this scripture ; that his

VOL, lU. 6

Xlii PREFACE.

whole thesis was a doctrine of Christianity ; and that the belief of it was essential to salvation ; would af- firm the tnost palpable absurdities ; tor, although the proposition does say, Christ is God's gift to believers, yet it does neither say, when God bestowed this gift, nor ivhy he bestowed it, nor that a precise knowl- edge of the mode of donation is essentially requisite to salvation. That God gave the world a Saviour in the person of Jesus is a fact affirmed by Christ in this proposition, and therefore a Christian doctrine. That he made the donation absolutely or condition- ally, before the fall or after it, reversibly or irrevo- cably, the proposition doth not affirm; and there- fore every proposition including any of these ideas is an article of belief containing a Christian doctrine and an human explication, and consequently it lies before an examiner in different degrees of evidence and importance.

Suppose a man were required to believe this pro- position, God gave Jesus to believers absolutely, or this, God gave Jesus to believers conditionally ; it is not impossible, the whole proposition might be prov- ed original, genuine, primary doctrine of Jesus Christ. Our proposition in this text could not prove it, and were this the whole of our informa- tion on this article, conditionality and unconditional- ity would be human explications: but, if Christ have given us in any other part of revelation, more instruction on this subject ; if he any where affirm, either that he was given on certain conditions to be performed by believers, or that he was not given so, then indeed we may associate the ideas of one iexi

PREFACE. XÎiii

with those of another, and so form of the whole a genuine Christian doctrine.

When we have thus selected the instructions of our Divine Master from the opinions of our fellow- pupils, we should suppose, these questions would naturally arise, Is a belief of all the doctrines of Christ essential to salvation? If not, which are the essential truths? If the parable of the talents be al- lowed a part of his doctrine, and if the doctrine of proportion taught in that parable be true, it should seem, the belief of Christian doctrines must be pro- portioned to exterior evidence and interior ability ; and on these principles, should a congregation of five hundred Christians put these questions, they must receive five hundred different answers. Who is sufficient for these things! Let us renounce our incli- nation to damn our fellow-creatures. Let us excite all to faith and repentance, and let us leave the deci- sion of their destiny to Almighty God. When Christ Cometh he mil tell us all things^ John iv. 25. till then let us wait, lest we should scaiier Jtre-brands, arrows, and deathy and make the hearts of the righteous sad, whom the Lord hath not made sad. Pro v. xxvi. 18, 19. Ezek. xii. 23, How many doctrines are essential to salvation, seems to me exactly such a question, as How much food is essential to animal life?

We will venture to go a step further. Were we as capable of determining the exact ratio between any particular mind and a given number of ideas as we are of determining how many feet of water a ves- sel of a given burden must draw; and were we able so to determine how much faith in how many doc-

Xliv PREFACE.

trines was essential to the holiness, and so to the hap- piness of such a soul ; we shall not then entertain a vain notion of exacting by force these rights of God of his creature. For, first, the same proportion, which renders a certain number of ideas as essential to the happiness of an intelligent mind, renders this number of ideas so clear, that they establish them- selves and need no imposition. Secondly, The na- ture of faith does not admit of imposition ; it signi- fies nothing to say. Kings command it ; if angels commanded it, they would require an impossibility, and exact that of me, which they themselves could not perform. Thirdly, God has appointed no means to enforce belief, he has nominated no vicegerents to do this, he has expressly forbidden the attempt. Fourthly, The means that one man must employ to impose his creed on another, are all nefarious, and damn a sinner to make a saint. Fifthly, Imposition of human creeds has produced so much mischief in the world, so many divisions among Christians, and so many execrable actions, attended with no one good end to religion, that the repetition of this crime would argue a soul infested with the grossest ignor- ance, or the most stubborn obstinacy imaginable. Sixthly, Dominion over conscience is that part of God's empire, of which he is most jealous. The im- position of a human creed is a third action, and be- fore any man can perform it, he must do two other exploits, he must usurp the throne, and claiin the glave. How many more reasons might be added! From a cool examination of the nature of God — the îialure of man — the nature of Ciiristianity— the na~

PREFACE. Xlv

ture of all powers within the compass of human thoucrht to employ — the history of past times — the state of the present — in a word, of every idea, that belongs to the imposition of a human creed, we ven- ture to affirm, the attempt is irrational, unscriptural, impracticable, impossible. Creed is belief, and the production of belief by penal sanction neither is, nor was, nor is to come. The project never entered the mind of a professor of any science, except that of theology. It is higli time, theologists should ex- plode it. The glorious pretence of establishing by force implicit belief should be left to the little tyrant of a country school ; let him lay down dry docu- ments, gird false rul< s close about other men's sons, lash docility into vanity, stupidity or madness, and justify his violence by spluttering. Sic voloy sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas.

AVere Christians sincere in their professions of mo- deration, candour, and love, they would settle this preliminary article of imposition, and, this given up, there would be nothing else to dispute. Our objec- tions lie neither against surplice nor service-book: but against the imposition of them. Let one party of Christians worsliip God as their consciences di- rect : but let other parties forfeit nothing for doing the same. It may appear conjectural : but it is sin- cerely true, tlieological war is the most futile and expensive contest, theological peace the cheapest ac- quisition in the world.

Although the distinction of a divine revelation from a hujian explication is just and necessary, al- though the piiiiciplts of analogy, proportion, and

Xlvi PREFACE.

perfection, are undeniable, and although, consider- ed as a theory, the nature and necessity of universal toleration will be allowed to be as clear and demon- strative as possible, yet, we are well aware, the al- lowance of these articles in all their fair, just, neces- sary consequences would be so inimical to many dis- positions, and so efTectually subversive of so many selfish interested systems, that we entertain no hopes of ever seeing the theory generally reduced to prac- tice. Heaven may exhibit a scene of universal love, and it is glorious to Christianity to propose it ; it is an idea replete with extatick joy, and, thanks be to God, it is more than an idea, it is a law in ma- ny Christian churches, alas ! little known, and less imitated bv the rest of their brethren. There is a remnant of Jacob in the midst of many jieople, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waitelh for the sons of meny Micah V. 7. These may cheerfully adopt the pro- phet's exultation, Rejoice not against me, O mine en- emy ! If I fall, 1 shall arise ; when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me, he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness^ chap. vii. 8. In the day that my îvalls are to be built, in that day shall human rfecree.v concerning conscience he far removed, ver. 1 1 .

On these general principles the sermons in this volume are selected, and on these the reader will at once perceive why it does not contain the whole sys- tem of any one subscriber, or the whole system of the author. Each contains primary truths, which all allow, and secondary explication;?, which some be-

PREFACE. Xlvii

lieve, which others doubt, and which some deny. I have not been able to form the volume wholly on this plan : but I have endeavoured to approach it as nearly as my materials would permit.

The first sermon is introductory, and exhibits Je- sus Christ on the throne in the Christian church, solely vested with legislative and executive power, prohibiting the exercise of either in cases of religion and conscience to all mankind. The twelve follow- ing sermons propose four objects to our contempla- tion, as Christianity represents them. The first is man, in liis natural dignity, his providential appoint- ment, and his moral inability. The second is Jesus Christ mediating between God and men, and open- ing by what he did or suffered our access to immor- tal felicity. The sermon on the dignity of our Lord, in this part, will be considered by some as a princi- pal essential doctrine, while others will account it Mr. Saurin's explication of a doctrine of eneflhble dignity, which they allow : but which they explain in another manner. The third object proposed is the mode of participating the benefits of Christ's me- diation, as faith, repentance, ands o on. The fourth consists of motive objects of Christianhy ; so I venture to call the Christian doctrines of judgment, heaven, and hell, belief of which gives animation and energy to action. The last sermon is recapitulatory, and proves, that variety is compatible with uniformity, yea, that uniformity necessarily produceth variety. When I call this volume, Sermons on the principal doctrines of Christianity, I mean to affirm, it con- tains a general view of the most obvious, and the

Xlviii PREFACE.

least disputable articles of Christian theology, ac- cording to the notions of the French reformed churches.

I have only to add my sincere prayers to the God of all grace, that he may enable us all to put on tiiis armour of God, that we may be able to withstand in this evil day, and, having done all, to stand; for we wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, Eph. vi. 11, 12, ]3. May he grant, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with eve- ry wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, andcunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, Eph. iv. 14, 15. Speaking the truth in love, may we grow up into him in all things, who is the head, even Christ, to whom alone be dominion over conscience, for ever and ever ! Amen.

Chesterton, \ "R TJ

July 10, 1/77. i

CONTENTS

OF THE

THIRD VOLUME.

SERMON I.

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Cliurch.' Romans xiv. 7, 8,

Page 49

VOL. nr.

SERMON II.

Tlie Equality of Mankind. Proverbs xxii. 2.

SERMON III.

The Worth of the SouL Matthew xvi. 26,

SERMON ly.

Real Liberty. John viii. 36.

*6

n

101

137

CONTENTS.

SERMOIN V.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Revelation v. 11, 12, 13, 14.

Page 16^

SERMON yi.

Christ the Substance of the ancient SacrificeF of the Law.

Hebrews x. 5, 6, 7.

SERMON VII.

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 2 Corinthians v. 14, 15.

SERMON VIIL

The Life of Faith. Habakkuk ii. 4.

SERMON IX.

Repentance. 2 Corinthians vii. 10.

20^

237

267

29T

Page 329

CONTENTS.

SERMON X.

Assurance. Romans Tiii. 38, 39.

SERMON XI.

Judgment. Hebrews ix. 27.

SERMON XII.

Heaven. 1 John iii. 2.

SERMON XIII.

Hell.

Revelation xiv. 11.

SERMON XIY.

The Uniformity of God in his Government. Hebrews xiii. 8.

365

389

419

455

SERMON I.

The Sovereignty of JESUS CHRIST in the Church.

Romans xiv. 7, 8.

None of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to hiiffr self. For^ whether we live, 7ve live unto the Lord: or, whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's.

J. HESE words are a general maxim, which St. Paul lays down for the decision of a particular con- troversy. We cannot well enter into the apostle's meaning, unless we understand the particular sub- ject, which led him to express himself in this man- ner. Our first refieclions, therefore, will tend to explain tl.e subject; and afterward we will extend our meditations to greater objects. We will attend to the text in tliat point of view% in which those Christians are most interested, who have repeatedly engaged to devote themselves wholly to Jesus Christ; to consecrate to him through life, and to commit to him at death, not only with submission, but also with joy, those souls, over which he hath acquired the no- blest right. Thus shall we verify, in the most pure and elevated of all senses, this saying of the Apostle;

TOL, HI'. 7

50 The Sovereignly of Jesus Christ in the Church,

none of us liveth io himself^ and no man dieth to him- self For, whether ne live, ne live unto the Lord ; or^ whether ne die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's.

St. Paul proposeth in the text, and in some of the preceding and following verses, to establish the doc- trine of toleration. By toleration, we mean, that disposition of a Christian, which on a principle of benevolence, inclines him to hold communion with a man, who through weakness of mind, mixeth with the truths of religion some errors, that are not entire- ly incompatible with it ; and with the new testament worship some ceremonies, which are unsuitable to its elevation and simplicity, but which, however, do not destroy its essence.

Retain every part of this definition, for each is es- sential to the subject defined. I say, that he, who exerciseth toleration, acts on a principle of benevo- lence ; for were he to act on a principle of indo- lence, or of contempt for religion, his disposition of mind, far from being a virtue worthy of praise, would be a vice fit only for execration. Toleration, I say, is to be exercised toAvards him only vvlio errs through jvcakmss of mind; for he, who persists in his error through arrogance, and for the sake of rend- ing the church, deserves rigorous punishment. I say, further, that he, who exerciseth toleration, doth not confine himself to praying for him who is the ob- ject of it, and to endeavouring to reclaim him, he pro- ceeds further, and holds communion with him; that is to say, he assists at the same religious exercises, and partakes of the Lord's supper at the same table.

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 51

Without this communion, can we consider him whom we pretend to tolerate, as a brother in the sense of St. Paul ? I add, finally, erroneous sentiments which are tolerated, must be coinpatible with the great truths of religion ; and observances, which are tolerated, must not destroy the essence of evangelical worship, al- though they are incongruous with its simplicity and glory. How can I assist in a service, which, in my opinion, is an insult on the God whom I adore ? How can I approach the table of the Lord with a man» who rejects all the mysteries, which God exhibits there ? and so of the rest. Retain, then, all the parts of this definition, and you will form a just notion of toleration.

Tliis moderation, always necessary among Chris- tians, was padicularly so in the primitive ages of Christianity. The first Churches were composed of two sorts of proselytes ; some of them were born of Jewish parents, and had been educated in Judaism, others were converted from paganism; and both, generally speaking, after they had embraced Chris- tianity preserved some traces of the religions which they had renounced. Some of them retained scru- ples, from which just notions of Christian liberty, it should seem, might have freed them. They durst not eat some foods which God gave for the nourish- ment of mankind, I mean, the flesh of animals, and t( ey ate only herbs. They set apart certain days for devotional exercises : not from that wise motive, wiiich ought to engage every rational man to take a poition of his life from the tumult of the world, in order to consecrate it to the service of his Creator :

52 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Chnrch.

but from I know not what notion of pre-eminence, which they attributed to some days above others. Thus far all are agreed in regard to the design of St. Paul in the text.

Nor is there any difficulty in determining which of the two orders of Christians of whom we spoke, St. Paul considers as an object of toleration ; wheth- er that class, which came from the gentiles, or that, which came from the Jews. It is plain, the last is intended. Every body knows that the law of Mo- ses ordained a great number of feasts under the pe- nalty of ti e great anathema. It was very natural for the converted Jews to retain a fear of incurring that penalty, which followed the infraction of those laws, and to carry their veneration for those festivals too far.

There was one whole sect among the .Tews, that abstained entirely from the flesh of animals; they were the Essenes. Josephus expressly affirms this, and Philo assures us, that their tables were free from every thing, that had blood, and were s-erved with only bread, salt and hyssop. As the Essenes pro- fessed a severity of manners, which had some like- ness to the morality of Jesus Christ, it is probable, many of them embraced Christianity, and in it inter- wove a part of the peculiarities of their own sect.

I do not think, however, that St. Paul had any par- ticular view to the Essenes, at least, we are not oblig- ed to suppose, that his views were confined to them. All the woiki know, that Jews have an aversion to l>lo(>d, A Jew, exact in his religion, does not eat flesii novv-a-da> s with Ciuistians, lest the latter should

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 53

not have taken sufficient care to discharge the blood. When, therefore, St. Paul describes converted Jews by their scrupulosity in regard to the eating of blood, he does not speak of what they did in their own fa- milies, but of what tliey practised, when they were invited to a convivial repast with people, who thought themselves free from the prohibition of eat- ing blood, whether they were Gentiles yet involved in the darkness of paganism, or Gentile converts to Christianity. Thus far our subject is free from diffi- culty.

The difficulty lies in the connexion of the maxim in the text with the end, which St. Paul proposeth in establishing it. What relation is there between Christian toleration and this maxim, None of us liv- eth to himself and no man dieth to himself/ How dotli it follow from this principle, whether we live^ we live unto the Lord, or, whether we die, we die unto the Lordy how doth it follow from this principle, that we ought to tolerate those, who through the weakness of their minds, mix some errors with the grand truths of Christianity, and with the New Testament worship some ceremonies, which obscure its simplicity, and debase its glory ?

The solution lies in the connexion of the text with the foregoing verses, and particularly Avith the fourth verse, who art thou, that judgest another man's servant ? To judge in this place does not signify to discern, l^ut to condemn. The word lias this meaning in a hundred passages of the New Testament. I con- fine myself to one passage for example. If we woidd judge ourselves, we should not he judged, 1 Cor. xi. 31.

54 The Sovereignty of Jesus" Christ in the Church,

that is to say, if we would condeinn ourselves at the tribunal of repentance, after we have parlaken un- worthily of the Lord's supper, we should not be con- demned at the tribunal of divine justice. In like manner, ivho art thou, that judgest another man's ser- vant / is as much as to say, nho art thou that con- demnest? St. Paul meant to make the Christians of Rome understand, that it belonged only to the sove- reign of the church to absolve or to condemn, as he saw fit.

But who is the supreme head of the church? Je- sus Christ ; Jesus Christ, who, with his Father, is over all, God blessed forever, Rom. ix. 5. Jesus Clu'ist, by dying for the church, acquired this supre- macy, and in virtue of it all true Christians render him the homage of adoration. All this is clearly ex- pressed by our apostle, and gives us an occasion to treat of one of the most abstruse points of Christian theology.

That Jesus Christ is the supreme head of the church, according to the doctrine of St. Paul, is ex- pressed by the apostle in the most clear and explicit manner; for after he hath said, in the words of the text, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, he adds immediately, /or to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived^ that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Tliat this Jesus, ivhose, tlie apostle says, we are, is God, the apostle does not permit us to doubt; for he confounds the expressions to eat to the Lord, and to give God thanks ; to stand before the judgment seat of Christ J and to give account of himself to God;

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 5ô

to be Lord both of the dead and living, ver. 6, 10, 12. and this majestic language, which would be blasphe- my in the mouth of a simple creature, As I livCj saith the Lord, every knee shall how to me, and everij tongue shall confess to God, ver. 11.

Finally, That Jesus Christ acquired that supre- macy by his sufferings and death, in virtue of wliich all true Christians render him the homage of adora- tion, the apostle establislicth, if possible, still more clearly. This appears by the words just now cited, to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he wight be Lord both of the dead and living, ver. 8, 11. To the same purpose the apostle speaks in the epistle to the Philippians, " He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Where- fore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is abov^e every name ; that at the name of .lesus everv knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under tlie earth ; and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." This is the sovereignty which Jesus Christ acquired by dying for the church.

But tlie most remarkable, and at the same time the most difficult article on this subject, is this. These texts, which seem to establish the divinity of Christ in a manner so clear, furnish the greatest objection that hath ever been proposed against it. 7'rue, say the enemies of this doctrine, Jesus Christ is God, since the scripture commands us to worship him. But his divinity is an acquired divinity ; since tlial supremacy, whicli entitles him to adoration as. God.

56 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

is not an essential, but an acquired supremacy. Now, that this supremacy is acquired is indubitable, since the texts that have been cited, expressly declare, that it is a fruit of his sufferings and death. We have two arguments to offer in reply.

1. If it were demonstrated, that the supremacy established in the forecited texts was only acquired, and not essential, it would not therefore follow, that Jesus Clirist had no other supremacy belonging to him in common with the Father and the Holy Spir- it. We are commanded to worshij) Jesus Christ, not only because he died for us, but also because he is eternal and almighty, the author of all beings that ex- ist : and because he hath all the perfections of Deity ; as we can prove by other passages, not necessary to be repeated here.

2. Nothing hinders that the true God, who, as the true God, merits our adoration, should requh'C every day new rights over us, in virtue of which we have new motives of rendering those homages to him, which, we acknowledge he always infinitely merited. Always when God bestows a new blessing, he acquij-eth a new right. What was Jacob's opin- ion, wlîen he made this vow ? If God will be ivith me^ and will keep me in the way that I go^ and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace : then shall the Lord he my God, Gen. xxviii. 20, &c. Did the patriarch mean, that he had no other reason for regarding the Lord as his God than this favour, which he asked of him? No such thing. He meant, that to a great many leasons, which bound him to devote himself to

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 57

God, the favour which he asked would add a new one. It would be easy to produce a lonjç list of ex- amples of this kind. At present the application of this one shall suffice. Jesus Ciirisl, who, as suprenne God hath natural rights over us, hath also acquired rights, because he hath deigned to clotlie himself with our flesh, in whicli he died to redeem us. Nonei^ oj us is his own, we are all his, not only because he is our Creator, but because he is also our Redeemer. He hath a supremacy over us peculiar to himself^ and distinct from that, which he hath in common with the Father and the holy Spirit.

To return then, to our principal subject, from which this long digression hath diverted us. This Jesus, who is the supreme head of the church; this Jesus, to whom all the members of the church are subject; willeth that we should tolerate, and he him" self hath tolerated those, who, having in other cases an upright conscience, and a sincere intention of sub- mitting their reason to all his decisions, and their hearts to all his commands, cannot clearly see, that Christian liberty includes a freedom from the obser- vation of certain feasts, and from the distinction of certain foods. If the sovereign of the church toler rate them, who err in this manner, by what right do you, who are only simple subjects, undertake to con? demn them? "Who art thou, that judgest anothçr man's servant? to liisown maslerhe slandeth or falk eth. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live un- to the Lord; and, Avhetlier we die, we die unto the Lord : whether we live tlierefore or die, v^^e are lhe^

VOL. IIT. 8

58 The Sovereignly of Jesus Christ in the Church.

Lord's. Let us not therefore judiçe one another any more. Let us, who are strong, bear the infirmities of the weak."

This is the design of St. Paul in the words of my text, in some of the preceding, and in some of the following verses. Can we proceed without remark- ing, or without lamenting, the blindness of those Christians, who, by their intolerance to their breth- ren, seem to have chosen for their model those mem- bers of the church of Rome, who violate the rights of toleration in the most cruel manner? We are not speaking of those sanguinary nu n, who aim at illu- minating people's minds with the light of fires, and faggots, which they kindle against all who reject their sv stems. Our tears, and our bl^od, have not as- suaged their rage, how can we then think to appease it by our exhortations ? Let us not solicit the wrath of leaven against these persecutors of the church; let us leave to the souls of them, who were slain for the word of God, to cry. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on ihem, that dwell on the earth? Rev. vi. 10.

But, ye intestine divisions ! Thou spirit of faction ! Ye theological wars! how long will ye be let loose among us ? Is it possible, that Christians, wIjo bear the name of reformed, Christians united by the bond of their faith in the belief of the same doc truies, and, if I may be allowed to speak so. Christians united by the very efforts of their enemies to destroy them; can they violate, after all, those laws of toleration, which they have so often prescribed to others, and against the violation of which they have remonstra--

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 59

*ied with so much wisdom and success? Can they convoke ecclesiastical assemblies, can they diaw up canons, can they denounce excommunications and anathemas aoainst those, who retainino; witli tl emselves the leadin»; truti.s of Christianity and of the reformation, tfiink diti'erently on points of simple speculation, on questions purely metaphysical, and, if I may speak the wtiole, on matters so abstruse, tl.at they are alike indeterminable by them, who exclude members from tlie comnmnion of Jesus Christ, and by those who are excluded ? O ye sons of the reformation! how long will you counteract your own principles! how lontj will you take pleas- ure in increasing the number of those, who breathe only your destruction, and move only to destroy you! O ye subjects of the sovereign of the church! how long will you encroach on the rights of your sovereign, dare to condemn those whom he absolves, and to rtject those, whom his generous benevolence tolerates ! " Who art thou, that judgest another man's servant? for none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For, whetitcr we live, we live unto the Lord ; and, wiiether we die, we die unto the Lord: wiiether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's."

What we have said shall suffice for the subject, which occasioned the maxim in the text. The re- maining time I devote to the consideration of the general sense of tliis maxim. It lays before us the condition, the engagements, the inclination, and the felicity of a Christian. What is the felicity of a Christian, what is his inclination, what are his en-

6(? The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

gasjements, what is his condition ? They are not i» be his own: but to say, ivhether I live, or die, I am the Lords. Tlse whole, that we shall propose to you, is contained in these four articles.

I. The text lays before us the primitive condition of a Chiristian. It is a condition of depemJence. — - JSfone of us livcth to himself, and no man dieth to him,-' self.

None of us liveth to himself, for whether we livCj we live imto the Lord. What do we possess, during our abode upon earth, which doth not absolutely depend on him who placed us here ? Our exist- ence is not ours; our foitune is not ours; our rep- utation is not ours ; our virtue is not ours ; our rea- son is not ours ; our health is not ours ; our life is not ours.

Our existence is not ours. A few years ago we found ourselves in this world, constituting a very in- considerable part of it. A few years ago the world itself was nothing. The will of God alone hath made a being of this nothing, as he can make this "being a nothing, whenever he pleaseth to do so.

Our fortune is not ours. The most opulent per- sons often see their riches make themselves wings, and fly away. Houses, the best established, disap- pear in an instant. We have seen a Job, who had possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand cam- els, five hundred yoke of oxen, and servants without number; we have seen the man, who had been the greatest of ail the men of the east, lying on a dung- hill, retaining nothing of his prosperity but a «or-

The Sovereignty of Jems Christ in the Church. 61

rowful remembrance, which aggravated the adversi- ties that followed it.

Our reputation is not ours. One single frailty sometimes tarnisheth a life of the most unsullied beauty. One moment's absence sometimes debaselh the glory of the most profound politician, of the most expert general, of a saint of the highest order. A very diminutive frailt w^iil serve to render con- temptible, 3^ea infamous, the man, who committed it; and to make him tremble at the thought of appear- ing before men, who have no other advantage over bim than that of having committed the same of- fence more fortunately; I mean, of having conceal- ed tlie commission of it from the eyes of his fellow- creatures.

Our virtue is not ours. Want of opportunity is of ten the cause why one, who openly professeth Chris- tianity, is not an apostate ; another an adulterer; an- other a murderer.

Our reason is not ours. While we possess it, we are subject to distractions, to absence of thought, to suspension of intelligence, which render us entirely incapable of reflection ; and, what is still more mor- tifying to human nature, they whose geniusses are the most transcendent and sublime, sometimes be- come either melanctioly or mad ; like Nebuchad- nezzar they sink into beasts, and browse like them on the herbage of the field.

Our health is not ours. The catalogue of those in- firmities which destroy it, (I speak of those which we know, and which mankind by a study of five or six thousand years have discovered,) makes whole

62 The Sovereignti/ of Jesus Christ in the ChurcÏL

volumes- A catalogue of those which are unknown, would probably make larger volumes yet.

Our life is not ours. Winds, waves, heat, cold, aliments, vegetables, animals, nature, and each of its com ponant parts, conspire to deprive us of it. Not one of those who have entered this church, can de- monstrate that he shall go out of it alive. Not one of those who compose this assembly, even of the youngest and strongest, can assiu'e himself of one year, one day, one liour, one moment of life. None of vs livcth to himself ; for, if we limy we are the LorcTs.

Furtlier, No man dieih to himself. If we die, we are the Lord's. How absolute soever the dominion of one man over another may be, there is a moment in wdiich both are on a level ; that moment comes when we die. Death delivers a slave from the pow- er of a tyrant, under whose rigour he hath spent his life in groans. Death terminates all the relations that subsist between men in this life. But the rela- tion of dependence, which subsists between the Cre- ator and his creatures, is an eternal relation. That world into which we enter when we die, is a part of his empire, and is as subject to his laws as that into which we entered when we were born. Dur- ing this life, the Supreme Governor hath riclies and poverty, glory and ignominy, cruel tyrants and cIct ment princes, rains and drouths, raging tempests and refreshing breezes, air wholesome and air in- fected, iiimine and plenty, victories and defeats, to render us happy or miserable. After death, he hath absolution and condemnation, a tribunal of justice

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 63

and a tribunal of mercy, ansjels and devils, a river of pleasure and a lake lurning ivilhjlre and hrimstoney hell, with its horrors and heaven with its happiness, to render us happy or miserable as he pleaseth.

These reflections are not quite sufficient to make us feel all our dependence. Our vanity is mortified, when we remember, that what we enjoy is not ours : but it is sometimes, as it were, indemnified by ob- servino^ the great means that God employs to de- prive us of our enjoyments. God hath, in general, excluded this extravagant motive to pride. He hath attached our felicity to one fibre, to one caprice, to one grain of sand, to objects the least likely, and seemingly the least capable, of influencing our des- tiny.

On what is your high idea of yourself founded ? On your genius .' And what is necessary to reduce the finest genius to that state of melancholy or mad- ness, of which I just now spoke ? Must the earth quake ? Must the sea overflow its banks ? Must the heavens kindle into lightning and resound in thun- der? Must the elements clash, and the powers of nature be shaken ? No ; there needs nothing but the displacing of one little fibre in your brain!

On what is your high idea of yourself founded? On that self-complacence, which fortune, rank, and pleasing objects, that surround you, seem to contri- bute to excite ? And what is necessary to dissipate your self-complacence ? Must the earth tremble ? Must the sea overflow its banks ? Must heaven arm itself with thunder and lightning? Must all nature be shaken ? No ; one caprice is sufficient. An ap-

64 The Sovereignly/ of Jesus Christ in the Church.

pearance, under which an object presents itself to us, or rather, a colour, tliat our iniasjination lends it, banisheth self-toniplacence, and, lo ! tiie man just now agitated with so much joy is fixed in a black, a deep despair.

On what is } our lofty idea of yourself founded ? On your health ? But what is necessary to deprive you of }our health? Earthquakes? Armies? Inun- dations? Must nature return to its chaotick state? No ; one grain of sand is sufficient ! That grain of sand, which in another position was next to nothing to you, and was really nothing to your felicity, be- comes in its present position a punishment, a martyr- dom, a hell !

People sometimes speculate the nature of those^ torments, which divine justice reserves for the wick- ed. They are less concerned to avoid the pains of hell, than to discover wherein they consist. They ask, vv'hat fuel can supply a fire that will never be extinguished. Vain researches! The principle in my text is sufficient to give me frightful ideas of hell. We are in a state of entire dependence on the Supreme Being ; and to repeat it again, one single grain of sand, which is nothing in itself, may become in the bands of the Supreme Being, a punishment, a mar- tyrdom, a hell in regard to us. What dependence! " Whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's." This is the primitive condition of a Chris- tian.

ÎÎ. Our text points out the engagements oî ^ Chris- tian. Let us abridge our reflections. Remark the state in which Jesus Christ found us; what he per-

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Chureh. 65

formed to deliver us from it ; and under what coa- ditions we enter on and enjoy this deliverance.

1. In what state did Jesus Christ find us, when he came into our world ? I am sorry to say, the af- fected delicacy of the world, which increaseth as its irregularities multiply, obligeth me to suppress part of a metaphorical description, that the holy Spirit hath given us in the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel, " Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite," saith he to the church, " When thou wast born no eye pitied thee, to do any thing unto thee : but thou wast cast out in the open air, to the loath- ing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, and I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood. Live. I spread my skirt over thee, and cov- ered thy nakedness; yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becam- est mine," ver. 3, &c.

Let us leave the metaphor, and let us confine our attention to the meaning. When .Tesus Christ came into the world, in what state did he find us? De- scended from a long train of ancestors in rebellion against the laws of God, fluctuating in our ideas, ignorant of our origin and end, blinded by our pre- judices, infatuated by our passions, " having no hope, and being without God in the world," Eph. ii. 12. condemned to die, and reserved for eternal flames. From this slate Jesus Christ delivered us, and brought us into " the glorious liberty of the sons of God," Rom. viii. 21. in order to enable us to par- ticipate tlie felicity of the blessed God, by making

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66 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

us " partakers of the divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4. By a deliverance so glorious, doth not the deliverer ob- tain peculiar rijj^hts over us ?

Remark, further, on what conditions Jesus Christ hatli freed you from your miseries, and you will perceive, that ye are not your own. What means the morality that Jesus Christ enjoined in his gos- pel ? What vows were made for each of you at your baptism? AVhat hast thou promised at the Lord's table ? In one word. To what authority didst thou submit by embracing the gospel ? Didst thou say to Jesus Christ, Lord ! I will be partly thine, and partly mine own? To thee I will submit the opinions of my mind : but the irregular disposi- tions of my heart I will reserve to myself. I will consent to renounce my vengeance : but thou shalt allow me to retain my Delilah and my Dru- silla. For thee I will quit the world and dissipat- ing pleasures : but thou shalt indulge the visionary and capricious flow of my humour. On a Christian festival I will rise into transports of devotion ; my countenance shall emit rays of a divine flame ; my eyes shall sparkle with seraphic fire, my heart and 7ny flesh shall cry out for the living God, Psal. Ixxxiv, 2. but, when I return to the world, I will sink into the sphit of the men of it ; 1 will adopt their max- ims, sliare their pleasures, imrnerse myself in their conversation; and thus I will be alternately cold and hot Rev. iii. 15. a Christian and a heathen, an an- gel and a devil. Is Ihis your idea of Christianity? Undoubtedly it is that, which many of our hearers have formed; and which they take too much pain?

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 67

to prove, by the whole course of their conversation. But this is not the idea wliich the inspired writers have 2;iven us of Christianity ; it is not that which, after their example, we have given you. Hitn only I at knowledge for a true Christian, w^ho is not his own; at least, who continually endeavours to eradi- cate the remains of sin, that resist the empire of Je- sus Clrist. Him alone I acknowledge for a true Christian, who can say with St. Paul, although not in the same degree, yet with equal sincerity, " I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ livetl) in me : and the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the vS(m of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20.

Consider, thirdly, what it cost Jesus Christ to de- liver you from your wretched state. Could our free- dom have been procured by a few emotions of be- uevolence, or by an act of supreme power? In order to deliver us from our griefs, it was necessary for him to bear them ; to terminate our sorrows he must carry tl;em, (according to tlie language of a prophet,) to deliver us from the strokes of divine justice he must be stricken and smitten of God, Isa. liii. 4. I am aware, tl at one of the most deplorable infimiities ol tlie l-uman mind is to become insensible to the most afîrcting objects by becoming familiar with tl.em. Ti.e glorified saints, we know, by contempla- ting the sufl'erings of tlie Saviour of the world, be- hold objects, that excite eternal adorations of the mercy of him, "who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and made them

68 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

kings, and priests unto God his Father," Rev. i. 5, 6. but in our present state the proposing of these objects to us in a course of sermons is sufficient to weary us. However, I affirm, that, if we liave not been affected with wliat .lesus Christ hath done for our salvation, it hath not been owing to our thinking too much, but to our not thinking enough, and per- haps to our having never tliought of the subject once, with such a profound attention as its interesting na- ture demands.

Bow thyself towards the mystical ark. Christian ! and fix thine eyes on the mercy-seat. Revolve in thy meditation the astonishing, I had almost said, the incredible history of thy Saviour's love. Go to Beth- lehem, and behold him, "who upholdeth all things by the word of his power," (I use the language of an apostle,) him, who thought it no usurpation of the rights of the Deity to be equal rvifh God; behold him humbling himself, (I use here the words of St. Paul, Heb. i. 3. Phil. ii. 6. His words are more em- phatical still.) Behold him annihilated j^ for, although the child, who was born in a stable, and laid in a manger, was a real being, yet he may seem to be annihilated in regard to the degrading circumstan- ces, which vailed and concealed his natural dignily: behold him amiihilated by " taking upon him the form of a servant." Follow him through the whole course of l;is life ; " he went about doing good," X. 33. and exposed himself in every place to incon-

* Vicletur hie alliiclere ad Dan. ix. 26. Ubi dicitiir Messias exinaniendiis, ut ei nihil supersit, i. e. quasi in nibiluni sit redi- gendus, Foli Syjiofis. in loc.

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 69

yeniences and miseries, through the abundance of his benevolence and love. Pass to Gethsemane ; be- hold his agony ; see him as the Redeemer of man- kind contending with the judge of the whole earth; an agony, in which Jesus resisted with only " pray- ers and supplications, strong crying and tears," Heb. V. 7. an agony, preparatory to an event still more terrible, the bare idea of which terrified and trou- bled him, made " his sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground," Luke xxii. 44. and produced this prayer so fruitful in controversies in the schools, and so penetrating and affecting, so fruitful in motives to obedience, devotion, and grat- itude, in truly Christian hearts, " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt," Matt. xxvi. 44. Go further yet Christian ! and, after thou hast seen all the sufferings, which Jesus Christ endured in going from the garden to the cross, ascend Calvary with him; stop on the summit of the hill, and on that theatre behold the most astonishing of all the works of almighty God. See this Jesus, " the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person," Heb. i. 3. see him stripped, fastened to an accursed tree, confounded with two thieves, nailed to the wood, surrounded with executioners and tor- mentors, having lost, during this dreadful period, that sight of the comfortable presence of his Father, which constituted all his joy, and being driven to exclaim, "My God! My God! why hast thou for- saken me r" Matt, xxvii. 40. But behold him, amidst all these painful sufferings, firmly supporting his pa-

70 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

iience by his love, resolutely enduring; all these pun ishrnents from those motives of benevolence, which first engaged him to submit to them, ever occupied with the prospect of saving those poor mortals, for whose sake he descended into this world, fixing his eyes on that world of believers, which his cross Avould subdue to his government, according to his own saying, " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," John xii. 32. Can we help feeling the force of that motive, which the scripture proposeth in so many places, and so very emphatically in these words. The love of Christ con- straineth us, 2 Cor. v. 14. that is to say, engageth and attacheth us closely to him ; " The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, tliat if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live, slîould not hencefortii live unto themselves, but unto him which died for tl em, and rose again." Yea, '* The love of Christ forceth us," when we think what he hath done for us.

III. My third article, which should treat of the in- clination of a Christian, is naturally contained in tl e second, that is, in that which treats of his erigoge- ments. To devote ourselves to a master, wlio hath carried his love to us so far; to devote ourselves to him by fear and force; to submit to his laws, be- cause he hath the power of precipitating those into hell, who have the audacity to break them; to obey him on this principle only, this is a disposition of mind as detestable as disobedience itself, as hateful as open rebellion. The same arguments, which prove that a Christian is not his own by engagement, prove

The Sovereignly of Jesus Christ in the Church. 71

that he is rwt his own by inclination. When, there- fore, we shall have proved that this state is his felici- ty also, we shall have finished the plan of this dis- course.

ly. Can it be difficult to persuade you on this ar- ticle? Stretch your imaginations. Find, if you can, any circumstance in life, in which it would be hap pier to reject Christianity than to submit to it.

Aujidst all the disorders and confusions, and (so to speak,) amidst the universal chaos of the present world, it is deliglitfid to belong to the governor, who first formed the world, and who hath assured us, that he will display the same power in renewing it, which he displayed in creating it.

In the calamities of life, it is delightful to belong to the master, wiio distributes them; who distributes them only for our good ; who knows afflictions byex- perience; whose love inclines him to terminate our sufferings; and who continues them from the same principle of love, that inclines him to terminate them, when we shall have derived those advantages? from tliem, for which they were sent.

During the persecutions of the church, it is de- lightful to belong to a guardian, who can curb our persecutors, and control every tyrant; who useth them for the execution of his own counsels ; and who will break them in pieces with a rod of iron„ when they can no longer contribute to the sanctify- ing of his servants.

Under a sense of our infirmities ; when we are terrified with the purity of that morality, the equi- ty of which we are obliged to own, even while we

72 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church,

tremble at its severity ; it is delightful to belong to a judge, who doth not exact his rights with the ut- most rigour ; who knoneth our frame, Psal. ciii. 14. who pitieth our infirmities ; and who assureth us, that he nill not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoakingjiax, Mat. xii. 20.

When our passions are intoxicated, in those fatal moments, in which the desire of possessing the ob- jects of our passions wholly occupies our hearts, and we consider them as our paradise, our gods; it is delightful, however incapable we may be of attend- ing to it, to belong to a Lord who restrains and con- trols us, because he loves us; and who refuseth to tyrant us w hat we so eagerly desire, because he would either preclude those terrible regrets, which peni- tents feel after the commission of great sins, or those more terrible torments, that are inseparable from final impenitence.

Under a recollection of our rebellions, it is de- lightful to belong to a parent, who will receive us favourably when we implore his clemency ; who sweetens the bitterness of our remorse ; who is touch- ed with our regrets ; who wipes away the tears, that the remembrance of our backslidings makes us shed ; who sparefh us, as a man spareth his own son thatserv- dh him, Mai. iii. 17.

In that empty void, into which w'e are often con- ducted, while we seem to enjoy the most solid estab- lishments, the most exquisite pleasures, and the most brilliant honors, it is deliglitful to belong to a patron, who reserves for us objects far better suited to our original excellence, and to the immensity of our de-

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church. 73

sires. To live to Jesus Christ tlien, is the Jelicity of a Christian.

But, if it be a felicity to belong to Jesus Christ while we live^ it is a felicity incomparably jjreater to beloniç to him when we die. We will conclude this meditation with this article, and it is an article, that I would endeavour above all others to impress on your hearts, and to engao-e you to take home to your houses. But, unhappily, the subject of this article is one of those, which ajeneraily make tlie least impressions on the minds of Christians. I know a great many Christians, who place their happiness in living to Jesus Christ: but how few have love enough for him to esteem it a felicity to die to him ! Not only is the number of those small, who experi- ence such a degree of love to Christ; there are very few, who even comprehend what we mean on tliis subject. Some efforts of divine love reseinble veiy accurate and refined reasonings. They ouglit natur- ally to be the most intelligible to intelligent creatures, and they are generally the least understood. Few people are capable of that attention, which takes the mind from every thing foreign from tlie object in contemplation, and fixetli it not only on the sub- ject, but also on that part, on that point of it, if I may be allowed to speak so, which is to be investi- gated and explained; so that, by a frailty which mankind cannot sufficiently deplore, precision con- fuseth our ideas, and light itself makes a subject dark. In like manner, there are some efforts of di- vine love, so detac;hed from sense, so free from all sensible objects, so superior to even all the mean?

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74 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

that relifijion useth to attract us to God, so eagerly aspiring after an union more close, more noble, and more tender, that the greatest part of Cliristians, as I said before, are not only incapable of experiencing them, but they are also hard to be persuaded, that there is any reality in what they have been told about them.

7\) be Jesus Christs in the hour of death, by con- dition, by engagement, and above all by inclinaliony are the only means of dying with delight. Without these, whatever makes our felicity while we live will become our punishment when we die; whether it be a criminal object, or an innocent object, or even an object, which God liimself commanded us to love.

Criminal objects will punish you. Tliey will re- present death to }ou as the messenger of an aveng- ing God, who comes to drag you before a tribunal, where the judge will examine and punish all your crimes. jLo/i/w/ objects will distress you. Pleasant fields! convenient houses! we must forsake you. Natural relations! agreeable companions! faithful friends! we must give you up. From you, our dear children ! who kindle in our hearts a kind of love, that agitates and inflames beings, when nature seems to render them incapable of heat and motion, we must be torn from you.

Ifeligious objects, which we are commanded above all others to love, will contribute to our anguish in a dying bed, if they have confined our love, and ren- dered us too sensible to that kind of happiness, whi< h piety procures in this world ; and if they have prevented our souls from rising into a contempla-

The Sovertignty of Jesus Christ in the Church, 75

tion of that blessed state, in wtiich there will be no more temple, no more sacraments, no more gross and sensible worship. The man who is too much attached to these things, is confounded at the hour of death. The land of love, to which he goes, is an unknown country to him ; and as the borders of it, on which he stands, and on which alone his eyes are fixed, present only precipices to his view, fear and trembling surround his every step.

But a believer, who loves Jesus Ciuist with that kind of love, which made St. Paul exclaim, The love of Christ constraineth us, 2 Cor. v. 14. finds himself on the summit of his wishes at the approach of death. This believer, living in this world, resembles the son of a great king, whom some sad event tore from his royal parent in his cradle ; who knows his pa- rent only by the fame of his virtues ; who has al- ways a difficult, and often an intercepted correspond- ence with his parent; whose remittances, and fa- vours from his parent are always diminished by the hands through which they come to him. With what transport would such a son meet the moment ap- pointed by his father for his return to his natural state !

I belong to God, (these are the sentiments of the believer, of whom I am speaking,) I belong to God, not only by his sovereign dominion over me as a creature ; not only by that right, which, as a master, who hath redeemed his slave, he hath acquired over me : but I belong to (îod, because I love him, and because, I know, God alone deserves my highest esteem. The deep imprécisions that his adorable

76 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

perfections have made on my mind, make me im- patient with every object which intercepts my si«jht of him. I could not be content to abide any longer in this world, were he not to ordain my stay ; and were I not to consider his will as the only law of my conduct. But the law, that commands me to live, dotli not forbid me to desire to die. I consider death as the period fixed for the gratifying of my most ardent wishes, the consummation of my high- est joy. Whilst I am at home in the body, I am absent from the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 6. But it would be incom- parably more delightful to be absent from the body, and to be present 7vith the Lord, ver. 8. And what can detain me on earth, when God shall condescend to call me to himself?

Not ye criminal objects ! you I never loved ; and although I have sometimes suffered myself to be se- duced by your deceitful appearances of pleasure, yet I have been so severely punished by the tears that you have caused me to shed, and by the re- morse, which you have occasioned my conscience to feel, that there is no reason to fear my putting you into the plan of my felicity.

Nor shall ye detain me, /«w/m/ objects! How strong soever the attachments that unite me to you may be, you are only streams of happiness, and I am going to the fountain of felicity. You are only emana- tions of happiness, and I am going to the happy God,

Neither shall ye, religions objects ! detain me. You are only means, and death is going to conduct me to the end, you are only the road ; to die is to arrive at home. True, I shall no more read those excel-

The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church, 77

lent works, in which authors of the brightest genius have raised the truth from depths of darkness and piejudice in which it had been buried, and placed it in the most lively point of view. I shall hear no more of those sermons, in which the preacher, ani- mated by the holy Spirit of God, attempts to elevate me above the present world: but I shall hear and contemplate eternal wisdom, and I shall discover in my commerce with it the views, the designs, the plans of my Creator; and I shall acquire more wis- dom in one moment by this mean than I should ever obtain by hearing;: the best composed sermons, and by reading the best written books. True, I shall no more devote myself to you, closet exercises! holy meditations ! aspirings of a soul in search of its God ! crying. Lord, I beseech thee shew me thy glory ! Exo. xxxiii. 18. Lord dissipate the dark thick cloud that conceals thee from my sight ! suiter me to approach that light, which hath hitherto been inaccessible to me ! But death is the dissipation of clouds and dark- ness; it is an approach to perfect light ; it takes me from my closet, and presents me like a seraph at the foot of the throne of God and the Lamb.

True, I shall no more partake of you, ye holy or- dinances of religion! ye sacred ceremonies! that have conveyed so many consolations into my soul ; t! at have so amply afforded solidity and solace to tiic ties, which united my heart to my God ; that have so often procured me a heaven on earth : but I quit you because I am going to receive immediate eliusions of divine love, pleasures at God's right

78 The Sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Church.

band for evermore, fulness of joy in his presence, Psal.

XTL 11. I quit you because . . ,

Alas! your hearts perhaps have escaped irie, my brethren! perhaps these emotions, superior to your piety, are no longer the subject of your attention. I have, however, no other direction to ^ive you, than that which may stand for an abridgement of this discourse, of all my other preaching, and of my whole ministry; Love God; be the Lord's by incli^ nation, as you are his by condition, and by engage- ment. Then, the miseries of this life will be toler- able, and the approach of death delightful. God grant his blessing on the word! to him be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON II.

The Equality of Mankind.

.«•

Proverbs xxii. 2.

The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

Among the various dispensations of providence, which regard mankind, one of the most advan- tageous in the original design of the Creator, and at tiie same time one of the most fatal through our abuse of it, is the diversity of* our conditions. How could men have formed one social body, if all con- ditions had been equal ? Had all possessed the same rank, the same opulence, the same power, how could they have relieved one anotlier from the inconven- iences, which would have continually attended each of them ; variety of conditions renders men necessa- ry to each other. The governor is necessary to the people, the people are necessary to the governor; wise statesmen aie necessary to a powerful soldiery, a powerful soldiery is necessary to wise statesmen. A sense of this necessity is the strongest bond of union, and this it is, which inclines one to assist another in hopes of receiving assistance in his turn.

But if this diversity be connected with the highest utility to mankind in the original design of the Créa-

80 The Equality of Mankind,

tor, it is become, we must allow, productive of fatal evils through our abuse of it. On the one hand, they, whose condition is the most brilliant, are dazzled with their own brightness ; tliey study the articles, which elevate them above their fellow-creatures, and they choose to be ignorant of every thing tliat puts them- selves on a level with them ; they persuade them- selves, that they are beings incomparable, far more noble and excellent than those vile mortals, on whom they proudly tread, and on whom they scarcely deign to cast a haughty eye. Hence provoking ar- rogance, cruel reserve, and hence tyranny and des- potism. On the other hand, they, who are placed in inferior stations, prostrate their imaginations be- fore these beings, whom they treat rather as gods than men ; them they constitute arbiters of right and wrong, true and false ; they forget, while they respect the rank, which the supreme governor of the world hath given to thea- superiors, to maintain a sense of their own dignity. Hence come soft compliances, base submissions of reason and conscience, slavery the most willing and abject to the high demands of these phantoms of grandeur, these imaginary gods.

To rectify these different ideas, to humble tlie one class, and to exalt the other, it is necessary to shew men in their true point of view; to convince them that diversity of condition, which God hath been pleased to estal)iish ajiiong them, is perfectly c. insist- ent with equality ; tliat the splendid condition of the first includes nothing, that favours their ideas of self- preference ; and that there is nothing in the low con- dition of the last, which deprives them of their real

The Equality of Mankind. 81

dignity, or debases their intelligences formed in the image of God. I design to discuss this subject to- day. The men, who compose this audience, and among whom providence hath very unequally divi- ded the blessings of this life; princes, who command, and to whom God himself hath given authority to command subjects; subjects, who obey, and on whom (lod hath imposed obedience as a duty ; the rich, who give alms, and the poor, who receive them ; all, all my hearers, I am going to reduce to their natural equality, and to consider this equality as a source of piety. This is the meaning of the wise man in the words of the text, *' The rich and the poor meet together : the Lord is the maker of them all."

Let us enter into the matter. We suppose two trutl s, and do not attempt to prove them. First, That although the wise man mentions here only two different states, yet he includes all. Under the gen- eral notion of rich and poor, we think, he compre- hends every tiling, that makes any sensible difference in the conditions of mankind. Accordingly, it is an incontestible truth, that what he says of the rich and poor may be said of the nobleman and plebeian, of the master and the servant. It may be said, the master and the servant, tlie nobleman and the pie* beian " meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all :" and so of the rest.

It is not unlikely, however, that Solomon, when he spoke of the rich and poor, had a particular de-^ sign in choosing this kind of diversity of condition to illustrate his meaning in prefexence to every other.

VOL, iir. 11

Ô2 2%e Equality of Maiikind.

Although I can hardly conceive, that there ever was a period of time, in which the love of riches did fas- cinate the eyes of mankind, as it does in this age, yet it is very credible, that in Solomon's time, as in ours, riches made the grand difference among men. Strictly speaking, there are now only two conditions of mankind, that of the rich, and that of the poor. Riches decide all, yea those qualities, which seem to have no concern with them, I mean, mental qualifi- cations. Find but the art of amassing money, and you will thereby find that of uniting in your own person all the advantages, of which mankind have entertained the highest ideas. How mean soever your birth may have been, you will possess the ail of concealing it, and you may form an alliance with the most illustrious families; how small soever your knowledge may be, you may pass for a superior gen- ius, capable of deciding questions the most intricate, points the most abstruse ; and, what is still more de- plorable, you may purchase with silver and gold a kind of honour and virtue, while you remain the most abandoned of mankind, at least, your money will attract that respect, which is due to nothing but lionovu' and virtue.

The second truth, which we suppose, is, that this proposition, *' the Lord is the tnaker of them all," is one of those concise, I had almost said, one of those defective propositions, which a judicious auditor ought to fill up in order to give it a proper meaning. This style is very common in our scriptures ; it is peculiarly proper in sententious works, such as this out of which we have taken the text. The design of

Tiie Equality of Mankind. 83

Solomon is to teach us, that whatever diversities of conditions there may be in society, the men who compose it are essentially equal. The reason that he assigns, is, " tlie Lord is the maker of them all." If this idea be not added, the proposition proves no- thing at all. It does not follow, because the same God is the creator of two beings, that there is any re- semblance between them, much less that they are equal. Is not God the creator of pure unembodied intelligences, who have faculties superior to those of mankind ? Is not God the author of their exist- ence as well as of ours? Because " God is the Cre- ator of both," does it follow that both are equal ? God is no less the creator of the organs of an ant, than he is the creator of the sublime geniusses of a part of mankind. Because God hath created an ant and a sublime genius, does it follow, that these two beings are equal ? The meaning of the Avords of Sol- omon depends then on what a prudent reader sup- plies. We may judge what ought to be supplied by the nature of the subject, and by a parallel passage in the book of Job. " Did not he that made nie in the womb, make my servant? and did he not fashion us alike ?"~^~ chap. xxxi. 15. To the words of our text, therefore, " The Lord is the maker of them all," we must add, the Lord hath fashioned them all alike. Nothing but gross ignorance, or wilful treach-

* This I'eading of the French bible differs a little from our trans- lation : but a comparison of the two translations with the origin- al, and with the scope of the place, will give the preference to the French reading. JVonne dis/iosuii 7ios in utero unus atque idem ? Vid. Poli Synops. in loo.

84 The Equality of Mankind.

ery, can incline an expositor to abuse this liberty of making up the sense of a passage, and induce him to conclude, that he may add to a text whatever may seem to him the most proper to support a favourite opinion, or to cover an unworthy passion. When we are inquisitive for truth, it is easy to discover tlie passages of holy scripture, in which the authors have made use of these concise imperfect sentences. Of this kind are all passages, which excite no dis- tinct ideas, or which excite ideas foreign from the scope of the writer, unless the meaning be supplied. For example, we read these words in the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's second epistle to the Corinthi- ans, ver. 4. " If he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preaclied, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye iiave not received, or an- other gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might "well bear with him." If we attach such ideas to these words, as they seem at first to excite, we shall take them in a sense quite opposite to the meaning of 8t. Paul. The apostle aimed to make the Corin- thians respect his ministry, and to consider his apos- tleship as confirmed of God in a manner as clear and decisive as that of any minister, who had preached to them. Is the proposition, that we have read, any thing to tliis purpose, unless we supply what is not expressed ? But if we supply what is understood, and add these words, but this is incredible, or any others equivalent, we shall perceive the force of his reasoning, which is this: If there hath been among you any one, whose preaching have revealed a Re- deemer, better adapted to your wants than he, whom

Tfie E,quàlity of Mankind, 85

we have preached to you ; or if you had received more excellfnt gifts than those, which the holy Spir- it so abundantly diffused among you by our minis- try, you mio;lît indeed liave preferred him before us; but it is not credible, that you have had such teach- ers: you ought then to respect our ministry.

We need not make any more remarks of this kind ; our text, it is easy to see, ought to be classed with them, that are imperfect, and must be supplied with words to make up the sense. The rich and the poor meet together in four articles of equality ; because the Lord hath wade them all equal in nature, or in essence; equal in privileixes, equal in appointment; equal in their last end. The Lord hath made them equal in nature ; they have the same faculties, and the same infirmities: Equal in privileges; for both are capable by the excellence of their nature, and more still by that of their religion, to form tiîe no- blest designs: Equal in designation; for although the rich difîër from the poor in their condition, yet both are intended to answer the great purposes of God with regard to human nature : Finally, They are equal in their last end; the same sentence of death is passed on both, and both alike must submit to it. " The rich and the poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all." Thus the text af- fords us four truths worthy of our most serious at- tention.

The first article of equality, in which men meet together, is an equality of essence, or of nature ; the Lord hath made them all with the same faculties, and with the same infirmities.

86 The Equality of Mankind.

1. With the s?ime facvUies. What is man? He consists of a body, and of a soul united to a body. This definition, or rather, if you will, this descrip- tion, agrees to all mankind, to the great as well as to the small, to the rich as well as to the poor. The soul of the poor hath the same power as tliat of the rich, to lay down principles, to infer consequences, to distinguish truth from falsehood, to choose good or evil, to examine what is most advantageous, and most glorious to it. The body of the poor, as well as that of the rich, displays the wisdom of him, who formed it ; it hath a symmetry in its parts, an exact- ness in its motions, and a proportion to its secret springs. Tlie laws, that unite the body of the poor to his soul are the same as those, which unite these two beings in the rich ; there is the same connexion between the two parts, that constitute the essence of the man; a similar motion of the body produceth a similar thought in the mind, a similar idea of tlie mind, or a similar emotion of tlie heart, produceth a similar motion of the body. This is man. These are the faculties of men. Diversity of condition makes no alteration in these faculties.

2. The Lord hath made them all with the same in- Jlrmities. They have the same infirmities of body.

The body of the rich, as well as that of the poor, is a common receptacle, where a thousand impuri- ties meet ; it is a general rendezvous of pains and sicknesses; it is a house of clay, whose foundation- is in the dust, and is crushed before the moth," Job jv. 19.

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They have the same mental infirmities. The mind of the rich, like that of the poor, is incapable of sa- tisfyino; itself on a thousand desirable questions: The mind of the rich, as well as that of the poor, is prevented by its natural ignorance, when it would expand itself in contemplation, and eclaircise a num- ber of obvious phenomena. The soul of the rich, like that of the poor, is subject to doubt, uncertain- ty, and iij^norance, and, what is more mortifying still, the heart of the rich, like the poor man's heart, is subject to the same passions, to envy, and to an- ger, and to all the disorder of sin.

They have the same frailties in the laws that unite the soul to the body. The soul of the rich, like the soul of the poor, is united to a body, or rather en- slaved by it. The soul of the rich, like that of the poor, is interrupted in its most profound meditations^ by a single ray of light, by the buzzing of a fly, or by the touch of an atom of dust. Tiie rich man's faculties of reasoning and of self-determining are sus- pended, and in some sort vanished and absorbed, like those of the poor, on the slightest alteration of the senses, and this alteration of the senses happens to hiui, as well as to the poor, at the approach of certain objects. David's reason is suspended at the sight of Bathsheba ; David no longer distinguisheth good from evil; David forgets the purity of the laws, which he himself had so highly celebrated, and, at the siglit of this object, his whole system of piety is refuted, his whole edifice of religion sinks and disappears.

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The second point of equality, in which the rich and the poor meet together^ is an equality of privileges. To aspire at certain eminences, when providence hath placed us in inferior stations in society, is egre- gious folly. If a man, who hath only ordinary tal- ents, only a common genius, pretend to acquire an immortal reputation among heroes, and to fill the world with his name and exploits, he acts fancifully and wildly. If he, who was born a subject, rashly and ambitiously attempt to ascend the tribunal of a magistrate, or the throne of a king, and to aim at governing, when he is called to obey, he is guilty of rebellion. But this law, which forbids inferiors to arrogate to themselves some privileges, doth not pro- hibit tliem from aspiring at others, incomparably more great and glorious.

Let us discover, if it be possible, the most misera- ble man in tlds assembly ; let us dissipate the dark- ness that covers him ; let us raise him from ttiat kind of grave, in which his indigence and meanness con- ceal him. Tliis man, unknown to the rest of rnan- kind; this man, who seems hardly formed by the Creator into an intelligent existence; this man hath, however, tlie greatest and most glorious privileges. Tliis man, being reconciled to G d by religion, hath a right to ajipire to the most noble and sublime ob- jects of it. He hath a riglit to elevate his s All to God in ardent prayer, and, without the hazard of beinfj; taxed witl> vanity, he may assure him- Sî'lf, that God, ti:e Great God, encircled in glory, and surrounded with the praises of the blessed, will behold liiai, hear his prayer, and grant iiis re-

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quest. This man hath a risjht to say to himself, The attention, that the Lord of nature gives to the gov- ernment of the universe, to tlie wants of mankind, to the innumerable company of angels, and to his own felicity, doth not prevent this adorable being from attending to me ; from occupying himself about my person, my children, my family, my house, my health, my substance, my salvation, my most minute concern, even a single hair of my head, Luke xxi. ] 8. This man hath a right of addressing iiod by names the most tender and mild, yea, if I may venture to speak so, by those most familiar names, which equals give each other ; he may call him his God, his master, his father, his friend. Believers have addressed God by each of these names, and God hath not only permitted them to do so, he hath even expressed his a[)probation of their taking these names in their mouths. This man hath a right of coming to eat with God at the Lord's table, and to live, if 1 may be allowed to speak so, to live with God, as a man lives with his friend. This man hath a right to apply to himself whatever is most great, most comfortable, most extatic in the mysteries of redemption, and to say to himself; For me the di- vine intelligence revolved the plan of redemption ; for me the Son of God was appointed before the foundation of the world to be a propitiatory sacri- fice ; for me in the fulness of time he took mortal flesh; for me he lived several years among men in this world ; for me he pledged himself to the justice of his Father, and suffered such unparalleled pun- ishment, as confounds reason and surpasses imagin-

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ation ; for me the holy Spirit shook the heavens andf the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. Hag. ii. 6, and established a ministry, which he confirmed by healing the sick, by raising the dead, by casting out devils, and by subverting the whole order of nature. This man hath a right to aspire to the felicity of the immortal God, to the glory of the immortal God, to the throne of the immortal God. Arrived at the fatal hour, lying on his dying bed, reduced to the sight of useless friends, ineffectual remedies, una- vailing tears, he hath a right to triumph over death, and to defy his disturbing in the smallest degree the tranquil calm, that his soul enjoys; he hath a right to summt>n tl-e gates of heaven to admit his soul, and to say to them, Lift up your heads , O ye gates ! even lift them up, ye everlasting doors !

These are the incontestible privileges of the man, who appears to us so contemptible. I ask, my breth- ren, have the nobles of the earth any privileges more glorious than these ? Do the train of attend- ants, which follows them, the horses that draw them, the grandees, who surround them;, the superb titles, which cofnmand exterior homage, give them any real superiority over the man, who enjoys those privileges, which we have briefly enumerated ? Ah ! my brethren, nothing proves the littleness of great men more than the impression, which the exterior advantages, that distinguish them from the rest of mankind, make on their minds. Are you aware of what you are doing, when you despise them whom providence placeth for a few years in a station in- ferior to your own ? You are despising and degrad-

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ang yourselves, you are renouncing your real great- ness, and, by valuing yourselves for a kind of for- eign glory, you discover a contempt for that, which constitutes the real dignity of your nature. The glory of man does not consist in his being a master, or a rich man, a nobleman, or a king ; it consists in his being a man, in his beiug formed in the image of his Creator, and capable of all the eleva- tion, that vv€ have l3een describing. If you con- temn your inferiors in society, you plainly declare, that you are insensible to your real dignity ; for, had you derived your ideas of real greatness from their true source, you would have respected it in persons, who appear the most mean and despicable. The rich and the poor meet together ; the Lord hath endow ed them all with the same privileges. They all meet together on the same line of equality in re- gard to their daims of privileges. This was the point to be proved.

We add, in the third place, The rich and the poor meet together in an equality oî destination. Rich and poor are placed by providence in different ranks, I grant : but their different stations are fixed with the same design, I mean to accomplish the purposes of God in regard to men.

AVhat are the designs of God in regard to men ? AVhat end doth he propose to effect by placing us on this planet thirty, forty, or sixty years, before he de- clares our eternal state ? We have frequently answer- ed this important question. God hath placed us here in a state of probation : he hath set before our £yes supreme felicity and intolerable misery; he hatb

d^ The Equality of Mankind. ]

pointed out the vices, that conduct to the last, and the virtues necessary to arrive at the first, and he hath declared, that our conduct shall determine our future state. Tl is, I think, is the design of God in regard to men. This is the notion that we ought to foriri, of the end which God proposes in fixing us a few years upon earth, and in placing us among our fellow-creatures in society.

On this principle, which is the most glorious con- dition ? It is neither that which elevates us highest in society, nor that which procureth us the greatest conveniences of life. If it be not absolutely indif- ferent to men, to whom it is uncertain whether they shall quit the present world the next moment, or con- tinue almost a century in it; I say, if it be not abso- lutely indifferent to them, whether they be high or low, rich or poor, it would be contrary to all the laws of prudence, were they to determine their choice of a condition by considerations of this kind alone. A creature capable of eternal felicity ought to consider tliat the most glorious condition, which js the most likely to procure him the eternal feli- city, of which he is capable. Were a wise man to choose a condition, he would certainly prefer that, in which he could do most good ; he would always consider that as the most glorious station for him- self, in which he could best answer the great end for which his Creator placed him in this world. It is glorious to be at the head of a nation ; but if I could do more good in a mean station than I could do in an eminent post, the meanest station would be far more glorious to me than tlie most eminent

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post. Why ? because that is most glorious to me, which best answers the end that my Creator pro- posed in placing me in this world. God placed nie m tLis world to enable me to do good, and pre- pare myself by a holy life for a happy eternity. To do good at the head of a nation, certain talents are necessary. If I have not these talents, not only I should not do good in this post: but I should cer- tainly do evil. 1 should expose my country to dan- ger, 1 should sink its credit, obscure its glory, and debase its dignity. It is, therefore, incomparably less glorious for me to be at the head of a state than to occ upy a post less eminent. It is glorious to fill the highest office in the church, to announce the ora- cles of God, to develope the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and to direct wandering souls to the road, that leads lo the sovereign good: but if I be destitute of gifts essential to the filling of this office, it is incomparably more glorious to me to remain a pupil than to commence a tutor. Why? Because that station is the most eligible to me, which best empowers me to answer the end for which my Creator placed me in this world. My Creator placed me in tins world, that I might do good, and that by a holy life I might prepare for a happy eter- nity. In order to do good in the highest offices in the cliurch great talents are necessary; if God hath not bestowed great talents on me, I sht)u]d not only not do good : but I should do harm. Instead of an- nouncing the oracles of God I should preach the tra- ditions of men; I should involve the mysteries of religion in darkness instead of developing them ; I

94 The Equality of Mankind.

should plunge poor mortals into an abyss of misery, instead of pointing out the road, which would con- duct them to a blessed immortality. But by re- maining in the state of a disciple 1 may obtain at- tention, docility, and love to truth, which are the virtues of my condition. It is more glorious to be a good subject than a bad king ; it is more glorious to be a good disciple than a bad teacher.

But most men have false ideas of glory, and we form our notions of it from the opinions of these imjust appraisers of men and things. That which el- evates us in their eyes, seems glorious to us ; and we esteem that contemptible, which abaseth us before them. We discover, I know not what, meanness in mechanical employments, and the contempt that we have for the employ, extends itself to him, who fol- lows it, and thus we habituate ourselves to despise them, whom God honours. Let us undeceive our- selves, my brethren ; there is no condition shameful, except it necessarily lead us to some infraction of the laws of our Supreme lawgiver, who is able lo save and to destroy^ James iv. 12. Strictly speaking, one condition of life is no more honourable than another. There are, 1 grant, some stations, in which tlie ob- jects that employ those who fill them, are naturally more noble than those of other stations. The condi- tion of a magistrate, whose employment is to im- prove and to enforce maxims of government, hath a nobler object than that of a mechanic, whose busi- ness it is to improve the least necessary ait. There is a nobler object in the station of a pastor called to publish the laws of religion, than in that of a school-

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master confined to teach the letters of the alphabet. But God will regulate our eternal state not accord- ing to the object of our pursuit : but according to the manner in which we should have pursued it. In this point of light, all ranks are equal, every condi- tion is the same. Mankind have then an equality of destination. The ricli and the poor are placed in different ranks with the same view, both are to an- swer the great end, tiiat God hath proposed to an- swer by creating and arranging mankind.

Hitherto we have had occasion for some little la- bour to prove our thesis, that all men are equal, not- withstanding tlie various conditions in which God hath placed tliem. And you, my brethien, have had occasion for some docility to feel tlie force of our arguments. Eut in our fourth article tiie truth will establish itself, and its force will be felt by a re- cital, yea, by a hint of our arguments.

We said, fourthly, that men are equal in their last cndy that the same sentence of death is denounced on all, and that tliey must all alike submit to their fate. On which side can we view deatli, and not re- ceive abundant evidence of this truth ? Consider the certainty of death ; the nearness of death ; the har- bingers of death ; the ravages of death ; so many sides by which death may be considered, so many proofs, so many démonstrations, so many sources of demonstrations of the truth of this sense of my text, the rich and poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all.

1. Remark the cerf</m(y of death ; Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return, Gen. iii, 19. It is ap-

96 The Equality of 3Iaiikind.

pointed unto men once to die, Heb. ix. 27. The sen- tence is universal, its universality involves all the posterity of Adam ; it includes all conditions, all professions, all stations, and every step of life en- sures the execution of it.

Whither art thou going, Rich man ! thou, who congratu latest thyself because thy Jields bring forth plentifnllj/, and who safest to thy soul, Soul! thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and he merry ^ To deati». Whither art thou going, poor man! thou, who ait toiling through a languishing life, who beggest thy bread from door to door, who are continually perplexed in finding out means of procuring bread to eat, and raiment to put on, always an object of the charity of some, and of the hard heartedness of otiiers ? To death. Whither goest thou, nobleman ! thou, who deckest thyself with borrowed plumes, who puttest the renown of thine ancestors into the list of tliy vir- tues, and who thinkest thyself formed of an earth more refined than that of the rest of mankind ? To death. Whither goest thou, peasant! thou, who de- ridest the folly of a peer, and at the same time val- uest thyself on something equally absurd ? To death. Whither, soldier ! art thou marching, thou, who talkest of nothing but glory and heroism, and who amid many voices sounding in thine ears, and incessantly crying, Remember, thou art mortaU art dreaming of, I know not what, immortality ? To death. Whither art thou going, merchant! thou, who breathest nothing but tiie increase of tiiy for- tune, and who judgest of the happiness or misery of

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thy days, not by thine acquisition of knowledge, and thy practice of virtue : but by the gain or the loss of thy wealth ? To death. Whither are we all going, my dear hearers? To death. Do I exceed the truth, my brethren ? Does death regard titles, dignities, and riches? Where is Alexander? Where is Caesar ? Where are all they, whose names struck terror through the whole world ? They were : but they are no more. They fell before the voice, that cried, Return^ ye children of men, Psal. xc. 3. I saidy Ye are gods : but ye shall die like men, Psal. Ixxxii. 6. 1 said, Ye are gods ; tliis, ye great men of the earth ! this is your title ; this is the patent that cre- ates your dignity, that subjects us to your commands, and teacheth us to revere your characters : hut ye shall die like men : tliis is the decree, that degrades you, and puts you on a level with us. Ye are gods; I will then respect your authority, and consider you as images of him, " by whom kings reign : but ye shall die ;" I will not then suffer myself to be impo- sed on by your grandeur, and whatever homage 1 may yield to my king, I will always remember, that he is a man. The certainty of death is the first side, on which we may consider this murder- er of mankind ; and it is the first proof of our fourth proposition : Mankind are equal in their last end.

2. The proximity of death is a second demonstra- tion, a second source of demonstrations. The lira- its of our lives are equal. The life of the rich as well as that of the poor is " reduced to an hand- breadtli," Psal. xxxix. 5. Sixty, eighty, or a hun-

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98 The Eqiialily of Mankind.

dred years, is usually the date of a long life. Tiie sceptre hath no more privilege in this respect than the crook: nor is the palace at any greater distance from the tomb than the cottage from the grave. Heaps of silver and gold may intercept the rich man's sight of death : but they can neither intercept death's sight of the rich man, nor prevent his forcing" the feeble intrenchments, in which he may attempt to hide himself.

3. The harbingers of death are a third demonstra- tion, a third source of demonstrations. The rich have the same forerunners as the poor ; both have similar dying agonies, violent sicknesses, disgustful medicines, intolerable pains, and cruel misgivings. Pass through those superb apartments in which the rich man seems to defy the enemy, who lurks and threatens to seize him ; go through the crowd of do- mestics who surround him; cast your eyes on the bed where nature and art have contributed to his ease. In this grand edifice, amidst this assembly of courtiers, or, shall I rattier say, amidst this troop of vile slaves, you will find a most mortifying and mis- erable object. You will see a visage all pale, livid, distorted ; you will hear the shrieks of a wretch tor- mented with the gravel, or the gout ; you will see a soul terrified with the fear of those eternal hooks, ^vhich are about to be opened, of that formidable tribunal, wliicli is already erected, of the awful sen- tence, that is about to be denounced.

4. Tlie ravages of death make a fourth demon- stration; they are the same witli the ricli as with the poor. Death alike condeuius their eyes to impen-

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etrable night, their tongue to eternal silence, their whole system to total destruction. I see a superb monument. I approach this striking object. I see magnificent inscriptions. I read the pompous titles of the most nohle^ the most puissant^ generaly prince, monarch, arbiter of peace, arbiter of war, I long to see the inside of this elegant piece of workmanship, and I peep under the stone, that covers hiai, to whom all this pomp is consecrated ; there I find, what ? ... a putrified carcase devouring by Avorms. O vanity of human grandeur! " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ! Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom is no help," Eccl. i. 2. '* His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish," Psal. cxivi. '^, 4. " As for man, his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth; for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more,'* Psal. ciii. 15, IQ.

5. Finally, the judgment, that follows death, car- ries our proposition to the highest degree of evi- dence. " It is appointed unto men once to die: but after this the judgment,'* Heb. ix. 27. The rich and the poor must alike appear before that throne, which St. John descrilj^s in the revelation, and before that venerable personage, " from whose face the heaven and the earth flee away," chap, xx, 11. If there be any difference between the rich and the poor, it is all, methinks, in favor of the latter. The summons, that nmst be one day addressed to each of us, giv( an account of thy stewardship, Luke xvi. 2. tliis sum- mons is always terrible. \^ou indigent people!

J 00 The EquuUly of Mankind,

whom God (to use the Ian2;ua2:e of scripture,) batli set over a few thino;s, an account of these few things will be required of you, and you will he as surely punished for hidino; one talent, as if you had hidden more, Matt. xxv. 1 7.

Eut how terrible to me seems the account that must be given of a great number of talents ! If the rich man have some advantages over tlie poor, (and who can doubt that he hath many ?) how are his ad- vantages counterpoised by the thought of the con- sequences of death ! What a summons, my brethren ! is this for a great man. Give an account of thy stew- ardship ! give an account of thy riches. Didst thou acc[uire them lawfully ? or were they the produce of unjust dealings, of cruel extortions, of repeated frauds, of violated promises, of perjuries and oaths? Didst thou distri])ute them charitably, compassion- ately, liberally ? or didst thou reserve them avari- ciously, meanl3% barbarously ? Didst thou employ Ihem to found hospitals, to procure instruction for the ignorant, relief for the sick, consolations for the afflicted? or didst thou employ them to cherish thy pride, to display thy vanity, to immortalize thine ambition and arrogance ? Give an account of thy Tejmtation, Didst thou employ it to relieve the op- pressed, to protect the widow, and orphan, to main- tain justice, to diffuse truth, to propagate religion? or, on the contrary, didst thou use it to degrade others, to dei^y thy passions, to render thyself a .scourge to society, a plague to mankind? Give an account of thine honours. Didst thou direct them to their true end, by contributing all in thy pov>'er

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<o the good of society, to the defence of thy coun- try, to the prosperity of trade, to the advantage of the public ? or, didst thou direct thiom only to thine own private interest, to the estai)lishment of thy for- tune, to the elevation of thy family, to that insatia- ble avidity of glory, which gnawed and devoured thee? Ah! my brethren! if we enter very seriousl) into tliese reflections, we shall not be so much struck, as we usually are, with the diversity of men's con ditions in this life ; we shall not aspire very eagerly after the highest ranks in this woild. " The rich and poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all ;" that is to say, he hath made them equal in their nature, equal in their privileges, equal in their destination, and equal, as we have proved, in their last end.

The inferences, that we intend to drav/ from what we have said, are not inferences of sedition and an- archy. We do not mean to disturb the order of so- ciety ; nor, by affirniing that all men have an essen- tial equality, to reprobate that subordination, v»^ith- out which society would be notiiing but confusion, and the men, who compose it, a lawless banditti. We affirm, that the subject and the prince, the master and the servant, are truly and properly equal : but far be it from us to infer, tiiat therefore the subject should withdraw his submission from his prince, or the servant diminish his obedience to his master. On the contrary, subjecis and servants would re- nounce all that is glorious in their conditions, if they entertained such wild ideas in their minds. That, ivhich ecjuals them to the superiors, whom provi-

102 The Equality of Mankind.

de nee hath set over them, is the belief of their be- ing capable, as well as their superiors, of answering tlie end that God proposeth in creating mankind. They would counteract this end, were they to re- fuse to discharge those duties of their condition to which providence calls them.

Nor would we derive from the truths which we have affirmed, fanatical inferences. We endeavour- ed before to preclude all occasion for reproach on this article, yet perhaps we may not escape it ; for how often does an unfriendly auditor, in order to enjoy the pleasure of decrying a disgustful truth, af- fect to forget the corrective, with which the preach- er sweetens it ? we repeat it, therefore, once more ; we do not pretend to afHrm, that the conditions of all men are absolutely equal, by affirming that in some senses all mankind are on a level. We do not say, that tlie man, whom society agrees to con- temn, is as happy as the man, whom society unites to revere. AVc do not say, that the man, who hath no where to hide iiis head, is as happy as he who is commodiously accommodated. We do not say, that a man, v.'ho is destitute of all the necessaries of life, is as happy as the man, whose fortune is sufficient to procure him all the conveniences of it. No, my brethren! we have no more design to deduce infer- ences of fanaticism from the doctrine of the \e\i^ than we have to infer maxims of anarchy and rebel- lion. But we infer just conchisions conformable to tie precious gift of reason, that the Creator hath bestowed on us, and to the incomparably more pre- cious gift of religion with which he hath enriched

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us. Derive then, my brethren, conclusions of these kinds, and let them be the application of this dis- course.

Derive from our subject conclusions of wof/cra/iow. Labour, for it is allowable, and the morality of the gospel doth not condemn it, labour to render your name illustrious, to augment your fortune, to estab- lish your reputation, to contribute to the pleasure of your life; but labour no more than becomes you. Let efforts of this kind never make you lose sight of the great end of life. Remember, as riches, gran- deur, and reputation, are not the supreme good, so obscurity, meanness, and indigence, are not the su- preme evil. Let the care of avoiding the supremo evil, and the desire of obtaining the supreme good,, be always the most ardent of our wishes, and let others yield to that of arriving at the chief good.

Derive from our doctrine conclusions of acquies- ceiice in the laws of providence. If it please provi- dence to put an essential difference between you and the great men of the earth, let it be your holy ambi- tion to excel in it. You cannot murmur without be- ing guilty of reproaching God, because he hath made you what you are; because he formed you men, and not angels, archangels, or seraphims. Had he annexed essential privileges to the highest ranks, submission, would always be your lot, and you ought always to adore, and to submit to that intelligence, which governs the world : but this is not your case. God gives to the great men of the earth an exterior, transient, superficial glory : but he hath made you share with them a glory real, solid, and permanent.

104 The Equalilij of AlanMnd,

What difficulty can a wise man find by acquiescing in this law of providence ?

Derive from the truths you have heard conclu- sions of vigilance. Instead of ingeniously flattering yourself with the vain glory of being elevated above your neighbour ; or of suflering your mind to sink under the puerile mortification of being inferior to him; incessantly inquire what is the virtue of your «tation, the duty of your rank, and use your utmost industry to fill it worthily. You are a magistrate, the virtue of your station, the duty of your rank, is to employ yourself wholly to serve your fellow sub- jects in inferior stations, to prefer the public good before your own private interest, to sacrifice your- self for the advantage of that state, the reins of which you hold. Practise this virtue, fulfil these engage- juents, put off self-interest, and devote yourself whol- ly to a people, vvho intrust you with their properties, their liberties, and their lives. You are a subject, the duly of your rank, the virtue of your station, is submission, and you should obey not only through fear of punishment but, through a wise regard for order. Practise this virtue, fulfil this engagement,, make it your glory to submit, and in the authority of princes respect the power of God, whose minis- ters and representatives they are. You are a rich man, the virtue of your station, the duty of your condition, is beneficence, generosity, magnanimity. Practise these virtues, discharge these duties. Let your heart be always moved with the necessities of the wretched, and your ears open to their complaints.

The Equality of Mankind. 105

Never omit an opportunity of doing good, and be in society a general resource, an universal refuge.

From the truths which you have heard, derive motives oî seal and fervour. It is mortifying, I own, in some respects, when one feels certain emotions of dignity and elevation, to sink in society. It is mor- tifying to beg bread of one who is a man like our selves. It is mortifying to be trodden underfoot by our equals, and, to say all in a word, to be in stations very unequal among our equals. But this economy will quickly vanish. The fashion of this world will presently pass aivay, and we shall soon enter that blessed state, in which all distinctions will be abol- ished, and in which all that is noble in immortal souls, will shine in all its splendour. Let us, my brethren, sigh after this period, let us make it the ob- ject of our most constant and ardent prayers. God grant we may all have a right to pray for it! God grant oiu' text may be one day verified in a new sense. May all who compose this assembly, mas- ters and servants, rich and poor, may we all, my dear hearers, having acknowledged ourselves equal in es- sence, in privileges, in destination, in tie last end, may we all alike participate the same glory. God grant it for his mercy-sake. Amen.

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8ERM0N IIL

The Worth of the Soul j

Matthew xvi. 26. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?

31Y bretliven, before we enforce the truths which Jesus Christ inchided in the words of the text, we will endeavour to fix the meaning of it. This de- pends on the term soid, which is used in this passage, and which is one of the most equivocal words in scripture ; for it is taken in différent, and even in contrary senses, so that sometimes it signifies a dead bodi/y Lev. xxi. J. We will not divert your atten- tion now by reciting the long list of explications that ?nay be given to the term : but we will content ourselves with remarking, that it can be taken only in two senses in the text.

Soul may be taken for life; and in this sense the term is used by St. Matthew, who says. They are dead who sought the y^oung child" s soul, chap. ii. 20. Soul may be taken for that spiritual part of us, which we call tJie soul bv excellence ; and in this sense it is used by our Lord, who says, fear not them which kill the body, hid are not able to kill the soul : hut ra- ther fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, chap. x. 28.

108 Tlie Worth of the Soul

If we take the word in the first sense, for life, we put into the mouth of Jesus Christ a proposilion Terified by experience; that is, that men consider life as the greatest of all temporal blessings, and that they part with every thing to preserve it. This rule hath its exceptions : but the exceptions confirm, the rule. Sometimes, indeed, a disgust with the world, a principle of religion, a point of honoiu-, will incline men to sacrifice their lives: but these particular cases cannot prevent our saying in the gen- eral, "What shall a man give in exchange for his life?'*

If we take the word for that part of man, which we call the soul by excellence, Jesus Christ intended to point out to us, not what men usually do ; (for alas! it happens too often, that men sacrifice their souls to the meanest and most sordid interest,) but what they always ought to do. He meant to teach us, that the soul is the noblest part of us, and that no- thing is too great to be given for its ransom.

Both these interpretations are probable, and each hath its partisans, and its proofs. But, although we would not condemn the first, we prefer the last, not only because it is the most noble meaning, and opens the most extensive field of meditation : but because it seems to us the most conformable to our Saviour's design in speaking the words.

Judge by what precedes our text. " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Jesus Christ spoke thus to fortify his disciples against the temptations, to which their profession of the gospel was about to expose them.

The Worth of the Soul. 109

If by the word soul we understand the life, we shall be obliged to go a great way about to give any rea- sonable sense to the words. On the contrary, if we take the word for the 5/)m7, the meaning of the whole is clear and easy. Now it seems to me beyond a doubt, that Jesus Christ, by the manner in which he hath connected the text with the preceding verse, used the term soul in the latter sense.

Judge of our comment also by what follows. " What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? For," adds, our Lord immediately after, " the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with liis angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." What connection have these words with our text, if we take the word soul for life? W^hat connection is there between this proposition, Man hath nothing more valuable than life, and this, " For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels?" Whereas if we adopt our sense of the term, the connection instantly appears.

We will then retain this explication. By the soul we understand here the spirit of man ; and, this word being thus explained, the meaning of .Tesus Christ in the whole passage is understood in part, and one remark will be sufficient to explain it wholly. We must attend to the true meaning of the phrase, lose his soul, which immediately precedes the text, and which we sh.all often use to explain the text itself. To lose the soul does not signify to be deprived of this part of one's self; for, however great this pun- ishment might be, it is the chief object of a wicked man's wishe« : but to lose the soul is to lose those real

110 The Worth of the Soul

blessings, and (o sustain those real evils, which a soul is capable of enjoying and of suffering. When, therefore, Jesus Christ says in the words tliat pre- cede the text, " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" and in the iexi^ " What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" he exhibits one truth under different fa- ces, so that our reffections will naturally be turned sometimes to the one, and sometimes to the other of these propositions. He points out, I say, two truths, which being united signify, that as the conquest of tlie imi verse would not be an object of value suffi- cient to enoage us to sacrifice our souls, so if we had lost them, no price could be too great to be paid for the recoveiy of thein. Let us here fix our atten- tion; and let us examine what constitutes the digni- ty of the soul. Let us inquire,

L The excellence of its nature;

IL The infinity of its duration ;

IIL The price of its redemption ; Three articles which will divide this discourse.

L Nothing can be given in exchange for our souls. We prove tliis proposition by the excellence of its nature. What is the soul ? There have been great absurdities, in the answers given to this question. In former ages of darkness, when most of tlie studies that were pursued for the cultivation of the mind served to render it unfruitful ; when people thought they had arrived at the highest degree of know- ledge, if they had filled their memories with pomp- ous terms and superb nonsense ; in those times, I &ay, it was thought, the question might be fully and

The Worth of the Soul. 1 1 1

satisfactorily answered, and dear and complete ideas given of the nature of the soul. But in later times, when philosophy being cleansed from the impurities that infected the schools, equivocal terms were re- jected, and only clear and distinct ideas admitted, and thus literary investigations reduced to real and solid use ; in these days, I say, philosophers, and philosophers of great name, have been afraid to answer this question, and have affirmed that the narrow limits which confine our researches, disable us from acquiring any other than obscure notions of the human soul, and that all which we can propose to elucidate the nature of it, serve rather to discov- er what it is not, than what it is. But if the deci- sions of the former savour of presumption, does not the timid reservedness of the latter seem a blame- able modesty ? If we be incapable of giving such sufficient answers to the question as would fully sat- isfy a genius earnest in inquiring, and eager for de- monstration, may we not be able to give clear and high ideas of our souls, and so to verify these sen- tentious words of the Saviour of tlie world. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Indeed we do clearly and distinctly know three- properties of the soul; and every one of us knows by his own experience, that it is capable of know- ing, willing, and feeling. The first of these proper- ties is intelligence, the second volition, the third sensation, or, more properly, the acutest sensibility, I am coming now to the design of my text, and here I hope to prove, at least to the intelligent part o=f my hearers, by the nature of the soul, that tlie loss

112 The Worth of the Soul,

of it is the greatest of all losses, and that nothing is too valuable to be given for its recovery.

Intelligence is the first property of the soul, and the first idea that we ought to form of it, to know its nature. The perfection of this property consists in havinof clear and distinct ideas, extensive and cer- tain knowledge. To lose the soul, in this respect, is to sink into total ignorance. This loss is irrepara- ble, and he who should have lost his soul in this sense, could give nothing too great for its recovery. Knowledge and happiness are inseparable in intelli- gent beings, and, it is clear, a soul deprived of in- telligence cannot enjoy perfect felicity. Few men, I know, can be persuaded to admit this truth, and there are, I must allow, great restrictions to be made on this article, w^iile we are in the present state.

1. In our present state, " every degree of know- ledge, that the mind acquires, costs the body much.'* A man, who would make a progress in science, must retire, meditate, and in some sense, involve himself in himself. Now, meditation exhausts the animal spirits; close attention tires the brain; the collecting of the soul into itself often injures the health, and sometimes puts a period to life.

2. In our present state, " our knowledge is con- fined within narrow bounds." Questions the most worthy of our curiosity, and the most proper to an- imate and hiiîame us, are unanswerable ; for the ob- jects lie beyond our reach. From all our efforts to eclaircise such questions we sometimes derive only mortifying reflections on the weakness of our capa- cities, and the najiow limits of our knowledge.

The Worth of the Soul 113

3. In this present state, sciences are incapable of demonstration, and consist, in regard to us, of little more than probabilities and appearances. A man, whose genius is a little exact, is obliged in multi- tudes of cases to doubt, and to suspend his judg- ment; and his pleasure of investigating a point is almost always interrupted by the too well-grounded fear of taking a shadow for a substance, a phantom for a reality.

4. In this world, most of those sciences^ in the study of which we spend the best part of life, are improperly called sciences ; they have indeed some distant relation to our wants in this present state : but they have no reference at all to our real dignity. What relation to the real dignity of man hath the knowledge of languages, the arranging of various arbitrary and barbarous terms in the mind to enable one to express one thing in a hundred different words ? What relation to tlie real dignity of man hath the study of antiquity ? Is it worth while to hold a thousand conferences, and to toil through a thousand volumes for the sake of discovering the reveries of our ancestors ?

5. In this world we often see real and useful know- ledge deprived of its lustre, through the supercilious neglect of mankind, and science falsely so called crowned with their applause. One man, whose mind is a kind of scientific chaos, full of vain specu- lations and confused ideas, shall be preferred before another, vv'hose speculations have always been direct- ed to form his judgment, to purify his ideas, and to bow his heart to tjuth and virtue. This partiality i^

VOL. Ill, 15

114 The Worth of the Soul.

often seen. Now, although it argues a nanownes?^ of soul to make liappiness depend on the opmionS of others, yet it is natural for intelligent beings, pla- ced among other intelligent beings, to wish for that approbation which is due to real merit. Were the present life of any long dnration, were not the prox- imity of all-piu'suing death a powerful consolation against all our inconveniences, these unjust estima- tions would be very mortifying.

Such being the imperfections, the defects, and the obstacles of our knowledge, we ought not to be sur- prized, if in general we do not comprehend the great influence, that the perfection of our faculty of think- ing and knowing hath over our happiness. And yet even in this life, and with all these disadvanta- ges, our knovvledge, however difficult to acquire, however confined, uncertain and partial, how little soever it may be applauded, contributes to our feli- city. Even in this life there is an extreme difference between a learned and an illiterate man: between him, whose knowledge of languages enables him (so to speak,) to converse with people of all nations, and of all ages; and l;im who can only converse witli his own contemporary countrymen: between him, whose knowledge of history enables him to dis- tinguish the successful from the hazardous, and to profit l)y the vices and tlie virtues of his predeces- sors; and him, who falls every day into mistakes in- separable from the want of experience : between him whose understanding: ueiohs all in ti:e balance of truth ; and him, who every moment needs a guide to conduct him. Even in this life, a man coilecte-'l

The Worth of the 8ouL 1,15

witliin himself, sequestered from the rest of man- kind, separated from an intercourse with all the liv- ing, deprived of all that constitutes the bliss of so- ciety, entombed, if the expression may be allowed, in a solitary closet, or in a dusty library, such a man enjoys an innocent pleasure, more satisfactory and refined than that, which places of diversion the juost frequented, and sights the most superb, can af- ford.

But if, even in this life, learning and knowledge have so much influence over our happiness, what shall we enjoy, when our souls shall be freed from their slavery to the senses ? What, when we are per- mitted to indulge to the utmost the pleasing desire of knowing ? What felicity, Avhen God shall unfold to our contemplation tbat boundless extent of truth and knowledge which his intelligence revolves! What happiness will accompany our certain knowledge of the nature, the perfections, and the purposes of God ! What pleasure will attend our discovery of the pro- found wisdom, the perfect equity, and the exact fit- ness of those events, which often surprized and of- fended us ! Above all, what sublime delight must we enjoy, when we find our own interest connected with every truth, and all serve to demonstrate the reality, the duration, the immutability of our happiness 1 How think you, my bretliren, is not such a proper- ty beyond all valuation ? Can the world indemnify us for the final loss of it ? If we have had the un- happiness to lose it, ought any thing to be accounted ioo great to be given for its recovery ? And is not ithis expression of Jesus Christ, in this view of it^ full

116 The Worth of the Soul

of meaning and truth, What shall a man give in ex- change for his soul ?

What we have affirmed of the first properly of our souls, that it is infinitely capable of contiibuting to our happiness, although we can never fully com- prehend it on earth, we affirm of the other two pro- perties, volition, and sensibility.

The perfection of tl>e will consists in a perfect iiarmony between the hofiness and the plenitude of our desires. Now, to what decree soever we carry our holiness on earth, it is always mixed with imper- fection. And, as our holiness is imperfect, our en- joyments must be so too. Moreover, as providence itself seems often to gratify an irregular will, we can- not w^ell comprehend the misery of losing the soul in this respect. But judge of this loss, (and let one re- flection suffice on this article :) judge of this loss by this consideration. In that econotny, into which our souls must enter, the being, the most essentially holy, I mean God, is the most perfectly happy ; and the most obstinately wicked being is the most complete- ly miserable.

In like manner, we cannot well comprehend to what degree the property of our souls, that renders us susceptible of sensations, can be carried. How miserable soever tl;e state of a man exposed to lieavy afflictions on earth may be, a thousand causes lessen the weight of them. Sometimes reason as- sists the sufferer, and sometimes religion, sometimes a friend condoles, and sometimes a remedy relieves; and this thought at all times remains, death will shortly terminate all my ills. The same reflections

The Worth of the Soul 117

may be made on sensations of pleasure, which are always mixed, suspended, and interrupted.

Nevertheless, the experience we have of our sen- sibility on earth is sufficient to give us some just no- tions of the greatness of that loss, which a soul may sustain in this respect ; nor is there any need to arouse our imaginations by images of an economy of w hich we have no idea.

The most depraved of mankind, they, who are slaves to their senses, may comprehend the great mis- ery of a state, in which tiie senses will be tormented, even better than a believer can, who usually studies to diminish the authority of sense, and to free his soul fiom its lawless sway.

Judge ye then of tlie loss of the soul, ye sensual minds, by this single consideration, if you have been insensible to all the rest. When we endeavour to convince you of the greatness of this loss by urging the privation of that knowledge, whicli tlie elect en- joy now, and which they hope to enjoy hereafter, you were not affected with this misery, because you considered the pleasure of knowing as a chimera. When we attempted to convince you of the misery of losing the soul by urging tlie privation of virtue, and the slinging remorse that follows sin, you were not touched w^itli this misery, because vii tue you con- sider as a restraint, and remorse as a folly. But as you know no other felicity, nor any other misery, than what your senses transmit to your souls, judge of the loss of the soul by conceiving a state, in which all the senses shall be punished. The loss of the soul is the loss of those harmonious sounds, which

118 The Worth of the Soul

have so often charmed your ears; it is the loss of those exquisite flavours, that your palate has so of- ten relished; it is the loss of all those objects of de- sire, which have excited your passions. The loss of the soul is an ocean of pain, the bare idea of which iiath so often made you tremble, when religion call- ed you to sail on it. The loss of the soul will be in regard to you the imprisonment of yon confessor, enclosed in a dark and filthy dungeon, a prey to in- fection and putrefaction, deprived of the air and the light. The loss of the soul will reduce you to the condition of that galley slave, groaning under the lashes of a barbarous officer, who is loaded with a galling chain, who sinks under the labour of that oar ■which he works, or rather, with which he himself is trailing along. The loss of the soul will place you in the condition of yon martyr on the wheel, whose living limbs are disjointed and racked, whose linger- ing life is loth to cease, who lives to glut the rage of his tormentors, and who expires only through an overflowing access of pain, his executioners with the barbarous industry being frugal of liis blood and his strength, in order to make him sutler as much as he can possibly suffer before he dies.

But, as I said before, all these images convey but very imperfect ideas of the loss of our souls. Were we to extend our speculations as far as the subject >vouid allow, it would be easy to prove that the soul is capable of enjoying sensible pleasures infinitely more refined, and of suflering pains infinitely more excru- ciating than all tliose which are felt in this world. In this world, sensations of pleasure and pain arc

The Worth of the Soul. 11 ^

proportioned to the end, that the Creator proposed in renderhig us capable of them. This end is al- most always the preservation and well-being of the body during the short period of mortal life. To an- swer this end, it is not necessary, that pleasure and pain should be so exquisite as our senses may be ca- pable of enduring. If our senses give us notice of the approach of things hurtful and beneficial to us, it is sufficient.

But in heaven sensible pleasures will be infinitely more exquisite. There the love of God will have its free course. There the promises of religion will all be fulfilled. There the labours of the righteous will be rewarded. Tliere we shall discover how far the power of God will be displayed in favour of aii elect soul. In like manner the extent of divine pow er in punishing tlie wicked will appear in their fu- ture state of misery. That justice must be glorifi- ed, which nothing but the blood of .Tesus Christ could appease in favour of the elect. There the sin- ner must fall a victim to the wrath of God. There he must experience how " fearful a thing it is to fail into the hands of the living God," Heb. x. 31. Hath a man, who is threatened with these miseries, any thing too valuable to give for this redemption from them ? Is not the nature of our souls, which is known by these three properties, understanding, volition, and sensibility, expressive of its dignity ? Does not this demonstrate this proposition of our Saviour, " What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?"

II. The immortaUlij of a soul constitutes its digni- ty, and its endless duration is a source of demon-

Î2P The Worth of the Soul

strations in favour of the proposition in the text. This diojnity is incontestible. The principle of the immortality of the soul, from which wfe reason, is undeniable. Two suppositions may seem, at first sight, to weaken the evidence of the immortality of the soul. First, The close union of the soul to the body seems unfavourable to the doctrine of its im- mortality, and to predict its dissolution with the body. But this supposition, methinks, vanisheth, when we consider what a disproportion there is be- tween the properties of the soul, and those of the body. This disproportion proves, that they are two distinct substances. The separation of two distinct substances makes indeed some change in the manner of tiieir existing : but it can make none really in their existence.

But whatever advantages we may derive from this reasoning, I freely acknowledge, that this, of all philosophical arguments for the immortality of the soul, the least of any affects me. The great ques- tion on this article, is not what we think of our souls, when we consider them in theniselves, independent- ly on God, whose omnipotence surrounds and gov- erns them. Could an infidel demonstrate against us, that tfie human soul is material, and that therefore, it must perish with the body : Could we, on the con- trary, demonstrate, against him, that the soul is im- material, and that therefore it is not subject to laws of matter and must survive the destiuction of the body ; neither side, in my opinion, \a ould gain any thing considerable. The principal question that, >yhich alone ought to deteriume our notions on this

The Worth of the Soul. 121

article, would remain unexamined : that is, whether God will employ his power over our souls to per- petuate, or to destroy them. For could an infidel prove, that God would employ his power to annihi- late our souls, in vain should we liave demonstrated, that they were naturally immortal ; for we should be obliged to own, that they are mortal in respect of the will of that God, whose omnipotence rules them. In like manner, if we could prove to an unbeliever, that God would employ his power to preserve them in eternal existence, in vain would he have demon- strated, that considered in themselves they are mor- tal ; and he would be obliged in his turn to al- low that human souls are immortal in virtue of the supreme power of God. Now, my brethren, the supposition, that God will employ his power to an- nihilate our souls, will entirely disappear, if you at- tend to the well-known and familiar argument of the connexion between the immortality of the soul, and that desire of immortality which the Creator hath imparted to it. What can we reply to a man who reasons in this manner?

I find myself in a world, where all things declare the perfections of the Creator. The more I consider all the parts, the more I admire the fitness of each to answer the end of him who created them all. Among numberless productions perfectly correspon- dent to their destination I find only one being, whose condition doth not seem to aoree with that marvellous order, which I have observed in all the rest. This bemg is my own soul. And what is this soul of mine ? Is it fire ? Is it aar ? Is it etliereal

VOL. UT. 16

122 The Worth of the Soul.

matter ? Under whatever notions I consider it, I am at a loss to define it. However, notwithstanding this obscurity, T do perceive enough of its nature to convince me of a great disproportion between the prf sent state of my soul, and that end for which its Crf ator seems to have formed it. This soul, I know, I feel (and, of all arguments, there are none more convincing than those, that are taken from senti- ment,) this soul is a being eagerly bent on the en- joyment of a happiness infinite in its duration. Should any one offer me a state of perfect happi- ness, that would continue ten thousand years, an as- senjblage of reputation and riches, grandeur and magnificence, perhaps, dazzled with its glare, I might cede my pretensions in consideration of this enjoy- ment. But, after all, I fully perceive, that this feli- city, how long, and how perfect soever it might be, would be inadequate to my wishes. Ten thousand years are too few to gratify my desires ; my desires leap the bounds of all fixed periods of duration, and roll along a boundless eternity. What is not eter- nal is unequal to my wishes, eternity only can satisfy them.

Such is my soul. But where is it lodged ? Its^ place is the ground of my astonishment. This soul, this sulyect of so many desires, inhabits a world of vanity and nothingness. Whether I climb the high- est eminences, or pry into the deepest indigence, I can discover no object capable of filling my capa- cious desires. I ascend the tlirones of sovereigns, I descend into the beggar's dust ; I walk the palaces of princes, I lodge in the peasant's cabin; I retire

The Worth of the Soul. 12a

into the closet to be wise, T avoid recollection, choose ifijnorance, and increase the crowd of idiots ; I live in solitude, I rush into the social multitude: but ev- ery W'here I find a mortifying void. In all these pla- ces ti.ere is notliing satisfactory. In each I am more unhappy, throuiijh the desire of seeinsj new objects, than satisfied with tlie enjoyment of what I possess. At most, I experience notliing in all these pleasures, which my concupiscence multiplies, but a mean of rendering my condition tolerable, not a mean of ma- king it perfectly happy.

How can I reconcile these things ? How can I make the Creator agree with himself? There is one way of doing this, a singular but a certain way ; a way that solves all difficulties, and covers infidelity with confusion ; a way that teacheth me what I am, whence I came, and for what my Creator hath de- signed me. Although God hath placed me in this woild, yet he doth not design to limit my prospects to it; though be hath mixed me with mere animals, yet he doth not intend to confound me with them ; though he hath lodged my soul in a frail perishable body, yet he doth not mean to involve it in the dis- solution of this frame. Without supposing immortal- ity, that which constitutes the dignity of man, makes his misery. These desires of immortal dura- tion, this faculty of thinking and reflecting, of ex- panding and perpetuating the mind; this superi- ority of soul, tliat seems to elevate mankind above beasts, actually place the beast above the man, and fill him with tiiese bitter reflections full of mortifi- cation and pain* Ye crawling reptiles ! ye beasts

124 The Worth of the Soul.

of the field! destitute of intelligence and reason! if my soul be not immortal, I envy your condition. Content with your own organs, pleased with rang- ing the fields, and browsing the herbage, your de- sires need no restraint ; for all your wishes are fully satisfied. While I, abounding on the one hand with insatiable desires, and on the other confined amidst vain and unsatisfactory objects, I am on this account unhappy !

We repeat these philosophical reasonings, my brethren, only for tlie sake of convincing you, that we are in possession of immense advantages over sceptics in this dispute. On the principles of an un- believer, you see, were his notion of revelation "VN ell-groimded ; were the sacred book, in which so many characters of truth shine, an human produc- tion; were a reasonable man obliged to admit no other propositions than those, which have been al- lowed at the tribunal of right reason ; yea, we say more, were our souls material, we ought, on the sup- positions before mentioned, to admit the immortali- ty of the soul as most conformable to our best no- tions of the will of our Creator.

But, when we are thus convinced of our immor- tality, need we any new arguments to demonstrate the proposition included in the text, What shall a man give in exchange J or his soul / Most subjects may be made to appear with greater or less dignity, ac- cording to the greater or smaller degree of import- ance, m whidj llie preaciier places it. Pompous expiessicns, bold figures, lively images, ornaments of éloquence, may often supply either a want of

The Worth of the Soul. 125

dignity in the subject discussed, or a want of proper dispositions in auditors, who attend the discussion of it. But in my opinion, every attempt to give im- portance to a motive taken from eternity, is more likely to enfeeble the doctrine than to invigorate it. Motivesof this kind are self-sulïîcient. Descrip- tions the most simple, and the most natural, that can be made, are always, I think, the most pathetic, and the most terrifying ; nor can I find an expres- sion, on this article, more eloquent and more em- phatical Ihan this of St. Paul, The things which are seen, are temporal : but the things, which are not seeny are eternal, 2 Cor. iii. 18. Were the possession of the whole world the price you ask in exchange for your souls : were the whole world free from tliose characters of vanity, which open such a boundless field to our reflections ; would there not always be this disproportion between a perishing world, and a soul aspiring at felicity, that the world would end, and the soul would never die?

Death puts an end to the most specious titles, to the most dazzling grandeur, and to the most deli- cious life ; and the thought of this period of human glory reminds me of the memorable action of a prince, who, although he was a heathen, was wiser than many Christians ; I mean the great Saladin. After he had subdued Egypt, passed the Euphrates, and conquered cities without number ; after he had retaken Jerusalem, and performed exploits more than human, in tliose wars which superstition had stirred up for the recovery of the holy land; he finished his life in the performance of an action^

126 The Worth of the Soul

that ouiçht to be transmitted to the most distant posterity. A moment before he uttered his last si^h, he called the herald, who had carried his banner be- fore him in all his battles, he commanded him to fasten to the top of a lance, the shroud, in whicli the dying prince was soon to be buried. Go, said he, carry this lance, unfurl this banner, and, while you lift up this standard, proclaim, "This, this is all, that remains to Saladin the Great, the Conqueror and the King of the empire, of all his glory."* Christians! I perform to-day the office of this herald. I fasten to the top of a spear sensual and intellec- tual pleasures, worldly riches, and human honours. All these I reduce to the piece of crape, in which you will shortly be buried. This standard of death I lift up in your sight, and 1 cry ; This, this is all that will remain to you of the possessions, for which you exchanged your souls. Are such possessions too great to be given in exchange for such a soul? Can the idea of their perishing nature prevail over the idea of the immortality of the soul? And do you not feel the truth of the text, What shall a many a rational man, a man who is capable of comparing eternity with time. What shall such a man i^ive in exchange for his soul ?

Finally, We make a reflection of another kind to convince you of the dignity of your souls, and to persuade you, that nothing can be too valuable to be given in exchange for them. This is taken from the astonishing works tliat God hath performed in

* Maimb. Hist, des Croisades, lib. vi, p. 572. dc I'Edit in 4.

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their favour. We will confine ourselves to one ar- ticle, to the inestimable price that God hath g;iven for the redemption of them. Hear these words of the holy scriptures. Ye arc bought with a price. Ye nere redetmed from i/our vain conversatioii, not with corrvptille things, as silver and gold : bvt ivith the pre- cious blood of Christ, 1 Cor. vi. 20. 1 Pet. i. 18.

Some of you perhaps, may say, as the limits of a sermon will not allow us to speak of more than one of the wondrous works of God in favour of immor- tal souls, we ouglit at least to choose that which is most likely to affect an audience, and not to dwell on a subject, which having been so often repeated, will make only slight impressions on their minds. Perhaps, were we to inform you, that in order to save your souls, God had subverted formerly all the laws of nature, or to use the language of a prophet, tliat he had shaken the heaven and the earth, the sea and the dry land. Hag. ii. 6. Perhaps, were we to tell you, that in order to save your souls, God de- ferred the end of the world, and put off the last vi- cissitudes, that are to put a period to the duration of this universe, that according to St. Peter, the Lord is long-suffering to us-ward, 2 Pet. iii. 9. Perhaps, w ere we to affirm, that in order to save our souls, he will come one day on the clouds of heaven, sitting on a throne, surrounded with glorious angels, ac- companied with myriads of shouting voices, to de- liver them with the greater pomp, and to save tliem with more splendour : Perhaps by relating all these mighty works done for our souls, we might excite in you ideas of their dignity more lively than that which

là» The Worth of the Soul.

we have chosen, and to which we intend to confine our attention. But surmount if you can, your cus- tomary indolence, and form an adequate idea of the dignity of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in order tlie better to judge of the dignity of those souls, of which his blood was the price.

Go, learn it in heaven. Behold the Deity. Ap- proach his throne. Observe the thousand thousands ministering unto him, ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him, Dan. vii. 19. See his eyes spark- ling with fire, and his majesty and glory filling his sanctuary, and by the dignity of the victim sacrifi- ced, judge of the value of the sacrifice.

Go, study it in all the economies, that preceded this sacrifice. Observe the types, which prefigured it; the shadows that traced it out; the ceremonies which depicted it ; and by the pomp of the prepara- tions, judge of the dignity of the substance prepared.

Go, learn it on mount Calvary. Behold the wrath that fell on the head of Jesus Christ. Beliold his blood pouring out upon the earth, and him, your Sa- viour, drinking the bitter cup of divine displeasure. See his hands and his feet nailed to the cross, and his whole body one great wound; observe the un- bridled populace foaming with rage around the cross, and glutting their savage souls with his barba- rous sufferings; and by the horror of the causes that contributed to his death, judge of the death it- self.

Go to the infidel, and let him teach you the dig- nity of the sacrifice of Christ. Remember on this •account he attacks Christianity, and he- hath some

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shew of reason for doing so; for if this religion may- be attacked on any side, with the least hope of suc- cess, it is on this. The truths of the Christian reli- gion are incontestible : but if there be any one ar- ticle of the gospel, which requires an entire docility of mind, an absolute submission of heart, a perfect deference to God, who speaks, it is the article of the sacrifice of the cross. Weigh the objections, and, hy the greatness of the difficulties judge of the dig- nity of the mystery.

Recollect, Christian! God thought fit to require the blood of his Son for the redemption of our souls. These souls must have been very precious in the sight of God, since he redeemed them at a price so immense. The misery into which they were liable to be plunged, must have been extremely teiTible, since God thought proper to make such great ef- forts to save them from it. The felicity of which they are capable, and to which the Lord intends to elevate them, must be infinitely valuable, since it cost him so much to bring them to it. For what ia the universe is of equal value with the blood of the Son of God ? Disappear all ye other miracles^ wrought in favour of our souls! ye astonishing pro- digies, that confirmed the gospel ! thou delay of the consummation of all things ! ye great and terrible signs of the second coming of the Son of God ! Vanish before the miracle of the cross, for the cross shines you aJl into darkness and shade. This glo- rious light makes your glimmering vanish, and after my imagination is filled with the tremendous digni- iy of this sacrifice, I can see nothing great beside»

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130 Tlie Worth of the Soul

But, if God, if this just appraiser of thin^js, hath es-i timated our souls at such a rate, shall we set a low price on them ? If he hath given so much for them; do we imagine we can give too much for them ? If, for their redemption, he hath sacrificed the most valuable person in heaven, do we imagine there is any thing upon earth too great to give up for them ? No, No, my brethren ! after what we have heard, we ought to believe, that there is no shadow of ex- aggeration in this exclamation of Jesus Christ, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the nhole world and lose his on:n soul ! 1 do not certainly know what our Saviour meant to say, whether he intended to speak of a man, Avho should gain the whole world, and in- stantly lose his soul; or of one who should not lose his sold till long after he had obtained the whole world, and had reigned over it through the course of a long life. But I do know that the words are true, even in the most extensive sense. Suppose a man, who should not only enjoy universal empire for one whole age; but for a period equal to the duration of the world itself; the proposition that is implied in the words of .Tesus Christ is applicable to him. Such a sold as we have described, a soul so excellent in its nature, so extensive in its duration, so precious through its redemption; a soul capable of acquiring so much knowledge, of conceiving so many desires, of experiencing so much remorse, of feeling so ma- ny pleasures and pains ; a soul that must subsist be- yond all time, and perpetuate itself to eternity ; a soul redeemed by the blood of the Son of God ; a soul so valuable ought to be preferred before all

The Worth of the Soul. 13Ï

tilings, and nothing is too precious to be given for its exchange. " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the Avhole world, and lose his own soul ? or, Avhat shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?"

However, my brethren, we are willing to acknow- ledge, were we in the case supposed by Jesus Christ ; were it in our power to gain the whole world by losing our own souls ; or, being actually universal monarchs, were we obliged to sacrifice this vast em- pire to recover our souls already lost ; were we, be- ing smitten with the splendid ofier, or being alarmed at the immense price of our purchase, to prefer the whole world before our own souls, we might then, if not exculpate our conduct, yet at lea«t give a lit- tle colour to it ; if we could not gain our cause, we might however plead it with some shew of reason. A reason of slate, a political motive, as that of gov- erning a whole universe, would naturally have some influence ovei- us. The titles of Sovereign, Mon- m'ch, Emperor, would naturally cliarm little souls like ours. Sumptuous palaces, superb equipages, a crowd of devoted courtiers, bowing and cringing before us, and all that exterior grandeur which en- virons the princes of the earth, would naturally fas- cinate such feeble eyes, and infatuate such puerile imaginations as ours. I re[>eat it again, could we obtain the government of the universe by the sale of our souls, if we could not justify our conduct we mis^ht extenuate the ffuilt of it ; and althoudi we could not gain our cause, we might at least plead it with some shew of reason.

132 The Worth of the Soid,

But is this our case ? Is it in our power to gain the whole world ? Is this the price at which we sell our souls ? O shame of human nature ! O meanness of soul, more proper to confound us than any thing else, with which we can be reproached! This intelli- gent soul, this immortal soul, this soul which has been thought worthy of redemption by the blood of the Saviour of the world, this soul we often part with for nothing, and for less than nothing ! In our condition, placed as most of us are, in a state of me- diocrity ; when by dissipation and indolence, by in- justice and iniquity, by malice and obstinacy, we shall have procured from vice all the rewards that we can expect, what shall we have gained ? Cities ? Provinces? Kingdoms ? a long and prosperous reign? God hath not left these to our choice. His love would not suffer him to expose us to a temptation so "violent. Accordingly we put up our souls at a lower price. See this old man, rather dead than alive, bowing under his age, stooping down, and stepping into the grave, at what price does he exchange his soul ? at the price of a few days of a dying life ; a few pleasures smothered under a pile of years, if I may speak so, or buried under the ice of old age. That officer in the army, who thinks he alone under- stands real grandeur, at what rate does he value his soul.' He loses it for the sake of the false glory of swearing expertly, and of uniting blasphemy and po- liteness. What does yon mechanic get for his soul ? One acre of land, a cottage bigger and less inconven- ient than that of his neiirhbour.

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Unmanly wretches ! If we be bent on renouncing our dignity, let us, however, keep up some appear- ance of greatness. Sordid souls ! if we will resign our noblest pretensions, let us do it, however, in fa- vour of some other pretensions that are real. *' Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this ! and be ^e horri- bly afraid ; for my people have committed two evils : they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed tliem out cisterns, broken cisterns, tiiat can hold no water," .Ter. ii. 12. Do you perceive, my brethren, the force of this complaint, which God anciently uttered over his people the Jews, and which he now utters over us ? Neither genius nor erudition can explain it. Could they, you might perhaps understand it. A certain elevation, a cer- tain dignity of soul, singular sentiments of heart, are the only expositors of these afTecting words. There- fore, I fear, they are unintelligible to most of you. *' Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this ! and be ye horribly afraid; for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of liv- ing waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." God loves us, he desires we should love him. He has done every thing to conciliate our esteem. For us he sent his Son into the world. For us he disarmed death. For us he opened an easy path to a glorious eternity. And all this, to render himself master of our hearts, and to engage us to return him love for love, life for life. We resist all these attractives, we prefer other objects before him. No matter, he would pass this ingratitude, if the objects, which we

134 Tîie Worth of the Soul.

prefer before him, were capable of making us hap- py ; if, at least, they bore any apparent proportion to those which he offereth to our hopes. But what arouseth his displeasure, what provokes his just indignation, what excites reproaches that would cleave our hearts asunder, were they capable of feel- ing, is the vanity of the objects, which we prefer be- fore him. The soul, in exchange for which the whole world would not be a sufficient consideration, this soul we often give for the most mean, the most vile, the most contemptible part of the world. " O ye heavens ! be astonished at this, at this be ye hor- ribly afraid; for my people have committed two evils : they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cis- terns, that can hold no water.'*

But do we know, ungrateful that we are, do we know, that if tlie hardness of our hearts prevent our feeling in particular, the energy of this reproof, and in general the evidence of the reflections, that make the substance of this discourse ; do we know that a day will come, when we shall feel them in all their force ? Do we know, that there is now a place, where the truth of our text appears in a clear, but a terrible light ? Yes, my brethren, this reflection is perliaps essential to our discourse, this, perhaps, ap- proaches nearest to tlie meaning of Jesus Christ ; perhaps Jesus Christ, in these words, " What shall a man give in exchange for liis soul ?" meant to in- form us of the disposition of a man in despair, who, immersed in all the miseries, that can excruciate a soul, surprised at having paited with such a soul at

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a price so small, stricken with the enormous crime of losing it, wishes, but too late, to give every thing to recover it.

Ideas like these we never propose to you w ithoui reluctance. Motives of another kind should suffice for Christians. Learn the worth of your souls. En- ter into the plan of your Creator, who created them capable of eternal felicity ; and into that of your Redeemer, who died to enable you to arrive at it* Against all the deceitful promises, which the world, the flesh, and the devil use to seduce you, oppose these words of Jesus Christ, " What is a man profit- ed, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" May God inspire you with these noble sentiments ! To liim be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON IV.

John viii. 36.

If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall he free indeed.

JVIY brethren, there were many mysteries in the Jewish feast of the Jubilee. It was a joyful festival to the whole nation : but none celebrated it w ith higher transports than slaves. No condition could be more deplorable than that of these unhappy peo- ple, and, notwitii&tanding the lenitives, that tlie Jew- ish jurisprudence mixed with their sufferings, their condition was always considered as the most miser- able, to which men can be reduced. The jubilee day was a day of universal enfranchisement. All slaves, even they, who had refused to embrace the privileges of the sabbatical year, their wives, and their children were set at liberty.

Should I affirm, my brethren, that no slave among them had more interest in this festival than you have, perhaps you would exclaim against my proposition. Probably, you would say to me, as some of them said to Jesus Christ, We were never in hondas;e to any man. But undeceive yourselves. Tl^e jubihe was instituted not only to moderate the auttiority of

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138 Heal Liberty.

masters, and to comfort slaves : but God had greater designs in appointing it. Hear the mystical design of it. The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me, be- cavse the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meeky to proclaim liberty to the captives, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, Isa. Ixi. 1, 2. Who speaks in this prophecy of Isaiah ? Had not Jesus Christ answered this question in the syna- gogue at Nazareth, ye sheep of the chief shepherd and bishop of your souls ! should ye not have known bis voice?

Come, my brethren, come, behold lo-day with what precise accuracy, or rather, with what pomp and majesty he hath fulfilled this prophecy, and bro- ken your chains in pieces. Do not disdain to fol- low the reflections we are going to make on these words, which proceeded from his sacred moutli, " If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed." O may this language inspire us with the noble ambition of terminating our slavery ! May slaves of preju- dice, of passion, and of death, quit their shameful bonds, enjoy the acceptable year of the Lord, and par- take of the glorious liberty of the children of God ! Aiheu. Rom. viii. 2K

Jf the Son shall make you free, ye shall he free indeed. In order to explain these words, it will be necessary to relate the occasion of them, and to ex- plain, at least in part, the discourse^ from which they are taken.

Jesus Christ spoke these words in the treasury, ver. 20. that is to say, in a court of the temple, which was called the woman's porch, because women were

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allowed to enter it. This court was also called the treasury, because it contained thirteen tubes like trumpets for the reception of public contributions. Jesus Clirist is supposed to allude to the form of these, when he says, When thou dost thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee. Matt. vi. 2. Each of these tubes had a difTereut inscription on it, according to the différent contributions, for the reception of which they were placed, either charitable contributions for the relief of the poor, or votive for the discharge •of a vow, or such as were prescribed by some par- ticular law. In this court sat Jesus Christ observ- ing what each gave to (he poor. In this place he absolved a woman caught in adultery, and con- founded her accusers, whose great zeal against her was excited more by the barbarous desire of shed- <ling the blood of the criminal, than by the horror of the crime. To punish those vices in others, of which the punisher is guilty, is a disposition equally opposite to benevolence and equity. It was a re- ceived opinion among the .lews, that the waters of jealousy had no effect on an adulterous wife, whose husband had been guilty of the same crime. Jesus Christ perhaps referred to this opinion, when he said to the Pharisees, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her, ver. 7.

I suppose this woman not to have been one of those who live in open adultery, who know not what it is to blush, who not only commit this crime, but even glory in it. I suppose her a penitent, and that sentiments of true repentance acquired lier the pro- tection of him, who came not to call the righteous, hut

14Ô ^eal Liberli/.

simiers to repentance, Matt. ix. 13. Yet the in- dulgence of our Saviour seemed to be a subversion of that law of Moses, which condemned them to death who were guilty of adultery. (Levit. xx. 10. Deut. xxii. 22.) Nothing could be less likely to conciliate the minds of the Jews to Jesus Christ than the infraction of a religion, the origin of which was divine, and which no person could alter without incurring the most rigorous penalties; " ye shall not add unto the word wiiich T command you," said the supreme legislator, " Neither shall ye diminish aught from it, Deut. iv. 2. To the law and to the testimo- ny : if they speak not according to this word, it is be- cause there is no light in them, Isa. viii. 20. Accord- ingly we find, one of the most specious accusations, that was ever invented against Jesus Clirist, and one of the most pardonable scruples, which some devout souls had about following him, arose from this con- sideration, that on some occasions he had relaxed those laws, which no mortal had a right to alter, this man is not of God, said some, because he keepeth not the sabbath-day, John ix. 16.

Tliis conduct certainly required an apology. Je- sus Christ must needs justify a right wliich he claim- ed, but which no man before him had attempted to claim. This is the true clue of the discourse, from which our text is taken. Jesus Christ there proves, that he is the supreme law-giver, that although the eternal laws of right and wrong, which proceeded from him, are invariable, yet the positive institutes that depended on the will of the legislator, and de- pyed all their authority from his revealed command.

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nngbt be continued, or abrogated at his pleasure. Ke there demonstrates of the whole levitical ritual wl.at he elsewhere said of one part of it, the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath^ Matt. xii. 8.

He beg:ins his discourse in this manner, I am the light of the world. In the style of the Jews, and, to say more, in the style of the inspired writers, light, \y excellence, " Son of God, Word of God, God's Shckinab," as the .lews speak, that is to say, the hab- itation of God among men, Deity itself, are synoni- mous terms. Witness, among many other proofs, the majestic frontispiece of the gospel of St. John, the magnificent titles which he gives the adorable personage, of whom he writes. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the A> ord was God. All things were made by him, and without iiim was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The W^ord was made fllesh, and dwelt among us," John i. 1, &c. Remark these words, dnelt among us, the phrase alludes to the Shekinah, which many Jewish Rabbies say, was the Messiah.

V\ hat Jesus Christ affirms being granted, that is, that he was the light by excellence, no apology is needful; for he had a right to absolve a woman whom Moses, by the order of God, had condemned to die. 1 he authority of inferior judges is limited to the execution of those laws, which the supreme legislator appoints. Sovereign ])rinces have reserv- ed the prerogative of shewing mercy. The Phari- sees foresaw the consequences of admitting the title that he claimed, and therefore they disputed his

142 Real Liberty.

right to claim it ; Thou hearest record of thyself, say Ihey, thy record is not true, cliap. viii. 13.

This objection would naturally arise in the rnind. It seems to be founded on this incontestible princi- ple, No envoy from heaven, the Messiah himself not excepted, has a right to require submission to his decisions, unless he give proofs of his mission. All implicit faith in men, who have not received divine credentials, or who jefuse to produce them, is not faith, but puerile credulity, gross superstition.

But the Pharisees, who made this objection, did not make it for the sake of obtaining evidence, and Jesus Christ reproves them for this duplicity. If you continue in doubt of my mission, said he to them, it is your own fault, your infidelity can only proceed from your criminal passions, ye judge after the Jl4;sk, ver. 15. If you would suspend these pas- sions, you would soon perceive, that the holiness of my life gives me a right to bear witness in my own cause ; for nhich of you convinceth me of sin 1 ver. 46. You would soon see, that my testimony is confirm- ed by that of my Father, who, when he sent me into the world, armed me with his omnipotence, -which displays itself in my miracles. He that sent me is 7vith j)ie, the Father hath not left me alone, ver. 29, But the hatred you bear to me prevents your seeing the attributes of my Father in me, ye neither know me, nor my Father, ver. 19. However, I will not yet justify my mission by inflicting those punish- ments on you which your obstinacy deserves, / judge no man j nor will I perform the office of a judge, till I have finished that of a Redeemerc

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When you have filled up the measure of your sins, by obtaining a decree for my crucifixion, you shall be forced to acknowledge under that iron rod, which the Father hath given me to destroy my enemies, the divinity of a mission, that your wilful obstinacy now disputes, when ye have lifted up the Sou of man, then shall ye know that I am he, ver. 23.

Arguments so powerful, threatenings so terril)! e, made deep impres-^ions on the minds of some of our Lord's hearers, and to them, who felt the force of what was said, .Tesus Clirist added. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; and ye shall know the tridh, and the tridh shall make you free, ver. 31.

I suppose, among the people, to whom these words were addressed, w^ere some of the disciples of Judas of G anion a city of Galilee, who for this reason was called Judas the Gaulonite. These sedi- tious people supposed, that in order to be a good Jew, it was necessary to be a bad subject of the em- peror. They were always ripe for rebellion against the Romans, and they reproached those of their countrymen, who quietly submitted to these tyrants of mankind, with degenerating from the noble spirit of their ancestors. This opinion, I think, places their answer to Jesus Christ in the clearest light. We are, say they, Abraham'' s seed, and were jiever in bondage to any man: how say est thou. Ye shall he made free ? ver. 33. Had they spoken of the whole nation, how durst they have affirmed, after the well known subjection of their country to so many dif

144 Heal Liberty,

ferent conquerors, we were never in bondage to any linnn ?

Jesus turned their attention from the lite» al to the spiritual meaning of his promise. He told ihem, there were bonds more shameful than those which Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar had formerly put on their fathers, more humiliating; than those to which the Romans obliged the nation at the time of his speaking to submit ; bonds, with which sin loaded its slaves, chains, which they themselves actually wore, while they imagined they were free ; Verily^ verily, I say unto you. Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, ver. 34. Jesus Christ intended to in- form them, that, although God had patiently treat- ed them to that time as his children in his church, he would shortly expel them as slaves, and deal with them not as the legiti'nate children of Abraham; but as the sons of Hagar, of whom it had been said as St. Paul remarks. Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-woman, shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman. Gal. iv. 30.

But while he undeceived them concerning that imaginary liberty, which they flattered themselves they enjoyed, he announced real liberty to them, and after he had given them most morti/ying ideas of their condition, he declared, that he alone could free them from it ; this is the sense of my text, " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Some interpreters think, tiiere is in these w^ords an allusion to a cusloii among the Greeks, with whofu a presumptive heir hid a right of adopting brethren, and of freeing slaves».

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I will neither undertake to prove the fact, nor the consequence inferred from it : but it is clear, that the title of Son by excellence, which Jesus Christ claims in this place, entirely corresponds with the end that I have assigned to this whole discourse, that is, to jiistify that pre-eminence over Moses, which he had assumed ; and to prove that he might with- out usurpation, or, as St. Paul expresses it, without thinking it rohhery^ Phil. ii. 6. act as supreme legis- lator, and pardon a woman whom the law of Moses condemned to die. A passage in the epistle to the Hebrews will confirm this sense of our text. Jesus Christ " was counted worthy of more glory than Mo- ses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house, hath more honour than the house. He that built all things, is God, Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant. But Christ as a son over his own house,'* Heb. iii. 3, 4. &c. This is the Son by excellence, the Son, of whom it was said, when he came into the world. Let all the angels of God worship him, cliap. i. 6. This (S'ow, this God, who built the house; this Son, this God, who is the maker and Lord of all things; this is he to whom alone it appertains to free us from the dominion of sin, and to put us into the possession of true and real liberty. " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

Here let us finisli this analysis, and let me hope, that its utility, will sufficiently apologize for its length, and let us employ our remaining time in at- tending to reflections of another kind, by which we

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146 Real Liberty.

shall more fully enter into the views of our blessed Saviour.

I. I will endeavour to give you a distinct idea of liberty.

II. I shall prove that liberty is incompatible with sin, and that a sinner is a real slave.

III. I shall lead you to the great Redeemer of sinners, and I shall prove the proposition, which I have chosen for my text, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

I. What is Liberty ? Liberty, I think, may be con- sidered in five different points of view. The first regards the understanding. The second respects the will. The third relates to the conscience. The fourth belongs to the conduct, and the fifth to the condition.

1. The liberty of man in regard to his imdcrstand- /ing consists in a power of suspending his judgment, till he has considered any object in contemplation on every side, so that he may yield only to evidence. A suspension of judgment is a power adapted to the limited sphere, in which finite creatures are con- fined. God, who is an infinite Spirit, hath not this kind of liberty ; it is hicompatible with the eminence of his perfections ; the ideas which he had of crea- tures before their existence, were tlie models accord- ing to which they were created. He perceives at once all objects in every point of view. He sees the whole with evidence, and, as evidence carries' consent along with it, he is gloriously incapable of doubt, and of suspending his judgaient.

Jteàl Liberty. 147

It is not so with finite minds, particularly with minds so limited as ours. We hardly know any thing, we are hardly capable of knowing any thing. Our very desire of increasing our knowledge, if we be not yery cautious, will lead us into frequent and fatal mistakes, by hurrying us to determine a point before we have well examined it ; we shall take pro- bability for demonstration, a spark for a blaze, an appearance for a reality. A liberty of suspending our judgment is the only mean of preventing this misfortune ; it does not secure us from ignorance : but it keeps us from error. While I enjoy the lib- erty of affirming only that, of which I have full evidence, I enjoy the liberty of not deceiving my- self.

Further, the desire of knowing is one of the most natural desires of man, and one of the most essen- tial to his happiness. By man I mean him who re- mains human, for there are some men who have re* iiounced humanity. There are men, who, like brutes, inclosed in a narrow circle of sensations, nev- er aspire to improve theii' faculty of intelligence any further, than as its improvement is necessary to the sensual enjoyment of a few gross gratifications, in which all their felicity is contained. But man hath a natural avidity of extending the sphere of his knowledge. I think God commanded our first pa- rents to restrain this desire, because it was one of their most eager wishes. Accordingly, the most dan- gerous allurement that Satan used to withdraw them from their obedience to God, was this of science ; " ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," Gen*

148 Ileal Liherty.

îii. 5. The state of innocence was a happy stale, however, it was a state of trial, to the perfection of which something was wanting. In every dispensa- tion, God so ordered it, that man should arrive at the chief good by way of sacrifice, and by the sacrifice of that, which mankind holds most dear, and this was the reason of the primitive prohibition. " The Lord God said, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat ; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," chap. ii. 16, 17. I presume, had man properly borne this trial, he would have been rewarded with that privilege, the usurpation of which was so fatal to him.

A mind, naturally eager to obtain knowledge, is not really free, if it have not the liberty of touching the tree of knowledge, and of deriving from the source of truth an ability to judge clearly, particu- larly of those objects, with the knowledge of which its happiness is connected. Without this the garden of Eden could not satisfy me; without this all the delicious pleasures of tliat blessed abode would leave a void in the plan of my felicity, and I should al- ways suspect that God entertained but a small de- gree ol love for me, because he reposed no confi- dence in me. This idea deserves the greater regard, because it is an idea, that Jesus Christ taught his apostles, " Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth : but I have called you friends ; for all things that I have

Heal Liberty. 149

lieard of my Father, I liave made known unto you,'* John XV. 15.

2. I call that volition free, which is in perfect har- mony with an enlightened 'understanding, in opposition to that which is under the influence of irregulat passions condemned by the understanding. The slavery of a will that hath not tiie liberty of follow- ing what the understanding offers to it as advanta- geous, is so incompatible with our notion of voli- tion, that some doubt, and others positively deny the possibility of such a bondage. Not to decide this question at present, it is certain, one of the most common artifices of a will under the influence of inordinate affections is to seduce the understand- ing, and to engage it in a kind of composition with it. Any trulh considered in a certain point of view may seem a falsehood, as any falsehood in a certain point of light may appear a truth. The most advantageous condition, considered in some rela- tions, will appear disadvantageous, as the most incon- venient will seem advantageous. A will under the influence of disorderly desires solicits the judgment to present the evil objects of its wishes in a light in which it may appear good. That will then I call free, which is in perfect harmony with an enlighten- ed understanding, following it with docility, free from the irregular desire of blinding its guide, I mean of seducing the judgment.

Perliaps I ought to have obsei-ved, before I enter- ed on a discussion of the judgment and the will, that these are not two different subjects: but the same subject, considered luito two diiïèrent faces.

ijO Real lAberty.

We are obliged, in order to form complete ideas of the human soul, to consider its divers operations. When it thinks, when it conceives, when it draws conclusions, we say it judges, it understands, it is the understanding : when it fears, when it loves, when it desires, we call it volition, will. We apply to this subject what St. Paul says of another, " there are diversities of operations : but it is the same spirit," 1 Cor. xii. 6.

3. As we give different names to the same spirit on account of its different operations, so also we give it different names on account of different ol> jects of the same operations. And as we call the soul by different names, when it thinks, and when it desires, so also we give it different names, when it performs operations made up of judging and desir- ing. What we call conscience verifies this remark. Conscience is, if I may venture to speak so, an op- eration of the soul consisting of volition and intelli- gence. Conscience is intelligence, judgment, con- sidering an object as just or unjust; and conscience is volition inclining us to make the object in contem- plation an object of our love or hatred, of our de- sires or fears.

If such be the nature of conscience, what we have affirmed of the liberty of the will in general, and of the liberty of the understanding in general, ought to determine what we are to understand by the free- dom of the conscience. Conscience is free in regard to the understanding, when it hath means of obtain- ing clear ideas of the justice, or injustice of a case before it, and when it hath the power of suspending

Real Liberty. 151

its decisions on a case until it hath well examined it. Conscience is free in resjard to the will, when it hath the powerof following what appears just, and of avoiding every thing that appears contrary to the laws of equity. This article, we hope is sufficiently explained.

4. But it sometimes happens, that our will, and our conscience incline us to objects, which our un- derstanding presents to them as advantageous : but from the possession of which some superior power prevents us. A man is not really free, nnless he have power over his senses sufficient to make them obey the dictates of a cool volition directed by a clear perception. This is liberty in regard to our conduct.

There is something truly astonishing in that com- position, which we call man. In him we see an union of two substances, between which there is no natural relation, at least we know none, I mean the union of a spiritual soul with a material body. I perceive, indeed, a natural connexion between the divers faculties of the soul, between the faculty of tliinking, and that of loving. I perceive indeed, a natural connexion between the divers properties of matter, between extension and divisibility, and so of the rest. I clearly perceive, that because an intelli- gence thinks, it must love, and because matter is ex tended, it must be divisible, and so on.

But what relation can there subsist between a lit- tle particle of matter and an immaterial spirit, to render it of necessity, that every thought of this spir- it must instantly excite some emotion in this parti-

152 Real Liberty»

cle of matter ? And how is it, that every motion of this particle of matter must excite some idea, or some sensation, in this spirit ? yet this strange union of body and spirit constitutes man. God, say some, having brought into existence a creature so excellent as an immortal soul, least it should be dazzled with his own excellence, united it to dead matter incapa- ble of ideas and (designs.

I dare not pretend to penetrate into the designs of an infinite God. Much less would I have the au- dacity to say to my Creator, " Why hast thou made me thus ?" Rom. ix. 20. But I can never think my- self free while that which is least excellent in me, governs that part of me which is most excellent. Ah! what freedom do I enjoy, while the desires of my will, guided by the light of my understanding, cannot give law to my body ; while my senses be- come legislators to my understanding and my will ?

5. It only remains, in order to form a clear notion of a man truly free, that we consider him in regard to his condition, that is to say, whether he be rich or poor, enveloped in obscurity or exposed to the pub- lic eye, depressed with sickness or regaled with health ; and in like manner of the other conditions of life.

I do not think that any man is really free in re- gard to his condition, unless he have the liberty of choosing that kind of life, which seems the most ad- vantageous to hiui. Solomon was free in this re- spect, when he had that pleasing dream, in which God presented all the blessings of this world to his view, 'and gave him his choice of all. A man, on

Real Liberty. 153

the contrary is a slave, when circumstances confine him in a condition contrary to his felicity, when, while he wishes to live, he is forced to die, when, while he lingers to die, death flees from him, and he is obliged to live.

]\Iy task now is almost finished, at least, as well as I can finish a plan so extensive in such narrow limits as are prescribed to me. My first points ex- plains the two others that follow. Having given clear ideas of liberty it naturally follows, that liber- ty is incompatible with sin, and that a sinner is a real slave. A slave in regard to his understanding ; a slave in regard to his will ; a slave in regard to his conscience ; a slave in regard to his conduct ; a slave in regard to liis condition. A small knowledge of Christianity is sufficient now to prove, that Jesus Christ alone can terminate these various slaveries, he only can justify the proposition in the text, Ij the Sou shall make you free, ye shall he free indeed.

Is a sinner free in his understanding, hath he the liberty of suspending his judgment, he whose senses always confine him to sensible objects, and always divert him from the study of truth ? Is he free whose understanding is continually solicited by an irregu- lar will, and by a depraved conscience, to disguise the truth from them, to give them false notions of just and unjust, to present every object to them in that point of view, which is most proper to favour their irregularity and corruption ? Can he be called free, who " receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, because they appear foolishness to him ?" 1 Cor. ii. 14.

voi„. Tii, 20

154 Real Liberty.

Is a sinner free in his will, and in his conscience he who, his understanding being seduced by them, yields to whatever they require, judgeth in favour of the most frivolous decisions, and approves the most extravagant projects ; can such a man be called free ?

Is a sinner free in his conduct, he who finds in an inflexibility of his organs, in an impetuosity of his humors, in an irregular flow of his spirits, obstacles suflficient to prevent him from following the decisions of his understanding, the resolutions of his will, the dictates of his conscience ? Is he free in his conduct, who like the fabulous or perhaps the real Medea, groans under the arbitrary dominion of his senses, sees and approves of the best things, and follows the worst ? Is the original of this portrait, drawn by the hand of an Apostle, free, I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present ivith me. For I de- light in the law of God, after the inward man : but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members 1 Is he free in his con- duct, whose eyes sparkle, whose face turns pale, whose mouth foams at the sight of a man, who per- haps may have offended him : but for whose offence" the God of love demands a pardon ? Is he free in his conduct, who, whenever he sees an object fatal to his innocence, not only loses a power of resist- ance, and a liberty of flying : but even ceases to think, has hardly courage to call in the aid of his own feeble virtue, forgets his resolutions, his pray- ers, and his vows, and plunges into disorders, at

Real Liberty, 155

which his reason blushes, even while he immerses himself in them ?

O how necessary to us is the religion of Jesus

Christ! how fit to rectify the irregularities of nature!

how needful the succours of his holy Spirit to lead

us into the genius of religion ! If the Son make you

free, ye shall be free indeed.

If the Son make y ou free, you shall be free indeed in regard to your understanding, because Jesus Christ being the Angel of the divine presence, the wisdom that conceives the counsels of God, and the word that directs them, he perfectly knows them, and when he pleases, he reveals them to others. By that universal empire, which he hath acquired by his pro- found submission to the will of his Father, he will calm those senses, which divert your understanding fi'om the study of truth and precipitate your judg- ment into error; he will direct thy will not to se- duce it; and will forbid thine erroneous conscience to impose its ilkisions upon it.

If the Son tnake you free, you will be fr'ee indMd in your will and conscience, because your understand- ing directed by a light divine, will regulate the maxims that guide them, not by suggestions of con- cupiscence, but by invariable laws of right and Avrong; it will present to them (to use the language of scripture) not bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitte?', not good for evil, and evil for good, Isa. v. 20, but each object in its own true point of light.

If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed in your conduct, because by the irresistible aid of his Spirit he will give you dominion over those senses

156 Real Liberty.

to which you have been a slave ; because his al- mighty Spirit will calm your humours, attemper your blood, moderate the impetuosity of your spirits, restore to your soul its primitive superiority, subject your constitution entirely to your reason, render reason by a supernatural power lord of the whole man, make you love to live by its dictates, and teach you to say, while you yield to its force, O Lord ! thou hast allured me, and I was allured : thou art stronger than /, and hast prevailed, Jer. xx. 7.

If the Son make you free, you shall he free indeed in all your actions, and in all your faculties because he will put on you an easy yoke, that will terminate your slavery, constitute your real freedom, render you a citizen oï Jerusalem above, which is a/ree city, and mother of all the sons of freedom, Gal. iv. 26.

I said lastly, a sinner is a slave in regard to his condition. We observed, that a man was not free in regard to his condition, unless he could choose that kind of life, which seemed to him most suitable to his felicity. And is not a sinner, think ye, a real slave in this sense ? Indeed, if there remain in him any notion of true felicity, he ought to give himself very little concern, whether he spend his days in riches or poverty, in splendour or obscurity ; for the duration of each is extremely short. These things, iniless we be entirely blind, are very diminu- tive objects, even in a plan of sinful earthly pleas- ure. But to be obliged to die, when there are num- berless reasons to fear death, and to be forced to live, when there are numberless reasons for loath

Real Liberty, 157

inoj life, this is a state of the most frightful slavery, and this is absolutely the slavish state of a sinner.

The sinner is forced to die, in spite of numberless reasons to fear death ; he is in this world as in a pri- son, the decorations of which may perhaps beguile him into an inattention to his real condition : but it is a prison however, which he must quit, as soon as the moment arrives, which the supreme legislator has appointed for his execution. And how can he free himself from this dreadful necessity ? Fast bound by the gout, the gravel, the benumbing aches and the numerous infirmities of old age, the bare names of which compose immense volumes, and all which drag him to death, how can he free liimself from tliat law, which binds him over to suffer death r One art only can be invented to prevent his falling into despair in a state of imprisonment, the issue of which is so formidable, that is, to stun himself with noise, business, and pleasure, like those madmen, to wi]om human justice allows a few hours to prepare themselves to appear before divine justice, and who employ those few hours in drowning their reason in wine, lest they should tremble at the sight of the scafiold on which their sentence is to be executed. This is the state of a sinner : but as soon as the noise that stuns his ears shall cease ; as soon as bu- siness, which fills the whole capacity of his soul, shall be suspended ; as soon as the charms of those pleasures that enchant him, shall have spent their force ; as soon as, having recovered reason and re- flection, this thought presents itself to his mind, .... I must die I must instantly die ... h^ groans

158 Ileal Liberty.

under the weight of his chains, his countenance al- ters, his eyes are fixed with pain, the shaking of a leaf makes him tremble, he takes it for his execution- er, thundering at the door of his cell, to call him out to appear before his judge. Is it freedom to live under these cruel apprehensions ? Is he free, who through fear of death is all his life time subject to bon- dage? Heb. ii. 15.

The condition of a sinner is still more deplorable, inasmuch as not being at liberty to exist, as he choo- ses to exist, he hath not the liberty of being annihi- lated. For, (and this is the severest part of his slavery, and the height of his misery,) as he is for- ced to die, when he hath so many reasons to fear death, so he is obliged to live, when he hath number- less reasons to wish to die ; he is not master of his own existence. The superior power that constrains him to exist, excites in him sentiments, which in scripture style are called, seeking death, and not find- ing ity Rev. ix. 6. cursing the day of birth, saying to the mountainSy Cover us ; and to the hiUs, Fall on us, Jer. XX. 14. expressing despair in these miserable re- quests. Mountains ! fall on us ; I'ocks ! hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand/ Rev. vi. 16, 17.

But what can rocks and mountains do against the command of him of whom it is said, the mountains shcdl be molten under Mm, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the Jire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place, before the Lord of the whole earth, Micah i. 4. and iv. 13.

Real Liberty. 159

Time-server ! thou must live to expiate the guilt of abjuring the truth, of denying the name of the Lord, of bowing thy knee before the altar of an idol, of neglecting the exterior of religious worship, of despising the sacraments, of sacrificing thy whole family to superstition and error.

Thou grandee of this world ! whether thy grandeur be real or imaginary, thou must live to expiate the guilt of that pride and arrogance, which has so often rendered thee deaf, or inaccessible to the solicitations of those thine inferiors, for whose protection provi- dence and society have elevated thee to a rank, which thou art unworthy to hold.

Magistrate! thou must live to expiate the guilt of thine unrighteous decrees, of thy perversion of jus- tice for the sake of bribes, of thy ruining widows and orphans to gratify that sordid avarice, which animates all thine actions.

Pastor ! thou must live to expiate the guilt of ac- commodating thy ministry to the passions of the great, GÏ holding the truth in unrighteousness^ Rom. i. JÎ3. of shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, Acts xx. 27. of opening the kingdom of heaven to those whom thou oughtest to have pulled out of the fire, and to have saved with fear, Jude 23. in whose ears thou shouldst have thundered these terrible words, Départ^ depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared Jor the devil and his angels.

And thou prostitute, the disgrace and distress of thy family ! thou must live to expiate the guilt of de- filing tliy bed, the criminality of tliine infidelity, and of thy baneful example.

160 Real Liberty.

Barbarous parent! thou must live. Thou, who hast sacrificed those children to the world, who were dedicated to God in baptism, thou must live to expi- ate the guilt of a cruel treachery, which the shaipest language is too gentle to reprove, and the most dis- mal colours too faint to describe.

Disobedient child ! thou must live. Wicked heart ! in which a good education seemed to have precluded the contagion of the world, thou must live to expi- ate the guilt of despising the example of {\\y pious father, and of forgetting the tender persuasive instruc- tions of thy holy mother.

Who \vill terminate this slavery? "O wretched man, that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," Rom. vii. 24. 1 Cor. XV. 57. Jesus Christ re-establisheth the order that sin hath subverted. Is death the object of our fears ? .Tesus Christ is the object of our desires. Is annihilation after death the object of our desires ? Jesus Christ is the object of our fears, or rather, he makes that eternal existence, which we shall enjoy after this life, a ground of the most transporting pleasure.

W^e do not exceed the truth in speaking thus. How inconsiderable soever the number of true Christians may be, the number would be less considerable still, if an entire freedom from the fear of death were es- sential to the Christian character. Death is always an evil, an exceeding great evil, even to saints of the first class. Let not this proposition offend you. Each privilege of redemption is perfectly acquired for us ;

Real Liberty é 161

bowever, in the present economy we are not put into the full enjoyment of any one. One privilege that re- demption has procm'ed for us, is a knowledge of the mysteries of God : but who of us knows them tho- roughly ? Another privilege of redemption is holi- ness : but who of us is perfectly holy ? One of the privileges of redemption is a most close and tender union to God : but where is the Christian, who does not find this communion interrupted ? All the other privileges of redemption are like these. It is the same with death. Death is vanquished, and we are delivered from its dominion : but the perfect enjoy- ment of this freedom will not be in this present econ- omy. Hence St. Paul says. The last enemy that shall be destroyed^ is death, 1 Cor. xv. 26. Death will not be entirely destroyed till after the resurrection, be- cause, although before this great event the souls of those who die in the Lord, enjoy an ineffable happi- ness, yet they are in a state of separation from the bodies to which the Creator at first united them ; while this separation continues, death is not entirely conquered, this separation is one of the trophies of death. The time of triumphing over the enemy is not yet come : but it will arrive in due time, and when soul and body are again re-united, we shall ex- claim with joy, O death ! where is thy sting? O grave I where is thy victory 1 ver. bb.

Let not the infidel insult the believer here, let him not treat us as visionaries, because we pretend to van- quish death, while we are vanquished by it. Our prerogatives are real, they are infinitely substantial^ and tliere is an immense difference between those

TOI/, nr. 21

162 Real Liberty.

fears, whirh an idea of death excites in a man, whom sin hath enslaved, and those which it excites in the soul of a Christian. The one, the man, I mean, whom sin enslaves, fears death, because he considers it as the end of all his felicity, and the beginning of those punishments to which the justice of God con- demns him. The other, I mean the Christian, fears death, because it is an evil : but he desires it, be- cause it is the last of those evils, which he is under a necessity of suflering before he arrives at his chief good. He fears death ; he fears the remedies, some- times less supportable than the maladies to which they are opposed ; he dreads last adieus ; violent struggles; dying agonies; and all the other forerun- ners of death. Sometimes he recoils at the first ap- proaches of an enemy so formidable, and sometimes he is tempted to say, O my Father! if it be possiblcj let this cup pass from me, Matt. xxvi. 3^.

But presently, penetrating through all the terrible circumstances of dying, and discovering what fol- lows, he remembers, that death is the fixed point, where all the promises of the gospel meet, the cen- ter of all the hopes of the children of God. Filled •with faith in these promises, the soul desires what it just now feared, and flies to meet the enemy that ap- proaches it.

But Jesus Christ renders annihilation, which was the object of our sinful desires, tlie object of our fears, or ratlier, as 1 said before, he makes that eter- nal existence, which we must enjoy after death, the ground of our transport and triumph. The happier the condition of the glorified saints should be, tlie

Real Liberty, 163

more miserable would it be to apprehend an end of it. Sliortness of duration is one grand character of vanity inseparable from the blessings of this life. They will make thee happy, thou ! whose portion is in this life, they will make thee happy, I grant : but tiiy happiness will be only for a short time, and this is the character that imbitters them. Forget thyself, idolatrous mother! forget thyself, with that infant in thine arms, who is thine idol ; but death will shortly tear thee from the child, or the child fiom thee. Slave to voluptuousness ! intoxicate thy soul with pleasure : but presently death will destroy the senses that transmit it to thy heart.

But to feel ourselves supremely happy, and to know that we shall be for ever so ; to enjoy the com- pany of angels, and to know that we shall for ever enjoy it; to see the Redeemer of mankind, and to know that we shall behold him for ever; to enjoy the presence of God, and to be sure that we shall ever enjoy it; to incorporate our existence with that of the being, who necessarily exists, and our life with that of the immortal God ; to anticipate thus, in every indivisible moment of eternity, the felicity that shall be enjoyed in every instant of an eternal duration, (if we may consider eternal duration as consisting of a succession of moments,) this is su- preme felicity, this is one of the greatest privileges of that liberty which Jesus Christ bestows on us.

The different ideas, that we have given, are, I think, more than sufficient to induce us to regard all those with execration, who would tear us from com- munion with this Jesus, who procures us advantages

164 JReal Liberty.

go inestimable. I do not speak only of heretics, and heresiarchs ; I do not speak of persecutors and executioners ; I speak of the world, I speak of the maxims of the world, I speak of indolence, effem- inacy, seducing pleasures, tempters far more formi- dable than all executioners, persecutors, heretics, and heresiarchs. Who of them all, " shall separate us from the love of God, wliich is in Christ Jesus our Lord ? Lord ! to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life," Rom. viii. 35, 39. John vi. 68. To God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be hon- our and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON V.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ

Revelations v. 11, 12, 13, 14.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures,^ and the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousand of thou- sands ;

Saying J with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying, Bless^ ing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down, and worshipped him that livethfor ever and ever,

A.LTHOTTGH Atheism and Superstition are weap ens, which have been too successfully employed by

* Beasts, in our tvz.Xis\2i.ûoxi.-^Animaux— .animals-— liviyjg crea- tures, more agreeably to the apostle's Za», as well as to Ezek. i. 4, 5, &.C. to which St. John seems to allude. K«< e<Jov, ««v (^ev « « iv Ta f4,î7u 6i<i 9f*,9(o>{*c6 T£9-<rx§av ZS2S2N> Septuag.

166 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

the devil against the truth, yet are they not his most formidable arms, nor the most difficult to be resist- ed. It was an excess of stupidity which formed su- perstition ; and it was an excess of corruption, that forged atheism : but a very little knowledge, and a very little integrity sufficiently preserve us from both. Superstition is so diametrically opposite to reason, that one is shocked at seeing earth, w^ater, fire, air, minerals, passions, maladies, death, men, beasts, devils themselves placed by idolaters on the throne of the sovereign, and elevated to supreme bonours» Far from feeling a propensity to imitate a conduct so monstrous, we should hardly believe if; were it not attested by the unanimous testimonies of historians and travellers : did we not still see in the monuments of antiquity, such altars, such dei- ties, such worshippers : and did not the Christian >vorld, in an age of light and knowledge, madly prove too faithful a guarantee of what animated the heathen world, in ages of darkness and ignorance. The system of atheism is so loose, and its conse- quences so dreadful and odious, that only such as are determined to lose themselves can be lost in this way. Whether a Creator exist is a question decid- ed, wherever there is a creature. Without us, with- in us, in our souls, in our b(/dies, every where, we meet with proofs of a first cause. An infinite being follow^s us, and surrounds us ; " O Lord, thou com- passest my path, and my lying down, thou hast be- set me behind and before. Whilher shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy pres- ence ?" Psal. cxxxix. 1, 3, 7.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ 167

But there is another class of arguments against our mysteries, which at first present themselves to the mind under a very different aspect. There is a system of error, which, far from appearing to have ignorance for its principle like superstition, or corruption like atheism, seems to proceed from the bosom of truth and virtue, and if I may be allowed to say so, to have been extracted from the very substance of reason and reli- gion. I speak of that system, which tends to degrade the Saviour of the world from his divinity, and to rank him with simple creatures. There is in appear- ance a distance so immense, between an infant born in a stable, and the Father of Eternity y Isa. ix. 6. between that Jesus, who converged with men, and that God, who upholds all things by the word of his power, Heb. i. 3. between him, who, being crucified, expired on a cross, and him, who, sitting on the sovereign throne, receives supreme honours ; tliat it is not at all aston- ishing, if human reason judge these objects in appear- ance contradictory. This system seems also foun- ded on virtue, even on the most noble and transcen- dant virtue, on zeal and fervency. It aims in ap- pearance at supporting those excellencies, of which God is most jealous, his divinity, his unity, his es- sence. It aims at preventing idolatry. According- ly, they who defend this system, profess to follow the most illustrious scripture-models. They are the Phineasses, and Eleazars, who draw their swords on- ly to maintain the glory of Jehovah. They are the Pauls, whose spirits are stirred by seeing tlie idola- try of Athens, Acts xvii. 16. They aie the Elijahs,

168 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

who are moved with jealousy Jor the Lord of hosis^ Î Kings xix. 10.

But, if the partisans of error are so zealous and fervent, should the ministers of the truth languish in lukevvarmness and indolence ? If the divinity of the Son of God be attacked with weapons so formidable, should not we oppose them with weapons more for- cible, and more formidable still ? We also are stir' red in our turn, wealsoin our turn are moved with jealousy for the Lord of hosts, and we consecrate our ministry to-day to the glory of that God-man, whose ministers we are. In order to prove the doctrine of his divinity we will not refer you to the philosophers of the age, their knowledge is incapable of attaining the sublimity of this mystery ; we will not even ask you to hear your own teachers, the truth passing through their lips loses sometimes its force : They are the elders, they are the angels, they are the thou- sands, the ten thousand times ten thousands, Dan. vii, 10. before the throne of God, who render to Jesus Christ supreme honours. We preach to you no oth- er divinity than their divinity. We prescribe to you no other worship tlian their worship. No ! no ! ce- lestial intelligences ! ' Ye angels that excel in strength; ye, who do the commandments of God; ye ministers tl-.at do his pleasure," Psal. ciii. 20, 21. we do not come to-day to set up altar against altar, earth against heaven. Tlie extreme distance, which your perfections put between you and us, and \\hich renders tlie purity of your vvorstiip so far superior to our's, does n'.;t change the nature of our liomage. We come to mix uur incense with that winch )ou

The Divinity of Jesus Christ 169

incessantly burn before our Jesus, who is the object of your adoration and praise. Behold, Lord Je- sus ! behold to-day creatures prostrating themselves upon earth before thy throne, like those who are in heaven. Hear the harmonious concert, accept our united voices, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honour and glory and l)]essing. Blessing and hon- our, glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." May every one of us " fall down, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever. Amen."

It is then in relation to the doctrine of our Saviour's divinity, and in relation to tliis doctrine only, that we are going to consider the words of our text. They might indeed occasion discussions of another kind. We might inquire first, who are the twenty-four eh ders ? Perhaps the Old Testament ministers are meant, in allusion to the twenty-four classes of priests, into which David divided them. We might further ask, who are the four living creatures? Perhaps they are emblems of the four evangelists. We might pro- pose questions on the occasion of this song, on the number, ministry and perfections of the intelligen- ces mentioned in the text : but all our reflections on these articles would be uncertain, and uninteresting. As I said before, we will confine ourselves to one single subject, and on three propositions we will ground the doctrine of the divinity of our Lord Je- sus Christ.

I. Jesus Christ is supremely adorable, and su-

voL, III. 22

170 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

premely adored by beings the most worthy of om* imitation.

II. It implies a contradiction to suppose, that God communicates the honours of supreme adoration to a simple creature.

III. Our ideas on this article are perfectly conform- able to the ideas of those asjes, the orthodoxy of which is best established, and least suspected.

I. Jesus Christ is supremely adorable, and supremely adored by beings tfte most worthy of our emulation ; this is our first proposition. We join the term supreme to the term adoration, in order to avoid an equivoca- tion, of which this proposition is susceptible. The scripture does not distinguish, as some divines with so little reason do, many sorts of religious adora- tions. We do not find tl ere the distinction of the worship of Latria, from the worship of Dulia : but religious adoration is distinguished from civil adora- tion. Thus we are told in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis, ver. 1. that Lot, seeing two angels, rose up to meet them, and bowed himself ivith his face toward the ground, it is in the Hebrew, he adored thera. We have numberless examples of the same kind. To remove this equivocation, to shew that we mean su- preme adoration, we have affirmed, that .Jesus Christ is supremely adorable, and supremely adored. But wherein does this supreme adoration consist ? The understanding of th's article, and in general of this whole discourse, depends on a clear notion of su- preme worsliip. We will make it as plain as we can. Supreme adoration supposes three disposi- tions in him who renders it, and it supposes accord»

Tlie Divinity of Jesus Christ. 171

ingly three excellences in him to whom it is ren- dered.

1. Supreme adoration supposes an eminence of per- Jections in liim, to whom it is rendered. It supposes also an homage of mind relative to that eminence in him wlio renders it. Adoration is a disposition of our minds, by which we acknowledge, that God ex- cels all other beings, how great, how noble, how sub- lime, soever they may be. We acknowledge, that he has no superior, no equal. We acknowledge him to be supremely wise, supremely powerful, supremely happy ; in one word, we acknowledge, that he pos- sesseth all conceivable perfections without bounds, in the most elevated manner, and in exclusion to every other being. In this sense it is said, Our God is one Lord; he only is wise ; he only hath immortal- ity, Deut. vi. 4. Jude 25. and 1 Tim. vi. 15.

2. Supreme adoration supposes, that he, to whom it is rendered, is supremely amiaWe, supremely com- municative, supremely good. Goodness is a perfec- tion. It is comprised in the idea which we have al- ready given of tlic adorable Being: but we consid- er it separately ; because, in the foregoing article, vve considered the divinity without any relation to our happiness, whereas now we consider him in his relation to our felicity ; for it is the goodness of God, which relates God to us : it is that, which in some sort reduces to our size, and moves towards us all those other attributes, the immensity of which ab- sorbs us, the glory of which confounds us. Adora- tion supposes in him who renders it, an adherence of heart, by which he cleaves to God as to his supreme

J 72 The Divimti) of Jesus Christ.

good. It is an effusion of soul, which makes the worshipper consider him as the source of all the ad- vantages which he now enjoys, and of all the advan- tai^es which he can ever enjoy. It makes him perceive, that he derives from him life, motion and beingy Acts xvii. 28. It makes him say with a pro- phet, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. It is good for me to draw near to God. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him," Psal. Ixxiii. 25, 28. and ii. 12.

3. In fine, adoration supposes in him, to whom it is rendered, an absolute empire over all beings that exist. It supposes in liim, who renders it, that per- fect devotedness, that unlimited submission, by which he acknowledges himself responsible to God for every instant of his duration ; that there is no ac- tion so indifferent, no circumstance so inconsidera- ble, no breath (so to speak) so subtile, which ought not to be consecrated to him. It is that universal homage, by which a man owns that God only lias a right to prescribe laws to him ; that he only can reg- ulate his course of life ; and that all the honours, which are rendered to other beings, either to those who gave us birth, or to those who govern us in so- ciety, ought to be in subordination to the honour which is rendered to himself.

Such is our idea of supreme adoration, an idea not only proper to direct us in the doctrines of reli- gion, as we shall see presently, but singularly adapt- ed to our instruction in the practice of it: an idea, which may serve to convince us whether we have at-

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 173

tained the spirit of religion, or whether we are float- ins: on the surface of it ; whether we be idolaters, or true worshippers of the living God ; for these three dispositions are so closely connected together, that then- separation is impossible. It is for this, that obedience to the commands of God is so powerfully enforced in religion as an essential part of the hom- age which we owe him. It is for this, that the scrip- tures tell us, " covetousness is idolatry ; to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams ; rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stub- bornness is as iniquity and idolatry, Col. iii. 5. 1 Sam. XV. 22, 2.Î.

These truths being thus established, we affirm, that Jesus Christ is supremely adorable, and we affirm also, that lie is supremely adored by beings the most worthy of imitation. He is supremely adorable is a question of right. He is supremely adored is a ques- tion of fact.

]. The question of right is decided by the idea which the scripture gives us of Jesus Christ. The three excellences, which we must suppose in him, to whom adoration is paid, are attributed to him in scripture : and we are there required to render those three homages to him, which suppose adoration in lîhïi who renders them. The scripture attributes to him that eminence of perfections, wliich must needs claim the homage of our minds. What perfection can yt)u conceive, wiiich is not ascribed to Jesus C; rist by the sacred writers? Is it eternity? the scrip- ture tells you he existed in the beginning, John i. 1. l.e was before Jibraham, chap. viii. 58. he is^ he was.

374 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

lie is to come, Rev. i. 8. Is it omnipresence ? the -scripture tells you, " where two or three are gather- ed together in his name, there is he in the midst of them," Matt, xviii. 20. even when he ascended into heaven, he promised to be with his Apostles on earth, thap. xxviii. 20. Is it omnipotence? the scripture tells you he is the Almighty, Rev. i. 8. Is it omni- science ? the scripture tells you, he knoweth all things, John xxi. 17. he " needed not that any s-hould testify of man, for he knew what was in man," chap. ii. 2/3. searcheth he the hearts and the reins. Rev. ii. 23. Is it unchangeableness ? the scripture tells you, he is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, Heb. Tim. 8. even when the htavens perish, he shaU endure^ when tlrey shall nm.v old, wlîeîi they shall be changedy when they shall be " changed like a vesture, he shall be the same, and his years siiail have no end." Psal. cii. 26, 27. Hence it is that scripture attributes to him a perfect equality with his Father ; for he counted it no robbery to be equal with God, Phil. ii. 6. Hence it tells us, in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God- head bodily. Col. ii. 9. For this reason, it calls hitn Cod by excellence : his name shall be called Wonder- fnl. Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, Isa. ix. 6. O God I thy God hath anointed ihee with Ike oil of gladness above thy fellows, Psal. xiv. 7. In the beginning was th€ Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, .John i. 1. We •are in him that is trite, even in Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life, 1 ,Tohn v. 20. Hence he is called //ie greed God, Tit. ii. 13. God over all. Messed for evermore, i^oni. ix. 5.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 17 0=

2. The scripture attributes to Jesus Christ that supreme communication, that supreme goodness, that intimate relation to our happiness, which is the se- cond ground of adoration, and which is the founda- tion of that second homage, which is required of a worshipper, that is, the homage of the heart. Hence it is, that the holy scriptures direct us to consider him, as the author of all the blessings, which we possess. If the heavens rolling above our heads serve us for a pavilion, if the earth be firm beneath our feet to serve us for a support, it is he who is the author of both ; for ihoUy Lordy thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands, Psal. cii. 26. If numberless creatures near and remote contribute to the happiness of man, it is he who has formed them ; for " without him no- thing was made that was made» By him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones ©r dominions, principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he is befoi-e all things, and by him all things consist," John i. 3. Col. i. 16, 17. If the Jews received miraculous de- liverances in Egypt, if they gained immortal victo- ries over the nations, which they defeated, it was he who procured them, for " the angel of his presence he saved them, in his love and in his pity he redeem- ed them, and he bare them and cairied them all the days of old," Isa. Ixiii. 9. If darkness lias been dis- sipated from the face of the church, it was he who made it vanish ; for " he is the true light, wiio light- eth every man that cometh into the world," John i.

176 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

9. If we are reconciled to God, it was he who made our peace ; for " we have redemption through his blood, Eph. i. 7. it pleased the Father by him to re- concile all things unto himself, and by the blood of his cross to unite things in heaven, and things on earth," Col. i. 19, 20. If we have received the Com- forter, it was he who sent him; for, says he, " I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you," John xvi. 7. If, after this life, our souls be carried into the bosom of God, it will be by his adorable hands; Lord Jesus , said one of his exemplary ser- vants, receive my spirit. Acts vii. 59. If our bodies rise from their graves, if they be recalled to life, af- ter they have been reduced to ashes, he alone will re-animate them ; for " he is the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in him, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall never die," John xi. 25, 26.

3. Finally, the scripture attributes to Jesus CKrist the third ground of adoration, that is, empire ever all creatures. This lays a foundation for the tliiid homage of the worsliipper, I mean devotedness of life. " I saw in the night visions, said the prophet Daniel, and behoid ! one, like the Son of man, canie with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought lim near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting do- minion, which sliall not pass away, and his kingdom

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that which shall not be destroyed," ch. tu. 13. &;c. " The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and th© uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession ; Thou shalt break them wilh a rod of iron, thoushalt dash tiiem in pieces like a potter's vessel," Psal. ii. 7 — 9. " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty ! with thy glory and with thy majesty. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre," Ps. xlv. 3, 5, 6. " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies," Psal. ex. 1, 2. The question of right then is sufficiently proved.

The c|uestion of fact immediately follows. As Je-? sus Christ is supremely adorable, so he is supremelv" adored by intelligences, whom we ought to imitate. This adoration is recommended by scripture ; the very scripture that forbids us to adore any but God^, prescribes the adoration of Jesus Christ. "Let all the angels of God worship him, Heb. i. 6. The Fa- ther judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg- ment to the Son, that all men should honour the Sort even as they honour the Fattier, John v. 22, 23. He hath received a name above every name, that at the Hame of Jesus every knee should bow, Phil. ii. 9, 10. The four and twenty elders fell down, and worship- ped him who liveth for ever and ever." All the pav-

TOL. II f. 23

^7S The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

ticular acts of adoration, which are reputed acts of idolatry when rendered to any but God, are render^ ed to Jesus Christ by the express direction of the ho- ly scriptures. Prayer, that prayer, of which it is said, how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed/ Rom. x. 14. prayer is addressed to Jesus Christ ; they stoned Stephen iwayinpç and saying. Lord Jesus receive my spirit, Acts vii. 59.(1) Confidence, that confidence, of which it is said. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, Jer. xvii. 5. that confidence is an homage rendered to Je- sus Christ ; Whosoever helieveth on him shall not he ashamed, Horn. X. 11. Baptism, that baptism, which is commanded to be administered in the name of the Father, that baptism is an homage rendered to Jesus Christ, it is administered in his name ; Go teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Fa- ther, and of the Son^ Matt, xxviii. 19. Swearing, that sweai ing, of which it is said. Thou shall fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name, Deut. vi. 13. that swearing is an homage ren- dered to J esus Christ ; " I say tlie truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost," Horn. ix. 1. Benediction, that bles- sing, of which it is said, The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Num. vi. 24. tliat benediction is an homage ren- dered to Jesus Christ. " Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ," Kom. i. 7. In fine, supreme praise, that praise of wliich it is said. To the only wise God be honour and

(1) lis lapidoient Etienne, /niant, et disant, Seigneur Jesus, &c. perfectly agreeable to St. Luke's EniKAAOïMEAON >t«r Aeyoira. The word God in our text is inserted properly.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 1 79

glori/, 1 Tim. 1. 17. is an homage paid to Jesus Christ. " And I beheld, says our text, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the liv- ing creatures, and the elders, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom and strength, to the Lamb be honour and gloiy and blessing for ever." Weigh that expression which God uses to give the greater weight to his command of worshipping liiin only ; before my face^ (2) Thou shall have no other Gods before my face, Exod. xx. 3. God would have this always inculcated among liis ancient people that he was among them in a peculiar manner, that he was their head and general, that he marched in the front of their camp and conducted all their host : he meant by this declaration, to leiain them in his ser- vice, and to make them comprehend how provoking it would be to him, should they render divine hon- ours in his presence to any beside himself. But here the elders, the angels, the ten thousand, the ten thou- sand times ten thousands in heaven, in the presence of God, and before the throne of his glory, adijre Jesus Christ, and pay no otlier honours to him, who sitteth on the throne than they pay to Jesus Christ himself.

Collect now, my brethren, all these reflections in- to one point of view, and see into what contradic- tions people fall, who, admitting the divinity of our scriptures, refuse to consider Jesus Christ as the su- preme God. No, Jesus Christ is not the supreme God, (thus are our opponents obliged to speak,) Jesus

(2j Mr. S. quotes according to the Hebrew text of Exod. xx. 3-

ISO The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Christ is not the supreme God: but he possessetk that eminence of perfections which constitutes the essence of the supreme God ; like him he is eternal, like him he is omnipresent, like him he is almighty, he knows all things like him, he searcheth the heart and the reins like him, he possesses the fulness of the Godhead like him, and like him merits the most profound homage of the mind. No, Jesus Christ is not the supreme God: but he possesseth that good- ness, that communication, which is the grand char- acter of the supreme God ; like God supreme, he made heaven and earth, he formed all creatures like him, he wrought miracles like a God, for the ancient church, he enlightens like him, he sanctifies like him, he saves us, he raises us from the dead, he glorifies lis like him, and like him merits the most profound homage of the heart. No, Jesus Christ is not the su- preme God : but we are commanded to worship him as if he were. St. Stephen prays to Jesus Christ as if he were God, the faithful confide in Jesus Christ as 'if he were God, they swear by Jesus Christ as if he were God, they bless in the name of Jesus Christ as if he were God. Who does not perceive these con- tradictions? Our first proposition is therefore suflfi- eiently established. Jesus Christ is supremely ado- rable; Jesus Christ is supremely adored by intelli- gences the most worthy of imitation. But it implies a contradiction, to suppose that the honours of ado- ration should be communicated to a simple creature. This is our second proposition, and the second part of this discourse.

IÏ. This supreme adoration, of which we have given an idea, cannot be communicated to any be-

The Divinity of Jesus Christ Ï8l

îng, except an eminence of perfections, such as in- dependence, eternity, omnipresence, be communi- cated to that being also. Supreme adoration cannot be communicated to any being, except supreme goodness be communicated, except a iieing become an immediate essential source of felicity. Supreme adoration cannot be communicated to any being, unless absolute, boundless, immense empire be com- municated to him also. Now to communicate all these excellencies to a creature is to communicate the Godhead to him. If then it be absurd to sup- pose that deity can be communicated to a creature, so that what had a beginning, becomes what had no beginning ; it is also absurd to suppose that a sim- ple creature can possess these excellences, and con- sequently it implies a contradiction, to affirm that a created being can become supremely adorable. If therefore we have proved, that .Jesus Christ is su- premely adorable, we have thereby proved that he is the supreme God.

Accordingly, however important our second pro- position may be, we should suppose it fully proved, if the scripture did not seem positively to affirm, that a right to supreme adoration is a right acquired by Jesus Christ, and is ascribed to him, not on ac- count of what he was from eternity, but of what he has done in time. The Fa'her jud^eth no man, says Jesus Christ himself: hut ha h committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, John v. 22, 23. Here, it is plain, Jesus Christ does not require men to hon- our him, as tliey honour the Father, on account of

182 The Divinity of Jesus Christ

his own excellent nature : but on account of that liowerio Judge the world, which was given him in time. *' He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient un- to death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him," Phil. ii. 7, 9. Here again, Jesus Christ seems to have received this exaltation only in viilue of that profound humilia- tion, and of that profound obedience, which he ren- dered to his Father. And in our text it seems as if those acclamations, praises, and adorations, with which the happy spirits in heaven honour the Saviour of the world, are only offered to him on account of that sacrifice which he offered in time ; for after these celestial intelligences have said in the following w ords, " Thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast re- deemed us to God by thy blood ;" they repeat this reason of adoration, and worship Jesus Christ under the idea of a Lamh, saying, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, riches, wisdom," and so on.

This diflPiculty comes from the equivocal meaning of the term worship, which may be imderstood to regard those infinite perfections, which eternally ren- der him who possesseth them, worthy of supreme hon- ours ; or that particular honour, which God merits by the performance of some memorable work per- formed in time. The first sort of adoration cannot be acquired. It is essential to him to whom it is paid; this we have proved. But the second kind of adoration, that part of supreme honour, which is

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rendered to God, in virtue of some new achieve- ment, that honom' he acquires ; and far from prov- ing, that he who acquires this new honour, and the liomaoje consequential of it, does not possess es- sential Deity, it is on the contrary an invincible ar- gument, that divinity is essential to hi?n. God, for example, is essentially adorable, yet every new fa- vour that he grants, is an acquisition of a new title of adoration.

Apply this remark to Jesus Christ, As God he is essentially adorable. But Jesus Christ, who is su- premely adorable as God, may bestow some new fa- vour on us. In this sense, he may acquire a new ti- tle of adoration, because he affords us a new motive to adore him. And what more powerful motive can be proposed, than that of his profound abasement for our salvation ? Now the inspired writers in the passages which we have cited, speak of this latter kind of adoration. They do not say, Jesus Christ hath acquired that divine essence, which renders him who possesses it essentially adorable ; for that would imply a contradiction : they only say, that by the benefits which he hath communicated to us in time, he hath acquired over us in time a new ti- tle of adoration. Tliis is evident to a demonstration in regard to the Philippian text, which appears the most difficult. For St. Paul, so far from affirmino^ that Jesus Christ had not those perfections which make any being adorable, till after his humiliation, establishes expressly the contrary. He expressly says, that Jesus Christ, before he was found m fa- shion as a many thought it no rohhery to he equal ivith

184 The D'mnity of Jesus ChrisL

God; that, before he took upon him the form of a servant, he was in the form of God: but when Jesus Christ was in the form of God, when he counted it no robbery to be equal with God, he was supremely ador- able. By consequence, Jesus Christ is not adorable only because he was found in fashion as a man, and took upon him the form of a servant,^'' Phil. ii. 6, &c.

This shall suffice on the second proposition. Let us attend a ïew moments to the discussion of the third. Let us attend to the celebrated question of the faith of the three first ages on the divinity of the Saviour of the world, and let us prove, that our ideas of the doctrine of Christ's divinity exactly answer those of the ages, the orthodoxy of which is least suspected. This is our third part.

in. One of the most celebrated members of the Romish communion, a man (3) who would have been one of the surest guides, who could have been chosen to conduct us through the labyrinths of the first ages, could we have assured ourselves, that the integrity of his heart had been equal to the clear- ness of his understanding, and to the strength of his memory ; this man I say, has been the astonishment of every scholar, for declaring, that after he had made profound researches into antiquity, it appear- ed to him, the doctrine of Christ's divinity was not generally received in the church, till after the council of Nice. It is yet a problem, what could induce this able Jesuit to maintain a paradox appar- ently so opposite to his own knowledge. But, leav- ing this question to the decision of the Searcher of

(l) Pctavui<;.

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hearts, let us only observe, that this author has been a thousand times answered, botlj by our own divines, and by those of the church of Rome. A treatise on this subject, by an illustrious prelate of tlie church of England, is in the hands of all learned men. The (4) author proves there with the fullest evidence, that the fathers who lived before the coun- cil of Nice, did maintain, first, that .fesus Christ subsisted before his birth ; secondly, that he was of the same essence with his Father; and thirdly, that he subsisted with him from all eternity. To repeat the passao;es extracted from the fathers by this au- thor is not the work of a sermon. We are going to take a way better proportioned to the limits of these exercises to arrive at the same end.

1. We will briefly indicate the principal precau- tions necessary to the understanding of the senti- ments of the fathers of the three first centuries on this article.

2. We will then more particularly inform you what their sentiments were. And as these articles are a summary of many volumes, and (if I may say so,) the essence of the labours of the greatest men, they deserve your serious attention.

1. In order to answer the objections, which may be extracted from the writings of the fathers against our thesis, the same general solution must be admit- ted, which we oppose to objections extracted from the scriptures. Passages of scripture are opposed to us, in which Jesus Christ speaks of himself as a simple maji. To this objection we reply, these pas-

(4) Bp. Bnll. VOL. Tir. 24

186 7%e Divinity of Jesus Christ.

sages make nothing against us. According to us, Jesus Christ is God and man. AVe can no more con- clude, that he is not God, because the Holy Spirit sometimes speaks of him as a simple man, than we can conclude, that he is not man, because he speaks of him sometimes as God.

2. It must be observed, that though the fathers taught that .lesus Clirist was of the same essence with his Father, yet they believed, I know not what, sub- ordination among the three persons who are the ob- ject of our worship. They considered the Father as the source of Deity, and pretended that the gen- eration of the Son gave the Father a pre-eminence above the Son, and that the procession of the Holy Ghost gave the Son a pre-eminence over the Holy Ghost. " We are not Atheists, says Justin Martyr, " we religiously adore the Creator of this imi verse : " we put in the second place Jesus Christ, who is " the true Son of God, and we place in the third " degree the spirit of prophecy." (5) As these first teachers of the church have sometimes been contra- dicted on this article, so they have advanced in the beat of the dispute some over-strained propositions, which we cannot adopt ; as this of Origen, among many others. " There have been among the multi- " tu de of the faithful, some who, departing from " the sentiments received by others, have rashly af- " firmed that Jesus Clirist was God over all crea- " tures. In truth, we who believe the word of the " Son, who said, The Father is greater than I, John " xiv. 28. do not believe this proposition." (6) The

(5) Apol. sec. ad Ant. Pium. pag. 60. edit. Paris.

(6) Origen against Celsus, book 8th.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 1 87

advantaojes which the Arians gained by this, made many of the Fathers after the Nicene council re- nounce the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, and explain those passages in which Christ acknowledg- ed himself inferior to the Father of his humanity. This is the metliod of St. Athanasius, (7) of Pt. Cyril of Alexandria, (8) and of many others. It was particularly St. Augustine's way, who to prove that these expressions ought to be understood of the humanity only of Jesus Christ, makes this remark that they are never used of the Holy Ghost, that it is no where said of the Holy Ghost, that the Fa- ther is s;realer than he (9.)

3. The fathers, who lived before the council of Nice, adjuitted a generation of the Son of God, be- fore the foundation of tlie world, and which is no other than that power, which proceeded from the Father, when he created the universe. We must take care not to be deceived by arguments taken from sucii passages. It cannot be concluded, that these fathers denied the existence of Jesus Christ be* fore the foundation of the world, because they said, he then caiue from the bosom of the Father. Here is an example of their way of expressing tliis gene- ration. " I am going, says Tatian, to explain clearly " the mysteries of our religion. In the beginning " was God. Now we have learnt, that this begin- *' ning is the power of the word; for the Lord of all " things was then all the substance of the universe,

(7) Athan. Dialog, cont. Maced.

(8) Cyril Alex, de vera fide. c. 26.

(9) August. Ep. 66. et lib. 2. de Trin. c. 6. "

188 The Divimty of Jesus Christ.

" because liavjng then made no creature, he existed " alone. By his simple will his word proceeded " from him. Now the word did not advance into " the empty void: but was the first work of the " Spirit, and we know this is the principle of the " world." (l) This father calls this clearly explain- ing^ the mysteries of our religion. Perhaps he might find some gainsayers. However, it appears by this passage, and by a great number more, that the an- cient doctors of the church thought, .lesus Christ was then produced after a certain manner, which they explained according to their own ideas- We dp not deny their holding this opinion. We on- ly say, that what they advanced concerning this pro- duction in time does not prove, that they did not admit the eternal generation of .Tesus Christ.

4. We do not pretend, that certain expressions^ which the orthodox have affected since the council of Nice, were received in the same sense before that council. We generally see, when two parties warm- ly controvert a point, they affect certain expressions, and use them as their livery. As we can never find terms proper to express this union, or this ineffable distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we must not be surprised, that the church hath varied on this article. " Necessity," says St. Aus- tin, speaking of the terms used in disputing with the Arians, " necessity has given birth to these terms, in " order to avoid the snares of heretics in long dis- " eussions." (2) We acknowledge then, some of

(1) Tatian. oiat. con. Grsec. See Theoph. Anti. lib. 2. ad An- toi. Tertull. adv. Prax. p. 505. edit. Rigalt.

(2) Aui^ust. lib. 7. de trin. cap. 4.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 1 89

tlie fathers have advanced that the Father and the Son had two distinct essences, or two different na~ tures. Thus, according to Photius, Pierius, priest and martyr, (3) and Dennis of Rome, in a letter against the Sabellians, (4) declaimed against those who divided the divinity into three Hypostases ; or three Persons. And thus also the orthodox, assem- bled in council at Sardis, complained, that the here- tical faction wanted to establish, that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were three à\%imci persons : " for," add these fathers, " our ancestors have taught us, " and it is the catholic and apostolic tradition, that " there is but one person in the Divinity." (5) The question is not whether the fathers of the first ages used the very terms, which succeeding ages liave used. We do not say they did. " We would not " excite odious disputes about words provided other " syllables include the same opinion :" (6) but the question is, whether they had the same ideas, wheth- er, when they said there were three essences in the Deity and one person, they did not mean by essence yàvài we mean by person, and by person what we mean by essence.

5. We must take care not to lay down for a prin- ciple, that the fathers expressed themselves Justly, that their words were always the most proper to convey adequate ideas of their sentiments, that they always reasoned in a close uniform manner, that their theses in some pages of their writings never contradicts their

(3) Phot. Bib. Cod. i. 9.

(4) Athan. de Syn. Nic. deer.

(5) Theod. Hist. Eccl. lib. 2. cap. 8.

(6) Greg. Nazianz.

190 The Dimnity of Jesus Christ,

theses in other pages. The sense of a passage in Or- igen, or Tertiillian, divides the learned. Some af- jfirm these fathers meant one thing, others say they meant another thing. Eacli pretends to define pre- cisely what they intended. Is there not sometimes a third part to take ? May we not believe that Ori- gen and Tertulliaii, in other respects great men, had not distinct ideas of what they meant to express, and did not always rightly understand themselves.

6. In fine, the last precaution which we must use to understand the sentiments of the first ecclesiasti- cal writers, and which demands a very particular at- tention, is not to be deceived by spurious writings. We know what was the almost general weakness of Christians of those times. We know particularly, what were the secret dealings of the Arians. We know they often substituted power for reason, and craft for power, when authority was wanting. Among spurious writings, those which have the most certain marks of reprobation, are frequently those wliich have the most venerable titles. Such among others, is that which bears the fine name of Apostolical con- stitutions. It is very surprising, that a man who can- not be justly taxed Avith ignorance of the writings of the ancient fathers, shoukl advance this unwarranta- ble proposition. This book is of apostolical autliori- ty. (7) The doctor threatens the church with a great volume to establish his opinion, and to forward in the end the dreadful design which he has formed and declared of reviving Arianism. Time will con- vince the learned, on what unheard-of reasons this man grounds his pretensions. Who can persuade (7) Doctor Whist on.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 191

himself, that a book, the spuriousness of which has been acknowledoed, even by tliose who had tiie greatest interest in defending its authenticity, by Bel- larmine, (8) Baronius, (9) Petavius, (1) Du Perron (2) and many others ; a book, which none of the fathers, none of the councils, even those which have given us lists of the canonical books, have ever com- prised in the canon ; (3) a book of which there is no trace in the three first centuries, nor hardly any in those which immediately follow ; a book full of pas- sages of scripture mis-quoted; (4) a book which makes decisions contrary to the inspired writings ; (5) as one decision touching the observation of the Sabbath, another concerning women with child, a third, which allows a master a forbidden intercourse with his slave ; a book that bestows pompous titles on a bish- op, giving him a pre-eminence above magistrates, princes, and kings ; a book that prescribes idle cere- monies in baptism, and enjoins the observation of superstitious fasts and festivals ; a book which gives an absurd idea of building temples; a book that es- tablisheth prayer for the dead, and directs us to of- fer the sacrament of the Eucharist for them; a book which adopts notorious fables, as the pretended com- bat between Siinon the sorcerer, and Simon Peter;

(8) Bellarm. de script, eccl. sect. 1.

(9) Baron, torn. l.an. 32.

(1) Du Per. de Euch. 1. 2. c. 1.

(2 3) Cone. Laod. 3d counc. of Carthage.'

(4) Book 1. chap. 5, Amst. edit. Frob. pages 221, 214, 402, 293. &c.

(5) Book 2. chap. 36.

References to ail the other articles are in Mr, S- but omitted for brevity sake hçre.

192 The Divinity of Jesus Christ,

a book where we meet with glaring contradictions, as what it says of St. Stephen in one place, compar- ed with what it says of him in another; a book where "we meet with profane things, as the comparison of a bishop with God the Father, of Jesus Christ with a deacon, of the Holy Ghost with a deaconess ; who, I say, can persuade himself, that such a book was com- piled by apostles or apostolical men.

Such are the precautions necessary for under- standing the sentiments of the fathers of the first ages on the doctrine in question. Let us pass on to some proofs of our conformity to their judgments on this article.

1. The fathers, who followed the doctrine of the Nicene Council, never pretended to teach new divin- ity. The Arians, on the contrary, boasted of being the first inventors of their own system. The fol- lowing passage of St. Athanasius proves the first member of this proposition. " We demonstrate, " that our doctrine descended from teacher to teach- " er down to us. But what father can you cite to " prove your sentiments ? You find them all oppo- " site to your opinions, and the devil only, who is " the author of your system, can pretend to authen- " ticate it." (6) The following passage of Tiieodo- ret proves the second member of the proposition, " They boast of being the first inventors of their " docliine, they glory in affirming, that what never *' entered into the mind of man before has been re- ^' vealed to them." (7)

(6) Athan. lib. l.dcSyn. Nic. dec.

(7) Theod. Hist. Ec. lib. 1. cap. k. Sec So.c. Hist.Eccl. lib. S cap. 10?

The Divinity of Jesus Christ, 193

2. The Jews accused the primitive Christians of idolatry for vvorshippingc Jesus Christ as God, nor did the primitive Christians deny their worshipping Jesus as God; they only maintained, that to worship him as such was not idolatry. Here is a passage from Justin's Dialogue with Trypho. The Jews say to him, " Your affirmation, Christ is God, appears " to me not only an incredible paradox, but down- " right foolishness." Justin's answer will prove the second member of the proposition : " I know," re- plies he, " this discourse appears incredible, partic- " ularly to people of your nation, who neither be- " lieve nor understand the things of the Spirit of " God."

3. The heathens also reproached the Christians with adoring Jesus Christ : nor did the Christians tax. them with calumny on this account. Weigh these words of Arnobius. A pagan makes this objection to him ; " You adore a mere man." " If this were true," replies Arnobius, " would not the benefits, " which he has so freely and bountifully diffused^ '* acquire him the title of a God ? But as he is really " God w ithout any ambiguity or equivocation, do '* you think we will deny our paying -feim supreme " honours ? Wtiat then, will some furiously ask. Is " Jesus Christ God ? Yes, we answer he is God, he " is God over all heavenly powers." (8) Origcii answered the philosopher Celsus who reproached him with believing that a man clothed in mortal flesh was God, in this manner. Let our accusers know, that this Jesus, who, we believe, is God, and the Son

(f8) Arnob. lib. 1.

VOL. HI. 2i5

194 The Dii'inity of Jesus Christ.'

of God, is the Word of God, his mortal body and his soul have received great advantages from their ijnion u ilh the Word, and, having partaken of the divinity, have been adiuitted to the divine nature. (9)

4. W^hen any teachers rose up in the church to in- jure the doctrine of Christ's divinity, they were re- puted heretics, and as such rejected. W^itness Ar- temon, Theodosius, Paul of Sanrioseta. The latter lifted up a standard against the divinity of the Sav- iour of the world, and six of the most celebrated bishops were chosen by the synod of Antioch to write him a letter, which we yet have, and in which they profess to believe, that Jesus Christ subsisted from all eternity with his Father, (l) I'o Avhicii we add this passage of Origen, " Let us represent as fully as " we are able what constitutes heresy. He is a her- " etic wlio has false notions about our Lord Jesus "Christ. Such as deny that he was the tiist-born, " the God of every creature, the word, the wisdom, " tltc beginning of the ways of God, formed from " Ihe beginning, or ever the world 7vas, hegotlen before *^ ihe mountains and hills," Prov. viii. (2)

5. The fathers of the three first centuries made invariable profession of adoring but one God. This was, as it were, the first distinct character of their religion. Yet the primitive Christians adored Jesus Christ: w'itness Pliny's letter, which says, 'Mhey

(9) Ovig. contra Cclsiim,lib. 3.

(1) Euscb. Eccl. hist, lib, 5. Athan. dc Syn. Arim. et Scleuc; Bibliot des pcres. torn. 2.

(2) Apol. Pamph. Mart, in the 4th vol. of S-t. Jcrom's works. Edit. Frobeju

The JDivinih/ of Jesus Christ. 195

^^ sane; hymns to Jesus Christ as to a God."(.3) Wit- ness Justin Martyr, who, in liis Apolooy to Anto- nius, expressly says, " Christians reli2;iously woiship " Father, ^on and Spirit." And in the same apolo- gy he assures us, that " the constant doctrine of " Christians, which they received from Jesus Christ " himself, was the adoration of one only God.'* Witness that famous letter of the faithful at Smyr- na, whom the heathens accused of paying divine honours to Polycarp. " It is impossible," sa}^ these believers, " tl;at we should abandon Jesus Christ, " or worship any other but him. We w'orsliip Jesus " Christ, who is tlie Son of God: but in regard to " the martyrs, disciples of Christ, and imitators of " his virtues, we respect them for their invincible " love to their Master nud King." Hence it was, that Paul of Samoseta, who denied the divinity of Christ, would not allow the custom of singing hymns to his honour: and Eusebius uses this argument to prove the doctrine that we are maintaining: " The *' psalms and hymns," says he, " composed a long " time ago by the faithful, do they not proclaim, " that Jesus Christ is th€ Word of God, that he is " God." (4)

6. Finally, Among numl>erless passages in the fa- thers, which attest the truth in question, there are some so clear and so express, that we ourselves, who would prove their faith in our Saviour's divinity, cannot dictate terms more emphatical than those ^vliich they have used. Weigh these words of Ter-

(3) Lib. 10. Epist. 97.

A) Euseb, Hist. Eccl, book 7. chap. 30. book 5, chap. 28.

196 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

tiiUian. " Jesus Christ had the substance of the hu- " man nature, and the substance of the divine na- **ture; on which account we say, lie had a beo;in- " ning, and he had no beginning ; lie was natural " and spiritual ; weak and powerful ; mortal and iiii- *' mortal; properties (adds this father) which distin- *^ guish his liutnan and divine nature."(5) Weigh these words of the same TertuUian. " We have *' been taught that God brought forth that Spirit^, " which we call the Word, that God by bringing " him forth begat him, that for this reason he is cal- " led the Son of God, because his substance and the *' substance of God is one and the same substance ; ^ as a ray proceeding from the body of the sun, re- *^ ceives a part of its light without diminishing the '' light of the sun, so in the generation of the word, *^ spirit is derived of spirit, and God of God. As " the light of a flambeau derived from another does *' not at all diminish the light whence it is taken, so '^' it is with God. That which proceeds from hiin is " God, both God and Son of God, one with the Fa- *^ ther, and the Father with him. It follows, that ^' this distinction of spirit from spirit, of God from " God, is not in substance but in person."(6) Weigh again these words of Hyppolitus the martyr. " Thou art he, who existest always. Thou art with " the Father without beginning, and eternal as well " as the holy Spirit."(7) Again, weigh these words of Origcn. in examining what doctrines are neces-

(5) Tcrtul. tie Carne Christi.

(6) Tertiil. adv. Gen. Apol. cap. '2\. 47) Bibl. Patr. tora. 12.

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 197

sary to salvation, he puts this in the first class: " Je- " sus Christ, who, bein^ God, became incarnate, did " not cease to be God."(8) Again, weigh these of Justin Martyr. " They call us Atheists, because " we do not adore their demons. We grant we are " such in regard to their gods : but not in regard to " the true God, with whom we honour and wor- " ship the Son."(9) Finally, weigh these of Pope Felix. " We believe, Jesus Christ the Word is the "eternal Son of God." (l)

No part of our discourse would bear a greater en- largement than this. Literally speaking, the subject exemplified from the fathers would fill a large vol- ume. We have abridged the matter. Let us finish with a few reflections of another kind on our text.

We have endeavoured to prove, that Jesus Christ is supremely adorable, and supremely adored. Chris- tians, what idea do you form of this doctrine ? Do we think, we have done all that this doctrine enga- ges us to do, when we have signalized our zeal by affirming and defending it ? Shall we be of that num- ber of extravagant people, who, having established the truth with warmth, sometimes with wrath (pla- C'ing their passion to the account of religion) imagine, they have thereby acquired a right of refusing to Jesus Christ that unlimited obedience which so di- rectly follows the doctrine of his divinity ? The sa- cred authors, whom we have followed in provint" l?his doctrine, draw very different consequences from

(8) Origen cont. Cels. lib. 5.

(9) Just. Mart. Apol. 2. (1) Cone. Ephes. act. 1.

198 The Bivinity of Jesus Christ.

it. They use if to inflame our love for a God, -who so loved the rvorld as to give his only begotten Son, John iii. 16. They use it fo elevate us to the suljlimest hopes, declaring it impossible for liim, nho gave his on 11 Son, not to give ?/5 all things freely with him y Rom. iii. 31. They use it fo enforce every virtue, particularly humility, a virtue essential to a Chris- tian ; and, when order requires it, to sacrifice the ti- lles of Noble, Sovereign, Potentate, Monarch, after the example of this God-man, who, " being in the form of God, and counting it no robbery to be equal with God, humbled himself," Phil. ii. 6. They use it to exalt fhe Evangelical dispensation above the Mosaical economy, and by the superiority of the former to prove, that piety should be carried to a more eminent degree now than formerly ; for God, who spake to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last (lays spoken to ns by his Son, Hcb. i. 1. They use it to prove, that the condition of a wicked Chris- tian would be infinitely worse after this life thau that of a wicked .Tew ; for " if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and dis- obedience received a just recompence of reward, how shall Ave escape, if we neglect so great a salva- tion, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord ?" chap. ii. 2. "He that despised Moses's law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be counted worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God ? chap. x. 28, 29. They use it to de- 'f'Cribc the despair of those, who shall see him come in divine pomp, whom they once despised under the

* The Uivittity of Jesus Christ. 199^

Tail of mortal flesli, for " they that pierced him shall see him, and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, antl every bond-man, and every free- man, shall hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and shall say to the moiin- lains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wratli is come, and who shall be able to stand? Rev. i. 7. and vi. 15, kc.

Our second reflection is on that multitude of in- telligences, which continually wait around the throne of (Jod. Hear what Daniel says. Thousand thou- sands ministered unto hiniy ten thousand times ten thou- sand stood before him, chap. vii. 10. Hear what Mi- caiab says, " I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left," 1 Kings xxii. 19. Hear what the Psalmist says, The chariots of God are twen- ty thousand, even thousands of angels, Psal. Ixviii. 17. Hear what St. Luke says, " There was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory- to God in the highest," chap. ii. 13. Hear what .le- sus Christ says, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he sliall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ?" Malt. xxvi. 53. Hear what our text says, The number of them was ten thousand limes ten thousand,and thousands of thousands. My brethren, one of tlie most dangerous tempta- tions, to which a believer is exposed in this world, is tliat of seeing himself despised. He sometimes, like

200 The Divinity of Jesus Christ,

Elias, thinks liimself alone on the Lord's side, 1 Kinjrs xix. 10. Like Joshua, he is sometisnes obli- ged to say of his duty. Choose you whom you ivill serve : but as for me and my house, ive will serve the Ijord, chap. xxiv. ]5. The church is yet a little Jlock, Luke xii. 32, and although we cannot say of the external profession of religion as St. Paul says. Ye see your calling, brethren, that not many mighty, not many wise, not many noble are called, 1 Cor. i. 26. yet it may be too truly said of the reality and essence of Christianity. No, we have not many noble. They are called noble in the world, who have, or who pretend to have, some ancient titles, and who are of- ten ashamed of those whom Jesus Christ has enno- bled, associated into his family, made partakers of the divine riature, and changed from glory to glory by his Spirit, 2 Pet. i. 4. We have very few of these no- bles. No, we have not many mighty, 2 Cor. iii. 18. They are called mighty in the w^orld, who have the art of surmounting every obstacle in the path that leads to fortune, who in spite of a world of opposers, have the art of arriving at the pinnacle of worldly grandeur, and make the difficulties opposed to their designs the means of succeeding. These people generally entertain a contemptible idea of such as are concentred in virtue, who use it both as buckler and sword to conquer flesh and blood, the prince of the power of the air, and his formidable legions, Eph. ij. 2. We have but few such mighty ones as these. No, we have not many wise. Tliey are called wise in this world, who by the impenetrable secrets of a pro- found policy fin4 new ways of supporting the, state,

The Divinity of Jesus Christ. 201

and of deriving from public prosperity a fund to maintain their own pomp. Those are usually despi- sed, who possess that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, of that wisdom among them, that are perfect, Prov. i. 7. 1 Cor. ii. 6. which we are taught in the gospel. We have very few of tliese wise men. What then ! have falsehood and vice more partisans than virtue and truth? What then ! shall we have less approbation in submitting to God than in submitting to the devil ? Far from us be an idea so puerile ! Let us cease to consider this little handful of men, who surround us, as if they made up the universality of intelligences; and this earth, this point, this atom, as if it w^ere the immensity of space. Let us open our eyes. Let our text pro- duce the same efïect in us to-day as Elisha's voice once produced in his servant. All on a sudden they were surrounded with soldiers, armies, and cliariots, sent by the Syrian king to carry off Elisha. The servant is frighted ; Alas my master ! says he, what shall we do ? Fear not, answers Elisha, they that he Tvith vs are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And what does he see ? He sees the mountain fdl of horses and chariots ofjire round about Elisha^ 1 Kings vi. 15, &;c. Believers, ye, who think yourselves alone on the Lord's side, ye, who tremble at the sight of the formidable troops which the enemy of your salvation has sent against you, ye, who cry, What shall we do ? Fear not, they that are with us are more than they that are with them » .... O Lordj open their eyes thai they may see. See VOL. in, 20

?

202 The Diviinly of Jesus Christ.

christians! see wlietlier ye be alone. See these /m thousand times ten thousands, that stand before him. See these heavenly hosts which surround his throne en the right hand and on the left. See the twenty thou- sand chariots. See legions of angels and elders, nhose numbers are twenty thousand times ten thousand,^ Rev. ix. 16. These are your companions, these your approvers, these your defenders.

3. But what are the delights of these intelligences You have heard my brethren, (and this is our third reflection,) their felicity, their delights consist in ren- dering supreme honours to God. " And I beheld and heard the voice of many angels, round about the thi'onc, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, and wisdom and strength," A reflection very pro- per to humble and confound us, whose taste is so vi- tiated and depraved. I am aware, that nothing is less subject to our decisions than taste. I am aware, that what is delicious to one is disgustful to another, and, as it would be stupid to expect a subUme spirit should take pleasure in the gross occupations of a meclianic, so it would be unjust to expect that a me- chanic should be pleased with the noble speculations of a sublime genius. I know, the difference between us and these intelligences is such as not to allow our pleasures to be of the same kind. But, after all, is this difference so great as to make such a dispropoi^ tion in our delights? Do we not aspire to divine hap- piness as well as they ? And if the flesh, which covers

* Rev. ix. 16. Two hundred thousand thousand. Vingt mille fols dix- mille. Du se myriades myriadum. Indrjinitc intelligen- dunij more Ilcbrïçc, pro ingcnti numéro.

2%e Divinity of Jesus Christ. 20.1

that spiritual substance, that animates us, placeth us so far beneath them, is not the honour, which this flesh has received by the incarnation of the Word, who took not on him the nature of angels but tlie seed of Abraham, Heb. ii. 16. is not this more than enough to remove the prodigious distance, wlûch the sublimity of their essence puts between us and them ? at least should it not make us lament the de- pravity of our taste, if it be not sufficient perfectly to restore it? Christians, the plan of our evangelical felicity is founded on that of celestial felicity. Chris- tians are called, even here below, to taste those no- ble pleasures, which are so delightful to the blessed above. Let us feel these pleasures, my brethren- Let us feel the pleasure of rendering to God the homage of the mind. Let us soar into a sublime meditation of his essence. Of his perfections let us form the most elevated ideas, that our diminutive capacities can permit. Let us conceive, as far as we possibly can, a wise God, supremely powerful, supremely holy, supremely good. Let us associate his glorious attributes, and, judging by the splendor of these feeble rays, of some of the beauties of the original, let us adore this Great Supreme. Let us feel tiie pleasure of rendering to God the homage oi the heart. Let us measure the dimensions of love divine. Let us lose ourselves in the lenglli, in the breadth, in the height, in the depth of that love, which passelh knowledge, Eph. iii. 18. Let us conceive the inexpressible felicity of an intimate unioïi with the happy God, 1 Tim. vi. 15. Let us reflect on tlie happiness of a creature, who has a relation of love 'to a God, who knows how to love with so much ex-

204 The Divinity of Jesus Christ.

tent, with so much pity, with so much power. Let us feel tlie pleasure of rendering to God the homage of an entire devotedness, the submission of all our desires. Slaves of the world, let us free ourselves from sensuality and cupidity, let us shake off the yoke of these domineering passions, let us submit ourselves to God, James iv. 7. Thus let us taste the f( licity of returning to order, of obeying that God, all whose commands enforce love to what is supreme- ly lovely.

True, deceitful world ! thou wilt yet oppose our real pleasures. True, sensual flesh! thou wilt yet solicit us to pleasures agreeable to thy corruption. True, worldly pomp! thou wilt again dazzle us with thy vain glory. But thou worldly pomp shalt presently vanish! thou sensual flesh shall present- ly fall into the dust ! thou also deceitful fashion of the ivor/d^ thou slialt presently pass away ! Cor. vii. 31. presently these auditors, who have en- deavoured to approach nearest to angelical pleas- ures, shall approach them entirely. Sliortly this flock shall be numbered with the twenty thousand times ten thousand. Presently the voices, which have made these walls resound the Creator's praise, shall sing it in a nobler manner, and shall make the hea- venly arches echo the hymn in my text, " Worthy is the Lamb to receive honour, power, riches, wis- dom, strength, glory and blessing. To him, that sit- teth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honour, and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

* Cor. vii. 31. Fashion of this world, ro c^tifcct th KoTfcie tuTit. Locutio a thcatro et scenis desumpta, quae subito cum personis mutantur. Figmr chi ?nondc troivpevr.

SERMON VI.

Christ the Substance of the Ancient Sacrifices of the

Law.

Hebrews x. 5, 6, 7.

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not : hid a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure : Then said /, Lo! I come, (in the volume of the hook it is ivritten of me^J to do thy will, O God.

Jl 1 take Jesus Christ for our Redeemer and for our example is an abridgment of religion, and the on- ly way to lieaven.

If Jesus Christ be not taken for our Redeemer, alas ! how can we bear the looks of a God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil? Hab. i. 13. How can we hope to please, with prayers debased by number- less imperfections ; with a repentance, in wiiich a regret for not daring to repeat a crime too often mixes with a sorrow for having committed it; with a love of which self-interest is always the first spring; how, I say, can we hope with our sinful services to please a God, before whom seraphims vail their faces, and in whose sight the heavens themselves are un- clean ?

206 Christ the substance of the Law.

If we do not take Jesus Christ for our example^ with what face can we take him for our Redeemer ? Should we make the mysteries of religion ni} sleries of iniquity? Should we wish, that he, who came iu' to the world on purpose to destroy the works of the devil, would re-establish them, in order to fill up the communion with this wicked spirit that void, which communion with Christ leaves? But to take Jesus Christ for a Redeemer and to take him for a model, is to unite all that can procure our supreme felicity ; it is, as I said before, an abridgment of religion, and the only way to heaven.

In tliese two points of light St. Paul presents our divine Saviour to the view of the Hebrews, in this chapter,from whichwe havetaken thetext,and in some following chapters. It was necessary to convince men, educated in J udaism, new convertsto Christianity, and greatly prejudiced in favour of the magnificence of the Levitical service, that tiie most pompous parts of the Mosaic ritual, the altars and the ofFeiings, tlie priests and the sacrifices, the temple and ail its ceremonies, were designed to prefigure the sacrifice on the cross. It was necessary to convince men, who were as little acquainted with the morality of the gospel as with the divinity of it, tiîat, far from using tljis oblation to diminish in the least degree the motives which en- gage every intelligent creature to devote himself to îiis Creator, it vras employed to give them all new and additional influence. St. Paul intended to con- vince the Jewish converts of tliese truths in this epis- tle in general, and in my text in particular. But is flie doctrine of my text addressed to new converts

Christ the substance of the Law. 20T

only ? Suppose the doctrine addressed particularly to them, does it. follow, that it is needless to preack it in this pulpit? We will not examine these ques- tions now. However averse we are to consume the precious moments of these exercises in scholastic debates, the words, that we have read, furnish us with a most specious pretext for a minute discussion of them. Are the words of my text to be consider- ed as the language of Jesus Christ, as the far greater number of expositors, for very strong reasons, main- tain ? Are they the words of David, who, consider- ing the many reasons, which persuade us to believe, that the dedications of our persons to the service of God are the most acceptable of all sacrifices to him, vows to devote himself to his service ? We answer they are the words of Jesus Christ ; they are the words of David; and they express the sentiments of all true believers after him. W^e are going to prove these assertions.

First, We will consider the ieni^ as proceeding from the mouth of Jesus Christ. We will shew you Jesus substituting the sacrifice of his body instead of those of the Jewish economy.

Secondly, We will put the words of the text into your mouths, and we will endeavour to convince you, that this second sense of the text is clearly deduci- ble from the first, and necessarily connected with it. Having excited your admiration in the first part of this discourse, at that inestimable gift of God, his beloved Son, we will endeavour, in the second, to excite suitable sentiments of gratitude in each of your hearts.

20& Christ (he suhstance of the Laiv,

Great God ! What bounds can I henceforth set to my 2;ratitude? Can I be so stupid as to imagine, that I express a sufficient sense of thy beneficence by singing a psalm, and by performing a lifeless cere- mony ? I feel irregular propensities. Great God! to thee I sacrifice them all. My body rebels against thy laws. To thee I offer it in sacrifice. My heart is susceptible of fervour and flan)e. For thee, my God ! may it for ever burn ! " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not : but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin thou bast had no pleasure: then said I, Lo! I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will. O God !" Accept this dedication of our- selves to thee, O God ! Amen.

I. Let us consider our text in relation to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Three things are necessary. 1, Our text is a quotation ; it must be verified. 2. It is a difficult passage ; it must be explained. 3. It is one of the most essential trutlis of religion ; it must be supported by solid proofs.

1 . Our text is a quotation, and it must he verified. It is taken from ttiC fortieth psalm. St. Paul makes a little alteration in it, for which we will assign a rea- son in a following article. In this, our business is to prove, that the psalm is prophetical, and that the prophet had the Messiah in view. In confirma- tion of tliis notion we adduce the evidence that arises from the object, and the evidence that arises from testifuony.

In regard lo the object we reason thus. All the fortieth psalm, except one word, exactly applies to

Christ the substance of fJie Law. 200

the Messiah. This inapplicable word, as it seems at. first, is in the twelfth verse, mine iniquities have ta^ ken hold upon me. This expression docs not seetn proper in the mouth of Jesus Christ, who, the proph- ets foretold should have no deceit in his mouthy Isa, liii. 9. and who, when he came, defied his enemies to convince him of a single sin, John viii. 46. There is the same difficulty in a parallel psalm, I mean the sixty-ninth, O God ! thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee, ver. 50. The same solution serves for both places. Some have accounted for this difficulty by the genius of the Hebrew language, and have understood by tiio terms, sins and iniquities, not any crimes, which tiie speaker means to attribule to himself: but those wiiich his persecutor committed against him. In the style of the Jews, my rebellion sometimes signi-* fies the rebellion that is excited against me. In tliis manner we account for an expression in Jeremiah, My people are attached to my rebellion, that is to say, My people persist in rebelling against me. 8o again, we account for an expression in the tliird of Lamen- tations, O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong. Thai is, the wrong done to me. In like manner are those words to be explained, my foolishness, my sins, my iniquities, vei'. 59.

But, if the idiom of the Hebrew language could nofe^ furnish us with this solution, we should not think the difficulty sufficient to engage us to erase the fortieth psalm from the list of prophecies, if other solid rea- sons induced us to insert it there, Jesus Cî'rist on the cross was the substitute of sinners, like tiiç scape-

vol,. ITT. 27

210 Christ the substance of the Law.

goat, that was accursed under the old dispensation, and, as he stood charged with the iniquities of his people, he was considered as the perpetrator of all the crimes of men. The scripture says in so many words, hehare our sins. What a burden! What an inconceivable burden ! Is the bearer of such a bur- den chargeable with any exaggeration, when he cries, " My iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs of mine head?" 1 Pet. ii. 25. This passage being thus explained, we affirm, there is nothing in this psalm, which doth not exactly agree to the Mes- siah ; and if we do not attempt now to prove what we have affirmed on this article, it is partly because such a discussion would divert us too far from our subject, and partly because there seems to be very little difficulty in the application of each part of the psalm of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, the fortieth psalm is parallel to other prophecies, which indisputably belong to the Messiah. I mean particularly the sixty-ninth psalm, and the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Were not the exposi- tions of fallible men grounded on the testimonies of infallible writers, the nature of the thing would oblige us to admit the application. In whose mouth, except in that of the Messiah, could David with so much reason have put these words ? For thy sake 1 have borne reproach ; shame hath covered my face, Ps. Ixix. 7. Of whom could Isaiah so justly say as of the Messiah, " He was wounded for our transgres- sions; he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chas- tisement of our peace was upon him: and with his

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btripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," chap. liii. 5, 6. Now if you put the chapter and the psalm, which we have quoted, among prophecies of the Messiah, you will find no difficulty in adding the psalm, from which our text is taken, because they need only to be compared to prove that they speak of the same subject.

Over and above the evidence, that arises from the object, we have the evidence of testimony. St. Paul declares, that the words of the Psalmist are a pro- phecy, and that the mystery of the incarnation was the accomplishment of it. After a decision so re- spectable, it ill becomes ue to reply.

I very well know what the enemies of our myste- ries say against this reasoning, and against all our arguments of this kind by which we have usually derived the mysteries of the gospel from the writings of the prophets. Jesus Christ, say they, and his apostles, reasoned from the prophecies only for the sake of accommodating themselves to the genius of the Jews, who were always fond of finding myste- ries in the writings of their sacred authors, even in the most simple parts of them. What you take, con- tinue they, for explications of prophecies in the wri- ters of the New Testament, are only ingenious ap- plications, or more properly, say they, accommoda- tions. But what! when Philip joined himself to the Ethiopian treasurer, who vras reading the fifty-third of Isaiah, and who put this question to him, / prai/ thee of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himsetf or

212 Christ the substance of the Law.

of some other man ? When he began at the same scrip- ture, and preached unto him, Jesus, Acts viii. 34, 35. did he mean only to accoinnmodate himself to the genius of the Jewish nation? Wliat! when St. Mat- thew, speaking of John the Baptist, said, This is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ch. iii. 3. and wlien John the Baptist, in answer to those questions, Avhich the Jews, whom the priests sent, put to liiin, Who art thou ? Art thou Elias / Art thou that pro- phet / W iien he replied, / am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, John i. 19, 21, 23. did he mean on- ly to accommodate himself to the prejudices of the Jews ? What! wiien Jesus Christ after his resur- rection taxed his disciples with folly, because they had not discovered his resurrection in the ancient prophecies ! and when, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he derived from thence arguments to prove that Christ ought to have siiffered, and to enter into his glory, Lidce xxiv. 25, 26, 27. had he no otli- er design than that of making ingenious applications, and of accommodating himself to the prejudices of the Jewish nation ? And is this the design of St. Paul in my text ? Hear how he speaks, how he reasons, how he concludes. " It is not possible, says he, that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offer- ings, and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure : then said I, Lo! I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God !" Having

Christ the substance of the Law. 213

said before, Sacrifice and off'ering thou rvouldest not, which things are appointed by the law, he adds, " Lo ! I come to do thy will, O God! He taketh away the first, tliat he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the bo- dy of Jesus Christ once for all." Do people speak in this manner, when they make only ingenious ap- plications, and when reasoning is carried on by dex* terity and accommodation ?

• Audacious heresy, my brethren ! which having first offered violence to the expressions of the prophets, proceeds to offer violence again to the decisions of the evangelists, and apostles, the interpreters of the piophets ; and with equal presuaiption contradicts a prophecy, and an interpretation as infallible as piophecy itself! There is great simplicity, I allow, in a turn for the marvellous, and in obliging one's self to find the Messiah in the most unlikely passa- ges in tlie prophecies : but there is also a great deal of obstinacy in denying demonstrations so palpable and plain.

The words of my text are then a quotation, and, we think, we have justified it. We are now to con- sider it, secondly, as a difficult passage, that needs elucidation.

The principal difficulty in my present view is in these words, A body has I thou prepared me. The Hebrew has it, thou has digged, bored, or opened mine ears. The expression is figurative : but it is very intelligible even to those who are but little ac- quainted vvith sacred iiistory. None of you can be ignorant, that it is an allusion to a law recorded in

214 Christ the substance of the Liuv.

the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, where they, who liad Hebrew-slaves, were ordered to release them in Ihe sabbatical year, A provision is made for such slaves as refused to accept of this privilege. Their masters were to bring them to the doors of their hou- ses, to bore their ears thro^agh with an awl, and they were to engage to continue slaves for ever, that is to say, till the year of Jubilee, or till their death, if they happened to die before that festival. As this action was expressive of the most entire devoted- ness of a slave to his master, it was very natural for the prophet to make it an emblem of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ to his Fathers will. A passage of our apostle exactly agrees with these words of the prophet. " Jesus Christ made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a ser- vant, and was made in the likeness of men. And, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," Phil. ii. 7, 8. This is the best comment on the words of the Psalmist, Tliou hast bored min£ ears.

But wliy did not St. Paul quote the words as they are in the psalm ? Why, instead of rendering the words according to the Hebrew, Thou hast bored mim ears, did he render them, Thou hast prepared me a body ? It is plain the apostle followed the version com> monly called that of the seventy. But this remark, far from removing the diiïiculty, produces a new one. For it !nay be asked why did the seventy render the original words in this manner ? As this is a famous question, and as the discussion of it may serve to

Christ the substance of the Law, 215

cast light on many other passages of scripture, it- will not be an unprofitable waste of time to inquire into the matter. Our people often hear this version mentioned in our pulpits, and they ought to have at least, a general knowledge of it.

By the Septuagint, or the version of the seventi/, we mean a Greek translation of the Old Testament, made about three hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and it derived its name from a common report, that seventy, or seventy-two interpreters were the authors of it. One history, (or sliall I ra- ther call it, one romance?) attributed to an officer of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, says that this prince, intending to collect a library at Alexan- dria, employed a learned Athenian, named Demet- rius Phalareus, to execute his design — That he in- formed the king, that the Jews were in possession of a book containino; the law of their legislator — that Ptolemy deputed three officers of his court to wait on the high-priest at Jerusalem, to require of him a copy of the book, and men capable of translating it into Greek — that in order to conciliate the Jews, and to obtain this favor, he released a hundred thou- sand slaves, who had been held captives in his king- dom, and amply furnished them with all necessaries for their return to Judea — that he loaded his depu- ties with rich presents for the temple — that the high- priest not only gave them a copy of the law : but also sent six men of each tribe to translate it — that Ptolemy received them with marks of great distinc- tion, and lodged them in the isle of Pharos, where they might pursue their work without interruption —

216 Christ the substance of the Law.

and that they finished the work in as many days as» there were authors laboring at it, that is to say, in seventy-two.

This narration being favorably received among the Jews, it happened that the superstition of the populace, fomented by their own ignorance, and by the rash decisions of the Rabbies, which were put in the place of solid proofs, added divers circum- stances to render the tale more marvellous. Of this kind is the account given by Philo, who says that each of the seventy translators pursued his work separately from the rest, and that when the transla- tions of all came to be compared, there Avas not the least difference either in the meaning, or in the ex- pressions. Of the same sort is another circumstance related by Justin Martyr, Each translator, says he, was confined in a little cell, in order to prevent his holding any conversation with the rest of the inter- preters ; and this good father pretends to have seen the ruins of these cells in the isle of Ptmros. We will not increase the list of tliese fabulous tales here, let it suffice to observe, that learned men have long agreed to reject these fables; and have fully shewn the paradoxes, the anachronisms, and tlie contradic- tions with wiiich they are replete. We proceed now to relate what they have almost unanimously admit- ted.

That about three hundred years before tl e ad- vent of Jesus t^hrist, a Greek translation of the Old Testament was made at Alexandria for the use of the descendants of that multitude of Jews, which Alexander the Great had settled there, when he

Christ the substance of the LajV. âlf

built that famous city in Egypt, to which he gave his own name — That a version was absolutely ne- cessary for those people, because the far greater part of them had lost tiieir native language — tliat at first the five books of Moses only were translated, be- cause they were the only books, which were then read in the synagogues — tliat after the tyrannies of Antioclius Epiphanes, the reading of tlje prophecies being then introduced, the prophecies also were translated — that this version was spread through all those parts of the world, where the Greek language was used, or where Jews dwelt — and that the apos- tles, preaching the gospel in the greatest part of the known world, and the Greek tongue being then every where the favourite of all, who valued them- selves on learning and politeness, made use of tho version, commonly called the version of the seventy, to convince the Pagans, that the different parts of the economy of the Messiah had been foretold by the prophets, and that this version was one of the preparations, which providence had employed for the call of the Gentiles.

This digression thus going before us, I will relate the replies, that are usually made to the question before us, namely, why the pretended seventy ren- dered the prophecy, as in the text, A body hast thou prepared me, instead of translating it according to the literal Hebrew, Mine ears hast thou bored.

Some learned men have pretended, that the trans- lation of our prophecy was altered in our copies of the seventy, and that we should read cars instead of hod]/. But the reasons on which this solution is

VOL. Ill, 28

218 Christ the substance of the Law.

grounded, appear to us so inconclusive, that far from establishing a fixed sentiment, they hardly seem ca- pable of supporting a momentary conjecture.

Beside, if tiiis reading, yi locli/ hast thou prepared me, be faulty, how came St. Paul to avail himself of the version of the seventy to give currency to a thought which was not tlieirs, and to persuade the illiterate that these interpreters had translated the words, A body hast thou prepared me, when indeed they had rendered the words. Mine ears hast thou bored? How could St. Paul employ a fraud so gross to establish one of the most venerable mysteries of Christianity, I inean the doctrine of the incarnation ? Had not his own conscience restrained him, a fore- sight of the reproaches, to which he must necessari- ly have exposed himself by sucli conduct, must needs have prevented it.

This first solution not appearing defensible to most learned men, they have had recourse to the following. The seventy translators, say they, or the authors of this version, that bears their name, whoever they were, knew the mystery of the incar- nation ; they were convinced, that this mystery was foretold in the fortieth Psalm ; and as Jesus Clirist could not perform the functions of a servant, with- out uniting himself to a mortal body, they chose rather to give the meaning of the prophecy than to render thie bare terms of it. Some have even gone so flu* as to affirm, that the seventy did this by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. This solution has one great advantage, it favours the theological sys- tem of those wlio admit it, and every solution of

Christ the substance of the Law. 219

this kind, will always have, independently on the accuracy and justness of it, the suffrages of great numbers. This opinion, however, is not free from difficulty. Do not the mistakes of which this ver- sion is full, and which the apostles have often cor- rected in their quotations of it, form insuperable ob- jections against the imaginary doctrine of their in- spiration ? But if the authors of this version had not been inspired, would it have been possible for them to have spoken of the mystery of the incarnation in a manner more clear than any of the prophets ? This difficult} appears to me the greater, because I cannot find any Rabbi, (I except none,) who ever understood the prophecy in the fortieth Psalm of the Messiah. It is St. Paul alone who gives us the true sense of it.

The conjectures that I have mentioned, appear to me very uncertain ; I therefore hazard my own private opinion on the subject, and that proof which I think is the most proper to make it eligible, I mean the great simplicity of it, will be perhaps (consider- ing the great love, that almost all men have for the marvellous,) the chief reason for rejecting it. How- ever, I will propose it.

I remark first, that the word Aised by the pretend- ed seventy, and by St. Paul, and rendered in our lan- guage prepared, is one of the most vague terms in tlie Greek tongue, and signifies indifferently, to dis- pose, to mark, to note, to render capable, and. so on. This remark is so well grounded, that they, who think the septuagint reading used the word ears in-

220 Christ the substance of the Law.

stead of body, retain, however, the term in question, so that according to them, it may signify bore, cufy &c.

I observe secondly, that before the septiiagint ver- sion the Mosaic rites were very little known among the heathens, perhaps also among the dispersed Jews ; it was a very common thing with the Rabbies to endeavour to conceal them from all, except the inhabitants of Judea, for reasons which I need not mention now. Hence I infer, that in the period of which I am speaking, few p<eople knew the custom of boring the ears of those slaves, who refjised to ac^ cept the privileges of the sabbatical year. I say in this period, not after; for we find in the writings of those Pagans, who lived in after-times, and particu- larly in the satires of Petronius and Juvenal, allu- sions to this custom.

I observe thirdly, that it was a general custom among the Pagans to make marks on the bodies of those persons, in whom they claimed a property. They were made on soldiers, and slaves, so that if they deserted, they might be easily reclaimed. Some- times they apposed marks on them who served an apprentice-ship to a master, as well as on them who put themselves under the protection of a God. These marks were called stigmas ; the word has pas- sed into other languages, and St. Paul, probably al- ludes to this custom in his Epistle to the Galatians, where he says, from henceforth let no man trouble me, for 1 bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, chap. vi. 17. You may see several such allusions in the ninth of J^zekiel, and in the seventh of Revela- tipns, where they, who had put themselves under the

Christ the substance of the Law. 221

protection of God, and had devoted themselves to his service, are represented as marked in the fore- head with a certain mark respected by the messen- gers of his avenging justice.

On these different observations I ground this opin^ ion. The seventy, or the authors of the version, that bears their name, whoever they were, thought if they translated the prophecy under consideration literally, it would be unintelligible to the Pagans and to the dispersed .Tews, who being ignorant of the custom to which the text refers, would not be able to comprehend the meaning of the words, ?nine ears hast thou bored. To prevent this inconvenience, they translated the passage in that way wliich was most proper to convey its meaning to the readers. It was well known that the Pagans marked the bodies of tlieir soldiers, and slaves, and disciples. Our autliors alluded to this custom, and translated the words in general, "thou hast marked my body, or, thou hast disposed my body," that is to say, " thou hast disposed it in the way which is most agreeable to the functions in which I am engaging." Now as this translation was well adapted to convey the mean- ing of the prophet to the Pagans, St. Paul had a right to retain it>

Thus we have endeavoured to explain the great- est difficulty in the terms of the text. The follow- ing words. In the volume of the book it is rvritten of me, refer to the manner in which the ancients dispo- sed their books. They wrote on parchmentfj, fast- ened one to another, and made rolls of them, l^he Hebrew term, which St. Paul, and the pretended

222 Christ the substance of the Law,

seventy, render hook, signifies a roll ; and some think, the Greek term, which we render beginning,^ and which properly signifies a heady alludes to the form of these rolls : but these remarks ought not to detain us.

Jesus Christ, we are very certain, is introduced in this place as accomplishing what the prophets had foretold, that is, that the sacrifice of the Messiah should be substituted in the place of the Levitical victims. On this account, as we said before, our text contains one of the most essential doctrines of the religion of Jesus Christ, and the establishment of this ig our next article.

In order to comprehend the sense in which the Messiah says to God, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest noty we must distinguish two sorts of voli- tion in God, a willing of a mean, and a willing of an end. God may be said to will a mean, when he ap- points a ceremony or establisheth a rite, which has no intrinsic excellence in itself: but which prepares them, on whom it is enjoined, for some great events, on which their felicity depends. By willing an endy I mean a production of such events.

If the word ivilly be taken in the first sense, it can- not be truly said, that God did not will or appoint sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Every one knows he instituted them, and regulated the whole ceremoni- al of them, even the most minute articles. On this account, St. Paul observes, when God had given

* // est écrit de moi au commencement du livre. It is written of me in the beginning of the book. Fr.

It is written of me in the volume of the book. Eng.

Christ the substance of the Law. 123

Moses directions concerning the construction of the tabernacle, he said to him, See that thmi make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount, Heb. viii. 5.

But if we take the word will in the second sense, and by the will of God understand his willing an end, it is strictly true, that God did not will or appoint sacri- fices and burnt-offerings ; because they were only in- stituted to prefigure the Messiah, and consequently as soon as the Messiah, the substance appeared, all the ceremonies of the law were intended to vanish.

Now, as we said in the beginning of this discoui^se, the Hebrews, who were contemporary with St. Paul, those, I mean, who made a profession of Christianity, had great occasion for this doctrine. If their at- tachment to the Levitical ritual did not operate so far as to hinder their embracing the profession of Christianity, it must be allowed, it was one of the principal obstacles to their entering into the true spirit of it. The apostles discovered, for a long time, a great deal of indulgence to those who were misled by their prejudice. St. Paul, a perfect model of that Christian indulgence and toleration, which the consciences of erroneous brethren require, became io the JewSy a Jew ; and far from affecting to degrade the ceremonies of the law, observed them with a scru- pulous exactness himself.

But when it was perceived, as it soon was, that the attachment of the Jews to the cereinonies of the law, and particularly to sacritrce^j, was injurious to the sacrifice of the cross, the apostles thought it their Awiy vigorously to oppose such dangerous prejudi-

224 Christ the substance of the Law.

ces, and this is the design of the epistle to the He- brews, in which St. Paul establisheth his thesis, I mean the inutility of sacrifices, on four decisive ar- guments. The first is taken from the nature of the sacrifices. The second is derived from the declara- tions of the prophets. The third is inferred from types. And the last arises from the excellence of the Gospel-victirn.

It is not possibk, says the apostle immediately be- fore my text, that the blood of bvlls and of goats should take away sin, Heb. x. 4. this is as much as to say, the blood of irrational victims is not of value suffi- cient to satisfy the justice of God, righteously ex- pressing his displeasure against the sins of intelligent creatures. This is an argument, taken from the na- ture of sacrifices.

" Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : not according to the covenant, that I made w'ilh their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt," chap. viii. 8, 9. This is an argu- ment taken from the decisions of the prophets.

Jesus Christ is a " priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abra- ham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tei.th part of all ; first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also, king of Salem, which is king of peace; without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning

Christ the substance of the Law, 225

of days nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. The law was a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things," chap. vii. 17, 1, kc, and x. 1. This is an argument taken from types.

The argument taken from the excellence of the vic^ tim runs through this whole epistle, and has as many parts as tliere are characters of dignity in the per- son of .lesus Christ, and in his priesthood.

The first character of digrdty is this. Jesus Christ is neither a mere man, nor an angel, he is the Son of God, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. He upholds all things by the ivord of his power, chap. i. 3. and of him when he came into the world, it was said. Let all the angels of God wor- ship him, ver. 6. He, in a word, hath the perfec- tions of a supreme God, and to him the Psalmist rendered the homage of adoration, when he said, " Thy throne O God! is for ever and ever; a scep- tre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou, Lord ! in the beginning hast laid the founda- tion of the earth ; and tlie heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish : but thou remain- est ; and they all shall wax old, as doth a garment, and as a vesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail, ver. 8, &c.

The solemnity of the instituting of Jesus Christ is a second character of dignity. Christ glorified not himself to be mcule an high-priest: but it was God, who said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee, ch. v, 5.

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226 Christ the substance of the Law.

The sacred oath that accompanies the promise?, which Jesus Christ alone fulfils, is a third character of dignity. " When God made promise to Abra^ hain, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely, blessing, I will bless thee," chap. vi. 14. *' The priests," under the law, " were made without an oath : but this with an oath, by him that said unto him. The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec,*' chap. vii. 21.

The unity of the priest and the sacrifice is a fourth character of dignity. " They truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this mani, because he con- tinueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood," ver. 23, 24.

The fifth cl^aracter of dignity is the magnificence of that tabernacle, inta which Jesus Christ entered, and the merit of that blood, which obtained his ac- cess into it. " The first covenant had a worldly sanc- tuary," chap. ix. I. into the first room of which " the priests went always, accomplishing the service of God;" and " into the second the high-priest alone went once every year, not without blood, which he ofiered for himself, and for the enors of the people. But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, neither by the blood of bulls and calves, but by his own blood, entered not into holy places made with bands, which were figures of the true : but into hea- ven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us," chap. X. 6, 7, 11, 12,24.

Christ the substance of the Law, 227

To what purpose are Levitical sacrifices, of what <use are Jewish priests, what occasion have we for hecatombs, and offerings, after the sacrifice of a vic- tim so excellent? My text contains one of the most essential doctrines of Christianity, that Jesus Christ offered himself for us to the justice of his Father. This is a doctrine, the evidences of which we all re- ceive with joy ; a doctrine, the enemies of which we consider with horror; a doctrine, of which we have the highest reason to be holily jealous, because it is the foundation of that confidence, with which we come boldly to the throne of (îrace, throughout life, and in the article of death : but a doctrine, how- ever, that will be entirely useless to us, unless, while we take Jesus Christ for our Redeemer, we take him also for our example. The text is not only the language of Jesus Cnrist, who substitutes himself in the place of Old- Testament sacrifices: but it is the voice of David, and of every believer, who, full of this just sentiment, that a personal dedication to the service of God is the most acceptable sacrifice, that men can offer to the Deity, devote themselves en- tirely to him. How foreign soever this second sense may appear from the first, there is nothing in it that ought to surprise you. This is not the only passage of holy scripture, which contains a mystical as well as a literal signification, nor is this tlie first time in which the dispositions of inspired men have been emblems of those of the Messiah.

Let us justify this second sense of our text. Come, my brethren, adopt the words, say with the prophet, and thus prepare yourselves for the celebration of

22ti Christ the substance of the Law.

the festival of the nativity, Avhich is just at hand. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not ; hid a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt-offerings and sacriji- cesfor sin thou hast had no pleasure : then said I, Loi I comCy as it is written in the volume of the hook, to do thy willy O God! This is the second part, or rather the application of this discourse.

II. God. willeth not sacrifices. The meaning of these words is easily understood, I presume. They sig- Tiify, that the only offering, which God requires of us, is that of our person». Recollect a distinction, •which we made a little while ago, to justify the first sense of the text, and which is equally proper to ex- plain the second. There is in God a twofold will, a willing of means, and a willing of cm end. If the word will be taken in the first sense, it cannot be said, God willeth, or desireth, not sacrifices. He ap- pointed tliem as means to conduct us to tliat end, which he intended, that is, to the offering of our persons.

I have been delighted to find this idea developed in the writings of those very Jews, who of all men liave th.e strongest inclination to exceed in respect for the ceremonial of religion. I have my eye on a work of a Rabbi, the most respectable, and tlie most respected, of all, who are so called, I mean Moses Maimonides. The book is entitled, A guide to doubt- ing souls. ^ Under how many faces does he present this distinction ? On what solid foundations does he take care to establish it ? I should weaken the argu- ments of this learned Jew by abridging them> and I

^ ^lore Ncvochinr,

Christ the substance of the Law» 229

refer all, who are capable of reading it, to the book itself. You understand then in what sense God de- mands only the sacrifice of your persons. It is what he wills as the end ; and he will accept neither offer- ings, nor sacrifices, nor all tlie ceremonies of reli- gion, unless they contribute to the holiness of the person who offers them.

Let us not rest in these vague ideas : but let us briefly close this discourse by observing, 1. The na- ture of this offering. 2. The necessity of it. 3. The difficulties. 4. The delights that accompany it; and lastly, its reward.

1. Observe the nature of this sacrifice. This of- fering includes our whole persons, and every thing that providence hath put in our power. Two sorts of things may be distinguished in the victim, of which God reciuires the sacrifice ; the one bad, the other good. We are engaged in vicious habits, we are carried away with irregular propensities, we are slaves to criminal passions ; all these are our bad things. We are capable of knowledge, meditation, and love; we possess riches, reputation, employ- ments, and so on : these are our good things. God demands the sacrifice of both these. Say to God in both senses, Lo! I come to do thy will, O God! Whatever you have of the bad, sacrifice to God, and consume it in spiritual buint-offering. Sacrifice to him the infernal pleasure of slander. Sacrifice to him the brutal passions that enslave your senses. Sacrifice to him that avarice which gnaws and de- vours you. Sacrifice to him that pride, and pre- sumption, which swell a mortal into imaginary con-

230 Christ the substance of the Law,

sequence, disguise him from himself, make him for- get his original dust, and hide from his eyes his fu- ture putrefaction.

But also sacrifice your good things to God. You have genius. Dedicate it to God. Employ it in meditating on his oracles, in rectifying your own ideas, and in diffbsing through the world by your conversation and writing the knowledge of this ado- rable Being. You have the art of insinuating your opinions into the minds of men. Devote it to God, use it to undeceive your acquaintances, to open their eyes, and to inspire them with inclinations more worthy of immortal souls, than those which usually govern them. You have credit. Dedicate it to God, strive against your own indolence, surmount the obstacles, that surround you, open your doors to widows and orphans, who wish for your protec- tion. You have a fortune. Devote it to God, use it for the succour of indigent families, employ it for the relief of the sick, who languish friendless on beds of infirmity, let it help forward the lawful de- sires of them, who hungering and thirsting for right- eousness, wander in the deserts of Hermon, and pour out these complaints on the hill jWzar, " As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God ! My soul thirsteth for God," Psal. xlii. 6, 1, &c. " My flesh crieth out for thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king, and my God," Psal. Ixxxiv. 2, 3.

Having observed the nature of that offering which God requires of you, consider next the necessity of it. I will not load this article with a multitude of

Christ the substance of the Law, 23 Î

proofs. I will not repeat the numerous declarations that the inspired writers have made on this subject. I will neither insist on this of Samuel, " To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams," 1 Sam. xv. 22. Nor on tliis of the psalmist, " Unto the wicked, God saith, what hast thou lo do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest in- struction ?" Psal. 1. 16, 17. *' The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," Psal. li. 17. Nor on this of Isaiah, " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord ? I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes," chap. i. 11, 16. Nor on this of Jeremiah, *' Put your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. But I commanded not your fathers, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offering, or sacrifices : but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and trust not in lying words, saying. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. Behold ye trust in lying words. Do not steal, Do no murder, Do not commit adul- tery," chap. vii. 21 — 23, 4, 9. Nor will I insist on many other declarations of this kind, with which scripture abounds: I have no need of any other testimony than that of your own consciences.

To what purpose do you attend public worship in a church consecrated to the service of Almighty God, if you refuse to make your bodies temples of the Holy Ghost, and persist in devoting them to im-

232 Christ the substance of the Law.

purity ? To what purpose do you hear sermons, if, as soon as the preacher has finished, you forget all the duties that he has recommended ? To what pur- pose do you spread your miseries in prayer before God, while you neglect all the means, by which he has promised to relieve them ? To what purpose do you approach the table of the Lord, if, a few days after you have partaken of the sacred elements, you violate all your vows, break all your promises, and forget the solemn adjurations which you made there ? To what purpose do you send for your ministers, when death seems to be approaching, if as soon as you recover from sickness, you return to the same kind of life, the remembrance of which caused you so much horror, when you were sick, and afraid of death ?

The sacrifice required of us is difficult, say you, I grant it, my bretlu'en, accordingly, far from pre- tending to conceal it, I make one article of the dif- culties and pains that accompany it. How extreme- ly difficult, when our reputation and honour are at- tacked, when our fidelity, our morals, our conver- sation, our very intentions are misinterpreted, and slandered ; how extremely difficult, when we are persecuted and oppressed by cruel and unjust ene- mies; how hard is it to practice the laws of religion, which require us to pardon injuries, and to exercise patience and mercy to our enemies! How difficult is it to imitate the example of Jesus Christ, who when he hung on the cross, prayed for them who nailed him there; how hard is it thus to sacrifice to r«od oiu" resentment and vengeance ? How difficult

Christ the substance of the Law. 233

is it to sacrifice unjust gains to God, by restoring them to their owners; how hard to retrench expen- ces, which we cannot honestly support, to reform a table, that gratifies the senses, to diminish the num- ber of our attendants, which does us honour, to lay aside equipages, that surround us with pomp, and to reduce our expences to our incomes! How diffi- cult is it, when all our wishes are united in the grat- ification of a favourite passion, O ! how hard is it to free one's self from its dominion ! How difficult is it to eradicate an old criminal habit, to reform, and to renew one's self, to form as it were, a different con- stitution, to create other eyes, other ears, another body ! how hard is it, when death approacheth, to bid the world farewell for ever, to part from friends, parents and children ! In general, how difficult is it to surmount that world of obstacles, which oppose us in our path to eternal happiness, to devote one's self entirely to God in a world, where all the objects of our senses seem to conspire to detach us from him !

But, is this sacrifice the less necessary, because it is difficult? Do the disagreeables and difficulties, which accompany it, invalidate the necessity of it? Let us add something of the comforts that belong to it, they will soften the yoke that religion puts upon us, and encourage us in our arduous pursuit of immortal joy. Look, reckon, multiply as long as you will, the hardships and pains of this sacrifice, they can never equal the pleasures and rewards of it.

What delight, after we have laboured hard at the reduction of our passions, and the reformation of our

VO?.. ITT. 30

234 Christ the substance of the Lan\

heart? ; what delight, after we have striven, or, i& iisf- the langjua<ye of Jesus Christ, after we have been in an agony, in endeavouring to resist the torrent, and to survive, if possible, thedreadful storm that in- volves the Cltristian in his passage; what delight to find, tl at heaven crowns our wishes with success !

Wtat deliglit, when, on examining conscience pre- paratory to the Lord's supper, a man is able to say to himself, *' Once 1 was a sordid, selfish wretch ; " novi»! my happiness is to assist my neighbour. For- " meily, my tl oughts were dissipated in payer, my " devotions were interrupted by worldly objects, of " v hich the whole capacity of my soul was full ; now, " I am enabled to collect my thoughts in my closet, *' and to fix them on that God, in communion with " whom I pass the happiest hours of my life. Once, " I relished nothing but the world and its pleasures; " now, my soul breathes only piety and religion." What high satisfaction when old age arrives, when our days are passing swifter than a wearer'' s shuttle, to be able to give a good account of our conduct, and, while the last moments fly, to fill them with the remembrance of a life well-spent! AVhen our sins present themselves before us in all their enormity ; when we find ourselves in the situation mentioned by the psalmist, My sin is ever bejore me, Psal. li. X the iuiage of bloody Uriah haMuts me every where, then how happy to be enabled to say " I have wept " for these sins, in the bitterness of penitence I have " lost the remembrance of pleasure in sin ; and I " trust, by ihe grace of God, I am guarded against " future attacks ûom them,"

Christ the substance of the Law, 235

Such are the pleasures of this sacrifice : but what are its rewards ? Let us only try to form an idea of the manner in which God gives himself to a soul, that devotes itself wholly to him. Ah ! if we love him, is it not because ht first loved m ? Alas ! to what de;^ree soever we elevate our love to him, it is nothing in comparison of his love to us! VYhat shall I say to you, my brethren, on the love of God to us? What shall I say of the blessings, which he pours on these states, and on the individuals who compose them, of the restoration of peace, the confirmation of your lib- erties, the preservation of your lives, the long-suffer- ing that he exercises toward your souls ? Above all, what shall I say concerning that great mystery, the anniversary of which the church invites you to cele- brate next Lord's day ? God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten So7i, John iii. 16.

A God who has loved us in this manner, when we were enemies to him, how will he not love us, now w« are become his friends, now we dedicate to him ourselves, and all beside tliat we possess ? What bounds can be set to his love ? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things / Rom. viii. 32. Here I sink under the weight of my subject, O my God! how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid iq) for them, that fear thee! Psal. xxxi. 19. My God ! what will not the felicity of that creature be, who gives liimself wholly to thee, as thou givest thy- self to him !

Tlius, my dear brethren, religion is nothing but gratitude, sensibility, and love. God grant we may

236 Christ the substance of the Imw.

know it in this manner ! May the knowledge of it fill the heart and mouth of each of us during this fes- tival, and from this moment to the hour of death, with the language of my text, " Sacrifice and offer- ing tliou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepar- ed me. Jn burnt-offerings for sin, thou hast had no pleasure : Then said I, Lo! I come. I co ne, as it is written in the volume of the book, to do thy will, O God !" May God condescend to confirm our resolu- tions by his grace. Amen,

SERMON VII.

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

2 Corinthians v. 14, 15.

The love of Christ constraincth us ; because we thus judge, that if one died J or all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him, which died for them, and rose again.

My Brethren,

We have great designs to-day on you, and we have great means of executing them. Sometimes we require the most difficult duties gf morality of you. At other times we preach the mortification of the senses to you, and with St. Paul, we tell you, " they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts,'* Gal. v. 24. Sometimes we attack your attachment to riches, and after tlie ex- ample of our great Master, we exhort you to " lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal," Matt. vi. 20. At other times we endeavour to prepare you for some violent operation, some severe exercises, with which it may please God to try you, and we repeat the words of the apotjtie to the Hebrews, " Ye have not

238 The Efficacy of the Death of airist.

yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin : Where- fore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees," Heb. xii. 4, 12. At other times we summon you to suffer a death more painful than your own ; we require you to dissolve the tendei ties that unite your hearts lo your relatives and friends ; we adjure you to break the bonds that con- stitute all the happiness of your lives, and we utter this language, or shall I rattier say, thunder this terrible gradation in the name of Almighty God, " Take now thy son — thine only son — Isaac — w horn thuu lovest — and offer him for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of," Gen. xxii. 2. To-day we demand all these. We require more tlian the sacrifice of your senses, more than that of your riches, more than that of your impatience, more than that of an only son ; we de- mand an universal devotedness of yourselves to the author and finisher of yonr jaith; and to repeat the emphatical language of my text, which in its exten- sive compass involves, and includes all these duties, we require you " henceforth not to live unto your- selves : but unto him, who died and rose again for you."

As we have great designs on you, so we have great means of executing them. They are not on- 1) a few of the attractives of religion. They are not only such efforts as your ministers sometimes make, wlien uniting all their studies and all their abilities, they approach you with the powder of the word : It is not only an august ceremony, or a so- lemn festival. Tliey are all these put togetlier.

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 239

God hath assembled them all in the marvellous transactions of this one day.

Here are all the attractives of religion. Here are all the united efforts of your ministers, who unani- mously employ on these occasions all the penetra- tion of their minds, all the tenderness of their hearts, all the power of language to awake your piety, and to incline you to render to Jesus Christ love for love, and life for life. It is an august ceremon}', in which, under the most simple symbols, that nature affords, God represents the most sublime objects of religion to you. Tliis is a solejun festival, tlie most solemn festival, that Christians observe, this occasions them to express in songs of the highest joy their giatitude and praise to their deliverer, these are their senti- ments, and thus they exult, The right hand of the Lord doth valiantly! Psal. cxviii. 15. Blessed he the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heaven- ly places in Christ, Eph. i. 3. Blessed be God, who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur- rection of Jesus Christ Jroin the dead, 1 Pet. i. 3.

And on what days, is it natural to suppose, should the preaching of the gospel perfoim those miracles, which are promised to it, if not on such days as these ? When if not on such days as these, should the sword of the spirit, divide asunder soul and spirit^ joints, and marrow, Eph. vi. 17. Heb. iv. 12. and cut in twain every bond of self-love and sin ?

To all these means add the supernatural assistance that God cotnmunicates in a double portion in these circumstanc&s to all those, wlioiu a desire of reconn-

240 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

ciliation with heaven conducts to this assembly. We have prayed for this assistance at the dawning of this blessed day; we prayed for it as we ascended tliis pulpit, and again before we began this exercise ; with prayer for divine assistance we began this dis- course, and now we are going to pray for it again. My dear brethren, unite your prayers with ours, and let us mutually say to God :

O thou rock of ages ! Thou author of those great mysteries, with which the whole Cliristian world re- sounds to-day ! make ihy work perfect, Deut. xxxii. 4. Let the end of all these mysteries, be the salva- tion of this people. Yea Lord! the incarnation of Ihy Word ; the sufferings, to which thou didst ex- pose him ; the vials of thy wrath, poured on this vic- tim, innocent indeed in himself, but criminal as he was charged with all our sins ; the cross to which thou didst deliver him ; the power that thou didst display in raising him from the tomb conqueror over death and hell ; all these mysteries were designed for the salvation of those believers, whom the devotion of this day hath assembled in this sacred place. Save them, O Lord ! " God of peace ! wlio didst bring again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shep- herd of tlie sheep, throuoh the blood of the everlast- ing covenant, make Ihem perfect in every good work to do thy will ; work in them that which is well-pleasing in thy sight through .Tesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Heb. xiii. 20. 21.

The love of Christ constraineth vs. Tliis is our text. Almost every expression in it is equivocal

The E§icacy of the Death of Christ, 241

but its ambifijuity does not diminish its beauty. Ev- ery path of explication is strewed with flowers, and we meet with only great and interesting objects, even conformable to the mysteries of this day, and to the ceremony, that assembles us in this holy place. If there be a passage in the explication of which we have ever felt an inclination to adopt that maxim, which hath been productive of so many bad com- ments, that is, that expositors ought to give to every passage of scripture all the different senses, which it will bear, it is this passage, which we have chosen for our text. Judge of it yourselves-

There is an ambiguity in the principal subject, of which our apostle speaks. The love of Christ. This phrase may signify either the love of Christ to us, or our love to him.

There is an ambiguity in the persons who are ani- mated with this love. The love of Christ constraineth us ; St. Paul means either the ministers of the gospel, of whom he speaks in the preceding and following verses ; or all believers, to the instruction of whom lie consecrated all his writings.

There is also an ambiguity in the effects, which the apostle attributes to this love. He says, The love of Clmst constraineth us, the love of Christ uniteth, or pressefh us. 2%e love of Christ constraineth us, may either signify, our love to Jesus Christ uniteth us to one another, because it collects and unites all our desires in one point, that is, in Jesus Christ the cen- tre. In this sense St. Paul says. Love is the bond of perfectness. Col. iii. 14. that is to say, tlie most per- fect friendships, that can be formed, are those which

VOL. iir, 31

242 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

have love for their principle. Thus if my text were rendered love uniteth us together', it would express a sentiment very coDformable to the scope of St. Paul in this epistle. He proposeth in this epistle in gen- eral, and in this chapter in particular, to discourage those scandalous divisions which tore out the vitals of the church at Corinth, where party was against party, one part of the congregation, against another part of the congregation, and one pastor was against another pastor.

7%e love of Christ constraineih us may also signify, the love of Christ transportcth us, and carries us, as it were, out of oui selves. In this case, the apostle must be supposed to allude to those inspirations, which the pagan priests pretended to receive fi'om their gods, with which they said, they were jfilled, and to those, with which the prophets of the true God were really animated. The original word is used in this sense in Acts, wliere it is said, Paul was pressed in spirit, and testified to the Jews, that Jesus was Christ, chap, xviii. 5. This explication ap- proaches still nearer to the scope of St Paul, and to the circumstances of the apostles. They had ec- stacies. St. Peter in the city of .loppa was in an ec- Stacy. St. Paul also was caught up to the third heaven^ chap. X. 10.. not knowing whether he was in the body, or out of the body, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3. These ecstacies, these transports, these close communions with God, with which the inspired men were honoured, made them sometimes pass for idiots. This is the sense which some give to these words. We are fools for Christ's sake, 1 Cor. iv, 10. This meaning of our

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ, 243

text well comports with the words which immedi- ately precede, " Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : or whether we be sober, it is for your cause ;" that is to say, If we be sometimes at such an immense distance from all sensible objects, if our minds be sometimes so absent from all the things, that occupy and agitate the minds of other men, that we seem to be entirely beside ourselves, it is t^ecause we are all concentred in God ; it is because our ca- pacity, all absorbed in this great object, cannot at- tend to any thing that is not divine, or which doth not proceed immediately from God.

The love of Christ constraineth us. This expression may mean, .... (my brethren, it is not my usual method to fill my sermons with an enumeration of the different senses that interpreters have given of passages of scripture : but all these explications, which I repeat, and with which perhaps I may over- charge my discourse to-day, appear to me so just and beautiful, that I cannot reconcile myself to the passing of them over in silence. When I adopt one, t seem to myself to regret the loss of another.) This, 1 say, may also signify, that the love of Jesus Christ to us surrounds us on emry side ; or that our love to him pervades, and possesses all the powers of our souls.

The first sense of the original term is found in this saying of Jesus Christ concerning .Terusalem, The days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, Luke xix. 43. The latter is a still more beautiful sense of the term, and per-

244 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

fectly aajrees with the preceding words, already quoted, " If we be beside ourselves, it is to God." A prevalent passion deprives us at times of the li- berty of reasoning justly, and of conversing accu- rately. Some take these famous words of St. Paul in this sense, I could wish wy self accursed from Christ for my hrethren^ Rom. ix. 3. and these of Moses, Forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book, Exod. xxxii. 32. Not that a believer in Christ can ever cooly consent to be separated from Christ, or blotted out of the catalogue of those bles- sed souls, for whom God reserves eternal happiness ; but these expressions flow from transports of love in holy men. They were beside themselves, transported beyond their judgment. It is the state of a soul oc- cupied with one great interest, animated with only one great passion.

Finally, These words also are equivocal, If one died for all, that is to say, if Jesus Christ hath satisfied divine justice by his death for all men, then, all they, who have recourse to it, are accounted to have satisfied it in his person. Or rather, If one died for all, if no man can arrive at salvation but by the grace, which the death of Christ obtained for him, then are all dead, then all ought to take his death for a model by dying themselves to sin. Agreeably to this idea, St. Paul says, We are buried with him by haptism into death, Rom. vi. 4. that is, the ceremony of wholly immersing us in water, when we were baptized, signified, that we died to sin, and that of î'aising us again from our immersion signified, that we would no more return to those disorderly prac-

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ, 245

tices, in which we lived before our conversion to Cliristianitj. Knoîving this, adds our apostle, in that Christ died, he died unto sin once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God, ver. 10. Thus in my text, " If one died for all, then were all dead," that is, agreeable to the following words, " He died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves: but unto him, which died for them, and rose again."

Such is the diversity of interpretations, of which the w ords of my text are susceptible. Nothing can be further from my design, nothing would less com- port with the holiness of this day, than to put each of tliCse in an even balance, and to examine with scrupulosity which merited the preference. I would wish to unite them all, as far as it is practicable, and as far as ttie time allotted for this exercise will al- low. They, who have written on eloquence, should have remarked one figure of speech, which, I think, has not been observed, I mean, a sublime ambiguity. I understand by this, the artifice of a man, who, not being able to express his rich ideas by simple terms^ of determinate meaning, makes use of others, which excite a multitude of ideas; like those war-machines that strike several ways at once. 'I could shew you many examples of these traits of eloquence in both sacred and profane writers: but such discussions would be improper here.

In general we are fully persuaded, that the design of St. Paul in my text is to express the power of those impressions, which the love of Jesus Christ to mankind makes on the hearts of real Christians.

246 The EfJUcacy of the Death of Christ.

This is an idea that reigns in all the writings of this apostle ; and it especially prevails in this epistle, from which our text is taken. " We all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glo- ry, even as by the spirit of tlie Lord," 2 Cor. iii, 13. " Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus mio;ht be made manifest in our body," chap. iv. 10. " Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and «ternal weight of glory ; while we look not at the things w^hich are seen, but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are tempo- ral ; but things which are not seen are eternal," ver. Î6— 18. "He that hath wrought us for the self same thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit," chap. v. 5. " We are willing rather io be absent Irom the body, and present with the Lord," ver. 8. Again in tlie text, " The love of Christ conslrairzc^h us, because we thus judge, that if one died for ail then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live, sliould not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto liim which died for Ihem, and rose again." Tliis is the lan- guage of a soul, on which the love of Clnist makes lively and deep impressions.

Let us follow this idea, and, in order to unite, as far as an union is practicable, all the different expli- cations I have mentioned, let us consider these im- pressions.

The Efficacy of the Death of ChrisL 24 f

J. In regard to the vehement desires and sentimentfe they excite in our hearts. This love constrainethy it possesseth, it transporteth us.

II. In regard to the several recipients of it. The love of Christ constraineth lis, us believers, and partic- ularly us ministers of the Gospel, who are heralds of the love of God.

III. In regard to the consolations which are expe- rienced through the influence of love in the miseries of life, and in the agonies of death, of which the apostle speaks in the preceding verses.

ly. In regard to the universality of that devoted- ness, with which these sentiments inspire us to this Jesus, who hath loved us in a manner so tender. " tie died for all, that they which live should not hence- forth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

After we have considered these ideas separately, I will endeavour to unite them all together, and ap- ply them to the myslery of this day. God grant, when you come to the table of Jesus Christ, when you receive from our hands the bread and the wine, the symbols of his love, when in his name we say to you, This is my body, this is my blood ; you may an- swer, from the bottom of a soul penetrated with this love, " The love of Christ constraineth us, be- cause we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto them- selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

T. \aA us consider the impressions of the Jove of

248 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

Christ on us in reajard to the vehemence of those denres, and the vivacity of those sentiments, which are excited hy it in the soul of a real Christian. I am well aware that lively sentiments, and vehement desires, seem entirely chimerical to some people. There are ma- ny persons, who imagine that the degree, to which they have carried piety, is the highest that can be attained ; that there is no going beyond it ; and that all higher pretensions are unsubstantial, and enthusi- astical. Agreeably to this notion, they think it right to strike out of the list of real virtues as many as their preachers recommend of this kind, although they seem celebrated in scripture, and beautifully exemplified in the lives of the holy men of old. I am speaking now of zeal and fervour. This pre- tence, all extravagant as it is, seems to be founded on reason, and has I know not what of the serious and grave in its extravagance. It is impossible, say they, that abstract truths should make the same im- pressions, on men composed of flesh and blood, as sensible objects do. Now all is abstract in religion. An invisible Redeemer, invisible assistance, an in- visible judge, invisible punishments, invisible re- wards.

Were the people, whom I oppose, to attribute their coldness and indifference to their own fiailty ; were they endeavouring to correct it ; were they suc- ceeding in attempts to free themselves from it ; we "would not reply to their pretence : but, when tliey are systematically cold and indolent ; when, not con- tent with a passive obedience to these deplorable dispositions, they refuse to grant the ministers of tlif;

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 249

^(*pel the liberty of attackinoj them ; when they pre- ten<l that we should meditate on the doctrines of re- deiDption and on a geometrical calculation witb equal coolness ;that these words, " God so loved the ■world, that he gave his only begotten Son to save it," should be pronounced with the same indifference as these, "The whole is greater than a part;" this is tlie height of injustice. We are not obliged, we tl]ink, to reason with people of this kind, and while they remain destitute of that faculty, without which they cannot enter into those demonstrations, which we could produce on this article, it would be in vaiu to pretend to convince them.

After all, we glory in being treated by persons of this kind in the same manner, in w^iich they would have treated saints of the highest order, those emi- nent pietists, who felt the fine emotions, which they style enthusiasm and fanaticism. What impressions of religion, had Moses, David, Elias, and many other saints, a list of whom we have not time to pro- duce ? Were the sentiments of those men cold, who uttered their emotions in such language as this ? " O Lord ! 1 beseech thee, shew me thy glory," Exod. xxxiii. 18. " O Lord! forgive their sin, or blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book," chap, xxxii. 32. " I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts," 1 Kings xix. 10. " The zeal of thine house hath eat^ en me up," Psal. Ixix. 9. " How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! My heart and my flesh- cry out for the living God. When shall I come, and appear before God ? Before tliine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God!" Psal, Ixxxiv. 1 — 3.

voiï. III. 32

250 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ,

** As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God ! My soul thirst- eth for God, for the liviHs; God!" chap. xlii. 1, 2. *'' Love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are coals of fire. Many wafers cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it," Cant. viii. 6, 7,

If religion hath produced such lively sentiments, such vehement desires in the hearts of those believ- ers, who saw in a very imperfect manner the objects, that are most capable of producing them, I mean the cross, and all its mysteries, what emotions ought not to be excited in us, who behold them in a light so clear ?

Ah, sinner ! thou miserable victim of death and hell, recollect the means that grace hath employed to deliver thee ! raised from the bottom of a black abys^, conteinplate the love that brought thee up, behold^ stretch thy soul, and measure the dimensions of it. Represent to thyself the Son of God enjoy- ing in the bosom of his Father ineffable delights, hiinself the object of his adorable Father's love. Be- hold the Son of God casting his eyes on this earth, touched with a sight of the miseries into which sin bad plunged the wretched posterity of Adam ; form- ing from all eternity the generous design of sufTer^ ing in thy stead, and executing his purpose in the fulness of time. See him, whom angels adore, uni- ting himself to mortal flesh in the virgin*s womb, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a man- ger at Bethlehem. Represent to thyself Jesus suf- fering the just displeasme of God in the garden of

Hie Efficacy of the Death of Christ, 25 Ï

Cethsemane ; sinkinoj under the weight of thy sins, with which he was charged ; crying in the extremity of his pain, " O my Father! if it be possible, let this cup pass from me !" See Jesus passing over the brook Cedron, carrying to Calvary his cross, exe- crated by an unbridled populace, fastened to the in- famous instruinent of his punishment, crowned with thorns, and rent asunder with nails; losing sight for a while of the love of his Father, which constituted all his peace and joy ; bowing under the last stroke, and uttering these tragical words, which ouglit to make all sinners shed tears of blood, " My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ?" Ah ! philo- sophical gravity ! cool reasoning] how misemployed are ye in meditating these deep mysteries ! " How excellent is thy loving-kindnesses, O God!" PsaL xxxvi. 7. " My soul shall be satisfied as with mar- row and fatness, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches," Psal. Ixiii. 5, 6. " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," Rom. V. 5, " I am crucified with Christ : nev« ertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ livelh in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. " He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of his Spirit. The love of Christ constiaineth us, because we thusjudge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." This is the language of a heart inflamed with an idea of the love of Christ.

252 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ,

IT. Let us consider the impressions of the love of Jesus Clirist in regard to the different receivers of it, 21ie love of Christ constraineth us, that is to say us believers, whatever rank we occupy in the church: but in a particular manner ?!5 apostles oï ihe Lord. I have ah'eady intimated, that my text may be con- sidered as an explication of what related to the apostles in the foregoing verses. What idea had St. Paul given of apostleship in the preceding verses? He had represented these holy men as all taken up with the duties of their oflice ; as surmounting the greatest obstacles ; as triumphing over the most vio- lent conflicts in the discharge of their function ; as acquitting themselves with a rectitude of conscience capable of sustaining the strictest scrutiny of men, yea of God himself; as deeply sensible of the hon- our that (iod had put upon them, by calling them to Bucli a work ; as devoting all their labours, all their diligence, and all their time to the salvation of the souls of men. We must repeat all thé foregoing chapters, were we to confirm these observations" by the apostle's own words. Jn these chapters we meet with the following expressions. " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience," 2 Cor. i. 12. "' Thanks be unto God, which always causelh us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of bis knowledge by us in every place," chap. ii. 14. " We are not as many, which corrupt the word of God : but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ," ver. 17. " If the minis- tration of death, written and engraven in stones, was gloriousj so that the children of Israel could not

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 253

stedfastly behold the face of IMoses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away ; how^ shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?" cliap. iii. 7, 8. "All things are for your sakes, that abundant grace might redound to the glory of God," chap. iv. 15. To the same pur- pose are the words immediately preceding the text. " Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." What cause produced all these noble effects ? What object animated St. Paul, and the other apostles, to fill up the noble character they bore in a manner so glori- ous ? St. Paul tells you in the text, " The love of Christ constraineth us;" that is to say, the love of Jesus Christ to his church makes such deep and live- ly impressions on our hearts, that w^e can never lose sight of it. We think we can never take too much pains for the good of a society, which Jesus Cliiist so tenderly loves. We are so filled with gratitude for his condescension, first for incorporating us into this august body, and next for substituting us to act in iiis place, that Ave rejoice in every opportunity of sa- crificing all to express our sense of it.

These are the true sentiments of a minister of the Gospel. When I speak of a minister of the Gospel, I do not mean a minister by trade and profession on- ly, I mean a minister by inclination and affection. For, my brethren, there are two sorts of ministers, the one I may justly denominate trading ministers, the other affectionate ministeis. A trading minister, who considers the functioris of l.is ministry in tempo- ral views Oïîly, who studies the evidences and doc-

254 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ

trines of relii^ion, not to confirm himself, but to con- vince others, who puts on the exterior of piety, but is destitute of the sentiments of it, is a character sor- did ai-'fi base, i had ahiiost said, odious and execra- ble. VYlat character can be more odious and exe- crable, tlian that of a man, who gives evidence of a truth, which he himself does not believe? Who ex- cites the most lively emotions in an auditory, while lie himself is less affected than any of his hearers? But there is also a minister by inclination and affec- tion, who studies the truths of religion, because they present to him the most sublime objects that a rea- sonable creature can contemplate, and who speaks with eagerness and vehemence on tliese truths, be- cause, he perceives, they only are worthy of govern- ing intelligent beings.

AVhat effects does a meditation of the love of God in Christ produce on the heart of such a minister? St. Paul mentions the effects in the text, 77/e love of Christ constraineth, surroimdeth, presseih, transporteth Mm. My brethren, pardon me if I say the greatest part of you are not capable of entering into these reflections ; for, as you consider the greatest myste- ries of the gos})el only in a vague and superficial man- ner, you neither know the solidity nor the beauty of them, you neither perceive the foundation, the connection, nor the glory of them. Hence it is, that your minds are unhappy when they attend long to these subjects, reading tires you, meditation fatigues you, a discourse of an hour wears out all your pa- tience, the langour of your desires answers to the nature of your applications, and your sacrifices to

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 255

religion correspond to the faintness of those desires, and to the dulness of those applications which pro- duced them. It was not thus with St. Paul, nor is it thus with such a minister of the gospel as I have described. As he meditates he learns ; as he learns, his desire of knowing increaseth. He sees the whole chain of wonders, that God hath wrought for the sal- vation of men ; he admires to see a promise made to Adam renewed to Abraham ; he rejoices to find a promise renewed to Abraham confirmed to Moses ; he is delighted to see a promise confirmed to Moses published by the prophets, and long after that publi- cation accomplished by Jesus Christ. Charmed with all these beauties, he thinks it felicity to enter into the views and the functions of Jesus Christ, and to be* come a worker together with hiniy chap. vi. 1. this work engrosses all his thouglits ; he lives only to ad- vance it ; he sacrificeth all to this great design, he is beside himself. Why ? The love of Christ constrain- eth him.

III. Let us add a few considerations on the impres- sions of the love of Jesus Christ in regard to " the consolations which they afford in the miseries of life, and in the agonies of death."

By what unheard of secret does the Christian sur- mount pain ? By what unheard of secret does he find pleasure in the idea of death ? St. Paul informs us in tlie text. " The love of Christ possesseth us, because we thus Judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." If one died for edl, then were all deady this is the source of the consolations of a dying man, this is the only rational system tliat men have opposed

25G The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

against the fears of death. All beside are vain and feeble, not to say stupid and absurd.

AVhat can be more improper to support us under the fear of death than the presumptions, the uncer- tainties, the tremulous hopes of a Socrates, or a Sen- eca, or other pagan philosophers ?

What can be less likely to arm us against the fear of death than distant consequences drawn from con- fused notions of the nature of the soul, such as nat- ural religion affords? What can be less substantial than vague speculations on the benevolence of the Supreme Being ?

Can any thing be more extravagant, can any thing be less capable of supporting us under the fear of death, than that art which worldlings use, of avoid- ing the sight of it, and of stupifying the soul in tu- luult and noise ?

Let us not assume a brutal courage ; let us not af- fect an intrepidity, which we are incapable of main- taining, and which will deceive us, when the enemy comes. Poor mortal ! victim of death and hell ! do not say, I am increased with goods, and have need of nothing. Rev. iii. 17. while every voice around thee dies. Thou art poor and miserable, blind and naked. Let us aclaiowledge our miseries. Every thing in dying terrifies me.

The pains that precede it, terrify me. I shudder, when I see a miserable creature burning with a fe- ver, suffocated, tormented, enduring more on a death-bed than a criminal suffers on a scaffold or a wheel. When I see this, I sav to mvself, This is the state mio which I must shortly come.

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 25^

The sacrifices, to which death calls us, terrify me* I am not able, without rendino" my soul with insuf- ferable grief, I am not able to look at the disiual vail, that is about to cover every object of my de- light. Ah ! how can I bear to contemplate ulyself dissolving my strongest bonds, leaving my nearest relations, quitting, for ever quilting my most tender friends, and tearing myself from my own family!

The state into which death brings my hody, terri- fies me. I cannot without liorror figure to myself my funeral, my coffin, my grave, my organs, to which my Creator hath so closely united my soul, cold and motionless, without feeling and life.

Above all, the idea of a just tribunal, before which death will place me, terrifies me. My hair starts and stiffens on my head, my blood freezes in my veins, my thoughts tremble and clash, my knees smite together, when T reflect on these words of St. Paul just before my text, " We must all appear be- fore the judgment-seat of Christ, tliat every one may receive the tilings done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad," ver. JO. Miserable I ! I, who have so often sinned against my own light ; I, who have so often forgot- ten my Creator ; I, who liave so often been a scouige to my neighbour; so often a scandal to the church ; Wretched I ! I must " appear before the judgment- seat of Christ, to receive the things done in my body, whether they be good or bad!" What an idea! What a terrible, what a desperate idea !

The impressions which an idea of the love of Christ makes upon my soul, efiace those gloomy im-

voL. iir. 33

25a The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

pressions which an idea of death had produced there. The love of Christ consoles my soul and dissipates all my fears. If one died for all, then were all dead, is a si ort system against the fear of death.

Jesiis Christ died for all. The pains of death ter- rify me no more. When I compare what Jesus Christ appoints me to suffer with what lie suffered for me, my pains vanish, and seem nothing to me. Beside, how can I doubt, whether he, who had so mucli love as to die for me, will support me under the pains of death ? Having been tried, in all points like as 7ve are, \\ ill he not be touched ivith a feeling of wy infirmities, and deliver me when I am tried as he was ?

Jesus Christ died for all. The sacrifices that death requires of me, terrify me no more. I am fully per- suaded, God will indemnify me for all that death takes from me, and he who gave me his own Son, " will with him also freely give me all things," Rom. viii. 32.

Jesus Christ died for all. The state to which death reduces my body, terrifies me no more. Jesus Christ hath sanctified my grave, and his resurrection is a plediie of mine.

Jesvs Christ died for all. The tribunal before which death places me, hath nothing in it to terrify me. Jesus Clirist hath silenced it. The blows of divine justice fell on his head, and he is the guardian of mine. Thus " the love of Christ presseth, cover- eth, and surroundeth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead,"

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ, 259

IV. The impressions of the love of Christ on us are considerable, in regard to that universal obedience with which the tender love of a Redeemer inspires us. Ttiis is the meaning of these words, " he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again." Of the characteis, the mo- tives, the pleasures of this universal obedience, you cannot be ignorant, my brethren. They make the chief matter of all the discourses that are addressed to you ; and they have been particularly the topics for some weeks past, while we were going over the history of the passion of Christ, a history that may be truly called a narration of Christ's love to you. I will therefore confine myself to one reflection.

T make this reflection in order to prevent mis- takes on this disposition of mind, of which my text speaks. Let us not imagine, that St. Paul, by ex- horting us to live only to Christ, intends to dissuade us from living for the benefit of our fellow-crea- tures. On the contrary, I have already recommend- ed that sense of the words which some commentators give; " the love of Christ constraineth us," that is, say some, " the love of Christ unites us in bonds of love to one another;" and I have already shewn, that if this could not be proved to be the precise meaning of St. Paul in the text, it is however, a very just notion in itself, and a doctrine taught by the apostle in express words in other places. But what I have not yet remarked is this. In the opin- ion of some interpreters there is a close connection between the words of my text, " the love of Ciirist

260 The Efficacy of the Death of Christ.

consfraineth us," and the precedins^ words, " wlielli- er we be beside ourselves, it is to God ; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause." According to this notion, St Paul having described the two parts of devotion, or if ye will, the two kinds of Chris- tian devotion, unites both in this general expression, Live unto Christ. The one is the devotion of the closet, the other that of society. Closet devotion is expressed in the words, " whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God." Tliis is expressive of the effusions of a soul, who, having excluded the world, and being alone with his God, unfolds a heart pene- trated with love to him, " Whether we be sober, it is for your cause, for the love of Christ uniteth us,'* signifies the state of a soul, who having quitted the closet, having returned to his natnral course of thought, and having entered into the society in which God has appointed him to live, makes the happi- ness of his neighbour his principal occupation.

I say of this interpretation, as I said of a former, I am not sure, that it contains precisely the mean- ing of St. Paul in the text: but it contains an idea Teiy just in itself, and which tlie apostle, as well as other inspired writers, has expressed else- where. V^ ouidyethen perform this necessary duty, agreeably to this sense of the text ? A\ ould they " who live not live to themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again?" Let your de- votion I ave two parts. Let your life be divided in- to two soits of devotion, t! e devotion of the closet, find the devotion of society.

Tlie Efficacy of the Death of Christ. 261

Practise private devotion, be beside your seines un- to God. Believer ! Is it right for thee to indemnify thyself by an immediate communion with thy God for the violence that is done to thine affection, when thou art obliged, either wholly to lose sight of him, or to see him only through mediums, which conceal a part of his beauty ? Well then, enter into thy clos- et, shut thy door against the world, flee from socie- ty, and forget it, give thyself up to the delights which holy souls feel, when they absorb themselves in God. Beseech him, after the example of inspired men in their piivate interviews with him, to mani- fest himself to you in a more intimate manner. Say to him as they said, " O Lord, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. It is good for me to draw near to God. Whom have I in heaven but thee ? there is none upon eartli, that I desire besides thee," Exod. xxxiii. 18. Psal. ixxxiii. 28, 2.'}.

But, after thou hast performed the devotion of the closet, practise the devotion of society. After thou hast been beside thyself to God, be sober to thy neighbour. Let love unite thee to the rest of mankind, Yisit the prisoner ; relieve the sick ; guide the doubt- ful ; assist him who stands in need of your credit. Distrust a piety that is not ingenious at rendering thee useful to society. St. Paul somewhere says, "All the law is fullilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love tiiy neighbour as thyself." This proposi- tion seems hyperbolical. Some expositors have thought it justifiable, by supposing, that the apostle speaks here only of the second table of the law. Their supposition is unnecessary. In some respects

262 The Efficacy oj the Death of Christ,

all virtues are comprised in this command, thoic shall love ihy neighbour. To love our neighbour, we must he humble. When we have lofty notions of ourselves, it is impossible to pay that attention to a neighbour which his merit demands. To love our neighbour, we must be patient. When the first ob- stacle discourages us, or when the least opposition inflames our tempers ; it is impossible to enter into those details which love for a neighbour requires. In order to discharge the duty of loving a neighbour, we must be moderate in our pleasures, Wiien we are devoted to pleasure, it is impossible to endure those disagreeables, which love to a neiglibour de- mands. Above all, to love a neighbour, we must love God. Remember the saying of St. John, " If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar," 1 John iv. 20. For what is love? Is it not that sympathy which forms between two intelligent beings a conformity of ideas and sentiments? And how can w^e flatter ourselves, that we have a conform- ity of ideas with a God of love, who hath commu- nicated to his creatures a conformity of sentiments and ideas, if we withhold ouratfection from his crea- tures, and live only to ourselves? "He then, who saith, I love God, and liateth his brother, he is a liar." If thou dost not love him, thou art (permit me to say it,) thou art a visionary, a fimatic.

Who is a visionary? who is a fanatic? He is a man who creates fanciful ideas of God. He is a man who frames an arbitrary morality. He is a man, who, under pretence of living to God, forgets wliat he owes to his fellow-creatures. And this is exactly

The Efficacy of ike Death of Christ. 263

character of the man, whose closet devotion makes him neglect social religion. Ah ! hadst tliou jtist notions of God, thou woiildst know, that God is love ; and hadst thou just notions of morality, thou wouldest know, that it is impossible for God, who is love, to prescribe any other love to us, than thai which is the essence of all moral duties.

All these ideas, my brethren, would require much enlargement: but time fails. I shall not scruple so much the closing of this subject to-day, without con- sidering it in every point of view, as I should do in our ordinary exercises. I descend from this pulpit to conduct you to the table of the Lord, on which lie the symbols of that love of which we have been speaking, and they will exhort you in language more forcible than mine to reduce all the doctrine of this day to practice.

We have been preaching to you fervour, zeal, transports of divine love ; attend to those symbols, they preach these virtues to you in words more powerful than ours. Say to yourselves, w hen you approach the holy table: It was on the evening thai preceded the terrible day of my Redeemer's infinite sufferings, that he appointed this commemorative supper. This bread is a memorial of his body, which was bruised for my sins on the cross. The wine is a memorial of that blood which so plentifully flowed from his wounds to ransom me from my sins. In remembering this love is there any ice that will not thaw? Is there any marble that will not break? will not love the most vehement animate and inflame you ?

264 The Efficaafof the Death of Christ

We have been preaching that the love of Jesus Christ ought to animate you. Hear the voice of these symbols, they preach this truth to you in lan- guage more powerful than ours. There is not to- day among you an old man so infirm ; nor a poor man so mean ; nor a citizen so unknown to his fel- low citizens, that he may not approach the holy ta- ble, and receive from sovereign wisdom the myste- rious repast.

But, ministers of the gospel, we have been saying, ought more than other men to be animated with the love of Christ. My dear colleagues in tlie work of the Lord, hear these symbols ; they preach to you in language more powerful tlian ours. AVhat a glo- ry hath God put upon us in choosing to commit to us such a ministry of reconciliation? What an hon- our to be called to preach such a gospel ! What an honour to be appointed dispensers of these rich fa- vours, which God to-day bestows on this assembly! But, at the same time, what love ought the love of God to us to excite in our hearts? The heart of a minister of the gospel should be an altar ^-n which di- vine fire should burn with unquencliable flame.

We have been preaching to you, that the love of Christ will become to you an inexhaustible source of consolation in the distresses of life, and in the agonies of death. Hear these symbols ; they preach these truths to you in language more forcible than ours. Hear them; they say to you in the name of God, " Fear not, thou worm Jacob ! When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, thev shall not overflow thee '

The Efficacy of the Death of Christ 204

when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt," Isa. xli. 14.

We have been preaching to you ati universal obe*» dience to the will of God. Hear these symbols; they preach this truth to you in language more for- cible than ours. And what exceptions would you make in your obedience to a Saviour, who does for you what you are going to see, to hear, and to ex- perience ? What can you refuse to a Saviour, who gave you his blood and his life ; to a Saviour, who» on his throne, where he is receiving the adorations of Angels and Seraphims, thinks of your bodies, your souls, your salvation : who still wishes to hold the most tender and intimate communion with you ?

My dear brethren, I hope so many exhortations will not be addressed to you in vain. I hope we shall not be ministers of vengeance among you to- day. You are not going, I trust, by receiving sa* cramental bread and wine at our hands to-day, to eat and drink your own condemnation. I hope the win- dows of heaven will be opened to-day, and benedic- tions from above poured out on this assembly. The angels, I trust, are waiting to rejoice in your conver- sion. May Jesus Christ testify his approbation of your love to him by shedding abroad rich effusionè of his love among you! May this communion be remembered with pleasure when you come to die, and may the pleasing recollection of it felicitate you through all eternity] O thou mighty one of Israel ! O Jesus, our hope and joy, hear and ratify our pray- ers ! Amen. To him, as to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

VOI/. Ill, .^1

SERMON VIII.

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Habakkuk ii. 4, The just shall live bj/ his FçiiiL

Jl fie words of our text, which open to us a wide ûfiâ of reflections, may be taken in two senses. The first may be called a moral sense, and the last a theological sense. The first regards the circum- stances of the .Tews, when the prophet Habakkuk delivered tliis prophecy ; and the last respects tliat great object, on which believers have fixed their eyes in all aii;es of the church.

Hatidkkuk, (for I e nter into the matter immedi- ately, in order to have full time to discuss the sub- ject,) began to pr(»p[iecy before the destruction of Jerusalem by tlie army of Nebuchadnezzar, and he was raised up to announce the progress of that scourge, or, as another prophet calls him, that ham- mer of the whole earth, .Jer. I. 23. Habakkuk, aston- ished, and, in a manner, offended at his own predic- tions, derives strength from the attributes of God to support himself under this trial, and expresseth him- self in this manner ; " Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine holj one ? We shall not die.

,*Î68 The Life of Faith.

O Lord! thou hast ordained them for judgment, and, O Mighty God ! thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to beliold evil," chap. i. 12, 13.

The prophet goes further. Not content with vague Ideas on a subject so interesting, he intreats God to give him some particular knowledge by revelation of the destiny of a tyrant, who boasted of insulting God, pillaging his temple, and carrying his people into captivity, Inill stand vpon my îvatch, and set me upon the tower ^ and will watch to see what he will say unto we. The Rabbies gives a very singular exposition of the words, / will stand npon my watch, and they translate them, / will confine myself in a circle. The prophet, say they, drew a circle, and made a solemn vow, that he would not go out of it till God had unfolded those dark dispensations to him, which seemed so injurious to his perfections. This was al- most like the famous consul, who, being sent by the Roman senate to Antiochus, made a circle round that prince, and said to him. Either you shall accept the conditions of peace which I offer you, before you go out of this circle, or in the name of the Sen- ate I will declare war against you.*

God yielded to the desire of his servant ; he in- formed him of the dreadful vicissitudes which IVebu-' chadnezzar should experience ; and of the return of the Jews into their own country : but at the same time he assured him, that these events were at a con» siderable distance, that no man could rejoice in them

* INI. Popilius L.Ena a Antiochus Epiphanes d^ns Vellci Paerc^. Xlbt. Rora. I,,j,.

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except be loo'ked forward into futurity, but that failli in the accomplishment of these promised bless- in2;s would support believers under that deluiçe of calamities which was coming on the church. " The vision is yet for an appointed time. At the end it shall speak and shall not lie." If the Lord seem to you to defer the accomplishment of his promises too long, wait for it with all that deference, which finite creatures owe to the supreme Intelligence that gov- erns the world. He, you will find, will not tarry beyond his appointed time. The soul, which is lifted up, that is to say, the man who would fix a time for God to crush tyrants, is not upright, but wanders after his owii speculations : but the just shall live hy Ms faith.

This is what I call the moral sense of the text, re- lative to the peculiar circumstances of the Jews in the time of the prophet, and in this sense St. Paul applies my text to the circumstances of the He- brews, who were called to endure many afflictions in this life, and to defer the enjoyment of their re- ward till the next. " Ye have need of patience, (says the apostle,) that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith," Heb. x. 36—38.

But these Avords also have a theological meaning, which regards those great objects on which believers have fixed their eyes in all ages of the church. This is the sense which St. Paul gives the words in his «pialle to the Romans. *' The righteousness of God

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is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith," chap. i. 17. In the saiDC sense he uses the passage in the epistle to tbe Galatians, " That no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident ; for the just shall live by faith," chap. iii. 11. In this sense I intend to consider the text now, and to apply all the time al- lotted for this discourse to this view of it.

In order to develope the subject, I will do three things.

I. I will explain the terms of this proposition, the just shall live hy his faith.

IL I will prove the truth of it.

III. I will endeavour to remove the difficulties, which may attend the subject to some of you.

I. Let us explain the terms of this proposition, the just shall live hy his faith. In order to understand the subject, we must inquire v. ho is the just, what is the life, and what the faith, of which the prophet, or rather St. Paul after the prophet, speaks.

Who is this just, or righteous man ? To form a clear notion of this, it is necessary with St. Paul to distinguish two sorts of righteousness, a righteous- ness according to the law, and a righteousness ac- cording to faith.

By righteousness after the law, I understand that which man wishes to derive from his own personal ability. By righteousness of faith, I understand that which man derives from a principle foreign from himself. A man who is just, or to speak more pre- cisely, a man who pretends to be just according to this first righteousness, consents to be examined and

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judged according to the utmost rigour of the law. He desires the justice of God to discover any thing in liini that deserves punishment ; and he hath the audacity to put himself on such a trial as justice pronounceth in these words of the law, If a man do these things he shall live in theniy Lev. xviii. 5. He, on the contrary, who is just according to the right- eousness of faith, acknowledgeth himself guilty of many and great sins, which deserve the most rigor- ous punishment : but he doth not give himself up to that despair, into which the idea of his criminality would naturally hurry him; he is not afraid of those punishments, which, he owns, he deserves; he hopes to live, because he expects God will deal with him, not according to what he is in himself, but according to his relation to Jesus Christ.

That these are the ideas which must be affixed to the term justy is evident from these words of St. Paul ; " I count all things but loss, for the excellen- cy of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him :" remark these words, " not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous- ness, which is of God by faith," Phil. iii. 8, 9. This passage sufficiently shews the sense in which the term just is to be taken, and this term needs no further elucidation.

The second also is easily explained. The just shall live, that is to say, although divine justice had condemned him to eternal death, yet he shall be

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freed from it ; and although he had rendered him- self unworthy of eternal felicity, yet he shall en- joy it. This is so plain, that it is needless to en- larfije on this term. We intend to insist most on that term which is the most difficult, the third term, faithy I mean, " The just shall live by his faith."

To have faith, or to believe, is an expression so vague in itself, and taken in so many different sen- ses in scripture, that we cannot take too much care in determining its precise meaning. Faith is some- times a disposition common to the righteous and the wicked; sometimes it is the distinguishing character of a Christian, and of Christianity; sometimes it is put for the virtue of Abraham, who was called the father of the faithjul, Rom. iv. 11. by excellence ; and sometimes it stands for the credence of devils, and the terrors that agitate them in hell are ascribed to it.

The variety of this signification arises from this consideration; faith is a disposition of mind, that changeth its nature according to the various objects which are proposed to it. If the object presented to faith be a particular object, faith is a particular dis- position ; and if the object be general, faith is a gen- eral virtue. If we believe a past event, we are said to have faith, for " through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God," Heb. xi. 3. If we believe a future event, we are said to have faith, for "faith is the substance of things ho- ped for, the evidence of things not seen," ver. 1. When the woman of Canaan believed that Jesus Christ would grant her petition, she was said to have

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faith, " O woman, great is thy faith," Matt. xv. 28. In a similar case, our Lord says, " I have not found such faith in Israel," chap. viii. 10. When the disci- ples believed, that they should work miracles in vir- tue of the name of Jesus Christ, it was called a hav- imr of faith, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard- seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall obey you," chap. xvii. 20. In a word, every act of the mind acquiescing in a revealed truth is called faith in the style of scrip- ture.

But, among these different notions, there is one which is particular, there is a faith to wh.ch scripture ascribes extraordinary praise. Saving faith, th^ faith that Jesus Christ requires of ail Christians and of which it is said, " through faith are ye saved,'* Eph. ii. 8. and elsewhere, whosoever believeth shall have everlasting life, John iii. 16. this is the faith of which the text speaks, and of the nature of which we are now inquiring. To compreiiend this, we must trace the question to its principle, and examine what is the object of this faith.

The great and principal object, which is present- ed to the faith that justifies, without doubt is Jesus Christ as dying and offering himself to the justice of his Father. On this account St. Paul says to tlie Corinthians, " I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him cruci- fied," 1 Epist. ii. 2. Faith contemplates the objects that are displayed in the cross of Jesus Christ, and persuades the Christian, that there is no other way of «btaining salvation, or, to use the language of ^rio*

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lure, that " there is none other name under heaven siven amonfif men wherebv we must be saved," Acts iv^ 12. It inspires him with a sincere desire of lodg- ing under the shadow of his cross, or, to speak in plain scripture language without a figure, of being " found in him, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law : but that, which is through the faitli of Christ." This i.s a general vague account of the nature of faith.

But as this notion of faith is vague, it is subject to all the inconveniences of vague ideas ; it is equivo- cal, and open to illusion. AVe are not saved by wish- ing to be saved ; nor are we justified because we barely desire to be justified.

We must, therefore, distinguish two sorts of de- sires to share the benefits of the death of Christ. There is a desire, unconnected with all the acts, which God hath been pleased to require of us, of this we are not speaking. There is also another kind of desire to share the benefits of the death of Christ, a desire that animates us with a determination to par- ticipate these benefits, whatever God may require, and whatever sacrifices we may be obliged to make to possess them. I'his desire, we think, constitutes the essence of faith.

The true believer inquires with the strictest scru- tiny what God requires of him, and he finds three principal articles. Jesus Christ, he perceives, is pro- posed, (if you will allow me to speak thus,) to his mind, to Ijis heart, and to his conduct. Faith re- ceives Jesus Christ in all tlsese respects; in regard Ip the mind, to regulate its ideas by the decisions of

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Jesus Christ alone ; in regard to the heart, to em- brace that felicity only, which Jesus Christ propos- eth to its hope ; in regard to the conduct to make the laws of Jesus Christ the only rules of action. Faith, then, is that disposition of soul, wdiich receives Jesus Christ wholly, as a teacher, a promiser, a legis- lator. Faith will enable us to admit the most incom- prehensible truths, the most abstruse doctrines, the most profound mysteries, if Jesus Christ reveal them. Faith will engage us to wish for that kind of felicity, which is the most opposite to the desires of flesh and blood, if Jesus Christ promise it. Faith will inspire us with resolution to break the strongest ties, to mortify the most eager desires, if Jesus Christ com- mand us to do so. This, in our opinion, is the only true notion of saving faith.

The terms of the proposition being thus explained, we will go on to explain the whole proposition, the Just shall live by his faith. All depends on one dis- tinction, which we shall do well to understand, and. retain. There are two kinds, or causes of justitica- tion. The first is tlie fundamental or meritorious cause ; the second is tlie instrumental cause. We call that the fundamental cause of our justification, ivhicli requires, merits and lays the foundation ot" our justification and salvation. By the instrumental cause, we mean those acts which it hath pleased God to prescribe to us, in order to our participation of this accjuired salvation, and without which Christ be- comes of no effect to us, according to the language of scripture, Gal. v. 4. The fundamental cause of our justification is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone.

s

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It is Jesus Christ independently on our faith and love. If Jesus Christ had not died, our faith, our repentance, and all our efforts to have been saved would have been in vain, for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid., which is Jesus Christ, I Cor. iii. 11. There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby ive must he saved. Acts iv. 14. Verily, If any thing could conciliate God to men, ye excrutiating agonies of my Saviour ! thou perfect satisfaction ! thou bloody death ! sacrifice proposed to man immediately after his fall ! ye on- ly, only ye could produce this great eflect ! Accurs- ed, accursed be he who preacheth another gospel I God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified un- to me, and I unto the world. Gal. vi. 14.

But when we inquire how we are justified, we do not inquire Xhe meritorious cause of salvation ; we suppose salvation already merited ; but we ask, what is essential to our participation of it ? To this we re- ply, faith, faith alone, but such a faith however, as •we have described, a living faith, faith as a principle of renovation ; faith, which receiveth the decisions of Jesus Christ, embraceth his promises, and enables us to devote ourselves to his service. This is the sense in which we understand the proposition in the text, the just shall live by his faith. It is not suffi- cient to explain the proposition, we must prove, and establish it against erroneous divines, and loose cas- uists. This is our second article.

II. We oppose our system, first against that of sotne erroneous divines. We have a controversy oik

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this subject, not only with those enemies of our mys- teries, who consider Jesus Christ only as a legisla- tor, distinguished from other moralists only by the clearness of his moral principles, and the power of his motives : but we have also a famous dispute with the divines of the church of Rome on this head, and we attack that part of their doctrine, which we call the merit of good works.

In order to understand this controversy clearly, we must observe, that the members of the church of Rome are divided into two cl sses on this article. In the first class we place those divines, who, with- out any restrictions or qualifications, maintain this unwarrantable thesis, good works merit heaven, as bad ones deserve hell. The second affirm, that good works do, indeed, merit heaven : but in virtue of the mercy of God, and of the new covenant, that he hath made with mankind. Wlien we dispute against the errors of the church of Rome we should care- fully distinguish these opinions. It must be granted, protestants have not always done so. We speak as if the church of Rome as a body held this thesis, good works merit heaven, as bad ones deserve hell ; whereas this is an opinion peculiar to only some of their divines ; it has been censured and condemned by a bull of Pius Y. and Gregory XIII. as one of our most celebrated divines has proved, whom, al- though his pious design of conciliating our disputes may have made him rather exceed his evidence in some of his affirmations, we cannot contradict on this article, because he proves it by incontestible evidence.* But the second opinion is professedly *" See the Theses of Mons'r Louis Le Blanc/

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<hat of the whole church of Rome. Tiiis canon, which I am going to repeat to you, is the decision of the council of Trent. " Eternal life is to be pro- posed to the children of God both as a gift merciful- ly offered to them thro' Jesus Christ, and as a prom- ised reward equitably rendered to their merits and good works in virtue of this promise."*"

We oppose our system against both these opinions. To say, with the first of these divines, that good works merit heaven, as bad works deserve hell, is to aiïîrm a proposition, which Rome itself denies. What ! works that bear no proportion to objects of our hope, a few meditations, a few prayers, a few alms-deeds ! What! would the sacrifice of our whole selves merit that eternal weight of glory, which is to be retealed in us ? What ! can works, that are not performed by our power, works, that proceed from grace, v.orks, which owe their design and execution to God, who worketh to mil, and to do, as St. Paul expresseth it, Phil. ii. 13. can these attain, do these deserve a meight of glory for us ? Does not the whole that we possess come from God ? If we know the doctrines of revelation, is it not because the Father of glory hath enlightened the eyes of our understand' big? Eph. i. 17, 18. If we believe his decisions, is it not because he gave us faith ? If we sutler for his gospel, is it not because he gives us strength to suf- fer? Phil. i. 29. What! works, that are of them-

* Proponenda est vita etenia, et tanquam Gratiae filiis dei per Christura Jcsuni, misericorditer promissa et tanquam mercies ex ipsius Dei promissionc, bonis ipsorum operibus et mentis iidelitcr reddepda. Concil. Trid. Sess. vi. c. 16.

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selves inseparably connected with our stations, and therefore duties, indispensible eno;agements, debts, and debts, alas ! which we discharge so badly, can these merit a reward? God forbid we should enter- tain such an opinion ! Even Cardinal Bellarmine, af- ter he had endeavoured more than any other writer to establish the merit of good works, with one stroke of his pen effaced all his arguments, for, said he, on acTount of the precariousness of our own righteous- ness, and the danger of vain glory, the safest meth- od is to have recourse to the mercy of God, and to trust in his mercy alone.f

But we oppose also the other opinion, that we have mentioned. For, although it may seem to be puri- fied from that venom, which we have remarked in the first, vet it is attended with two inconveniencies.

1 . It IS contradictory in terms. A work that de- rives its value from the mercy of God is called meri- torious. What an association of terms ? Merit, Mercv. If it be of mercy, how is it meritorious ; If it be meri- torious, how is itof mercy ? "If by grace, then, is it no more of works : but if it be of works then is it no more grace," Rom. xi. 6. You know the language of St. Paul.

2. This opinion furnisheth a pretext to human pride, and whether this be not sufficiently evident, let experience judge. Do we not often see people, who; not being capable of entering into those theological distinctions, which are contained in the writings of their teachers, think by their good works, and often by their superstitions so to merit eternal felicity,

t Card. Beil. Controvers. T. iy. De Jastif. Lib. 1.

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that God cannot deprive them of it without subvert- ing the laws of his justice? Hath not the church of Rome other doctrines, which lead to this error ? Is not supereroe^alion of this kind ? According to this a man may not only fully perform all his engagements, but he may even exceed them. Is not the doctrine, that excludes merit, considered by manj of the Ro- man community as a mark of heresy? If we believe an anecdote in the life of Charles V. it was principal- ly for having written on the walls of his room sever- al passages of Scripture excluding the merit of works, that he was suspected of adhering to our doctrines, and that the inquisition deliberated on punishing him after his death as an heretic. The inquisitors would certainly have proceeded against him, had not Philip II. been given to understand that the son of an here- tic was incapable of succeeding to the crown of Spain*.

Against this system we oppose that which we have established. We consider Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ alone, as the meritorious cause of our justification. If faith justifies us, it is as an instrufnent, that of it- self can merit nothing, and which contributes to our justification only as it capacitates us for participating the benefits of the death of Christ. These were the ideas of the ancient church. The divines of primi- tive times taught, that men were righteous, who ac- knowledged their guilt, and that they had nothing of their own but sin, and who, altliough they were saints» yet attributed nothing to their own merit. On those principles, we find, in an ancient work attributed to

* L'Abbe de S. Real} Histoire de Don Carlos.

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Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, the sick were comforted in this manner. " Dost thou trust in the merit of Jesus Christ alone for salvation ?" The si' k person replied, / do. The assistant then added, " Praise God to the last moment of your life ; place all your confidence in him ; and, when the Supreme Judfi^e of the world calls your to his tribunal, say to him. Lord! I interpose between thy righteous judg- ment and myself the death of thy Son, and I ascribe no merit to any good work of my own."

Thus we oppose the merit of works. But it is dangerous for those, who preach to people rone to one extreme, to express tliemselves so as to seem to favour the opposite extreme. Although all our di- vines unanimously connect faith and holiness togeth- er, yet there is great reason to fear, our people car- ry their aversion against the doctrine of merit so far that they lose siglit of this union of faith and obedi- ence. A man, whose great labours in the church prevent our mentioning his name, while we reprove his error, has affirmed these propositions — ^the Gos- pel consists of promises only — Jesus Christ gave no precepts — we are under no other obligations than those of gratitude to obey the laws of religion — our souls are in no danger if we neglect them.

Against these ideas we again oppose our system of justification. We affirm, that justifying failli is a general principle of virtue and holiness ; and that such a recourse to the mercy of God, as wicked Christians imagine, doth not justify in any sense. It doth not justify as the meritorious cause of our sal- yation ; for to affirm this is to maintain an heresy.

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We have said Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ alone is the foundation of our salvation, and our most ardent de- sire tp participate the benefits of it is incapable of deservinsj them. It doth not justify as a condition. To affirm, that to have recourse to the grace of Je- sus Christ is the only condition that the Gospel re- quires, is to mutilate the Gospel, apparently to wi- den beyond all scriptural bounds the way to heaven, and really to open a large and spacious road to eter- nal perdition.

If there be one in this assembly so unacquainted with Ciiristianity as to suppose that he may be justi- fied before God by a fruitless desire of being saved, and by a barren recourse to the death of Christ, let him attend to the following reflections.

1. Justifying faith is lively faith, a believer cannot live by a dead faith : but faith without works is dead, James ii. 20. Consequently the faith that gives life, is a faith containing, at least in principle, all virtues.

2. Justifying faith must assort with the genius of the covenant to which it belongs. Had the Gos- pel no other design than that of pardoning our sins, without subduing them, faith might then consist in a bare act of the mind accepting this part of the Gos- pel: but if the Gospel proposeth both to pardon sin, and to enable us to renounce it, faith, which hath to do with this covenant of grace, must needs involve both these articles. Now, who will pretend to say, the Gospel hath not both these blessings in view ? And consequently, who can deny, that faith consists both in trusting the grace, and in obeying all the laws of the Gospel ?

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3. Justifying faith must include all the virtues, to which the Scripture attributes justification and salva- tion. Now, if you consult the oracles of God, you will perceive Scripture speaks a language that will not comport with the doctrine of fruitless faith. Sometimes salvation is attributed to love, *' Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom, for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat," Matth. xxv. 34. Sometinies it is attributed to hope, Hope maketh not ashamed^ Rom. v. 5. Sometimes to fnith. Whosoever believeth in him shall have eternal life, John iii. 1 5. I ask now, to which virtue, strictly speaking, does salvation belong? to love, to hope, or to faith? Or rather, is it not clear, that, when scripture attributes salvation to one of these virtues, it doth not consid- er it separately, as subsisting in a distinct subject, but considers it as flowing from that general principle, which acquiesces in the whole Gospel ?

4. Juibtifyiiig faith must merit all the praises which are given to it in Scripture. What encomiums are bestowed on faitli ! It unites us to Jesus Christ. It crucifietli us as it were, with him, it raiseth us up to- gether, and makes us sit together with him in heavenly places, in a word, it makes us one with him as he is one with the Father, Gal, ii. 20. Eph. ii. 6. and John xvii. 20. But the bare desire of salvation by Jesus Christ devoid of obedience to him, is this to be crucified with .lesus Christ? Is this to be risen with him ? Is this to sit in heavenly places with him ?

5. Justifying faith must enter into the spirit of the mystery, that acquires justification for us ; I mean the mvsterv of the satisfaction of Jesus Christ. Whaf

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is the system of our churches on the mystery of sat- isfaction ? Some divines among us have ventured to affirm, that God was entirely free either to exact the punishment due to sin, or to release mankind from all obligation to suffer it. He required a satisfac- tion, say they, because of its greater fitness to ex- press to the whole universe his just abhorrence of sin.

But the generally received doctrine among us, is that although God was entirely free when he punish- ed sin, yet he was necessarily inclined to do it by the perfection of his nature ; and that as, being an uniform Spirit, it was impossible for him to lie, Heb. Ti. 18. and contradict himself, so, being a just and holy Spirit, it was impossible for him to pardon sin- ners without punishing sin on some victim substitut- ed in their stead.

We will not now compare these systems, nor al- lege the motives of our embracing one in preference to the other: But, this we affirm, choose which you will, either affords a demonstration in favour of our thesis.

In regard to the first, it may be justly said. What ! hath God, think ye, so much love for holiness, and so much hatred of sin, that, although he was not in- clined to exact a satisfaction by necessity of nature, yet he chose rather to do so than to let sin pass un- punished? Hath God, think you, sacrificed his Son, on account of the fitness of his sufferings to remove every shadow^ of tolerating sin? Do you believe this, and can you imagine, that a God, to whom sin is so extremely odious, can approve of a faith that is com*

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patible with sin, and which never gives vice its death- wound ?

The demonstration is equally clear in regard to those who embrace the general system of our church- es. How can a man persuade himself, that the love of order is so essential to God, that he cannot with- out contradicting himself pardon the sinner, and not punish the sin ; how, I say, can such a man persuade himself that such a faith as we have exploded can enable us to participate the pardoning benefits of the death of Clirist ?

Is it not evident, that these two suppositions make a God contradictory to himself, and represent his at- tributes as clashing with each other ? In the first sup- position, a God is conceived, to whom sin is infinite- ly odious ; in the second a God is imagined, to whom sin is perfectly tolerable. In the first a God is con- ceived, who naturally and necessarily requires a sat- isfaction ; in the second a God is imagined, who by a pliable facility of nature esteems a sinner although he derives from the satisfaction no motives to re- nounce his sin. In the first, God is conceived as placing the strongest barriers against sin, and as sac- rificing the noblest victim to express his insuperable aversion to vice ; in the second, God is imagined as removing all obstacles to sin, and protecting men in the practice of it, nothing contributing more to con- firm wicked men in sin than the vain opinion, that, carry vice to what pitch they will, they may be re- conciled to God by the mediation of Jesus Christ, wlienever they wish for the benefits of his sacrifice.

286 The Life of Faith,

To all these consideration!?, add one more on the unanimous opinion of all your ministers. In vain do you attempt to seek pretexts lor sin in tliose scholastic disputes, and in those difierent methods which divines have struck out in establishing; the doctrines of faith and justification. Your divines. I grant, have used expressions capable of very diîïer- ent meanings, on these articles. They are men, their gemusses, like those of the rest of mankind are finite, and they have discovered in the far great- er part of all their systems the narrow limits of tl eir minds. Intelligences, confined like ours, are neces- sarily stricken with a first truth more than with an- other truth, no less important and clear than the first. Every science, every course of study, aflford proofs of tlie truth of this remark : but the present subject of our inquiry abounds with evidence of this sort. Some have been more struck with the necessity of believing the truths of speculation, than with that of performing die duties which belong to these truths. Others have been more affected with the necessity of performing the duties of re- ligion, than with that of adhering to the specula- tive truths of it. Some, having lived among peo- ple believing the merit of works, have turned all their attention against the doctrine of merit, and have expressed themselves, perliaps without design, in a manner, that seemed to enervate the necessity of good works. Otliers, on the contrary, having lived among libertines, who did not believe, or who afiect- ed not to believe the necessity of good works have turned all the point of their genius against this per-

The Life of FaitL 28T

nicioiis doctrine, and in their turn have expressed themselves, perhaps without design, in a manner that seemed to favour tlie notion of merit. Notliing is so rare as a genius comprehending; at once the whole of any subject. As notliing in the military art is so rare as that self-possession, which enables a general to pervade a whole army, and to be present, so to speak, in every part of the field of battle; so in the sciences, nothing is so uncommon as that kind of comprehensive attention, which enables a man al- ways to think and speak in perfect harmony with himself, and so to avoid destroying one part of his thesis, while he establishes another part of it. But, after all, there is no real difference among your min- isters on tliis article. Whatever method they take, they all agree, that no man can be a true Ctiristian, who does not receive Jesus Christ as his prophet, priest, and king ; that as faith unites us to Jesus Christ, it is impossible for the members of a head so holy to continue in sin. Now does not all this amount to a demonstration that saving faitii trans- forms the heart ?

Let us examine the objections which are made against this doctrine.

Is it pretended, that the design of excluding holi- ness from the essence of faith is to elevate the merit of the death of Christ ? But, O vain man! Do not we elevate the merit of the death of Christ, we, who place it in our system as the only foundation; the alone cause of the salvation of man, excludino; works entirely, however holy they may be ?

288 The Life of Faith.

Dost thou say, thy desiojn is to humble man? But, O vain man! What can be more proper to humble man than our system, which shews him that those works are nothing;, which do not proceed from the assistance of God; and that if God c<»ndescends to accept them, he does so through mere mercy, and not on account of their merit ?

Dost thou add, that our system is contrary to ex- perience, and dost thou allege Ihe examples of ma- ny, who have been justified without performing one good work, and by the bare desire of being saved by Jesus Christ, as the converted thief, and many others, who have turned to God on a death-bed? But, O vain man! What have we been establishing? Have we said, that a faith, which had not produced good works, was not a true faith? No, we have on- ly affirmed, that a true faith must necessarily be a principle of good works. It may happen, that a man may have this principle, and may not have any opportunity of expressing it by practice, and of bringing it into action ; he hath it, however, in in- tention. In this sense we admit the maxims of 8t. Augustine, and if he did not understand it in our sense, it ought to be understood so, " Good works, says he, do not accompany justification ; but they follow it." The thief, in one sense, stiictly speak- ing, did no good work : but in another sense he did all good works. We say of him, as we say of Abra- ham, he did all in heart, in intention. Abraham, from the first moment of his vocation, was account- ed to have abandoned his country, sacrificed h,s son Isaac, and wrought all those hçroical actions of ChriB-

The Life of Faith, 289

tian faith, which made him a model for the whole church. In like manner, the converted thief visited all the sick, clothed all the naked, fed all the hun- gry, comforted all the afflicted, and was accounted to have done all the pious actions, of which faith is the principle, because he would infallibly have done them, had God afforded him opportunity.

Dost thou say, our justification and salvation flow from adecree made before thefoundation of the world, and not from our embracing the gospel in time ? But, O vain man ! Do we deny the decree by shewing the manner of the accomplishment of it ? Do we destroy the end by establishing the means ? If your side can prove, without injuring the doctrine of decrees, that man is justified by a bare desire of being justified, can we injure the same doctrine by asserting, that this desire must proceed from the heart, and must needs aim to please God, as well as to be reconciled to him, and to share his love ?

Dost thou still object, that, although our system is true in the main, yet it is always dangerous to pub- lish it; because man has always an inclination to sa- crifice unto his own net, and burn incense unto his own drag, Hab. i. 16. that by pressing the necessity of works, occasion is insensibly given to the doctrine of merit ? But, allow me to ask. Is there no danger in the opposite system ? If ours seem to favour one vice, does not the opposite system favour all vices? If ours seem to favour pride, does not the opposite system favour that, and with that all other vices, re- venge, calumny, adultery, and incest ? And, after all, should the abuse of a holy doctrine prevent the

V0Î. HT'. 37

29â The Life of Faith.

tise of it ? Where, pray, are the men among as, vf\m think to merit heaven by tlieirgood works? For our parts, we protest, my brethren ! that, having examin- ed a great number of consciences, we find the gene- ral inclination the other way; people are in gen- eral more inclined to a careless reliance on a kind of general grace than to an industrious purchase of hap- piness by good works. What is it, after all, that de- coys thousands before our eyes into the broad way of destruction ? Is it an opinion, after they have been very charitable, that they merit by charity ? Is it an opinion, after they have been very humble, that they merit by humility? Ah! my brethren! the greatest part of you liave so fully proved by your indisposition to piety, that you have no idea of the merit of good works, that there is no fear of ever es- tablishing this doctrine among you. But, to form lo( S3 notions of obedience, to mutilate the covenant of grace, to render salvation the easiest thing in the world, to abound in flattering ourselves with hopes of salvation, although we live without love, without humility, Vv'ithout labouring to be saved ; these are the rocks against which we split; these are the dangers from which we would free you ; this is the monster that we would never cease to attack, till we have Siven it its death-wound.

I would then abhor myself, deplore my frailty, blush at the remembrance of my best duties, cast myself into the arms of divine mercy, and own all my felicity derivable from grace. I would own, it is grace that elects; grace which calls; grace that justifies; grace which sanctifies; grace that accepts

The Life of Faith. 291

a sanctification always frail and imperfect : but at the ^ame time, I would watch over myself, I would arouse myself to duty, I would work out my salvation nith fear and trembling, Phil. ii. 12. and, while I ac- knowledge grace does all, and my works merit noth- ing, I would act as if I might expect every thing from my own efforts,

Yerily, Christians ! these are the two dispositions, which, above all others, we wish to excite in your minds and hearts. Tliese are the two conclusions that you ought to draw from this discoiu se ; a con- clusion of humility, and a conclusion of vigilance: A conclusion of humility, for behold the abyss in- 1o which sin had plunged you, and see the expence at which you were recovered from it. Man had ori- ginally a clear judgment, he knew his Creator, and the obedience that was due to him from his creatures. The path of happiness was open to him, and he was in full possession of power to walk in it. All on a sudden he sins, his privileges vanish, his knowledge is beclouded, and he is deprived of all his freedom: IMan, man, who held the noblest dominion in nature, falls into the most abject of all kinds of slavery. In- stantly the heavens reveal his iniquity, the earth rises vp against him. Job xx. 27. lightnings flash in his eyes, thunders roll in his ears, and universal nature announces his final ruin. In order to rescue him from it, it was necessary for the mercy and justice of God to shake heaven anel earth, Heb. xii. 26. God must take upon him the form of a servant, Phil. ii. 7. the most excellent of all intelligent beings must die in order to save him from eternal death.

29^ The Life of Faith.

This is not all. Even since Jesus Christ hath said to us, This is the path to paradise ; that is the broad way to destruction ; a fatal charm still fasci- nates our eyes, a dreadful propensity to misery yet carries us away. Here again the nature and fitness of things require the assistance of heaven. Grace, that revealed salvation, must dispose us to accept it, and must save us, if I may be allowed to speak so, in spite of our own unhappy disposition to vice and misery. After so many crimes, amidst so many er- rors, in spite of so many frailties, who, who dare lift up his head? Who can presume to trust himself? Who can imagine himself the author of his own salvation, and expect to derive it from his own merit ?

Hide, hide thyself in the dust, miserable man ! smite thy breast, fix thine eyes on the ashes, from which thou wast taken. Lift up tliy voice in these penitential cries. If thou, Lord! shouldsl mark in- iquities: O Lord ! who shall stand? Psal. cxxx. 3. " O Lord ! righteousness belongeth unto thee ; but unto us confusion of face," Dan. ix. 7. " God for- bid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," Gal. vi. 14. Lay thy pretensions, thy virtues, thy merits at the foot of this cross. Di- vest thyself of thyself, and tear from thy heart, if possible, the last fibre of that pride, which would ob- struct thy salvation, and ensure thy destruction.

But, my brethren ! shall this be the whole of your religion ? will you acknowledge no other en- gagement? Does this short system, think you, in- clude the whole of a Christian's calling ? Let us add

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to this, brethren! watchfulness. As no vices are so dangerous as those which present themselves to us under the ideas of exalted virtues, such as hatred un- der a colour of zeal, pride under an appearance of severity and fervour, so no errors slide more easily into our minds than those which conceal themselves under the names of the great truths of religion. To plead for human innocence, to deny the satisfaction of Christ, to pretend to elevate our good works so high as to make them the price of eternal felicity, are en'ors so gross, and so diametrically opposite to many express declarations of scripture, that a little love for truth, and a small study of religion will be sufficient to preserve us from them. But under pre- tence of venerating the cross of Christ, and of hold- inof fast the doctrine of human depravity, with the pious design of humbling man, under, I know not what veils of truth and orthodoxy, to widen the way to heaven, and to lull whole communities of Chris- tians into security ; these are the errors, that softly and imperceptibly glide into our souls, as, alas ! were not the nature of the subject sufficient to persuade you experience, the experience of most of you would easily convince you.

But you have heard the maxim of St. James, faith nithout works is dead, chap. ii. 26. This max- im is a touchstone by which you ought to try your- selves.

One of you believes there is a God : faith without works is dead. Art thou penetrated with veneration for his perfections, admiration of liis works, deference

2U The Life of Faith.

to his laws, fear of his judgments, gratitude for his bounties, and zeal for his glory ?

Another believes, Christ died for his sins : faith without works is dead. Dost thou abhor thy sins for shedding his blood, for preparing his cross, for wound- ing his person, for piercing his side, for stirring up a war between him and divine justice, fot- making him cry in the bitterness of his soul, Now is my soul troubled, John xii. 27. My soul is exceeding sorrow- fill, even unto death. Matt. xxvi. 38. My God! My God ! why hast thou forsaken me ?

Thou believest there is a future state: faith with- mit works is dead. Dost thou place thy lieart where thy treasure is ? Dost thou anticipate by faith and hope the blessed period of thine admission to future felicity ? Dost thou desire to depart and to be with Christ? Pliil. i. 23. Is thy soul a-thirst for God? Dost thou pant after him, as the hart panteth after the water brooks ? Psal. xlii. 1, 2.

Ah, formidable maxim ! Ah, dreadful touchstone ! We wish God had not only fitted religion, so to speak, to our frailties and infirmities ; we want him also to accommodate it to our inveterate vices. We act as if we desired, that the sacrifice, which was once offered to free us from the punishment of sin, and to merit the pardon of it, had been offered again to free us from the necessity of subduing it, and to merit a right for us to commit it. What madness! From the days of Adam to this moment conscience has been the terror of mankind ; and this terror, ex- cited by an idea of a future state, and by tiie ap- proach of death, hath inclined ail men to seek a

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remedy against this general and formidable evil. Philosophers, Divines, Libertines, Worldly heroes, all have failed in this design. Jesus Christ alone has succeeded in it. Only Jesus Christ presents to us this true remedy so ardently desired, and so vain- ly sought ; and we still refuse it, because our vices, fatal as they have been to us, are still the objects of our most eager desires.

But do you know what all these objects of our contemplation suppose ? Conscience, if we listen to its voice, death and futurity, if we attend to them, the doctrine, the humbling doctrine of justification, that we have been preaching to you, all suppose that we are criminals, that the wrath of heaven is kindled against us, that the eternal books, in which our actions are registered, are opening, that our Judge is seated, our trial coming on, our final doom preparing, and that there remains no refuge from all these miseries but Jesus Christ, whose name is an- nounced, that we may escape the wrath to come» and be saved. To him let us flee. To him let us resign our minds, our hearts, and our lives. God give us grace to do so. To hioi be honour and glo- ry for ever, AmeiK

2 Corinthians yii. 10.

Godly sorrow worketh repenlance to salvation not to he repented of: but the sorrow oj the world worketh death.

J. HE words we have read, and with which we pro- pose to cherish your devotion in this exercise, are connected, not only with the preceding verses, but also with a part of that epistle which St. Paul had written to Corinth before this. This connection is the properest comment on the sense of the text; with this therefore, we begin, and this part of our discourse will require >our particular attention.

Our apostle had scarcely planted the gospel at Corinth, and formed the professors of it into a Chris- tian church, before one of the most atrocious crimes was committed in the community. Quo ht we to be surprized that we, inferior disciples of the apostles, fail in attempting to prevent or to correct some ex- cesses ? Cljurches founded and edified by inspired men were not exempt from them. In the Church of Corinth we see impure, and even incestuous practi- ces. How abominable soever the crime was, St.

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298 Jiepcntaiice.

Pnul was less d)ao;rined at it than at the conduct of the Corinthian church towards the perpetrators of it. It is not astonishing to find some in a large congre- gation, who are the execration of nature. Of the twelve disciples whom Jesus Christ chose for apos- tles, one was a devil, .John vi. 70. But that a whole congregation, a Chiistian congregation, should con- sider such a monster with patience, and, instead of punishing his crime, should form pretexts to palliate, veils to conceal it, is surely the height of depravity. Such, however, were the Corinthians. Our apostle says, ye are puffed up, 1 Cor. v. 2. AVith what pride does lie leproach them ? How could any men possi- bly derive a glory from an abomination, which nat- urally inspires mollification and shame ? The pride Avith which he reproaches them, is a disposition too well known among Christians. It is the disposition of a nian who pretends to free himself from the or- dinary laws of moral rectitude, and to leave that patli in which the gospel requires all Christians to walk, to the vulgar; who treats the just fear of a well regulated conscience, that trembles at the ap- proach of sin, as meanness of soul, and pusillanimi- ty ; and who accommodates the laws of religion to the passions that govern him, and to the seasons in which he has or has not an opportunity of being wicked. These were the dispositions of the Corin- thians in regard to the incestuous person. Perhaps tliey derived some exculpating maxims from the Jews, The Jews thought, that a man who became a proselyte to their religion, was thereby freed from those natural ties which before united him to his re-

Repentance. 299

lations, so that a man mi^ht innocently espouse his sister, or his mother, and so on. Tlie pa2;ans re- proached the Jewish nation with this ; and tliis per- haps mi2;ht furnish Tacitus with a part of the char- acter, that he gave the Jews*. What is considered by us as sacred, says this celebrated historian, they treat as profane, and incestuous marriages, which shock us, they think lawful.

St. Paul rebukes the Corinthians for marking with a character of infamy, not only their own church: but in a manner the whole Christian world. Do you, as if he had said, consider a crime with indifference, which is unknown even among heathens ? // is report- ed eommonly that there is fornication among yoUy and such fornication as is not so mnch as named amongst the Gentiles that one shoidd have his father's rvijcy 1 Cor. V. 1. Indeed there are in pagan writings most severe laws against incest, and what is very remarka- ble, the apostle seems to allude in the w^ords just now cited, to a passage in Cicero, who speaking of incest, calls it scelus inavditum, an unheard of crime. Ac- cordingly, we find in Tertullian, in Minutius Fe- lix, and in other famous apologists for Clnistianity, tl;at incest was one of the disorders with wliich the pagans reproached tlie primitive Christians ; the hea- thens either did what has been too often done, charge a whole family, sometimes a whole city, sometimes a whole nation, with the fault of one member; or they thought nothing could blacken Christians more than taxing them with a vice, although falsely, which

* Hist. V. 4.

300 JRepentance,

was lipid in the utmost detestation by all professors of pai^anism.

The apostle tells the Corinthians, that instead of having adopted, as they had, maxims which seemed to paliate incest, they should hav^e imitated the con- duct of the Jews, when they were obliged to excom- municate any scandalous offenders from their com- munity. On these sad occasions, it was customary with the Jews to fast, to weep, and to put on mourning, as if the person were dead. Ye are pvffcd up, and have not mourned, as if he who had done this deed had been taken Jrom you, ver, 2. This custom was followed afterward by Christians, witness a famous passage in the book entitled apostolical constitutions^' ; witness also these words of Origen, Christians mourn as over the dead for those whom they are obliged to separate from them ; however odious and infectious a member of our body maybe, we always do violence to our- selves when we are under a necessity of cutting it offf. This is not all. St. Paul, not content with general censures and reproofs, thought this one of the extreme cases, in wiiich the honour of his apos- tleship would oblige him to take his ecclesiastical rod, and to perform one of those formidable miracles, which God enabled the primitive Christians to work. You cannot but know, that among other miracu- lous gifts which God communicated for the establish- ment of Christianity, that of inflicting remarkable puussliinents on some offenders was one of the most considerable. Ht, Peter employed this power against

* Constit. Apostol. lib. ii. cap. 41. t Orig. lib. iii. cont. Celsum.

Repentance. , 301

Ananias, whom he caused to fall dead at his feet, and against the wife of this miserable prevaricator, to whom he said, Behold ! the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Acts V. 9. St. Paul speaks of this power in this style, 77jc weapons of our warfare are mighty through Gody in readiness to revenge all disobedience, 2 Cor. x, 4, 6. Our apostle used this power against Elymas the sorcerer, and against Hymeneus and Alexander; he thought he ought also to use it against the inces- tuous Corinthian, and to deliver him to Satan, 1 Cor. V. 5. thus was this terrible dispensation described.

Such an exertion of apostolical power was indis- pensibly necessary ; it reclaimed those by fear whom mildness could not move ; while an indulgence for such a crime as this would have encouraged the commission of many more. But the apostle, while he used this power, was extremely uneasy on ac- count of the necessity that forced him to exercise it. I wrote unto you, says lie, out of much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears, 2 Cor. i. 4. He not only declares, that he had no intention by punishing the culprit to destroy his soul ; but that he even fear- ed those sharp censures which his letter had engaged the Corinthian church to inflict, would produce im- pressions too terrific on the soul of the incestuous sinner, or, as he expresses it, that he would be swal- lowed up with over much sorrow, ver. 7.

He goes further in my text, and in the whole chap- ter from which I have taken it. He wishes to in- demnify himself for the violent anguish that he had suffered, Avhen he was obliged to treat his dqar Co-

302 Hepenimice.

rinthians with extreme rigour. He comforts himself by recollecting the salutary efiects Avhich his zeal had produced, Thovgh I made you sorry with a letter, says he in the words immediately before the text, / do not repent ; though I did repent ; because ye sorrow to repentance, Jor ye were made sorry after a godly manner. In the text he establisheth tliis general iTiaxim for all Christians, " Godly soirow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of : but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

The connection of the text with the whole sub- ject, that we have been explaining, was, as I said be- fore, the best comment that we could propose to ex- plain the text itself. By what we have heard, it is easy to understand what godly sorrow is, and what the sorrow of the world. GodJy sorrow has for its object sin committed against God, or rather, godly sorrow is tlie grief of a man who repents of his sins as God would have him repent ; it is the sorrow of a man who afflicts himself not only because he is mis- erable, but because he deserves to be so ; and be- cause he hath violated those laws of righteousness and holiness which his own conscience approves. The sorrow of the world h that which hath worldly blessing for its object ; or it is the grief of a man who repents of his sins as worldly men repent ; it is the sorrow of one who is more concerned for his misery than for sin, the cause of it, and who would even in- crease his crimes to get rid of his troubles. Tne ground of St. Paul's reasoning then, is tliis : Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, or, as it may be rendered, saving repcniance not to he repented of ;

Repentanct, 303

that is to say, a man who afflicts himself on the ac- counts which we have mentioned, will be exercised at first, indeed, with violent angjiiish ; but in a little time he will derive from this very anguish substantial comfort and joy, because his sorrow for sin will in- duce him to subdue it, and to pray for the pardon of it. On the other hand, the sorrow of the world work- eth death, that is to say, either the sorrow wliicli is occasioned by the loss of earthly enjoyments is fatal to him who gives himself up to it ; for, as tlie wise man saith, a broken spirit drieth the hones, Prov. xvii. 22. or the sorrow of the world worketh death, because such a repentance as tliat of worldlings will never obtain the forgiveness that is promised to those who truly repent. In this latter sense I take the Avords here.

This is a general view of the scope of the apostle, and of his ideas in the text, ideas which we mast de- velope in order to lead you into the spiiit of the lioly supper of the Lord, that so the sermon may contri- bute to the devotion of (he day. I speak of those ideas which St. Paul gives us oï godly sorrow, saving repentance, not to be repented of ; for we cannot en- large on that which he calls sorrow of the world, with- out diverting your attention from the solemn service of this day. We will, therefore, content ourselves with tracing a few characters of it in the body of this discourse, that you may perceive how diiTerent the virtue which the apostle recommends is, from the vice which he intends to destroy.

Godly sorrow then, is the principal object of our ^contemplation, and there are three things that de-

304 Repentance.

mand a particular attention. The causes which pro- duce it ; the effects that follow it ; and the blessings with which it is accompanied. The Jirst of these ar- ticles will describe your state a few days ago, when examining your consciences, (if, indeed, you did ex- amine them,) you were overwhelmed with a remem- brance of your sins. How could you cast your eyes on these sad objects without feeling that sorrow which a penitent expresses thus, O Lord! righteous- ness belongeth unto thee : but unto me confusion ofjace, Dan. ix. 7. Against thee, thee only, O God! have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight ; Psal. li. 4. The second article will describe your present condition. How can you feel godly sorrow, without resolving, by reiterated acts of love to God, to dissipate that darkness which covered all the evidences of your love to him, during the whole course of your sins ? The third article will describe your future condition, through life, at death, in the day of judgment, and throughout all eternity. Happy periods! joyful re- volutions ! in which penitent souls, washed in the Re- deemer's blood, may expect nothing but grace, glory, and fulness of joy ! This is the whole plan of this dis- course. Blessed be God, who calls us to day to ex- ercise such an honourable ministry ! What pleasure to preach such a gospel to a people to whom we are united by the tenderest love ! " O ye Corintliians ! O ye our beloved brethren, our mouth is open unto YOU, our heart is enlarcjed. Ye are not straitened in us : but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recom pence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged, 2 Cor. vi. 11 — 13.

Repentance, 3QS

I. The remembrance of sin is the cause of godly sor- row in the heart of a true penitent. The sinner of whom I am speaking, is to be considered in two dif- ferent periods of time. In the first he is under the infatuation of sin ; in the last, after-reflections on his sinful conduct fill his mind. While a sinner is com- mitting sin, he resembles an enchanted man, a fatal charm fascinates his eyes, and sears his conscience, as St. Paul speaks, 1 Tim. iv. 2. He judges of truth, and error, happiness and misery, only according to. the interest of his reigning passion. Reason, per- suade, preach, censure, terrify, thunder, open the treasures of heaven, and the abysses of hell, the sinner remains insensible ; so foolish and ignorant is he, he is like a beast before you, to use the language of Asaph, Psal. Ixxiii. 22.

But there is another period, which I called a time of afler-reflection on his sinful conduct. Then the remembrance of sin is cutting. Then his soul is full of fears, regrets, griefs, remorse, reproach. Then that sin, like the book, that St. John ate, which had been sweet as honey in his mouth, becomes bitter in his belly, Rev. x. 10. Then the sinner beholding himself, and entering into his heart, finds himself wounded with seven darts : — with the number of his sins — with the enormity of them — with the vanity of the motives which induced him to commit them — with their fatal influences on the minds of his neigh- bours— with that cruel uncertainty, into which they have deluded his own conscience — with the horrors of hell, of which they are the usual causes— and

TOT'. lift 39

306 Bepenlance.

with those sad reflections with which they inspire an ingenuous lovino; heart.

1. The sinner is affected with the number of his sins. When we reflect on our past lives, sins arise from all parts, and absorb our minds in their multi- tude. We owe all our existence to a Supreme Being, and we are responsible to him for every moment of our duration. There are duties of age, obligations that belong to childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. There are duties of fortune, obligations that lie upon people, rich, poor, or in a middle station of life. There are civil obligations which belong to magistrates and subjects. There are domestic duties, which belong to us as parents or children, masters or servants. There are ecclesiastical duties, belonging to us as pastors or people, preachers or hearers. I'here are duties of circumstance, binding on us as sick or well, in society or in solitude. Each of tliese is a class of obligations, and almost each of them is a list of crimes. Most men deceive themselves on this subject; they contract their notion of morality, maim the religion of Jesus Christ, reduce their duties to a small number, which they can easily perform, and at length form their idea of repentance by that which they imagine of their obligations. But we are to suppose the penitent in question free from these pre- judices, and finding his guilt every where pronoun- cing liimself guilty as a magistrate, and as a subject; as a father and as a son ; as a servant and as a mas- ter ; as a youth and as an old man ; as a rich and as a poor man ; as enjoying his health, and as pining in want of it; as pastor, and as one of the people; as

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preacher and as hearer. People sometimes affect to be astonished, and to complain, because we say in our confessions of sin, that we have sinned from the moment of our nativity, and that the number of our sins is greater than that of the hairs on our heads. However, tliese are not hyperbolical expressions ; the greatest saints have used them ; and a close ex- amination of our lives will convince us of their exact conformity to truth. " Every imagination of the thoughts of the heart of man are only evil contin- ually," Gen. vi. 5. " Our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our trespass is grown up into the heavens," Ezra ix. 6. *' Who can understand his errors.'"' Psal. xix. 12. " O Lord let thy loving kind- ness preserve me, for innumerable evils have com- passed me about, they are more than the hairs of mine head," Psal. xl. 11, 12.

2. The true penitent adds, to a just notion of the number of his sins that of their enormity. Here again, we must remove the prejudices that we have imbibed concerning thé morality of Jesus Christ; for here also we have altered his doctrine, and taken the world for our casuist, the maxims of loose worldlings for our supreme law. We have reduced great crimes to a few principal enormous vices, which few people commit. There are but few nmrderers, but few assassins, but few high way -robbers, strictly speaking : other sins, according to us, are fiailties in- cidental to humanity, necessary consequences of hu- man infirmity, and not evidences of a bad heart. But undeceive yourselves, lay aside the morality of the world, take the law of Jesus Christ for your

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judge, and consider the nature of things in theif true point of light. For example, what can be more opposite to the genius of Christianity than that spir- it of pride, which reigns over almost all of us, which disguises us from ourselves, which clothes us with, I know not what, phantom of grandeur, and self- importance, and which persuades us, that a little money, a distant relation to a noble family, a little genius, a little countenance and applause, entitle us to an elevation above the rest of mankind, and to the fantastic privilege of considering ourselves ae men made of a mould different from that of the rest of mankind ? What can be more criminal than those calumnies and slanderous falsehoods, which infect the greatest part of our conversations ; to maintain which, we pretend to penetrate the most hidden re- cesses of a neighbour's heart, we publish his real faults, we impute others to him, of which he is per- fectly innocent, we derive our happiness from his misery, and build our glory on his shame ? What more execrable than habitual swearing and profaning the name of Almighty God? Is it not shocking to hear some who profess Christianity, daily profane ïeligion, revile its histitutions, blaspheme their Cre- ator for an unfavourable cast of a die, or turn of a card ? Tn general, can any thing be more injurious to Jesus Christ, than that attachment which most of us have to the world, although in different degrees ? W^hat more fully proves our light estimation of his promises, our little confidence in his faithfulness? My brethien, we tremble when we hear of a wretch, whom iiimii'er bad driven to commit a robbery on

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the higlnvay ; or of a man mad with passion, who, in a transport of wrath had killed his brother ! But, would we enter into our own hearts, would we take the pains to examine the nature of our own sins, we should soon find ourselves so black and hideous, that the distance which partial self-love puts between us and the men, at whom we tremble, would diminish and disappear.

3. A third idea that afflicts a penitent, is that of the fatal influence which his sins have had on the soul of his neighbour. My brethren, one sin strikes a thousand blows, while it seems to aim at striking on- ly one. It is a contagious poison, which diliuseth itself far and wide, and infects not only him who commits it, but the greatest part of those who see it committed. You are a father, you cannot sin with- out dragging your children down the gulph into which you precipitate yourself. Hence we general- ly see, if a father be ignorant of religion, his chil dren are ignorant of religion ; if a mother be a mere, worldling, her children are infatuated with love to the world. You are a pastor, you cannot fall into sin without inducing some of your flock to sin too ; there are always some people so weak, or so wick ed, as to think they cannot do wrong, while they irn- itate you, while they take those for their examples who profess to regulate the conduct of others. St. Jerom says. The house and the conduct of a bishop are considered as a mirror of public discipline, so that all think they do right when they follow the ex- sample of their bishop. You are a master, you can not sin without emboldening your apprentices and

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workmen to sin, nor without making yom' families schools of error, and your shops academies of the devil. Dreadful thought ! too capable of producing the most exquisite sorrow ! What can a man think of iiimself, who, considering those unhappy creatures who are already victims to the just displeasure of God in hell, or who are likely to become so, is obli- ged to say to himself, agreeably to the divers circum- stances in which providence hath placed him. Per- haps this church, which hath produced only apostates, might have produced only martyrs, had I declared the whole counsel of God with plainness and courage ? Acts XX. 27. Perhaps this family that is plunged in- to ignorance, fallen from ignorance to vice, and from vice into perdition, might have produced an Onesi- mus, a partner of the saints, Phiiem. 10, 17. had I caused the spirit of piety and virtue to have anima- ted the house ! Perhaps this child, given me to be made an oflering to the Lord, and so to become my joy and crown, Phil. iv. 1. through all eternity may execrate me as the author of his misery ; he perhaps may justly reproach me, and say, unworthy parent, it was by imitating thy fatal example that I was brought into this intolerable condition; they were thine abominable maxims, and thy pernicious actions, which involved me first in sin and then in punishment in hell.

4. The weakness of motives to sin is the fourth cause of the sorrow of a penitent. When people find themselves deceived in the choice of one out of many objects, they comfort themselves by reflecting, either that all the objects had similar qualifications

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to recommend fhem, or that their dissimilarity was difficult to be known. But what proportion is there between motives to vice and motives to virtue ? At- tend a moment to motives to sin. Sometimes a va- pour in the brain, a rapidity in the circulation of the blood, a flow of sfiirits, a revolt of the senses, are our motives to sin. But after this vapour is dissipa- ted, after this rapidity is abated, after the spirits and senses are calmed, and we reflect on what induced us to offend God, how can we bear the sight of our- selves without shame and confusion of face ? Motives to sin are innumerable and very various : but what are they all ? Sometimes an imaginary interest, an inch of ground, and sometimes a sceptre, a crov/n, the conquest of the universe, the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, Matt. iv. 10. Tliere comes, however, a moment, in which all these dif- ferent motives are alike. When a man lies on a death-bed, when all terrestrial objects are disappear- ing, when he begins to consider them in their true point of light, and to compare sceptres, conquests, crowns, and kingdoms with the ideas of his own mmd, the immense desires of his heart, and the large plans of felicity that religion traceth, he finds he has been dazzled and misled by false lights, and how in such an hour can he bear to reflect on himself without shame and confusion ?

5. I make a fifth article of the penitent's uncer- tainty of his state. For although the mercy of God is infinite, and he never rejects those who sincerely repent, yet it is certain the sinner in the first mo- ments of his penitence hath reason to doubt of his

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state, and till the evidences of his conversion become clear, there is almost as much probability of his de- struction as of his salvation. Terrible uncertainty ! so terrible, that I am not afraid of affirminsj, except the torments of hell it is the most cruel condition in- to which an intelligent being can be brought. Re- present to yourselves, if it be possible, the state of a man who reasons thus. When I consider myself, I cannot doubt of my guilt. I have added crime to crime, rebellion to rebellion. I have sinned not on- ly through infirmity and weakness : but I have been governed by principles horrible and detestable, in- compatible with those of good men, and with all hopes of paradise. I deserve hell, it is certain, and there are in that miserable place sinners less guilty than myself. My sentence, indeed, is not yet de- nounced : but what proof have I, that I have not sinned beyond the leach of that mercy which is held forth to sinners in the gospel? The gospel says plain- ly enouglî. If any man sin, ihere is an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, I John ii. 1. but the same gospel declares as plainly, that it is im- possible for those 7vho were once enlightened, if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, Heb. vi. 4, 6. I see indeed in the New Testament a Peter^ ivho i-epented and was pardoned, after he had deni- ed his Saviour : but the same book shews me also a Judas, who died in despair. On this side of a cruci- fied Christ I see a converted thief : on the other hangs one, who persisting in impenitence expires in guilt unpardoned; and the blood of the Saviour flowing ,ill v^'anTt and propitious from his veins obtains in his

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sight pardon for his partner, but none for him. Ï see indeed in the gospel, that God invites the sinner, and waits a while for liis return : but I see also, that this time is limited, that it is a fine day succeeded by a terrible night, that it is a measure which the obsti- nacy of a sinner fills up. O happy days! in which I saw the face of my God, in which I could assure myself of my salvation, in which I cheerfully waited for death as my passage to glory. Ah ! whither are you fled ! Now, what must I think of myself? Have I committed only pardonable offences, or have I been guilty of those crimes for which there is no forgive- ness ? Shall I be forgiven as Peter was, or shall I be abandoned to desperation like Judas ? Shall I ascend to paradise with the converted thief, or must I with his impenitent partner be cast into the flames of hell ? Will my Redeemer deign to raise me by his life-giv- ing voice from my grave to the resurrection unto life, or will he doom me to destruction? Are the riches of the goodness and forbearance of God, yet open to me, or are they closed against me ? Am I a real penitent, or am I only an apparent one ? Shall I be damned? — Shall I be saved? — Perhaps the one. — Perhaps the other. — Perhaps heaven. — Per- haps hell. — O fatal uncertainty ! — Dreadful horror I — Cruel doubt ! — This is the sixth arrow of the AU mighty, that wounds the heart of a repenting sinner,

6. Perhaps hell. This is my sixth reflection. Hell is an idea, against which there is no philosophy to com- fort, no profaneness to protect, no brutality to harden ; for if we every day see men, who seem to be got above the fear of future punishment, it is because we see afc .

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the same time iijen, who have found the art either of çtupifying themselves by the tumultuous noise of their passions^ or of blinding themselves by their infidelity. The very scepticism of these men marks tlieir timidity. The very attempts, which they make to avoid thinking of hell, are full of proofs that they cannot bear the sight of it. Indeed, who can swp-^ port the idea of the torments of hell, especially when their duration is added ? Yet this is the idea that strikes a peniteat, he condemns himself to suf- fer this punishment, he places himself on the edge of this gulf, and, if I may be allowed to speak so, draws in the pestilential vapours, that arise from this bottomless abyss. Every moment of his life, before he beholds God as his reconciled Father, is a moment, in which probably he may be cast into hell, because there is no period in the life of such a man, in which it is not probable that he may die, and there is no death for one v/ho dies in impenitence, which will not be a death in a state of reprobation.

7. In fine, the last arrow that woundeth the heart of a penitent, is an arrow of divine love. The more we love God, the more misery we endure when we have been so unhappy as to offend him. Yes, this love, which inilames Seraphims, this love, which makes the felicity of Angels, this love, which sup- ports the believer under the most cruel torments, this love is more terrible than death, and becomes the greate'st tormentor of the penitent. To have offend- ed a God whom he loves, a God whom so many ex- cellences render lovely, a God whom he longs again to love, notvvilhsLanding tliose terrible looks which

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he casts on the sins that the penitent deplores ; those thoughts excite such sorrows in the soul, as nothing but experience can give men to understand.

The union of all these causes, which produce sor- row in a true penitent, forms the grand difference between that which St. Paul calls godly sorron\ and that which he calls the swrow of the world, that is to say, between true repentance and that uneasiness, which worldly systems sometimes give another kind of penitents. The grief of the latter ariseth only from motives of self interest, from pimishments they ieei, or from consequences they fear.

We have seen, then, the true causes of godly sor- row, and we are now to attend to its effects, they constitute a second remarkable difference between godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world.

11. St. Paul speaks of the effects of godly sorrow only hi general terms in our text, he says, it work- eth repentance to salvation: but in the following ver- ses he speaks more particularly ; " Behold, this self- same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, v/hat clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge !" Some of these terms may perhaps be equivocal, however, we do not intend at present to inquire iiîto the various senses of them : but we will take them in that sense which seems most obvi- ous, most agreeable to the style of St. Paul, and to the subject of which he is speaking- There is also in the language of the apostle, in T\hat he calls the working of godly sorrow, something

316 Repentance.

relative to tlie state of the Corinthian church in re- gard to the case of the incestuous person ; and this seems particularly clear in the expression, yea, what revenge! St. Paul very likely referred to the excom- inunication of this person by the Corintliian church. He had directed them in a former epistle, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one unto Satan, 1 Cor. V. 4, 5. We have seen that the pvmishments inflicted on such persons are called vengeance, and of this revenge, or vengeance, the apostle speaks. Let lis omit every thing personal, and let us attend only to that part of the sul>ject which regards ourselves.

The first effect of godly sorrow is what our apostle calls carefulness, or, as Î would ratlier read it, vigi- lance, yea, what vigilance! I understand by this term the disposition of a man, who, feeling a sincere sor- row for his sins, and being actually under the afflict- ing hand of God, is not content with a few gene- ral notions, and a little vague knowledge of his own irregidarities : but uses all his efforts to examine ev- eiy circumstance of his life, and to dive into tlie least obvious parts of his own conscience, in or- der to discover whatever is offensive to that God, whose favour and clemency he most earnestly im- plores. The penitence of worldlings, or as St. Paul expresseth it, the sorrow of the world, may indeed produce such general notions, and such a vague Icnowledge of sin, as I just now mentioned. Afflict- ed people very commonly say, We deserve these punishments, we are sinners, very great sinners: but those penitents are rare, very rare indeed, who pos-

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sess what our apostle calls carefulness, or vigilance. A christian, who is truly affected with having ofTend- ed God, labours with the utmost earnestness to find out all that can have contributed to excite the anger of God against him, and to engage him to redouble the strokes of a just displeasure. Perhaps it may be some connection attended with dangerous influences, which I had not perceived. Perhaps it may be the retention of some ill-acquired property, the injus- tice of acquiring which I t;ave refused to acknow- ledge, lest my conscience should drive me to make restitution. Perhaps I may have omitted some vir- tue essential to Christianity. God has taken away my fortune ; but perliaps I abused it, perhaps it ex- cited my pride, and made me forget my infirmities, my dust and ashes. God took away my child, tS:e •whole comfort of my life ; but probably he saw, I made an idol of it, and suffered it to fill a place in my heart, which ought to have been reserved for God alone. God sent a sickness w tiich I should not have naturally expected ; but perhaps health was a snare to me, and iield me from considering my last end. In view of such a person our apostle would exclaim, " Behold, this self-same thing, that ye sor- rowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you !"

What clearing of yourselves ! adds St. Paul. The Greek word sii^nifies apology, and it will be best un- derstood by joining the following expression with it, yea, what indignation ! In the sorrow of the world apology and indignation are usually companions; in- dignation against him who represents the atrocity of

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a sin, and apology for him who commits it. In what odious colours does this artful indignation describe a man, who freely preacheth the whole comisel ofGody Acts XX. 27. representing to every sinner in its own point of light the crime of which he is guilty ! Sometimes we accuse him of rashness, as if a man ought never to reprove the vices of others unless he believes his own conduct is irrépréhensible. Some- times we reproach him with the very sins which he censures in others, as if a man ought to be perfect himself, before he pretends to reprove the imperfec- tions of his brethren. Sometimes we account him a maintainer of heresies, as if it were impossible to press home the practice of religion without abjuring the speculative doctrines that are revealed in the same gospel. St. Paul experienced this indignation as much as any minister of the gospel. Indeed it seems impossible, that a ministry so famous as his should not expose itself to slander from the abund- ant malignity of the age in which it was exercised. And this will always be the fate of all them, who walk in the steps of this apostle, and take his resolu- tion and courage for a model.

The same principle, that [>roduceth indignation against those wiio reprove our disorders, inspires us with apologies to excuse ourselves. The reproved sinner is always fruitful in excuses, always ingenious in finding reasons to exculpate himself, even while he gives himself up to those excesses which admit of the least excuse ; one while, bis time of life necessarily induces hhn to some sins ; another time, human fraià» iy is incompatible with perfect piety ; now he pleads

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the vivacity of his passions, which will suffer no con- troul ; and then he says, he is irresistibly carried away with the force of example in spite of all his efforts.

Now, change the objects of indignation and apol- ogi/, and you will have a just notion of the disposi- tions of the Corinthians, and of the effects which godly sorrow produces in the soul of a true penitent. Let your apology have for its object that ministry which you have treated so unworthily, let your in- dignation turn against yourselves, and then you will have a right to pretend to the prerogatives of true repentance. What sins have you lamented last week? Your excessive love of the world? Let this sorrow produce an apology for the holy ministry ; let it excite your indignation against yourselves ; ac- knowledge that we had reason to affirm the friendship (f the world is enmity with God, Jam. iv. 4. that no man coidd serve two masters^ Matt. vi. 24. that some amusements, some ostentatious airs, some liveries of the world ill become a cliristian ; and blame your- selves, if you be incapable of relishing this doctrine. What sin have you been lamenting? Avarice? Let this sorrow apologise for the holy ministry, and let it excite your indignation against yourselves. Ac- knowledge, we had reasons sufficient for saying, that the love of money is the root of all evil, I Tim. vi. 10. that covetousness is idolatry. Col. iii. 5. that the covet- ous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 10. tliat such mean, low, sordid sentiments are un- worthy of those, whom .lesus Christ hath received into communion with himself, whom he hath brought

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up in a school of generosity, disinterestedness, and magnanimity ; who have seen in his person examples of all these noble virtues ; and now find fault, if you can, with any beside yourselves, if you be incapa- ble of digesting this doctrine. " Behold, this self- same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what apology, yea, what indignation !"

The apostle adds, yea, ivhatfear! By fear in this place we understand that self-ditfidence, which an idea of the sins we have committed, ought naturally to inspire. In this sense, St. Paul says to the Romans, he not high minded; hut fear, chap. xi. 20. Fear, that is to say, distrust thyself. I do not mean a bare speculative diffidence, that persuades the mind : I understand a practical feai-, which penetrates the heart, inspires us with salutary cautions against the repetition of such sins as we are most inclined to commit. This effect, produced by godly sorrow, is one of the principal characters that distinguishes it from the sorrow of the world, from that repentance, which is often found in false penitents. It is one of the surest marks of real ref)entance, and one of the best evidences, that it is not imaginary. Let the oc- casion of your penilential sorrows in the past week teach you to know yourself, and engage you to guard those tempers of your hearts, the folly of which your own experience has so fully taught you. Here you suffered through your inattention and dis- sipation ; /f«r lest you should fall by the same means again, guard against this weakness, strengthen this feeble part, accustom yourself to attention, exam-

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ifle what relation every circumstance of your life bas to your duty. There you fell through your vani- ty ; /eeriest you should fall again by the same mean, guard against this weakness, accustom yourself to meditate on your original meanness, and on whatev- er can inspire you with the grace of humility. An- other time, you erred through your excessive com- plaisance; fear lest you should err again by the same mean, guard against this weakness, accustom yourself to resist importunity, when resistance is necessary, and never blush to say, It is right in the sight of God, to hearken unto God more than unto uon. Acts iv. 19. Tn such a case, St. Paul would exclaim, " behold, this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed af- ter a godly sort, what fear it wrought in you !"

In the fifth place, What vehement desire! This is another vague term. Godly sorrow produceth divers kinds of desire. Here I confine it to one meaning, it signifies, I think, a desire of participating the fa- vor of God, of becoming an object of the merciful promises, which he hath niade to truly contrite souls, and of resting under the shade of that cross, where an expiatory sacrifice was offered to divine justice for the sins of mankind. A penitent, who sees the favorable looks of a compassionate God intercept- ed; a penitent, who cannot behold that adorable face, the smiles of which constitute all his joy; a penitent, who apprehends his God justly flaming with anger against him, desires only one thing, that is to recover a sense of the favor of God. If thy -presence go not with me carry us not up hence, said Moses once, Exod. xxxiii. 15, should we conquer

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all the land of promise, and possess all its treasures, an(] not enjoj thy love, we would rather spend all our days here in the desert. I will arise, and go to my Father, and wHl say unto him. Father, I have sin- ned aii'arrist heaven ami before thee, make me as one of thy hired servants, Luke xv. 18, 19. this was the Ian- gua2:e of the prodijjal son. And the prayer of the psahnist is to the same purpose, " Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, up- hold me with thy free spirit," Psal. li. 11, 12.

Finally, 2eal is the sixth eflect of godly sorrow, and it may have three sorts of objects, God, our neiajb hours, and ourselves. But, as the time is near- ly elapsed, and as I have shewn you in general what godly sorrow is, and what effects are wrought in a penitent by it, I sliall proceed to close this discourse by describing the benefits that accompany it.

III. St. Paul expresses himself in a very concise manner on this article : but his language is full of meaning ; repentance produced by godly sorrow, says he, is not to he repented of. This is one of those tours of expression, by which, while a subject seems to be diminished, the highest ideas are given of it. Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to he repented of, that is to say, it is always a full source of consola- tion and joy. Let us adapt ourselves to the short- ness of our time. Godly sorrow reconciles us to tliree enemies, who, while we live in sin, attack us with implacable rage. The first is divine justice ; the second our own conscience; the last death.

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1. The first enemy who attacks us while we live in sin, with implacable rage, is the justice of God. There can be no other relation between God and an obstinate sinner than that which subsists between judge and criminal ; God ù of purer eyes than to be- hold evily Heb. i. 13. and his justice points all his thunders against the devoted head of him who gives himself up to the commission of it. Godly sorrow reconciles us to divine justice. This is perhaps of all propositions the least disputable, the most clear, and the most demonstrable.

Consult your own reason, it will inform you, God is good ; it will prove, by all the objects that sur- round you, that it is not possible for God to refuse mercy to a penitent, who weeps, and mourns for sin, who prays for mercy, who covers himself with sack- cloth and ashes, who dares not venture to lift up his eyes to heaven, who would shed all his blood to atone for the sins that he hath committed, and who would not for the whole universe allow himself to commit them again.

To reason add authority, and it will appear, that all mankind profess to be guilty of sin, and to adore a God of pardoning mercy, and although numbers remain ignorant of the nature of true repentance^ yet all allow it is attended with excellent preroga- tives.

To reason and authority add revelation. But how is it possible for me at present even to hint all the comfortable testimonies of revelation on this article ? Revelation gives you ideas of the mercy of God the most tender, the most affecting, the most sublime ; it

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speaks of bowels troubled, repentings kindled togetheTy at the sound of a penitent's plaintive voice, Jer. xxxi. 20. Hos, xi. 8. Revelation speaks of oaths ut- tered by God himself, whose bare word is evidence enough, As I live, saith the Lord, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. .(St, Paul tells us, because God could swear by no great- er, he sware by himself, Heb. vi. 13. and in the text now quoted, God employs this kind of speaking an appeal to the most excellent of all beings, in order to satisfy the trembling conscience of a penitent.) As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked : but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Revelation opens to you those fountains of life which were opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and leads to the blood of the Saviour of the world, which flows for peni- tent sinners, Zech. xiii. 1 .

Consult experience, and it will shew you a cloud of witnesses, Avhose repentance was accepted. Wit- ness many a time the whole people of Israel, witness, Moses, witness David, witness Hezekiah, witness Ma* nasseh, witness Nebuchadnezzar, witness Nineveh, witness that prostitute who wept in Simon's house, witness the poor publican, witness the converted thief, witness every penitent in this assembly, for Avhat would become of you, I speak of the holiest of you, what would become of you, were not God good, were he not infinitely good, w ere he not mer- ciful to wait while we fall into sin until we rise again ty repentance ?

% As godly sorrow reconciles us to divine justice, SO it reconciles us to our own consciences. We some-

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times lull conscience into a deep sleep ; but it is ve» ry difficult to keep it from starting and waking. Wo be to them who throw it into a dead sleep to wake no more ! But how dreadful, when it awakes, does it arise from its sleep ! What blows does it strike* W hat w^ounds does it make ! What pains and horrors does it excite, when it says to a sinner, Miserable wretch ! what hast thou done ? from what dignity art thou fallen ! into what deep disgrace and distress art thou plunged ! My punishment is greater than I can hear! Mountains! cover inc: Hills! fall upon me. Gen. iv. 13. Hos. X. 8. Ah! ye empty sounds of world- ly pleasure! ye tumultuous assemblies! ye festal and amusive scenes ! how feeble are ye against an enemy so formidable ! It is repentance only, it is on- ly godly sorrow that can disarm conscience. A soul reconciled to God, a soul made to hear this comfort- able language, thy sins he forgiven thee^ Mat. ix. 2. passeth, so to speak, all on a sudden from a kind of hell to a sort of heaven; it feels that peace of God îvhich passeth all understanding, Phil. iv. 7. it enlern into that joy unspeakable and fdl of glory, 1 Pet. i. 8. Avhich hath supported the greatest saints under the most infamous calumnies that ever were invented to blacken them, and the sharpest punishments that ev- er were devised to torment them.

3. In fine, godly sorrow reconciles us to deaths While we live without repentance, yea, while there remains any doubt of the sincerity or truth of our repentance, how can we sustain the thoughts of a just tribunal, an exact register, an impartial sentence, all ready to unfold and decree our future fate ? ITow

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can we hear this summons, Give an account of thy stewardship ? Luke xvi. 2. Godly sorrow^ reconciles us to this enemy, the sting of death is sin, 1 Cor. xv. 56. and sin has no sting for a penitent. Death ap- pears to the repenting sinner as a messenger of grace, sent to conduct him to a merciful God, and to open to him ineflable felicity flowing from boundless mer- cy.

Ah ! my brethren, would to'God it were as easy to prove that you bear the marks of true repentance,

as it is to display its prerogatives ! But alas ! I

dare not even move this question And yet what

wait you around the pulpit for? Why came you to hear this sermon ? Would you have me to close the solemnity as usual by supposing that you have un- derstood all, and referred all to the true design : that last week you all very seriously examined your own hearts ; that you all prepared yourselv es for the ta- ble of tlje Lord by adopting such dispositions as this holy ceremony requires of you ; that this morning you all received the communion with such zeal, fer- vour, and love, as characterize worthy communi- cants; that in the preceding exercise you all poured out your hearts before God in gratitude and praise ; and that nothing remains now but to congratulate you on the holiness and happiness of your state?

But tell me in what period of your lives, (I speak not of you all, for thanks be to God, I see many true penitents in this assembly ; men, who " shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse na- tion," Phil. ii. KO. and who may perhaps have obtain- ed to-day bv the fervour of their zeal forbearance

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for all the rest. But I speak of a great number, and of them I ask,) In what period of your lives were you in possession of all those characters of godly sorroWy of which we have been speaking ?

Was it in your closet? What ! that trifling exami- nation, that rapid reading, those superficial regrets, those hasty resolutions, was this your course of re- pentance ?

W as it in company ? But what ! that commerce with the world, in which you were not distinguished from other worldlings, and where after the example of your company you put on their livery, and pur- sued their pleasures, was this your course of repent- ance?

Was it at the table of Jesus Christ? But whatJ those communions, to which you came rather to ac- quire by some slight exercises of devotion a right to commit more sin, than to lament what you had com- mitted; those communions which you concluded as indevoutly as you began ; those communions that produced no reformation in you as men of the world, members of the church, or of private families: those communions, after which you were as proud, as im- placable, as sordid, as voluptuous, as envious, as be- fore ; do these communions constitute the course of your repentance ?

Perhaps, we tnay repent, when we are dying! AVhat ! a forced submission ; an attention extorted in spite of ourselves by the prayers and exhortations of a zealous minister; resolutions inspired by fear; can this be a safe course of repentance ?

32î5 Ihpeniance.

Ah ! my brethren, it would be better to turn our hopes from the past ; for past times offer only melan- choly objects to most of us, and to confine our atten- tion to future, or rather to the present moments, which afford us more a2;reeable objects of contem- plation. O may the present proofs, the glorious proofs, which God gives us to-day of his love, make everlasting impressions upon our hearts and minds ! May the sacred table, of which we have this morn- ing participated, be forever before our eyes ! May this object every where follow us, and may it ev- ery where protect us from all those temptations to which a future conversation with the world may expose us ! May our prayers, our resolutions, our oaths, never be effaced from our memories! May we renew our prayers, resolutions, vows and oaths this moment with all our hearts ! Let each of us close this solemnity by saying, " Thou art my portion, O Lord ! I have said, that I would keep thy words ! I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments," Ps. cxix. 57, 106. I have sworn to be more exact in all thy ser- vice, more attentive to thy voice, more sensible to thine exhortations. And to unite all my wishes in one, may that sincerity, and integrity, with which we take this oath, be accompanied with all the divine assistance, which is necessary to enable us never, never to violate it. Amen and Amen Î

SERMON X.

Assurance,

Romans viii. 38, 39.

I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor an- gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things prc' sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord»

J.T is a circumstance of sacred history well worthy of our reflections, my brethren, that Moses and Josliua, being yet, the one beyond Jordan, the oth- er hardly on the frontiers of Palestine, disposed of that country as if they had already subdued it. They made laws concerning kings, subjects, priests and le* vitcs ; they distributed towns and provinces ; and they described the boundaries of every tribe. It should seem their battles had been all fought, and they had nothing remaining now but the pleasure of enjoying the fruit of their victories. Yet war is uncertain," and the success of one day does not al- ways ensure the success of the next. Hence the ancient proverb, Let not him that girdclh on his harness, boast himself as he that puHeth it off, 1 Kings XX. 11.

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330 Assurance.

Certainly, my brethren, these leaders of the peo- ple of God would have been char2;eable with rash- ness, had they founded their hopes only on their own resolution and courage, had they attacked their ene- mies only with a sword and with a spear : but tliey went in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, 1 Sam. xvii. 4.'j. for he iiad said ta them. Arise, and go, for I do give this land to the children of Israel, Josh. i. 2. Restiniç on these ]>ro- mises, and possessing that /«i7/?, which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, Heb. xi. 1. they thought themselves in the land of promise ; they tasted the milk and honey, and en- joyed alt the privileges of it.

Christians, tliere is a greater distance between hea- ven and earth, than there was between the wilder- ness and the land of promise. There are more dif- ficulties to surmount to arrive at salvation, than there were formerly to arrive at Canaan. Yet, my text is the language of a Christian soldier, yet in arras yet resisting l!esh and blood, y^i surrounded by in- numerable enemies conspiring against his soul ; be- hold him assured, triumphing, defying all the crea- tures of the universe to de[)rive him of salvation. But, be not surprised at his fainness, the angel of the Lord fights for him, and says to him-, Arise, and go, for I do give the land to thee. Josh. i. 3. and his triumphant soL'g is full o[ wisdom, " I am persua- ded, that îieither death, nor lite, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to coîiip, nor height, nc-r depth, nor any other

Assurance. 531

ci-eatiire, shall be able to separate us from the love of (jod, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Let us examine the stedfastness of St. Paul, and let the words of our text decide two disputed points. Some divines pretend, that believers ought always to remain in a state of doubt and uncer- tainty concerning tlieir salvation. Our first dis- pute is with them. Our second is with some false Christians, who, pretending that assurance of salvation is taught in the holy scriptures, arrogate to themselves the consolations afforded by this doctrine, even while they live in practices incon- sistent with a state of regeneration. With a view to both, we will divide this discourse into two general parts. In the first we will prove this proposition ; a believer may arrive at such a degree of holiness as to be assured of his salvation. I am persuaded, says St. Paul ; he does not say, I think, I presume, I conjecture: but /am persuaded, I am assured, that iieither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Tn the second place, we will prove, that no one has a risfht to assure himself of his salvation, anv fur- ther than he halh a right to assure himself, that he shall persevere in faith and obedience. I am per- suaded, of what ? Is it that, live how I will, I shall be saved ? No. But I am persuaded, that neither death nor life shall separate me from the love of God ; that IS to say, I am persuaded, I shall triumph over all temptations. The first of these articles shall be directed to confirm our consciences, and to ex- plain our divinity. The second to justify oiu* mo-

332 Assurance,

rality, and to destroy that false system of confidence which carnal security aims to establish.

I. A believer may carry his faith and holiness to a degree which will assure him of his salvation. This is our first proposition, and there is as much necessity of explaining it clearly as of solidly proving the truth of it; for if there be an article, that is render- ed obscure by disputes about words, and by the false consequences which different authors impute to each other, it is certainly this. If we clearly state the quegtion, and omit what is not essential to the subject, although it may have some distant relation to it, we shall preclude a great many difficulties, and the truth will establisti itself.

First, then, when we affirm, there is such a bles- sing as assurance of salvation, we do not mean that assurance is a duty imposed on all mankind, so that every one, in what state soever he may be, ought to be fully persuaded of his salvation, and by this per- suasion to begin his Christianity. We are well as- sured, that all those who are out of the road of truth and virtue, can have no other assurance than what is false, rash, and injurious to religion. By this we get rid of ail those calumnies, by which some at- tempt to blacken our doctrine. It has been pretend- ed, that we require false Cliristians, wicked and aban- doned people, persisting in error and vice, to believe that they are justified, and tliat ti.'ey have nothing more to do, in order to arrive at salvation, than to persuade themselves that ihey shall be saved. In- deed, we allow, obligations to faith and holiness, by which we arrive at assurance, lie upon all men, even

Assurance. 333

the most imbelievinaj and profane : but while they persist in unbelief and profaneness, we endeavour to destroy their pretences to assurance and salvation.

2. W e do not affirm, that all Christians, even they who may be sincere Cliristians, but of whose sincer- ity there may be soine doubt, have a rijoht to assur- ance. Assurance of our justification depends on as- surance of oiu' bearing the characters of justified persons. As a Christian in his state of infancy and noviciate, can have only mixed and doubtful eviden- ces of his Christianity, so he can have only mixed and doubtful evidences of his certainty of salvation. In this manner we reply to those who reproach us with opening a broad way to heaven not authorised by the word of God.

3. Less still do we affirm, that they who for a considerable time seemed to give great proof of their faith and love, but who liave since fallen back into sin, and seem as if they would continue in it for the remaining part of life, ought, in virtue of their former apparent acts of piety to persuade themselves that tltey shall be saved. Far from pretending that these people ought to arrogate to themselves the prerogatives of true believers, we affirm, they were never partakers of the first princi- ples of true religion, according to this saying of an apostle. If they had been of us, they would no doubt hare continued with us, 1 John ii. 19. In this man- ner we reply to the difficulties, which some passages of Scripture seem to raise against our doctrine; as this of St. Paul, " It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the hear-

33t Assurance.

enly gift, and were partakers of the Hoïy Ghost, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repent- ance," Heb. vi. 4, 6. And this of the propliet, '' When the righteous turneth away from his right- eousness, and committeth iniquity, and doelh ac- cording to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live ? All his righteousness that he hath done, shall not be mentioned, in his trespass shall he die," Ezek. xviii. 24.

4. We do not say that they who have arrived at the highest degree of faith and holiness, can be per- suaded of the certainty of their salvation in every period of their lives. Piety, even the piety of the most CQiinent saints, is sometimes under an eclipse. Consequently, assurance, which piety alone can produce, must be subject to eclipses too. Thus we answer objections taken from such cases as that of Oavid. After he had killed Uriah, he was given up TO continual remorse, the shade of Mriah all cover- ed with gore, for ever haunted him, broke his bones, and made bim cry most ean^estly for a restoration of the joy of salvation, Psal. li. 8, 12. In some such circumstances the prophet Asaph was, when he ex- claimed. Will the Lord cast off forever ? and will he he favorable no more I Hath God forgotten to he gra- cions / Hafh he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? Psal. Ixsvii. 7, 9. These were moments of suspen- sion of divine love ; these w ere the sad remains of sin in these holy men.

5. We do not say that tlie greatest saints have any riglit to persuade themselves of the certainty of their salvafiop in case thev were to cease to love

j4sf;uranc€. 335

God. Certainty of salvation, supposes perseverance in the way of salvation. Thus we reply to objec- tions taken from the words of St. Paul, " I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away," 1 Cor. ix, 27. We are persuaded St. Paul, all holy as he was, had he ceased to have been holy, would li3ve been obliged to doubt of his salvation. Thus also we account for the threatenings which are denounced in Scripture, and for this command of an apostle, Give diligence to make 1/ our calling and election sure, 2 Pet. i. 10. And by this also we get rid of the unjust reproach- es which soîne cast on the doctrine of assurance, a^ favoring indolence and licentiousness.

6. AVe do not affirm, that any man, considered in himself, employing only his own strength, and unassisted by grace, can hope to persevere in holi- ness. We suppose the Christian assisted by the pow- er of God, without which no man can begin the work of salvation, much less finish it. Thus our doctrine frees itself from rashness and presumption.

7. W^e do not pretend to affirm, that doubts ex- elude men from salvation. Faith may be sincere, where it is not strong. All the children of Abra- ham are not like Abraham Jidlij persuaded.

Finally, While we maintain the doctrine of assur- ance, we wish to have it distinguished from the doc- trine of perseverance. It is a doctrine of our church- es, once a child of God, and always a child of God. But, although these two doctrines seem to be close- ly connected together ; although the same argument^

336 Assurance.

which establish the one, may be of use to prove the other ; yet there is a considerable difference between the two. We are not considering to-day so much the condition of a Christian, as the judgment which he ought to make of it. Let it not surprise you then, if, while we press home tlie article of assur- ance, we do not speak much on the faithfulness of God in his promises, or the irrevocable nature of his eternal decrees ; for we are not inquiring in this discourse, whether the promises of God be faithful, or whether his decrees be inviolable : but whether we can arrive at a persuasion of our own interest in these promises, and whether we be included in the eternal decrees of his love. Our question is not, May true believers fall away into endless perdition ? but. Have we any evidence that we are among the number of those saints who can never perish ?

These elucidations and distinctions are sufficient at present. Were we to compose a treatise on the subject, it would be necessary to explain each arti- cle more fully : but in a single sermon they can on- ly be just mentioned. These hints, we hope, are sufficient to give you a clear state of the question, and a just notion of the doctrine of our churches. We do not say every man, but a believer; not eve- ry pretended believer, but a true believer; not a be- liever in a state of infancy and noviciate, but a con- lirmed believer ; not a believer who backslides from his profession, but one who j)erseveres ; not a be- liever during his falls into sin, but in the ordinary course of his life; not a believer considered in him- self, and left to iiis own efforts, but a believer sup-

As sur mice. 337

ported by that divine aid which God never refuses to those who ask it; such a believer, we say, may persuade himself, not only that the promises of God are faitliful, and that his decrees are irrevocable, but that he is of the number of those whom faithful pro- mises and immutable decrees secure. Not that we pretend to exclude from salvation those who have not obtained the highest degree of assurance : but we consider it as a state to which each Christiaa ought to aspire, a privilege that every one should endeavour to obtain. It is not enough to advance this proposition, we must endeavour to establish it on solid proof.

We adduce in proof of this article, first, the expe- rience of holy men ; next, the nature of regenera- tion ; then die privileges of a Christian; and lastly, the testimony of the Holy Spirit; each of which we will briefly explain.

1. We allege the experience of holy men. A long list of men persuaded of their salvation might here be given. A few follow. .Tob says, " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself," chap. xix. 25 — 27. David says, " O Lord, deliver my soul from men of the world, who have their portion in this life. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness,'* Ps. xvii. 14, 15. 8o Asaph, " It is my happiness to draw near to God. I am continually with thee, thou hast holden me by thy right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to

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338 Assurance.

glory," Psal. Ixxiii. 28, 23, 24. But not to multiply exaniples, let us content ourselves with the words oi* the text, and in order to feel the force of them, let us explain them.

*' I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things prés- ent, nor thing to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us froni the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." What is this love of God, of w^iich our apostle speaks? The expression is equivocal. It either sig- nifies the love of Jesus Christ to us, or our love to him. Both come to the same ; for as St. Paul could not persuade himself that God would always love him, witliout at the same time assuring himself that he should always love God ; nor that he should al- ways love God, without persuading himself that God would always love him ; so it is indifferent which sense we take, for in either sense tlie apostle means by the love of God in Christ Jesus, his com- munion with God in Jesus Christ. What does he say of this communion ? He says, he is " persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- palities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea- ture, shall be able to separate it." This enumera- tion includes all, and leaves no room for addition. In effect, what are the most formidable enemies, that conspire against our souls ?

Are they the sophisms with which Satan gives a gloss to error ? There is an art of enveloping the truth ; tliere is a superficial glare that may render

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false religions probable, and may dazzle the eyes of enquirers. St. Paul defies not only the most ac- complished teachers, and the most refined sophists : but the very devils also, neither angels^ says lie, that is, fallen angels.

Are they the dissipations of life, which by filling all the capacity of the soul, often deprive it of tiie liberty of working out its salvation ? or are they the approaches of death, the gloom of which intercepts the light and obscures the rays of the Sun of Right- eousness ? St. Paul is superior to both, neither death,, nor life, says he.

Are they worldly pomps and grandeurs ? A cer- tain love of elevation, inseparable from our minds, prejudiceth us in favour of whatever presents itself to us under the idea of grandeur. St. Paul dares all the pomps, and all the potentates in the world, neither principalities, nor powers, nor height^ adds he.

Are the impressions tliat present objects always make on us enemies to us ? The idea of a present benefit weighs much with us. The sacrifice of the present to the future is the most diflncult of all the efforts of our hearts. St. Paul knows the art of ren- dering present objects future, and of annihilating the present, if I may venture to say so, by placing it in future prospect ; neither things present, nor things to rMme.

Are they the most cruel torments ? How diflficult is it to resist pain ! In violent sensations of pain the soul itself retires into concealment, and surrounded with excruciating maladies can scarcely support it- self bv reflection. St. Paul can resist all torment?.

340 Assurance.

distress and persecution, famine and nakedness, peril and snord.

Is contempt an enemy ? Many who have withstood all other trials, have sunk under that unjust scandal which often covers the cliildren of God in this world. St. Paul entertained rectified ideas of glory, and found grandeur in the deepest abasement, when reli- gion reduced him toit. Neither, says he, shcdl depth be able to separate. I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor pri7icipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth; and lest the imperfection of his enumeration should excite any suspicion concerning his perseverance, he adds, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God rvhich is hi Christ Jesus our Lord.

In vain it will be objected, that this assurance was grounded on some extraordinary revelation, and on some privileges peculiar to the apostles; for it is clear, by the preceding verses, that the apostle grounds his assurance of salvation on promises made to all the church. On this account some duties are enjoined on all Christians, which suppose that all Chiistians may arrive at this assurance; these duties are tiianksgiving, joy, and hope. Nothing then, can invalidate our an^uments drawn from the exaiuples of h.oly men. Thus tlie question of assurance is not a question of right, subject to objections and diffi- culties ; it is a question of fact, explained by an event, and decided by experience.

2. Let us attend to the natuie of regeneration. A regenerate man is not one who lightly determines his

Assurance. 341

choice of a reli<j;ion ; he is not a child tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, Eph. iv. 14. but he is a man who hath studied Chris- tianity, weighed its arguments, seen its evidences, and felt all their force, so that he is persuaded by demonstration, that there is a God, a providence, another life, a judgment, a heaven, a hell, and so on.

A regenerate man is one, who, by continual med- itations and pious actions, hath surmounted his nat- ural propensities to sin. He is a man, whose con- stitution, so to speak, is new cast and refined, so that instead of being inwardly carried away to sin by his own violent passions, he is inwardly moved to the practice of piety and virtue.

A regenerate man is one, who, in pious exercises, hath experienced that satisfaction which a rational mind tastes, when inward consciousness attests a har- mony between destiny and duty. He is a man, who hath felt that peace which passeth all understanding, that joy unspeakable^ and full of glori/, Phil. iv. 7. 1 Pet. i. 8. which the presence of God produceth in the soul. He is a man, whose life hath abounded with those happy periods, in which the soul loses sight of the world, holds communion with its God, foretastes eternal felicity, finds itself, as St. Paul expresseth it, raised up from the dead, and made to sit in heavenly places with Christ JesuSy Eph. ii. 6.

A regenerate man is one who hath meditated on the attributes of God, on his wisdom, his omnipres- ence, and his justice, and particularly on those depths of mercy, wliich inclined him to redeem a fallen world, and to ransom it by a sacrifice, the

342 Assurance,

bare idea of wliich confounds imagination, and ab sorbs all thouglit.

A regenerate man is one, whose own ideas of God have produced love to him, a love the more fervent because it is founded on his own perfections and ex- cellencies, a love strong as death, a love that many waters cannot quench, neither can the floods drown, Cant, viii, 6, 7.

This is a fair account of a regenerate man. Now, it is certain, such a man has a right to be persuaded that he shall triumph over all his temptations ; he may say, I am persuaded that no creature shall sepa- rate me from the love of God,

Let us consider things at the worst with this man. It may liappen to liim, that a complex sophism, or an ingenious objection, may for a moment becloud his faith, and excite some doubt in his mind ; but as we suppose him enlightened, guarded, and ground- ed in the truth, it is impossible liis persuasion of these great truths, truths so well understood and es- tablished, should ever be totally effaced from his mind.

Indeed, it may happen, that such a man through a revolt of his senses, or a revolution of his spirits, may fall into some excesses : but as his constitution- al turn is reformed, his propensity to sin surmount- ed, and his habits of piety established, it is impossi- ble he should not know that his senses and spirits will return to their usual calm.

It may happen, that such a man through the al- lurement of a present pleasure, through the entice- ment of a temptation, througli tlie false attractives

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of the world, may for a few moments be imposed on, and betrayed away : but a remembrance of the pleasures of piety, a contrast between them and the pleasures of the world, will soon recover him to such religious exercises as before gave him real pleasure and pure joy.

Remark here, that by proposing this reasoning we have granted our opponents all which they can rea- sonably require ; we have placed things at the worst. But, including all our ideas, we affirm, the principles of regeneration are such, that he who possesseth them, will not only rise from his falls, should he some- times fall into sin under violent temptations: but he will avail himself of these very temptations to con- firm his faith and obedience. The same objects pro- duce different effects, according to the diff'erent dis- positions of the peisons to whom they are offered. What serves to confirm a wicked man in sin, serves to confirm a good man in virtue, and, if he has fal- len, to reclaim him to God.

Propose to a regenerate man the most artful so- phism of error, he will take occasion from it to at- tach himself more earnestly to the study of truth ; he will increase his knowledge, and he will never find a more sincere attachment to religion than after discovering the nullity of the objections that are made against it. Surround hiiu with worldly pomp, it will elevate his mind to tliat glory which God hath reserved for his children in the other world. Put him in a state of meanness and misery, it will detach him from the world, and enliven him in searching felicity in another life. Lav him on a death-bed.

344 Assurance.

even there be will triumph over all. The veils that concealed the supreme 2;ood from him, will begin to fall in pieces, and he will become inflamed with the desire of possessing; it. Suppose him even fal- len into sin, an experience of his frailty will animate him to vigilance ; he will hereafter doubly guard the weak passes of his soul ; and thus he will gain by liis losses, and triumph in his very defeats.

It is too little to say, " No creature shall separate him from the love of God ;" all creatures shall serve to unite him more closely to his Lord. Thus St. Paul says, " All things work together for good to them that love God ; in all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us," Rom. viii. 28, 37. Observe these expressions, not only noth- ing can hurt a true believer : but all things work to- gether for his good ; not only, we are conquerors : but we are more than conquerors through him that lov- ed us. Nothing is hyperbolical here. Every thing actually contributes to the salvation of a believer. In this sense all are his, Paul, Cephas, and theivorld, 1 Cor. iii. 22. In this sense he spoileth principalities and powers, and, like his Saviour, makes a shew of them opeidy. Col. ii. 15. And this is a reason for a believer's continual joy, because, in whatever cir- cumstances providence may place him, all conduct him to the one great end. Were his chief aim health, sickness would deprive him of it; were it elevation, meanness would thwart him ; were it rich- es, poverty would counteract his design: but as his chief aim is salvation, all things, sickness and health, majesty and aieanness, poverty and riches, all con

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tribute to his salvation. " I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principili- ties, nor powers, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. All things work together for good to them that love God. We are more than conquerors through him that hath loved us."

The prerogatives of a Cliristlan afTord a tliird class of arguments for assm^ance of salvation. This ap- pears by two propositions. A Christian may know, that he hath a true faith. When a person is persuad- ed, that he hath a true faith, he may assure himself of obtaining- assistance to persevere, and consequent- ly of arriving at salvation.

The first proposition is incontestible. True faith hath proper characters. It consists in some ideas of the mind, in some dispositions of heart, and in some actions of life, each of which may be described, if not with facility, yti with certainty, when the laws of self-examination are obeyed. The scripture puts these words into the mouths of true believers : " We know that we have passed from deatli unto life ; we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him," 1 Jolin iii. 14, 19. Agreeably to which St. Paul says, " Hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," Heb. iii. 6. " Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves; know ye not your own selves, how tliat Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

Here lies the difficulty ; I have faith to-day, how can I assure myself that I shall have it to-morrow ?

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I am sure to-day I am in a state of ^race, how ean I be sme 1 shall be so to-morrow ? Our second proposition is intended to remove this difficulty» "When we are sure faith is true and genuine, we may be sure of assistance to persevere. We ground this on the privileges of true faith. One of these is the pardon of all the sins that we have committed in the whole course of our lives, provided we repent. " If any man sin, we have an advocate w ith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins," 1 John ii. ]. A second privilege is the accf ptaiice of sincerity instead of perfection, " A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoaking flax shall he not quench," Matt. xii. 20. Another priv- ilege is supernatural grace to support us under trials, " If any of you lack wisdom, lei him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally," .Tames i. 5. One privilege is the connection of all benefits with the one greatgift, " God who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not whh him also freely give us all tilings ?" Rom. viii. 32. Another privilege is the gift of perseverance, " I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people," Jer. XX xi. 33. " I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them," Ezek. xxxvi. 27, Another privilege is an interest in the intercession of .Tesus Christ, which God never rejects. " Simon, Simon, beiiold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for tliee, that tliv faith fail not," Luke xxii. 31, 32,

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*' Holy Father ! keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. Neither pray 1 for these alone ; but for them also, which sliall believe on me through their word,'* John xvii. 11, 20. " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you ibr ever," chap. xiv. 16. These priv- ileges, in a word, consist in being loved of God, unto the end, chap. xiii. 1. having been loved from the be- ginning, and in receiving from God gifts and calling without 7'epentance, Kom. xi. 29.

Do not attempt, then, to overwhelm me with a sense of my own frailty and sin. Do not allege my natural levity and inconstancy. Do not oppose against me the rapid moments, in which my passions sport with my real happiness, and change me in an instant from hatred to love, and from love to hatred again. Do not produce, in the sad history of my life, the mortifying list of so many resolutions for- gotten, so many unreal plans, so many abortive de- signs. The edifice of my salvation is proof against all vicissitudes ; it is in the hand of him who chang- eth not, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forev- er, Heb. xiii. 8. To him I commit the preservation of it ; because I am a Christian, and because it is the privilege of a Christian to say, according to the beau- tiful expression of St. Paul, " I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded, that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day," 2Tim. i. 12.

Finally, the inward testimony of the Spirit of God puts the doctrine of assurance out of all doubt. We

34B Assurance.

propose this argument with tremblina;, so excessively has human fancy abused it ! Enthusiasm defiles the church of God. The world, always fantastic, and fuil of visionary schemes, seems now-a-days to be superannuated. We almost every where meet with, wliat shall I call them ? weak heads or wicked hearts, who, beinj^ destitute of solid reasons to establish their reveries, impute them to the Spirit of God, and so charge eternal truth with fabulous tales, that make reason blush, and which are unworthy of the mean- est of mankind.

It is true, however, that the believer hath in his heart a testimony of the Spirit of God, which assures him of his salvation; and the abuse of this doctrine ought not to prevent a sober use of it. This testi- mony is a kind of demonstration superior to all those of the schools. It is an argument unknown to phi- losophers, and supreme Avisdom is the author of it. It is a lively apprehension of our salvation excited 5n our hearts by God himself. It is a powerful ap^ plication of our mind to every thing that can prove us in a state of grace. It is an effectof that supreme power, wf ich sound reason attributes to God over the sensations of our souls, and according to which he can excite, as he pleases, joy or sorrow. It is a Christian right founded on scripture promises. " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Ho- ly Ghost, which is given unto us," Rom. v, 5. " Ye have not received tlie spirit of bondage again to fear : but ye have received the spirit of adoption, where- by we cry, Abba, Father. Tlie Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are tiie children

Assurance. 349

of God," chap. viii. 15, 16. He which establisheth us with you in Christ, is God ; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of tiie spirit in our hearts," 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. " Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit which he hath given us," 1 John iii. 24. " To hiui that overcometh, will I give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it," Rev. ii. 7. We see the glorious effects of these prom- ises in some believers, who, although they live in meanness and indigence, enjoy such pleasures as all the riches and grandeurs of the world cannot give. We see the effects of them in some dying persons, who, at the sight of death, experience consolations, which change their beds of sickness into fields of victory and triumph. We see them again in many martyrs, who are happier on racks and burning piles than tyrants on their thrones, environed with all the possible pomp of a court.

Such are the arguments which establish the doc- trine of assurance. But, shall I tell you, my bieth- ren, a thought that has run in my mind all the time of this exercise? In our general preaching, we fear our arguments may seem inconclusive, and may but half convince our auditors. In this discourse we have been afraid they would appear too convincing, and carry the subject beyond our intention. Each hearer will perhaps indiscreetly arrogate to himself the particular privileges of believers. Having, therefore, preached the doctrine, it is necessary to guard you against the abuse of it by a few precau- tions. Having proved that there is a well-grounded

^^50 Assurance.

assurance, it is necessary to attack security, and to shew, that the consolations which result from our doctrine, belong to the real Christian only, and are privileges to which unregenerate persons, yea even they, whose regeneration is uncertain, ought not to pretend. We will not produce new objecls, we will consider the articles that have been already consid- ered, in a new point of light ; for what serves to es- tablish true confidence serves at the same time to destroy carnal security. We have been convinced, that a believer may assure himself of his salvation by four arguments, by the experiences of holy men, by the nature of regeneration, by the prerogatives of a Christian, and by the testimony of the holy Spirit. These four arguments support what we just now affirmed; that assurance is a privilege, to whicli unregenerate men, and suspected Christians, have no riglit, and thus the sopliisms of sin demonstrate the necessity of vigilance.

II. The first argument that establisheth the assur- ance of a believer, the first argument which we em- ploy against the carnal security of a sinner, is the experience of the saints. Of all sophistical ways of reasoning, is there one that can compare with this ? .Job, a model of patience, who adored God under all his afflictions, was persuaded of his salvation ; therefore I, who rage under trials, who would, if it were possible, deprive God of the empire of the world, which he seems to me to govern partially and unjustly, I may persuade myself of my salvation. David, a man after God's own hearty 1 Sam. xiii. 14. David, whose whole delighf was in fhe law of thi

Assurance. 35 î

Lord, Psal. i. 2. was persuaded of lus salvation ; therefore I, whose every devotional exercise savours of nothing; but languor and lukevvarmness, I, who can hardly drag myself to hear the word of God, I may persuade myself of my salvation. St. Paul, that wise proselyte, that zealous minister, that bleed- ing martyr, was persuaded of his salvation; there- fore I, who profess the religion in which I was edu- cated, without knowing why it is hardly worth

while to refute these unnatural and inconclusive con- sequences.

Further, these eminent saints not only avoided grounding their assurance of salvation on your prin- ciples ; but they were persuaded, if they lived as you live, they should be consigned to destruction. What said Job on this article ? Let mc he weighed in an even balance. If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid servant, if I have with- held the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ; If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold. Thou art my confidence ; rvhat then shall I do when God riseth up I and when he visiteth, ivhat shall I answer him 1 chap. xxxi. 6, 1 3, 16, 24, 14. That is to say, If he had practised any of the vices, or neglected any of the virtues which he enumerated, God would have rejected him. This now is your case ; you are haughty towards your in- feriors; if not cruel, yet strait-handed to the poor; gold is your god; and, consequently, if your ideas of assurance be regulated by these of Job, you ought not to persuade yourself of your salvation. What says St. Paul? I keep under my body, and bring

352 Assurance.

it into suhjeclion, lest that hy any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away^ 1 Cor. ix. 27. That is to say, St. Paul was per- suaded, if he relaxed his piety, if he were not to account all lie had done nothing, if he were not to attend to what remained to be done, God would reject him. This is your case ; you live a life of se- curity and indolence, and making all your vocation consist in a bare avoiding of notorious crimes, you do not even see the necessity of making a progress in holiness: consequently, if you regulate your ideas of assurance of salvation on these of St. Paul, you ought not to pretend to be sure of being saved.

Moreover, when these eminent saints fell by sud- den surprize into those sins in which nominal Chris- tians coolly and deliberately persist, they did not imagine, that a recollection of former virtue, or even of that faith and piety, the seeds of which none of their falls eradicated, was a sufficient ground of so- lid peace and joy. They complained they had lost the Joy of salvation, Psal. li. 14. and under such complaints they continued till they were restored to communion with God, and till by reciprocal acts of love, they were convinced sin was pardoned. But if these saints, in some single improper actions reasoned tlius; what ought to be the dispositions of those who consume their whole lives in vicious hal)its?

Let us add one word more. What mean these words of my text, of which false Christians make such a criminal abuse? " I am persuaded, that nei- ther death, nor life, shall separate." Does this text

Assitrance. 353

iTiean to affirm, if a man begin to surmoimt tempta" lion, he shall be infallibly saved, although he cease to resist, and temptations prevail over him in the end ? The words mean the direct contrary. St. Pa^iil promises himself, that he shall always believe, not that he shall be saved if he fall into infidelity, but that he shall always resist sin, as far as human frailty will allow ; not that he shall be saved if sin triumph aver him. " I am persuaded, death shall not sepa- rate me from the love of God;" that is to say, the love of God hath struck such deep root in my soul, that death cannot eradicate my love to him. " I am persuaded, life shall not separate me from the love of God;" that is, the love of God hath struck such deep root in my soul, that all the charms of life can never prevent my loving him. "I am persuaded angels shall not separate me from the love of God ;" that is to say, the love of God hath struck such deep root in my soul, that I defy all the power and poli- cy of wicked angels to prevent my loving him. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fam- ine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ?" that is to say, the love of God hath made impressions on our souls so deep, that should he cause us to suffer the most cruel persecutions, should he command us to die with hunger, should we be slaughtered for his sake, we would not cease to love him. These are the sentie ments of St. Paul in the text, and in the p^-eceding verses. But you whom death or life, angels, princi- palities, or powers, separate every day from loving God, what right have you to say, "We are persua- VOL. ]iT, 4r>

354 Assurance.

ded, that neither death, nor life, shall separate us from the love of God ?"

I freely own, my brethren, I have not patience to hear nominal Christians, unreo;enerate persons, ap- propriate to themselves the words and sentiments of eminent saints. If this abuse be deplorable through life, is it not most of all so at the hour of death ? We often hear people, whose whole lives have been spent in sin, speak the very language of others, whose v/hole days have been devoted to virtue. One says with St. Paul, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, hence- forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- ness," 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. But who are you talking thus ? Do you know who uttered these words ? Do you know who St. Paul was ? He was a man filled with divine love ; a man burning with love to the chinch ; a man inviolably attached to all the rights of God and men. But you who sell justice for a bribe ; you who stain the character of every neigh- bour ; you who exercise a faithless ministrj^ ; do you adopt the style of this apostle ? Instead of saying, I have fought the good Jightj you ought to say, I have fought a bad fight ; instead of saying, I have kept the Jaith, you ought to say, I have betrayed the faith ; instead of saying, / have finished my course, you ought to say, I have not yet begun to set a step in it; instead of saying, A crown of righteousness is laid up for me, you ought to say, There are laid up for me chains of darkness, I am on the brink of helJ, and I am looking, my God, whether there be any possible way of escaping it. But to say, with St.

^Assurance. 355

Paul, / aw pcrstmded, a man must be, if not in de- gree, at least in sincerity and truth, a saint as St. Paul was.

A second argument which establishes the doctrine of assurance, and destroys a system of carnal secur- ity, is tlie nature of regeneration. Recollect the reasons assigned before to shew, that a confirmed Christian might persuade himself he should triumph over all his trials ; these reasons all prove, that un- regenerate men, and suspected Christians, have just grounds of fear. An unregenerate man hath only a few transient acts of virtue, and he hath paid very little attention to the mortification of his natural propensities to sin ; consequently he ought to fear, that habits of vice, and inward propensities to sin, will carry his superficial virtue away. An unregen- erate man hath very little apprehension of the joy of salvation, consequently he ought to dread the in- fluence of sensual pleasures. An unregenerate man hath but a few seeming sparks of divine love, and if he think them real, he ought to fear the extinction of them. A light so faint, a spark so small, are not likely amidst so many obstacles to continue long.

This fear is the more reasonable, because the church abounds with nominal Christians, who, after a shining profession of piety and sanctity, have for- saken truth and virtue. We have seen righttious men turn away from their righteousness, as the pro- phet Ezekiel expresseth it, chap, xviii. 24. We have seen temporary professors, who, after they have re- ceived the word with joy, have beep ofJiendcd when

^56 Assurance.

persecution arose, as Jesus Christ speaks, Matt* xii. 20, 21. We have seen such as Hymeneus and Phi- îetus, who have made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, as St. Paul words it, 2 Tim. ii. 17. We have seen some like Demas, after they have adhered a while to the truth, forsake it, having loved this present world, as the same apostle speaks, chap. iv. 10. We have seen people, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, tlirough the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, again entang- led therein ; and overcome, as St. Peter says, 2 Epist. ii. 20. We have seen Christians, in appear- ance, of the highest order, who, after they had been once enlightened, and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and had tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, fell away, Heb. vi. 4o We have seen Judasses, who, after they had been in the sacred college of Jesus Christ, shamefully be- trayed him. While our knowledge is so small, and our virtue so feeble, we have great reason to apply these examples, and to tremble for ourselves.

The third argument by which we established the doctrine of assurance, and which also militates against carnal security, is Christian prerogative. Two pro- positions are contained in it. First, W^e may be persuaded that we have true faith. Next, We may he sure true faith, will be assisted to persevere. These propositions which assure the believer ought io alarm a nominal Christian.

Here let us develope an ambiguity too common in our churches. For as we affirm, on the one side, that a believer hath characters proper to himself,

Assurance. 357

and by which he may determine his state ; and as, on the other side, we assert, that they who have these characters, can never cease to be true believ- ers; a nominal Christian may imagine the following sophism : I fast, I pray, I give alms ; these are the virtues of a believer; I may then persuade myself, that I am a believer. Now, it seems he who once becomes a true believer, can never cease to believe; consequently, I who have fasted, prayed, and given alms, can never cease to be a believer.

What is still more astonishing, this ridiculous rea- soning is often applied to others as well as to our- selves. A loose casuist asks his penitent, Do you repent of your sins ? The penitent answers, I do re- pent. Have you recourse to the divine clemency ? The penitent replies, I have recourse to it. Do you embrace the satisfaction of Christ? The penitent, says, I do embrace it. On this slight foundation ouf casuist builds his system. Publications of grace are lavished; sources of mercy pour forth in abundance, and the penitent may, if he please, take his seat in beaven. My God ! In what a manner they enter in- to the spirit of thy gospel !

But first, when we affirm, that only the true be- liever can perform acts of faith, and that the least good work supposes regeneration : we do not affirm, that there are not many actions common to both real and nominal Christians. A nominal Christian may pray, a nominal Christian may fast, a nominal Chris- tian may give alms. It may even happen that men may embrace religion on base principles. Religion commands a subject to obey his king; a king may

SôÔ Assurance

embrace religion on this account, and he may place his supreme happiness in the obedience of his sub- jects. Religion discovers to us a merciful God ; a wicked man may embrace religion on this account» for the sake of calming those fears which his vicious practices excite, by ideas of divine mercy. The same may be said of other men. A man cannot con- clude then, that he is a believer from his perform- ance of virtuous actions, common to believers and unbelievers. He must have peculiar light into the deep depravity of his own heart ; he must be placed, at least in design, in circumstances that distinguish a good from a bad man.

-Again, wlien we say a believer can never cease to believe, we do not mean to say> a Christian at- tached to religion only by external performances, and by appearances of piety, can never cast off his profession. The finest appearances of piety, the greatest knowledge, the most liberal alms-deeds, the most profound humiliations may be succeeded by foul and fatal practices.

Moreover, great knowledge, generous charity, pro- found humiliation, will aggravate the condemnation of those who cease to proceed in virtue, and to purify their motives of action; because the performance of these virtues, and the acquisition of this great know- ledge, suppose greater aid and more resistance. Hear St. Peter, // had been hettcrfor them not to have known the way of righteousness^ than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment, 2 Epist. ii. 21. The case of those who commit the unpardonable sin, attests the same. Hear these thundering words, 7)^

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we sin tvilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain J earful looking for oj judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries, Heb. X, 26.

Finally, The argument from the testimony of the Spirit of God for the assurance of a true believer, ought to trouble the security of a nominal Christian, ïn effect, how does the Holy Spirit work in our hearts ? Does he operate by magic ? Does he present phantoms to our view ? Does he inculcate proposi- tions contrary to truth ? This is all enthusiasm. The Holy Spirit bears witness in us in a manner conform- able to our state and to the nature of thhigs in gen- eral. If then the Spirit of God testify in your hearts while you are unregenerate, he will testify that you are unregenerate. If he bear witness while you are nominal Christians, he will bear witness that you are nominal Christians. If he bear witness while your faith is doubtful, he will bear witness to the doubtfulness of your faith. Such a testimony may be ascribed to the Spirit of God. But an assur- ance of salvation, which exceeds your evidences of Christianity, must be a vision, a fancy, a dream ; and to suppose the Holy Spirit the author of such an assurance, is to suppose in the same Spirit testimo- ny against testimony ; it is to make the Spirit of God divided against himself. Mat. xii. 26. and so a destroyer of his own kingdom ; it is to make his tes- timony in the heart contradict his testimony in scrip- ture. In scripture it declares, No man can serve two masters, chap. vi. 24. in your hearts he declares, A

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man may serve two masters. In Scripture he at- tests, There is no concord between Christ and Belial^ 2 Cor. vi. 15. in your hearts he attests. There is concord between Christ and Belial. In Scripture he affirms, Neither fornicators, nor covetous, nor revilersy shall inherit the kingdom of God, I Cor. vi. 9, 10. in your hearts he affirms, such shall inherit the king- dom of God. Thus the four arguments, that prove the doctrine of assurance in favour of true believ- ers, destroy the security of a mere nominal Chris- tian.

The consolations which arise from the doctrine of assurance, are not then for all Christians indifferent- iy. They are only for those who continually study obedience ; they are for those- only who have seen into a heart deceitful above all things, and desperatelj/ nicked, Jer. xvii. 9. and have found even there marks of regeneration ; they are for those only, who, by a life entirely devoted to the service of God, have demonstrated that they bear the characters of his children.

Is this yom' condition ? The sophisms of sin that we have endeavoured to refute, these portraits of rash confidence, these false titles of virtue and re- generation, these itTiages that we have traced, whence liave we taken them? Have we gathered them from books ? liave we invented them in our closets ? have we derived them from the study of theology ? have "we drawn them from monuments of ancient histo- ry ? No, no, we have learnt them in the world, in the church, in your families, in your sick-beds, where nothing is so common as this false peace, nothing so fare as the trUQ.

Assurance, 36 ï

Whence the evil comes, I know not : but the fact is certain. Of all the churches in the world, there are none which abuse the doctrine of Christian as- surance, and which draws consequences from it di- rectly contrary to those which ouojht to be drawn, like some of ours. We lull ourselves into a fanci- ful confidence : we place on imaginary systems an assurance which ought to be foimded only on the rock of ages ; we scruple, even while we are enga- ged in the most criminal habits, to say, we doubt of our salvation; and, as if a persuasion of being saved, dispensed with the necessity of working out our salvation, we consider an assurance of arriving at heavenly felicity as a privilege, that supplies the want of every virtue.

Certainly, nothing is more great and happy than the disposition of a man who courageously expects to enjoy a glory to which he has a just title. A man who knows the misery of sin ; a man who groans un- der the weight of his own depravity, and enters into the sentiment, while he utters the language of the apostle, O wretched man that 1 am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death 1 Rom. vii. 24. a man, who, after he had experienced the terrible agitations of a conscience distressed on account of sin, hath been freed from all his sins at the foot of the cross, hath put on the yoke of Christ his Lord; a man, who having seen in himself the true characters of a Chris- tian, and the never-failing graces annexed to evangel- ical mercy, hath learned at length to pierce through all the clouds which Satan uses to conceal heaven from the Christian eye, to lay all the ghosts, that the VOL. irr. 46

362 Assurance,

enemy of souls raises to haunt mankind into terror ; a man who rests on that word of God, which stand- ethfor every even when heaven and earth pass aivai/, may say, with St. Paul, I am persuaded; such a man may assure himself that only glorified spirits enjoy a happiness superior to his; he is arrived at the high- est degree of felicity, to which in this valley of tears men can come.

But to consider religion always on the comforta- ble side ; to congratulate one's self for having ob- tained the end before we have made use of the means ; to stretch the hands to receive the crown of righteousness, before they have been employed to fight the battle; to be content with a false peace, and to use no efforts to obtain ihe graces, to which true consolation is annexed ; this is a dreadful calm, like that which some voyagers describe, and which is a very singular forerunner of a very terrible event. All on a sudden, in the wide ocean, the sea becomes calm, the surface of the water clear as crystal, smooth as glass, the air serene ; the unskilled passen- ger becomes tranquil and happy : but the old mari- ner trembles. In an instant the waves froth, the winds murmur, the heavens kindle, a thousand gulfs open, a frightful light enflâmes the air, and every wave threatens sudden death. This is an image of most men's assurance of salvation.

So then, instead of applying the words of our text to a great number of you, we are obliged to shed tears of compassion over you. Yes, we must lament your misery. You live under an economy in which the most transporting joys are set before you, and

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you wilfully deprive yourselves of them. Yes, we must adopt the language of a prophet, O that my peo- ple had harkencd unto me ! We must say with Jesus Christ, If thou hadst knoivn, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! Psal. Ixxxi. 13. Luke xix. 42.

What can be happier, amidst the numberless van- ities and vexations which accompany worldly pleas- ures, than to be able to derive from an assurance of our salvation pleasures suitable to intelligent crea- tures, immortal souls? What can be happier, amidst all the pains, labours, and miseries, with which life abounds, than to enjoy the plentiful consolations, that issue from a well-grounded hope of eternal feli- city ? Above all, what can be more capable of sup- porting us against the fear of death ? Mortal and dy- ing as we are, in a state, where the smallest altera- tion in the body reminds us of death, what can we wish for more conformable to our wants than to find in a firm hope of eternal felicity, a shield to secure us against the enemy, and a sword to destroy him? let us strive, let us pray, let us venture ail, my brethren, to arrive at this happy state. And if, af- ter we have believingly and sincerely laboured in this good work, there remain any doubt and suspi- cion, let us assure ourselves, that even our suspicions and fears shall contribute to our confirmation. They will not be accounted crimes, they will at most be only frailties ; they will be infirmities productive of motives to go on in virtue, and to establish peace in the conscience. So be it. To God be honor and glory. Amen.

SERMON XI

Judgment.

>®'

Hebrews ix. 27.

It is appointed unto men once to die : but after this the judgment.

JL he second proposition in my text conveys terror into the first. Judgment to come makes death terri- ble. I own, it is natural to love life. The Creator, it should seem, hath supplied the want of satisfacto- ry pleasures in the world by giving us, I know not what, attachment to it. But when reason rises out of nature, when the good and evil of life are weigh- ed, evil seems to out-weigh good, and we can hard- ly help exclaiming with the wise man, the day of death is better than the day of one's birth I I hate life because of the work that is rvrought under the sun ! Eccl. vii. 1. and ii. 17.

But to go from a bed of infirmity to a tribunal of justice ; to look through the languors of a mortal malady to torments that have no end ; and, after we have heard this sentence. Return to destruction ye children of men, Psal. xc. 3. to hear this other, Qive an ancount of thy slenardship, Luke xvi. 2c these are just causes for intelligent beings to fear death.

366 Judgment.

Let us, however, acknowledge, although this fear is just, yet it may be excessive ; and, tliough it be madness to resist the thought, yet it would be weak- ness to be overwhelmed with it. I would prove this to-day, while in this point of light I endeavour to exhibit to your view the judgment that follows death.

We will not divert your attention from the chief design. We will only hint, that the proposition in the text is incidental, and not immediately connected with the principal subject, which the apostle was dis- cussing. His design was to shew the pre-eminence of the sacrifice of the cross over all tliose of the le- vitical economy. One article, which argues the su- periority of the first, is, tliat it was offered but once, whereas the Jewish sacrifices were reiterated. Christ doth not offer himself often, as the high priest entereik mto the holy place every year with the blood of other sacrifices: but once in the end of the world hath he ap- peared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. For, as it is apvoinfed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment ; so Christ 7vas ome offered to bear the sins of many.

Nor will we detain you longer by inquiring wheth- er St. Paul speaks here of the particular judgment that each man undergoes immediately after death, or of that general judgment day, of wlîich scripture says, God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. Acts xvii. 31. What- ever difference tliere may seem to be between these two hypotheses, it is easy to harmonize them. The general judgment will be a confirmation, and a con-

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■*»

summation of each particular judgment, and we ousht to consider both as difîerent parts of one whole.

Once more I repeat it, we will not divert your at- tention from the principal design of this discourse. I am goino- first, not to allege arguments in proof of a judgment to come, I suppose them known to you, and that I am not preaching to novices : But I am going to assist you to caiTy them fuitlier than you usually do, and so to guard you against scepticism and infidelity, the pest of our days, and the infamy of our age. In a second article we will inquire, what will be the destiny of this assembly in that great day, in which God will declare the doom of all mankind. We discuss this question, not to indulge a vain curiosity : but to derive practical inferences, and particularly to moderate the excessive fear, that an object so very terrible produceth in some minds, and at the same time to trouble tlie extravagant secu- rity, in which some sleep, in spite of sounds so pro- per to awake them.

I. We have three directions to give you. The first regards the argument for judgment taken from the disorders of society. The second regards thai which is taken from conscience. The third, that which is taken from revelation.

1. Our first direction regards the argument taken from the disorders of society. Do not confine your attention to those disorders which strike the senses, astonish reason, and subvert faith itself. Reflect on other irregularities, which, although tliey are less shocking to sense, and seemingly of much less con-

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sequence, are yet no less deserving the attention of the .]ucle,e of the whole earth, and require no less than the first, a future judgment.

I grant, those notorious disorders, which human laws cannot repress, afibrd proof of a future judg- ment. A tyrant executes on a gibbet a poor unhap- py man, whom the pain of hunger, and the fright- ful apprehension of sudden death, forced to break open an house. Here, if you will, disorder is pun- ished, and society is satisfied. But who shall satisfy the just vengeance of society on this mad tyrant? This very tyrant, at the head of a hundred thousand thieves, ravages the whole world; he pillages on the right and on the left; he violates the most sacred rights, the most solemn treaties, he knows neither religion nor good faith. Go, see, follow his steps, countries desolated, plains covered with the bodies of the dead, palaces reduced to ashes, and people run mad with despair. Inquire for the author of all these miseries. Vv'ill you find him, think you, con- fined in a dark dungeon, or expiring on a wheel? Lo! he sits on a throne, in a superb royal palace; nature and art contribute to his pleasures; a circle of courtiers minister to his passions, and erect altars to him, wiiosQ equals in iniquity, yea, if I may be allowed to say so, whose inferiors in vice have justly suffered the most infamous punishments. A nd where is divine juistice all this time ? what is it doing ? I an- swer witli my text, After death comes judgment. So ^peak yc, and so do, as they that shall he judged by the law of liberty^ Janie'^ i. 12.

Judgment 36d

But, though the argument taken from the disor- ders of society is full and clear, when it is properly proposed, yet such examples as we have just men- tioned do not exhaust it. It may be extended a great deal further, and we may add thousands of disorders, which every day are seen in society, against which men can make no laws, and which cannot be redressed until the great day of judgment, when God will give clear evidence of all.

Have human laws ever been made against hypo- crites? see that man artfully covering himself with, the veil of religion, that hypocrite, who excels in his art! behold his eyes, what seraphical looks they roll towards heaven! observe his features, made up, if I may venture to say so, of those of Moses, Ezra, Daniel, and Nehemiah ! «ee his vivacity, or his flam- ing zeal shall I call it ? to maintain the doctrines of religion, to forge thunderbolts, and to pour out anathemas against heretics ! Not one grain of reli- gion, not the least shadow of piety in all his whole conversation. It is a party-spirit, or a sordid inter- est, or a barbarous disposition to revenge, which animates him, and produces all his pretended piety. And yet I hear every body exclaim. He is a miracle of religion ! he is a pillar of the church ! I see altars every where erecting to this man; panegyrists, I see, are composing his encomium ; flowers are gathering to be strewed over his tomb. And the justice of God, what is it doing? My text tells you, After death comes jiidgment.

Have human laws ever been made against the uu- i^rateful? While I was in prosperity, I studied to

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procure happiness to a man, who seemed enthely devoted to nfie ; I was happier in imparting my abun- dance to him than in enjoying it myself ; during that delightful period of my life he was faithful to me : but when fortune abandoned me, and adopted him, he turned his back on me ; now he suffers me to lan- guish in poverty ; and, far from relieving my wants, he does not deign so much as to examine them. And divine justice, where is it? Who shall punish this black crime ? I answer again. After death comes judg- ment.

Have men made laws against cowards ? I do not mean cowardice in war ; the infamy that follows this crime, is a just punishment of it. I speak of that mean cowardice of soul, which makes a man forsake an oppressed innocent suflferer, and keep a criminal silence in regard to the oppressor. Pursue this train of thought, and you will every where find arguments for a future judgment; because there will every where appear disorders, which establish the necessi- ty of it.

Our second direction regards the argument taken from conscience. Let not your faith be shaken by the examples of those pretended superior geniusses, who boast of having freed themselves from this re- straint. Tell them, if they have no conscience, they ought to have ; and aiRrm, the truer tlieir preten- sion the stronger your reason for taxing them with rage and extravagance. There is no better mode of destroying an objection than by proving, that he who proposes and admits it, is a fool for admitting and proposing it. If, then, I prove that a man, whc^

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to demonstrate that conscience is a fancy, declares, he is entirely exempt from it ; if I prove, that such a man is a fool for proposinjaf and admittinsj this pro- position, shall I not subvert his whole system ? Now I think I am able to prove such a man a fool, and you will admit the truth of what I say, if you will give a little attention to the nature of conscience, a little closer attention, I mean, than is usually given to sermons.

What is conscience ? It is difficult to include an adequate idea of it in a definition ? This appears to me at once the most general and the most exact. Conscience is that faculty of our minds, by which we are able to distinguish right from wrong, and to know whether we neglect our duties, or discharge them.

There are, I grant, some operations of conscience, which seem to be rather instinct and sentiment than cool judgment arising from a train of reflectionSc Yet, we believe, all the operations of conscience proceed from judgment and reflection. But it some- times happens, that the judgment of the mind is so ready, and its reflections so rapid, that it hardly sees what it judges, and reflects on, so that it seems to act by instinct and sentiment only. Thus Avhen the mind compares two simple numbers together, the comparison is so easily made, that we think we know the difference by a kind of instinct belonging to our nature ; whereas when we compare complex nun> bers, we feel, so to speak, that our minds inquire, examine, and labour. In like manner in morality. There are some duties, the right of which is so clear

.372 Judgment.

and palpable ; and there are some conditions, in Avliich we, ourselves, are in rej^ard to these duties which are so easy to be known, that the mind in- stantly perceives them without examination and dis- cussion. But there are some duties, the right of which is so enveloped in obscurity ; and there are some stations, which are so very doubtful, that the îuind requires great eflforts of meditation before it can determine itself. For example, Ought a subject to obey his lawful sovereign ? On this question, the mind instantly takes the affirmative side, on account of the clearness of the duty, and it seems to act by instinct, and without reflection. But here is another question, Is it lanful for subjects to dethrone a ty- rant ? Here the mind pauses, and before it determines enters into long discussions, and here we perceive, it acts by judgment and reflection. In both cases re- flection and judgment are tlie ground of its opera- tions. In the first case judgment is more rapid, re- flection less slow: but it is reflection however. We have, then, rightly defined conscience, that faculty of our souls, by which we are capable of distinguish- ing right from wrong, and of knowing whether we neglect our duties, or discharge them.

But this is too vague, we must go further. We must examine the principles on which we ground our judgment of ourselves in regard to rigljt and wrong. We must prove, by the nature of these principles, the truth of wliat we have affirmed ; that is, that a man, who calls conscience a fancy and who boasts of an entire freedom from it, is a fool for admitting and proposing this objection.

Judgmenf. J 73

The judgment that constitutes the nature of con- science, is founded on three principles, either fully demonstrable or barely probable.

First, I am in a state of dependence.

Second, There is a supreme law ; or what is the same thing, there is something right and something wrong.

Third, I am either innocent or guilty.

On these three principles an intelligent spirit grounds a judgment, whether it deserves to be hap- py or miserable ; it rejoiceth, if it deserve to be hap- py ; it mourns, if it deserve to be miseiable; and this judgment, and this joy, or sorrow, whicli results from it, constitute what we call conscience.

But that which deserves particular regard, and iii which partly consists the force of our reasoning, in, that it is not necessary to be able to demonstrate these principles, in order to prove, that conscience is not a fancy ; if they be probable, it is sufficient. We cannot reasonably free ourselves from conscience, till we have demonstrated the falsehood of these principles, and proved, that the consequences drawn from them are chimerical. For, if these priryc'iples be only probable ; if it be probable I may be hap- py, I have some reason to rejoice ; as 1 have some reason for uneasiness if my misery be probable. If the enjoyment of a great benefit be probable, I have some reason for great pleasure ; and I have some reason for extreme distress, if it be probable, that I shall fall into extreme misery. It is not necessary, therefore, in order to establish the empire of con- Ecience, that the principles on which it is founded

374 Judgment.

should be demonstrable ; it is sufficient that they are probable. Now I affirm, that every man who main- tains the improbability of these principles, and the vanity of the consequences that are drawn from them, is a fool and a madman, whose obstinate attachment to vice has blinded his eyes, and turned his brain. Consequently I affirm, that every man who main- tains that conscience is a fancy, and who boasts of having shaken off the restraint of it, is a fool and a inadman.

Take the first principle. / am in a stale of depen- dence. I am subject to a Supreme Being, to whom I owe my existence, and who holds my destiny in his mighty hands. Do we exceed the truth when we say, a man who ventures to affirm this principle is neither demonstrable nor probable, is a madman and ct fool ? I told you at the beginning of this discourse, that I intended to speak to you, not as scholars and novices : but as well-informed Christians, who have made some considerable progress in the knowledge of those truths, which equally support natural and revealed religion. But if you have any just notions of these truths, how can you form any other opinion of these men, of whom I am speaking, than that which I have formed ? A man who pretends that ar- guments drawn from the order of seasons, from the arrangements of the various parts of the universe, from the harmony of the members of our bodies, and all the other works of nature, by which we have so often established the doctrines of the being and attributes of God ; a man who affirms, that all these demonstrate nothing ; what am I gaying ? a man who

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affirms that all these prove nothing ; what am I say- ing again ? a man who affirms that all thèse do not afford the least degree of probability in favour of the existence and perfections of a Supreme Being ; who for his part is sure, for he has evidence to a de- monstration, that all these originated in chance, and were not formed by the intervention of any intelli- gent cause ; such a man, what is he but a madman and a fool ? and consequently, is it not madness and folly to deny this first principle, / am in a state of dependence 1

Try the second principle. There is a supreme law, or, what comes to the same, there is something jiist, and something unjust. Whether this just and right be founded in the nature of things, or whether it proceed from the will of a Superior Being, is not needful to examine now; be it as it may, there is a supreme law, there is something right and something wrong. A man who pretends that this proposition is evidently false ; a man who affirms, that all argu- ments brought in favour of this proposition are evi- dently false : a man who forms such an idea of all arguments drawn from the nature of intelligent be- ings, from the perfections of a first cause, iVom the laws that he hath given, and which constitute the body of religion ; a man who pretends, that all these arguments do not afibrd the least degree of proba- bility, that a wise man ought to infer nothing from them to direct his life : and that for his part, it U clear to a demonstration to hhn, that what is called just and mijust, right and wrong, is indifTerent in itself, and indiflerent to the first cause ; that it is per-

376 Judgment.

fectly indifferent in itself whether v/e love a benefac- tor, or betray him, whether we be faithful to a friend, or perfidious, whether we be tender parents or cruel, whether we nourish our children, or smother them in the cradle ; and that all these things at the most, relate only to a present interest ; a man who advanc- eth such propositions, what is he but a fool and a madman ? Is it necessary to reason to discover the extravagance and madness of these positions ? Is it not sufficient to name them?

Take the third principle But, it is enough to

have pointed out the most proper method of answer- ing the objections of a man who pretends conscience is a fancy, and who boasts of having none.

Let us pass then to our third direction. It con- cerns the proof taken from revelation. Do not rest the arguments drawn from this source on any partic- ular passages, which, although they may be very full and explicit, may yet be subject to some sophistical exception : but rest ihem on the general design and scope of religion ; this method is above all objec- tions, and free from every difficulty. If this way be adopted, it will presently appear, that the doc- trine of a future judgment is contained in a manner clear and convincing, not only in the writings of apostles and evangelists, but also in the revelations, with which God honoured the patriarchs, many ages before he gave a written law.

Yea, were v/e to allov/ that we have no formal passage to produce, in which this truth was taught, the ancient servants of God, (which we are very far from allowing, "i we might still maintain., that it was

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included in the genius of those revelations, which were addressed to them. Jesus Clirist taught us to reason thus on the doctrine of future rewards, and we may fairly apply the same method to the doctrine of future punishments. The doctrine of future re- wards is not contained in the formal terms : but in the general design of this promise, / am the God of Ahrahaiïiy Matt. xxii. 32. How splendid soever the condition of Abraham miglit have been, however abundant his riches, however numerous his servants, this promise proceedmg from the mouth of God, / am the God of Abraham., could not have been accom- plished in the temporal prosperity of a man who was dead, when the words were spoken, and whom death should retain in durance. As God declared himself the God of Abraham, and as Abraham was dead, when he declared it, Abraham must necessarily rise again. And this is our Saviour's reasoning, God is not the God of the dead : but of the living.

Let us say the same of those punishments, which God has denounced against sin, in regard to those ancient sinners, of whom God declared himself the judge ; God is not the judge of the dead : bid of the living. The wicked, during this life, are often free from adversity : but were they even miserable all the time of their abiding on earth, their miseries would not sufficiently express God's hatred of sin, Asaph renders to divine justice only one part of its deserved homage when he says, in order to justify it for tolerating some criminals, " Surely thou didst set them in slippery places, tliou castedstthem down into destruction. How are they brought into deso-

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lation as in a moment ! they are utterly consumed with terrors ! As a dream, when one awaketh, so, O Lord, thou shalt despise their image," Psal. Ixxiii. 18 — 20. No ! the unexpected vicissitudes that some- times confound the devices of the wicked, the fatal catastrophes in which we sometimes see them en- veloped, the signal reverses of fortune, by which they are often precipitated from the highest elevation to the deepest distress ; all these are too imperfect to verify those reiterated threatenings which the judge of mankind denounced against primitive crim- inals, to teach them that he was a just avenger of sin. To display this fully there must be a resurrection and a judgment. In this manner, even supposing there were no formal passages in proof of future judgment : (which we do not allow,) the genius, the drift and scope of religion would be sufficient to con- Tince us of the truth of it.

II. V\ hat has been said shall suffice for proof of this truth, after death comes judgment. But what shall be the destiny of this audience ? What sentence will the judge of the world pronounce on us in that formidable day, when he shall judge the world in righteousness ? Will it be a sentence of mercy ? will he pronounce our absolution? will he say to us, "Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepar- ed for the devil and his angels ?" or will he say to us, " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- dom?" Matt. XXV. 41, 34.

This is a difficult question : however, it is not so difficult as some of us may imagine. St. Paul lays down a principle that casts light on the enquiry ; that

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is, that men will be judged according to the econo- mies under which they lived. " As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judg- ed by the law," Rom. ii. 12. that is to say, as having lived under the Levitical economy. " They who have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;" to which we may fairly add, they who have lived under the gospel, shall be judged by the gospel. ]Vow the gospel is an economy of light, an economy of proportion, and an economy of mercy. Tliese three rules, by which God will regulate our eternal destiny, should quiet the excessive fears, which an idea of future judgment excites in some pious, but timorous souls. And, at the same time, they ought to disturb the false peace of those who sleep in in- dolence amidst objects so proper to awake them.

1. We shall be judged as having lived under an economy of light. This proposition hath a comfort- able aspect on a good man. We shall be judged ac- cording to what is clear in the gospel itself: and not according to what is abstruse and impenetrable in the systems of the schools. What inducement could we possibly have to endeavour to inform ourselves, were we prepossessed with a notion, that our sentence "would be regulated by our ideas on a thousand ques- tions which some men have boldly stated, rashly de- cided, and barbarously enforced on others ? Were it necessary to have clear and complete ideas of the arrangement of the first decrees of the first cause, of the nature of the divine essence, of the manner in which God foresees contingent events, and of many

380 Judgment.

other such questions as obscure as useless ; were it necessary, in order to receive a favourable sentence, to be able to decide some ca-es of conscience, which have always been indeterminable by the ablest casu- ists ; were these necessary, who dare examine these questions ? But, Christian soul ! banish thy scruples. Thy God, thy judge, is the sovereign of his crea- tures : but he is not their tyrant. Thou art free : not a slave. The economy according to which thou ^halt be judged, is an economy of light ; and what- ever is impenetrable and undecided in the gospel, has no relation to that trial which thou wilt under- go.

But if this truth be amiable and comfortable to good people, it is also formidable, terrifying, and desperate to people of an opposite character. You will be judged as reasonable beings, who had it jn their power to discover trutli and virtue. In vam will you pretend ignorance of some articles. Your judge will open this sacred book in my hand, in which the decision of these articles is contained ; the elucidation of all the truths, of which you are wilfully ignorant. Will not your ignorance appear voluntary, when God judges you with the light of this gospel in his hand ?

Nothing is more common in the world, than to hear men exculpate their errors by pleading their sincerity, "If I be deceived," says one, " in tak- " ing the book which you call scripture by excel- " lence, for a mere human compilation, I am very " sincere in my error, and it does not depend on me *^ tp alter my ideas»" And why does it not depend

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on you to change your ideas ? Have you examined those evidences of the divinity of the book, which shine in every part of it ? Have you once in your life thoroughly examined the sense of any prophe- cy, to find out whether a spirit of prophecy inspir- ed tlie sacred writers ? Is it a sincere mistake to de- ceive one's self rather than apply to this important question that study, that time, and that examination, which it demands ?

" If I be in an error," says another, " in adhering " to a particular communion, I err very sincerely, *' and I cannot change my ideas." And why cannot you change your ideas ? Have you availed yourself of the light of the times, in which you live? Have you consulted those ministers, who can inform you ? Have you risen from that state of indolence, ease and prudence, which inclines people ratlier to take it for granted, that they were born in a true church, than to exainine whether they were so? Does it re- quire more sagacity, more genius, more labour to find out, that in our scriptures worshipping before images of wood or stone is forbidden ; that purga- tory is a mere human invention; that the traffic of indulgences is a mercenary scheme ; that the author ity ot the Roman j.ontifT is founded only on world- ly poli( y ? I ask. Is more penetration necessary to determine these artii les, than to command an army, to pursue a state-intrigue, to manage a trade, or to cultivate an art or a science?

In like manner, we every day see people in soci- ety, who, while they boldly violate the most plain and allowed precepts of the gospel, pretend to ex-

382 Judgment.

culpate themselves fully by saying, " We do not " think such a conduct sinful ; what crime can there " be in such and such a practice ?"

An obstinate gamester says, " I think, there is no " harm in gaming." And why do you think so ? Is not the gospel before your eyes ? Does not the gos- pel tell you, it is not allowable to deceive ? Does not the gospel clearly prohibit a waste of time ^ Does not the gospel forbid you to ruin your neighbour? Does not the gospel plainly forbid you to cheat ? And you, obstinate gamester ! do not you deceive in gaming ? Do not you waste your time ? Do not you do all in your power towards the ruin of your neigh- bour ? Do not you cheat, while you play, and de- fraud them who play with you, and practise a thou- sand other artifices which it would be improper to relate here: but which God will one day examine at bis just tribunal ?

Thus a miser exclaims, " O, there can be no harm " in loving the world as I love it." And what makes you think so ? Could you not easily unde- ceive yourself by casting your eyes on the gospel? Does not the gospel clearly say, " The covetous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" 1 Cor. vi. 10. Is it not clearly revealed in the gospel, that " Whoso halh this world's good, and seeth his broth- er have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compas- sion froni him, the love of God doth not dwell in him?" 1 John iii. 17. Does not the gospel plainly tell you, that God will one day say to those, who have been devoid of charity, " Depart, ye cursed,

Judgment. 383

into everlasting- fire! for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat?" Matt. xxv. 41, 42.

Thus a time-server says to us, " I think there is no " sin in living where liberty of conscience is not al- " lowed, provided I make no profession of supersti- " tion and idolatry." And why do you think so ? Does not the gospel clearly require you not to for- sake the assembling of yourselves together, Heb. x. 25. and do not you forsake our public assemblies ? Does not the gospel expressly require you to come out of Babylon, Rev. xviii. 4. and do you not abkle there ? Are you not informed in the gospel, th.at he who lov- eth father, or mother, or son, or daughter, more than Jesus Christ, is not worthy of the name of a Chris- tian ? Matt. X. 37. And, pray, do you prefer your relations before Jesus Christ?

" I do not think," adds one, who maintains an illi- cit commerce, " there can be any harm in indulging " those passions which arise from the fine feelings of " our own hearts." And why do you not think so ? Does God forbid impurity only when it is unconsti- tutional ? In the general rule, which excludes the un- clean from the kingdom of heaven, has the legislator made an exception in favour of those who follow the emotions of an irregular heart ?

2. We shall be judged as having lived under an economy of proportion ; I mean to say, the virtues which God requireth of us under the gospel, are pro- portioned to the faculties that he hath given us to perform them. Let us not enfeeble this maxim by theological opinions, which do not belong to it. Let us not allege, that all duty is out of our power, that

384 Judgment.

of ourselves we can do nothing. For when we say, the laws of God are proportioned to our weakness, we speak of persons born in the church, instructed in the truths of revelation, and who are either assist- ed, by spiritual succours or may be, if they seek for these blessings as they ought to be sought. In re- gard to these persons, we affirm, the gospel is an economy of proportion, and this is the great conso- lation of a good man. I grant the perfection, to which God calls us, is infinitely beyond our natural power, and even beyond the supernatural assistance, that he imparts to us. But we shall be judged by the efforts we have made to arrive at this end. En- deavours to be perfect will be accounted perfection. This very law of proportion, which will regulate the judgment of us, will overwhelm the wicked with misery. It is always an aggravation of a misery to reflect that we might have avoided it, and that we brought it upon ourselves. The least reproach of this kind is a deadly poison, that envenoms our sufferings, and this will constitute one of the most cruel torments of the damned. Ye devouring fires, which the justice of God hnth kindled in hell, 1 have no need of the light of your flames to discover to me the miseries of a reprobate soul ! Ye chains of darkness, which weigh him down, I have no need to examine the weight of you! The criminal's own reproaches of himself are suf- ficient to give me an idea of his state. He will remember, when he finds himself irretrievably lost, he will remember the time, when he might have pre- vented his loss. He will recollect how practicable

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those laws were, for violating which he suffers. He will recollect the mighty assisting power which he once despised. Thou ! thou wilt recollect the sage advice, that was given thee. Thou ! this sermon, which I have been addressing to thee. Thou ! thine education. Thou ! the voice of the holy Spirit, that urged thee to change thy life. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself! Hos. xiii. 9. This, this is the excrutiating reflection of a nominal Christian con- demned by divine justice to everlasting flames. Such a Christian suffering the vengeance of eternal Are will incessantly be his own tormentor. He will say to himself, I am the author of my own destruc- tion ! I might have been saved ! I, I alone, condemn- ed myself to everlasting confinement in these dun- geons of horror to which I am now consigned.

3. Finally, We shall be judged as having lived under an economy of mercy. What can be more capable at once, of comforting a good man against an excessive fear of judgment, and of arousing a bad man from his fatal security ?

All the sentiments of benevolence that you can expect in an equitable judge; we say more, all the sentiments of tenderness, which you can expect in a sincere friend ; we say more still, all the sentiments of pity, compassion, and love, that can be expected in a tender parent, you will find in the person of the judge, who will pronounce your eternal doom.

Let us not elevate our passions into virtues. Fear of the judgments of God, which carried to a certain degree is a virtue, becomes a condemnable passion, at least a frailty that ought to be opposed, when it

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exceeds due bounds. Do you render an acceptable homage to Almighty God, think you, by doubting his mercy, the most lovely ray of his glory ? Do you render a proper homage to God, think you, by con- sidering him as a tyrant ? Do you think you render homage to the Deity by doubting his most express and sacred promises ? Do you believe you pay an acceptable tribute to God by professing to think, that he will take pleasure in eternally tormenting a poor creature, who used all his efforts to please him ;: who mourned so often over his own defects ; who shed the bitterest tears over the disorders of his life ; and who for the whole world, (had the whole world been at his disposal,) would not have again offended a God, whose laws he always revered, even while he was so weak as to break them ?

But this thought that Christians shall be judged by an economy of mercy ; this very thought, so full of consolation to good men, will drive the wicked to the deepest despair. The mercy of God in the gospel hath certain bounds, and we ought to consid- er it, as it really is, connected with the other perfec- tions of his nature. Whenever we place it in a view incongruous with the other perfections of the Su- preme Being, we make it inconsistent with itself Now this is done, when it is applied to one class of sinners. 1 repeat it again, it is this that fills up the bad man's measure of despair.

I Miserable wretch ! how canst thou be saved, if the fountain opened to the house of David be shut against thee? if that love, which created the world, if that love which inclined the Son of God, (the brightness

Judgment 387

of the Father's glory, and the express image of his per- son,) to clothe himself with mortal flesh, and to ex- pire on a cross ; if this love be not sufficient to save thee, if this love be slighted by thee, by what means must thou be wrought on, or in what way must thou be saved ? And if the Redeemer of the world con- demn thee, to what judge canst thou flee for abso- lution?

Let us, my dear brethren, incessantly revolve in our minds these ideas of death and judgment. Let us use them to calm those excessive fears, which the necessity of dying, and being judged, sometimes ex- cites in our souls.

But excessive fear is not the usual sin of this con- gregation. Our usual sins are indolence, carnal se- curity, sleeping life away on the brink of an abyss, flames above our heads, and hell beneath our feet.

Let us quit this miserable station. Happy is the man thatftareth alway! Prov. xxviii. 14. Happy the man, who in every temptation by which he is an- noyed, in a world where all things seem to conspire to involve us in endless destruction : happy the man, who in all his trials knows how to derive consolation from this seemingly terrible truth, " It is appointed imto men once to die : but after this the judgment !" To God be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON XII.

Heaven.

1 John iii. 2.

We know, that when lie shall appear^ we shall he like him ; for we shall see him as he is.

One of the most beautiful ideas that can be form- ed of the gospel, is that which represents it as im- parting to a Christian the attributes of God. St. Peter and St. Paul both express themselves in a man- ner truly sublime and emphatical on this subject. The first of these holy men says, the end of the promises of God is to make us partakers of the divine nature, 2 Epist. i. 4. The second assures us, that all Christians beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. iii. 18. If we believe some critics, the original terms may be rendered, 7ve all become as mirrors. A mir- ror, placed over against a luminous object, reflects its rays, and returns its image. This is agreeable to Christian experience under the gospel. Good men, attentive to the divine attributes, bowing like the seraphims, toward the mystical ark, placed op- posite to the Supreme Being, meet with nothing to intercept his rays ; and, reflecting in their turn this

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light, by imitating the moral attributes of God, <hey become as so many mirrors, exhibiting in themselves the objects of their own contemplation. Thus God, by an effect of his adorable condescension, after hav- ing clothed himself with our flesh and blood, after having been made in the likeness of men, Phil. ii. 7. in the establishment of the gospel, transforms this flesh and blood into a likeness of himself. Such is the sublimity and glory of the Christian religion ! We are partakers of the divine nature ; we are chan' ged into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. My brethren, we have often repeated a famous maxim of the schools, and we adopt it now, grace is glory begun. One of the most beautiful ideas that we can form of that ineffa- ble glory, which God reserves for us in heaven, is that which the sacred authors give us of Christianity. Heaven and the church, the Christian in a state of grace and the Christian in a state of glory, differ only in degree. All the difference between the two changes is, that the first, I mean a Christian in a state of grace, retains the imperfection, wliich is es- sential to this life, whereas the other, I mean the Christian in a state of glory, is perfect in his kind, so that both are changed into the image of the Deity as far as creatures in their conditions are capable of being so.

This is the difficult, but interesting subject which we are now going to discuss. We are going to in- quire into the question so famous, I dare not say so developed in the schools, concerning the beatific vision of God, We will endeavour to explain how

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we see God in heaven, and how this happy vision will render us like him, who will be the object of it. St. John supplies us with these images. He displays the happiness of Christians thus : Behold, says he, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon uSy that we should be called the sons of God. But while he passes encomiums on the mercy of God, he ob- serves, that we have only yet enjoyed foretastes of it ; we know, adds he, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is.

Our text has two senses ; the first regards the hu- man nature of Jesus Christ, and the second the Dei- ty. The first of these senses is very easy and natu- ral : when the Son of God shall appear, we shall see him as he is j that is to say, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge mankind, we shall see his glorified body. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is: that is our bodies, having acquired at the re- surrection the propeilies of glorified bodies, like that of Jesus Christ, shall have the faculty of con- templating his body. This sense deserves examina- tion.

AVe have no distinct idea of what Scripture calls a glorious body, Phil. iii. 21. The most abtruse met- aphysics, the most profound erudition, and the most sublime theology cannot enable us fully to explain this famous passage of St. Paul ; " There are celes- tial bodies, and bodies terrestrial : but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and anoth- er glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body

39.2 Heaven.

is sown in corruption, it is raised in incoiTuption, It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body," ] Cor. XV. 10—44.

But how difficult soever this passage may be, we Icnow by experience there are bodies to which our senses bear no proportion ; and, if I may be allowed to speak in this manner, there are bodies inappre- hensible by our faculty of seeing. There is no pro- portion between my eyes and bodies extremely small. ]\ly faculty of seeing does not extend to a mite ; a iTiite is a non-entity to my eye. There is no propor- tion between my eyes, and bodies which have not a certain degree of consistence. My seeing faculty does not extend to an serial body ; an aerial body is a mere non-entity in regard to my sight. There is very little proportion between my eyes, and bodies extraordinarily rapid. My faculty of seeing does not extend to objects moving at a certain rate ; a body must move so slow as to make a kind of rest before my eye in order to be perceived by it; and, as soon as a greater force communicates a quicker motion to it, it recedes, diminishes, disappears. But were the faculties of my body proportioned to these objects; had my body qualities similar to theirs; I bhouid then be able to see them; / should see them as they arc, for J should he like them.

î.et us apply these general reflections to our sul> ject. There may be perhaps no proportion between our bodies in their present earthly state and what the ScrJDturc calls s:loriovs hodies. Our faculty of

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«eein^ perhaps may not extend to glorious bodies. Were the gross terrestrial bodies to which our souls are united, all on a sudden translated to that maji- sion of glory, in which tlie bodies of Enoch and Eli- as wait for the consutnmation of all things, probably we'nnight not be able to see them clearly, and per- haps we might be quile blinded with the glory of them. The reasons just now mentioned may ac- count for what we suppose; as any who have habit- uated themselves to reflection may easily compre- hend. But Avhen our bodies shall be changed, when this corruptihle shall have put on incorrupiion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 1 Cor. xv. 51, 54. in a word, when our bodies shall have the same faculties as the glorious body of Jesus Christ, we shall see him as he is, for we shall be like him. This is the first sense given to the words of the text, a sense that may serve to preclude a part of the diffi- culties which may arise ; a sense entirely conforma- ble to the analogy of faith, and to a great many oth- er passages of Holy Scripture, such as these, " Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like imto his glorious body," Pliil.iii. 20, 21. Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God ; when Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also ap- pear with him in glory, Col. iii. 3, 4. The first man is of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the

VOT^. ITT. 50

394 Heaven.

image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Cor. xv. 47. &c.

Grand idea of heavenly felicity, my brethren! Glorified believers shall see with their eyes the glori- ous body of Jesus Christ. Yea, these eyes, restor- ed to &ight, and endowed with new powers, shall see the God-man ; they shall see that body of the Saviour of the world, which once increased in favour here be- low, Luke ii. 52. and which is now arrived at the highest pitch of glory in heaven. They shall see those lips, into which grace is poured, Psal. xlv. 2. They shall see that Son of man, who is fairer than all the rest of the children of men. What joy to ac- complish this object! What delight, if I may speak so, when the rays of the Deity, always too bright and confounding for mortal eyes to behold, shall be softened to our sight in the person of .Tesus Christ ! W hat transporting joy to see the greatest miracle that was ever included in the plans of the wisdom of God! What felicity to behold in the body of .Tesus Christ a riglit of approaching with confidence to a familiarity with God ! We know, that when he shall appear, ne shall he like him, for we shall ste him as he is.

But, although this may be one meaning of our apostle, yet it is neither the only sense of his words, nor does it seem to be the principal one. Should any doubt what I now affirm ; should any affirmi, that when the a})ost]e says, we shall see him as he is. he only means to speak of the body of .Tesus Christ ; I would beg leave to observe, that St. John evident- ly intends by the vision of which he speaks, that

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which consummates our happiness. Now our happi- ness will not l>e consummated by only seeing the body of the Son of God, nor by the glorification of our bodies only. Another idea, therefore, must be included in the words of the text.

Beside, the original doth not say. When Jesus Cliiist shall appear, but when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is ; which may be referred to God, of whom the apostle had been speaking in the pre- ceding verses. We shall see God, and this sight will render us like him.

I even suppose the words of my text are a kind of quotation of an opinion advanced by some ancient Jewish Rabbies. We have found, as it were by chance, and when we were not studying this text, an opinion taken from the writings of the Jews, which seems either to allude to the words of the text, or, being more ancient than the text, to be al- luded to by the apostle. A Consul of Rome requk- ed a Rabbi to explain the names of God to him. This is the answer of th€ Rabbi : " You ask me the meaning of the name of four letters, and the name of twelve letters, and the name of forty letters. (In this manner, my brethren, the Jews speak of the terms expressive of the attributes of God.) But, I must inform you, these are mysteries altogether di- vine, and which ought to be concealed from the gen- erality of mankind. However, as I have been cred- ibly assured, that you have rendered many good services to learned men, and as nothing ought to be concealed from such persons, it is requisite, I should endeavour to answer your question to your satisfac-

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tion. I declare then, tliat, strictly speaking, there is Î10 name given to God, by which we can be made ful- ly to comprehend what he is. His name is his es- sence, of which we can form no distinct idea ; for could we fully comprehend the essence of God we should be like God."* These words are full of meaning, and, were it necessary to explain them, they would open a wide field to our meditation. They lay down a principle of momentary use to us, that is, that we must be infinite in order fully to comprehend an infinite being. We will, however, take a slight cursory view of the subject. We will examine how we shall see GocL and at the same time, bow we shall be rendered like him by seeing him; for in the sense now given, we understand the text.

God is an immaterial being. This principle is unanimously established both by the light of nature,, and by revealed religion. An immaterial being can- not be seen by material eyes. This is another in- contestible principle. It must be, then, with the mind that we shall see God as he is, that is to say, we shall know him. It must be the mind, therefore, that must be rendered like kim. This consequence im- mediately follows from both our principles; and this consequence is one ground of our reflections.

God is an infinite being. This also is a principle established by both natural and revealed religion. The soul of man is finite, and, to whatever perfec- tion it may be advanced, it will always continue to be so. This is another indisputable principle. It would imply a contradiction to affirm, that an infinite

* Rabbi Nehemias in Epistola sanctor. ad filium suum Hacanan.

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Spirit can be seen, or fully known, in a strict lite- ral sense, as it is, by a finite spirit. The human soul, therefore, being a finite spirit, can never perfectly see, that is, fully comprehend, as he is, God, who is an infinite spirit. The proposition in our text then, necesarily requires some restriction. This inference arises immediately from the two principles now laid do\\n, and this second consequence furnishes anoth- er ground of our reflections.

But, although it would be absurd to suppose that God, an infinite spirit, can be fully known by a finite human spirit, yet there is no absurdity in af- firming, God can communicate himself to man in a very close and intimate manner, proper to transform him. This may be done four ways. There are, we conceive, four sorts of communications ; a commu- nication of ideas, a communication of love, a com- munication of virtue, and a communication of feli- city. In these four ways 7ve shall see God, and by thus seeing him as he is, we shall be like him in these four respects. We will endeavour by discussing each of these articles, to explain tliem clearly; and here all your attention will be necessary, for whhout this our whole discourse will be nothing to you but a sound desthute of reason and sense.

The first communication will be a communication of ideas. We shall see God as he is, because we shall participate his ideas ; and by seeing God as he is, we shall become like him, because the knowledge of hie ideas will rectify ours, and will render them like hie. To know tlie ideas of an imperfect being, is not to paiticipate his imperfections. An accurate mind

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may know the ideas of an inaccurate mind without admitting them. But to know tlie ideas of a perfect spirit is to participate iiis perfections ; because to know his ideas is to know them as they are, and to know them as they are is to perceive the evidence of them. When, therefore, God shall communicate his ideas to us, ive shall be like him, by the conform- ity of our ideas to his.

A'Vhat are the ideas of God ? They are clear in their nature ;they are clear in their images; they are perfect in their degree; they are complex in their relations ; and they are complete in their number. In all these respects the ideas of (^îod are infinitely superior to the ideas of men.

1. Men are full of false notions. Their ideas are often the very reverse of the objects, of which they should be clear representations. We have false ideas in physics, false ideas in polity, false ideas in religion. We have false ideas of honour and of disgrace, of felicity and of misery. Hence we often mistake fancy for reason, and shadow for substance. But God hath only true ideas. His idea of order is an exact representation of order. His idea of irregu- larity exactly answers to irregularity ; and so of all other objects. He will make us know his ideas, and by making us know them lie will rectify ours.

2. Men have often obscure ideas. They see only glimmerings. They perceive appearances rather than demonstrations. They are placed in a world of probabilities, and, in consideration of this state, in which it hath pleased the Creator to place them, they have more need of a course of reasoning on a

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new plan, to teach them how a ratioHial creature ought to conckicl himself, when he is surrounded with probabilities, than of a course of reasoning and determining, which supposes him surrounded with demonstration. But God hath only dear ideas. No veil covers objects ; no darkness obscures his ideas of them. When he shall appear, he will communi- cate his ideas fo us, and tlicy wiil rectify ours, he will cause the scales that hide ol>jccts from us, to fall from our eyes ; and he will dissipate tlie clouds which prevent our clear conception of tliem.

3. Men have very few ideas perfect in degree. They see only the surface of objects. IVho, in all the world, hath a perfect idea of matter ? Who ever had perfect ideas of spirit ? Who could ever exactly define either ? Who was ever able to inform us how the idea of motion results from that of body; how the idea of sensation results from that of spirit ? Who ever knew to which class space belongs? It would be very easy, my brethren, to increase this list, would time permit ; and were I not prevented b}' knowing, that they, who are incapable of under- standing these articles, have already in their own minds pronounced them destitute of all sense and reason. But God hath perfect ideas. His ideas com- prehend the whole of all objects. He will commu- nicate to us this disposition of mind, and will give us such a penetration as shall enable us to attain the knowledge of the essence of beings, and to contem plate them in their whole.

4. Men have very few ideas complex in their rela- tions. I mean, their minds are so limited, tlia(, al

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though they may be capable of cornbining a certain number of ideas, yet they are confounded by com- bining a greater number. We have distinct ideas of units, and we are capable of combining a few : but as soon as we add hundred to hundred, million to million, the little capacity of our souls is overwhelm- ed with the multitude of these objects, and our weakness obliges us to sink under the weight. We have a ^e\\ ideas of motion. We know what space a body, to which a certain degree of velocity is communicated, must pass through in a given time : but as soon as we suppose a greater degree of mo- tion, as soon as we imagine an augmentation of ve- locity to this greater degree ; as soon as we try to apply our knowledge of moving powers to those enormous bodies, which the mighty iiand of God guides in the immensity of space, we are involved in pei'plexity and confusion. But God conceives infinité comhinaiions. He will make us participate, as far as our minds can, his ideas ; so that we shall be able to give a large expanse to our meditation without any fear of confusing ourselves.

5. In fine, the ideas of mankind are incomplete in their mimher. Most men think, there are only two sorts of beings, body and spirit ; and they have also determined, that there can be only two. A rash decision in itself; but more rash still in a crea- ture so confined in his genius as man. But the ideas of God are cojuplete. He knows all possible beings. He will make us participate this disposition of mind, and from it may arise ideas of myiiads of beings, on wliich now we cannot reason, because now we

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have no ideas of them. A communication of ideas is the first way in which God will make himself known to us. This will be the first trait of our re- semblance of him. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

The second communication of God to a beatified soul is a communication of love. We cannot possi- bly partake of the ideas of God without participa- tinjç his love. To participate the ideas of God is to possess just notions. To possess just notions is to place each object in the rank that is due to it ; con- sequently, we shall regard the chief being as the on- ly object of supreme love.

What is necessary to answer the idea, that an up- right soul forms of the lovely ? The lovely object must answer three ideas: the idea of the great and marvellous; the idea of the just; and the idea of the good: and, if I may venture to speak so, of the beatifying. Now, it is impossible to know God without entertaining these three ideas of him alone ; consequently it is impossible to know God without loving him. And this is the reason of our profound admiration of the morality of the gospel. The mo- rality of the gospel is the very quintessence of order. It informs us, no creature deserves supreme love» It makes this principle the substance of its laws» Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, Matt, xxii. 37.

How worthy of supreme love will this God ap^ pear, how fully will he answer the idea of the great and the marvellous, when we shall see him as hr isl

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402 Heaven.

He will answer it by his independence. Creatureii exist : but they have only a borrowed being. God derives his existence from none. He is a self-exist- ent Being. He will answer our idea of the magnifi- cent by the immutability of his nature. Creatures exist: but they have no fixed and permanent being. They arise from nothing to existence. Their exist- ence is rather variation and inconstancy than real being. But God, but I the Lord, says he of himself, I change not, Mal.iii. 6. The same yesterday, to-day ^ and for tier, Heb. xiii. 8. He is, as it were, the fix- ed point, on which all creatures revolve, while he is neitlier moved by their motion, shaken by their ac- tion, nor in the least imaginable degree altered by all tlieir countless vicissitudes. He will answer the idea of the great and marvellous by the efficiency of his will. Creatures have some efficient acts of volition : but not of themselves. — But go back to tiiat period in which there was nothing. Figure to yourselves those immense voids, which preceded the formation of the universe, and represent to your- selves God alone. He forms the plan of the world. Be regulates the whole design. He assigns an epoch of dri'ation to it in a point of eternity. This act of his vt'iil produces this whole universe. Hence a sun, a moon, and stars. Hence earth and sea, rivers and fields. Hence kings, princes, and philosophers. He spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast. The heavens were made hy iheivordof the Lord, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouthy Psal. xxxiii. 9. God, then, perfectly answers our idea of the grand and the marvellous. He answerB also the idea of the just.

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It was lie who gave us an idea oî jiisfke or order. It was he who made the greatest sacrifices to it. It was he who moved heaven and earth to re-establish it, and who testified how dear it was to him by sac- rificing the most worthy victim that could possibly suffer, I mean his only Son.

Finally, God will perfectly answer our idea of the good and the heatifyiiig. Who can come up to it ex- cept a God, who opens to his creatures an access to his treasures? A God, who reveals himself to them in order to take them away from their broken cis- terns, and to conduct them to ?i fountain of living wa- ters^ Jer. ii. 13. A God, whose eternal wisdom cries to mankind, Ho, every one thai tkirsteth, come ye to the ivatcrSy and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which scdisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and cat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight it- self in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall live, Isa. Iv. 1 — 3.

We cannot, then, know God without loving him. And thus a communication of ideas leads to a com- munication of love. But this communication of love will render us like the God whom we admire. For the property of love, in a soul inflamed with it, is to transform it in some sort into the object of its admiration. This is particularly proper to divine love. We love (lod, because we know his attri- butes; when we know his attributes, we know we can no better contribute to the perfection of our

404 Heaven.

being tlian by imitating them, and the desire we have to perfect our being will necessitate us to apply wholly to imitate them, and to hecome like him.

Let us pass to our third consideration. The third communication of God to a beatified soul is a com- munication of his virtues. To love and to obey, in Scripture-style, is the saiue tliing. If ye lore me, lieep my commandments, is a well-known expression of Jesus Clirist, John xiv. 15. He who saith 1 know Mniy and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him, is an expression of our apos- tle, 1 John ii. 4. This is not peculiar to the love of God. To love and to obey, even in civil society, are usually two things which have a very close connec- tion. But, as no creature hath ever excited all the love, of which a soul is capable, so there is no crea- ture to whom we have rendered a perfect obedience. It is only in regard to God, that there is an insepara- ble connection between obedience and love. For when we love God, because we know him, we are soon convinced, that he cannot ordain any thing to bis creature but what is useful to him ; when we are convinced he can ordain nothing to be performed by his creature but what is useful to him, it becomes as impossible not to obey him as it is not to love our- selves. To love and obey is one thing, then, when the object in question is a being supremely lovely. These are demonstrations; but to obey God, and to keep his commandments, is to be like God.

The commandments of God are formed on the idea of the divine perfections. God hath an idea of order; he loves it; he follows it ; and this is all he

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ever hath requhed, and all he ever will requhe of his intelligent creatures. He requires us to know order, to love it, to follow it. An intelligent crea- ture, therefore, who shall be brought to obey the commandments of God, will be like God. Be i/e per- fect as your Father, nhich is in heaven, is perfect, Matt. V. 48. Be ye holy, for I am holy, 1 Pet. i. J 6. Ev- ery man, that hath this hope in him, purijieth himself even as he is pure, 1 .lohn iii. 3. These precepts are given us here on earth, and we obey them imperfect- ly now : but we shall yield a perfect obedience to tliem in heaven, when we shall see him as he is. Here our apostle affirms, Whosoever sinncth, halh not seen him, neither known him, ver. 6. that is to say, he who suffers sin to reign over him, doth not know God ; for, if he knew God, he would have just ideas of God, he v.ould love him ; and, if he loved him, he would imitate him. But in heaven we shall see, and know him, we shall not sin, Ave shall imitate hiim, we shall he like him, for we shall see him as he is. Lastly, The fourth communication of the Deity with beatified souls is a communication of felicity. In an economy of order, to be holy and to be hap- py are two tilings very closely connected. Now we are in an economy of disorder. Accordingly, virtue and felicity do not always keep company together, and it sometimes happens, that for having hope in Christ we are, for a while, of all men most miserable, I Cor. XV. 19. But this economy of disorder must be abolished. Order must be established. St. Peter, •peaking of Jesus Christ, says, 7%^ heavens must re- vive him until the times of the restitution oj all things.

406 Heaven,

Acts iii. 21. When all things shall be restored, vir- tue and happiness will be closely united, and, con- sequently, b} participating the holiness of God we shall participate his happiness.

God is supremely good. He is natiu'ally inclined by his own perfections to do good. Rather than in- clude himself in his own felicity, he went out of himself in the works of creation. He formed crea- tures capable of his favours. But these very per- fections, which inclined him to do good, prevent his rendering impure and criminal creatures happy. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, Hab. i. 13. This is the cause of the innumerable penal evils, under which we groan. For this reason there are misera- ble people. Remove this obstacle, and God will follow his inclination to bounty. All creatures ca- pable of being happy would be rendered perfectly happy. In heaven tliis obstacle will be removed.

Moreover, we may offer, if I may be allowed to speak so, a more evangelical reason to confirm this article. One part of the covenant of grace between the eternal Father and the Son, when the Son be- came incarnate, was, that the Father should restore them to happiness, whom the Son should redeem. Hence this adorable Son of God, in the sacerdotal prayer, which he offered to the Father the evenmg before he offered himself a sacrifice to death on the cross, repeats this clause of the covenant; / have manifeslccl thy name unto the men which thou gave si me out of the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given 7nc, he nnth me where

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/ am, that they may behold my glory, John xviii. 6, 24.

God is, then, inclhied by the nature of his perfec- tions, and by the spirit of the covenant made with Jesus Christ, to render like himself, in regard to his felicity those, who are already made like him in re- gard to his ideas, in regard to his love, and in regard to his holiness ; and this is the fourth sense of the proposition in our text, We shall he like him, for we shall see him as he is. This is the fourth communi- cation of God to beatified souls. He will commu- nicate his felicity to them. What constitutes the fe- licity of God will constitute the felicity of beatified souls.

God is happy in contemplating his rvorks. He ap- proves all the plans that his intelligence hath con- ceived, and which his wisdom and power have so gloriously executed. He seeth every thing that he hath made, and approves it as very good. Gen. i. 31. God will discover these works to beatified souls. He will display before them all the pompous decorations of nature. He will direct their attention to the symmetry, the magnificence, the number of those luminous bodies, those flaming spheres, which ap- pear to our weak eyes at present as only so man}' sparks.

God is happy in contemplating his providence, and the marvellous manner in which he governs the universe. God will discover this perfect govern- ment to beatified souls. Then will appear the fol- ly of the many objections, which at present perplex our minds on the darkness of providence ; then w^ill

408 Heaven.

the many injurious suspicions vanish, wliich we have entertained concerning the government of the world; then will all the sophisms be confounded, that rash human minds have formed concerning the manner in which God hath distributed good and evil.

God is happy in the contemplation of his designs. The active spirit of the first great cause will diversi- fy his works infinitely, and for ever ; he judgeth of what may be as of wliat is, and determines of the possible world as of that which actually exists, that all is very good. He will communicate these designs to beatified souls. Shall I hide from Abraham the things which I do ? said God once to this patriarch. Gen. xviii. 17. Agreeably to which Jesus Christ said to his apostles, Henceforth I call yon not servants: hut I have called you friends ; for the servant knoKeth not what his Lord doth : hut all things that 1 have heard of my Father I have made known unto you, John XV. 15. God will hide nothing from beatified souls. He will open to them inexhaustible tieasures of wisdom and knowledge. He will display in their sight all that would result from them. He will anti- cipate the future periods of eternity (if we may speak of future periods when we speak of eternity,) and he will shew them every moment of this infinite duration signalized by some emanation of his excel- lence.

God is happy in certain sentiments, wliich may probably bear some analogy to what we call in our- selves sensations. At least, we may assure ourselves, to be rendered capable of pure sensations would contribute very much to the perfection and happi-

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ness of our souls. Sensations lively, aflectinof, and delicious, we know, contribute to our present felici- ty. Tiiey who have affected to refine and spiritual- ize our ideas of felicity, and to free them from eve- ry thing sensitive, I tliink, have mistaken the nature Of spirit. God will impart to beatified soids all the sentiments of which they are capable. He will make them feel something more harmonious than the best compositions of music ; something more delicious than the most exquisite tastes : and so of the rest, God is happy in the society of the spirits which sur- round him. He is the centre of all their felicity. He accepts their adoration and homage. He reflects their services to him on themselves. God will re- ceive beatified souls into this society. He will unite us to angels and seraphims, thrones, dominions, and cherubims, and to all other happy intelligent beings, which are without number, and of infinite variety. Their felicity will make our felicity, as our happi- ness will make their happiness. There will be joy in heaven over many repenting sinners^ Luke xv. 7.

But this subject carries me beyond all due bounds. The imagination of a hearer, less warmed than that of a preacher, cannot extend itself so far as he would conduct it. Only recollect, then, and unite the ideas, which we have been mentioning. We know, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

This passage, we say, seems to offer two senses^ The first regards the human nature of Jesus Christ. We shall see the glorious body of Jesus Christ as it is; because our bodies being rendered glorious like

you in. 52

410 Heaven.

liis, will have faculties relative to his, and proper to enable us to perceive it.

The other sense regards the Deity. We shall see God, not with the eyes of our bodies, but with the eyes of tlie mind, that is to say, we shall know him. We shall see him as he is, not literally and fully, for God is an infinite ►Spirit, who cannot be fully com- prehended by finite beings: but we shall know liim, as much as it will be possible for us to know him, and our resemblance to him will bear a propor- tion to our knowledge of him. He will communi- cate himself to us. There will be four communica- tions between God and beatified souls; a communi- cation of ideas, of love, of holiness, and of happi- ness.

And, what deserves our particular regard, because it is most admirable, is, these four comnmnications are connected together, and flow from one another. Because we shall see God as he is, we shall be like him. Because we shall know his ideas, we shall be possessed of a rectitude of thought like his. Be- cause we shall possess a rectitude of thought like liis, v>'e shall know, that he is supremely lovely, and cannot but love him. Because we cannot help lov- ing him, we cannot help imitating his holy conduct, as holiness will appear the perfection of oui' nature. Because we shall imitate his holiness, we shall par- ticipate his happiness ; for he is naturally inclined by his own perfections to render those intelligent beings happy like himself, who like him are in a state of or- der. The three last communications are then imme- diate conseq^uences of the first, and the first is the ground

Heaven. 41 1

of the rest ; ive shall be like him, for nc shall see him as he is. Then will all the divine plan of human re- demption by Jesus Christ be fully executed. Then all the privileges of our adoption, and of the love that elevated us to a condition so noble and glori- ous, will clearly appear. Behold! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed itpon us, that we should be called the sons of God! Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall he : but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall he like him ; for we shall see him as he is.

This is the plan of God in regard to man : a plan diametrically opposite to that of Satan. The plan of Satan is to render man like Satan. The plan of God is to render man like God. Sataîi hath been too successful in the execution of his design. A liar and a murderer from the beginning, John viii. 44. he seduced our first parents; he made them fall frem truth to error, from error to vice; already he liath robbed us of the glory of our first innocence ; already he hath darkened our understandings; alrea- dy succeeded in making us find that pleasure in vice, which ought to follow virtue only ; and, having com- municated his vice to us, he hath made us partake oi his miseries; hence the air becomes infected, hence the ocean becomes a grave to mariners, hence ani- mals rebel against him who was originally appoint- ed to be their lord and king, hence passion, revenge and hatred, which begin a hell upon earth, hence maladies wliich consutne our days in pain, and death, that most formidable weapon of the devil, to ])ut a period to them, and hence the lake which burnelh with fire and brimstone. Rev. xxi. 8. in which this wicked

412 Heaven,

spirit will strive to alleviate the pain of his own pun- ishment by the infernal pleasure of having compan- ions of his misery.

The plan of the Son of God is opposite to that of Satan ;for this piirjmse was the Son of God manifested y that he might destroy the works of the devil, 1 John iii. 8. These words almost immediately follow the text. Already this adorable Son hath reconciled mankind to God by rendering the Deity accessible, by taking on him the nature, and the innocent infirmities of men ; already he hath appeased by his sacrifice the just wrath of a God, who, to punish men for imitat- ing Satan, was about to deliver them up to him; and already hath he given the death-wound to the empire of this usurper of the rights of God ; " having spoil- ed principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross," Col. ii. 1 5. The Son of God hath already elevated the Chris- tian above the vicissitudes of life, by detaching him from life, and by teaching him the blessed art of de- riving advantages from his miseries ; already he hath dissipated the darkness of error, by causing the light of revelation to rectify all the abuses that even the greatesi philosophers made of the light of nature ; al- ready hath he attacked human depravity at its centre, and separated the souls of the elect from the seeds of sin, by causing his seed to remain in them, so that they cannot sin, because they are horn of God, as our apostle expresseth it, 1 Jolin iii. 9. already he hath impart- ed to their consciences that " peace of God which passeth all understanding," Phil. iv. 7. and by which tliey are " raised up together, and made to sit to-

Heaven, iVS

gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 6. already he liath made them " partakers of the di- vine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4. and he hath already "change- ed them into the same image from glory to glory by his Spirit," 2 Cor. iii. 18. He is preparing to finish his work. Shortly he will make that second appear» ance, which is the object of the hopes of his churches, and for which his children cry, " Come Lord Jesus! come quickly 1" Rev. xxii. 20. Shortly he will re- duce to dust these organs, this '* flesh and blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom of God," 1 Cor. XV. 50. Shortly he will raise these bodies from the dust with new faculties. Shortly he will remove the veils that hide tlie essence of the Creator from ug, and will shew it io us as it isy so that we may be rendered like it. These are two very different plans, my brethren ; the one is the plan of God, and the other that of the devil ; the one is the design of the enemy of mankind, the other that of their Redeemer^ Into which of these two plans do you propose to enter ? Into the plan of God, or into that of the de- vil ? VMdch of these two beings do you wish to re- semble ? Woidd you be like God, or would you have the features of Satan? This question may perhaps be already answered by some of you. Great God ! to what are we reduced, to be obliged to suppose, at least to have great reason to fear, that in this church, built for the assembly of " saints, and for the edify- ing of the body of Christ," Eph. iv. 21. there are any imitators of the devil ! To what are we reduced, to be obliged to suppose, at least to have just grounds of fear, that in this assembly, composed of

414 Heaven.

children of God, who come to appear in his presence, there are any children of the devil ! But the frightful in a supposition does not take away the possibility of it.

Perhaps the question may have been fully answer- ed already by some of our hearers. What idea must we form of a man, who employs all his talents to en- ervate trutli, to attack religion, to render doubtful the being of a God; who attributes the creation of the world to blind chance ; and brings into question the reality of a state of future rewards and punish- ments ? What idea must be formed of a man, who employs himself wholly in increasing his fortune and establishing his family, how iniquitous soever the means may be which contribute to his end ; who robs the widow and the orphan, embroils the state, elevates to the most eminent posts in society men who hardly deserve to live; who would subvert this whole republic, and erect a throne for himself and his family on its ruins? What must we think of a man, who daily blasphemes the God of heaven, and Incessantly pours out murmurs and charges against the governor of the universe? What can we think of a man, who wallows in debauchery, who, in spite of those penalties of sin, which he bears about in his body, in spite of the infection and putrefaction that his infamous lasciviousness has caused in his body, indemnifies himself for his present pains by repeating bis former pleasures, and yet searches among the ruins of his mortal body some portion, that, having escaped the punishment of his crimes, may yet serve his unbridled concupiscence ? Were

Heaven. 415

such men descended from the most illustrious ances- tors; had they, like Lucifer himself, an heavenly or- igin ; did their power equal that of the prince of the air ; were their attendants as numerous as the legions of that miserable spirit; could their riches and afflu- ence raise winds and storms, that would shake the whole world ; had they in their hands the sword of justice, and were they considered as gods upon earth, and children of the most highy Psal. Ixxxii. 6. I should not be afraid to say, while they abandon themselves to these excesses, I detest and abhor them as devils.

But you, my brethren, you, who ought to be the most holy part of the church ; you, who pretend to glory in bearing the name of Christian, and who aspire after ail the privileges and recompences of Christianity ; into which of the two plans do you propose to enter ? Into the plan of Satan, or into that of God? Which of the two beings do you wish to resemble ? Would you resemble God, or would you bear the features of the devil ? Let not the mortifying in this question prevent your examina- tion of it ? It is far better to acknowledge a morti- fying truth, than to persist in a flattering falsehood.

The purpose of God, as we just now said, is to render us like himself^ by communicating his know- ledge, by imparting sound ideas to us. Do you en- ter into this design ? Are you labouring to form this feature, you, who neglect the cultivation of your minds; you, who suffer yourselves to be enslaved by prejudice ; you, who, so far from being teacha- ble, are angry, when we attempt to remove your or-

416 Heaven

rors, and, consider those as your enemies who tell you the truth? The design of God, we just now told you, is to render us like himself by communicating his love to us. Do you enter into this plan ? Are you endeavouring to form this feature, you who feel no other flame than that, which worldly objects kin- dle, and which the scripture calls enmily with God, James iv. 4. you, who at the most perform only some exterior duties and ceremonies of religion, and ded- icate to these only a few hours on a Lord's-day, and who lay out all your vigour and zeal, performances, emotions and passions on the world ? The design of God, we said, is to render us like himself, by ena- bling us to imitate his holiness. Do you enter into this part of his design ? Do you desire to resemble God, you, who conform to this present world; you, who run ivith them to the same excess of riot, 1 Pet. iv. 4. you, who sacrifice your souls to fashion and custom? The design of God, we told you, is to ren- der us like himself hy communicating his felicity to us. Do you enter into this part of his plan ? Are you labouring to attain this resemblance of the De- ity ? Are you seeking a divine felicity ? Do you place your hearts where your treasure is ? Matt. vi. 21. Do you seek those things which are above 1 Col. iii. 11. You, who are all taken up with worldly at- tachments, you, who are endeavouring by reputa- tion and riches, and worldly grandeurs, to fasten yourselves for ever to the world as to the centre of human felicity ; you, whose little souls are all con- fined to the narrow circle of the present life ; you, who turn pale, when we speak of dying; you, who

Heaven. 417

shudder, when we treat of that eternal gulf, on the brink of which you stand, and which is just ready to swallow you up in everlasting woe ; do you en- ter into the design of participating the felicity of God?

Let us not deceive ourselves, my brethren ! We cannot share the second transformation, unless we partake of the first; if we would be like God in heaven, we must resemble him here in his church below. A soul, having these first features, experi- encing this first transformation, is prepared for eter- nity ; when it enters heaven, it will not alter its con- dition, it will only perfect it. The most beautiful object, that can present itself to the eyes of such a soul, is the divine Hedeemer, the model of its vir- tues, the original of its ideas. Hast thou experien- ced the first transformation? Hast thou already these features ? Dost thou ardently desire the appearance of the Son of God; and, should God present him- self to thee as he is, couldst thou bear the sight with- out trembling and horror? Ah, my brethren! how miserable is a mind, when it considers him as an ob- ject of horror, whom it ought to consider as an ob- ject of its desire and love ! How miserable is a soul, ■wliich, instead of loving the appearing of the Lord, ike righteous judge, as St. Paul expresseth it, 2 Tim. iv. 8. hath just reasons to dread it ! Hov/ wretclied is the case of the man, who, instead of crying, Come Lord Jesus! come quickly ! Ptev. xxii. 20. cries. Put off thy coming ; defer a period, the approach of which I cannot bear; thy coming will be the time of my destruction; thine appearing will discover my shame ; thy glory will be jny despair ; thy voice will

VOL. III. ^3

418 Heaven,

be the sentence of my eternal misery ; instead of hastening to meet thee, I will avoid thy presence ; I will strive to flee from thy Spirit, Psal. cxxxix. 7. I will call to my relief the mountains and the rockSy Rev. vi. 16. and, provided they can conceal me from thy terrible presence, it will signify notliing, should they crush me by their fall, and bury me for ever in their ruins.

Let not such frightful sentiments ever revolve in our minds. Christians. Let us now begin the great work of our transformation. Let us commune with God. Let us apply all our efforts to obtain the knowledge of him. Let us kindle in our souls the fire of his love. Let us propose his holiness for our example. Let us anticipate the felicity of heaven. Indeed, we shall often be interrupted in this great work. We shall often find reason to deplore the darkness that obscures our ideas, the chilling damps which cool our love, and the vices tliat mix with our virtues ; for the grief which these imperfections will cause will frequently lower our felicity. But hopa will supply the place of fruition. Our souls will be all invohed in evangelical consolations, and all our bitternesses will be sweetened with these thoughts of our apostle, " Behold ! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God : therefore the world know- eth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear •what we shall I.e : but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him : for we shall see him as he is." To him be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON XIII.

Hell

Revelations xiv. 11.

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.

V lOLENT diseases require violent remedies. This is an incontestible maxim in the science of the hu- man body, and it is equally true in religion, the sci- ence that resjards the soul. If a wound be deep, it is in vain to heal the surface, the malady would be- come the more dangerous, because it would spread inwardly, gain the nobler parts, consume the vitals, and so become incurable. Such a wound must be cleansed, probed, cut and cauterized: and softening the most terrible pains by exciting in the patient a hope of being healed, he must be persuaded to en- dui'e a momentary pain in order to obtain a future firm established health. Thus in religion ; when vice hath gained the heart, and subdued all the fac- ulties of the soul, in vain do we place before the sinner a few ideas of equity ; in vain do we display the magnificence of the heavens, the beauties of the church, and the charms of virtue ; the arrows of the Aimigklij must be fastened in him, Job vi. 4. terrors,, as in a solemn day^ must be called round about hiirv

424* Hell.

Lam. ii. 22. and, knowing the terrors of the Lord., we must persuade the man, as the iioly scriptures ex- press it.

IVJy brethren, let us not waste our time in declaim- inoj against the manners of the times. Let us not exaggerate the depravity of Christian societies, and pass encomiums on former ao:es by too censoriously condemning our own. Mankind have always been bad enough, and good people have always been too scarce. There are, however, we must allow, some times, and some places, in which Satan hath employ- ed more means, and hath striven with n}ore success to execute his fatal design of destroying mankind than in others. Observe this reflection. A violent malady must have a violent remedy ; and this, which we bring you to-day, certainly excels in its kind. The Holy Spirit conducts us to-day in a road different from that in which he formerly led the Hebrews ; and, to address you properly, we must change the order of St. Paul's words, and say, " Ye are not come imto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem : but ye are .... come unto a burning fire, unto black- ness, and darkness, and tempest," chap. xii. 22. We are going to place before your eyes eternity with its abysses, the fiery lake with its flames, devils with their rage, and hell with its horrors.

Great (iod ! suspend for a few moments the small still voice of thy gospel ! 1 Kings xix. 12. For a few moments let not this auditory hear the church shout- ing, Grace, grace nnto it! Zech. iv. 7. Let the bless- ipd angels, that assist in our assemblies, for a while

Hell 421

leave us to attend to the miseries of the damned ! 1 speak literally ; I wish tliese miserable beings could shew you for a moment the weight of their chains, the voracity of their flames, the stench of their smoke. Happy ! if struck with these friglitful ob- jects, we imbibe a holy horror, and henceforth op- pose against all our temptations the words of our text, the smoke of their torment ascendeih up for ever and ever !

I have borrowed these words of St. John. In the preceding verses he had been speaking of apostates and idolaters, and them he had particularly in view in this ; " If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be torment- ed with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their torment," adds the apostle in the iexi, " ascendeth up for ever and ever."

But do not think this sentence must be restrained to these sorts of sinners. It is denounced against other kinds of sinners in other passages of scripture. " His fan is in his hand," said the forerunner of .Te- sus Christ, " and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner: but he will burn up the chafl* with unquenchable fire," Mat. iii. 12.

It sliall not be, tlien, to apostates, and idolaters only, that we will preach to-day ; although alas ! was it ever more necessary to speak to them than now ? J)id any age of Ciiristianity ever see so many apos-

422 Hell

lates as this, for which providence hath reserved us ? O ! could I transport myself to the ruins of our churches ! I would thunder in the ears of our breth- ren, who have denied their faith and religion, the words of our apostle ; " If any man worship the beast, and his image, he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of his torment shall ascend up for ever and ever !"

We will consider our text in a more general view, and we divide our discourse into three parts.

I. VYe will prove, that the doctrine of eternal pun- ishment is clearly revealed.

II. We will examine the objections, which reason opposes against it; and we will shew, that there is nothing in it incompatible with the perfections of God, or the nature of man.

III. We will address the subject to such as admit the trutli of tlie doctrine of eternal punishments : but live in indolence, and unaffected with it. This is the whole plan of this discourse.

I. We affiim, there is a hell, punishments finite in degree : but infinite in duration. We do not intend to establish here in a vague manner, that there is a state of future rewards and punishments, by laying before you the many weighty arguments taken from the sentiments of conscience, the declarations of scripture, the confusions of society, the unanimous consent of mankind, and the attributes of God him- self; argiuTients, which placing in the clearest light the truth of a judgment to come, and a future state, ought for ever to confound those unbelievers and libertines, who glory in doubting both, VYo are

Hell. 423

going to address ourselves more immediately to an- other sort of people, who do not deny the truth of future punishments: but who diminish the duration of them; who either in regard to the attributes of God, or in favour of their own indolence, endeav- our to persuade themselves, that if there be any pun- ishments after death, tht^y will neither be so general, nor so long, nor so terrible, as people imagine.

Of this sort was that father in the primitive church, who was so famous for the extent of his genius, and at the same time for the extravagance of it ; admired on the one hand for attacking and refuting the errors of the enemies of religion, and blatned on the other for injuring the very religion that he defended by mix- ing with it errors monstrous in their kind, and almost infinite in their number.* He affirmed, that eternal punishments were incompatible both with the per- fections of God, and that instability which is the es- sential character of creatures ; and mixing some chi- meras with his errors, he added, that spirits, after they had been purified by the fire of hell, w ould re- turn to the bosom of God, that at length they would detach themselves from him, and that God to punish their inconstancy would lodge them again in new bodies, and that thus eternity would be nothing but periodical revolutions of time.

Such also were some .le wish Rabbles, who acknow- ledge, in general, that there is a hell : but add, there is no place in it for Israelites, not even for the most criminal of them, excepting only those who abjure Judaism ; and even these, they think, after.

* Origen.

424 Hell

they have suffered for one year, will be absolutely annihilated.

Such was, almost in our own days, the head of a famous sect, and such were many of his disciples. They thought, the souls of all men, good and bad, passed into a state of insensibility at death, with this difference only, that the wicked cease to be, and are absolutely annihilated, whereas the righteous will rise again into sensibility in a future period, and will be united to a glorious body ; that those wicked per- sons, who shall be alive, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, will be tlie only persons, who will appear in judgment to receive their con- demnation there ; and that these, after they shall have been absorbed in the general conflagration, which they say, is \he gehenna, or hell-fire, of which scrip- ture speaks, Matt. v. 22. will be annihilated with the devils and the fires of hel 1 ; so that, according to them, nothing will remain in nature but the abode of hap- py spirits.

Such are the suppositions of those, who oppose the doctrine we are going to establish. Let us endeav- our to refute them.

1. Scripture gives no countenance to this absurd opinion, that the wicked sliall have no part in resur- rection and judgment. AVhat could St. Paul mean by these words, " Despisest thou the riches of the goodness of God? after thy hardness, and impeni- tent heart, dost thou treasure up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the right- eous judgment of God ?" Rom. ii. 4. 5. AVhat does he mean by these words, "We must all appear be-

Hell 425

fore the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad ?" 2 Cor. V. 10. What does St. John intend by these words, " I saw the dead, small and great, stand be- fore God, the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and Ihey were judged every man according to their works; and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire ?'* Rev. xx. ]2, 13, 15. What meant .lesus Christ, when he said, "The houris coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth : they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation ?" John v. 2o, 29. Any thing inay be glossed over, and varnish- ed : but was ever gloss more absurd than that of some, who pretend, that the resurrection spoken of in the last quoted words is not to be understood of a literal proper resurrection : but of sanctification, which is often called a resurrection in scripture ? Does sanctification then raise some unto a resurrec- tion of life, and others unto a resurrection of damna- Hon ?

2. Scripture clearly afiirms, that the punishment of the damned sliall not consist of annihilation : but of real and sensible pain. This .appears by divers passages. Our Saviour, speaking of Judas, said "It would have been good for that man, if he had not been born," Matt. xxvi. 24. Hence we infer, a state worse than annihilation was reserved for this miserar ble traitor; for had the punishment of his crime

VOL. II f. 54

42G Hell

consisted in annihilation only, Judas, having already enjoyed many pleasures in this life, would have been happier to have been than not to have been. Again, Jesus Christ says, " It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee," Matt. xi. 24. Hence we infer again, there are some punishments worse than annihilation ; for if Sodom and Capernaum were both annihilated, it would not be true, that the one would be in a more tolerable state than the other.

Scripture images of hell, which are many, will not allow us to confine future punishment to annihi- lation. It is a norniy ii Jire., a darkness; they are chains, îveeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth j ex- pressions which we will explain by and by. Accord- ingly, the disciples of the head of the sect just now mentioned, and whose system we oppose, have re- nounced these two parts of their Master's doetrine, and, neither denying the generality of these punish- ments, nor (he reality of them, are content to op- pose their eternity.

But, 3. It appears by scripture, that future pun- ishment will be eternal. The holy scripture repre- sents another life as a state, in which there will be no room for repentance and mercy, and wliere the wicked shall know nothing but torment and despair. It compares the duration of the misery of the damn- ed with the duration of the felicity of the blessed. Future punishment is always said to l)e eternal, and there is not the least hint given of its coming to an tnd. Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting Jire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels. Malt, xxv. 11

Hell. 427

Their worm dieih not, and the fire is not quenchedy ]\Iark ix. 44. If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to be east into everlasting fire, Matt, xviii. 8. The devil, that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast, and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever, Rev. xx. 10. Again in our text, the smoke é)f their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. These declarations are formal and express.

But, as the word eternal doth not always signify proper and literal eternity, it is presumed, the Spir- it of God did not intend, by attributing eternity to future punishment, strictly and literally to affirm, that future punishment should never end : but only Uiat it should endure many ages.

We grant, my brethren, the word eternal does not always signify properly and literally eternity. It has several meanings; but there are three princi- pal. Sometimes eternity is attributed to those be- ings which are as old as the world. Thus we read of everlasting hills, or mountains of eternity. Gen. xlix. Sometimes it is put for a duration as long as the nature of the thing in question can permit. Thus it is said, A servant, who would not accept his libr erty in the seventh year of his servitude, should serve his master/or ever, Exod. xxi. (3. that is, until the time of the .Jubilee, for then the Jewish repub- lic was new modelled, and all slaves were set free. Sometimes it expresses any thing perfect in its kind, and which hath no succession. Thus the sacrifice of Melchisedec, and that of Jesus Christ, of which the

428 Bell

first was a shadow, ahide continually, or for ever, Heb. vii. 3. This term, then, must be taken in a metaphorical sense in the three following cases.

1 . When that, which is called eternal in one place, is said in another to come to an end. Thus, it was said, the ceremonial law was to endure /or ever. This expression must not be taken literally ; for all the prophets informed their countrymen, that the ceremonial economy was to end, and to give up to a better, JNow the holy scripture does not restrain in any one passage what it establisheth in others con- cerning the eternity of future punishments.

2. A metaphorical sense must be given to the term, when the sacred history assures us, that what it calls eternal has actually come to an end. Thus, it is plain, the Jire of Sodom was not eternal; for sacred histo- ry informs us, it was extinguished after it had con- sumed that wicked city, and it is called eternal, only because it burned till Sodom was all reduced to ash- es, Jude 7. But what history can engage us to un- derstand in this sense the eternity attributed to the torments of the wicked ?

3. The term must be taken metaphorically, when the subject spoken of is not capable of a proper eternal duration, as in the case just now mentioned, that a mortal servant shouUl eternally serve a mortal master. But, we presume, the eternity of future punishment in a strict literal sense implies no contradiction, and per- fectly agrees with the objects of our contemplation. This leads us to our second part, in which we are to examine those objections, which reason opposes against the doctrine of eternal punishment.

BeU. 429

II. If the doctrine of eternal punishment imply a contradiction, it must either regard man, the sufferer of the pain, or (îod, who threatens to inflict it.

1. The nature of man hath nothing incongruous with that degree and duration of punishment, of which we speak. Turn your attention to the fol- lowing reflections.

Nothing but an express act of the will of God can annihilate a soul. No person in the world can as- sure himself, without a divine revelation, that God will do this act. Whatever we see, and know of our soul, i(s hopes and fears, its hatred and love, all af- ford a presumption, that it is made for an eternity of happiness or misery.

The will of God is the only cause of the sensa- tions of our souls that alone establisheth a commerce between motion and sensation, sensation and motion. His will alone is the cause, that from a separation of the component parts of the hand by the action of fire there results a sensation of pain in the soul ; so that, should it please him to unite a condemned soul to particles of inextinguishable fire, and should there result from the activity of this fire violent an- guish in the soul, there would be nothing in all this contrary to daily natural experiment.

Further, weigh particularly the following reflec- tion. Choose, of all the systems of philosphers, that which appears most reasonable; believe the soul is spiritual, believe it is matter; think, it must natural- ly dissolve with the body, believe it must subsist af- ter the ruin of the body ; take which side you will, you can never deny this principle, nor do I know,

430 Hell,

that any philosopher hath ever denied it : that is, that God is able to preserve soul and body for ever, were they perishable by nature; and this act of his will would be equal to a continual creation. Now, this principle being granted, all arguments drawn from the nature of man to prove its incongruity with the scripture idea of eternal punishment vanish of themselves.

But Origen did not enter into these reflections. With all that fertility of genius, which enabled him to compose (if we believe St. Epiphanius,*) six thousand books, and in spite of all his Greek and Hebrew, he was a sorry philosopher, and a very bad divine. The church has condemned his doctrine in the gross. All his philosophy was taken from the ideas of Plato : but, thanks be to God ! my breth- ren, we live in ages more enliglitencd, and were ed- ucated by masters wiser than AristoUe and Plato. So much shall suffice for objections taken from the nature of man.

2. Let us attend now to others taken from the na- ture of God. A man who opposeth our doctrine, reasons in this manner. Which way soever I con- sider a being supremely perfect, I cannot persuade myself, that he will expose his creatures to eternal torments. All his perfections secure me from such terrors as this doctrine seems to inspire. If I con- sider the Deity as a being perfectly free, it should icem, although he have denounced sentences of con- demnation, yet he retains a right of revoking, or of executing them to the utmost rigour ; whence I in-

* Advcrs. Haeres. lib. 2.

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fer, that no man can determine what use he will make of his liberty. When I consider God as a good beinii^, I cannot make eternal punishment agree with ir)finite mercy; bowels of compassion seem in- congruous with devouring flames ; the titles merciful and gracious seem incompatible with the execution of this sentence, depart ye cursed into everlasting flre, Matt. XXV. 41. In short, when I consider God un- der the idea of an equitable legislator, I cannot com- prehend how sins committed in a finite period can deserve an infinite punishment. Let us suppose a life the most long and criminal that ever was ; let the vices of all mankind be assembled, if possible, in one man , let the duration of his depravity be ex- tended from the beginning of the world to the dis- solution of it : even in this case sin would be finite, and infinite everlasting punishment would far exceed the demerit of finite transgression, and consequent- ly, the doctrine of everlasting punishment is incon- sistent with divine justice.

There are libertines, who invent these difficulties, and take pains to confirm themselves in the belief of them, in order to diminish those just fears, which an idea of hell would excite in their souls, and to ena- ble them to sin boldly. Let us not enter into a de- tail of answers and replies with people of this kind. Were we to grant all they seem to require, it would be easy to prove to a demonstration, that there is a world of extravagance in deriving the least liberty to sin from these objections. If, instead of a punish- ment enduring for ever, hell were only the suffering of a thousand vears toniients, were the sufiercr dur-

432 Hell

ing these thousand years only placed in the condi- tion of a man excruciated with the gout or the stone ; must, not a man give up all claim to common sense, before he could, even on these suppositions, aban- don himself to sin? Are not all the cliarms employ- ed by the devil to allure us to sin absorbed in the idea of a thousand years pain, to which, for argu- ment's sake, we have supposed eternal punishment reduced? How pitiable is a man in dying agonies, who has nothing to oppose against the terrors of death but this opinion, Perhaps hell may be less in degree, and shorter in duration than the scriptures represent !

Some Christian divines, in zeal for the glory of God, have yielded to these objections ; and, imder pretence of having met with timorous people, whom the doctrine of eternal punishment had terrified in- to doubts concerning the divine perfections, they thought it their duty to remove this stumbling block. They liave ventured to presume, that the idea which God hath given of eternal punishment, was only in- tended to alarm the impenitent, and that it was very probable God would at last relax the rigorous sentence. But if it were allowed that God had no other design in denouncing eternal punishments than that of alarming sinners, would it become us to oppose hia Viise purpose, and with our unhallowed hands to throw down the batteries, wliich he had erected against sin ? Shall we pretend to dive into his mys- terious views? or, Laving, as it were, extorted his confidence, should v.e be so indiscreet as to publish it, like the bold advenlurei in ti<^,,^bi^,., \^:ijo, uot

HdL 4331

GOiiienl with having stolen fire from heaven for him- self, endeavoured to encourage other men to do so ? Let us think soberly, and not more highly than we ought to think ; let us not think above that which is writ^ ten, Rom. xii. 3. 1 Cor. iv. 6. Let us preach tlie gospel as God hath revealed it. God did not think the doctrine of everlasting punishment injurious to the holiness of his attributes. Let us not pretend to think it will injiue them.

None of these reflections remove the difficulty* We proceed then to open four sources of solutions.

L Observe this general truth. It is not probable, God would threaten mankind with a punishment, the infliction of which would be incompatible with his perfections. If the reality of such a hell as the scriptures describe be inconsistent with the perfec- tions of the Creator, such a hell ought not to have been affirmed, yea it could not have been revealed. The eminence of the holiness of God will not allow him to terrif}^ his creatures with the idea of a punish- ment, which he cannot inflict without injustice ; and, considering the weakness of our reason, and the nar- row limits of our knowledge, we ought not to say. Such a thing is unjust, therefore it is not revealed : but, on the contrary, we should rather say, Such a thing is revealed, therefore it is just.

2. Take eaclipartof the objection drawn from the attributes of God, and said to destroy our doctrine, and consider it separately. The argument taken irom the liberty of God would carry us from error to error, and from one absurdity to another. For, if God be free to relax any part of the punishment de-

voi/. in, />.5

434 Hell.

nounced, he is equally free to relax the whole. If we may infer, that he will certainly release the sufferer from a part, because he is at liberly to do so, we have an equal right to presume he will release from the whole and there would be no absurdity in affirm- ing the one, after we had allowed the other. If there be no absurdity in presuming that God will release the whole punishment denounced against the impenitent, behold! all systems of conscience, providence, and religion fall of themselves, and, if these systems fall, what, pray, become of all these perfections of God, which you pretend to defend?

The objection taken from the liberty of God might seem to iiave some colour, were hell spoken of only in passages where precepts were enforced by threat- eninç>s : but attend to the places, in which Jesus Christ speaks of it. Read, for example, the twenty- fifth of Matthew, and there you will perceive, are facts, prophecies, and exact and circumstantial nar- rntitms. There, it is said, the world shall end, .Tesus Christ shall descend from heaven, there shall be a judgment of mankind, tlie righteous shall be reward- ed, the wicked shall be punished, shall go away in- to everlasting punishment. How can these things be reconciled to the truth of God, if he fail to execute any one of these articles ?

The difficulty taken from the goodness of God van- isheth, when we rectify popular notions of this excel- lence of ttie divine nature. Goodness in men is a virtue of constitution, which makes them suffer, when they see their fellow creatures in misery, and which excites them to relieve them. In God it is a perfec-

Helh 435

iîon independent in its ori^en, free in its execution, and always restrained by laws of inviolable equity, and exact severity.

Justice is not incompatible with eternal punishment It is not to be granted, that a sin committed in a lim- ited time ought not to be punished through n infi- nite duration. It is not the length of time employ- ed in committing a crime, that determines the degree and the duration of its punishment, it is the turpitude and atrociousness of it. The justice of God, far from opposing the punishment of the impenitent, re- quires it. Consider this earth, which supports us, that sun, which illuminates us, the elements, that nourisli us, all the creatures which serve us ; are they not so many motives to men to devote their service to God? Consider the patience of God, what oppor- tunities of repentance he gives sinners, what motives and means he affords them. Above all, enter into the sanctuary ; meditate on the incarnate word, com- prehend, if you can, what it is for a God to make himself of no reputation, and to take upon him the form of a servant, Phil. ii. 7. Consider the infinite excellence of God, approach his throne, behold his eyes sparkling with fire, the power and majesty that fill his sanctuary, the heavenly hosts which around his throne fulfil his will ; form, if it be possible, some idea of the Supreme Being. Then think, this God united himself to mortal flesh, and suffered for man- kind all the rigours, that the madness of men, and the rage of devils could invent. I cannot tell, my brethren, what impressions theseobjects make on you. For my part, I ingenuously own, that, could any

436 HelL

thing render Cliristianity doubtful to me, -what it at- firms of this mystery would do so. I have need, I declare, of all my faith, and of all the authority of him, who speaks in scripture, to persuade me, that God would condescend to such an humiliation as this. If, amidst the darkness which conceals this mystery, I discover any glimmering that reduces it in a sort to my capacity, it ariseth from the sentence of eternal punishment, which God has threatened to inflict on all, who finally reject this great sacrifice. Having allowed the obligations under which the in- carnation lays mankind, everlasting punishment seems to me to have nothing in it contrary to divine jus- tice. No, the burning lake with its smoke, eternity with its abysses, devils with their rage, and all hell with all its horrors, seem to me not at all too rigor- ous for the punishment of men, who have trodden widtrfoot the Son of God, counted the blood of the cov- enant an unholy thing, crucified the Son of God afresh, and done despite unto the Spirit of grace, Heb. x. 29. and vi. 6. Were we to examine in this manner each part of the objection opposed against our doctrine, we should open a second source of solutions to an- swer it.

3. The doctrine of degrees of punishment afïbrds us a third. I have often observed with astonishment the little use, that Christians in general make of this article, since the doctrine itself is taught in Scrip- ture in the clearest manner. When we speak of fu- ture punishment, we call it all hell indifferently, and without distinction. We conceive of all the wicked ^s precipitated into the same gulf, loaded with the

HeM. 437

same chains, devoured by the same worm. We do not seem to think, there will be as much difference in their slate as there had been in their natural ca- pacities, their exterior means of obtaining know- ledge, and their various aids to assist them in their pursuit of it. We do not recollect, that, as perhaps there may not be two men in the world, who have alike partaken the gifts of heaven, so probably there will not be two wicked spirits in hell enduring an equal degree of punishment. There is an extreme difference between a Heathen and a Jew ; there is an extreme distance between a Jew and a Christian ; and a greater still between a Christian and a Heath- en. The gospel rule is. Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall he much required., Luke xii. 48. There must, therefore, be as great a difference in the other life between the punishment of a Jew and that of a Pagan, between that of a Pagan and that of a Jew, between that of a Pagan and that of a Christian, as there is between the states in which God hath placed them on earth. Moreover, there is a very great difference between one Jew and another, between Pagan and Pagan, Christian and Christian. Each hath in his own economy more or less talents. There must therelbre l)e a like difference between the punishment of one Christitm and that of another, the punishment of one Jew and tliatof another Jew, the suffering of one Pagan and that of another: and consequently, when we say, a Pagan wise accord- ing to his own economy, and a Christian foolish ac- cording to his, are both in hell, we speak in n very vague and equivocal roannen

438 Hell.

To how many difficulties have men submitted b}- tiot attending to this doctrine of deojrees of punisJi- ment! Of what use, for example, might it have been to answer objections concerning the destiny of Pa- gans! As eternal punishment has been considered under images, that excite all the most excruciating pains, it could not be imagined how God should con- demn the wise heathens to a state that seemed suited only to monsters, who disfigure nature and subvert society. Some, therefore, to get rid of this difficul- ty, have widened the gate of heaven, and allowed other wa^'s of arriving there, beside tliat whereby we must be savedy Acts iv. 12. Cato, Socrates, and Aris- tides have been mixed with the multitude redeemed to God out of every people and naiioiiy Rev. v. 9. Had the doctrine of diversity of punishments been properly attended to, the condemnation of the heathens would not have appeared inconsistent with the perfections of God, provided it had been considered only as a pun- ishment proportional to what was defective in their state, and criminal in their life. For no one has a right to tax God with injustice for punishing Pagans, luiless he could prove that the degree of their pain exceeded that of their sin ; and as no one is able to make this combination, because Scripture positively assures us, God will observe this proportion, so none can murmur against his conduct v>ithout being guil- ty of blasphemy.

But, above all, the doctrine of degrees of punish- nient elucidates that of the eternity of them. Take this principle, which Scripture establisheth in the clearest manner ; press home all its consequences;

Hell ^ 439

extend it as far as it can be carried ; ^ive scope even to your imagination, till the punishments which such and such persons suffer in hell are reduced to a de- gree, that may serve to solve the difficulty of the doctrine of their eternity, whatever system you adopt on this article, I will even venture to say, whatever difficulty you may meet witli in following it, it will always be more reasonable, I think, to mate of one doctrine clearly revealed, a clue to guide through the difficulties of another doctrine clearly revealed too, than rashly to deny the former decisions of Scripture. I mean to say, it would be more rational to stretch the doctrine of degrees too far, if I may venture to speak so, than to deny that of their eternity.

4. The fourth source of solutions is a maxim from which a divine ought never to depart ; and which we wish particularly to inculcate among those who extend the operations of reason too far in matteis of religion. Our maxim is this. We know indeed in general, what are the attributes of Ciod: but we are extremely ignorant of their sphere, we cannot determine how far they extend. We know in gene- ral, God is free, he is just, he is merciful : but we are too ignorant to determine how far these perfec- tions must go ; l)ecause the infinity of them absorb? the capacity of our minds. An example may ren- der our meaning plain. Suppose two philosophei*? subsisting before the creation of this world, and con- versing together on tlie plan of the world, which God was about to create. Suppose the first of these philosophers affirming — ^God is going to create in-

440 Hell.

telligent créatures — he could communicale such o degree of knowledge to them as would necessarily conduct them to supreme happiness — but he intends to give them a reason, which may be abused, and may conduct them from ignorance to vice, and from vice to misery. — Moreover, God is going to create a world, in which virtue will be almost always in irons, and vice on a throne — tyrants will be crown- ed, and pious people confounded. Suppose the first of our philosophers to maintain these theses, how think you ? Would not the second have reasoned against this plan ? Would he not, in all appearance, have had a right to affirm — It is impossible God, be- ing full of goodness, should create men, whose ex- istence would be fatal to their happiness — It is im- possible a being supremely holy, should suffer sin to enter the world? Yet, how plausible soever, the reasons of this philosopher might then have appear- ed, the event hath since justified the truth of the first plan. It is certain, God hath created the world on tlie plan of the first; and it is also as certain, that this world hath nothing incompatible with the per- fections of God, liow difficult soever we may find it to answer objections. It is our diminutivene^s, the narrowness of our minds, and the immensity of the l;eity, which prevent our knowing how far his attri- butes can go.

Apply this to our subject. The idea of hell seems to you repugnant to the attributes of God, you cannot comprehend how a just God can punish finite sins with infinite pain ; how a merciful God can abandon his creaturps to eternal miseries. Your diffi*

l^p^'

Hell 441

culties have some probability, I grant. Your reasons, I allow, seem well grounded. But dost thou remem- ber, the attributes of God are infinite? Remember thy knowledge is finite. Remember the two philoso- phers disputing on the plan of the world. Remember theevent hath discarded the difficulties of the last, and justified the plan of the first. Now, the revelation of future punishments in our system is equal to event in that of the first philosopher. They are revealed. You think future punishment inconsistent with the attributes of God: but your notion of inconsistence ought to vanish at the appearance of Scripture- light.

Thus we have indicated a few proofs of the doc- trine of eternal punishments. We have endeavour- ed to convince you, that what the Scriptures teach us on the duration of the punishments of the wick- ed is neither repugnant to the nature of God, nor to the nature of man. We will now lay aside these ideas, and endeavour to improve the few moments that remain, by addressing your consciences. Hav- ing shewn you the doctrine of eternal punishments as taught in Scripture, and approved by rea- son, we will try to shew it you as an object terri- ble and afficting. But, while we are endeavour- ing as much as possible, to accommodate ourselves to your impatience, use some efforts with your- selves ; and if ever, if ever through indulgence for our person, or through respect to our doctrine, you have opened access to your hearts, grant it, I intreat you, to what I am going to propose,

VOL. III. ^6

442 Hell. ^

III. Observe the quality, and the duration of the punishments of hell. The quality is expressed in these words, smoke, torment. Tlie duration in these, ascend vp for ever and ever.

[1.] The quality of the punishment of hell is ex- pressed in these terms, smoke, torment. Tliese me- taphorical terms include five ideas. Privation of heavenly happiness — sensation of pain — remorse of conscience — horror of society — increase of crime.

1. A privation of celestial happiness is the first idea of hell, an idea which we are incapable of form- ing fully in this life. We have eyes of flesh and blood. We judge of happiness and misery accord- ing to this flesh and blood, and as things relate to our families, our fortunes, our professions, and we seldom think we have immortal souls. In the great day of retribution all these veils will be taken away. Darkness will be dissipated, scales will fall from our eyes, the chief good will be known : but what will be the condition of him, who no sooner discovers the chief good than he discovers also, that he shall be forever deprived of it Î Represent to yourselves a man constrained to see, and made by his own ex- perience to know, that the pleasures, the grandeuis, and all the riches of this world are nolliing but wind and smoke ; and that true felicity consists in com- jnunion with God, in beholding his perfections, and participating his glory : or, to use emblems taken from J^criplure, represent to yourselves a man, who shall see the nuptial chamber of tlie bridegroom, his triumphant pomp and his magnificent palace; and who shall see all these glorious olyects as felicities.

HeU, 443

which his crimes forbid him to enjoy. What resjrets ! What despair! Lord of nature! Being of beings ! Ado- rable assemblage of all perfections! Eternal Father! Well-beloved Son! Holy Spirit! glorious body of my divine Redeemer ! archangels ! cherubims ! ser- aphims ! powers ! dominions ! general assembly of the first-born ! myriads of angels! apostles! martyrs! saints of all ages, and of all nations ! unfading crown ! perfect knowledge ! communion of a soul with its God ! throne of glory ! fulness of joy ! rivers of pleasure! all which I see, all which I know, and wish to enjoy, even while avenging justice separates me from you ; am I then for ever excluded from all your ineffable delights ? Are you all shewn to me to make me more sensible of my misery ? And do you display so much felicity only to render my pain more acute, and my destruction more terrible ? 2. Consider painful sensations. To these belong all the expressions of Scripture just now mentioned, darknesSy blackness of darkness, thirst, Jire, lake hum- ing with fire and brimstone, and all these to such a degree that the damned would esteem as an invalu* able benefit one drop of water to cool their tongues, Luke xvi. 24. We dare not pretend to determine, that hell consists of material fire. But if you recol- lect that we just now observed the power of God ÎO excite in our souls such sensations as he pleases, if to this reflection you add this remark, that Scrip- ture almost always employs the idea of fire to ex» press the pains of hell, you will be inclined to be- lieve, that most of these unhappy sufferers literally endure torments like those, which men burning in

444 HeU.

flames feel; whether God act immediately on their souls, or unite them to particles of material fire. The very name given in Scripture to the fire of hell hath something very significant in it. It is called the firt of Gehenna, Matt. v. 22. This word is com- pounded of words, which signify the valley of Hm- 71071. This valley was rendered famous by the abom- inable sacrifices which tlie idolatrous .Tews offered to Moloch. They set up a hollow brazen figure, in- closed their children in it, kindled fires undei neath, and in this horrible manner consumed the miserable infant victims of their cruel superstition. This is an image of hell. Terrible image! We have no need of abstract and metaphysical ideas. Who among us could patiently bear his hand one hour in fire ? Who would not tremble to be condemned to pass one day in this monstrous machine ? And who, who could bear to be eternally confined in it ? W4ien ive see a criminal in chains, given up to an execu- tioner of human justice, and just going to be burnt to death, nature shudders at the sight, the flesh of spectators shivers, and the cries of the sufferer rend their heart, and excite in painful compassion all the emotions of the soul. What must it be to be deliv- ered up to an executioner of divine justice ? What to be cast into the fire of hell ? Delicate flesh ! fee- ble organs of a human body! What will you do when you are cast into the quick and devouring flames of hell !

3. The third idea of future punishment is that of the remorse of conscience. The pains of the mind ^re as lively and sensible as those of the body. The

Ùell 445

grief of one man, who loses a person dear to him, the inquietude of another afraid of apparitions and spectres, the gloomy terrors of a third in solitude, the emotions of a criminal receiving his sentence of death, and, above all, the agitation of a conscience filled with a sense of guilt, are pains as lively and sensible as those which are excited by the most cruel tormenls. What great effects has remorse produ- *ced ! It has made tyrants tremble. It has smitten the knees of a Eelshazzar together in the midst of his courtiers. It has rendered the voluptuous insen- sible to pleasure, and it has put many hardened wretches upon the rack. It has done more. It has forced some, who upon scaffolds and wheels have denied their crimes, after a release, to confess them, to find out a judge, to give evidence against them- selves, and to implore the mercy of a violent death, more tolerable than the agonies of their guilty souls. This will be the state of the damned. This will be the worm that never dies, and which will consume their souls. This will be tlie cruel vulture that will de- vour their vitals. Conscience will be obliged to do homage to an avenging God. It will be forced to acknowledge, that the motives of the gospel were highly proper to affect every man, who had not made his face as an adamant^ his forehead harder than a flint. It will be forced to acknowledge, that the goodness of God had been enough to pen- etrate every heart, even those which were least ca- pable of gratitude. It will be constrained to own, that the succours oftlie Spirit of God had been more than sufficient of themselves. It will be driven to

446 Hell

own, that the destruction of man came of himself, and that he sacrificed his salvation to vain imagin- ations, more delusive than vanity itself. Tlie testi- mony of a good conscience hatii supported martyrs in iire and tortures. When a martyr said to liim- self, I suffer for truth, I plead a good cause, I bear my Saviour's cross, I am a martyr for God himself; he was happy in spite of seeming horrors. But when the reproaches of conscience are added to ter- rible torments, when the sufferer is obliged to say to himself, I am the author of my own punishment, I suffer for my own sins, I am a victim of vice, a vic- tim for the devil; nothing can equal his horror and despair.

4. A fourth idea is taken from the horror of the society in hell. How great soever the misery of a man on earth may be, he bears it with patience, when wise discourse is addressed to him for his consola- tion, when a friend opens his bosom to him, wlier» a father shares his sufferings, and a charitable hand en- deavours to wipe away his tears. The conversation of a grave and sympathizing friend diminishes his troubles, softens his pains, and charms him under his afflictions, till he becomes easy and iiappy in them. But, good God ! what society is tliat in hell ! Ima- gine yourselves condemned to pass all your days with those odious men, who seem formed only to trouble the world. Imagine yourselves shut up in a close prison with a band of reprobates. Imagine yourselves lying on a death-bed, and having no oth- er comforters than traitors and assassins. This is an image of hell ! Good God ! what a society ! tyrants.

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assassins, blasphemers, Satan vvith his angels, the prince of the air with all his infamous legions !

From all these ideas results a fifth, an increase of sin. Self-love is the governing passion of mankind. It is that, which put all the rest in motion and all the rest either spring from it, or are supported b)' it. It is not in the power of man to love a being, who hath no relation to his happiness; and it is not possible for him to avoid hating one, who employe his power to make him miserable. As God will ag- gravate the sufferings of the damned by displaying his attributes, their hatred of him will be unbound- ed, their torment will excite their hatre.'. (heir ha- tred will aggravate their torment. Is not this the- height of misery ? To hate by necessity of nature the Perfect Being, the Supreme Being, the Sove- reign Beauty, in a word, to hate God ; doth not this idea present to your minds a state the most melan- choly, the most miserable ? One chief excellence of the glory of happy spirits is a consummate love to their Creator One of the most horrible punish- ments of hell is the exclusion of divine love. O miserable state of the damned ! In it they utter as many blasphemies against (iod as the happy souls in heaven shout hallelujahs to his praise.

These are the punishments of condemned souls. it remains only that we consider the length and du- ration of them. But by what means, my brethren, shall we describe these profound articles of contem- plation? Can we number the innumerable, and meas- ure (hat, which is beyond all mensuration ? Can we

448 Hell.

make you comprehend the mcomprehensible ? And shall we amuse you with our imaginations?

For my part, when I endeavour to represent eter- nity to myself, I avail myself of whatever I can con- ceive most long and durable. I heap imagination on imagination, conjecture on conjecture. First, I consider those long lives, which all men wish, and some attain ; I observe those old men, who live four or five generations, and who alone make the history of an age. I do more, I turn to ancient chronicles. I go back to the patriarchal age, and consider a life extending through a thousand years; and I say to myself, Ail this is not eternity ; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

Having represented to myself real objects, I form ideas of imaginary ones, I go from our age to the time of publishing the gospel, from thence to the publication of the law% from the law to the flood, from the flood to the creation. I join this epoch to the present time, and I imagine Adam yet living. Had Adam lived till now, and had he lived in mise- ry, had he passed all his time in a fire, or on a rack, what idea must we form of his condition ? At what price would we agree to expose ourselves to misery so great ? What imperial glory would appear glori- ous, were it followed by so much wo ? Yet this is not eternity ; all this is nothing in comparison of eter- nity.

I go further still. I proceed from imagination to imagination, from one supposition to another. 1 take the greatest number of years, that can be ima- gined. I add ages lo ages, millions of ages to mill-

HeU. 449

ioDs of a^es. I form of all these one fixed number, and I stay my imagination. After this, I suppose God to create a world like this, which we inhabit, I suppose him creatin<»; it by forming one atom after another, and employing in the production of each atom the time fixed in my calculation just now men- tioned. What numberless ages would the creation of such a world in such a manner require ! Then I suppose the Creator to arrange these atoms, and to pursue the same plan of arranging them as of crea- ting them. AVhat numberless ages would such an arrangement require ! Finally, I suppose him to dis- solve and annihilate the whole, and observing the same method in this dissolution as he observed in the creation and disposition of the whole. What an im- mense duration w ould be consumed ! Yet this is not eternity ; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

Associate now all these suppositions, my brethren, and of all these periods make one fixed period ; mul- tiply it again, and suppose yourselves to pass in mul- tiplying it a time equal to that, which the period contains; it is literally and strictly true, all this is iiot eternity ; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

My God! one night passed in a burning fever, or in struggling in the waves of the sea between life and death, appears of an immense length! It seems to the sufferer as if the stin had forgot its course^, and as if all the laws of nature itself were subvert- ed. W^hat then will be the state of those miserable victims to divine displeasure, who, after they shall

TOL. IIT. 57

450 Hell.

have passed throuïçh the ages, v. hich we have been describing, will be obliged to make this overwhelm- ing redection ; All this is only an atom of our mise- ry! What will their despair be, when they shall be forced to say to themselves; Again we must revolve through these enormous periods; again we must suftf r a privation of celestial happiness ; devouring flames again; cruel remorse again ; crimes and blas- phemies over and over again! Forever! Forever! Ah my brethren ! my brethren ! how severe is this word even in tliis life! How great is a misfortune, when it is incapable of relief! How insupportable, when we are obliged to add for ever toit! These irons for ever! these chains forever! this prison for ever! this universal contempt forever! this domes- tic trouble for ever! Poor mortals ! how short sight- ed are you to call sorrows eternal, which end with your lives! What! this life! this life, that passeth with the rapidity of a iveavcfs shuttle! .lob. vii. G. this life, which vanisheth like a sleep! Psal. xc. 5. is this uhat you call for ever! Ah! absorbing periods of eternity, accumulated myriads of ages ; these, if I may be allowed to speak so, these will be tiie i ou EVER of the damned!

I sink under the weight of this subject ; a!îd I de- clare, when I see my friends, my relations, the peo- ple of my charge, this whole congregation; when I think, that T, tliat you, that we are all threatened with these torments; when I see in the lukewarm- ness of my devotions, in the languor of my love, in the levity of my resolutions and designs, the least evidence, though it be only probable, or presumpv

Hell 451

live, of my future misery, yet I find in the thought a mortal poison, which diffuseth itself into every period of my life, rendering society tiresome, noui- ishment insipid, pleasure disgustful, and life itself a cruel bitter. I cease to wonder, that a fear of hell Jiath made some melancholy, and others mad ; that it hath inclined some to expose themselves to a liv- ing martyrdom by fleeing from all commerce with the rest of mankind, and others to suffer the most violent and terrible torments. But the more terror this idea inspires, the more inexcusable are we, if it produce no good fruits in us. The idea of eternity ought to subvert all our sinful projects. In order to avoid eternal misery, all should be suffered, all sur- mounted, all undertaken, sinful self should be cru- cified, and the whole man devoted in holy sacrifice to God. Let each particle of our bodies become a victim to penitence, let each moment of life expose us to a new martyrdom ; still we should be happy, could we avoid the flaming sword, that hangs over our heads, and escape the gulfs of misery, which yawn beneath our feet.

My brethren, have you heard what I have been speaking? have you well reflected on what I said? Perhaps I may have weakened these great truths. Perhaps I may have left many proper things unsaid. Yet, methinks, if you have thoroughly compre- hended what little I have said, you will become new men.

Remember we have not exceeded the truth ; all we have said is taken from scripture, from those scriptures which you profess to believe, so, that if

4'52 Hell.

you deny these truths, you must deny your own faith, Christianity, religion.

Remember, we have taken our evidences from that part of scripture, which you consider as the most kind and comfortable, I mean the gospel. Ke- nounce, I beseech you, at once this miserable pre- judice, that under the gospel we ought not to speak of hell. On the contrar}, it is tiie gospel lliat re^ veals it in its clearest light ; it is the go??pel which proves it ; it is the gospel that describes it ; the gos- pel says, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, Matt. XXV. 41. It is the gospel that says. The ser- vant ivhich knew his Lord's nill, and did it not, shall he beaten rvilh many stripes, Luke xii. 47. It is the gospel that says, If ne sin ivilfnlly, after that ire have received the knowledge of the truth, there rcmainethno more sacrifice for sins ; but a certain fearfd looking- for of judgment, andjiery indignation, which shall de- vour the adversaries, Heb. x. 26, 27.

Remember the doctrine of degrees of punish- ment, which seems to diminish the horrors of hell in regard to Pagans, and Christians educated in super- stition and ignorance, has every thing in it to aug- ment the horror of future pain in regard to such Christians as most of us are.

Recollect what sort of persons God reserves for this statCo Not only assassins, murderers, higli way- robbers: but also apostates, who know the truth, but who sacrifice through worldly interests the profes- sion of truth to idolatry; misers, usurers, unjust persons, gluttons ^ unclean, implacable, lifeless, luke-

Hell. 453

wanij, professors of Christianity ; ali tliese are in- cluded in the e^ilt and punishment of sin.

Remember, we must be wilfully blind, if we deny, that in this town, in this church, in this flock, in this assembly, among you my hearers, who listen to me, and look at me, there are such persons as I just now mentioned, each of whom must come to this reflec- tion ; I myself, I perhaps, am in a state of damna- tion, perhaps my name is one in the fatal list of those at whom these tbreatenings point.

Go further yet. Remember, this life is the only time given you to prevent these terrible punish- ments. After this life, no more exhortations, no more sermons, no more admission of sighs and tears, no more place for repentance.

After this, think on the brevity of life. Think, tliere may be perhaps only one year granted, per- haps only one month, perhaps only one day, perhaps only one hour, perhaps only one moment to avoid this misery; so that perhaps (O Lord avert the dreadful supposition!) perhaps some one of us may this very day experience all these torments and pains.

Finally, consider (he spirit, that this moment ani- mates us, the drift of this discourse, and, to say înore, consider what God is now doing in your fa- vour. In a plenitude of compassion, and with bow- els of the tendercst love, he entreats and exhorts you to escape these terrible miseries ; he conjures you not to destroy yourselves ; he saith to you, O that my people would hearken unto me ! Be instructed, O Jerusalem J lest my soul depart from thee ! Why y why

454 Hell.

will ye die ? O house of Israel ! Psal. Ixxxi. 8. Jer. vi. 8. O ! were we wise, these expostulations would reign over our hearts ! O ! if there remained the least spark of reason in us, the frightful image of hell would henceforth make the deepest impressions on our souls !

Frightful ideas of judgment and hell! may you be always in my mind, when the world would decoy me to stain my ministry by its vain and glaring snares ! Frightful ideas of judgment and hell ! may you strike all these hearers so as to give success to this sermon, and weight to our ministry ! Frightful ideas of judgment and hell ! may you ever follow us, so that by knowing the terror of avenging jus- tice, and the unspeakable value of grace set before lis, we may be rendered capable of participating eter- nal glory ; which I wish you, my brethren, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,

SERMON XIV.

The Uniformity of God in his Government,

Hebrews xiii. 8.

Jesus Christy the same yesterday^ and to-day , and for

ever.

I3 T. Paul gives us a very beautiful idea of God, when he says, TJie rvisdom oj God is manifold, Eph. iii. 10. The first great cause, the Supreme Being, hath designs infinitely diversified. This appears by the various beings which he hath created, and by the different ways in which he governs them.

What a variety in created beings! A material world, and an intelligent world ! IMatter variously modified, or, as the apostle speaks. One kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, an- other of birds, celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, one glory of the sun another glory of the moon, and so on to an infinite multitude. There is a similar variety of spirit ; men, angels, seraphims, cheru- bims, powers, dominions, archangels, and thrones.

AYhat a variety in the manner in which God gov- erns these beings ! To restrain ourselves to men on^ ly, are not some loaded with benefits, and others de- pressed with adversities ? Doth he not enlighten some

456 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

by nature, others by the law, and others by the gos- pel? Did he not allow the antediluvians one period of life, the cities of the plain another, and us ano- ther ? the first he overwhelmed with water, the next consumed by fire, and the last by an endless variety of means.

But, although there be a diversity in the conduct of God, it is always a diversity of wisdom. Wheth- er he creates a material or an intelligent world ; whether he forms celestial or terrestrial bodies, men, angels, seraphims, or cherubims ; whether he governs the universe by the same, or by different laws ; in all cases, and at all times, he acts like a God, he hath only one principle, and that is order. There is a harmony in his perfections, which he never discon- cerls. Tiiere is in his conduct an uniformity, which is the great character of his actions.. His variety is always wise, or, to repeat the words just now mentioned, the ivisdom of God is of manj/ kinds.

Tliese great truths we intend to set before you to-day ; for on these the apostle intended to treat in his epistle to the Hebrews. Look, said he, on the ])reRent period, reflect on past times, anticipate the future, run through ù\\ dimensions of time, dive in- to the abysses of eternity, you will always lind the perfections of God in exact harmony, you will per ceive an exact uniformity, characterise his actions, you vv'iil acknowledge, that Jesus Clirist is the Inir God and ckrncd life, the same yrsferdoy, nnd to-daj,'-^ and for ever, I John v. 20.

The Uniformity of God in his ùovefnment 451

Are you disposed, my brethren, to elevate your minds a little while above sense and matter ? Can you sufficiently suspend the impressions, which sen- sible objects made on your minds last week, to give such an attention to this subject as its nature and im- portance demand ? Let us then enter into the matter, and God i^rant, while we are contemplating to-day the harmony of his perfections, and the uniformity of his government, we may be changed into his im' age from glory to glory, even as by his Spirit, (iod grant, as far as it is compatible with the inconstancy essential to liuman nature, we may be always the same, and amidst the perpetual vicissitudes of life may iiave only one principle, that is to obey and please him ! Amen.

I shall connect, as well I can, the different expli* cations of my text; 1 would rather conciliate them in this manner, than consume my hour in relating, and comparing them, and in selecting the most prob- iible from them.

These expositions may be reduced to three clas- ses. Some say, the apostle speaks of tlie perst>n of .Tesus Christ; others of his doctrine; and a third class apply the passage to tlie protection tljat he af- fords his church.

The first class of expositors, who apply the text to the person of Jesus Christ, are not unanimous in the strict sense of tlie words; some think, the apos- tle speaks of the human nature of Jesus Christ, and others say, lie speaks of his divine nature. The lat- ter take the text for a proof of his eternity; and ac- cording to them the words are s) nonimous to these^

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458 The Uniformity of God in his Government

I am Alpha and Omega, the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty, Rev i. 8.

The former consider the apostle as speaking of Christ either as man, or as mediator ; and according to them St. Paul means to sa}. The Saviour, whom I propose to you, was the Saviour of Adam, of Abraham, and of tlie whole church, agreeably to what I have elsewhere affirmed, Him hath God set forth a propitiation through faith, for the remission of sins that are past, Rom. iii. 25. that is, his sacrifice always was the relief of sinners.

The second class of interpreters affirm, that St. Paul doth not speak of the person of Jesus Christ: but of his doctrine. In tliis view the text must be connected with the words which immediately follow, he not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. Why would not the apostle have Christians carried about with divers doctrines? Because Jesus Christ, that is Christianity, the religion taught by Jesus Christ, is always the same, and is not subject to the uncertainty of any human science.

But other expositors ascribe a quite different sense to the words, and say, the apostle speaks nei- ther of the person of Clirist, nor of his doctrine. but of that protection which he affords believers. According to this, the text has no connection with the following verse : but with tliat which goes before, St. Paul had been proposing to the believing He- brews the examples of their ancestors and predeces- sors, some of whom had sealed the doctrine of the gospel with their blood. Bcmcmber yoiu* guides

The Uniformity of Ood in his Government. 459

Ti'ho have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. In order to induce them to imitate these bright ex- amples, he adds, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday^ and to-day, and for ever ; that is to say, He support- ed, and rewarded his primitive martyrs, and he will confirm and crown all who shall have courage to fol- low their example.

It would be easy to multiply this list of various opinions: but, as I said, I will connect the three dif- ferent expositions which have been mentioned, and endeavour to shew you the admirable harmony of the perfections of God, and the uniformity of his actions in regard to mankind, first as they appear in the economy of time, and secondly in that of eter- nity ; and we will attempt to prove that God is the same in both.

1. We see in the economy of time four remarkable varieties. 1. A variety in the degrees of knowledge given to the church. 2. A variety in the worship re- quired of it. 3. A variety in the nature of the evi- dences, on which it hath pleased God to found the faith of the church. 4. A variety in the laws, that he hatli thought proper to prescribe. At one time he gave only a small degree of knowledge ; at an- otlier he drew aside the veil, and exposed to pub- lic view the whole body of truth and knowledge. At one time he prescribed the observation of a great many gross ceremonies along wdth that spiritual wor- ship, which he lequired of men ; at another time he required a worship altogether spiritual and free from ceremonial usaoe?- At one time his laws tolerated

460 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

some remains of concupiscence ; at another time he commanded the eradication of every fibre of sin. At one time the church saw sensible miracles, and grounded faith on them ; at another time faith fol- lowed a train of reasoning, made up of principles and consequences. At one time the church partici- pated worldly pomps and grandeurs; at another it experienced all tlie misery and ignominy of tlie world,

A work so different, and, in some sort, so oppo- site in its parts, is however, the vi'ork of one and the same God. And what is more remarkable, a Work, the parts of which are so difï'erent and so op- posite, ariseth from one principle, that is, from the union and harmony of the divine perfections. The same principle, that inclined God to grant the church 3 small degree of light at one time, engaged him to grant a greater degree at another time. The same principle which induced him to require a gross wor- ship under the economy of the law, inclined him to exact a worship wholly spiritual under the gospel ; pnd so of the rest.

J, We see in God's government of his church, va rious degrees of light communicated. Compare the time of Moses witli that of the prophets, and that of the prophets with that of the evangelists and apos- tles, and the difference will be evident. Moses did not enter into a particidar detail concerning God, the world in general, or man in particular. It should seem, the principal view of this legislator, in regard to God, was to establish the doctrine of his usiity ; ■dX most to give a vague idea of his perfections. It

The Uniformity of God in his Government. 461

should seem, his chief design in regard to the world in general, was to prove that it was the production of that God, whose unity he established. And, in regard to man in particular, it should seem, his prin- cipal drift was to teach, that, being a part of a world wliich had a beginning, he himself had a beginning that he derived his existence from the same Creator and from him only could expect to enjoy a happy existence.

Pass from the reading of the writings of Moses to a survey of the prophecies, thence proceed to the gospels and the epistles, and you will see truth un- fold as tlie sacred roll opens. You will be fully con- vinced, that as John the Baptist had more know- ledge than any of his predecessors, so he himself had less than any of his followers.

In these various degrees of knowledge, communi- cated by God to men, I see that uniformity which is the distmguishing character of his actions, and the inviolable rule of his government. The same prin- ciple, that inclined him to grant a little light to the age of Moses, inclined him to afibrd more to the tiuje of the prophets, and the greatest of all to the age in which the evangelists and apostles lived. What is tliis principle ? It is a principle of order, which requires that the object proposed to a faculty be proportioned to this faculty; that a truth proposed to an intelligence be proportioned to this intelli- gence.

What proportion would there have been between the truths pioposed to the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt, and the state in which they then were.

462 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

had God revealed all the doctrines to them which he hath since revealed to us? Could a people born in slavery, employed in the meanest works, without ed- ucation, meditation, and reading, attain ajust notion of those sublime ideas, which the propliets have giv- en us of the Deity? How could God have enabled them to conceive rightly of these truths unless he had more than assisted them, unless he liad new made them? And how could he have re-created them, if 1 may speak so, as far as was necessary to tit tliem for understanding these truths, without annihilating their faculties, and without violating that law of order, which requires every one to make use of his own fac- ulties? What proportion would there have been be- tween the state of the Israelites and their abilities, had God revealed to them some doctrines taught us in the gospel ? These would have been, through the stupidity of the people, useless, and even dangerous to theuj. Thus we may justly suppose of some pro- phecies concerning the IMessiah ; had they represent- ed him in such a manner as the event has sliewn him to us, the representation, far from attaching them to the worship of God, would have tempted them to conform to that of some other nations, which was more agreeable to their concupiscence. Particular- ly, of the doctrine of the Trinity, which makes so considerable a part of tiie Christian system, we may justly suppose what I have said. A people who bad lived among idolaters, a people, v/lio had been ac- customed not only to multiply gods, but also to deify the meanest creatures, could such a peojde have been toJd without danger, that in the Divine essence

The Uniformity of God m his ùovernmenL 466

there was a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit ? Would not this doctrine have been a snare too pow- erful for their reason ? If they so often fell into polytheism, tliat is, into the notion of a plurality of ij;ods, in spite of all the precautions that Moses used to preserve them from it, what, pray, would have been the case, had their religion itself seemed to favour it ?

If we follow this reasoning, we shall sec, that when the church was in a state of infancy, God pro^ portioned his revelation to an infant state, as he pro- portioned it to a mature age, when the church had arrived at maturity. This is an idea of St. Paul, when I îias a child, I thought as a child, 1 Cor. xiii, 11. I thought the perfections of the great God had some likeness to the imperfections of men, at least. I was not sufficiently struck with the immense dis tance between human imperfections and divine ex- cellence; I represented God to myself as a being agitated with human passions, and capable of w ralh, jealousy and repentance : But when 1 became a man. I put away childish things ; God made me understand, that he described himself to be under these emblems for the sake of proportioning himself to my capaci ty, condescending, as it were, to lisp witii me in or- der to learn me to speak plain!}-. When I was a child, I thought as a child; I thougl.t it was a mat- ter of great consequence to man to have fruitful fields, heavy harvests, and victorious armies; I thought a long life protracted through several ages, the great- est felicity that a mortal could enjoy: But when 1 be- came a man, 1 put away childish things ; God then re-

i64 The Uniformity of God in his Government,

vealed to me his design in proposing motives to me adapted to my weakness ; it was to attract me to him- self by these incitements; then I understood, that the longest life, how happy and splendid soever it might be, fell infinitely short of satisfying the wants and desires of a soul, conscious of its own dignity, and answering to the excellence of its origin ; I was convinced, tliat a soul aspiring to eternal felicity, and tilled with the noble ambition of participating the happiness of the immortal God, coiisiders with ecpjal indifference the highest and the meanest offices in society, riclies and poverty, the short duration of twenty years, and the little longer of an hundred. When I was a child, I thought as a child ; I thought the Messiah, so often promised in the prophecies, so often represented in types, and expected with so much ardour by the church, would come to hold a superb court, to march at the head of a numerous ar- my, to erect a throne, to seat himself there, and to make the Romans, the conquerors of the whole earth, lick the dust : But tvhci I became a man, I put away childish things; God informed me, that a Messiah, sent to make me happy, must come to re- strain my avidity for the world, and not to gratify it, to check my passions, and not to irritate them; he instructed me, that a Messiah, appointed to redeem mankind, must be fastened to a cross, and not seat- ed on a throne, must subdue the devil, death, and sin, and not the Romans, must be despised and re- jected, and not encircled with a pompous court.

2. What justifies the government of God on one of these articles, qu the various degrees of light be

Hie Uniformity of God in his Government. 465

stowed on his church, will fully justify him in rej^ard to the worship required by him. Let Jesus Christ, as far as the subject will allow, be opposed to Moses ; contrast Moses giving an hundred ceremonial pre- cepts along with one precept of morality, with Jesus Christ giving an hundred moral precepts with one ceremony. Compare Moses, imposing on the Israel- ites heavy burdens grievous to be borner Matt h. xxiii. 4. with Jesus Christ, proposing an easy yoke and a light burden, chap. xi. 30. Oppose Moses enjoining festivals, purifications, sacrifices, and observances without number, to Jesus Christ reducing all the ri- tural of his religion to baptism and the Lord's sup- per, to a worship the least encumbered and the most artless and simple, that ever a religion proposed, de- claring. Now is the hour, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, John iv. 23. Notwithstanding this seeming difference, God acts on the uniform principle of order. Uniformity, if I may express myself so, is in him the cause of variety, and the same principle, that engaged him to prescribe a gross sensible worship to the Israelites, engageth him to prescribe a worship of another kind to Christians.

Conceive of the Jews, as we have just now de- scribed them, enveloped in matter, loving to see the objects of their worship before their eyes, and, as they themselyes said, to have gods going before them, Exod. xxxii. I. Imagine these gross creatures com- ing into our assemblies, how could they, being all sense and imagination, (so to speak,) exercise the better powers of their souls without objects operat-

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466 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

ing on fancy and sense ? How could they have made reflection, meditation, and thought, supply the place of hands and eyes, they, who hardly knew what it was to meditate ? How could they, who had hardly any idea of spirituality, have studied the nature of God abstractly, which yet is the only way of coiT- ducting us to a clear knowledge of a spiritual being ? If there ever were a religion proper to spiritualize men ; if ever a religion were fitted to produce at- tention and emulation, and to fix our ideas on an in- visible God, certainly it is the Christian religion. And yet how few Christians are capable of ap- proaching God without the aid of sensible objects ? Whence come ricii altars, superb edifices, magnifi- cent decorations, statutes of silver and gold adorned with precious stones, pompous processions, gaudy hab- its, and all that heap of ceremonies, with which one whole community employs the minds, or, shall I rather say, amuses the senses of its disciples ? AH these argue a general disinclination to piety without ceremony. Whence comes another kind of super- stition, which, though less gross in appearance, is more so in effect? How is it, that some of you pc-r- suade yourselves, that God, though he doth not re- quire any longer the pompous worship of the Jews, will yet be perfectly satisfied with the observation of the Christian ritual, although it be always unaccom- panied with the exercise of tlve mind, and the emo~ tions of the heart? Whence comes this kind of su- perstition ? It proceeds from the same disposition, a disinclination, and a difficulty to approach God without the aid of sensible things. And yet, all

The Uniformity of God in his Government. 467

things considered, a pompous worship is more wor- thy of God than a plain worship. The Jew, who offers hecatombs to God, honours the Deity more than the Christian, who offers only prayers to him. The Jew, who cleanseth his hands, feet, and habits, when he goes to present himself before God, honours him much more than the Christian, who observes none of these ceremonies, when he approaches hiui. The Jew, who comes frqm the furthest part of the world to adore the Deity in an elegant temple, honours God much more than the Christian, who worships him in any mean edifice. But God retrenched pomp in the exterior of religion lest the capacities of men's minds, too much taken up with pomp, should not fur- nish those cool reflections of mind, and those just sentiments of heart, of which the Deity appears an object so proper to all, who know him as he is re- vealed in the gospel. If Christians then, who, through the nature of the revelation, with which God hath honoured them, know the Deity better than the Jews knew him, if they find a difficulty in rendering to God a worshij) of heart and mind proportional to this knowledge, what would have been the difficul- ties of the .lews, whose degrees of knowledge were so far inferior to ours ? The same principle, then, that inclined the Supreme Being to exact of his church a gross ceremonial worship under ancient dis- pensations, engageth him to require a worship alto- gether spiritual, and detached from sensible objects, under the dispensation of the gospel.

3. The same may be said of the evidences^ on which God hatli founded the faith of liis church;

468 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

and this is our third article. What a striking diftfer- ence! Formerly the church saw sensible miracles, level to the weakest capacities ; at present our faith is founded on a chain of principles and consequen- ces, which find exercise for the most penetrating geniusses. How many times have infidels reproach- ed us on account of this difference ! How often have they inferred, that the church never saw miracles, because there are none wrought now ! How often have they pretended to prove, that, had miracles ever been wrought, they ought to be performed still. But this triumph is imaginary, and only serves to display the absurdity of those, who make parade of it.

A wise being, who proposeth a truth to an intelli- gent creature, ought to proportion his proofs not on- ly to the importance of the truth proposed, and to the capacity of him, to whom evidence is offered : but also to his own end in proposing it. If he intend only by proposing a truth to make it understood, he will give all his arguments as much clearness and fa- cility as they are capable of having: but if he de- sign by proposing a truth to exercise the faculties of him, to whom it was proposed ; if he intend to put his obedience to the trial, and to render him in some sort worthy of the benefit, which he means to bestow ; then it will be necessary indeed to place the arguments, on which the trutli is founded, in a strong and conclusive point of view : but it will not be necessary to give them all the clearness and fa- cility, of which they are capable.

The Umformily of God in his Government 469

Why then, you will say, did not God give to the contemporaries of Jesus Christ, and his apostleS:, such an exercise of capacity as he gives to Chris- tians now ? Why should a truth, made so very intel- ligible then by a seal of miracles, be inaccessible to us, except by the painful way of reasoning and discussion ? I deny the principle, on which this ob- jection goes. I do not allow, that God exercised them, who lived in the time of C-irist and his apos- tles, less than heexerciseth us. Weigh their circum- stances against yours ; represent Christianity desti- tute of those arguments, which arise in favour of it from the rejection of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles ; imagine men called to own for their God and Redeemei a man, who had no form, nor comeliness^ Isa. liii. 2. a man dragged from one tribu- nal to another, from one province to another, and at last expiring on a cross. How needful were miracles in these sad times, and .with all their aid how hard was it to believe ! Represent to yourselves the whole world let loose against Christians ; imagine the prim- itive disciples required to believe the heavenly ori- gin of a religion, which called them first to be bap- tized in water, then in blood. How necessary were miracles in tliese adverse times, and how hard, with all the encouragement given by them, must the practice of duty be then! Weigh these circumstan- ces against yours, and the balance will appear more equal, than you have imagined. There is, you will perceive, an uniformity in God's government of both, even when his government seems so very dis- similar.

470 The ZJniformity of God in his Government.

4. In like manner, we observe, in the fourth place. a similar uniformity in the various laws prescribed to the church. One of the most famous cjuesiions» which fne theological debates of the latter ages have produced, is that, which regards the difference be- tween the morality of the Old and New Testament, Without pronouncing on the different manners, in which the question hath been answered, I will con tent myself with proposing what, I think, ought to be answered. The morality of both dispensations, it may truly be affirmed, in one sense is absolutely the same: but in another sense it is not so. T^i<^ gî'eat principles of morality, both among Jews and Christians, are absolutely the same. There not on- ly is no diiference , but there can be none. It would be incompatible with the perfections of the Creator, to suppose, tliat, having formed an intelligent crea- ture capable of knowing him, he should dispense with his obligation to this precept, the ground and source of all others. Thou shall hie the Lord thy God nilh all Ihij heart, and nith all thy soid, and with all thy mind. Matt. xxii. 37. This was the morality of Adam and Abraham, Moses and the prophets, Je- sus Christ and his apostles.

But, if we consider the consequences, that result froîîîtiiis principle, and the particular precepts which proceed from it, in these respects morality varies in diiïëîent periods of the church. At all times, and in all places, God required his church to love him with all the hearty and with all the soul, and with all the mind : but, he did not inform his people at all times and in all places the manner, in which he re^

The Unifonnity of God in his Government. 471

quired love to express itself. Expressions of love must be regulated by ideas of Deity. Ideas of De- ity are more or less pure as God reveals himself more or less cleai4y. We have seen what a differ- ence there is between Christians and Jews in this respect. We have even proved, that it was founded on the perfections of God, on those laws of propor- tion, which he inviolably pursues. The laws of pro- portion, then, which God inviolably follows, and the eminence of his perfections also require, that as he hath made himself known to Christians more fully than he revealed himself to the Jews, so he should require of the disciples of Christ a morality more refined, and more enlarged. Variety, therefore, in this branch of divine government, cometh from uni- formity, which, as I have often said, is the grand character of his actions.

Let us not pass over this article lightly, it will guard you against the attacks of some corrupters of morality. I speak of those, who, wishing to re- cal sucli times of licence as God permitted, or tol- erated, before the gospel, retrench the present mo- rality under pretence that what was once allowable is always allowable. These persons are never weary of repeating, that some favourites of heaven were not subject to certain laws ; that it does not appear in any part of their history, either that God censu- red their way of living, or that tliey repented when Uiey were dying. Hence they infer, that some max- ims, which are laid down in our usual sermons, and treatises of morality, originate in the gloom of a cas- uist, or the caprice of a prfarher, and not m the v.'ill

472 The Uniformity of God in his Government

of God. But remember this saying of Jesus Christ, In the beoinning it was not 5o, Matt. xix. 8. The end of religion is to reform and refine man up to the state, in which he was at the beginning, that is, in a state of innocence. This work is done by degrees. It began in the first age of the chinch, it will be fin- ished in the last. As God made himself known to believers before the gospel only in pari, he regula- ted the requisite expressions of love to himself by that degree of knowledge of his perfections, which he had given them ; for his attributes are the ground of this love. He hath made known these attributes more clearly under the gospel, and he apportions the expressions of love accordingly.

But if this article affords us armour against some corrupters of morality, it affords us at the same time, some against you, my dear brethren. When we en- deavour to animate you to pious actions by the ex- amples of Moses, David, and many others, who liv- ed under the old dispensation, you allege, that they were saints of the highest class, and that an attain- ment of such piety as theirs is impossible to you. But recollect our principle. The expressions of our love to God most be regulated by our knowledge of his perfections. The perfections of God are reveal- ed more clearly to Christians than they were to Jews. Among those, that were born of women, there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist : hit he, thaï is least in the king^lom of heaven, is greater than he, Luke vii. 28. The least in love, then, (if I may venture to speak so,) the least in love in the king- dom of heaven must be greater than John the Bap-

The Uniformity of God in his Government 473

tist, as John the Baptist was s^reater than his prede- cessors. As John, therefore, tiad a purer morality than the propliets and the patriarchs, so I ou^ht to have a morality purer than that of the patriarchs and the prophets, yea, than John the Baptist himself, A degree of love to God, then, which would have been accounted flame in them, is lukewarmness and ice in me, to whom God hath revealed himself as a being so amiable, and so proper to inflame his intel- ligent creatures with love to him. A certain attach- ment to life, and to sensible objects, then, which would have been tolerable in them, would be intol- erable in me, who, replete as I am with just and high ideas of the Deity, ought only to be aspiring after tiîat state, in which I shall be united to God more closely, than in this valley of imperfections and miseries I ain allowed to be.

5. Our fifth article is intended to justify the va- rious coudiaonSy in which it hath pleased God to place his church. At one time the church enjoys temporal poujp and felicity, at another it is exposed to wLalever the world can invent of misery and ig- nonrliiy. Once the church filled the highest posts in Egypt in the persons of .Joseph and his family; and afterwards it wrs loaded with Egyptian fetters in the persons of this patriarch's descendants : One while leading a languisliing life in a desert; another time attaining tlie height of its wishes by seeing the waters of Jordan divide to give a passage, by en- tering the land of promise, by beholding the walls of Jericho fall at the sound of trumpets, by over-

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474 The Uniformity of God in his Government

shadowing with an awful fear the minds of Hittites and Peiizzifes, Jebusites and Amorites, Canaanites and Amalekites: sometimes torn from this very country, to which a train of miracles had opened an access, led into captivity by Sennacheribs and Neb- uchadnezzars, and leaving Jerusalem and its temple an heap of ruins ; at other times re-established by Cyrus, and other princes like him, re-assembling fu- gitives who had been scattered over the face of the whole earth, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and re-adorning the temple: now exposed to the most cruel torments, that such a« Nero and Domitian, Trajan, Dioclesian, and Decius could invent ; then rising from ruin by the liberal aid of Constantineand Theodosius, and princes, who like them became pa- trons of the cause. Of this article, as of the form- er, I affirm, uniforinity produced variety ; the same principle that produced the happy days of the tri- umphs of the church, gave birth aiso to the calami- tous times, which caused so many tears.

Let us reason in regard to the church in general, as we reason in regard to eacli private member of it. Do you think, (I speak now to each individual^,) there is a dungeon so deep, a chain so heavy, a mis- ery so great, a malady so desperate, from which God cannot deliver you, were your deliverance suit- able to the eminence of his perfections? Is there, think you, any condition so noble that he cannot el- evate you to it, any title so desirable that he cannot grace you with it, any treasure too immense for him to bestow, would the law of proportion, his invari-

The Uniformity of God in his Government. 475

able rule, permit him? Or dost thou really think, God takes pleasure in imbittering thy life, in taking away thy children, in tarnishing thy glory, in sub- verting thine establishments, in crushing thy house, and in precipitating thee from the highest human grandeur to the lowest and most mortifying station ? Do you think God takes pleasure in seeing a poor wretch stretched on a bed of infirmity, and torment- ed with the gout, or the stone ? Has he any delight in hearing the agonizing mortal exhale his life in sighs and gr<3ans ? Why then doth he at any time re- duce us to these dismal extremities ? Order requires God, who intends to save you, to employ those means, which are most likely to conduct you to sal- vation, or, if you refuse to profit by them, to harden you under them. He wills your salvation, and there- fore he removes all your obstacles to salvation. He takes away a child, because it is become an idol; he tarnishes grandeur, because it dazzles and infatu- ates its possessors ; he subverts palaces, because they make men forget graves, their last homes; he precip- itates men from pinnacles of earthly glory, because they make (hem reasons for vanity and insolence ; he involves his creatures in pain and torture, because these alone make men feel their diminutiveness, their dependence, their nullity. As order requires God, vvlio wills your salvation, to employ the most pro- per means to conduct you to it ; so the same order requires him to punish contempt of it. It is right, that the blackest ingratitude, and the most invincible obduracy, should be punipbed with extreme ilLs.

476 The Uniformity of God in his Government

It is just, if God be not glorified in your convei- sior, he should be in your destruction.

Let US reason in regard to the church in general, as we do in regard to the individuals who compose it. A change in the condition of the church, doth not argue any change in the attributes of God. Is his arm shortened, since he elevated to a throne those illustrious potentates, who elevated truth and piety along with themselves ? Is his hand shortened since he ingulfed Pharaoh in the waves ? since he obliged Nebuchadnezzar to eat grass like a beast? Since he sent a destroying angel to slay the army of Senna- cherib? Since he struck the soul of Belshazzar with terror, by writing with a miraculous hand on the very walls of his profane festal room the sentence of his condemnation ? The same eminence of per- fections, which engageth him sometimes to make all concur to the prosperity of his cliurch, engageth him at other times to unite all adversities against it.

II. We have considered Jesus Christ in the econ- omy of time, now let us consider him in the econ- omy of eternity. VVlie shall see in this as in the former, that harmony of perfections, that uniformi- ty of government, which made our apostle say, Je- sus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for &ûer.

The same principle, that formed his plan of human government in the economy of time, will form a plan altogether different in that of eternity. The same principle of proportion, which inclines him to confine our faculties Wilhin a narrow circjf^ during tltis life.

The Uniformity of God in his Government. 477

will incline him infinitely to extend the sphere of them in a future state.

The same principle which induces him now to communicate himself to us in a small degree, will then induce him to communicate himself to us in a far more eminent degree.

The same principle, that inclines him now to as- semble us in material buildings, to cherish our devo- tion by exercises savouring of the frailty of our state, by the singing of psalms, and by the participation of sacraments, will incline him hereafter to cherish it by means more nol)le, more sublime, better suited to the dignity of our origin, and to the price of our redemption.

The same principle, which inclines him to involve us now in indigence, misery, contempt, sickness, and death, will then induce him to free us from all these ills, and to introduce us into that happy state, where there will be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, and where all tears shall he wiped away from our eyeSy Rev. xxi. 4. Proportion requires, that intelligent creatures should be some time in a state of probation, and this is the nature of the present dispensation : but the same law of proportion requires also, that after intelligent creatures have been some time in a slate of trial, and have answered the end of tlieir being placed in such a stale, there should be a state of retribution in an eternal economy. The same principle, then, that inclines Jesus Christ to adopt the plan of his present government, will incline him to adopt a different plan in a future state. There is, therefore, a harmony of perfection, an uniformi-

478 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

ty of action in all the varieties of the two economies. In the economy of time, then, as well as in the econ- omy of eternity, Jesus Christ is the same.

.But who can exhaust this profound subject in the time prescribed for a single sermon ? Our time is nearly elapsed, and I must leave you, my brethren, to enlai';^e on such conclusions as I shall just men- tion. God is always the same; he pursues one plan of government, arising from one invariable princi- ple. By this truth let us regulate our faith, our mo- rality, and our ideas of our future destiny.

1. Our faith. I will venture to affirm, one chief cause of the weakness of our faith is our inattention to this harmony of perfections, this uniformity of government in God. We generally consider the perfections of God and his actions separately, and independent on those infinite relations, which the last have to the first. Hence, when God displays what we call his justice, he seems to us to cease to be kind, and when he displays what we call goodness, he seems to suspend his rigid justice. Hence it seems to us, his attributes perpetually clash, so tliat he cannot exercise one without doing violence to an- other. Hence we sometimes fear God without lov- ing him, and at other times love him without fear- ing him. Hence we imagine, so to speak, many dif- ferent gods in one deity, and are ignorant whether the good God will favour us with his benefits, or the just God will punish us with his avenging strokes.

False ideas! more tolerable in people involved in pagan regions of darkness and shadows of death than in such as live where the light of the gospel

The Uniformity of God in his Government. 479

shines with so much splendor. Let us adore only one God, and let us acknowledge in him only one perfection, that is to say, a harmony, which results from all his perfections. When he displays what we call his bounty, let us adore what we call his jus- tice ; and when he displays what we call his justice, let us adore what we call his goodness. Let us al- low, that the exercise of one attribute is no way in- jurious to another. If this idea be impressed upon our minds, our faith will never be shaken, at least it will never be destroyed by the vicissitudes of the world, or by those of the church. Why ? Because we shall be fully convinced, that the vicissitudes of both pro- ceed from the same cause, I mean the immutability of that God, who saith by the mouth of one of lus prophets, /, the Lord, change not, Mai. iii. 6.

2L But, when I began this discourse, I besought God, that by considering this subject, we might be changed into the same image hy his Spirit, and this pe- tition I address to him again for you. (iod hath only one principle of his actions, that is, proportion, order, fitness of things. Let love of order be the principle of all your actions, my dear brethren, it is the character of a Christian, and would to God it w^ere the character cf all my hearers. A Christian hath only one principle of action. We often see him perform actions, which seem to liave no rela- tion ; however, they all proceed from the same prin- ciple. The same motive, that carries him to church, engageth him to go to court ; he goes into the army on the same principle, that induces him to visit an hospital ; the motive, which engageth him to per-

180 The Uniformity of God in his Government.

form acts of repentance and mortification, inclines him to make one in a party of pleasure ; because if order, or fitness of things, requires him sometimes to perform mortifying actions, it also requires him at other times to take some recreation : because as order requires him sometimes to visit the sick, it re- quires him at other times to defend his country by war ; because if order calls him sometimes to cJurch, it calls him at other times to court ; and so of the rest. In Scripture-style this disposition of mind is called walking with God, setting the Lord always before us, Gen. v. 24. Psal. xvi. 8. Glorious char- acter of a Christian, always uniform, and like him- self! He does nothing, if I may be allowed to speak 30, but arrange his actions differently, as his circum- stances vary.

3. Finally, this idea of God is very proper to re- gulate that of your future destiny. There is, as we have been proving in this discourse, one principle of order, that governs both the econoinies of time and eternity. But, we have elsewhere observed, there are two sorts of order ; there is an absolute and a relative order. Relative order, or fitness, consid- ered in itself, and independently on its relation to another economy, is a real disorder. In virtue of this relative order, we may live happily here a while in the practice of sin : But, as this kind of order is a violent state, it cannot be of long duration. If, therefore, you would judge of your eternal destiny, your judgment must be regulated not by an idea of relative order, which will soon end: but by that of real, absolute order, wiîich must have an eternal du-

The Uniformity of God in his Governmcni. 481

ration ; and in virtue of which vice must be punish- ed with misery, and virtue must have a lecompence of felicity.

Put these c[uestions sometimes to yourselves, and let each ask ; What will my condition be in a state of absolute fitness? I, who have devoted my whole life to counteract the great desiojn of religion, to misrepresent its nature, to check its progress, to en- ervate its arguments, to subvert its dominion, sliall I shine then as a star of the first magnitude, along \\\\\\ them, who have turned many to righleousness, or shall I partake of the punishment of the tempter and his infamous legions? I who tremble at the thought of giving any thing away, I, who enrich. myself at the private expence of individuals, and at the public expence of my country, at the expence of my friends, and even of my children, shall I share in a future state the felicity of that generous society, which breathes benevolence only, and v. hicii considers the happiness of others as its own ; of that society, which is happy in the persons of all, who participate their felicity ; or shall I share the misery of those infernal societies, which seek j)leasure in the miseries of others, and so become niutualiy self- tormentors ?

Do we wish for a full assurance of a claitn to eternal happiness ? l^et us then by our conduct foj ai an inseparable relation betweeii our eternal felicily and the invariable perfections of that God, who changeth not ; let us spare no pains to an ive a I that happy state ; let us address to God our most fervent prayers to engage him to bless (he efTortS; wliich v.e

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482 The Xlniformily of God in his Government,

make to enjoy it ; and after we have seriously engag- ed in this great work, let us fear nothing. The same principle, which induced God to restore Isaac to Abrahatn, to raise, as it were, that dear child by a kind of resurrection from his father's knife; the same principle, that engaged him to elevate David from the condition of a simple shepherd to the rank of a king ; let us say more, the same principle, which en- gaged him to open the gales of heaven to the author and Jinisher of our faith, Heb. xii. 2. after the con- summation of the work, for which he came ; the same principle will incline him to unfold the gates of heaven to us, when we shall have finished the work for which we were born. Our felicity will be found- ed on the rock of ages ; it will be incorporated with the essence of an unchangeable God ; we shall stand fast in perilous times, and, when the world, the whole world tumbles into ruins, we shall exclaim v^ith the highest joy, My God! thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They perish : but thou shall endure. They all shall wax old like a garment : hut thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The chil- dren of thy servants shall continue; and their seed shall he established before thee, Psal. cii. 24. &lc. God grant this may be our happy lot ! To iiim be honour and glorv for ever. Amen.

THE END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

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