Sermons translated from the original French of the late Rev. James Saurin, pastor of the French church at the Hague

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SERMONS

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

OF

THE LATE REV. JAMES SAURIN

VOL. 11.
BY ROBERT ROBIJVSO.y.

SERMONS

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH
. OP

THE LATE REV. JAMES SAURIN,

PASTOR OF THE FRENCH CHURCH AT THE HAGUE*

BY ROBERT ROBINSON*

VOLUME II.

ON THE TR UTH OF RE VELATION.

SECOND AMERICAN
FROM THE FIFTH LONDON EDITION.

SCUEXECTADY :

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM J. M'CARTEE.

E.<J E. Hosford—Prijitevs-' Albany.

1813.

PREFACE.

JL BAT spirit of inquiry which produced the Re-
formation, operated in France, as in all other coun-
tries, and gave bein^ to an endless variety of differ-
ent sentiments of religion. All the reformers, how-
ever, agreed in one grand article, that is, in substitu-
ting the authority of the holy scriptures in the place
of the infallibility of the Bishop of Rome.

The elevation of an obscure book, (for such, to
the shame of Popery, the Bible had been,) to the
dignity of a supreme judge, whose decisions were
final, and from which there lay no appeal, naturally
excited the attention of some who were capable, and
of many who thought themselves so, to examine the
authenticity of so extraordinary a book. At the
Reformation, the infallibility of the Pope was the
popular inquiry ; and, after it, the infallibility of Je-
sus Christ came under consideration. Curiosity and
conscience concurred to search, and several circum-
stances justified the inquiry.

Many spurious books had been propagated in the
world: the Jewish nation, and the Romish church,
paid as much regard to tradition as to the holy scrip-
lures : Protestants derived different, and even contra-
ry doctrines, from the same scriptures; the auttientici-
ty of some books of both testaments had never been
universally acknowledged, and the points in litiga-

VOL. II. 1

11 PREFACE.

tion were of the last importance. These considera-
tions excited the industry of a multitude of critics.
One examined the chronolog^y of the Bible, another
the oreography of it, a third its natural philosophy, a
fourth its history ; one tried its purity by the rules
of grammar, another measured its style by the laws
of rhetoric ; and a most severe scrutiny the book un-
derwent.

Nothing came to pass in this inquiry but what
might have been expected. Some defended tlie
book by solid, and some by silly arguments; while
others reprobated it, as void of any rational proof at
all. There are certain pre-requisites essential to the
investigation of truth, and it is hardly credible, that
all who examined, or who pretended to examine, the
divinity of the christian canon, possessed them.

jNo sooner had Charles IX. publislied the first
edict of pacification in France, in 1562, than there
appeared at Lyons, along with many other sects, a
party who called themselves Deists. The edict pro^
Tided, that no person should be prosecuted on ac-
count of matters of conscience, and this sect claim-
ed the benefit of it.

Deists differ so much from one another, that it is
hard to define the term Deism, and to say precisely
what the word stands for. Dr. Clarke takes the de-
nomination in the most extensive signification, and
distinguishes Deists into ybwr sorts.

*' The first class believe ihe existence o^di Supreme
*' Being, who made the world, but who does not at
^' iall concern himself in the management of it.

f»REFACE. iii

^' The second consists of those who believe, not
" only the being, but also the providence of (lod
*' with respect to tlie natural world ; but who, not
" allowing any difference between moral good and
" evil, deny that God takes any notice of the mor-
" ally good or evil actions of men; these things de-
" pending, as they imagine, on the arbitrary con-
" stitutions of human laws.

" The Ihii'd sort, having right apprehensions con-
^' cerning the natural attributes of God, and his all-
" governing Providence, and some notions of his
" moral perfections also, yet being prejudiced against
" the notion of the immortality of the human soul,
" believe that men perish entirely at death, and that
*' one generation shall perpetually succeed another,
" without any future restoration, or renovation of
" things.

" The fourth consists of those who believe the ex-
" istence of a Supreme Being, together with his
" providence in the government of the world, as also
" the obligations of natural religion : but so far only
" as these things are discoverable by the light of na-
" tiire alone, without believing any divine revelation.
" These last are the only true Deists."

The rise of the Deists, along with that of other
^ects and parties among the reformed churches,
seemed to confirm one argument of the Roman
catholics against the Reformation. When tlie re-
formers had pleaded for the sufficiency of revela-
tion, and for the private right of judging of its
meaning, the divines of the church of Rome had
always replied, that unanimity in the faith is the

iV PREFACE.

test of the true cburch of Christ ; that the church
of Rome had always enjoyed such an unity : that
the allowance of liberty of conscience would pro-
duce innumerable opinions; that people of the same
sentiments would associate for the support and pro-
pagation of their pretended faith ; and that, conse-
quently, religious parties would counteract one an-
other, to the entire subversion of Christianity itself.
Hence they inferred the absurdity of that principle
on which protestantism stood, and the absolute ne-
cessity of a living infallible judge of religious truths.
The event above-mentioned seemed to confirm this
reasoning.

When these ideas entered the mind of a man of
fruitful genius in the church of Rome, they operated
in the most eccentric manner imaginable. A popu-
lar orator, or, who did ten times more mischief, a
court-chaplain, would collect a few real improprie-
ties amon^ protestants, subjoin a thousand more ir-
regularities of his ow^n invention, mere creatures of
his superstitious fancy, paint them in colours the
most frightful, exhibit them to public view under
images the most tragical, ascribe them all to that
horrid monster the right of private judgment, and
by these means endeavour to establish the old sys-
tem, tlat destroyed men's lives, on the ruins of that
new one, which benevolently proposed to save them.
The weaker protestants were intimidated by this
vile bombast ; and the wiser, who had been educa-
ted papists, that is to say, whose tender minds had
been perverted w ith a bad philosophy, and a worse
divinity, were hard pressed with this idle argument.

PREFACE.

The famous Peter Viret, who was pastor of the re-
foniied church at Lyons, at this first appearance of
the deists, not only wrote against them; but, we
are sorry to say, he did more, he joined with the
arcl>bishop's vicar in persecuting them. What a
motley figure! The voice of Jacob, and the hands

of Esau !

Some of the more candid protestants contented
themselves with making two observations, which
they thought were sufficient to answer the objec-'
tions of Rome on this article. First, they said, It
is not true that there are no religious controversies
in the church of Rome ; there are two hundred and
thirty-seven contrarieties of doctrine among the
Romish divines. Secondly, if it were true, the qui-
et of the members of that church would not prove
their unity in the foith. A negative unanimity, tl at
is, a freedom Irom religious differences, ma; proceed
from ignorance, negligence, or fear: the two first
resemble the quiet of the night, when all are asleep;
or the stillness of a church-yard, where all are dead;
and the last is the taciturnhy of a slave under a
tyrant's rod. These observations were not imper-
tinent, for although none of our disputes are mana-
ged without hujnblmg marks of human infirmity,
yet, on a cool balance of accounts, it will appear,
that the moral good produced by liberty of con-
science is far greater than the moral evil sufiiered.
Peevish tempers, and puerile mistakes, mix with free
inquiry ; but without inquiry fair and free we should
have no religion at all.

Ti preface:.

Had the Protestants done only that with the wri-
tni^s of Moses and Paul, which they did with the
writings of Honmer and Tacitus, had they fetched
them out of dusty holes in libraries, exposed them
to public view, and left tliem to shift for themselves,
their authenticity, we presume, would have shined
with inimitable lustre ; for fewer objections have
lain against the book, than against the methods that
have been used to enforce it. But that fatal notion
of uniformity, this absurd dogma, unity in the faith
is the test of a true church, misled those worthy men,
and they adopted the spirit of persecution, that child
of the mother of abominations. Rev. xvii. 5, whom
folly had produced, and whom cruelty had hitherto
maintained.

In order to vie with the church of Rome in point
of uniformity, and to excel it in point of truth, the
reformers extracted, what they supposed, the sense
of scripture; not on plain, obvious, essential truths;
but on doctrines extremely perplexed and difficult ;
these extracts they called Confessions of Faith, these
they signed; and all who refused to sign them they
disowned, and persecuted out of their communities.

Having done these things, not according to the
pattern shewed by their divine Master, in his plain
and peaceful sermon on the mount of Olives, Heb.
viii. 5. but according to the arcana imperii of the no-
man, who sitteth on seven mountains, and who reigneth
over the kings of the earth, Rev. xvii. 9. 18. they boast-
ed of enjoying as good an uniformity as that of which
the catholic church vaunted.

PREFACE. Vil

If they, who first prosecuted these unrighteous
measures in the protestant churches, could have fore-
seen the dismal consequences of them, surely they
must have lain in sackcloth and ashes, to lament
their anti-christian zeal, which, by importing exotics
from Rome, by planting them in reformed churches,
and by flattering the magistracy into the dirty work
of cultivating them, spoiled the growth of reason
and religion, and cherished, under their deleterious
shade, nothing but that unprofitable weed, implicit
faith.

Let a dispassionate spectator cast his eye on the
christian world, and, when he has seen the rigorous
measures tl at have been used to establish, as it is cal-
led, the faith of the Reformers, let him turn his eye
to the chuich of Rome on the one hand, and to sec-
taries on \\\e other, and attend to the consequences
of these measures among both. Catholics laugh at
Protestant arguments against the infallibility of the
Bishop of Rome. See, say they, mutant clypeos, the
reformed liave destroyed one Pope to create an hun-
dred. Calvin is infallible at Geneva, Luther in Ger-
many, in England Cranmer, and in Scotland Knox!
How wise the doctrine of infallibility ! how just and
necessary the practice of the Inquisition ! The pre-
tended Protestants have tried in vain to govern
churches witliout severity; they themselves, who
have exclaimed the most violently against it, have
been obliged to adopt it. Sectaries, on the other
hand, avail themselves of these practices, and, not
distinguishing between Christianity itself and the
professors of it, charge that on the laws of our prince.

Viii PREFACE.

wliich is chargeable only on the inadvertency of his
subjects.

Other times, other manners! Whether the re-
proaches of the papists, the increase of learninfi^. pie-
ty, and experience, or whatevei else have melio! a-
ted the reformed churches, the French protestants
rarely persecute; and when they do,. it is plain they
do that as a body in a synod, which not one of them
would dare to avow as a private divine. Danger-
ous distinction ! Should an upright man vote for a
measure which he would blush to enforce ! Should
he not endeavour to abrogate canons, which, for the
soul of him, he has not impiety enough to execute ?
Shall protestants renounce that merchandise of Rome,
which consist of odours, and ointments, and chariotSy
and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and continue that
more scandalous traffic which consists of slaves and
souls of men ? Rev. xviii. 12, 13.

If a counsel, or a n:ork, be of God, ye cannot over-
throw it. Acts V. 38, 39. is one of the surest axioms
in the world ; and if there be such a thing in the
world as dignity, that is, propriety of character, it
must be in that christian, who, disdaining every car-
nal weapon, maintains the truth of his religion by
placid reasoning, and by a holy life. Other influ-
ence is unscriptural, and unnatural too. We may
admire the genius of a deist, avail ourselves of his
learning, and lament his abuse of both: but we may
not touch his person, his property, his liberty, his
character, his peace. To his own Master he standcih
or falleth, Rom. xiv. 4.

PREFACE. ts

We be^ leave to subjoin three observations in re-
gard to deism. Deists are pot so numerous as sotne
have imagined. Real christians have occasioned vi-
olent prejudices against Christianity. Very few de-
ists have taken up the argument on its true grounds;
and they, who have, could not support it.

Deists are not so numerous as some have imagined.
Mons. de Voltaire has thought proper to inform his
countrymen, in his Additions to his General History ^
that " Deism, which Charles II. seemed openly to
" profess, became the reigning religion" in England :
that "the sect is become very numerous :" and that " a
*' number of eminent writers have made open pro-
" fession of deism." How this agreeable French
writer came to know this, w^ho can tell, if, as he af-
firms a little lower, " Deists allow a diversity of
" opinions in others, and seldom discover their own;"
'^' and, if deists have only a private form of worship,
" each worshipping God in his ow^n house, and as-
" sisting without scruple at all public ceremonies ?"
Surely IMons. Voltaire mistook, he meant to describe
a hypocrite, and not a deist.

If a deist be one who, having examined the reli-
gion of nature, and the religion of scripture, gives
the preference to the former, and rejects the latter,
it may be affirmed, I think, tliat the number of De-
ists is very small. In a comparative view, the num-
ber is too inconsiderable to be mentioned. Th©
rank of a Herbert, the wit of a Shaftesbury, the style
of a Bolingbroke, the scurrilous buffoonery of a
AV'oolston, along with tlie wisdom and piety of the
Lockes, and Lelands, and Lardners, who have op-

VOU II. 2

X PREFACE.

posed thiem, have given a name to deism ; but the
number of its professors is trifling, and of no account.
If Mons. de Yoltaire meant to relate an historical
fact, he ought to have enumerated the numtrous pro-
fessors of Christianity, and the eminent writers in de-
fence of it, and then the numerous professors of de-
ism would have diminished and disappeared. If he
meant to give a sanction to deism on account of its
numerous defenders, he is a fresh example of that
weakness, to which great philosophers are sometimes?
subject, the weakness of sacrificing a sound logic to
a silly prejudice.

Two sorts of people are fond of multiplying De-
ists; Bigots, and Deists themselves. Deists take
the liberty of associating with themselves Confuci-
us, Zoroaster, Socrates, and all the ancient philoso-
phers. They first suppose that these philosophers
would have rejected revelation, had it been propos-
ed to them, and then they speak of them as if they
had actually rejected it. But, if the gospel be not
a system of absurdity, adapted to credulity, the pro-
bability is greater that they would have received,
than that they would have rejected it; and if, as
Lord Bolingbroke says, " it must be admitted, that
" Plato insinuates, in many places, the want, or the
" necessity of a divine revelation, to discover thje
" external service God requires, and the expiation
" for sin, and to give stronger assurances of the re-
" Avards and punishments that aw^ait men in another
*' world ;" it becomes highly probable, tliat Plato
would have embraced the christian revelation ; and
were the testimony of Jesus Christ admissible, it is

PREFACE. ^

absolutely certain, that, if the mighty worksy which
ivere done, in Judea, had been done amon^ the liea-
thens, many heathens ivoidd have repented of Pagan-
ism in sackcloth and ashes, Matt. xi. 21, kc. To the
army of philosophers they add all those christians,
ivho do not understand, or who do not practise, the
dictates of Christianity. With this hypothetical rea-*
soning they attack Christianity, and boast of numbers,
while all their votaries are so few, that a child may
write them. Bigots, who make scripture, and their
sense of it, the same thing, practise the same pious
fraud, and turn over all those to the deistical party,
who do not allow their doctrines. Hence the popu-
lar notion of the multiplicity of Deists.

From the charge of deism first, the populace ought
to be freed. Too many of them live \Yithout any
religion. The religion of nature is as unknown to
them as the religion of scripture. When they think
of religion, their error is credulity, and their spirit-
ual guides soon find, that the believing of too much,
and not the believing of too little, is th^ir mistake.
They are wicked: but they are not deists; for the
term deism surely stands for admitting tlie religion
of nature, as well as for the renouncing of revela-
tion. But of both, in general, they are alike igno-
rant.

They, who renounce jjopular doctrines, are not there*
fore deists. The learned and pious Dr. Bekker,
one of the pastors at Amsterdam, renounced the
popular opinion of the power of the devil, and pub-
lished a book against it in 1691. He seemed to
doubt also of the eternity of hell-torments. He was

Kli iPREFACfi.

reputed a deist, and the consistory, the classes, and
the synods, proceeded against him, suspended him
first from the communion, and deposed him at last
from the office of a minister. Yet Dr. Bekker was
0 fast friend of revelation, and all his crime lav in
expounding some literal passages of revelation alle-
gorically. Not the book ; but the received mean-
ing of it, he denied.

The deists ought not to claim them, ivho affirm,
that it is not the property of the truths of revelation to
square ivith philosophy. Mons. VoHaire takes Pom-
ponatius for a deist. Pompon: tins denied the natural
immortality of the soul; he affirmed, that it could
not be proved by principles of philosophy : but he
believed, and maintained the immortality of the soul
on the testimony of revelation. This learned Ital-
ian philosopher was persecuted by the monks; his
book, it is said, was burnt by the Venetians ; and
the modern deists have adopted him ; yet Pompona-
tius was a believer of revelation, and, by believing
the immortality of the soul on the testimony of
scripture, he discovered the most profound venera-
tion for it, a deference exactly similar to that which
trinitarians pay to its testimony concerning the na-
ture of God.

\^ hat Pomponatius affirmed of the immortality of
the soul, Bayle affirmed of all the mysteries of the
gospel ; but we do not allow that Bayle was there-
fore a deist. Thus he writes: " If one of the apos-
" ties, St. Paul for instance, when among the Athe-
^' nians, had besougfit the Areopagus to permit him
" to enter the lists against all philosophers ; had he

PREFACE. Xlll

"=' offered to maintain a disputation upon the three
" persons, who are but one God ; and if, before he
" began the disputation, he had acknowledged tlie
^' truth of the rules laid down by Aristotle in his lo-
" gic, whether, with regard to the terms of oppo-
*' sition, or the characteristics of the premises of a
" demonstrative syllogism, &c.: lastly, if, after these
"preliminaries were well settled, he had answered, tliat
" our reason is too weak to ascend to the knowledge
*' of the mysteries in opposition to which objections
*' were proposed to him; in such a case, he would
" have sutFered as much shame, as it is possible for a
" defeated opponent to meet with. The Athenian
" philosophers must have gained a complete victory ;
" for he would have been judged and condemned
^' agreeably to the maxims, the truth of which he
"had acknowledged before. But had the philoso-
" phers employed those maxims in attacking him,
" after he had informed them of the foundation of
" his faith, he might have opposed the following bar-
" rier to them; that his doctrines were not within
" the cognizance of reason ; that they had been re-
" vealed by heaven ; and that mankind must believe
'' them, though they could not comprehend them.
" The disputation, in order for its being carried on
" in a regular manner, must not have turned upon
" the following question, whether these doctrines
" were repugnant to the rules of logic and metaphys-
" ics : but on the question, whether they had been
*' revealed by heaven. It would have been impos-
" sible for St. Paul to have been defeated, except it
^' could have been proved to him, that God did not

XlV PREFACE.

" require those things to be believed."* This rea*
soning does not appear to favour deism ; it seems to
place the mysteries of Christianity on their true base.

Neither are those to be repult^d Deists, who doubts
or deny, the inspiration of some books ivhich are usual-
ly accounted sacred. Luther denied the inspiration
of the Epistle of St. James; Grotius that of the
Song of Solomon; and Dion^sius, Bishop of Alex-
andria, denied tl:at the Apv^calypse was written by
the Apusde John ; yet no one of these was a Deist.

Nor ought the Deist to claim those learned critics,
who allow that tie scriptures have undergone the fate
of all other books, and who therefore expose and
amend the errors of copyists, expunge interpolations,
restore mutilated ()assages, and deal with the wri-
tings of St. Paul as they do with the writings of Thu-
cydides. The chronology, the geography, the his-
tory, the learning of the Bible, (if the expression be
not improper) must necessarily submit to a critical
investigation, and upright critics have self-evident
rules of trial. The most severe pi^ce of criticism
on revelation is at the same tim.e one of the most
excellent defences of it. One single rule, had it been
thought worthy of that attention which it merits,
\vould have spared the writing of many a folio, and
have freed some christians from many a religious
reverie.t Yet the author of this piece of criticism,

* Gen. Diet. vol. x. Illustration upon the Manichees.

t Mons. Le Clerc expresses this rule thus ; Multa videri in.
■ijej'sionibus emfihat ca^ cjucb in ijisis fontihus nullam emfihasin ha-
fjcnt. — Ars. Crit. torn. i. p. 2. s. i. c. 4. This rule of interpreta^
tion, which regards the idiom of a language, deserves more atten-
tion, it should seem, than hath been usually paid to it.

PRETACE. XV

the great Le Clerc, has been, by some of his bigotted
countrymen, accounted a Deist.

Finally, we cannot resign those brightest orna-
ments of the christian church, whose sense and grace
will not allow tbem to be doi^matical, and who hesir
fate about some doctrines generally received by their
own communities. The celebrated Pliilip Melanc-
thon has been taxed with scepticism : but far be
the imputation from him! " He was one of the
" wisest and best men of his age, (says a certain his-
" torian ;) he was of a sweet, peaceful disposition,
" had a great deal of wit, had read much, and his
*' knowledge was very extensive. The combina-
" tion of such qualities, natural and acquired, is or-
" dinarily a foundation for diffidence. Melancthon
" was by no means free from doubts, and there were
" abundance of subjects, upon which he durst not
" pronounce this is so, and it cannot be otherwise. He
" lived among a sect of people, who to him appear-
" ed passionate, and too eager to mix the arts of hu-
" man policy, and the authority of the secular arm,
" with the affairs of the ci urch. His tender con-
" science made him afraid that this might be a mark
" of reprobation. Alt! ough he drew up the Augs-
" burgh confession, yet he iated disputes in religion,
'' and when his mother asked him how she should
" conduct her belief amidst so many controversies,
" Continue, answered he, to believe and pray as you
" have hitherto done, and let these wars of contro-
" versy give you no manner of ti'ouble." This is
the Melancthon who was su^^pected of deism I

XVI PREFACE.

Several more classes might be added to these : but
these are sufficient to prove that real deists are not
by far so numerous as reputed ones. The cause of
deism, unsupported by reason, may magnify its lit-
tle all : but the cause of revelation lias little to fear
from the learning, less from the morality, and nothing
from the number of its opponents.

When some atheists appeared in the .Tewish
church, and attacked the knowledge and worship of
God, the people of God were intimidated : but, the
royal Psalmist justly observes, they were in great fear,
where no fear was, Psal. liii. 5. Similar events have
produced similar fears in the christian church, and
to these honest, but ignorant fears, we ascribe the
much greater part of those pious frauds with which
christians have disgraced the cause of God. Most
of tlie fathers, most of the church of Rome, and
some protestant churches, have treated Christianity
like an old crazy palace, which rec[uires props or
supporters on every side; and they have manifested
great injudiciousness in tl e choice of supporters.
The gospel stands like a stately, sturdy oak, defy-
ing the attack of ^\ii\y storm: but they, who had
pitched their tent beneath its shade, heard a rustling
among the leaves, trembled for the fate of tlie tree,
and, to secure it, surrounded it with a plantation of
oziers. To this ignorant timidity, and not to the
base tricks of knavery, the sordid arts of a sorry
avarice, or the barbarous pleasure of shedding hu-
man blood, we charitably attribute the greatest ab-
surdities in the christian chuichf

PREFACE. XVli

These absurdities, however, have produced very
bad effiects, and they oblige us to own, that real
christians have occasioned violent prejudices against
Christianity,

Some christians have endeavoured to support the
cause of Christianity by spurious books ; some by
juggling tricks, called miracles ; some by the impo=
sition of superstitious ceremonies ; some by the pro-
pagation of absurd doctrines ; some have pretended
to explain it by a wretched philosophy ; others have
exposed it to derision under pretence of adorning it
with allegory; some have pleaded for it by fines,
and fires, and swords ; others have incorporated it
w ith civil interests ; most have laid down false canons
of interpretation, and have resembled that synod
which condemned the aforementioned Dr. Bekker,
because he " had explained the holy scriptures so as
" to make them contrary to the catechism, and par-
" ticularly to the articles of faith which he had
*' himself subscribed,'''' Above all, the loose lives of
the professors of Christianity, and particularly of
some of the ministers of it, have covered the daugh-
ter of Sion with a cloud, and have cast down from hea-
ven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, Lam. ii. 1.

Involve Christianity in all these thick mists, sur-
round it with all these phenomena, call a weak eye,
or a wicked heart, to contemplate it, and, without
a spirit of prophecy, the discovery may be foretold ;
the observer will become a reasoner .... a
philosopher ... a deist.

These are the topics, and not the gospel itself,
which most deists have attacked : but if we agrea

VGt. II, 3

XVlll PREFACE.

to exonerate Christianity of all these incumbrances ;
what have deists to answer ? Very few of them ham
taken vp the argument on its true grounds, and they,
who have could not support it.

When a Frenchman undertakes to attack Chris-
tianity, the disputes of his countrymen afford him
an ample supply; he borrows arms of every party
of christians, he conquers popery with protestant
weapons, opposes the visions of quietism with the
subtleties of JansenisTu, the mysteries of Jansenius
with tlie laws of good sense ; and, having: defeated
absurdity, he vainly imagines he has obtained a vic-
tory over Christianity. English deists have taken
the same method, and as our country has the same
excesses, they have an ample field of glory before
them. Christianity has nothing to do with the er-
rors of St. Austin, or tlie dreams of Madam Bour-
ignon ; but it is founded on a few facts, the evidence
of which can never be disproved. The knowledge
of tl ese is a preservative against deism.

To establish these facts was the original design of
Mons. Saurin in the following sermons, as it is mine
in endeavouring to translate them. Those, who are
acquainted witfi his sermons, well know, that there
aie in the twelve volumes many more on the same
topics: but, as it was impossible to put them all in-
to one volume, 1 have been obliged to make the best
choice in my power, and have arranged them in the
following order:

The first sermon contains a set of rules essentially
necessary to the investigating of truth, and a few
reasons to enforce the practice of them. The se-

PREFACE. XIX

cond proposeth an examination of the truths of chris-
tianity, and settles rules of disputation peculiar to
this controversy. The facts follow in the succeed-
ing sermons, the birth, the ministry, the resurrec-
tion of Jesus Christ, <fec. Four of the last discour-
ses expose injidelity and recommend Christianity ; and
the last of all is an exhortation to him who is sup-
posed to have found the gospel of Christ, to hold it
fast, as a system of truth, and to avoid those snares,
into which christians are liable to be drawn.

May our readers have these things always in remem-
brance ; for we have notfoHotved cunningly devised fa-
bles, 2 Pet. i. 15. &;c. but a sure word of prophecy y
history and precept, which holy men of God spakCy
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

CONTENTS

OF THE

ISECOND VOLUME.

SERMON L

The Price of Truth.
Proverbs xxiii. 23.

Page 25

SERMON II.

The Enemies and the Arms of Christianity.
Ephesians vi. 11, 12, 13.

SERMON III.

The Birth of Jesus Christ,
Isaiah ix. 6, 7.

SERMON ly.

The Variety of Opinions about Christ.
Matthew xvL 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

61

93

123

XXii CONTENTS.

SERMON V.

The little Success of Christ's Ministry.

Romans x. 21.

Page 153

SERMON VL

Christianity not sedhioiis.
Luke xxiii. 5.

SERMON YII.

Christ the King of Truth.
.ToHN xviii. 36, 37, 38.

SERMON YIII.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Psalm cxviii. 15, 16.

SERMON TX.

The Effusion of the Ploly Spirit.
Acts ii. 37.

SERMON X.

The Sufficiency of Revelation.
Luke xvi. 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

189

219

249

281

309

CONTENTS. XXIU

SERMON XI.

The Advantages of Revelation.

1 Corinthians i. 21.

Page 351

SERMON XII.

The superior Evidence and Influence of
Christianity.

1 John iv. 4,

393

SERMON XIII.

The Absurdity of Libertinism and Infidelity.

Psalm xciv. 7, 8, 9, 10.

423

SERMON Xiy.

The Sale of Truth.

Proverbs xxiii. 23.

451

SERMON I.

The Price of Truth.

Proverbs xxiii. 23.
Buy the Truth.

What is truth? John xviii. 38. This question
Pilate formerly put to Jesus Christ, and there are
two thino!;s, my brethren, in the scripture account of
this circumstance very surprizing. It seems strange
that Jesus Christ should not answer Pilate's ques-
tion ; and it seems equally strange that Pilate should
not repeat the question till he procured an answer
from Jesus Christ. One principal design of the Son
of God, in becoming incarnate, was to dissipate the
clouds with which the enemy of mankind had ob-
scured the truth; to free it from the numberless er-
rors, with which the spirit of falsehood had adulter-
ated it among the miserable posterity of Adam ; and
to make the fluctuating conjectures of reason sub-
side to the demonstrative evidence of revelation.
Jesus Christ himself had just before said to this end
rvas 1 born, and for this cause came I into the worlds
that 1 shi'Uld hear witness unto the truth, ver. 37. yeiy
here is a man lying in the dismal night of paganism;
a man born in darkncsSy having no hope, and be-

TOL. II, 4

2'^ The Price of Truth.

ing without God in the world, Eph. v. 8. and ii. 12.
here is a man, who, from the bottom of that abyss in
which he lies, implores the rays of that light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world, John i.
9. and asks Jesus Christ, What is truth ? and Jesus
Christ refuseth to assist his inquiry, he doth not even
condescend to answer this wise and interesting
question. Is not this very astonishing ? Is not this
a kind of miracle ?

But, if Jesus Christ's silence be surprizing, is it
not equally astonishing that Pilate should not re-
peat the question, and endeavour to persuade Jesus
Christ to give him an answer. A man, who had
discovered the true grounds of the hatred of the
Jews; a man, who knew that the virtues of the illus-
trious convict had occasioned their accusations a-
gainst him; a man, who could not be ignorant of
the fame of his miracles; a man, who was obliged,
as it were, to become the apologist of the supposed
culprit before him, and to use this plea, I find in
him no fault at all; which condemned the pleader,
while it justified him for whose sake the plea was
made; this man only glances at an opportunity of
knowing the truth He asks. What is truth 1 But it
does not much signify to him, whether Jesus Christ
answer tlie question or not. Is not this very aston-
ishing ? Is not this also a kind of miracle ?

My brethren, one of these wonders is the cause
of the other, and, if you consider them in connection,
your astonishment will cease. On the one hand,
Jesus Christ did not answer Pilate's question, be-
cause he saw plainly, that his iniquitous judge had

The Price of Truth. 27

not such an ardent love of truth, such a spirit of dis-
interestedness and vehement zeal, as truth deserved.
On the other, Pilate, who perhaps mi^ht have liked
well enough to have known truth, if a siniple wish
could have obtained it, gave up the desire at the
first silence of Jesus Christ. He did not think truth
deserved to be inquired after twice.

The conduct of Jesus Christ to Pilate, and the
conduct of Pilate to Jesus Christ, is repeated every
day. Our assiduity at church, our attention to the
voice of the servants of God, our attachment to the
sacred books in which truth is deposited ; all these
dispositions, and all these steps in our conduct, are,
in a manner, so many repetitions of Pilate's question.
What is truth ? What is moral truth ? What is the
doctrinal truth of a future state, of judgment, of
heaven, of hell ? But how often, content with the
putting of these questions, do we refuse that assidu-
ous application of mind, that close attention of
thought, which the answers to our questions would
require ? Hew often are we in pain, lest the light of
the truth, that is shining around us, should force us
to discover some objects, of which we choose to be
ignorant. Jesus Christ, therefore, often leaves us
to wander in our own miserable dark conjectures.
Hence so many prejudices, hence so many errone-
ous opinions of religion and morality, hence so ma-
ny dangerous delusions, which we cherish, even
w^hile they divert our attention from the great end,
to which we ought to direct all our thoughts, design.?,
and views.

28 The Price of Truth.

I would fain shew you the road to truth to-day,
my brethren ; open to you the path that leads to it;
and by motives taken from the grand advantages
that attend the knowledge of it, animate you to walk
in it.

I. We will examine what it costs to know truth,

IL What truth is worth.

Our text is, buy the truth j and the title of our ser-
mon shall be the Christian's Logic. Doubtless, the
greatest design that an immortal mind can revolve,
is that of knowing truth one's self: and the design,
which is next to the former in importance, and
which surpasseth it in difficulty, is that of imparting
it to others. But if a love of truth ; if a desire of
imparting it to a people, whom I bear always on my
heart; if ardent prayers to the God of truth; if
these dispositions can obtain the knowledge of truth,
and the power of imparting it, we may venture to
Lope, that we shall not preach in vain. May God
himself crown our hopes with success!

I. We are to enquire for the road that leads to
truth ; or, to use the ideas of our text, we are to tell
you what it costs to know truth.

Before we enter on this enquiry, it is necessary
to determine what we mean by truth. If there be
an equivocal word in the world, either in regard to
human sciences, or in regard to religion, it is this
word truth. But, not to enter into a metaphysical
dissertation on the different ideas that are affixed to
the term, we will content ourselves with indicating
the ideas which we affix to it here.

The Price of Truth, 29

Truth ought not to be considered here as subsist-
ing in a subject, independently on the reflections of
an intelligence that considers it. I do not affirm
that there is not a truth in every object which sub-
sists, whether we attend to it or not : but I say, that
in these phrases, to search truth, to love truth, to huy
truihy the term is relative, and expresseth a harmony
between the object and the mind that considers it,
a conformity between the object and the idea we
have of it. To search after truth, is to endeavour to
obtain adequate ideas of the object of our reflec-
tions ; and to huy truth, is to make all the sacrifices
which are necessary for the obtaining of such ideas
as are proportional to the objects of which our no-
tions are the images. By truth, then, we mean, an
agreement between an object and our idea of it.

But we may extend our meditation a little farther.
The term truth, taken in the sense we have now giv-
en it, is one of those abstract terms, the precise
meaning of Avhich can never be ascertained, with-
out determining the object to which it is attribu-
ted. There is a truth in every art and science. —
There is a truth in the art of rising in the world; a
certain choice of means ; a certain dexterous appli-
cation of circumstances; a certain promptitude at
seizing an opportunity. The courtier buys this
truth, by his assiduity at court, by his continual at-
tention to tl e looks, the features, the gestures, the
will, the whimsies, of his prince. The merchant buys
this truth at the expence of his rest and his health ;
sometimes at the expence of his life, and often at
that of his conscience and his salvation. In like

30 The Price of Truth

manner, there is a truth in the sciences. A mathe-
inatician racks his invention, spends whole nights
and days, suspends tlie most lawful pleasures, and
the most natural inclinations, to find the solution of
a problem in a relation of figures, in a combination
of numbers. These are not the truths which the
wise man exhorts us to huy. They have their val-
ue, I own, but how seldom are they worth what they
cost to obtain ?

What then is Solomon's idea ? Doth he mean on-
ly the truths of religion, and the science of salva-
tion ? There, certainly, that which is truth by excel-
lence may be found ; nor can it be bought too dear.
I do not think, however, that it would comprehend
the precise meaning of the wise man to understand
by truth here the science of salvation alone. His
expression is vague, it comprehends all truths, it of-
fers to the mind a general idea, the idea of univer-
sal truth. Buy the truth.

But what is this general idea of truth ? What is
universal truth ? Does Solomon mean, that we should
aim to obtain adequate ideas of all beings, that we
should try to acquire the perfection of all arts, that
we should comprehend the mysteries of all sciences ?
Who is equal to this undertaking ?

It seems to me, my brethren, that when he ex-
horts us here to buy the truth, in this vague and in-
determinate sense, he means to excite us to endeav-
our to acquire that happy disposition of mind w hich
makes us give to every question, that is proposed
to us, the time and attention which it deserves; to
each proof its evidence ; to each difficulty its weight ;

The Price of Truth. 31

to every good its real value. He means to inspire
us with that accuracy of discernment, that equity of
judgment, which would enable us to consider a de-
monstration as demonstrative, and a probability as
probable only, what is worthy of a great application
as worthy of a great application, what deserves on-
ly a moderate love as worthy of only a moderate
love, and what deserves an infinite esteem as wor-
thy of an infinite esteem ; and so on. This, I think,
my brethren, is the disposition of mind with which
Solomon means to inspire us. This, if I may be al-
lowed to say so, is an aptness to universal truth.
With this disposition, we may go as far in the at-
tainment of particular truths as the measure of the
talents, which we have received of God, and the va-
rious circumstances, in which Providence hath pla-
ced us, will allow. Especially, by this disposition,
we shall be convinced of this principle, to which
Solomon's grand design was to conduct us; that
the science of salvation is that, which, of all others,
deserves the greatest application of our minds and
hearts; and with this disposition we shall make im-
mense advances in the science of salvation.

But neither this universal truth, nor the disposi-
tion of mind which conducts us to it, can be acquir-
ed without labour and sacrifice. They must be
bought. Buy the truth. And, to confine myself to
some distinct ideas, universal truth, or the disposi-
tion of mind, which leads to it, requires the sacrifice
of dissipation ; the Sttcriticc of indolence ; the sacri-
fice of precipitanci/ of '\u6gmeni ; the sacrifice of pre-
judice; the sacrifice of obstinacy ; the sacrifice of cu-

32 The Price of Truth,

riosity ; the sacrifice of the passions. We comprise
the matter in seven precepts.

1. Be attentive.

2. Do not be discouraged at labour.

3. Suspend your judgment.

4. Let prejudice yield to reason.

5. Be teachable.

6. Restrain your avidity of knowing.

7. In order to edify your mind, subdue your
heart.

This is the price at which God hath put up this
universal truth, and the disposition that leads to it.
If you cannot resolve on making all these sacrifices,
you may, perhaps, arrive at some particular truth :
but you can never obtain universal truth. You may,
perhaps, become famous mathematicians, or geome-
ters, judicious critics, or celebrated officers ; but
you can never become real disciples of truth,

1. The sacrifice of dissipation is the first price we
must pay for the truth. Be attentive is the first pre-
cept, which we must obey, if we would know it. A
modern philosopher^ has carried, I think, tliis pre-
cept too far. He pretends, that the mind of man is
united to two very different beings : first to the por-
tion of matter, which constitutes his body, and next,
to God, to eternal wisdom, to universal reason. He
pretends, that, as the emotions, which are excited in
our brain are the cause of our sentiments, effects of
the union of the soul to the body ; so attention is the
occasional cause of our knowledge, and of our ideas,
effects of the union of our mind to God, to eternal

* Malbranchc, ia his Search after Truth. Book III. chap. 6,

The Price of Truth. 33

wisdom, to universal reason. The system of this
philosopher on this subject hath been, long since, de-
nominated a philosophical romance. It includes,
however, the necessity, and the advantao;e, of atten-
tion, Avhich is of the last importance. Dissipation is
a turn of mind, which makes us divide our mind
among various objects, at a time when we ought to
fix it wholly on one. Attention is the opposite dis-
position, which collects, and fixes our ideas on one
object. Two reflections will be sufficient to prove
that truth is unattainable w ithout the sacrifice of dis-
sipation, and the application of a close attention.

The first reflection is taken from the nature of the
human mind, which is finite, and contracted within a
naiTow sphere. We have only a portion of genius.
If, while we are examining a compound proposition,
we do not proportion our attention to the extent of
the proposition, we shall see it only in part, and we
shall fall into error. The most absurd propositions
liave some motives of credibility. If we consider
only two motives of credibility in a subject which
hath two degrees of probability, and if w^e consider
three degrees of probability in a subject which hath
only four, this last will appear more credible to us
than the first.

The second reflection is taken from experience.
Every one Avho hath made the trial, knows, that
things have appeared to him true or false, probable
or certain, according to the dissipation which divided^
or the attention which fixed, his mind in the examin-
ation. Whence is it, that on certain days of retire-
ment, recollection, and meditation, piety seems to

VOL. IT. 5

34 The Price of Truth.

be the only object woiiby of our allaeluneiil, and,
wifli a mind fully conviiKec], we say, 3Ii/ por/ioUy O
Lord, is to keep thy jvords / Psal. cxix. 57. Wlience
is it, tliat, in liearins^ a sermon, in which tlie address
of the preacher forcelh our attention in a manner in
spite of ourselves, we exclaim, as Israel of old did,
All that the Lord hath spoken, ne will do ? Exod.
xix. 8. Whence is it, that, on a dealh-bed, we freely
acknowled2;e the solidity of the instructions that
have been i»;iv^en us on the emptiness of worldly pos-
sessions, and readily join our voices to all those that
cry. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, and vexation
of spirit ? Eccles. i. 2. Whence is it, on the contra-
ry, that in the gaiety of youtli, and in the vigour of
health, the same objects aj)j)ear to us substantial and
solid, which seem void and vexatious when we come
to die ? How comes it to pass, that a commerce with
the world subverts all the systems of piety, which
we form in our closets? How is it, that demonstra-
tions expire when sermons end, and that all we have
felt in the church ceaseth to afiect us when Ave go out
of the gate ? Is there, then, nothing sure in the na-
ture of l)eings ? Is truth nothing but an exterior de-
nomination, as the scliools term it, nothing but a
creature of reason, a manner of conceiving? Doth
our mind change its nature, as circimistances change
the a])])earance of things? Doth tlrat, which was true
in our closets, in our cliurches, in a calm of our pas-
sions, become false when the passions are excited,
wlien the church-doors are shut, and the >vorld ap-
pears? God forbid ! It is because, in the fin t circum-
stances, we aie all taken up with studying tlie tndh ;

The Price of Truth. 35

whereas liealtb, the world, the ])assions, disperse, (so
to speak,) our attention, and by dissipating, weak-
en it.

I add further, Dissipation is one ordinary source,
not only of errors in ju(li;nient, but also of criminal
actions in practice. We declaim, pirrhaps too much,
against the malice of mankind. Perhaps men may
not be so wicked as we imagine. When we can ob-
tain their attention to certain Indhs, we find them af-
fected with them; we lind iheir hearts accessible to
motives of equity, gratitude, and love. If men seem
averse to these virtues, it is sometimes f>ecausc they
are taken up with a circle of tcm]H)ral objects ; it is
because their attention is divided, and dissipated
among them ; it is because the hmry of the world
incessantly deafens them. Ignorance and error are
insej^aral)le from dissipation. Be aUcnlivc, then, is
the first precept we give you. The sacritice of dis-
sipation, then, is necessary, in order to our arrival
at the knowledge of trulh.

But, if truth can be obtained only by observing
this ])recept, and by making this sacrifice, let us in-
genuously own, irulh is put up at a price, and at a
great price. The expression of the wise man is just,
the truth must be bought. Buy the truth. Our
iiiinds, averse from recollection and attention, love
U) rove from object to object ; they j)articularly avoid
those objects which are intellectual, and which have
riothing to engage the; senses, of which kind are the
truths of religion. The majesty of an invisible Clod
ivho hifleth himself., cannot captivate them ; and as
they are usually employed about earthly things, so

36 The Price of Truth.

terrestrial ideas generally involve them. Satan, wlio
knows that a believer, studious of the truth, is the
most formidable enemy to his empire, strives to di-
vert him from it. As soon as Abraham prepares his
oflering, the buxls of prey interrupt his sacrifice : a
disciple of truth drives such birds away. Among
various objects, amidst numerous dissipations, in spite
of opposite ideas, which resist and combat one anoth-
er, he gathers up his attention, and unreservedly
turns his soul to the study of truth,

2. The second sacrifice is that of indolence, or
slothfulness of mind ; and. Be not discouraged at la-
hour, is the second precept, which must be observed
if you would obtain the knowledge of tridh. This
article is connected with the preceding. The sacri-
fice of dissipation cannot be made, without making
this of indolence, or sluggishness of mind. Atten-
tion is labour; it is even one of the most painful la-
bours. The laboiu' of the mind is often more pain-
ful than that of the body ; and the greatest part of
mankind have less aversion to the greatest fatigues
of the body, than to the least application of mind.
The military life seems the most laborious; jei,
what an innumerable multitude of men prefer it he-
fore the study of the sciences ! This is the reason,
the study of the sciences requires an attention,
which costs our indolence more than the military life
w^ould cost it.

Although the labour of the mind is painful, yet
it is surmountable, and it is formed in the same man-
ner in Avhich fatigue of body is rendered tolera-
ble. A man who is accustomed to ease and rest ; a

The Price of Truth. 37

man, who hath been delicately brought up, cannot
bear to pass days and nights on horseback, to have
no settled abode, to be continually in action, to
waste away by the heat of the day, and the inclemen-
cy of the night. Nothing but use and exercise can
harden a man to these fatigues. In like manner,
a man, who hath been accustomed to pass his days
and nights on horseback, to have no settled abode,
to be continually in action, to wear himself out with
the heat of the day, and the cold of the night ; a man
whose body seems to have changed its nature, and
to have contracted the hardness of iron, or stone ;
such a man cannot bear the fatigue of attention.
It is then necessary to accustom the mind to labour,
to inure it to exercise, to render it apt, by habit and
practice, to make those efforts of attention, which
elevate those, who are capable of them, to ideas
the most sublime, and to mysteries the most ab-
struse.

They, whom Providence calls to exercise mechan-
ical arts, have reason to complain; for every thing,
that is necessary to discharge the duties of their cal-
ling, diverts their attention from what we are now
recommending, and absorbs their minds in sensible
and material objects. God, however, will exercise
his equitable mercy towards them, and their cases
afford us a presumptive proof of that admirable di-
versity of judgment, which God will observe at the
last day. He will make a perfect distribution of
the various circumstances of mankind ; and to whom
he hath committed much, of him he will ask the more,
Luke xii. 48.

38 The Price of Truth

Let no one abuse this doctrine. Every mecbanic
is engaged, to a certain degree, to sacrifice indolence
and dulbiess of mind. Every mechanic hath an im-
mortal soul. Every mechanic ought to huy the
truth by labour and attention. Let every one of
you, then, make conscience of devoting a part of
bis time to recollection and meditation. Let each,
amidst the meanest occupations, accustom himself
to think of a future state. Let each endeavour to
surmount the reluctance, which, alas! we all have,
to the study of abstract subjects. Be not dishearten-
ed at labour, is our second precept. The sacrifice
of indolence and sluggishness of mind, is the second
sacrifice which truth demands.

3. It requires, in the next place, that we should
sacrifice precipitancy of judgment. Few people are
capable of this sacrifice : indeed, there are but few
who do not consider suspension of judgment as a
weakness, although it is one of the noblest efforts of
genius and capacity. In regard to human sciences,
it is thought a disgrace to say, I cannot determine
such, or such a question : the decision of it would
require so many years study and examination. I
have been but so many years in the world, and I
have spent a part in the study of this science, a part
in the pursuit of that ; one part in this domestic em-
ployment, and another in that. It is absurd to sup-
pose that I have been able to examine all the princi-
ples, and all the consequences, all the calculations,
all the proofs, and all the difficulties, on which the
eclaircissement of this question depends. Wisdom
requires, that my mind should remain undetermined

The Price of Truth. 39

on this question ; that T should neither affirm, nor
deny, any thing of a subject, the evidences, and the
difficulties of which are alike unknown to me.

In regard to religion, people usually make a scru-
ple of conscience of suspending their judgments;
yet, in our opinion, a Christian is so much the more
obliged to do this, by how nmch more the truths of
the gospel surpass in sublimity and importance all
the objects of human science. 1 forgive this folly
in a man educated in superstition, who is threaten-
ed with eternal damnation, if he renounce certain
doctrines, w hich not only he hath not examined, but
which he is forbidden to examine under the same
penalty. But that casuists, who are, or who ought
to be, men of learning and piety, should imagine
they have obtained a signal victory over infidelity,
and have accredited religion, when, by the help of
some terrific declamations, they have extorted a cat-
echumen's consent; this is what w-e could have
scarcely believed, had we not seen numberless ex-
amples of it. And that you, my brethren, who are
a free people, you who are spiritual men, and ought
to jicdge all things, 1 Cor. ii. 15. that you should
at any time submit to such casuists ; this is w^iat we
could have hardly credited, had not experience af-
forded us too many mortifying proofs.

Let us not incorporate our fancies w ith religion.
The belief of a truth, w ithout evidence, can render
us no more agreeable to God than the belief of a
falsehood. A truth, received without proof, is, in
regard to us, a kind of falsehood. Yea, a truth, re-
ceived without evidence, is a never-failing source of

40 The Price of Truth.

many errors ; because a truth, received without evi-
dence, is founded, in regard to us, only on false
principles. And if, by a kind of hazard, in which
reason hath no part, a false principle engage us to
receive a truth on this occasion, the same principle
will engage us to receive an error on another occa-
sion. We must then suspend our judgments, what-
ever inclination we may naturally have to determine
at once, in order to save the attention and labour,
^vhich a more ample discussion of truth would re-
quire. By this mean, we shall not attain, indeed,
all knowledge ; but we shall prevent all errors. The
goodness of God doth not propose to enable us to
know all truth ; but it proposeth to give us all need-
ful help to escape error. It is conformable to his
goodness, that we should not be obliged, by a ne-
cessity of nature, to consent to error ; and the help
needful for the avoiding of falsehood he hath given
us. Every man is entirely free to withhold his con-
sent from a subject which he hath not considered in
every point of view.

4. The fourth sacrifice, which truth demands, is
that of prejudice; and the fourth precept is this,
Let prejudice yield to reason. This precept needs
explanation. The term prejudice is equivocal.
Sometimes it is employed to signify a proof, which
hath not a full evidence, but which, however, hath
some weight : so that a great number of prejudices,
which, taken separately, could not form a demon-
stration, taken together ought to obtain an assent.
But, sometimes the word prejudice hath an odious
meaning, it is put for that impression, which a cir-

The Price of Truth. 41

cumstance, foreign from the proposition, makes on
the mind of him, who is to determine, whether the
proposition ought to be received or rejected. In
this sense we use the word, when we say a man is
full of prejudice, in order to describe that disposi-
tion, which makes him give that attention and au-
thority to false reasonings, which are due only to
solid arguments.

Our fourth precept is to be taken in a different
sense, according to the different meaning which is
given to this term. If the word prejudice be taken
in the first sense, when we require you to make pre-
judice yield to reason, we mean, that you should
give that attention, and authority, to a presumption,
or a probability, which presumptive or probable ev-
idence requires. We mean, that demonstrative ev-
idence should always prevail over appearances.
The equity of this precept is self-evident ; yet, per-
haps, it may not be improper to shew the necessity
of obeying it, in order to engage our conduct the
more closely to it. I said just now, that men were
enemies to that labour, which the finding out of
truth requires. Yet men love knowledge. From
the combination of these two dispositions ariseth
their propensity to prejudice, A man, who yields
to prejudice, frees himself from that labour, which a
search after truth would require; and thus gratifies
his indolence. He flatters himself he hath obtain-
ed truth, and so he satisfies his desire of knowledge.
We must guard against this temptation. This is
the first sense of the precept, T.et prejudice yield to
reason.

VOL. II. i>

42 The Price of Truth.

When, in the second sense, which we have given to
the \^ Old prejudice, we require him, who would be a
disciple of truth, to make prejudice yield to reason,
we mean, that whenever he examines a question, he
should remove every thing that is not connected with
it. Prejudice, in our first sense, sometimes conducts
to truth ; but prejudice, of the second kind, always
leads us from it. What idea would you form of a
man, who, in examining this question. Is there a part
of the world called America ? should place among the
arguments, which determine him to affirm, or to de-
ny the question, this consideration ; The sun shines
to-day in all its splendour ; or this, The sun is conceal-
ed behind thick clouds ? Who does not see, that these
middle terms, by which the disputant endeavours to
decide the point, have no concern with the solution
of the question ? This example I use only for the
sake of conveying my meaning, and I do not design
by it to guard you against this particular error.
None of you, in examining the question, which we
just now mentioned, hath ever regarded, either as
proofs, or as objections, these considerations, T'he
sun shines to-day in all its splendour. The sun is hid-
den to-day behind the clouds. However, it is too true,
that in questions of far greater importance, we often
determine our opinions by reasons, whicb are as for-
eign from the matter as those just now mentioned.
For example, it is a question, either whether such a
man be an accurate reasoner, or whether he ex-
press a matter clearly, or whether his evidence de-
serve to be received or rejected. What can be more
foreign from any of these questions, than the habit
he wears, the number of servants that wait on him.

The Price of Truth. 43

Ihe equipage he keeps, the tone in which he reasons,
the dogmatical air with which he decides ? And, yet,
how often does a dogmatical decision, a peculiar
tone, a pompous equipage, a numerous retinue, a
certain habit, how often does each of these become
a motive to mankind to receive the testimony of such
a man, and to engage them to resign their reason to
him ? In like manner, a man may understand all his-
tory, ancient and modern, he may possess all the
oriental languages, he may know the customs of the
most remote and barbarous nations, and he may be,
all tlie time, a bad logician: for what relation is
there between the knowledge of customs, tongues,
and histories, ancient and modern, and an accurate
habit of reasoning? And yet, how often does the
idea of a man, bustling with science of this kind, im-
pose on our minds ? How often have we imagined
that a man, who knew what the soul was called in
thirty or forty different languages, knew its nature,
its properties, and its duration, better than he who
knew only Avhat it was called in his own mother
tongue? The term prejudice (we repeat it again)
which sometimes signifies a probability, is sometimes
put for that impression, which a circumstance, for-
eign from the question imder examination, makes on
the mind. AVhen we demand the sacrifice of preju-
dice, in this latter sense, we mean to induce you to
avoid all motives of credibility, except those which
have some relation, near, or remote, to the subject
in hand.

This precept will appear more imf ortant to you,
if you apply it to a particular subjcCu We will

44 The Price of Truth.

mention a famous example, that will prove tbe ne*
cessity of sacrificing prejudice, in both the senses
we have mentioned. There is a case, in which the
great number of those w^ho adhere to a communion
forms a prejudice in its favour. One communion is
embraced by a multitude of scholars, philosophers,
and fine geniusses : another communion hath but
few partizans of these kinds : hence ariseth a prob-
ability, a presumption, a prejudice, in favour of the
first, and against the last of these communities. It
is probable, that the community, which hath the
greatest number of fine geniusses, philosophers, and
scholars, is more rational than that which hath the
least. However, this is only a probability, this is
not a demonstration. The most elevated minds are
capable of the greatest extravagances, as the high-
est saints are subject to the low^est falls. If you can
demonstrate the truth of that religion, which the
multitude of great men condemn, the probability,
which ariseth from the multitude, ought to yield to
demonstration. Sacrifice prejudice in this first sense.

But there is a case, in which a great number of
partizans do not form even a probability in favour
of the doctrine they espouse. For example, the
church of Rome perpetually urges the sufi*rage of
the multitude in its favour. And we reply, that
the multitude of those, who adhere to the Roman
church, does not form even a presumption in their
favour, and we prove it.

If you aflfirm that a multitude forms a probabili-
ty in favour of any doctrine, it must be supposed
that this multitude have examined the doctrine

The Price of Truth 45

which they profess, and profess only what they be-
lieve. But we must, first, object against that part of
the multitude, which the church of Rome boasts of,
which is composed of indolent members, Avho con-
tinue in the profession of their ancestors by chance,
as it were, and without knowing why. We must
object, next, against an infinite number of ignorant
people in that community, who actually know noth-
ing about the matter. We must object against
whole provinces, and kingdoms, where it is hardly
know n that there is a divine book, on which the
faith of the church is founded. We must object
against that army of ecclesiastics, who are not wiser
than the common people, on account of their being
distinguished from them by a particular habit, and
who waste their lives in eternal idleness, at least in
exercises which have no relation to an inquiry after
truth, W^e must object, further, against all those
zealous defenders of the church, who are retained
in it by the immense riches they possess there, who
judge of the w eight of an argument by theadvanf a-
ges w^hich it procures them, and who actually reason
thus : The church in which the ministers are poor,
is a bad church ; that which enriches them is a good
church : JDut this church enriches its ministers, and
that suffers them to be poor ; the latter, therefore,
is a bad church, and the former is the only good
one. We must object, finally, against all those cal-
lous souls, who hold the truth in unrighteousness^
Rom. i. 18. and who oppose it only in a party spir-
it. If you pursue this method, you will perceive,
that the multitude, which alarmed you, w^ill be quick-

46 The Price of TrutL

ly diminished; and that this argument, so often re-
peated by the members of the church of Rome, doth
not form even a probability in favour of that com-
munion.

5, The fifth sacrifice, which truth demands, is that
of obstinacy ; and the fifth precept which you must
obey, if you mean to attain it, is this. Be teachable.
This maxim is self-evident. What can be more ir-
rational, than a disposition to defend a proposition,
only because we have had the rashness to advance
it, and to choose to heap up a number of absurdities
rather than to relinquish one, which had escaped
without reflection or design ? What can be more ab-
surd, than that disposition of mind, which makes us
prefer falling a thousand times into falsehood, be-
fore saying, for once, I mistake ? Had we not some
knowledge of mankind, were we to form a system
of morality on metaphysical ideas, it would seem
needless to prescribe docility, and one would think
every body w^ould be naturally inclined to practise
this virtue. But what seems useless in speculation
is very often essential in practice. Let us guard
against obstinacy. Let us always consider that the
noblest victory, which we obtain, is over ourselves.
Let each of us say, when truth requires it, I have
erred, I consecrate the remainder of my life to pub-
lish that truth, which I have hitherto misunderstood,
and which I opposed only because I had the mis-
fortune to misunderstand it.

6. Truth requires the sacrifice of curiosity, and the
sixth precept, which is proposed to us. is, Restrain
your avidity of knowing, Tliis is a difficult sacrifice,

The Price of Truth 47

the precept is even mortifying. Intelligence is one
of the noblest prerogatives of man. The desire of
knowledge is one of the most natural desires. We
do not, therefore, condemn it, as bad in itself : but
we wish to convince you, that, to give an indiscreet
scope to it, instead of assisting in the attainment of
truth, is to abandon the path that leads to it ; and by
aspiiing to the knowledge of objects above our reach,
and which would be useless to us during our abode
in this world, and destructive of the end for which
God hath placed us here, we neglect others that may
be discovered, and which have a special relation to
that end. We ought then to sacrifice curiosity, to
refrain from an insatiable desire of knowing every
thing, and to persuade ourselves, that some truths,
which are often the objects of our speculations, are
beyond the attainment of finite minds, and, particu-
larly, of those finite minds, on which God hath im-
posed the necessity of studying other truths, and of
practising other duties.

7. But, of all the sacrifices which truth requires,
that of the Passions is tl;e most indispensible. We
have proved this on another occasion^, and we on-
ly mention it to-day.

Such are the sacrifices which truth requires of us,
such are the precepts which Ave must practise to ob-
tain it, and the explication of these may account for
some sad phoenomena. Why are so many people
deceived ? AYhy do so many embrace the grossest er-
rors? Why do so many people admit the most ab-
surd propositions as if they were demonstrations?

* Serm. Tom. II. Ser. neuvieme. Sur les passions.

48 The Price of Truth.

Why, in one word, are most men such bad reason-
ers ? It is because rectitude of thought cannot be ac-
quired without pains and labour; it is because truth
is put up at a price ; it is because it costs a good deal
to attain it, and because few people value it so as to
acquire it by making the sacrifices which, we have
said, the truth demands.

II. Let us proceed to inquire the worth of truth ;
for, however great the sacrifices may be, which the
attainment of truth requkes, they bear no propor-
tion to the advantages which truth procurer to its ad-
herents. 1. Truth will open to you an infinite source
of pleasure. 2. It will fit you for the various em-
ployments, to which you may be called in society.
3. It will free you from many disagreeable doubts
about religion. 4. It will render you intrepid at the
approach of death. The most rapid inspection of
these four objects will be sufficient to convince you,
that, at whatever price God hath put up truth, you
cannot purchase it too dearly. Buy the truth,

1. Truth will open to you an infinite source of
pleasure. The pleasure of knowledge is infinitely
superior to the pleasures of sense, and to those which
are excited by the turbulent passions of the heart.
If the knowledge of truth be exquisitely pleasing
when human sciences are the objects of it, what de-
light is it not attended with, when the science of sal-
vation is in view ?

My brethren, forgive me, if I say, the greater
part of you are not capable of entering into these
reflections. As you usually consider religion only
in a vague and superficial manner; as you know

Tlie Price of Truth. 49

neither the beauty nor the importance of it ; as you
see it neither in its principles nor in its consequen-
ces, so it is a pain to you to confine yourselves to
the study of it. Reading tires you ; meditation fa-
tigues you ; a sermon of an hour wearies you quite
out ; and, judging of others by yourselves, you con-
sider a man, who employs himself silently in the
closet to study religion, a man, \vhose soul is in an
extacy when he increaseth his knowledge, and re-
fines his understanding; you consider him as a mel-
ancholy kind of man, whose brain is turned, and
whose imagination is become wild, through some
bodily disorder. To study, to learn, to discover ;
in your opinions, what pitiable pursuits ! The eluci-
dation of a period ! The cause of a phoenomenon !
The arrangement of a system ! There is far more
greatness of soul in the design of a courtier, who,
after he hath languished many hours in the anti-
chamber of a prince, at lengtli obtains one glance of
the prince's eye. There is much more solidity in
the projects of a gamester, who proposes, in an in-
stant, to raise his fortune on the ruin of that of his
neighbour. There is much more reality in the spec-
ulations of a merchant, who discovers the worth of
this thing, and the value of that ; w ho taxes, if I may
be allowed to speak so, heaven, and earth, and sea,
ail nature, and each of its component parts.

But you deceive yourselves grossly. The study
of religion, as we apply to it in our closets, is very
different from that which you exercise under a ser-
mon, sometimes not well preached, and often badly
heard; and from that which you exercise in the has-

VOL. n, 7

5a The Price of Truth.

iy reading of a pious book. As we meditate, we
learn ; and as we learn, the desire of learning in-
creaseth. In our studies, we consider religion in
every point of light. There, we compare it with
the dictates of conscience, with the desires of the
human heart, and with the genera] concert of all
creatures. There, we admire to see the God of na-
ture in harmony with the God of religion ; or rather,
we see religion is the renovation and embellishment
of nature^ There, we compare author with author,
oeconomy with oeconomy, prophecy with event,
event with prophecy. There, we are delighted to
find, that, notwithstanding diversities of times, pla-
ces, conditions, and characters, the sacred authors
harmonize, and prove themselves animated by one
Spirit: a promise made to Adam is repeated to
Abraham, confirmed by Moses, published by the
prophets, and accomplished by Jesus Christ. There,
we consider religion as an assemblage of truths,
which afford one another a mutual support ; and, when
we make some new discovery, when we meet with
some proof, of which we had been ignorant before,
we are involved in pleasures, far more exquisite than
those which you derive from all your games, from
all your amusements, from all the dissipations, which
consume your lives. We enjoy a satisfaction in ad-
vancing in this delightful path, infinitely greater
than that which you taste, when your ambition, or
your avarice, is gratified: we look, like the cheru-
bims, to the mystical ark, and desire thoroughly to
know all its contents, I Pet. i. 12.

Tlie Price of Truth. 51

A Christian, who understands how to satiate his
soul with these sublime objects, can always derive
pleasure from its fountain. If ye continue in my
word, said the Saviour of the world, ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free, John viii.
31, 32. This saying is true in many respects, and
perhaps it may, not improperly, be applied to our
subject. A man, who hath no relish for truth, is a
slave, leisure-time is a burden to him. He must
crawl to every inferior creature, prostrate himself
before it, and humbly intreat it to free him from that
listlessness which dissolves and destroys him ; and
he must by all means avoid the sight of himself,
which would be intolerable to him. But a Chris-
tian, who knows the truth and loves it, and who en-
<leavours to make daily advances in it, is deliver-
ed from this slavery: The truth hath made him free^
In retirement, in his closet, yea, in a desert, his med-
itation supplies the place of the whole world, and of
all its delights.

2. Truth will fit you for the employments to
which you are called in society. Religion, and Sol-
omon, the herald of it, had certainly a view more
noble and sublime than that of preparing us for the
exercise of those arts which employ us in the worlds
Yet, the advantages of truth are not confined to re-
ligion. A man, who hath cultivated his mind, will
distinguish himself in every post in which Provi-
dence may place him. An irrational, sophistical, turn
of mind, incapacitates all who do not endeavour to cor-
rect it. RectiUide of thought, and accuracy of reason-
ing, are necessary every where. How needful are

52 The Price of Truth,

they in a political conference ? What can be more
intolerable than the harangues of those senators,
who, while Ihey should be consulting measures for
the relieving of public calamities, never understand
the state of a question, nor even come nigh the sub-
ject of deliberation ; but employ that time in vain
declamations, foreign from the matter, which ought
to be devoted to the discussion of a particular point,
on which the fate of a kingdom depends? How
needful is such a rectitude of thought in a council
of war? What, pray, is a General, destitute of this?
He is an arm without a head : he is a madman, who
may mow down ranks on his right hand, and cover
the field with carnage on the left; but who will sink
under the weight of his own valour, and, for want
of discernment, will render his courage often a bur-
den, and sometimes a ruin to his country. This ar-
ticle of my discourse addresseth itself principally
to you who are heads of families. It is natural to
parents to wish to see their children attain ihe most
eminent posts in society. If this desire be innocent,
it will engage you to educate your children in a
manner suitable to their destination. Cultivate their
reason, regard that, as the most necessary science,
which forms their judgments, and which renders
their reasoning powers exact.

This is particularly necessary to those whom God
calls to officiate in the church. What can be more
unv>'orthy of a minister of frulh, than a sophistical
turn of mind ? What more likely method to destroy
religion, than to establish triilh on arguments which
would establish falsehood ? What can be more un-

The Price of Truth, 53

reasonable, than that kind of logic which serves to
reason with, if I may be allowed to speak so, only
from hand to mouth ; which pulls down with the one
hand what it builds up with the other ; which aban-
dons, in disputing with adversaries of one kind, the
principles, it had established, in disputing with ad-
versaries of another kind ? What sad effects does
this method, too often practised by those who ought
to abhor it, produce in the church ? Are we called
to oppose teachers, who carry the free agency of
man beyond its due bounds ? Man is made a trunk,
a stone, a ]>eing destitute of intelligence and will.
Are we called to oppose people, who, under pre-
tence of defending the perfections of God, carry
the slavery of man beyond its due bounds ? Man is
made a seraphical intelligence; the properties of
disembodied spirits are attributed to him ; he is re-
presented capable of elevating his meditations to the
highest heavens, and of attaining the perfections of
angels and cherubims. Are we called to oppose
adversaries, who carry the doctrine of good works
too far ? The necessity of them is invalidated ; they
are said to be suited to the condition of a Christian,
but they are not made essential to Christianity; the
essence of faith is made to consist in a bare desire
of being saved, or, if you will, of being sanctified,
a desire, into which enters, neither that knowledge
of the heart, nor that denial of self, nor that mor-
tification of the passions, without which every de-
sire of beino' sanctified is nothino; but an artifice of
corruption, which turns over a w ork to God that he
hath imposed on man. Are >ve called to oppose

54 The Price of Truth.

people, who enervate the necessity of good works?
The Christian vocation is made to consist in imprac-
ticable exercises, in a degree of holiness inaccessi-
ble to frail men. The whole genius of religion, and
of all its ordinances, is destroyed ; the table of the
Lord is surrounded with devils, and fires, and flames,
and is represented rather as a tribunal where God
exerciseth his vengeance; as a mount Ebal, from
whence he crieth, Cursed he the man, Cursed he the
man; than as a throne of grace, to which he invit-
eth penitent sinners, and imparteth to them all the
riches of his love. Are we called to oppose men,
who would make God the author of sin, and who,
from the punishments, which he inflicts on sinners,
derive consequences injurious to his goodness and
mercy? All the reiterated declarations of scripture
are carefully collected, all the tender expostulations,
all the attracting invitations, which demonstrate that
man is the author of his own destruction, and that
God will have all men to he saved, and to come to the
knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. ii. 4. Are we called
to resist adversaries, who weaken the empire of God
over his creatures? God is made, I do not say an in-
exorable master, I do not say a severe king ; but,
O horrid ! he is made a tyrant, and worse than a ty-
rant. It has been seriously affirmed that he formed
a great part of mankind with the barbarous design
of punishing them for ever and ever, in order to
have the cruel pleasure of shewing how far his aveng-
ing justice and his flaming anger can go. It hath
been affirmed, that the decree, pronounced against
the reprobate before Ids birth, not only determines

The Price of Truth. 66

him to punishment after the commission of sin, but
infallibly inclines him to sin ; because that is neces-
sary to the manifestation of divine justice, and to
the felicity of the elect; who will be much happier
in heaven, if there be thousands and millions of mis-
erable souls in the flames of hell, than if all mankind
should enjoy the felicity of paradise.

O, my God! if any among us be capable of form-
ing ideas so injurious to thy perfections, impute it
not to the whole society of Christians ; and let not
all our churches suffer for the irregularities of some
of our members ! One single altar prepared for idols,
one single act of idolatry, was formerly sufficient to
provoke thy displeasure. Jealous of thy glory,
thou didst inflict on the republic of Israel thy most
terrible chastisements, when they associated false
gods with thee. Hence those dreadful calamities,
hence those eternal banishments, hence heaven and
earth employed to punish the guilty. But if Jews
experienced such a rigorous treatment for attributing
to false gods the perfections of the true God, wiiat
punishments will not you suffer, Christians, if, in
spite of the light of the gospel, which shineth around
you, you tax the true God with the vices of false
gods: if, by a theology unworthy of the name, you
attribute to a holy God the cruelty, the injustice,
and the falsehood, of those idols to which corrupt
passions alone gave a being, as well as attributes
agreeable to their own abominable wishes ? That
disposition of mind, which conducts to universal
truth, frees a man from these contradictions, and
harmonizes the pastor and the teacher with himself.

m The Price of Truth,

3. Truth will deliver you from disagreeable doubts
about religion. The state of a mind, which is car-
ried about with every 7vind of doctrine^ Eph. iv. 14.
to use an expression of St. Paul, is a violent state ;
and it is very disagreeable, in such interesting sub-
jects as those of religion, to doubt whether one be
in the path of truth, or in the road of error; wheth-
er the worship, that one renders to God, be accept-
able, or odious, to him ; whether the fatigues, and
sufferings, that are endured for religion, be punish-
ments of one's folly, or preparations for the reward
of virtue.

But if this state of mind be violent, it is difficult
to free one's self from it. There are but two sorts
of men, who are free from the disquietudes of this
state : they, who live without reflection, and they,
who have seriously studied religion ; they are the
only people who are free from doubts.

We see almost an innumerable variety of sects,
which are diametrically opposite to one another.
How can we flatter ourselves, that we belong to the
right community, unless we have profoundly appli-
ed ourselves to distinguish truth from falsehood ?

We hear the partisans of these diHerent religions
anathematize and condemn one another. How is
it, that we are not afraid of their denunciations of
wrath ?

We cannot doubt that, among them, who embrace
systems opposite to ours, there is a great number,
who have more knowledge, more erudition, more
genius, more penetration, than we. How is it that
we do not fear, that these adversaries, who have had

The Price of Truth. 57

better opportunities of knowing the truth than we^
actually do know it better; and that they have em-
ployed more time to study it, and have made a great-
er progress in it ?

We acknowledge, that there are, in the religion
we profess, difficulties which we are not able to
solve; bottomless depths, mysteries, which are not
only above our reason, but which seem opposite to
it. How is it, that we are not stumbled at these dif-
ficulties ? How is it, that we have no doubt of the
truth of a religion, which is, in part, concealed un-
der impenetrable veils ?

We are obliged to own, that prejudices of birth,
and education, are usually very influential over our
minds. Moreover, we ought to remember, that no-
thing was so carefully inculcated on our infant
minds as the articles of our faith. How can we de-
monstrate, that these articles belong to the class of
demonstrative truths, and not to that of the prejudi-
ces of education ?

We know, by sad experience, that we have often
admitted erroneous propositions for incontestable
principles; and that when we have thought our-
selves in possession of demonstration, we have found
ourselves hardly in possession of probability. How
is it, that we do not distrust the judgments of minds
so subject to illusion, and which have been so often
deceived ?

From tliese different reflections ariseth a mixture
of light and darkness, a contrast of certainty and
doubt, infidelily and faith, scepticism and assurance,
which makes one of the most dreadful states in which

VOL. ir. 8

58 The Price of Truffi,

an intelligent soul can be. If men are not a con-
stant prey to the gloomy thoughts that accompany
this state, it is because sensual objects fill the whole-
capacity of their souls : but there are certain mo-
ments of reflection and self-examination, in which
reason will adopt these distressing thoughts, and
oblige us to suffer all their exquisite pain.

A man, who is arrived at the knowledge of the
truth, a man, w ho hath made all the sacrifices neces-
sary to arrive at it, is superior to these doubts : not
only because truth hath certain characters, which
distinguish it from falsehood, certain rays of light,
which strike the eye, and which it is impossible to
mistake; but also because it is not possible, that
God should leave those men in capital errors, whom
he hath enabled to make such grand sacrifices to
truth. If he do not discover to them at first all
that may seem fundamental in religion, he will com-
municate to them all that is fundamental in effect.
He will bear with them, if they embrace some cir-
cumstantial errors, into which they fall only through
•a frailty inseparable from human nature.

4. Finally, consider the value of truth in regard
to the calm which it procureth on a death-bed. Truth
will render you intrepid at the sight of death. Ca-
to of Uiica, it is said, resolved to die, and not being
able to survive the liberty of Rome, and the glory
of Pompey, desired, above all things, to convince
himself of the truth of a future state. Although he
had meditated on this important subject throughout
the whole course of his life, yet he thought it was
necessary to re-examine it at the approach of death.

The Price of Truth 39

Tor this purpose, he withdrew from society, he
sought a solitary retreat, he read Plato's book on
the immortality of the soul, studied the proofs with
attention, and, convinced of this grand truth, in tran-
quillity he died. Methinks I hear him answering,
persuaded of his immortality, all the reasonings that
urge him to continue in life. If Cato had obtained
only uncertain conjectures on the immortality of
the soul, he would have died with regret ; if Cato
had known no other world, he would have discov-
ered his weakness in quitting this. But Plato gave
Cato satisfaction. Cato was persuaded of another
life. The sword, with which he destroyed his nat-
ural life, could not touch his immortal soul. The
soul of Cato saw another Rome, another republic,
in which tyranny should be no more on the throne,
in Avhich Pompey would be defeated, and Caesar
would triumph no more.^

How pleasing is the sight of a heathen, persuading
himself of the immortality of the soul by the bare
light of reason ! And how painful is the remembrance
of his staining his reflections with suicide ! But I find
in the firmness, which resulted fmm his meditations,
a motive to obey the precept of the wise man in the
text. While the soul floats in uncertainty, while it
hovers between light and darkness, persuasion and
doubt ; w hile it hath only presumptions and proba-
bilities in favour of religion ; it will find it impossi-
ble to view death without terror : but, an enlighten-
ed, established Christian, finds in his religion a sure
refuge against all his fears.
* Plutarch M. Cato Min.

60 The Price of Truth

If a Pagan Cato defied death, what cannot a Chris-
tian Cato do ? If a disciple of Plato could pierce
through the clouds, which hid futurity from him,
what cannot a disciple of Jesus Christ do ? If a few
proofs, the dictates of unassisted reason, calmed the
agitations of Cato; what cannot all the luminous
proofs, all the glorious demonstrations do, which as-
certain the evidence of another life ? God grant we
may know the truth by our own experiences 1 To
him be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

SERMON II.

The Enemies and the Arms of Christianity,
preached on easter day.

EphesiansvL 11, 12, 13.

PtU on the whole armour of God, that ye may he able
to stand against the wiles of the devil. For ive jvres-
He not against flesh and blood, but against princi-
palities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked-
ness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may he able to with-
stand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand,

JLT is a very remarkable circumstance of the life of
Jesus Christ, my brethren, that while he was per-
forming the most public act of his devotedness to the
will of God, and while God was giving the most glo^
rious proofs of his approbation of him, Satan attack-
ed him with his most violent assaults. Jesus Christ,
having spent thirty years in meditation and retire-
ment, preparatory to the important ministry for
which he came into the world, had just entered on
the functions of it. He had consecrated himself to
God by baptism; the Holy Spirit had descended on
him in a visible form ; a heavenly voice had proclaim-

62 The Enemies

ed in the aii, This is my beloved Son, in whom lam weU
pleased. Matt. iii. ] 7. and he was going to meditate
forty days and nights on the engagements on which
he had entered, and which he intended to fulfil.
These circumstances, so proper, in all appearance,
to prevent the approach of Satan, are precisely those,
of which he availed himself to thwart the design of
salvation, by endeavouring to produce rebellious sen-
timents in the Saviour's mind.

My brethren, the conduct of this wicked spirit to
the author and finisher of our faith, Heb. xii. 2. is a
pattern of his conduct to all them who fight under
bis banners. Never doth this enemy of our salvation
more furiously attack us, than when we seem to be
most sure of victory. You, my brethren, will ex-
perience his assaults as well as Jesus Christ did. —
Would to God, we could assure ourselves, that it
would be glorious to you, as it was to the divine Re-
deemer! Providence unites to day the two festivals
of Easter, and the Lord's supper. In keeping the
first, we have celebrated the anniversary of an event,
without which our preaching is vain, your faith is
vain, and ye are yet in your sins, 1 Cor. xv. 14, 17.
I mean the resurrection of the Saviour of the world,
in celebrating the second, you have renewed your
professions of fidelity to that Jesus, who was declar-
ed, with so much glory, to be the Son of God, by the
resurrection from the dead, Rom. i. 4. It is precisely in
these circumstances, that Satan renews his efibrts to
obscure tlie evidences of your faith, and to weaken
yom- fidelity to Christ. In these circumstances also,
we double our efforts to enable you to defeat his ^s-

and the Arms of Christianity, 63

saults, in which, alas ! many of us choose rather to
yield than to conquer. The strengthening of you is
our design ; my dear brethren, assist us in it.

And thou, O great God, who callest us to fight
with formidable enemies, leave us not to our own
weakness : teach our hands to war, and our fingers to
fighty Psal. cxlvi. 1. Cause us always to triumph in
Christ, 2 Cor. ii. 14. Make us more than conquerors
through him that loved us, Rom. viii. 37. Our ene-
mies are thine : arise, O God, let thine enemies be scat-
tered, let them that hate theejlee before thee I Amen.
Psal. Ixviii. 1.

All is metaphorical in the words of my text St.
Paul represents the temptations of a Christian under
the image of a combat, particularly of a wrestling.
In ordinary combats there is some proportion be-
tween the combatants ; but in this, which engageth
the Christian, there is no proportion at all. A Chris-
tian, who may be said to be, more properly than his
Redeemer, despised and rejected of men, Isa. liii. 3.
a man, who is the filth of the world, and the ofi^scour-
ing of all things, 1 Cor. iv. 1 3. is called to resist, not
only fiesh and blood, feeble men like himself ; but
men, before whom imagination prostrates itself; men,
of whom the Holy Spirit says, Ye are gods, Psal.
Ixxxii. 6. that is, potentates and kings. M^e wrestle
not against flesh and blood, bid against principalities,
against powers, against the riders of the darkness of
this world.

Moreover, a Christian, who, whatever degree of
light and knowledge grace hath bestowed on him,
whatever degi'ee of steadiness and resolution he hath

64 The Enemies

acquired in Christianity, always continues a man, is
called to resist a superior order of intelligences,
whose power we cannot exactly tell, but who, the
scripture assures us, can, in some circumstances, raise
tempests, infect the air, and disorder all the elements;
I mean devils. We wrestle against spiritual wicked-
ness in high places.

As St. Paul represents the temptations of a Chris-
tian under the notion of a war, so he represents the
dispositions, that are necessary to overcome them,
under the idea of armour. In the words, which fol-
low the text, he carries the metaphor further than
the genius of our language will allow. He gives the
Christian a military belt and shoes, a helmet a sword,
a shield, a buckler, with which he resisteth all the
fieri/ darts of the wicked. But I cannot discuss all
these articles without diverting this exercise from its
chief design. By laying aside the figurative lan-
guage of the apostle, and by reducing the figures to
truth, I reduce the temptations, with which the devil
and his angels attack the Christian, to two general
ideas. The first are sophisms, to seduce him from
the evidence of truth ; and the second are induce-
ments, to make him desert the dominion of virtue.
The Christian is able to overcome these two kinds of
temptations. The Christian remains victorious after
a war, which seems at first so very unequal. This
is precisely the meaning of the text : We wrestle not
against Jlcsh avd blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wher^orc take unto you the whole armour of God,

and the Arms of Christianity. 65

that ye may he able to withstand in the evil day, and,
having done all, to stand,

I. The first artifices of Satan are intended to se-
duce the Christian from the truth, and, we must own,
these darts were never so poisonous as they are now.
The emissaries of the devil, in the time of St. Paul ;
the heathen philosophers, the scribes and pharisees,
were but scholars and novices in the art of colouring
falsehood, in comparison of our deists and sceptics,
and other antagonists of our holy religion. But,
however formidable they may appear, we are able
to make them lick the dust, Micah vii. 17. and as the
art of disgiiising error Avas never carried so far be-
fore, so, thanks be to God, my brethren, that of un-
masking falsehood, and of displaying truth in all its
glory, has extended with it.

The Christian knows how to disentangle truth from
six artifices of error. There are six sophisms, that
prevail in those wretched productions, which our age
hath brought forth for the purpose of subverting the
truth.

1. The first artifice is the confounding of those
matters, which are proposed to our discussion ; and
the requiring of metaphysical evidence of facts which
are not capable of it.

2. The second artifice is the opposing of possible
circumstances against other circumstances, which
are evident and sure.

3. The next artifice pretends to weaken the evi-
dence of known things, by arguments taken from
things that are unknown.

VOL. rr. 0

66 The Emmies

4. The fourth artifice is an attempt to render the
doctrines of the sjospel absurd and contradictory,
under pretence that they are obscure.

.0. The fifth artifice proposeth arguments foreign
from the subject in hand.

6. The last forms objections, which derive their
weight, not from their own intrinsic gravity; but
from the superiority of the genius of him who pro-
poseth them.

1. The matters, w^hich are proposed to our dis-
cussion, are confounded ; and metaphysical evidence
of facts is required, which are not, in the nature of
them, capable of this kind of evidence. We call
that metaphysical evidence, which is founded on a
clear idea of the essence of a subject. For exam-
ple, we have a clear idea of a certain number : if we
affirm, that the number, of which we have a clear
idea, is equal, or unequal, the proposition is capa-
ble of metaphysical evidence: But a question of
fact can only be proved by an union of circumstan-
ces, no one of which, taken apart, Avould be sufficient
to prove the fact, but which, taken altogether, make
a fact beyond a doubt. As it is not allowable to op-
pose certain circumstances against a proposition
that hath metaphysical evidence, so it is unreasona-
ble to require metaphysical evidence to prove a mat-
ter of fact. I have a clear notion of a given num-
ber; I conclude from this notion, that the number
is equal or unequal, and it is in vain to object to
me, that all the world does not reason as I do. Let
it be objected to me, that they, who affirm that the
number is equal or unequal, have perhaps some in-

and the Arms of Christianity. 07

terest in affirming it. Objections of this kind are
nothing to the purpose, they are circumstances
which do not, at all^ affect the nature of the number,
jior the evidence on which I affirm an equality, or
an inequality, of the given number ; for I have a
clear idea of the subject in hand. In like manner,
I see an union of circumstances, which uniformly at-
test the truth of a fact under my examination ; I
yield to this evidence, and in vain is it objected to
me, that it is not metaphysical evidence, the subject
before me is not capable of it.

We apply this maxim to all the facts on which
the truth of religion turns, such as these: There
w^as such a man as Moses, who related what he saw,
and who himself wrought several things which he
recorded. There were such men as the prophets,
who wrote the books that bear their names, and who
foretold many events several ages before they came
to pass. Jesus, the son of Mary, was born in the
reign of the emperor Augustus, preached the doc-
trines which are recorded in the gospel, and by cru-
cifixion was put to death. We make a particular
application of this maxim to the resurrection of Je-
sus Christ, which we this day commemorate, and it
forms a shield to resist all the Jtery darts that attack
it. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact, which
we ought to prove ; it is an extraordinary fact, for
the demonstration of which, we allow, stronger proofs
ought to be adduced, than for the proof of a fact that
comes to pass in the ordinary course of things. But,
after all, it is a fact; and, in demonstrating facts, no
proofs ought to be required, but such as establish

68 The Enemies

facts. We have the better right to reason thus Avith
cur opponents, because they do not support their
historical scspticism without restrictions. On the
contrary, they admit some facts, whach they believe
on the evidence of a very few circumstarices. But
if a few circumstances demonstrate some facts, why
doth not an union of all possible circumstances de-
monstrate other facts ?

2. The second artifice is the opposing of possible
circumstances which may or may not be, against oth-
er circumstances which are evident and sure. All ar-
gmuents, that are founded on possible circumstances,
are only uncertain conjectures, and groundless sup-
positions. Perhaps there may have been floods, per-
haps fires, perhaps earthquakes, which, by abolish-
ing the memorials of past events, prevent our tracing
things back from age to age to demonstrate the eter-
nity of the world, and our discovery of monuments
against religion. This is a strange way of reasoning
against men, who are armed with arguments, which are
taken from phoenomena avo^ved, notorious, and real.
"When we dispute against infidelity; when we estab-
lish the existence of a Supreme Being; when we af-
firm that the Creator of the universe is eternal in his
duration, wise in his designs, powerful in his execu-
tions, and magnificent in his gifts ; we do not reason
on probabilities, nor attempt to establish a thesis on
a may-be. We do not say. Perhaps there may be a
firmament, that covers us ; perhaps there may be a
sun, which enlightens us; perhaps there maybe stars,
which shine in the finnament ; perhaps the earth may
support us ; perhaps alintelit may nourish us ; per-

and the Arms of Christianity, 69

haps we breathe ; perhaps air may assist respiration ;
perhaps there may be a symmetry in nature, and in
the elements. We produce these phoenomena, and
we make them the basis of our reasoning, and of our
faith.

3. The third artifice consisteth in the weakening of
the evidence ofknoivn things, hy arguments taken from
things which arc unknown. Tiiis is another source of
sophisms invented to support infidelity. It grounds
a part of the difficulties, which are opposed to the
system of religion, not on what is known, but on
what is not known. Of what use are all the trea-
sures, which are concealed in the depths of the sea ?
Why are so many metals buried in the bowels of the
earth ? of what use are so many stars, which glitter
in the firmament ? Why are there so many deserts
uninhabited, and uninhabitable ? Why so many moun-
tains inaccessible ? Why so many insects, which are
a burden to nature, and which seem designed only
to disfigure it ? Why did God create men, who must
be miserable, and whose misery he could not but
foresee? Why did he confine revelation for so many
ages to one single nation, and, in a manner, to one
single family ? Why doth he still leave such an infi-
nite number of people to sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death ? Hence the infidel concludes, ei-
ther that there is no God, or that he hath not the per-
fections which we attribute to him. The Christian,
on the contrary, grounds his system on principles
that are evident and sure.

We derive our arguments, not from what we know
not, but from what we do know. We derive them

70 The Enemies

from characters of intelligence, which fall under our
observation, and which we see with our own eyes.
We derive them from the nature of finite beings.
We derive them from the united attestations of all
mankind. We derive them from miracles, which
were wrought in favour of religion. We draw them
from our own hearts, which evince, by a kind of
reasoning superior to all argument, superior to all
scholastic demonstrations, that religion is made for
man, that the Creator of man is the author of reli-
gion.

4. The fourth article is an attempt to prove a doc-
trine contradictory and absurd, because it is obscure.
Some doctrines of religion are obscure ; but none
are contradictory. God acts towards us in regard
to the doctrines of faith, as he doth in regard to
the duties of practice. Wlien he giveth us laws, he
giveth them as a master, not as a tyrant. Were he
to impose laws on us, which are contrary to order,
which would debase our natures^ and which would
make innocence productive of misery ; this would
not be to ordain laws as a master, but as a tyrant.
Then our duties would be in direct opposition.
That, which would oblige us to obey, would oblige
us to rebel. It is the eminence of the perfections of
God, which engage th us to obey hhn : but his perfec-
tions would be injured by the imposition of such
laws as these, and therefore we should be instigated
to rebellion.

In like manner, God hath characterized truth and
error. Were it possible for him to give error the
characters of truth, and truth the characters of cr-

and the Arms of Christianity, 71

ror, there would be a direct opposition in our ideas ;
and the same reason, which would oblige us to be-
lieve, would oblige us to disbelieve : because that,
which engageth us to believe, when God speaks, is,
that he is infallibly true. Now% if God were to
command us to believe contradictions, he would
cease to be infallibly true ; because nothing is more
opposite to truth than self-contradiction. This is
the maxim, which we admit, and on which we
ground our faith in the mysteries of religion. A
wise man ought to know his own weakness ; to con-
vince himself that there are questions, which he
hath not capacity to answer; to compare the great-
ness of the object with the littleness of the intelli-
gence, to which the object is proposed ; and to per-
ceive that this disproportion is the only cause of
some difficulties, which have appeared so formida-
ble to him.

Let us form grand ideas of the Supreme Eeing.
What ideas ought we to form of him ? Never hath
a preacher a fairer opportunity of giving a scope to
his meditation, and of letting his imagination loose,
than when he describes the grandeur of that which
is most grand. But I do not mean to please your
fancies by pompous descriptions; but to edify your
minds by distinct ideas. God is an infinite Being.
In an infinite Being there must be things which in-
finitely surpass finite understanding; it would be
absurd to suppose otherwise. As the scripture
treats of this infinite God, it must necessarily treat
of subjects which absorb the ideas of a finite
mind.

72 The Enemies

5. The fifth article attacks the truth by arguments
foreign from the subject under consideration. To
propose arguments of this kind is one of the most
danoferous tricks of error. The most essential pre-
caution, that we can use, in the investigating of
truth, is to distinguish that which is foreign from the
subject from that which is really connected with it;
and there is no question in divinity, or philosophy,
casuistry, or policy, which could afibrd abstruse
and endless disputes, were not every one, who talks
of it, fatally ingenious in the art of incorporating in
it a thousand ideas, which are foreign from it.

You hold such and such doctrines, say some:
and yet Luther, Calvin, and a hundred celebrated
divines in your communion, have advanced many
false arguments in defence of it. But what does
this signify to me ! The question is not whether
these doctrines have been defended by weak argu-
ments; but whether the arguments, that determine
me to receive them, be conclusive, or sophistical
and vague.

You receive such a doctrine : but Origen, Tertul-
lian, and St. Augustine, did not believe it. And
what then! Am I inquiring what these fathers did
believe, or what they ought to have believed?

You believe such a doctrine ; but very few peo-
ple believe it beside yourself: Tlie greatest part of
Europe, almost all France, all Spain, all Italy,
whole kingdoms disbelieve it, and maintain opinions
diametrically opposite. And what is all this to me!
Am I examining what doctrines have the greatest

and the Arms of Chfistianity, 73

nuinber of partisans, or what doctrines ought to
have the most universal spread ?

You embrace such a doctrine : but many illustri-
ous persons, cardinals, kings, emperors, triple-crown-
ed heads, reject what you receive. But what avails
this reasoning to me ! Am I considering the rank of
those w ho receive a doctrine, or the reasons which
ought to determine them to receive it ? Have cardi-
nals, have kings, have emperors, have triple-crown-
ed heads, the clearest ideas ? Do they labour more
than all other men ? Are they the most indefatiga-
ble inquirers after truth ? Do they make the great-
est sacrifices to order ? Are they, of all mankind,
the first to lay aside those prejudices and passions,
which envelope and obscure the truth ?

6. The last artifice is this : Objections, ivkich are
made against the truth, derive their force, not from
their own reasonableness, but from the superiority/ of
the genius of him who proposeth them. There is no
kind of truth, which its defenders would not be obli-
ged to renounce, were it right to give up a proposi-
tion, because we could not answer all the objections
which were formed against it. A mechanic could
not answer the arguments, that I could propose to
him, to prove, when he walks, that there is no mo-
tion in nature, that it is the highest absurdity to sup-
pose it. A mechanic could not answer the argu-
ments, that I could propose to him, to piove that
there is no matter, even while he felt and touched
his own body, which is material. A mechanic could
not answer the arguments, tliat I could propose to
him, when he had finished his day's work, to prove

VOL. ir. 10

T4 The Enemies

that I gave him five shillings, even when I had giv-*-
en him but three. And yet, a mechanic hath more
reason for his assertions, than the greatest geniusses
in the universe have for their objections, when he
affirms that I gave him but three shillings, that there
IS motion, that there is a mass of matter, to which
his soul is united, and in which it is but too often, in
a manner, buried as in a tomb.

You simple, but sincere souls : you spirits of the
lowest class of mankind, but often of the highest at
the tribunal of reason and good sense, this article is
intended for you. Weigh the words of the second
commandment. Thou shall not make unto thee any
graven image, thou shalt not how down thyself to them.
You have more reason to justify your doctrine
and worship, than all the doctors of the universe
have to condemn them, by their most specious, and,
in regard to you, by their most indissoluble objec-
tions. Worship Jesus Christ in imitation of the an-
gels of heaven, to whom God said. Lei all the angeU
ef God worship him, Heb. i. 6. Pray ta him, after
the example of St. Stephen, and say unto him, as
that holy martyr said, in the hour of death, Lord
Jesus, reeeive my spirit, Acts vii. 59. Believe on tlie
testimony of the inspired writers, that he is eternal,
as his Father is ; that, with the Father, he is the Cre-
ator of the world; that, like the Father, he is Al-
mightv : that he hath all the essential attributes of
the Deitv, as the Father hath. You have more rea-
son for these doctrines, and for this worship than
the most refined sophisls have for all their most
specious objections, even for those which, to you,

and the Arms of Chrislianiiy, 75

are the most unanswerable. " Hold that fast which
ye have, let no man take your crown," Rev. iii,
11.

II. We have seen the darts which Satan shoots at
us, to subdue us to the dominion of error : let us
now examine those with which he aims to make us
submit to the empire of vice : But, lest we should
overcharge your memories with too many precepts,
we will take a method different from that which we
have followed in tlie former part of this discourse ;
and, in order to give you a more lively idea of that
steadiness, with which the Apostle intended to ani-
mate us, we will shfiw it you reduced to practice;
we will represent such a christian, as St. Paul him-
self describes in the text, wrestling against fiesh and
bloody against principalities , against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spir-
itual wickedness in high places. We will shew you
the christian resisting four sorts of the fiery darts
of the wicked. The false maxims of tlie world. —
The pernicious examples of the multitude, Threat-
nings and persecutions. And the snares of sensual
pleasures.

1, Satan attacks the christian vfiih false maxims
ef the world. These are some of them. Christians
are not obliged to practise a rigid morality. In
times of persecution, it is allowable to palliate our
sentiments, and, if the heart be right with God,
there is no harm in a conformity to tlie world. The
God of religion is the God of nature and it is not
conceivable, that religion should condemn the feel-
ings of nature ; or, that the ideas of fire and brim-

76 The Enemies

stone, with which the scriptures are filled, should
have any other aim, than to prevent men from car-
rying vice to extremes : they cannot mean to restrain
every act of sin. The time of youth is a season of
pleasure. We ought not to aspire at saintship. We
must do as other people do. It is beneath a man of
honour to put up an affront ; a gentleman ought to
require satisfaction. No reproof is due to him who
hurls nobody but himself. Time must be killed.
Detraction is the salt of conversation. Impurity,
indeed is intolerable in a woman ; but it is very
pardonable in men. Human frailty excuseth the
greatest excesses. To pretend to be perfect in vir-
tue, is to subvert the order of things, and to meta-
morphose man into a pure disembodied intelligence.
My brethren, how easy it is to make proselytes to
a religicm so exactly fitted to the depraved propen-
sities of the human heart !

These maxims have a singular character, they
seem to unite that which is most irregular with that
which is most regular in the heart ; and they are the
more likely to subvert our faith, because they seem
to be consistent with it. However, all that they
aim at is, to unite heaven and hell, and, by a mon-
strous assemblage of heterogeneous objects, they
propose to make us enjoy the pleasures of sin and
the joys of heaven. If Satan were openly to de-
clare to us, that we must proclaim war with God ;
that we must make an alliance with him against the
divine power ; that we must oppose his majesty :
reason and conscience would reject propositions so
detestable and gross. But, when he attacks us by

and the Arms of Chrisiianitij. 77

such motives as we have related ; when he tells us,
not that we must renounce the hopes of heaven, but
that a few steps in an easy path will conduct us thith-
er. When he invites us, not to deny religion, but
to content ourselves with observing a few articles
of it. When he doth not strive to render us insensi-
ble to the necessities of a poor neighbour, but to con-
vince us that we should first take care'' of ourselv^es,
for charity, as they say, begins at home : — do you
not conceive, my brethren, that there is in this mo-
rality a secret poison, which slides insensibly into the
heart, and corrodes all the powers of the soul.

The Christian is not vulnerable by any of these
maxims. He derives help from the religion, which
he professeth, against all the efforts that are employ-
ed to divert him from it ; and he conquers by resist-
ing Satan as .Tesus Christ resisted him, and, like him,
opposeth maxim against maxim, the maxims of Clirist
against the maxims of the world. AVould Satan per-
suade us, that we folloAv a morality too rigid ? It is
written, W^e must enter in at a strait gate, Matt. vii.
13. pluck out the right eye, cut off the right hand,
chap. V. 29. 30. ; deny ourselves, take up our cross,
and follow Christ, chap. xvi. 24. Does Satan say it
is allowable to conceal our religion in a time of per-
secution ? It is written, W^e must confess" Jesus Christ ;
whosoever shall deny him before men, him will he deny
before his Father who is in heaven, he who loveth fa-
ther or mother more than him, is not worthy of him,
chap. X. 32, 33, 37. Would Satan inspire us with re-
venge ? It is written. Dearly beloved, avenge not your-
selves, Rom. xii. 19. Doth Satan require us to devote

78 The Enemies

our youthful days in sin ? It is written, Remember
thy Creator in the days of thy youths Eccl. xii. !•
Does Satan tell us that we must not aspire to be
saints ? // is written. Be ye holy, for I am holy, 1
Pet. i. 16. Would Satan teach us to dissipate time?
It is written, We must redeem time, Eph. v. 16. we
must number our days, in order to apply our hearts
unto wisdom, Psal. xc, 12. Would Satan encourage
us to slander our neighbour? It is written, Revilers
shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 10.
Doth Satan tell us we desei-ve no reproof when we
do no harm ? It is written, We are to practise what-
soever things are pure, whatsoever constitute virtue,
whatsoever things are worthy of praise, Phil. iv. 8.
Would Satan tempt us to indulge impurity ? It is
written. Our bodies are the members of Christ, and it
is a crime to make them the members of a harlot, 1
Cor. vi. 15. Would Satan unite heaven and earth?
It is written, There is no concord between Christ and
Belial, no communion between light and darkness, 2
Cor. vi. 14, 15. ; no man can serve two masters, Matt>
vi. 24. Doth Satan urge the impossibility of per-
fection ? It is written, Be ye perfect, as your Father,
who is in heaven, is perfect, chap. v. 48.

2. Tiiere is a difference between those who preach
the maxims of .Tesus Christ, and those who preach
the maxims of the world. The former, alas ! are
as frail as the rest of mankind, and they themselves
are apt to violate the laws which they prescribe to
others ; so that it must be sometimes said of them,
What they bid you observe, observe and do ; but do
not ye after their works, Matt, xxiii. 3, They who

and the Arms of Christianity, 70

preach the maxims of the world, on the contrary,
never fail to confirm the pernicious maxims, which
they advance by their own examples : and hence a
second quiver of those darts^, with which Satan at-
tempts to destroy the virtues of Christianity ; J mean
the examples of bad men.

Each order of men, each condition of life, each
society, hath some peculiar vice, and each of these
is so established by custom, that we cannot resist it,
without being accounted, according to the usual
phrase, men of another worJd. Vicious men are
sometimes respectable persons. They are parents,
they are ministers, they are magistrates. We bring
into the world with us a turn to imitation. Our brain
is so formed as to receive impressions from all exteri-
or objects, and, if I may be allowed to speak so, to
take the form of every thing that affecteth it. How
difficult is it, my brethren, to avoid contagion, when
we breathe an air so infected ! The desire of pleas-
ing often prompts us to that which our inclinations
abhor, and very few people can bear this reproach :
you are unfashionable and unpolite! How much
harder is it to resist a torrent, when it falls in with
the dispositions of our own hearts! The Christian,
however, resolutely resisteth this attack, and oppo-
seth model to model, the patterns of Jesus Christ,
and of his associates, to the examples of an apostate
world.

The first, the great model, the exemplar of all
others, is Jesus Christ. Faith, which always fixeth
the eyes of a Christian on his Saviour, incessantly
contemplates his virtues, and also inclines him to

80 The Enemies

holiness by stirring up his natural propensity to ini--
itation. Jesus Christ reduced every virtue, which
he preached, to practice. Did he preach a detach-
ment from the world ? And could it be carried fur-
ther than the divine Saviour carried it ? He was ex-
posed to hunger, and to thirst ; to the inclemency
of seasons, and to the contempt of mankind : he
had no fortune to recommend him to the world, no
great office to render him conspicuous there. Did
he preach zeal ? He passed the day in the instruct-
ing of men, and, as the saving of souls filled up the
day, the night he spent in praying to God. Did he
preach patience ? When he was reviled, he reviled not
again, 1 Pet. ii. 23. Did he preach love ? Greater
love than he had no man, for he laid down his life for
his friends, John xv. 13. His incarnation, his birth,
his life, his cross, his death, are so many voices,
each of w hich cries to us, J3ehold how he loved you^
chap. xi. 36.

Had Jesus Christ alone practised the virtues which
he prescribed to us, it might be objected, tliat a man
must be conceived of the Holy Ghost, Mat. i. 20. to re-
sist the force of custom. But we have seen many
Christians, who have walked in the steps of their mas-
ter. The j)rimitive church was compassed about with
a happy society, a great cloud of witnesses, Heb. xii.
]. Even now in spite of the power of corruption,
we have many illustrious examples ; we can shew
magistrates, who are accessible; generals, who are
patient; merch.ants, who are disinterested; learned
men, who are teachable ; and devotees, who are low-
Iv and meek.

and the Arms of Christianity. 81

If the believer could find no exemplary characters
on earth, he could not fail of meeting with such in
heaven. On earth, it is true, haughtiness, sensuality,
and pride, are in fashion. But the believer is not
on earth. He is reproached for being a man of an-
other world. He glories in it, he is a man of anoth-
er world, he is a heavenly man, he is a citizen of hea-
ven, Phil. iii. 20. His heart is with his treasure, and
his soul, transporting itself by faith into the heaven-
ly regions, beholds customs there different from those
which prevail in this world. In heaven, it is the fashion
to bless God, to sing his praise, to cry Holy, holy, ho-
ly is the Lord of hosts, Isa. vi. 3. to animate one an-
other in celebrating the glory of the great Supreme,
who reigns and fills the place. On earth, fashion
proceeds from the courts of kings, and the provinces
are polite when they imitate them. The believer
is a heavenly courtier ; he practiseth, in the midst
of a crooked and perverse nation, the customs of
the court whence he came, and to which he hopes
to return.

3. Satan assaults the Christian with the threaten-
ings of the world, and with the persecutions of those
who are in power. Vuiue, I own, hath a venera-
ble aspect, which attracts respect from those who
hate it: but, after all, it is hated. A beneficent
man is a troublesome object to a miser : The patience
of a believer throws a shade over the character of a
passionate man : and the men of the world will al-
ways persecute those virtues, which they cannot
resolve to practise.

VOL. n, 11

82 The Enemies

Moreover, there is a kind of persecution, which
approacheth to madness, when, to the hatred, which
our enemies naturally have against us, they add sen-
timents of superstition ; when, under pretence of
religion, they avenge their own cause ; and, accord-
ing to the language of scripture, think that to kill
the saints is to render service to God^ John x. 2.
Hence so many edicts against primhive Christianity,
and so many cruel laws against christians themselves.
Hence the filling of a thousand deserts with exiles,
and a thousand prisons with confessors. Hence the
letting loose of bears, and bulls, and lions, on the
saints, to divert the inhabitants of Rome. Hence
the applying of red hot plates of iron to their flesh.
Hence iron pincers to prolong their pain by pulling
them piecemeal. Hence cauldrons of boiling oil, in
which, by the industrious cruelty of their persecu-
tors, they died by fire and by water too. Hence
burning brazen bulls, and seats of fire and flame.
Hence the skins of wild beats, in which they were
wrapped, in order to be torn and devoured by dogs.
And hence those strange and nameless punishments,
which would seem to have rather the air of fables
than of historical facts, had not christian persecu-
tors, (good God ! must these two titles go together!)

had not christian persecutors Let us

pass this article, my brethren, let us cover these
bloody objects with a veil of patience and love.

Ah! how violent is this combat ! Shall I open the
wounds again, which tlie mercy of God hath clos-
ed ? Shall I recall to your memories the falls of some
of you ? Give glory to God, Josh. vii. 19. Cast

and the Arms of Christianity. 83

your eyes for a moment on that fatal day, in which
the violence of persecution wrenched from you a
denial of the Saviour of the world, whom in your
souls you adored ; made you sign with a trembling
hand, and utter with a faltering tongue, those base
words against Jesus Christ, / do not know the man,
Matt. xxvi. 72. Let us own, then, that Satan is
infinitely formidable, when he strikes us with the
thunderbolts of persecution.

A new combat brings on a new victory, and the
constancy of the christian is displayed in many a
triumpliant banner. Turn over the annals of the
church, and behold how a fervid faith hath operated
in fiery trials. It hath inspired many Stephens with
mercy, who, while they sank under their persecu-
tors, said. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Acts
vii. 60. Many, with St. Paul, have abounded in
patience, and have said, Being reviled, we bless ; be-
ing defamed, we intreat, 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. It has fil-
led a Balaam with praise, who, while his hand was
held over the fire to scatter that incense, which, in
spite of him, his persecutors had determined he
should offer, sang, as well as he could. Blessed be
the Lord, who teacheth my hands to war, and my Jin-
gers to fight, Psal. cxliv, 1. It transported that ho-
ly woman with joy, who said, as she was going to
sutler. Crowns are distributed to day, and I am go-
ing to receive one. It inspired Mark, bishop of Ar-
etliusa, with magnanimity, who, according to The-
odoret, after he had been mangled and slashed, bath-
ed in a liquid, of which insects are fond, and hung
up in the sun to be devoured by them, said to the

84 The Enemies

spectators, I pity you, ye people of the world, I
am ascending to heaven, while ye are crawling on
earth. And how many Marks of Arethusa, how
many Balaams, how many Stephens, and Pauls,
have we known in our age, whose memories history
will transmit to the most distant times !

4. But how formidable soever Satan may be, when
he shoots the fiery darts of persecution at us, it must
be granted, my brethren, he dischargeth others far
more dangerous to us, when, having studied our pas-
sions, he presenteth those objects to our hearts which
they idolize, and gives us the possession, or the hope
of possessing them. The first ages of Christianity, in
which religion felt all the rage of tyrants, were not
the most fatal to the church. Great tribulations pro-
duced great virtues, and the blood of the maiiyrs
was the seed of the church. But when, under chris-
tian emperors, believers enjoyed the privileges of the
world, and the profession of the faith was no obsta-
cle to worldly grandeur, the church became corrupt,
and, by sharing the advantages, partook of the vices
of the world.

Among the many different objects, Avhich the world
offers to our view, there is always one, there are of-
ten more, which the heart approves. The heart,
which doth not glow at the sight of riches, may sigh
after honours. The soul that is insensible to glory,
may be enchanted with pleasures. The demon of
concupiscence, revolving for ever around us, will
not fail to present to each of us that enticement,
which of all others is the most agreeable to us. See
his conduct to David. He could not entice him by

and the Arms of Christianity, 85

the idea of a throne to become a parricide, and to
stain his hands with the blood of the anointed of the
Lord : but, as he was inaccessible one way, another
art must be tried. He exhibited to his view an ob-
ject fatal to his innocence : the prophet saw, admued,
was dazzled, and inflamed with a criminal passion,
and, to gratify it, began in adultery, and mm'der
closed the scene.

My brethren, you do not feel these passions now,
your souls are attentive to these great truths, and,
while you hear of the snares of concupiscence, you
discover the vanity of them. But if, instead of our
voice, Satan were to utter his ; if, instead of being
confined within these walls, you were transported to
the pinnacle of an eminent edifice ; were he there
to shew you all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them, Matt. iv. 8. and to say to each of you.
There, you shall content your pride: here, you
shall satiate your vengeance : yonder, you shall roll
in voluptuousness: I fear, I fear, my brethren, very
few of us would say to such a dangerous enemy,
Satan, get thee hence, ver. 10.

This is the fourth assault, which the demon of
cupidity makes on the christian ; this is the last tri-
umph of christian constancy and resolution. In
these assaults the christian is firm. T he grand ideas,
which he foniis of God, make him fear to irritate the
Deity, and to raise up such a formidable foe. They
fill him with a just appreliension of the folly of that
man, who will be happy in spite of God. For self-
giatification, at the expence of duty, is nothing else
but a determination to be happy in opposition to God.

86 The Enemies

This is the utmost degree of extravagance : Do we
provoke the Lord to jealousy ? Are we stronger than
he 1 1 Cor. X. 22.

Over all, the christian fixeth his eyes on the im-
mense rewards, which God reserveth for him in an-
other world. The good things of this world, we just
now observed, have some relation to our passions :
but, after all, can the world satisfy them ? My pas-
sions are infinite, every finite object is inadequate to
them. My ambition, my voluptuousness, my ava-
rice, are only irritated, they are not satisfied, by all
the objects which the present world exhibits to my
view. Christians, we no longer preach to you to lim-
it your desires. Expand them, be ambitious, be cov-
etous, be greedy of pleasure : but be so in a supreme
degree. Jerusalem, enlarge the place of thy tent,
stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations, spare
not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes, Isa.
liv. 2. The throne of thy sovereign, the pleasures
that are at his right hand, the inexhaustible mines of
his happiness, will quench the utmost thii'st of thy
heart.

From what hath been said, I infer only two conse-
quences, and them, my brethren, I would use, to con-
vince you of the grandeur of a christian, and of the
giandeur of an intelligent soul.

1. Let us learn to form grand ideas of a christian.
The pious man is often disdained in society by men
of the world. He is often taxed with naiTowness of
genius, and meanness of soul. He is often dismissed
to keep company with those, whom the world calls
good folks. But what imjust appraisers of things

and the Arms of Chrisiianily, %1l

are mankind ! How little doth it become them to pre-
tend to distribute glory ! Christian is a grand charac-
ter. A Christian man unites in himself what is most
grand, both in the mind of a philosopher, and in the
heart of a hero.

The unshaken steadiness of his soul elevates him
above whatever is most grand in the mind of a phi-
losopher. The philosopher flatters himself, that he
is arrived at this grandeur ; but he only imagines so ;
it is the Christian who possesseth it. He alone knows
how to distinguish the true from the false. The
Christian is the man, who knoweth how to ascend
to heaven, to procure wisdom there, and to bring it
down and to diffuse it on earth. It is the Christian,
who, having learned, by the accurate exercise of his
reason, the imperfection of his knowledge, and hav-
ing supplied the want of perfection in himself, by
submitting to the decisions of an infallible Being,
steadily resisteth all the illusions, and all the so-
phisms of error and falsehood.

And, as he possesseth, as he surpasseth, whatever
is most grand in tlie mind of a philosopher, so he
possesseth whatever is most grand in the heart of a
hero. That grandeur, of which the worldly hero
vainly imagines himself in possession, the Christian
alone really enjoys. It is the Christian who first
forms the heroical design of taking the perfections
of God for his model, and then surmounteth every
obstacle that opposeth his laudable career. It is the
Christian who hath the courage, not to rout an army,
neither to cut a way through a squadron, nor to
scale a wall; but to stem an immoral torrent, to

88 The Enemies

free himself from the maxims of the world, to bear
pain, and to despise shame, and, what perhaps may
be yet more magnanimous, and more rare, to be
impregnable against whole armies of voluptuous at-
tacks. It is the Christian, then, who is the only
true philosopher, the only real hero. Let us be
well persuaded of this truth ; if the world despise
us, let us, in our turn, despise the world; let us be
highly satisfied with that degree of elevation, to
which grace hath raised us. This is the first conse-
quence.

2. VYe infer from this subject the excellence of your
souls. Two mighty powers dispute the sovereignty
over them, God and Satan. Satan employs his sub-
tilty to subdue you to him: he terrifies you with
threatenings, he enchants you with promises, he en-
deavours to produce errors in your minds, and pas-
sions in your hearts.

On the other hand, God, having redeemed you
with the purest and most precious blood, having sha-
ken^ in your favour, the heavens and the earth, the
sea and the dry land, Hag. ii. 6. still continues to re-
sist Satan for you, to take away his prey from him ;
and from the highest heaven, to animate you with
these grand motives, which we have this day been
proposing to your meditation. To-day God would
attract you, by the most affecting means, to himself

While heaven and earth, God and the world, en-
deavour to gain your souls, do you alone continue
indolent? Are you alone ignorant of your own
worth? Ah! learn to know your own excellence,
triumph over flesh and blood, trample the world be-

and the Arms of Christianity, 8&

neath your feet, go from conquering to conquer.
Listen to the voice that crieth unto you, " To him
that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in his throne/* Rev. iii. 21. Con-
tinue in the faith, " hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown," ver. 11. Having fought
through life, redouble your believing vigour at the
approach of death.

' All the wars which the world makes on your
faith, should prepare you for the most great, the
most formidable attack of all. The last enemy that
shall he destroyed, is death, 1 ('or. xv. 26. The cir-
cumstances of death are called an agony, that is, a
wrestling. In effect, it is the mightiest effort of Sa-
tan, and therefore our faith should redouble its vig-
orous acts.

Then Satan will attack you with cutting griefs,
and doubts, and fears; then will he present to you a
deplorable family, whose cries and tears will pierce
your hearts, and who, by straitening the ties that
bind you to the earth, will raise obstacles to prevent
the ascent of your souls to God. He will alarm
you with the idea of divine justice, and will terrify
you with that of consuming fire, which must devour
tlie adversaries of God. He will paint, in the most
dismal colours, all the sad train of your funerals, the
mournfully nodding herse, the torch, the shroud,
tlie coffin, and the pall; the frightful solitude of the
tomb, or the odious putrefaction of the grave. At
the sight of these sad objects, flesh complains, na-

VOL. II. 12

90 The Enemies

ture murmurs, religion itself seems to totter an(S
sLake: but, fear not; your faith, your faith will sup-
port you. Faith will discover those eternal rela-
tions into which you are going to enter; the celes-
tial armies, that will soon be your companions ; the
blessed angels, who wait to receive your souls, and
to be your convoy home. Faith will shew you that
in the tomb of .Jesus Christ which will sanctify
yours; it will remind you of that blessed death,
which renders yours precious in the sight of God ;
it will assist your souls to glance into eternity ; it
will open the gates of heaven to you ; it will enable
you to behold, without murmuring, the earth sink-
ing away from your feet; it will change your death-
beds into triumphal chariots, and it will make you
exclann, amidst all the mournful objects that sur-
round you, O grave, where isthymctory? O deaths
nhere is thy sting ? 1 Cor. xv. 55.

My brethren, our most vehement desires, our pri-
vate studies, our public labours, our vows, our wish-
es, and our prayers, we consecrate to prepare you
for that great day. " For this cause, I bow my knee&
" unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he
"would grant you, according to the riches of his
"glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit
" in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your
" hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and ground-
" ed in love, may be able to comprehend with all
"saints, wliat is the breadth, and length, and depth,
" and heiglit; and to know the love of Christ, which
"passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all

a7id the Arms of Christianity. 91

'^^ the fulness of God. Now, unto him that is able
" to do exceedina,* abundantly above all that we ask
" or think, according to the power that worketh in
" us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Je-
" sus, throughout all ages, world without end." Amen.
Eph. iii. 14, 16, 21.

SERMON III.

The Birth of Jesus Christ.

>®'

Isaiah ix. 6, 7.

Unto us a child is born, un'o us a son is given ; and
the government shall he upon his shoidder : and his
name shall he called. Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince
of Peace, Of the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of Da-
vid, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to es-
tablish it with judgment and rvith justice, from
henceforth, even for ever.

A Anticipate the festival which the goodness, or ra-
ther the magnificence of God, invites you to cele-
brate on Wednesday next. All nature seems to take
part in the memorable event, which on that day we
shall commemorate, I mean the birth of the Saviour
of the world. Herod turns pale on his throne ; the
devils tremble in hell ; the wise men of the East
suspend all their speculations, and observe no sign
in the firmament, except that which conducts them
to the place where lies the incarnate VV^ord, God
manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 16. an angel from hea-
ven is the herald of the astonishing event, and tells
the shepherds, Behold I bring you good tidings of

94 The Birth of Christ.

great joi/, which shall be to all people, for unto you
is horn this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which
is Christ the Lord, Luke ii. 10, 1 1. the multitude of the
heavenly host ea2;erly descend to congratulate men
on the Word's assumption of mortal flesh, on his
drvelling among men, in order to enable them to
" behold his glory, the glory of the only begotten
** of the Father, full of grace and truth," John L
14. ; they make the air resound with these acclama-
tions, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
" peace, good will towards men," Luke ii. 14.

What think ye? Does this festival require no
preparation of you ? Do you imagine, that you shall
celebrate it as you ought, if you content yourselves
with attending on a few discourses, during which,
perhaps, while you are present in body, you may
be absent in spirit; or with laying aside your tem-
poral cares, and your most turbulent passions, at
the church-gates, in order to take them up again as
soon as divine service ends ? The king Messiah is
about to make his triumphant entry among you.
With what pomp do the children of this world, who
are wise, and, we may add, magnificent in their gen-
eration, Luke xvi. 8. celebrate tlie entries of their
princes? They strew the roads with flowers, they
raise triumphal arches, they express their joy in
shouts of victory, and in songs of praise. Come,
then, my brethren, let us to-day prepare the way of
the Lord, and make his paths strait. Matt. iii. 3.; let
us he joy fid together before the Lord, let us make a
joyfid noise before the Lord the King, for he cometh
to judge the earth : Psal. xcviii. 6, 9. ; or, to speak in

The Birth of Christ m

a more intelligible, and in a more evangelical man-
ner, Come ye miserable sinners, loaden with the insup-
portable burdens of your sins; Come ye troubled
consciences, vmeasy at the remembrance of your ma-
ny idle words, many criminal thoughts, many abom-
inable actions ; Come ye poor mortals, tossed with
tempests and not comforted^ Isa. liv. 11. condemned
first to bear the infirmities of nature, the caprices of
society, the vicissitudes of age, the turns of fortune,
and then the horrors of death, and the frightful night
of the tomb; Come behold The Wonderful^ The
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace : take him into your arms, learn
to desire nothing more, when you possess him. May
God enable each of you, in transports of joy, to say.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Amen.

You have heard the prophecy, on which our med-
itations in this discourse are to turn. " Unto us a
" child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the gov-
" ernment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
" shall be called. Wonderful, Counsellor, Themigh-
" ty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
" Peace. Of the increase of his government and
" peace ihere shall be no end, upon the throne of
" David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
" establish it, with judgment and with justice, from
" henceforth, even for ever." These words are
more dazzling than clear : let us fix their true mean-
ing ; and, in order to ascertain that, let us divide
this discourse into two parts.

J. Let us explain the prediction.

96 The Birth of Christ

II. Let us shew its accomplishment.

In the first part, we will prove, that the prophet
had the Messiah in view : and, in the second, t} at
our Jesus hath fully answered the design of the pro-
phet, and hath accomplished, in the most just and
sublime of all senses, the whole prediction: Unto
us a child is horn, and so on.

I. Let us explain the prophet's prediction, and
let us fix on the extraordinary child, to whom he
gives the magnificent titles in the text. Indeed, the
grandeur of the titles sufficiently determines the
meaning of the prophet ; for to Avhom, except to the
Messiah, can these appellations belong. The Won-
derfuly The Counsellor, The mighty God, The Prince
of Peace, The everlasting Father 1 This natural sense
of the text, is supported by the authority of an in-
spired writer, and what is, if not of any great weight
in point of argument, at least very singular as an
historical fact, it is supported by the authority of an
angel. The inspired writer Avhom we mean is St.
Matthew, who manifestly alludes to the words of the
text, by quoting those which precede them, which
are connected with them, and which he applies to the
times of the Messiah : for, having related the im-
prisonment of John, and, in consequence of that,
the retidng of Jesus Christ into Galilee, he adds, that
the divine Saviour " came and dwelt in Capernaum,
" which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zab-
" ulon and Nephthalim : that it might be fulfilled,
" which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
" The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim,
" bv the way of the seir, bovond Jordan,- Galilee of

The Birth of Christ g7

^^ the Gentiles : the people which sat in darkness saw
" great light ; and to them which sat in the region
" and shadow of death light is sprung up," Matt. iv.
12. The angel of whom I spoke is Gabriel; who,
when he declared to Mary the choice which God had
made of her to be the mother of the Messiah, appli-
ed to her Son the characters by which Isaiah de-
scribes the child in the text, and paints him in the
same colours : " Thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
*' and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
" He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
" the Highest ; and the Lord God shall give unto him
" the throne of his father David. And he shall reign
" over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his king-
^' dom there shall be no end," Luke i. 3L

How conclusive soever these proofs may appear in
favor of the sense we have given of the prophecy,
they do not satisfy this intractable age, which is al-
ways ready to embrace any thing that seems lilcely
to enervate the truths of religion. Sincerity requires
us to acknowledge, that although our prophecy is
clear of itself, yet there ariseth some obscmity from
the order in which it is placed, and from its connec-
tion with the foregoing and following verses. On
each w^e will endeavour to throw some light, and, for
this purpose, we Avill go back, and analyze this, and
the two preceding chapters.

When Isaiah delivered this prophecy, Ahaz reign-
ed over the kingdom of Judah, and Pekah, the son
of Remaliah, over that of Israel. You cannot be
ignorant of the mutual jealousy of these two king-
doms. There is often more hatred between two

TOL. ir. 13

98 The Birth of Christ

parties, whose religion is almost the same, than he-
tween those whose doctrines are in direct opposi-^
tion. Each considers the other as near the truth :
each is jealous lest the other should obtain it: and,
as it is more likely that they, who hold the essential
truths of religion, sliould surpass others sooner than
they who rase the very foundationsof it, the former
are greater objects of envy than the latter. The
kingdoms of Israel and Judah were often more en-
venomed against one another than against foreign-
ers. This was the case in the reign of Ahaz, king
of Judah. Pekah, king of Israel, to the shame of
the ten tribes, discovered a disposition like that,
which hath sometimes made the christian world
blush ; I mean, that a prince, who worshipped the
true God, in order to destroy his brethren, made an
alliance with an Idolater. He allied himself ta Re-
zin, a Pagan prince, who reigned over that part of
Syria, which constituted the kingdom of Damascus.
The kingdom of Judah had often yielded to the for-
ces of these kings, even when each had separately
made war Avith it. Now they were united ; and in-
tended jointly to fall on the Jews, and to overwhelm,
rather than to besiege, Jerusalem. Accordingly, the
consternation was so great in the holy city, that, the
scripture says, " The heart of Ahaz was moved, and
" the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are
" moved with the wind," Tsa. vii. 2.

Although the kingdom of Judah had too well de-
served the punishments which threatened it ; and al-
though a thousand outrages, with which the inhabi-
tants had insulted the Majesty of heaven, seeme<:l to

The Birth of Christ 99

guarantee their country to the enemy, yet God came
to theu' assistance. He was touched, if not with the
sincerity of their repentance, at least with the excess
of theu' miseries. He commanded Isaiah to encour-
age their hopes. He even promised them, not only
that all the designs of their enemies should be ren-
dered abortiYe ; but that the two confederate king-
doms, within three score and Jive years, ver. 8. should
be entirely destroyed. Moreover, be gave Ahaz
the choice of a sign to convince himself of the truth
of the promise. Ahaz was one of the most wicked
kings that ever sat on the throne of .Tudah: so that
the scripture could give no worse character of this
prince, nor describe his perseverance in sin more
fully, than by saying that he was always Aha^. ^
He refused to choose a sign, not because he felt one
of those noble emotions, which makes a man submit
to the testimony of God w^ithout any more proof of
its truth than the testimony itself; but because he
was inclined to infidelity and ingratitude; and, pro-
bably, because he trusted in his ally, the king- of As-
syria. Notwithstanding his refusal, God gave him
signs, and informed him, that before the prophet's
two children, one of whom was already born, and
the other would be born shortly, should arrive at
years of discretion, the two confederate kings should
retreat from Judea, and be entirely destroyed.

Of the first child, see what the seventh chapter of
the Revelations of our prophet says. We are there

* 2 Chron. xxviii. 22. This is that king Ahaz. Eng. Version.
C'estoit toujours le roi Achaz, Fr. Idem erat rex Achaz. Jun.
Tremel.

100 The Birth of Christ.

told, that this son of the prophet was named Shear-
jashub, that is, the remnant shall return, ver. 3. a
name expressive of the meaning of the sign, which
declared that the Jews should return from their re-
bellions, and that God would return from his anger.
The other child, then unborn, is mentioned in the
eighth chapter, where it is said the prophetess hare a
sojiy ver. 3.

God commanded the prophet to take the first child,
and to carry him to that pool, or piece of water,
which was formed by the waters of Siloah, which
supplied the stream known by the name of The ful-
ler s conduit, 2 Kings xviii. 17. and which was at the
foot of the eastern wall of .Jerusalem. The prophet
was ordered to produce the child in the presence of
all the affrighted people, and to say to them, " Be-
*' fore this child shall know to refuse the evil, and
" choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall
"be forsaken of both her kings," Isa. vii. 16. If
this translation be retained, the land signifies the
kingdom of Israel, and that of Syria, from which the
enemy came, and which, on account of their com-
ing, the Jews abhorred. I should rather render the
words, the land for which thou art afraid, and by
the /««# understand Judea, which was then in a ve-
ry dangerous state. But the prophecy began to be
accomplished in both senses about a year after it
was uttered. Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, not
only drew off the forces of Rezin and Pekah from
the siege of Jerusalem, but he drave them also from
their own countries. He first attacked Damascus.
Rezin quitted his intended conquest, and returned

The Birth of Christ 101

to defend his capital, where he was slain ; and all
his people were carried into captivily, 2 Kings xvj.
9. Tiglath Pileser then marched into the kingdom
of Israel, and victory marched along with him at the
head of his army, 1 Chron. v. 26. He subdued the
tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Ma-
nasseh, all the inhabitants of Galilee, and the tribe
of Nephthaiim, and carried them captives beyond
Euphrates ; and sixty-five years after, that is, sixty-
five years after the prediction of the total ruin of
the kingdom of Israel by the propliet Amos, the
prophecy was fulfilled by Salmanassar, chap. vii. 11.
according to the language of our prophet, within
three score and Jive years shall Ephraim he broken,
that it he not a people, Isa. vii. 8. Thus was this
prophecy accomplished, "before this child shall
"know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the
" land, for which thou art afraid, shall be forsaken
" of both her kings.'*

God determined that the prophet's second child
should also be a sign of the truth of the same pro-
mise. He assured Isaiah, that before the child, who
should shortly be born, could learn to articulate the
first sounds, which cliildren were taught to pro-
nounce; hefore the child shoidd have knoniedge to
cry. My father, and my mother, the riches of Damas-
cus, and the spoil of Samaria, that is, of the kingdom
of Israel, shoidd he tedcen away by the king of Assyria,
chap. viii. 4. This is the same promise confirmed
by a second sign. God usually giveth more than
one, when he confirmeth any very interesting pre-

102 The Birth of Christ.

diction, as we see in the history of Pharaoh, and
the patriarch Joseph, Gen. xli. 1, &c.

But as all the mercies that were bestowed on the
Jews, from the time of Abraham, were grounded on
the covenant which God had made with that patri-
arch, their common father and head ; or rather, as,
since the fall, men could expect no favour of God but
in virtue of the Mediator of the church; it is general-
ly to be observed in the prophecies, that when God
gave them a promise, he directed their attention to
this grand object. Either the idea of the covenant,
or the idea of the Mediator, was a seal, which God
put to his promises, and a bar against the unbelief
and distrust of his people. Every thing might be
expected from a God, whose goodness was so infinite,
as to prepare such a noble victim for the salvation of
mankind. He, who would confine Satan in ever-
lasting chains, and vanquish sin and death, was fully
able to deliver his people from tlie incursions of Re-
zin, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah. To remove
the present fears of the Jews, God reminds them of
the wonders of his love, which he had promised to
display in favour of his church in ages to come :
and commands his prophet to say to them, " Ye
trembling leaves of the wood, shaken with every wind,
peace be to you! Ye timorous Jews, cease your
fears I let not the greatness of this temporal deliver-
ance, which I now promise you, excite your doubts !
God hath favours incomparably greater in store for
you, they shall be your guarantees for those which
ye are afraid to expect. Ye are in covenant with
God. Ye have a right to expect those displays of

Ttie Birth of Christ. im

his love in your favour, which are least credible.
Remember the blessed seed, which he promised to
your ancestors, Gen. xxii. 18. "Behold! a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and call his name Im-
manuel," Isa. vii. 14. The spirit of prophecy, that
animates me, enables me to penetrate through all the
ages that separate the present moment from that in
which the promise shall be fulfilled. I see the divine
child, my " faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen," Heb. xi. 1. and
grounded on the word of that God, " who changeth
not," Mai. iii. 6. who " is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent,"
Num. xxiii. 19. I dare speak of a miracle, which
yt\[\ be wTought eight hundred years hence, as if it
had been wrought to-day, " Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called.
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the ever-
lasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

This, my brethren, is the prophet's scope in the
three chapters which w^e have analyzed, and particu*
larly in the text. But, if any one of you receive
our exposition without any farther discussion, he will
discover more docility than we require, and he would
betray his credulity without proving his conviction.
How often doth a commentator substitute his own
opinions for those of his author, and, by forging, if
I may be allowed to speak so, a new text, elude the
difficulties of that which he ought to explain? Let us
act more ingenuously. There are two ditriculties.

104 The Birth of Christ

which attend our comment ; one is a particular, the
other is a general difficulty.

The particular difficulty is this : We have suppo-
sed, that Ihe mysterious child, spoken of in our text,
is the same of whom the prophet speaks, when he
says, A virgin shall conceive and hear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel ; and that this child is differ-
ent from that whom Isaiah gave for a sign of the pre-
sent temporal deliverance, and of whom it is said,
" Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and
choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest sliall
be forsaken of both her kings." This supposition
does not seem to agree with the text : read the fol-
lowing verses, which are taken from chap. vii. " Be-
hold ! a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel: Butter and honey
shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and
choose the good. But before the child shall know
to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that
thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings,"
ver. 14, 15, 16. Do not the last words, " before the
child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the
good," seem to belong to the words which immedi-
ately precede them, " Behold ! a virgin shall con-
ceive and bear a son ?" Immanuel, then, who was to
be born of a virgin, could not be the Messiah : the
prophet must mean the child, of whom he said, " Be-
fore he know to refuse the evil and choose the good,"
Judea shall be delivered from the two confederate
kings.

How indissoluble soever this objection may ap-
pear, it is only an apparent difficulty, and it lies les?

The Birth of Christ, 105

in the nature of the thing than in the arrangement
of the terms. Represent to yourselves the prophet
executing the order which God had given him, as the
third verse of the seventh chapter relates : " Go forth
now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool." Ima-
gine Isaiah, in the presence of the Jews, holding
his son Shearjashub in his arms, and addressing them
in this manner: The token that God gives you,
of your present deliverance, that he is still your
God, and that ye are still his covenant people, is the
renewal of the promise to you which he made to
your ancestors concerning the Messiah : to convince
you of the truth of what I assert, I discharge my
commission, " Behold ! a virgin shall conceive, and
" bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel," that
is, God with us. He shall be brought up like the
children of men, " butter and honey shall he eat, un-
" til he know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,"
that is, until he arrive at years of maturity. In vir-
tue of this promise, which will not be ratified till
some ages have expired, behold what I promise you
now ; before the child, not before the child, whom, I
said just now, a virgin should bear : but before the
child in my arms, (the phrase may be rendered he-
fore this child,) before Shearjashub, whom I now lift
up, " shall know to refuse the evil, and choose th<^
" good, the land, for which ye are in trouble, shall
" be forsaken of both her kings." You see, my
brethren, the child, whom, the prophet said, a virgin
shoidd conceive, could not be Shearjashub, who was
actually present in his father's arms. The difficulty,
VOL. ir. 14

lOB The Birth of Christ,

therefoi-e, is only apparent, and, as I observed be-
fore, it lay in the arrangement of the terms, and not
in the nature of the thing. This is our answer to
what I called a particular difficulty.

A general objection may be made against the man-
ner in which we have explained these chapters, and
in which, in general, we explain other prophecies.
Allow me to state this objection in all its force, and,
if I may use the expression, in all its enormity, in
order to shew you, in the end, all its levity and folly.

The odious objection is this : An unbeliever would
say. The three chapters of Isaiah, of which you
have given an arbitrary analysis, are equivocal and
obscure, like the greatest part of those compilations^
which compose the book of the visionary flights of
this prophet, and like all the writings, that are called
'predictions, prophecies, revelations. Obscurity is the
grand character of them, even in the opinion of those
who have given sublime and curious explanations of
them. They are capable of several senses. Who
hath received authority to develope those ambiguous
writings, to determine the true meaning, among the
many different ideas which they excite in the reader,
and to each of which the terms are alike applicable ?:
During seventeen centuries, christians have racked
their invention to put a sense on the writings of the
prophets advantageous to Christianity, and the great-
est geniusses have endeavoured to interpret them in
favor of the christian religion. Men, who have been
famous for their erudition and knowledge, have taken
the most laborious pains to methodize these writings ;
one generation of great men hath succeeded anothei*

The Birth of Christ 107

in the iindertakirifij ; is it astonishing tliat some degree
of success hath attended their labours, and that, by-
dint of indefatigable industry, they have rendered
those prophecies venerable, which would have been
accounted dark and void of design, if less pains had
been taken to adapt a design, and less violence had
been used in arranging them in order ?

This is the objection in all its force, and, as I said
before, in all its enormity. Let us enquire whether
we can give a solution proportional to this boasted
objection of infidelity. Our answer will be compri-
sed in a chain of propositions, which will guard you
against those who find myslical meanings wh^re there
are none, as well as against those who disown them
where they are. To these purposes attend to the
following propositions ;

1. They were not the men of our age who forged
the book, in which, we imagine, we discover such
profound knowledge : we know, it is a book of the
most venerable antiquity, and we can demonstrate,
that it is the most ancient book in the world.

2. This venerable antiquity, however, is not the
chief ground of our admiration : tlie benevolence of
its design ; the grandeur of its ideas ; tlie sublimity
of its doctrines ; the holiness of its precepts ; are,
according to our notion of things, if not absolute
proofs of its divinity, at least advantageous presump-
tions in its favor.

3. Among divers truths which it contains, and
which it may be supposed some superior gcniusses
miglit have discovered, I meet with some, the attain-
ment of which I cannot reasonably attribute to the

108 The Birth of Christ

human mind : of this kind are some predictions, ob-
scure I grant, to those to whom they were first de-
livered, but rendered very clear since by the events.
Such are these two, among many others. The peo-
ple, who are in covenant with God, shall be exclud-
ed; and people who are not shall be admitted. I
see the accomplishment of these predictions with my
own eyes, in the rejection of the Jews, and in the
calling of the Gentiles.

4. The superior characters w^hich signalize these
books, give them the right of being mysterious in
some places, without exposing them to the charge
of being equivocal, or void of meaning; for some
works have acquired this right. When an author
hath given full proof of his capacity in some propo-
sitions, which are clear and intelligible ; and when
he expresseth hhnself, in other places, in a manner
obscure, and hard to be understood, he is not to be
taxed, all on a sudden with writing irrationally. A
meaning is to be sought in his expressions. It is not
to be supposed, that geniusses of the highest order
sink at once beneath the lowest minds. Why do we
not entertain such notions of our prophets ? Why is
not the same justice due to the extraordinary men,
whose respectable writings we are pleading for; to
our Isaiahs, and .Jeremiahs, which is allowed to .Ju-
venal and Yirgil ? What ! shall some pretty thought
of the latter, shall some ingenious stroke of the for-
mer, conciliate more respect to them, than the noble
sentiments of God, the sublime doctrines, and the
virtuous precepts of the holy scriptures, can obtain
for the writers of the Bible ?

The Birth of Christ. 109

5. We do not pretend, however, to abuse that re-
spect, which it would be unjust to withhold from our
authors. We do not pretend to say that every ob-
scure passage contains a mystery, or that, whenever
a passage appears unintelligible, we have a right to
explain it in favour of the doctrine which we pro-
fess : but we think it right to consider any passage in
these books prophetical when it has the three follow-
ing marks :

The first is the insufficiency of the literal meaning,
I mean, a text must be accounted prophetical, when
it cannot be applied, without offering violence to the
language, to any event that fell out when it was spo-
ken, or to any then present or past object.

2. The second character of a prophecy, is an in-
fallible commentary, I mean, when an author of ac-
knowledged authority gives a prophetical sense to a
passage under consideration, we ought to submit to
his authority and adopt his meaning.

3. The last character is a perfect conformity between
the prediction and the event, I mean, when prophe-
sies, compared with events, appear to have been com-
pletely accomplished, several ages after they had
been promulged, it cannot be fairly urged that the
conformity was a lucky hit : but it ought to be ac-
knowledged, that the prophecy proceeded from God,
who, being alone capable of foreseeing what would
happen, was alone capable of foretelling the event,
in a manner so cu'cumstantial and exact. All these
characters unite in favour of the text which we have
been explaining, and in favour of the three chapters
which we have in general expounded.

1 10 The Birth of Christ,

The first character, that is, the insufficiency of a
literal sense, agrees with our explication. Let any
event in the time of Isaiah be named, any child born
then, or soon after, of whom the prophet could rea-
sonably affirm what he does in our text, and in the
other verse, which we have connected with it. " A
" virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call
" his name Immanuel, Unto us a child is born, un-
" to us a son is given ; and the government shall be
" upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called,
*' Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The ev-
" erlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

The second distinguishing mark, that is, an infal-
lible commentary, agrees with our explication. Our
evangelists and apostles, those venerable men, whose
mission comes recommended to us by the most glori-
ous miracles, by the healing of the sick, by the ex-
pulsion of demons, by the raising of the dead, by a
general subversion of all nature, our evangelists and
apostles took these passages in the same sense in
which we take them, they understood them of the
Messiah, as we have observed before.

The third character, that is, a perfect conformity
between event and prediction, agrees also with our
explication. AVe actually find a child, some ages af-
ter the time of Isaiah, who exactly answers the de-
scription of him of whom the prophet spoke. The
features are similar, and we OAvn the likeness. Our
Jesus was really born of a virgin : he was truly Im-
manuel, God with us : in hhn are really united, all
the titles, and all the perfections, of the " Wonder-
" fill, The Counsellor, Tlie mighty God, the ever-

The Birth of Christ Hi

" lasting Father ;" as we will presently prove. Can
we help giving a mysterious meaning to these passa-
ges ? Can we refuse to acknQwledge, that the prophet
intended to speak of the Messiah? These are the
steps, and this is the end of our meditation in favour
of the mystical sense, which we have ascribed to the
words of tlie iexi,

AVould to God the enemies of our mysteries would
open their eyes to these objects, and examine the
weight of these arguments ! Would to God a love, I
had almost said a rage, for independency, for a sys-
tem that indulges, and inflames the passions, had not
put some people on opposing these proofs ! Infideli-
ty and scepticism would have made less havoc among
lis, and would not have decoyed away so many dis-
ciples from truth and virtue ! And would to God al-
so Christian ministers would never attempt to attack
tlie systems of infidels and sceptics without the ar-
mour of demonstration ! AVould to God love of the
marvellous may no more dazzle the imaginations of
those who ought to be guided by truth alone ! And
would to God the simplicity and the superstition of
the people may never more contribute to support
that authority, which some rash and dogmatical gen-
iusses usurp! Truth should not borrow the arms of
falsehood to defend itself; nor virtue those of vice.
Advantages should not be given to unbelievers and
heretics, under pretence of opposing heresy and
unbelief We should render to God a reasonable
service, Rom. xii. 1. we should be all spiritual inen,
judging all things, 1 Cor. ii. 15. according to the ex-

112 The Birth of Christ. .

pression of the apostle. But I add no more on this
article.

Hitherto we have spoken, if I may say so, to rea-
son only : it is time now to speak to conscience. We
have been preaching by arguments and syllogisms
to the understanding : it is time now to preach by
sentiments to the heart. Religion is not made for
the mind alone, it is particularly addressed to the
heart, and to the heart I would prove, that our Je-
sus hath accomplished, in the most sublime of all
senses, this prophecy in the text : " Unto us a child
" is born, unto us a son is given," and so on. This
is our second part.

II. The terms throne, kingdom, government, are
metaphorical, when they are applied to God, to his
Messiah, to the end, which religion proposeth, and
to the felicity which it procures. They are very
imperfect, and if I may venture to say so, very low
and mean, when they are used to represent objects
of such infinite grandeur. No, there is nothing suf-
ficiently noble in the characters of the greatest
kings, nothing wise enough in their maxims, nothing
gentle enough in their government, nothing pom-
pous enough in their courts, nothing sufficiently
glorious in their exploits, to represent fully the gran-
deur and glory of our Messiah.

Who is a king ? What is a throne ? Why have we
masters ? Why is sovereign power lodged in a few
hands? And what determines mankind to lay aside
their independence, and to lose their beloved liberty ?
The whole implies, my brethren, some mortifying
truths. We have not knowledge sufficient to guide

The Birth of Christ 113

ourselves, and we need minds wiser than our own to
inspect and to direct our conduct. We are indigent,
and superior beings must supply our wants. We
have enemies, and we must have guardians to pro-
tect us.

Miserable men ! how have you been deceived in
your expectations ? what disorders could anarchy
have produced greater than those which have some-
tunes proceeded from sovereign authority ? You
sought guides to direct you : but you have some-
thnes fallen under the tuition of men who, far from
being able to conduct a whole people, knew not how
to guide themselves. You sought nursing fathers,
to succour you in your indigence : but you have
fallen sometimes into the hands of men, who had
no other designs than to impoverish their people, to
enrich themselves with the substance, and to fatten
themselves with the blood of their subjects. You
sought guardians to protect you from your enemies :
buX you have sometimes found executioners, who
have used you with greater barbarity than your most
bloody enemies would have done.

But all these melancholy truths apart; suppose
the fine notions, which we form of kings and of roy-
alty, of sovereign power and of the hands that hold
it were realized : how incapable are kings, and how
inadequate is their government, to the relief of the
innumerable wants of an immortal soul ! Suppose
kings of tlie most tender sentiments, formidable in
their armies, and abundant in their treasuries; could
they lieal the maladies, that afflict us here, or could
they quench our painful thirst for felicity hereafter?

VOL. II. 15

J 14 The Birth of Christ.

Ye Caesars! Ye Alexanders! Ye Trajans ! Ye who
were, some of you, like Titus, the parents of your
people, and the delights of mankind ! Ye thunder-
bolts of war! Ye idols of the world! What doth
all your pomp avail me ? Of what use to me, are
all your personal qualifications, and all your regal
magnificence ? Can you, can they, dissipate the
darkness that envelopes me; calm the conscience
that accuses and torments me ; reconcile me to God;
free me from the controul of my commanding and
tyrannical passions ; deliver me from death ; and
discover immortal happiness to me ? Ye earthly
gods! ignorant and wretched like me ; objects like
ine of the displeasure of God; like me exposed to
the miseries of life ; slaves to your passions like me ;
condemned like me to that frightful night in which
death invoiveth all mankind ; ye can relieve neither
your own miseries nor mine !

Shew me a government that supplies these wants :
that is the empire I seek. Shew me a king, who
will conduct me to the felicity to which 1 aspire :
such a king I long to obey. My brethren, this em-
pire w^e are preaching to you : Such a king is the
king Messiah. " Unto us a child is born, unto us a
" son is given, the government shall be upon his
" shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonder-
*' FUL>" because he is the substance and the centre
of all the Avondrous works of God.

But purify your imaginations, and do not always
judge of man as if he were a being destitute of
reason and intelligence. When we speak of man,
do not conceive of a being of this present world

The Birth of Christ 1 1 5

only ; a creature placed for a few days in human
society, wanting nothing but food and raiment, and
the comforts of a temporal life : but attend to your
own hearts. In the sad circumstances into which
sin hath brought you, what are your most import-
ant wants? We have already insinuated them. You
need knowledge ; you need reconciliation with God ;
you want support through all the miseries of life ;
and you need consolation against the fear of death.
Well! all these >vants the king Messiah supplies.
I am going to prove it, but I conjure you at the
same time, not only to believe, but to act. I would,
by publishing the design of the Saviour's incarna-
tion, engage you to concur in it. By explaining
to you the nature of his empire, I would fain teach
you the duties of his subjects. By celebrating the
glory of the king Messiah, I long to see it display-
ed among you in all its splendid magnificence.

You want knowledge : You will find it in the king
JNIessiah. He is the Counsellor. He is the " True
" light, Avhich lighteth every man that cometh into
" the world," John i. 9, " In him are hid all the trea-
" sures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3. " The
" Spirit of the Lord God is upon him, the Lord hath
" anointed him to preach good tidings unto the
" meek," Isa. Ixi. 1. The Spirit of the Lord rests
upon him, the " spirit of wisdom and understanding,
" the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of know-
" ledge and of the fear of the Lord," chap. xi. 2. He
hath " the tongue of the learned," chap. 1. 4. and the
wisdom of the wise. Ask him to explain to you the
grand appearances of nature, which exercise the

116 The Birth of Christ

speculations of the most transcendant geniusses, and
absorb their dtfective reason, and al] his answers will
discover the most profound and perfect knowledge of
them. Inquire of him whence all the visible creation
came, the luminaries of heaven, and the magnificent
treasures of the earth. Ask him to reveal to you the
" God, who hideth himself,'' Isa. xlv. 15. Ask him
the cause of those endless disorders, which mix with
that profusion of w isdom which appears in the world*
Ask him whence the blessings come which we enjoy,
and whence the calamities that afflict us. Ask him
what is the origin, the nature, the destiny, the end
of man. Of all these articles, the Counsellor w ill
tell you more than Plato, and Socrates, and all the
philosophers, who only felt after the truth. Acts xvii-
27. who themselves discovered and taught others to
see only a few rays of light;, darkened with prejudi-
ces and errors.

This is the first idea of the king Messiah ; this is
the first source of the duties of his subjects, and of
the dispositions with which they ought to celebrate
his nativity, and with w^hich alone they can celebrate
it in a proper manner. To celebrate properly the
feslfival of his nativity, truth must be esteemed ; we
must be desirous of attaining knowledge ; we must
come from the ends of the earth, like the wise men
of the East, to contemplate the miracles w^hich the
Messiah displays in the new world : like Mary, we
must be all attention to receive the doctrine that pro-
ceeds from liis sacred mouth ; like the multitude, we
must follow" him into deserts and mountains, to hear
his admirable sermons. This is the first duty, which

The Birth of airisU 1 1 7

the festival that you are to celebrate next Wednes-
day demands. Prepare yourselves to keep it in this
manner.

You want reconciliation with God, and this is the
grand work of the king Messiah. He is the Prince
OF Peace. He terminates the fatal war which sin
hath kindled between God and you, by obtaining the
pardon of your past sins, and by enabling you to
avoid the commission of sin for the future. He ob-
tains the pardon of sins past for you. How can a
merciful God resist the ardent prayers which the Re-
deemer of mankind addresseth to him, in behalf of
those poor sinners for whom he sacrificed himself?
How can a merciful God resist the plea of the blood
of his Son, which cries for mercy for the miserable
posterity of Adam ? As the king Messiah reconciles
you to God, by obtaining the pardon of your past
sin, so he reconciles you, by procuring strength to
enable you to avoid it for time to come. Having
calmed those passions which prevented your knowing
what was right, and your loving what was lovely, he
gave you laws of equity and love. How can you
resist, after you have known him, the motives, on
which his laws are founded? Every difficulty disap-
pears, when examples so alluring are seen, and when
you are permitted, under your most discouraging
weaknesses, to approach the treasures of grace,
which he hath opened to you, and to derive purity
from its source. Doth gratitude know any difficul-
ties ? Is tiot every act of obedience easy to a mind
animated by a love as vehement as that, which can-

118 The Birth of Christ.

not but be felt for a Saviour, who in the tenderest
manner hath loved us?

This is the second idea of the king Messiah, this
is the second source of the duties of his subjects,
and of the dispositions essential to a worthy cele-
bration of the feast of his nativity. Come next
Wednesday, deeply sensible of the danger of hav-
ing that God for your enemy, who holds your des-
tiny in his mighty hands, and whose commands all
creatures obey. Come with an eager desire of re-
conciliation to him. Come and hear the voice of
the Prince of Peace, who publisheth peace ; " peace
to him that is near, and to him that is far off," Isa.
Ivii. 19. While Moses meditates a covenant be-
tween God and the Israelites on the top of the holy
mountain, let not Israel violate the capital article at
the foot of it. While Jesus Christ is descending to
reconcile you to God, do not declare war against
God; insult him not by voluntary rebellions, after
he hath voluntarily delivered you from the slavery
©f sin, under which you groaned. Return not
again to those sins which separated between you and
your God, Isa. lix. 2. and which would do it again,
though Jesus should become incarnate again, and
should olfer himself every day to expiate them.

You need support under the calamities of this life,
and this also you will find in the king Messiah. He
is THE MIGHTY GoD, and he will tell you, while you
aj-e suffering the heaviest temporal afflictions, " al-
'' though the mountains shall depart, and the hills be
" removed, yet my kindness shall not depart from
'* you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be re-

The Birth of Christ H9

" moved,'' ch. liv. 10. Under your severest tribu-
lations, he will assure you, that " all things work
" together for good to them that love God," Rom.
viii. 28. He will teach you to shout victory under
an apparent defeat, and to sing this triuinphant song,
" Thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to
" triumph in Christ," 2 Cor. ii. 14. " In all these
" things we are more than conquerors, through him
" w ho loved us," Rom. viii. 37.

This is tlie third idea of the king Messiah, and
this is the third source of the duties of his subjects,
and of the dispositions which are necessary to the
worthily celebrating of the festival of his nativity.
Fall in, christian soul ! w ith the design of tliy Sa-
viour, who, by elevating thy desires above the
world, would elevate thee above all the catastrophes
of it. Come, behold Messiah, thy king, lodging in
a stable, and lying in a manger: hear him saying to
bis disciples, " The foxes have holes, and the birds
" of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath
" not where to lay his head," Mat. viii. 20. Learn
from this example not to place thy happiness in the
possession of earthly good. Die to the world, die
to its pleasures, die to its pomps. Aspire after
other ends, and nobler joys, than those of the chil-
dren of this world, and then worldly vicissitudes
cannot siiake thy bliss.

Finally, You have need of one to comfort you un-
der the fears of death, by opening the gates of eter-
nal felicity to you, and by satiating your avidity of
existence and elevation. This consolation the kint{
RIcssiah affords. He is the everlasting Father, the

120 The Birth of Christ.

Father of eternity, his throne shall he built up for
all generations, Psal. Ixxxix. 4.; he hath received
" dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peo*
" pie, nations, and languages should serve him ; his
" dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
" not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall
" not be destroyed," Dan. vii. 14. and his subjects
must reign eternally with him. AVhen thou, chris-
tian ! art confined to thy dying bed, he will approach
thee with all the attractive charms of his power and
grace ; he will say to thee, Fear not, thou worm Ja-
cob, Isa. xli. 14. he will whisper these comfortable
words in thine ear, " When thou passest through the
"waters, I will be with thee: and when through
" the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when
" thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be
" burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,"
chap, xliii. 2. He will open heaven to thee, as he
opened it to St. Stephen ; and he will say to thee,
as he said to the converted thief, " To-day shalt
" thou be with me in paradise," Luke xxiii. 43,

This is the fourth idea of the king Messiah, and
this is the fourth source of the duties of his subjects.
How glorious is the festival of his nativity ! What
grand, noble, and sublime sentiments doth it require
of us ! The subjects of the king Messiah, the chil-
dren of the everlasting Father, should consider the
economy of time in its true point of view, tliey
should compare " things which are seen, w^hich are
*' temporal, with things which are not seen, which
" are eternal," 2 Cor. iv. 18. They should fix tlieir
attention upon the eternity, fill tlieir imaginations

The Birth of Christ 121

>vlth the glory, of the world to come, and learn, by
just notions of immortality, to estimate the present
life; the " declining shadow; the withering grass;
"the fading flower; the dream that flyeth away;
" the vapour that vanisheth," and is irrecoverably
lost, Psalo cii. 11. Isa. xl. 7. Job. xx. 8. and James
iv. 14.

These, my brethren, are the characters of your
king Messiah, these are the characters of the divine
child, whose birth you are to celebrate next Wednes-
day, and in these ways only can you celebrate it as
it deserves. We conjure you by that adorable
goodness, which we are going to testify to you
again ; we conjure you by that throne of grace,
which God is about to ascend again ; we conjure
you by those ineffable mercies, which our imagina-
tions cannot fully comprehend, which our minds
cannot sufficiently admire, nor all the emotions of
our hearts sufficiently esteem ; we conjure you to
look at, and, if you will pardon the expression, to
lose yourselves in these grand objects; we conjure
you not to turn our solemn festivals, and our devo-
tional days, into seasons of gaming, irreligion, and
dissipation. Let us submit ourselves to the king
Messiah ; let us engage ourselves to his government ;
let his dominion be the ground of all our joy.

" O most mighty ! thou art fairer than the chil-
" dren of men. Grace is poured into thy lips, there-
" fore God hath blessed thee for ever!" "Ps. xlv. 3, 2.
" The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of
" Zion, saying. Rule thou in the midst of thine ene-
" niies ! Thy people shall be willing in the day,

VOL. ir. 16

122 The Birth of Christ

" when thou shalt assemble thy host in holy pompP"^*
Yea, reign over thine enemies, great King! bow
their rebellious wills ; prevent their fatal counsels ;
defe4 all their bloody designs! Reign also over thy
friends, reign over us! Make us a willing people!
Assemble all this congregation, when thou shalt
eome with Ihy host in holy pomp! I^et not the flying
of the clouds, which will serve thee for a triumphal
chariot; let not the pomp of the holy angels in thy
train, when thou si alt come to judge the world in
righteousness^ Acts xvii. 31. let not these objects
affright and terrify our souls : let them charm and
transport us; and, instead of dreading thine ap-
proach, let us hasten it by our prayers and sighs!
Come, Lord JesuSy come quickly , Amen, To God be
honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

* We retain the reading of the French Bible here ; because
our author paraphrases the passage after that version, Ton fieu-
pie sera un peuple plein de franc vouloir au jour que tu assem-
bleras ton armee en saincte fiomfie. Thy fieofile shall be nvilling
in the day of thy fiomoer^ in the beauties of holiness^ &c. The
passage seems to be a prophetical allusion to one of those solemn
festivals, in which conquerors, and their armies, on their return
from battle, offered a part of their spoil, which they had taken
from their enemies, to God, from whom the victory came. These
free-nvill offerings were carried in grand procession. They were
holy^ because agreeable to the economy under which the Jews
lived, and they were beautifully holy, because they were not ex-
acted, but proceeded from the voluntary gratitude of the army.
In large conquests, the troops and the offerings were out of num-
ber, like the drops of such a shower of deiv^ as the morning
brought forth in the youth^ or spring of the year. See 2 Chron.
xiv. 13, 14, 15. and xv. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. We have ventured
this hint on a passage which seems not very clear in our version»

SERMON IV.

The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

Matthew xvi. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippic
he asked his disciples^ saying. Who do men say that
/, the Son of many am ? And they said, Some say
that thou art John the Baptist ; some Ellas, and
others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saitk
unto them, But who say ye that 1 am ? And Simon
Peter answered and said. Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God, And Jesus answered and
said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona ;
for jiesh and blood hath not revealed it unto theCy
but my Father who is in heaven,

xF any prejudice be capable of disconcerting a
man's peace, it is that which ariseth from observing
the various opinions of mankind. We do not mean
tliose which regard uninteresting objects. As we
may mistake them without danger, so we may sup-
pose either that men have not sufficiently consider-
ed them, or that the Creator may, without injuring
the perfections of his nature, refuse those assistances
which are necessary for the obtaining of a perfect
knowledge of them. But how do the opinions of
mankind vary about those subjects, which our whole

124 The Variety of Opinions about Christ,

happiness is concerned to know ? One affirms, that
the works of nature are the productions of chance :
Another attributes them to a first cause, who crea-
ted matter, regulated its form, and directed its mo-
lion. One says, that there is but one God, that it
is absurd to suppose a plurality of Supreme Be-
ings, and that to prove there is one, is thereby to
prove that there is but one : another says, that the
Divine Nature being infinite, can communicate it-
self to many to an infinity, and form many infinites,
all really perfect in their kind. Moreover, among
men who seem to agree in the essential points of re-
ligion, among Christians who bear the same denom-
ination, assemble in the same places of worship,
and subscribe the same creeds, ideas of the same
articles very different, sometimes diametrically op-
posite, are discovered. As there are numerous
opinions on matters of speculation, so there are end-
less notions about practice. One contents himself
with half a system, containing only some general
duties which belong to worldly decency : another
insists on uniting virtue with every circumstance,
every transaction, every instant, and, if I may be
allowed to speak so, every indivisible point of life.
One thinks it lawful to associate the pleasures of the
world with the practice of piety; and he pretends
that good people differ from tlie wicked only in
some enormities, in wliich the latter seem to forget
they are men, and to transform themselves into wild
beasts: another condemns himself to perpetual
penances and mortifications, and if at any time he
allow himself recreations^ they are never such as

The Variety of Opinions about Christ, 125

savor of the spirit of the times, because they are
the livery of the world.

I said, my brethren, that if any prejudices make
deep impressions on the mind of a rational man, they
are those which are produced by a variety of opin-
ions. Tliey sometimes drive men into a state of un-
certainty and scepticism, the worst disposition of
mind, the most opposite to that persuasion, without
which there is no pleasure, and the most contrary
to the grand design of religion, which is to estab-
lish our consciences, and to enable us to reply to
every enquirer on these great subjects, / know, and
am persuaded, Rom. xiv. 14.

Against this temptation Jesus Christ guarded his
disciples. Never was a question more important,
never were the minds of men more divided about
any question, than that which related to the person
of our Saviour. Some considered him as a politi-
cian, who, under a veil of humility, hid the most
ambitious designs ; others took him for an enthusi-
ast. Some thought him an emissary of the devil :
others an envoy from God. Even among them who
agreed in the latter, " some said that he was Elias,
" some John the Baptist, and others Jeremias, or
" one of the prophets." The faith of the apostles
was in danger of being shaken by these divers opin-
ions. Jesus Christ comes to their assistance, and
having required their opinions on a question which
divided all .Tudea, having received from Peter the
answer of the whole apostolical college, he praiseth
their faith, and, by praising it, gave it a firmer es-
tablishment.

126 The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

My brethren, may the words of Jesus Christ
make everlasting impressions on you! May those
of you who, because you have acted rationally, by
embracing the belief, and by obeying the precepts
of the gospel, are sometimes taxed with supersti-
tion, sometimes with infatuation, and sometimes with
melancholy, learn from the reflections that we shall
make on the text, to rise above the opinions of
men, to be firm and immoveable amidst temptations
of this kind, always faithfully to adhere to truth and
virtue, and to be the disciples only of them. Grant,
O Lord ! that they who like St. Peter have said to
Jesus Christ, Thou art the Christ the Son of the liv-
ing God, may experience such pleasure as the an-
swer of the divine Saviour gave to the apostle's
soul, when he said, " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-
" jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
" thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Amen^

The questions and the answers which are related
in the text will be our only divisions of tliis dis-
course.

Jesus Christ was travelling from Bethany to Ce-
sarea, not to that Cesarea which was situated on tlie
Mediterranean sea, at first called the tower of Stra-
to, and afterwards Cesarea, by Herod the Great, in
honour of the emperor Augustus ; but to that which
was situated at the foot of Mount Lebanon, and
which had been repaired and embellished in honour
of Tiberius, by Philip tiie Tetrarch, the son of
Herod.

Jesus Christ, in his way to this city, put this ques-
tion to his disciples, " Who do men say tliat I, the

The Variety of Opinions about Christ. 1 27

'^ Son of man, am?" or, as it may be rendered,
" Who do men say I am ? Do they say I am the
« Son of man ?"

We will not enter into a particular examination
of the reasons which determined the Jews of our
Saviour's time, and the inspired writers with them,
to distinguish the Messiah by the title Son of Man,
Were we to determine any thing on this subject, we
should give the preference to the opinion of those
who think the phrase Son of Maiiy means man by
excellence. The Jews say son of man, to signify a
man. Witness, among many other passages, this
well-known saying of Balaam ; " God is not a man
that he should lie, neither the son of man that he
should repent," Numb, xxiii. 19. The Messiah is
called the Man, or tke.Son of Man, that is, the Man
of whom the prophecies had spoken, the Man whose
coming was the object of the desires and prayers of
the whole church.

It is more important to enquire the design of Je-
«us Christ, in putting this question to his disciples.
Who do men say that I am ? It is one of those ques-
tions, the meaning of which can be determined only
hy the character of him who proposeth it ; for it
may be put from many different motives.

Sometimes pride puts this question. There are
some people who think of nothing but themselves,
and who imagine all the world think about them
too : they suppose they are the subject of every
conversation ; and fancy every wheel which moves
in society hath some relation to them ; if they be
not the principal spring of it. People of this sort

128 The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

are very desirous of knowing what is said about them,
and, as they have no conception that any but glo^
rious things are said of them, they are extremely
solicitous to know them, and often put this question.
Who do men say that I am ? Would you know what
they say of you ? Nothing at all. They do not
know you exist, and, except a few of your rela-
tions, nobody in the world knows you are in it.

The question is sometimes put by curiosity, and
this motive deserves commendation, if it be accom-
panied with a desire of reformation. The judgnient
of the public is respectable, and, to a certain de-
gree, it ought to be a rule of action to us. It is ne-
cessary sometimes to go abroad, to quit our rela-
tions, and acquaintances, who are prejudiced in our
favour, and to inform ourselyes of the opinions of
those who are more impartial on our conduct. I
wish some people w ould often put this question.
Who do men say that I am ? The answers they would
receive would teach them to entertain less flatter-
ing, and more just notions of themselves. Who do
men say that 1 am? They say, you are haughty,
and proud of your prosperity ; that you use your
influence only to oppress the weak ; that your suc-
cess is a public calamity ; and that you are a tyrant
whom every one abhors. Who do men say that I
am. ? They say, you have a serpent's tongue, that
the poison of adders is under your lips, Psal. cxl. 3.
that you inflame a whole city, a whole province, by
the scandalous tales you forge, and which, having
forged, you industriously propagate ; they say, you
are infernally diligent in sowing discord between

The Variety of Opinions, about Christ, 129

wife and husband, friend and friend, subject and
prince, pastor and flock. Who do men say that I ami
They say, you are a sordid covetous wretch ; that
mammon is the God you adore ; that, provided your
coffers fill, it is a matter of indifference to you,
whether it be by extortion, or by just acquisition,
whether it be by a lawful inheritance, or by an ac-
cursed patrimony.

Revenge may put the question. Who do men say
that I am 1 We cannot but know that some reports,
which are spread about us, are disadvantageous to
our reputation. We are afraid, justice should not
be done to us, we therefore wish to know^ our revi-
lers, in order to mark them out for vengeance. The
inquiry in this disposition is certainly blameable.
Let us live uprightly, and let us give ourselves no
trouble about what people say of us. If there be
some cases in which it is useful to know the popu-
lar opinion, there are others in which it is best to be
ignorant of it. If religion forbids us to avenge our-
selves, prudence requires us not to expose our-
selves to the temptation of doing it. A heathen
hath given us an illustrious example of this pru-
dent conduct, which I am recommending to you -.
I speak of Pompey the Great. He had defeated
Perpenna, and the traitor offered to deliver to him
the papers of Sertorius, among which were letters
from several of the most powerful men in Rome,
who had promised to receive Sertorius into Italy,
and to put all to death who should attempt to resist
him. Pompey took all the papers, burnt all the
ktters, by that mean prevented all the bloody coja*

roL. \\\ J 7

130 The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

sequences which would have followed such fatal
discoveries, and, along with them, sacrificed that
passion, which many, who are called Christians,
find the most difficult to sacrifice, I mean Revenge.
But this question, TVho do iuen say that I am 1 may
be put by benevolence. The good of society requires
each member to entertain just notions of some per-
sons. A magistrate, who acts disinterestedly for the
good of the state, and for the support of religion,
would be often distressed in his government, if he
were represented as a man devoted to his own in-
terest, cruel in his measures, and governed by his
own imperious tempers, A pastor, who knoweth
and preacheth the truth, who hath the power of
alarming hardened sinners, and of exciting the fear
of hell in them, in order to prevent their falling in-
to it, oi', shall I rather say, in order to draw them
out of it : such a pastor will discharge me duties of
his office with incomparably more success, if the
people do him justice, than if they accuse him of
fomenting errors, and of loving to surround his pul-
pit with devouring fire and everlasting burnings, Isa^
xxxiii. 14. Benevolence may incline such persons to
inquire what is said of them, in order to rectify
mistakes, which may be very injurious to those who
believe them. In this disposition Jesus Christ pro-
posed the question in the text to his disciples. Ben-
evolence directed all the steps of our Saviour, it dic-
tated all his language, it animated all his emotions;
and, when we are in doubt about the motive of any
part of his conduct, we shall seldom run any hazard,
if we attribute it to his benevolence. In our text he

The Variety of Opinions about Christ, 131

established the faith of his disciples by trying it. He
did not want to be told the public opinions about
himself, he knew them better than they of whom he
inquired : but he required his disciples to relate peo-
ple's opinions, that he might give them an antidote
against the poison that was enveloped in them.

The disciples answered ; Some say that thou art
John the Baptist ; some FAias ; and others JeremiaSy
or one of the prophets. They omitted those odious
opinions, which were injurious to Jesus Christ, and
refused to defile their mouths with the execrable blas-
phemies, which the malignity of the Jews uttered
against him. But with what shadow of appearance
could it be thought that Jesus Christ was John the
Baptist ? You may find, in part, an answer to this
question in the fourteenth chapter of this Gospel,
ver. 1, — 10. It is there said, that Herod Antipas,
called the Tetrarch, that is, the king of tlie fourth
part of his father's territories, beheaded John the
Baptist at the request of Herodias.

Every body knows the cause of the hatred of that
fury against the holy man. John the Baptist held an
opinion, which noAV-a-days passe th for an error inju-
rious to the peace of society, that h, that the high
rank of those who are guilty of some scandalous vi-
ces, ought not to shelter them from the censures of
the ministers of the livins: God ; and that they who
commit, and not they who reprove such crimes, are
responsible for all the disorders which such censures
may produce in society. A bad courtier, but a good
servant of him, who hath sent him to prepare the way
^J the Lord, ami to malce his paths strais^hl, Luke

1 32 The Variety of Opinions ahotii Christ

iii. 4. he told the incestuous Herod, without equivo-
cating, // is not lawful for thee to have thy brother
Philip's wife, Matt. xiv. 4. Herodias could not plead
her cause with equity, and therefore she pleaded it
with cruelty. Her daughter Salome had pleased
Herod at a feast, which was made in the castle of
Macheron, on the birth-day of the king. He shewed
the same indulgence to her, that Flaminius the Ro-
man shewed to a court-lady, who requested that con-
sul to gratify her curiosity with the sight of behead-
ing a man. An indulgence, certainly less shocking
in a heathen, than in a prince educated in the know-
ledge of the true God. It was a common opinion
among the Jews, that the resuixection of the martyi-s
was anticipated. Many thought all the prophets
were to be raised from the dead at the coming of the
Messiah, and some had spread a report, which reach-
ed Herod, that John the Baptist enjoyed that priv-
ilege.

The same reasons, which persuaded some Jews to
believe that he, whom they called Jesus, was John
the Baptist risen from the dead, persuaded others to
believe, that he was some one of the prophetSy who,
like John, had been put to a violent death, for hav-
ing spoken with a similar courage against the reign-
ing vices of the times in which tliey lived. This was
particularly the case of Jeremiah. When this pro-
phet was only foiuteen years of age, and, as he said
of himself, when he could not speak, because he was
a child, Jer. i. 6. he delivered himself with a freedom
of speech that is hardly allowable in those who are
grown grey in a long discharge pf the ministerial

The Variety of Opinions about Christ 1 33

office. He censured, without distinction of rank
or character, tlie vices of all the Jews, and having
executed this painful function from the reign of Jo«
siah to the reign of Zedekiah, he was, if we be-
lieve a tradition of the Jews, which Tertullian, St.
Jerom, and many fathers of the church have pre-
served, stoned to death at Tahapanes in Egypt, by
his countrymen : there he fell a victim to their rage
against his predictions. The fact is not certain ;
however, it is admitted by many Christians, who
have pretended that St. Paul had the prophet .Jer-
emiah particularly in view, when he proposed as
examples to Christians, some who were stoned, Heb»
xi. 37. w hom he placeth among tlie cloud of witness
ses, or, as the words are in the original, among the
cloud of martyrs, ver. 1. However uncertain this
history of the prophet's lapidation may be, some
Jews believed it, and it w as sufficient to persuade
them that Jesus Christ was Jeremiah.

As Eiias was translated to heaven without dying,
the opinions, of which we have been speaking, were
not sufficient to persuade other Jews that Jesus
Christ was Elias ; but a mistaken passage of Mala-
chi w^as the ground of this notion. It is the passage
wliich concludes the writings of that prophet; " Be-
" hold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before
" the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
" Lord," Mai. iii. 5. This prophecy was perfectly
plain to the disciples of Jesus Christ, for in him,
and in John the Baptist, they saw its accomplish-
ment. But the Jews understood it literally. They
understand it so still, and, next to the comini>: of the

134 The Variety of Opinions about Chrid.

Messiah, that of Elias is the grand object of their-
hopes. It is Elias, according to them, who will
^' turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and
the heart of the children to their fathers," ver. 6.
It is Elias who will prepare the ways of the Messi-
ah, will be his forerunner, and will anoint him with
holj oil. It is Elias, who will answer all questions,
and solve all difficulties. It is Elias, who will ob-
tain by his prayers the resurrection of the just. It
is Elias, who will do for the dispersed Jews what
Moses did for the Israelites enslaved in Egypt; he
will march at their head, and conduct them to Ca-
naan. All these expressions are taken from the Rab-
bles, whose names I omit, as well as the titles of the
books from which I have quoted the passages now
Yuentioned.

Sucli were the various opinions of the .Tews about
Jesus Christ ; and each continued in his own preju-
dice without giving himself any further trouble about
it. But how could they remain in a state of tran-
quillity, while questions of such importance remain-
ed in dispute ? All their religion, all their hopes, and
all their happiness, depended on the eclaircissement
of this problem : Who is the man about whom the
opinions of mankind are so divided ? The questions,
strictly speaking, were these: Is the Redeemer of
Israel come ? Are the prophecies accomplished ? Is
the Son of God among us, and hath he brought with
him peace, grace, and glory? What kind of beings
were the .Tews, who left these great questions unde-
termined, and lived without elucidating them? Arc
you sui-prised at theise things, my brethren? Your

The Variety of Opinions about Christ. 13^

indolence on questions of the same kind is equally
astonishing to considerate men. The Jews had busi-
ness, they must have neglected it ; they loved pleas-
ures and amusements, the}^ must have suspended
them ; they were stricken with w hatever concerned
the present life, and they must have sought after the
life to come, they must have shaken off that idle-
ness in which they spent their lives, and have ta-
ken up the cross and follow^ed Jesus Christ. These
were the causes of that indolence, which surpris-
eth you, and these were the causes of that ignor-
ance which concealed Jesus Christ from them, till
he made himself known to them by the just, though
bloody calamities, which he inflicted on their na-
tion. And these are also the causes of that ignor-
ance, in which the greater part of you are involv-
ed, in regard to many questions as important as
those which were agitated then. Will a few acts of
faith in God, and of love to him, assure us of our
salvation, or must these acts be continued, repeat-
ed, and established ? Doth faith consist in barely be-
lieving the merit of the Saviour, or doth it inchide
an entire obedience to his laws ? Is the fortune, that
I enjoy with so much pleasure, display with so
much parade, or hide with so much niggardliness,
really mine, or doth it belong to my country, to
my customers, to the poor, or to any others, whom
my ancestors hath deceived, from whom they havo
obtained, and from whom I withliold it? Doth my
course of life lead to heaven, or to hell ? Shall I be
numbered with the spirils of just men made perfect^
Heb. xii. 23. after I have finished my short life, or

136 The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

shall I be plunged with devils into eternal flames?
My God ! how is it possible for men quietly to eat,
drink, sleep, and, as they call it, amuse themselves,
while these important questions remain unanswer-
ed! But, as I said of the Jews, we must neglect
our business; suspend our pleasures; cease to be
dazzled with the present, and employ ourselves
about the future world : perhaps also we must make
a sacrifice of some darling passion, abjure some old
opinion; or restore some acquisition, which is dear-
er to us than the truths of religion, and the salva-
tion of our souls. Wo be to us ! Let us no more
reproach the Jews ; the causes of their indolence
are the causes of ours. Ah ! let us take care, lest,
like them, we continue in ignorance, till the ven-
geance of God command death, and devils, and hell,
to awake us with them to everlasting shame^ Dan.
xii. 2.

Jesus Christ, having heard from the mouths of
his apostles what people thought of him, desired al-
so to hear from their own mouths, (we have assign-
ed the reasons before,) w^iat they themselves thought
of him. He saith unto them. But who say ye that I
am ? Peter instantly replied for hhnself, and for the
whole apostolical college. Thou art the Christy the
Son of the living God,

St. Peter was a man of great vivacity, and people
of this cast are subject to great mistakes : as ready
to speak as to think; they often fall into mistakes,
through the same principle that inclines them to em-
brace the truth, and to maintain it. St. Peter's his-
tory often exemplifies this remark. Doth he hear

The Variety of Opinions about Christ » IS*?

Jesus Christ speak of his approaching death ? Lordy
says he, spare thyself, this shall not be to thee, MatL
xvi. 22. Doth he see a few rays of celestial glory
on the holy mount ? He is stricken with their splen-
dour, and exclaims. Lord, it is good for tis to be
here, chap. xvii. 4. Doth he perceive Jesus Christ
in the hands of his enemies ? He draws a sword to
deliver him, and cuts off the ear of Malchus. But,
if this vivacity expose a man to great inconvenien-
ces, it is also accompanied with some fine advantages.
When a man of this disposition attends to virtue, he
makes infinitely greater proficiency in it than those
slow men do, who pause and weigh, and argue out
all step by step : the zeal of the former is more ar-
dent, their flames are more vehement, and after they
ftre become wise by their mistakes, they are patterns
of piety. St. Peter, on this occasion, proves before-
hand all we have advanced. He feels himself ani-
mated with a holy jealousy, in regard to them who
partake with him the honour of apostleship ; and it
w ould mortify him, could he think, that any one of
the apostolical college hath more zeal for a master,
to whom he hath devoted his heart, and his life, all
his faculty of loving, and all the powers of his soul:
he looks, he sparkles, and he replies, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God.

l^hou art the Christ, or, thou art the Messiah, the
king promised to the church. He calls this king
the Son of God : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God, The Jews gave the Messiah this title,
which was an object of their hopes. Under this
idea the prophecies had promised him, " the Lord

VOL, ir. 18

138 The Variety oj Opinions about Chriit

" bath said unto me, Thou art my Son ; this day
" have I begotten thee," Psal. ii. 7. God himself
conferred this title on Jesus Christ from heaven.
This is my beloved Son, Matt iii. 17. Under this
idea the angel promised him to his holy mother^
" Thou shalt bring forth a Son, he shall be greats
" and shall be called, The Son of the Highest,"
Luke i. 31, 32. They are two very different ques-
tions, I giant, Whether the Jewish church acknow-
ledged that the Messiah should be the Son of God;
and whether they knew all the import of this august
title. It cannot, however, be reasonably doubted,
methinks, whether they discovered his dignity, al-
though they might not know the doctrine of Christ's
divinity so clearly, nor receive it with so much de-
monstration, as christians have received it. I should
digiess too far from my subject, were I to quote all
the passages from the writings of the Jews which
learned men have collected on this article. Let
it suffice to remark, that if it could be proved, that
the Jewish church affixed only confused ideas to the
title Son of God, which is given to the Messiah, it
is beyond a doubt, 1 think, that the apostles affixed
clear ideas to the terms, and that, in their style, God
and Son of God are synonymous : witness, among
many other passages, St. Thomas's adoration of Je-
sus Christ, expressed in these words. My Lord and
my God,

Let us not engage any further in this controversy
now ; let us improve the precious moments which
remain to the principal design that we proposed in
the choice of the subject, that is, to guard you

yA^ VciTttty of Opinions about Christ 1 39

against the temptations which arise from that varie-
ty of opinions which are received, both in the world
and in the church, on the most important points of
religion. The comparison we are going to make of
St. Peter's confession of faith, with the judgment
of Jesus Christ on it, will conduct us to this end.

Jesus Christ assured St. Peter, that the confession
of faith, which he then made, " Thou ail the Christ,
" the Son of the living God," w as not a production
of frail and corrupted nature, or, as he expresseth
it, That " flesh and blood had not revealed these
things unto him." Flesh and blood mean here, as
in many other passages we have quoted at other
times, frail and corrupted nature. Jesus Christ as-
sured St. Peter, that this confession was a produc-
tion of grace, which had operated in him, and which
would conduct him to the supreme good. This is
the meaning of these words, " My Father, who is
in heaven, hath revealed these things unto thee."
What characters of the faith of St. Peter occasion-
ed the judgment that Jesus Christ made of it ? and
how may we know whether our faith be of the same
divine original ? Follow us in these reflections :
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, flesh and Mood
hath not produced the faith that thou hast professed,
but my Father, who is in heavefi, hath revealed it to
thee. In order to convince thee of the truth of my
assertions, consider, first, the circumstances which
Providence hath improved to produce thy faith : se-
condly, the efforts which preceded it : thirdly, the
evidence that accompanies it : fourthly, the sacrifi-
ces which seal and crown it : and, lastly, the natuiie

140 The Variety of Opinions about Christ*

of the very frailties which subsist with it. — Let us
explain these five characters, and let us make an ap-
plication of them. Let us know St. Peter ; or, rath-
er, let us learn to know ourselves. With this, the
most important point, we will conclude this dis-
course.

1. Let us attend to the circumstances which Provi-
dence had improved to the producing of St. Peter's
faith. There are, in the lives of Christians, certain
signal circumstances, in which we cannot help per-
ceiving a particular hand of Providence working for
their salvation. Mistakes on this article may pro-
duce, and foment, superstitious sentiments. We have,
in general, a secret bias to fanaticism. \Ye often meet
with people who imagine themselves the central point
of all the designs of God ; they think, he watcheth
only over them, and that, in all the events in the uni-
verse, he hath only their felicity in view. Far from
us be such extravagant notions. It is, however, strict-
ly true,' that there are in the lives of christians some
signal circumstances, in which we cannot help seeing
a particular providence working for their salvation.
Of whom can this be affirmed more evidently than of
the apostles? They, by an inestimable privilege,
were not only witnesses of the life of Jesus Christ,
hearers of his doctrine, and spectators of his mira-
cles : but they were adinitted to an intimacy with
him ; they had liberty at all times, and in all places,
to converse with him, to propose their doubts, and to
ask for his instructions ; tliey were at the source of
wisdom, truth, and life. St. Peter had these advan-
tages not only in common with the rest of the apos*

The Variety of Opinions about Christ. 141

ties : but he, with James and John, were chosen from
the rest of the apostles to accompany the Saviour,
when, on particular occasions, he laid aside the vaUs
which concealed him from the rest, and when he dis-
played his divinity in its greatest glory. A faith pro-
duced in such extraordinary circumstances, was not
the work of flesh and blood, it was a production
of that almighty grace, that ineffable love, which
wrought the salvation of St. Peter.

My brethren, although we have never enjoyed the
same advantages with St Peter : yet, it seems to me,
those whom God hath established in piety, may re-
collect the manner in which he hath improved some
circumstances to form the dispositions in them that
constitute it. Let each turn his attention to the dif-
ferent conditions through which God hath been pleas-
ed to conduct him. Here I was exposed to such or
such a danger, and delivered from it by a kind of
miracle; there, I fell into such or such a temptation,
from which I was surprizingly recovered ; in such a
year, I was connected with a baneful company, from
which an unexpected event freed me ; at another
time, I met with a faithful friend, the most valuable
of all acquisitions, whose kind advice and assistance,
recommended by his own example, were of infinite
use to me : some of these dangerous states would
have ruined me, if the projects, on which I was most
passionately bent, had succeeded according to my
wishes ; for they were excited by worldly objects,
and I was infatuated with their glory; and others
would have produced the same effect, if my adverse
circumstances had either increased or continued, 1

142 5rAe Variety qf Opinions about Christ.

repeat it again, mj brethren, each of us may recol-
lect circumstances in his life in which a kind provi-
dence evidently interposed, and made use of therai
to tear him from the world, and thereby enabled him
to adopt this comfortable declaration of Jesus Christ,
" Blessed art thou, Siiuon Barjona ; for flesh and
" blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Fa-
^* ther, which is in heaven."

2. Let us remark the efforts which preceded faith*
God hath been pleased to conceal the truth under
veils, in order to excite our arduous industry to dis-
cover it. The obscurity, that involves it for a time,
is not only agreeable to the general plan of provi^
dence, but it is one of the most singularly beautiful
dispensations of it. If, then, you have attended to
the truth only in a careless, indolent manner, instead
of studying it with avidity, it is to be feared you
have not obtained it ; at least, it may be presumed,
your attachment to M is less the work of heaven than
of the w^orld. But if you can attest you have silen-
ced prejudice to hear reason, you have consulted na-
ture to know the God of nature; that, disgusted
with the little progiess you could make in that way>
you have had recourse to revelation ; that you have
stretched your meditation, not only to ascertain the
truth of the gospel, but to obtain a deep, thorough
knowledge of it; that you have considered this
as the most important work to which your atten-
tion could be directed; that you have sincerely
and ardently implored the assistance of God to
enable you to succeed in your endeavours; that
you have often knocked at the doQ^' of mercy to

The Variety of Opinions about Christ, 1 45

obtain it ; and that you have often adopted the sen-
timents, with the prayer of David, and said, Lord!
open thou mint eyes, that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law! Psal. cxix. 18. If you can
appeal to heaven for the truth of these practices, be
you assured, your faith, like St. Peter's, is not a
production of flesh and blood, but a work of that
grace which never refuseth itself to the sighs of a
soul seeking it with so much vehement desire.

3. The evidence that accompanies faith is our nexf
•article. People may sincerely deceive themselves ;
indeed erroneous opinions are generally received
on account of some glimmerings that hover around
them, and dazzle the beholders. The belief of an
error seems, in some cases, to be grounded on prin-
ciples as clear as those of truth. It is certain, how-
ever, that truth hath a brightness peculiar to itself;
an evidence, that distinguisheth it from whatever is
not true. The persuasion of a man, who rests on
demonstration, is altogether different from that of
him who is seduced by sophisms. Evidence hath
its prerogatives and its rights. Maintain who will,
not only with sincerity, but w^ith all the positivenesg
and violence of which he is capable, that there is
nothing certain ; I am full}^ persuaded that I have
evidence, incomparably clearer, of the opposite opin-
ion. In like manner, when I affirm that I have an
intelligent soul, and that I animate a material body ;
when I maintain that I am free, that the Creator
hath given me the power of turning my eyes to the
^ast, or to the west ; that while the Supreme Being,
on whom I own I am entirely dependent^ shall plea^se

144 The Variety of Opinions about Christ

to continue me in my present state, I may look to
the east or to the west, as I choose, without being
forced by any superior power to turn my eyes to-
ward one of these points, rather than towards the
other : when I admit these propositions, I find my-
self guided by brightness of evidence, which it is
impossible to find in the opposite propositions. A
sophist may invent some objections, which I cannot
answer ; but he can never produce reasons, that
counterbalance those which determine me : he may
perplex, but he can never persuade me. In like
manner, an infidel may unite every argument in fa-
vour of a system of infidelity ; a Turk may accu-
mulate all his imaginations in support of Mahom-
medism ; a Tew may do the same for Judaism ; and
they may silence me, but they can never dissuade
me from Christianity. The religion of Jesus Christ
hath peculiar proof. The brightness of that evi-
dence, which guides the faith of a christian, is a
guarantee of the purity of the principle from which
it proceeds.

4. Observe the sacrifices that crown the faith of a
christian. There are two sorts of these : the one
comprehends some valuable possessions ; the other
some tyrannical passions. Religion requires sacrifi-
ces of the first kind in times of persecution, when
ihe most indispensible duties of a christian are pun-
ished as atrocious crimes ; when men, under pre-
tence of religion, let loose their rage against them
who sincerely love religion, and when, to use our
Saviour's style, they think to do service to God, John
xvi, 2. by putting the disciples of Christ io death.

The Variety of Opinions about Christ. 145

Happy they! who, amon^ you, my brethren, have
been enabled to make sacrifices of this kind ! You
bear, I see, the marks of the disciples of a cru( ifi-
ed Saviour; I respect the cross you carry, and I
venerate your wounds. Yet these are doubtful ev-
idences of that faith which the grace of our heaven-
ly Father produceth. Sometimes tbey even pro-
ceed from a disinclination to sacrifices of the se-
cond kind* Inftuation hath made confessors ; vain
glory hath produced martyrs ; and there is a phe-
nomenon in the church, the cross of c^suistSj and
the most insuperable objection against the doctrines
of assurance and perseverance ; that is, there are
men, who, after they have resisted the greatest tri-
als, yield to the least; men who, having at first fought
like heroes, at last fly like cowards ; who, after they
have prayed for their persecutors, for those who con-
fined them in dungeons, who, to use the Psalmist's
language, plowed upon their hacks, and made long
their furrows^ Psal. cxxix. 3. could not prevail with
themselves on the eve of a Lord's-supper-day to for-
give a small off*ence committed by a brother, by one
of the household of faith* There have been men
who, after they had resisted the tortures of the rack,
fell into the silly snares of voluptuousness* There
have been men w ho, after they had forsaken all their
ample fortunes, and rich revenues, were condemned
for invading the property of a neighbour, for the
sake of a trifling sum, that bore no proportion to that
which they had quitted for the sake of religion. O
thou dtcdtfuh and desperately nicked heart of man !
O thou heart of man! who can know thee! Jer. xvij,

VOL. 11. 19

146 The Variety of Opinions about Christ,

9. Yet study thy heart, and thou wilt know it.
Search out the principle from which thine actions
flow : Content not thyself with a superficial self-ex-
amination ; and thou wilt find, that want of courage
to make a sacrifice of the last kind is sometimes tliat
which produceth a sacrifice of the first. One passion
indemnifies us for the sacrifice of another. But to
resign a passion, the resignation of which no other
passion requires ; to become humble without indem-
nifying pride by courting the applause that men
sometimes give to humility; to renounce pleasure
without any other pleasure than that of pleasing the
Creator ; to make it our meat and drink, according
to the language of scripture, " to do the will of God ;
"to deny one's self; to crucify the flesh, with the
" aflections and lusts ; to present the body a living
" sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God," .John iv. 34.
Matt. xvii. 24. Gal. v. 24. Rom. xii. 1. these are the
characters of that faith which flesh cannot produce ;
that which is born of the flesh is flesh, John iii. 6.
but a faith, which sacrificeth the flesh itself, is a pro-
duction of the grace of the Father which is in heaven,
5. To conclude, St. Peter's faith hath a fifth char-
acter, which he could not well discover in himself,
before he had experienced his own frailty, but which
we, who have a complete history of his life, may
very clearly discern. I ground the happiness of St.
Peter, and the idea I form of his faith, on the very
nature of his fall. Not that we ought to consider sin
as an advantage, noi* that we adopt the maxim of
those who put sin among tlie all things which ivork
together for good to them that love God, Rom. viii»

The Variety of Opinions about Christ, 147

28. Ah! if sin be an advantage, may I be for ever
deprived of such an advantage ! May a constant
peace between my Creator and me for ever place me
in a happy incapacity of knowing the pleasure of re-
conciliation with him ! It is true, however, that we
may judge by the nature of the falls of good men
of the sincerity of their faith, and that the very ob-
stacles which the remainder of corruption in them
oppose th to their happiness, are, properly under-
stood, proofs of the unchangeableness of theii' feli-
city.

St. Peter fell into great sin after he had made the
noble confession in the text. He committed one of
those atrocious crimes which terrify the conscience,
trouble the joy of salvation, and which, sometimes,
confound the elect with the reprobate. Of the same
Jesus, to whom St. Peter said in the text. Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God ; and elsewhere.
We believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God; of the same Jesus he afterward
said, / know not the man, John vi. 69. Matt. xxvi. 72.
Ye know not the man ! And who, then, did you say,
had the words of eternal life ? Ye know not the man !
And with whom, then, did you promise to go to pris-
on and to death ? Ye know not the man ! And whom
have you followed, and whom did you declare to be
the Son of the living God ? Notwithstanding this fla-
grant crime; notwithstanding this denial, the scan-
dal of all ages, and an eternal monument of hu-
man weakness ; in spite of this crime, the salvation
of St. Peter was sure; he was the object of the
promise, " Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desir-

148 The Variety of Opinions about Christ.

*' ed to have you, that he may sift you as wheat :
" but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not,"
Luke xxii. 31, 32. And " Blessed art thou, Simon
*' Barjona," was not only true, but infallible. The
very nature of his fall proves it. Certain strugo;les,
which precede the commission of sin ; a certain infe-
licity, that is felt during the commission of it ; above
all certain horrors which follow ; an inward voice,
that cries, Miserable wretch ! what hast thou done ?
A certain Lell, if I may venture so to express my-
self, a certain hell, tliC flames of which divine love
alone can kindle, characterize the falls of which I
speak.

This article is for you, poor sinners! who are so
hard to be persuaded of the mercy of God towards
you ; who imagine the Deity sits on a tribunal of
vengeance, surrounded w^ith thunder and lightning,
ready to strike your guilty heads. Such a faith as
St. Peter's never fails. When, by examining your
own hearts, and the histories of your own lives, you
discover the characters which we have described,
you may assure yourselves, that all the powers of
hell united against your salvation can never prevent
it. Cursed be the man who abuseth this doctrine !
Cursed be the man who poisoneth this part of chris-
tian divinitv ! Cursed be the man who reasoneth in
this execrable manner! St. Peter committed an atro-
cious crime, in an unguarded moment, when reason,
troubled by a revolution of the senses, had lost the
power of reflection ; I therefore risque nothing by
committing sin coolly and deliberately. St. Peter
disguised his Christianity for a moment, when the

The Variety of Opinions about Christ, 149

danger of losing his life made him lose sight of the
reasons that induce people to confess their Christian-
ity ; then I may disguise mine for thirty or forty years
together, and teach my family to act the same hypo-
critical part ; then 1 may live thirty or forty years, with-
out a church, without sacraments, without public wor-
ship : when I have an opportunity, I may loudly ex-
claim, Thou ait the Christ, the Son of the living God;
and when that confession would injure my interest, or
hazard my fortune, or my life, I may hold myself
always in readiness to cry as loudly, / know not the
man ; I may abjure that religion which Jesus Christ
preached, which my fathers sealed with their blood,
and for which a cloud of witnesses, Heb. xii. 1. mj
contemporaries, and my brethren, went, some into
banishment, others into dungeons, some to the gal-
lies, and others to the stake. Cursed be the man
who reasoneth in this execrable manner. " Ah !
how sliall I bless whom God hath not blessed !"

I repeat it again, such a faith as St. Peter's never
fails, and the very nature of the falls of such a be-
liever proves the sincerity and the excellence of his
faith. We would not w ish to have him banish entire-
ly from his soul that fear which the Scriptures praise,
and to which they attribute grand effects. A chris-
tian, an established christian I mean, ought to live in
peipetual vigilance, he ought always to have these
passages in his mind, " Be not high-minded, but fear.
" Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
" thy crown. When the righteous turneth away
" from his righteousness shall he live ? All his right-
^' eousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned.

150 The Variety of Opinions about Christ,

" in his sin he shall die," Rom. xii. 20. Rev. iii. 11.
and Ezek. xviii. 24. From these scriptures, such a
christian as I have described will not infer conse-
quences against the certainty of his salvation ; but
consequences directly contrary -, and there is a de-
gree of perfection which enables a christian soldier,
even in spite of some momentary repulses in war, to
sing this triumphant song, " Who shall separate me
" from the love of Christ ? In all things, I am more
" than conqueror, through him that loved me ! Thanks
** be unto God, who always causeth me to triumph in
" Christ!" Rom. viii. 35. 37. and 2 Cor. ii. 14.

O ! how amiable, my brethren, is Christianity! How^
proportional to the wants of men! O! how delight-
ful to recollect its comfortable doctrines, in those sad
moments, in which sin appears, after we have fallen
into it, in all its blackness and horror! How delight-
ful to recollect its comfortable doctrines in those dis-
tressing periods, in which a guilty conscience driv-
eth us to the verge of hell, holdelh us on the brink
of the precipice, and obligeth us to hear those ter-
rifying exclamations which arise from the bottom of
the abyss : " The fearful, the unbelieving, the abom-
" inable, whoremongers, and all liars, shall have their
" part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim-
" stone!" Rev. xxi. 8. How happy then to be able
to say, I have sinned indeed ! I have repeatedly
committed the crimes which plunge men into the lake
that burneth with Jire and brimstone ! I have repeat-
edly been fearful and unclean ! Perhaps I may be so
again ! Perhaps I may forget all the resolutions I
have made to devote myself for ever to God! Per*

The Variety of Opinions about Christ 151

haps I inay violate my solemn oaths to my sove-
reign Lord ! Perhaps I may again deny my Redeem-
er ! Perhaps, should I be again tried with the sight
of scaffolds and stakes, I might again say, / know
not the man ! But yet, I know I love him ! Nothing,
I am sure, will ever be able to eradicate my love to
him ! I kno\v, if I love him, it is because he first loved
me, 1 John iv. 19.; and I know, that he, having
loved his own who are in the world, loved them unto the
end, John xiii. 1.

O my God ! AVhat would become of us without a
religion that preached such comfortable truths to us?
Let us devote ourselves for ever to this religion, my
brethren. The more it strengthens us against the
horrors which sin inspires, the more let us endeav-
our to surmount them by resisting sin. May you
be adorned with these holy dispositions, my breth-
ren ! May you be admitted to the eternal pleasures
which they procure, and may each of you be able
to apply to himself the declaration of Jesus Christ
to St. Peter, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona ; for
fiesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father, who is in heaven, God grant you these
blessings! To him be honour and glory for ever.
Amen»

SERMON V.

The little Success of Christ's Ministry.

Romans x. 21.

Ail day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a
disobedient and gainsaying people,

JL HE object that St. Paul presents to our view in
the text, makes very different impressions on the
mind, according to the different sides on which it is
viewed. If we consider it in itself, it is a prodigy, a
prodigy which confounds reason, and shakes faith.
Yes, when we read the history of Christ's ministry ;
when the truth of the narrations of the Evangelists
is proved beyond a doubt ; when we transport our-
selves back to the primitive ages of the church, and
see, with our own eyes, the virtues, and the miracles,
of Jesus Christ ; we cannot believe that the Holy
Spirit put the words of the text into the mouth of the
Saviour of the world : All day long I have stretched
forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying peo-
ple. It should seem, if Jesus Christ had displayed
so many virtues, and operated so many miracles,
there could not have been one infidel ; not one Jew,
who could have refused to embrace Christianity, nor
one libertine, who could have refused to have become
a good man: one would think, all the synagogue
VOL. n. 20

154 The little Success of Chris fs Ministry.

must have fallen at the foot of Jesus Christ, and have
desii'ed an admission into his church.

But when, after we have considered the unsuccess-
fulness of Christ's ministry in itself, we consider it in
relation to the ordinary conduct of mankind, we find
nothing striking, nothing astonishing, nothing contra-
ry to the common course of events. An obstinate
resistance of the strongest motives, the tenderest in-
vitations, interests the most important, and demon-
strations the most evident, is not, we perceive, an
unheard-of thing : and, instead of breaking out into
vain exclamations, and crying, O times! O manners!
We say with the wise man. That which is done, is
that which shall be done : and there is no new thing
under the sun, Eccl. i. 9.

I have insensibly laid out, my brethren, the plan
of this discourse. I design, first, to shew you the
unsuccessfulness of Christ's ministry as a prodigy, as
an eternal opprobrium to the nation in which he ex-
ercised it. And I intend, secondly, to remove your
astonishment, after I have excited it ; and, by mak-
ing a few reflections on you yourselves, to produce
in you a conviction, yea, perhaps a preservation, of
a certain uniformity of corruption, which we cannot
help attributing to all places, and to all times.

O God! by my description of tlie infidelity of the
ancient Jews to-day, confirm us in the fahh! ]\lay
the portraits of the depravity of our times, which I
shall be obliged to exhibit to tliis people, in order to
verify tlie sacred history of the past, inspire us with
as much contrition on account of our own disorders,
as astonishment at the disorders of the rest of man-

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 155

kind! Great God! animate our meditations to this
end with thy Holy Spirit. May this people, whom
thou dost cultivate in the tenderest manner, be an
exception to the too general coiTuption of the rest
of the world ! Amen.

I. Let us consider the unbelief of the Jews as a
prodigy of hardness of heart, an eternal shame and
opprobrium to the Jewish nation, and let us spend a
few moments in lamenting it. We have supposed,
that the text speaks of their infidelity. Christians
who regard the authority of St. Paul, will not dis-
pute it; for the apostle employs three w4iole chap-
ters of his epistle to the Romans, the ninth, the tenth,
and the eleventh, to remove the objections which the
casting off of the Jews might raise against Christiani-
ty, among those of that nation who had embraced
the gospel.

One of the most w^eighty arguments which he useth
to remove this stumbling-block is, the prediction of
theu- imbelief in their prophecies; and among the
other prophecies, which he alledgeth, is my text, quo-
ted from the sixty-fifth of IsaiaL

It is worthy of observation, that all the other pas-
sages, which the apostle cites on this occasion from
the prophets, were taken by tlie ancient Jews in the
same sense that the apostle gives them. This may
be proved from the T almud. I do not know a more
absurd book than the Talmud : but one is, in some
sort, repaid for the fatigue of turning it over by an
important discovery, so to speak, which every page
of that book makes ; that is, that whatever pains the
Jews have been at to enervate the arguments which

156 The Utile Success of Christ* s Ministry.

we have taken from the theology of their ancestors,
they themselves cannot help preserving proofs of
their truth. I would compare, on this article, the
Talmud of the Jews with the mass-book of the church
of Rome. Nothing can be more opposite to the doc-
trine of the gospel, and to that of the reformation,
than the Romish missal : yet we discover in it some
traces of the doctrine of the primitive church ; and
although a false turn is given to much of the ancient
phraseology, yet it is easy to discover the primitive
divinity in this book, so that some authors have
thought the missal the most eligible refutation of the
worship prescribed by the missal itself. We consid-
er the Talmud, and other writings of the modern
Jews, in the same light. The ancient Jews, we see,
took the prophecies which St. Paul alledgeth, in the
tliree chapters that I have quoted, in the same sense
in which the apostle took them, and, like him, under-
stood them of the infidelity of the Jews in the time
of the Messiah.

St. Paul, in Rom. ix. 25. quotes a prophecy from
Hosea, / will call them my people, which were not my
people. The ancient Jews took this prophecy in the
apostle's sense, and we have this gloss on the words
of Hosea still in the Talmud: The time shall come,
wherein they, who were not my people, shall turn unto
the Lord, and shall become my people, chap. ii. 23.

St. Paul, in Rom. ix. 23. cites a prophecy from
Isaiah, Behold, 1 lay in Sion a stumbling-stone, chap,
viii. 14. The ancient Jews took this prophecy in
the same sense, and we have still this gloss in the
Talmud ; When the Son of David shall come, that is

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 157

to say, in the time of the Messiah, the two houses of
the fathers, that is, the kingdom of Israel, and that
of Judah, fthese two kingdoms included the whole
nation of the Jews) " the two houses of the fathers
" shall be cast off, according as it is written, Behold,
" I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone."

The apostle, in Rom. x. 19. alledgeth a passage
from Deuteronomy ; / will provoke you to jealousy
by them that are no people, chap, xxxii. 21. The
Jews both ancient and modern, take this prophecy
in the same sense, and one of their books, entitled.
The book by excellence, explains the whole chapter
of the time of the Messiah.

Our text is taken by St. Paul from Isaiah's proph-
ecy, All day long I have stretched forth my hands un-
to a disobedient and gainsaying people. The ancient
Jews took the words in the same sense, as we can
prove by the writings of the modern Jews. Aberi
Ezra quotes an ancient Rabbi, who explains the
prophecy more like a christian than a Jew. These
are his words: " I have found the nations which cal-
" led not on me : but, as for my people, in vain have
" I stretched out my hands unto them." St. Paul
proves that the hardness of heart of the Jewish na-
tion was foretold by the prophets, and the Jews, in
like manner, have preserved a tradition of the infi-
delity of their nation in the time of the Messiah :
hence this saying of a Rabbi, " God abode three
" years and a half on Mount Olivet in vain ; in vain
" he cried. Seek ye the Lord ! and therefore am I
" found of them who sought me npt."

158 The liitle Success of Christ s Minisiry.

We have, then, a right to say, that my text speaks
of the unbelief of the Jews in the time of the Mes-
siah. This we Avere to prove, and to prove this in-
fidelity is to exhibit a prodigy of hardness of heart,
the eternal opprobrium and shame of the Jewish na-
tion. This is the first point of light in which we
are to consider unbelief, and the smallest attention
is sufficient to discover its turpitude.

Consider the pains that Jesus Christ took to con-
vince, and to reform the Jews. To them he con-
secrated the first functions of his ministry ; he never
went out of their towns and provinces ; he seemed
to have come only for them, and to have brought a
gospel formed on the plan of the law, and restrain-
ed to the Jewish nation alone. The Evangelists
have remarked these things, and he himself said,
/ am not sent hut unto the lost sheep of the house of Is-
rael, Matt. XV. 24. When he sent his apostles, he
expressly commanded them " not to go into the way
" of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samar-
" itans to enter not," chap. x. 5. And the apos-
tles, after his ascension, began to exercise their min-
istry after his example, by saying to the Jews, Unto
you first, God sent his Son Jesus to bless you. Acts
iii. 26.

Consider, further, the means^ which Jesus Christ
employed to recover this people. Here a boundless
field of medhation opens : but the limits of these
exercises forbid my enlarging, and I shall only indi-
cate the principal articles.

What proper mean of conviction did .Tesus omit
in the course of his ministry among this people ?

The little Success of Christ's Ministry. 159

Are miracles proper ? Though ye believe not me, be-
lieve the works, John x. 32. Were extraordinary
discourses proper ^^ If I had not come and spoken un-
to them, they had not had sin : but now they have no
cloak for their sin, ch. xv. 22. Is innocence prop-
er ? Which of you convinceth me of sin 1 ch. viii. 46.
Is the authority of the prophets necessary ? Search
the Scriptures, for they are they that testify of me, ch.
V. 39. Is it proper to reason with people on their
own principles ? " Had ye believed Moses, ye would
" have believed me, ver. 46. Is it not written in
" your law, I said, Ye are Gods ? If he called them
" Gods, unto whom the word of God came ; say ye
" of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent
*' into the w^orld. Thou blasphemest; because I said
** I am the Son of God," ch. x. 34—36.

Consider again, the different forms, if I may be
allowed to speak so, w hich Jesus Christ put on to
insinuate himself into their minds. Sometimes he
addressed them by condescension, submitting to the
rites of the law, receiving circumcision, going up to
Jerusalem, observing the sabbath, and celebrating
their festivals. At other times he exhibited a noble
liberty, freeing himself from the rites of the law,
travelling on sabbath-days, and neglecting their
feasts. Sometimes he conversed familiarly with
them, eating and drinking with them, mixing himself
in their entertainments, and assisting at their mar-
riage feasts. At other times he put on the austerity
of retirement, fleeing from their societies, retreating
into the deserts, devoting himself for whole nights
to meditation. and prayer, and for whole weeks to

160 The little Success of Christ s Ministry.

praying and fasting. Sometimes he addressed him-
self to them by a graceful gentleness : " Come unto
" me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I
*' will give you rest. Learn of me, for I am meek,
" and lowly in heart. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! thou
** that killest the prophets, and stonest them which
" are sent unto thee, how often would I have gather-
" ed thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
*' her chickens under her wings, and ye would not 1"
Mat. xi. 28, 29. and xxiii. 37. At other times he tri-
ed them by severity, he drove them from the tem-
ple, he denounced the judgments of God against
them ; he depicted a future day of vengeance, and,
shewing Jerusalem covered with the carcases of the
slain, the holy mountain flowing with blood, and the
temple consuming in flames, he cried, Wo, wo to the
Pharisees ! Wo to the Scribes ! Wo to all the doctors
of the law ! ver. 13, &;c.

Jesus Christ, in the whole of his advent, answered
the characters by which the prophets had described
the Messiah. What characters do you Jews expect
in a Messiah, which Jesus Christ doth not bear ? Born
of your nation, — in your country, — of a virgin, — of
the family of David, — of the tribe of Judah, — in
Bethlehem — after the seventy weeks, — at the expira-
tion of your grandeur, and before the departure of
your sceptre. On the one hand, " despised and reject-
" ed of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
" grief ; stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted ;
*' wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your
" iniquities, brought as a la.mb to the slaughter, cut
'' off from the land of the living," as your prophets

Thd little Success of Chris fs Mimstry, 161

had foretold, Isa. liii. 3 — 8. But on the other hand,
glorious and magnanimous, " prolonging his days,
" seeing his seed, the pleasure of the Lord prosper-
" ing in his hand, justifying many by his knowledge,
" blessed of God, girding his sword upon his thigh,
" and riding prosperously on the word of his truth,"
as the same prophets had taught you to hope, ver.
10, 11. andPsal. xlv. 2, 3* What Messiah, then, do
you wait for? If you require anotlier gospel, pro^
duce us another law. If you reject Jesus Christ, re-
ject Moses. If you want other accomplishments,
shew us other prophecies. If you will not receive
our apostles, discard your own prophets.

Such was the conduct of Jesus to the Jews. What
success had he ? What effects were produced by all
his labour, and by all his love ; by so many conclu-
sive sermons, and so many pressing exhortations ; by
so much demonstrative evidence, by so many exact
characters, and so many shining miracles; by so
much submission, and so much elevation ; by so much
humility, and so much glory ; and, so to speak, by
so many different forms, which Jesus Chnst took to
insinuate himself into the minds of this people ? You
hear in the words of the text : " All day long I have
" stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
" gainsaying people.'' The malice of this people
prevailed over the mercy of God, and mercy \\as.
useless except to a few. The ancient Jews were in-
fidels, and most of the modern Jews persist in infi-
delity. Is not this a prodigy of hardness ? Is liot
this an eternal reproach and shame to the Jewish
nation ?

VOL, ir. 21

162 The Utile Success of Chris fs Ministry,

11. But we have pursued the unbelief of the Jews
far enough in the first point of view ; let us proceed
to consider it uith a view to what we proposed in
the second place. We will shew that men's obsti-
nate resistance of the most pressing motives, the
most important interests, and the most illustrious
examples, is not an unheard-of thing: and we will
prove, that all whic h results from the example of
the unbelieving Jews, is a proof of the uniformity
of the depravity of mankind ; that they who lived
in the times of the first planters of Christianity, re-
sembled the greatest part of those who lived before
them, and of those who have lived since. Would
to God this article were less capable of evidence!
But, alas ! we are going to conduct you step by
step to demonstration.

First, We will take a cursory view of ancient
history, and we will shew you, that the conduct of
the unbelieving Jews presents nothing new, nothing
that had not been done before, nothing contrary to
the universal practice of mankind from Adam to
Jesus Christ.

Secondly, We will go a step further, and shew you
a whole community, who, amidst the light of the
gospel, reject the doctrines of the gospel, for the
same theological reasons for which the Jews reject-
ed it.

Thirdly, We will produce an object yet more
astonishing: a multitude of christians, whom the
light of the reformation hath freed from the super-
stition that covered tlie churchy guilty of the very

The little Success of Christ's Ministry. 163

excesses which v\ e lament in the Jews and in super-
stitious christians.

Fourthly, We will go further still, we will sup-
pose this congregation in the place of the ancient
Jev\s, and we will prove, that, had you been in
their places, you would have done as they did.

The last is only supposition, we will, therefore,
in the Fifth place, realize it, and shew you, not
that you would have acted like the Jews, had you
been in their circujnstances; but that you really
do act so ; and we will shew you an image of your-
selves in the conduct of the ancient Jews.

1. The infidelity of those who beard the sermons
of the first heralds of religion, might surprize us, if
truth and virtue had always been embraced by the
greatest number, and if the multitude had not always
taken the side of vice and falsehood. But survey
the principal periods of the church from the begin-
ning of the world to that time, and you will see a
very different conduct.

When there was only one man and one woman in
the world, and when these two, who came from the
immediate hand of God, could not question either
his existence or his perfections, they both preferred
the direction of the Devil before that of the St pre me
Being, who had just brought tliem into existence.
Gen. iii.

Did God give them a posterity ? The children
walked in the criminal steps of their parents. The
fear, and the worsliip of tlie true God were confined
to the family of Seth, to a small number of believ-
ers, whom the scripture calls Sons oj God, chap. vi.

164 The little Success of Christ's Ministry.

2. while the Sons of Men acknowledged no other re^
ligion but their own fancies, no other law but their
own lust.

Did mankind multiply ? Errors and sins multi-
plied with them. The scripture saith, All Jiesh had
corrupted its way upon the earth. The Lord repented
that he had made man on the earth, ver. 1 2, i). and by
an universal deluge exterminated the whole impious
race, except eight persons-, 1 Pet. iii. 20.

Were these eight persons freed from the general
flood ? They peopled a new world with a succession
as wicked as that which inhabited the old world,
and which was drowned in the flood. They con-
spired together against God, and left to future ages
a monument of their insolent pride, a tower, the top
of which, they said should reach to heaven, Gen.
xi. 4.

Were these sons of presumption dispersed ? Their
depravity and their idolatry they carried with them,
and with both they infected all the places of their
exile. Except Abraham, his family, and a small
number of believers, nobody worshipped, or knew
the true God.

Were the descendents of this patriarch multiplied
into a nation, and loaden with the distinguisliing
blessings of God ? They distinguished themselves
also by their excesses. Under the most august le-
gislation, and against the clearest evidence, they
adopted notions the most absurd, and perpetrated
crimes the most unjust. They carried the taberna-
cle of Moloch in the wilderness ; they proposed the
stoning of Moses and Aaron ; they preferred the

The little Success of Christ s Ministry. 165

slavery of Egypt before the liberty of the sons of
God.

Were these people conducted by a train of mira-
cles to the land of promise ? The blessings, that
God bestowed so liberally on them, they generally
turned into weapons of war against their benefactor.
They shook off the gentle government of that God
who had chosen them for his subjects, for the sake
of submitting to the iron rods of such tyrants as
those who reigned over neighbouring nations.

Did God exceed their requests ; did he give them
princes, who were willing to support religion ? They
rebelled against them; they made a scandalous
schism, and rendered that supreme worship to ima-
ges which was due to none but the supreme God.

2. The people, of whom we have been speaking,
lived before the time of Jesus Christ: but I am to
shew you, in the second place, a whole community,
enlightened by the gospel, retaining the same prin-
ciple, which was the chief cause of the infidelity of
the Jew^s; I mean a blind submission to ecclesiastic-
al rulers.

The Jewish doctors, who were contemporary with
Jesus Christ, assumed a sovereign power over the
people's minds; and the Rabbies, w^ho have suc-
ceeded them, have done their utmost to maintain,
and to extend it. Hence the superb titles. Wise
man. Father, Prince, King, yea God. Hence the
absolute tyranny of decisions of what is true, and
what is false; what is venial, and what is unpardon-
able. Hence the seditious maxims of those of
them, who affirm that they, who violate their can-

166 Tlie little Success of Christ's Ministry,

ons, are worthy of death. Hence those blasphe-
mous declarations, which say, that they have a ri^ht
of giving what gloss they please to the law, should
it be even against the law itself; on condition, how-
ever, of their affirming, that they were assisted by, I
know not what, supernatural aid, which they call
Bath-col, that is, the daughter of a voice.

Now, my brethren, when an ecclesiastic hath ar-
rived at a desire of domination over the minds of
the people, and when the people are sunk so low as
to suffer their ecclesiastics to exercise such a domin-
ion, there is no opinion too fantastic, no preposses-
sion too absurd, no doctrine too monstrous, to be-
come an article of faith. It hath been often object-
ed against us, that, to allow every individual the
liberty of examining religion for himself, is to open
a door to heresy. But if ever recrimination were
just, it is proper here. To give fallible men the
power of finally determining matters of faith is to
throw open flood-gates to the most palpable errors.
Thou eternal truth ! Thou sovereign teacher of the
church ! Thou high priest of the new covenant !
Thou alone hast a right to claim a tacit submission
of reason, an implicit obedience of faith.. And
thou, sacred book I Thou authentic gift of heaven !
When my faith, and my religion are in question,
thou art the only tribunal at which I stand ! But as
for the doctrine of blind submission, I repeat it
again, it will conduct us to the most palpable errors.

With the help of implicit faith, I could prove that
a priest hath the power of deposing a king, and of
transmitting the supreme power to a tyrant.

The little Success of Christ's Ministry. 167

With this principle, I could prove that a frail man
can call down the Saviour of the world at his will,
place him on an altar, or confine him in a box.

With this principle, I could prove that what my
smell takes for bread is not bread ; that what my
eyes lake for bread is not bread ; that what my taste
takes for bread is not bread : and so on.

With this principle, I could prove that a bodj^
which is all in one place, is at the same tim« all in
another place ; all at Rome, and all at Constantino-
ple ; yea more, all entire in one host, and all entire
in another host ; yea more astonishing still, all entire
in one host, and all entire in ten thousand hosts ; yea
more amazing still, all entire in ten thousand hosts,
and all entire in each part of these ten thousand
hosts; all entire in the first particle, all entire in the
second, and so on w ithout number or end.

W ith this principle, I could prove, that a penitent
is obliged to tell me all the secrets of his heart ; and
that, if he conceal any of its recesses from me, he is,
on that very account, excluded from all the privile-
ges of penitence.

With this principle, I could prove, that money giv-
en to the church delivereth souls from purgatory;
and that, according to the Bishop of Meaux, always
when the souls in that prison hear the sound of the
sums which are given for their freedom, they fly to-
wards heaven.

3. You have seen a whole community professing
Christianity, and yet not believing the doctrines of
Christ, through the prevalence of the sa?ne princi-
ple, which rendered the ancient Jews infidels. We

168 The little Success of Christ's Ministry.

proceed now to shew you something more extraor^
dinary still ; a multitude of christians, instructed in
the truths of the gospel, freed by the light of the
reformation from the darkness with which supersti-
tion had covered the gospel ; and yet seducing them-
selves like the ancient Jews, because their unworthy
passions have rendered their seduction necessary.

Recall, my dear fellow countrymen, the happy
days in which you were allowed to make an open
profession of your religion in the place of your na-
tivity. Amidst repeated provocations of the divine
patience, which, at last, drew down the anger of
God on our unhappy churches, there was one virtue,
it must be owned, that shone with peculiar glory, I
mean, zeal for public worship. Whether mankind
have in general more attachment to the exterior than
to the inward part of divine worship ; or whether
the continual fear of the extinction of that light,
which we enjoyed, contributed to render it sacred
to us ; or whatever were the cause, our ancient zeal
for the public exterior worship of our religion may
be equalled, but it can never be exceeded.

Ye happy inhabitants of these provinces! We are
ready to yield to you the pre-eminence in all other
virtues : This only we dispute with you. The sing-
ing of a psalm was enough to fire that vivacity,
Avhich is essential to our nation. Neither distance
of place, nor inclemency of weather, could dispense
with our attendance on a religious exercise. Long
and wearisome journeys, through frosts and snows,
Ave took to come at those churches which were al-
lowed us for public worship. Communion-days

The little Success of Christ's Ministry. 169

were triumphant days, which all were determined
to share. Our churches were washed with peniten-
tial tears : and when, on days of fasting and prayer,
a preacher desired to excite extraordinary emotions
of grief, he was sure to succeed, if he cried, "God
" will take away his candle-stick from you, God will
" deprive you of the churches, in which ye form
" only vain designs of conversion."

Suppose, amidst a large concourse of people, as-
sembled to celebrate a solemn feast, a preacher of
falsehood had ascended a pulpi' of truth, and had
affirmed these propositions : " External worship is
" not essential to salvation. They, who diminish
" their revenues, or renounce the pleasures of life,
" for the sake of liberty of conscience, do not rig[*t-
" ly understand the spirit of Christianity. The Lord's
" supper ought not to be neglected, when it can be
*' administered without peril : but we ought not to
" expose ourselves to danger for the sake of a sacra-
" ment, which at most is only a seal of the covenant,
" but not the covenant itself." In w4iat light would
such a preacher have been considered ? The whole
congregation w ould have unanimously cried, Away
with him! Away with him! Numb. xxv. Many a
Phineas, many an Eleazar would have been instantly
animated with an impetuosity of fervour and zeal,
which it would have been necessary to restrain.

O God ! What are become of sentiments so pious,
and so worthy of Christianity! This article is a
source of exquisite grief. In sight of these sad ob-
jects we cry, O wall of the daughter of Zion ! let
tears run down like a river day and nighty Lam., ii.

VOL, IT. 22

170 The little Success of Chris fs Ministry.

18. Here the sorrowful Rachel mourneth for her
children , she uttereth the voice of lamentation and
hitter weeping, refusinf^' to be con for ted for her chil-
dren, because they are not, Jer. xxxi. 15. Go, go see
those degenerate sons of the reformation ! Go, try
to communicate a brisker motion to that reformed
blood, which still creeps slowly in their veins.
Arouse them, by urging the necessity of that ex-
ternal worship of which they still retain some grand
ideas. Alarm their ears w ith the thundering voice
of the Son of God : tell them, " Fie that loveth
" father or mother more than me, is not worthy of
"me. Whosoever shall deny me before men, him
" will I also deny before my Father which is in hea-
"ven," Mat. x. 37. 33. and what will they say?
They will tax you with being an enthusiastic de-
claimer. The very propositions, which would have
been rejected with horror, had they been affirmed
in times of liberty, would now be maintained with
the utmost zeal. But how comes it to pass, that
what was formerly unwarrantable now appears just
and true ? The pliant artifice of the human mind
hath wrought the change. The corruption of the
heart knows hov>^ to fix the attention of the mind
on objects which palliate a criminal habit; and
most men understand the secret art of seducing
themselves, when their passions render a seduction
needful.

At first, they required only the liberty of consid-
ering the bearing of the storm before the thunder
burst the clouds, tl^at if they should be obliged to
flee, it might be from real evils, and not from ima~

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 171

ginary panics. At len'^th the tempest came crush-
mg and sweeping away all that opposed its progress.
When the body must have been exposed for the
salvation of the soul, the trial, they said, was severe,
their hearts were intimidated, they fainted and durst
not flee. Moreover, till they had amassed enough
to support them in that exile, to which they should
be instantly condemned, if they owned Jesus Christ;
and lest they should leave their innocent childien
destitute of all support, they abjured their religion
for the present. Abjuration is always shocking:
but if ever it seem to call for patience and pity, it
is in such circumstances! when pretexts so plausi-
ble produce it, and when solemn vows are made to
renounce it. When the performance of these vows
was required, insurmountable obstacles forbad it,
and the same reasons, which had sanctified this hy-
pocrisy at first, required them to persist in it. When
•\ igilant guards were placed on the frontiers of the
kingdom, they waited, they said, only for a fair op-
portunity to escape, and they flattered themselves
with fixing certain periods, in which they might
safely execute what would be hazardous before to
attempt. Sometimes it was the gaining of a battle,
and sometimes the conclusion of a peace. As these
periods Avere not attended with the advantages
which they had promised themselves, they looked
forward, and appointed others. Others came. No
more guards on the frontiers, no more obstacles,
full liberty for all, who had courage to follow Jesus
Christ. And whither? Into dens and deserts, ex-
posed to every calamity ? No: into delicious gar-

1 72 The little Success of Chrisfs Ministry.

dens; into countries where the gentleness of the
governments is alone sufficient to indemnify us for
all we leave in our own country. But new times,
new morals. The pretext of the difficulty of follow-
ing Jesus Christ being taken aAvay, the necessity of
it is invalidated. Why, say they, should we aban-
don a country, in which people may profess what
they please ? Why not rather endeavour to preserve
the seeds of the reformation in a kingdom, from
which it w^ould be entirely eradicated, if all they,
"who adhere to it, were to become voluntary exiles ?
Why restrain grace to some countries, religion to
particular walls ? Why should we not content our-
selves with worshipping God in our closets, and in
our families ? The ministers of .Tesus Christ have
united their endeavours to unravel these sophisms.
We have heaped argument upon argument, demon-
stration upon demonstration. We have represented
the utility of public worship. We have shewn the
possibility, and the probability of a new period of
persecution. We have conjured those, whom sad
experience hath taught their own weakness, to ask
themselves, whether they have obtained strength
sufficient to bear such suffering's as those under
which they formerly sank. We have proved tliat
the posterity of those lukewarm christians will be
entirely destitute of religion. In short, we have
produced the highest degree of evidence in favour
of their flight. All our arguments have been use-
less ; we have reasoned, and written, without suc-
cess; we have "spent our strength in vain," Lev.
XXVI. 20, And, except here and there an elect soul,

The little Success of Christ's Ministry, 173

whom God in his infinite mercy hath delivered
from all the miseries of such a state, they quietly
eat and drink, build and plant, marry and are given
in marriage, and die in this fatal stupidity.

Such is the flexible depravity of the human
mind, and such was that of the Jews ! Such is the
ability of our hearts in exercising the fatal art of
self-deception, when sinful passions require us to be
deceived !

Represent to yourselves the cruel Jews. They
expected a Messiah, who would furnish them with
means of glutting their revenge by treading the
Gentiles beneath their feet, for them they consider-
ed as creatures unwortliy of the least regard. Jesus
Christ came he preached, and said, Love your ene-
mieSy bless them that curse you, Matt. v. 44. Revenge
viewed the Messiah in a disadvantageous light. Re-
venge turned the attention of the Jews to this then*
favourite maxim, The Messiah is to humble the ene-
mies of the church, whereas Jesus Christ left them in
all their gaiety and pomp.

Represent to yourselves, those of the Jews who
were insatiably desirous of riches. They expected
a Messiah, who would lavish his treasures on them,
and would so fulfil these expressions of the prophets,
Silver is mine, and gold is mine. Hag. ii. 8. The
kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring pres-
ents, Psal. Ixxii. 10. Jesus Christ came, he preach-
ed, and said Lay not up for yourselves treasures up-
on earth. Matt. vi. 19. Avidity of riches consider-
ed tlie Messiah in a disadvantageous light. Avidi-
ty of riches confined tlie attention of the Jews to

174 The little Success of Christ's Ministry,

this favourite maxim, The Messiah is to enrich his
disciples, whereas Jesus Christ left his followers in
indigence and want.

Represent to yourselves the proud and arrogant
Jews. They expected a Messiah, who would march
at their head, conquer the Romans, w ho w ere be-
come the terror of the world, and obtain victories
similar to those which their ancestors had obtained
over nations recorded in history for their military
skill. They fed their ambition with these memora-
ble prophecies: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee
*' the heathen for thme inheritance, and the utter-
"most parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou
" shalt break them with a rod of iron : thou shalt
**dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. He
" shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the
" river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell
" in the wilderness shall bow^ before him, and his
"enemies shall lick the dust," Psal.ii.8, 9. and Ixxii.
8, 9. Jesus Christ came, he preached, and said,
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for right-
" eousness sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of hea-
"ven," Matt. v. 10. He marched first at the head
of this afflicted host, and finished his mournful life
on a cross. Arrogance and pride considered Jesus
Christ in a disadvantageous light. Arrogance and
pride confined the attention of the Jews to this max-
im, The Messiah is to sit on a throne : whereas
Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. When we know
the pliant depravity of the human heart, when we
know its ability to deceive itself, when its passions
require it to be deceived; can we be astonished

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 175f

that Jesus Christ had so few partisans among the
Jews ?

- 4. But our fourth reflection will remove our as-
tonishment ; it regards the presumptuous ideas which
we form of our own virtue when it hath not been
tried. For this purpose, we are going to put you
in the place of the ancient Jews, and to prove, that
in the same circumstances you would have acted
the same part.

There is a kind of sophistry, which is adapted to
all ages, and to all countries ; I mean that turn of
mind which judgeth those vices in which we have
no share. The malice of our hearts seldom goeth
so far as to love sin for its own sake. When sin
presents itself to our view, free from any self-inter-
est in committing it, and when we have the liberty
of a cool, calm, and dispassionate sight of it, it sel-
dom fails to inspire us with horror. And, as this
disposition of mind prevails, when we think over
the atrocious vices of former ages, we generally ab-
hor the sins, and condemn the men who committed
thiem. They appear monsters to us, and nature
seems to have produced but a few. We seem to
ourselves beings of another kind, and we can hardly
suffer the question to be put, whether in the same
circumstances we should not have pursued the same
conduct.

In this disposition we usually judge the ancient
Jews. How could they rebel against those deliver-
ers, whom God, if I may speak so, armed with his
omnipotence to free them from the bondage of
Egypt? How could they possibly practise gross

176 The little Success of Christ's Ministry,

idolatry on the banks of the red sea, which had just
before been miraculously divided for their passage,
and which had just before overwhelmed their ene-
mies? While heaven was every instant lavisliing
miracles in their favour, how could they possibly
place their abominable idols in the throne of the
living God ? How could their descendants resist
the ministry of such men as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
all the other prophets, whose missions appeared so
evidently divine ?

In the same disposition we judge those Jews, who
heard the sermons, and w^ho saw the miracles, of Je-
sus Christ. Their unbelief appears a greater prodi-
gy than all the other prodigies which we are told
they resisted. It seems a phenomenon out of the
ordinary course of nature; and we persuade our-
selves, that, had we been in similar circumstances;,
we should have acted in a very different manner.

As I said before, my brethren, tliis sophistry is
not new. When we reason thus in regard to those
Jews w ho lived in the time of Jesus Christ, we on-
ly repeat what they themselves said in regard to
them who lived in the times of the ancient prophets.
Jesus Christ reproacheth them with it in these em-
phatical words : " Wo unto you, scribes and phari-
" sees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of
" the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the
" righteous, and say. If we had been in the days of
" our fathers, we would not have been partakers
" with them in the blood of the prophets. Fill yc
" up then the measure of your fathers," Matt, xxiii.
29, 30, 32. Let us not lightly pass over these wordsv

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 17?

I hare read them as they are in the gospel of St*
Matthew. St. Luke has them a little difTerently,
" Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of
" your fathers ; for they indeed killed them, and ye
" build their sepulchres," chap. xi. 48. Both ex-
press the same thing. The Jews, who were contem-
porary with Christ, having no interest in the wick-
edness of their ancestors, considered it in the dispo-
sition of which we have been speaking, and were
ashamed of it, and condemned it. They consider-
ed themselves in contrast with them, and gave them-
selves the preference. " If we had been in the days
" of our fathers, we would not have been partakers
" with them in the blood of the prophets." .lesus
Christ undeceives them, and rends the veil with
which they covered the turpitude of their own
hearts from themselves. He declares, if they had
lived in the days of their fathers, they would have
imitated their conduct; because, being in similar
circumstances, they actually pursued similar meth-
ods. And he assures them, that, if they were judg-
ed by their fruits, their zeal in repairing the sepul-
chres, and in embellishing the monuments of the
prophets, proceeded less from a design to honour the
memories of the holy men, than from a disposition
to imbrue their own sacrilegious hands in their
blood, as their ancestors had formerly done.

Tlie duty of my office, and the subject which
Providence calls me to-day to explain, oblige me to
make an odidus, but perhaps a too just application
of these words. When you hear of the unbelief of
the .Tews, you say, " If we had lived in X\\^ times of

TOL. IT, 23

178 Tlie Utile Success of Christ's Ministry s

*' them, who heard the sermons of Jesus Christ, and
" who saw his miracles, we would not have been par-
" takers with them in the parricide of the prophets.'*
Alas ! my brethren, how little do we know of our-
selves ! How easy is it to form projects of virtue and
holiness, when nothing but the forming of them is in:
fjuestion, and when we are not called to practise and
€3xecute them ! But what ! you my brethren ! would
you have believed in Jesus Christ? You would have
believed in Jesus Christ ; you would have followed
J^sus Christ, would you ?

Well, then, realize the time of Jesus Christ. Sup-
pose the Hague instead of Jerusalem. Suppose Je-
sus Christ in the place of one of those insignificant
men who preach the gospel to you : suppose this con-
gregation instead of the Jews, to whom Jesus Christ
preached, and in whose presence he wrought his mir-
acles. You woidd have believed in Jesus Christ,
would you? You would have followed Jesus Christy
would you ?

What! thou idle souH thou, who art so indolent
in every thing connected with religion, that thou
sayest, we require too much, when we endeavour
to persuade tliee to examine the reasons which re-
tain thee in tl?e profession of Christianity, when we
exhort thee to consult thy pastors, and to read reli-
gious books! Wliat! vvouldst thou have renounced
thine indifference and sloth, if thou hadst lived in
the days of Jesus Christ? W^ould thy supine soul
have aroused itself to examine the (evidences of the
divinity of his mission, to develope the sophisms
with which his enemies opposed him, to assort the

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 179

propbecies with the actions of his life, in order to
determine their accomplishment in his person ?

What! thou vain soul! who always takest the up-
perhand in society, who ait incessantly prating
about thy birth, thine ancestors, thy rank! Thou
who studiest to make thy dress, the tone of thy
Toice, tl:ine air, thy o;ait, thine equipage, thy skele-
ton, thy carcase, thine all, proclaim thee a superior
person ige ! Wouldst thou have joined thyself to
tl:e populace, who followed 'Jesus Christ ; to the
poor fisliermen, and to the contemptible publicans
who composed the apostolic school; wouldst thou
have followed this Jesus ?

What ! thou miser ! who wallowest in silver and
gold ; thou who dost idolize thy treasures, and mak-
€st thy heart not a temple of the Holy Ghost, but
a temple of JNIammon ; thou, who art able to resi^
the exhortations and intreaties, the prayers and the
tears of the servants of God ; thou who art insensi-
ble to every form of address which thy pastors take
to move thee not to suffer to die for want of susten-
ance, w^nom ? A poor miserable old man, who, sink-
ing under the pains and infirmities of old age, is
surrounded with indigence, and even wants bread.
Thou ! who art so ungenerous, so unnatural, and
so barbarous, that thou refuses! the least relief to
an object of misery so affecting; wouldst thou have
believed in Jesus Christ? Wouldst thou have fol-
lowed Jesus Christ? Thou! wouldst thou have
obeyed this command, Go sell that thou hast, and
give to the poor, and come and follow me / Malt, xix*
21.

180 The little Success of Christ s Ministry/.

Ah ! *^ Wo unto you scribes and pharisees, liyp-
" ocrites ! Ye build the tombs of the prophets, and
" garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say,
" If we bad been in the days of our fathers, we
" would not have been partakers with them in the
" blood of the prophets." But with too much pro-
priety may I apply to some of you the following
words, " Behold, I send unto you prophets, and
" w^ise men, and scribes ; and some of them ye shall
*' kill and crucify ; and some of them shall ye
" scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them
" from city to city ; that upon you may come all the
" righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the
*^ blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacha-
" rias, the son of Barachias," Matt, xxiii, 29, 34, 35.
Yea, behold, God sends ministers unto you, who
preach the same doctrine now that Jesus Cluist did
in his day. Resist them, as the Jews resisted Jesus
Christ; withstand their preaching, as the Jews with-
stood the preaching of Jesus Christ; ridicule them,
as the Jews ridiculed Jesus Christ; call them glut-
ions and wine-hihhers, Matt. xi. 19. as the Jews called
Jesus Christ; contemn the judgments which they
denounce, as the .Tews contemned the judgments
which Jesus Christ foretold; till all the calamitous
judgments which are due to the resistance that this
nation hath made against the gospel ministry, from
its beginning to this day, fall upon you. But cease
to consider the infidelity and obstinacy of the Jews
as an extraordinary phenomenon. Do not infer from
their not believing the miracles of Christ, that Jesus
Christ wrought no miracles. Do not say, Religion

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 181

hath hut few disciples, therefore tlie grounds of reli-
gion are not very evident. For you are, the greatest
part of you, a refutation of your own sophism.
You are witnesses, that there is a kind of infidelity
and obstinacy, which resisteth the most powerful mo-
tives, the most plain demonstrations. And these
public assemblies, this auditory, this con€ourse of
people, all these demonstrate, that wisdom hath but
few disciples. This is what we undertook to prove.

5. But all this is only supposition. What will
you say, if, by discussing the fifth article, we apply
the subject ! and if, instead of saying, Had you lived
in the days of the ancient Jews, you would have re-
jected the ministry of Jesus Christ as they rejected
it ; we should tell you, you actually do reject it as
they did ? This proposition hath nothing hyperbolic-
al in it in regard to a great number of you. Nothing
more is necessary to prove it, than a list of the most
essential maxims of the morality of the gospel, and a
comparison of them with the opposite notions wliich
such christians form.

For example, it is a maxim of the gospel, that
virtue doth not consist in a simple negation, hut in
something real and positive. Likewise in regard to
the employment of time. What duty is more ex-
pressly commanded in the gospel ? What duty more
closely connected with the great end for which God
hath placed us in this world? Is not the small number
of years, are not the few days, w hich we pass upon
earth given us to prepare for eternity ? Doth not our
eternal destiny depend on the manner in which we
spend these few days and years on earth ? Yet, to

182 The little Success of Chris fs Ministry^

see christians miserably consume upon nothings the
most considerable parts of their lives, would tempt
one to think, that they had the absolute disposal of
an inexhaustible fund of duration.

The delaying of conversion would afford another
subject, proper to shew the miserable art of the great*
est part of mankind of shutting their eyes against the
clearest truths, and of hardening themselves against
the most powerful motives. Have not all casuists,
even they w ho are the most opposite to each other
on all other articles, agreed in this ? Have they not
unanimously endeavoured to free us from this miser-*
able prepossession, that God will judge us, not accord-
ing to the manner in ivhich we live, hut according to
the manner in which we die ? Have they not agreed
in representing to us the inability of dying people
to meditate with any degree of application ; and, in
a manner, the impossibility of being entirely renew-
ed on a dying bed : and yet, do not the greater
number of christians, even of those whose piety
seems the most genuine, defer a great part of the
work of their salvation to a dying hour ? If you
think I colour the corruption of the age too strong-
ly, answer me one question. Whence proceeds our
usual fear of sudden death? Since the last stages
of life are in general the most fatiguing ; since the
reliefs, that are applied then are so disgustful ; since
parting adieus are so exquisitely painful; since slow
agonies of drath are so intolerable; why do we not
consider sudden death as tl;e most desirable of all
advantages ? AVhy is it not tl;e constant object of our
wishes? Why doth a sudden death terrify a whole

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry, 182^

city ? Is it not because our consciences tell us, that
there remains a ^reat deal to be done on our death-
beds; and that we have deferred that work to the
last period of life, which we ousjht to have perform-
ed in the days of vigour and health ? Let us enter
into these discussions, and we shall find, that it doth
not belong to us, of all people, to exclaim against
the obstinacy and infidelity of the Jews.

I have run this disagreeable parallel, I own, with
great reluctance. However, the inference from the
whole, me thinks, is very plain. The multitude ought
to be no rule to us. We ought rather to imitate the
example of one good christian, than that of a multi-
tude of idiots, who furiously rush into eternal misery.
They, who rebel against the doctrine of Jesus Christ,
are idiots : they, who submit to them, are wise men.
If the first class exceed the last, beyond all compar-
ison in number, they ought to have no influence over
our lives. If the smallest be the wisest class, we are
bound to imitate them. Thus Jesus Christ reasons :
" Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation ?
" and to what are they like ? They are like unto chil-
" dren sitting in the market place, and calling one to
" another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and
" ye have not danced ; we have mourned to you, and
" ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came nei-
" ther eating bread, nor drinking wine ; and ye say,
" He hath a devil. The vSon of Man is come eating
" and drinking ; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous
" man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and
" sinners. But wisdom is justified of all her chil-
'^ dren," Luke vii. 31, &c.

184 ' The little Success of Chris fs iTIinistrif.

There were but very few of the Jews, who enter-
ed into the spirit of the gospel; as, I own, there are
but few of those called Christians, who enter into it :
but they are the wise and rational part of mankind.
Jesus Christ himself hath determined it. Wisdom is
justified of ALL her children. This is not the opinion
of a declaimer ; this is the axiom of a philosopher,
that carries its proof and demonstration with it.

Who were those Jews, who resisted the powerful
exhortations of Jesus Christ, and the clear evidence
of his miracles ? They were idiots, who imagined God
would suffer all the laws of nature to be interrupted
to favour falsehood, and to authorize an impostor:
idiots, who thought Satan would oppose himself, and
would himself lend his power to a man whose doc-
trine had no other end than the subversion of his em-
pire : idiots, who annihilated prophecy under a pre-
tence of giving it a sublime meaning : idiots, who
knew not the true interest of mankind ; who could
not perceive, that to put riches and grandeurs into
the possession of men, whose dispositions, like theirs,
were unrenewed, was to put daggers and death into
madmen's hands : idiots, who for a great number of
years had lightnings flashing in their eyes, and thun-
ders roaring in their ears ; but who coolly endeav-
oured to shut their eyes, and to stop their ears, till
the tempest struck them dead, and reduced them to
ashes.

What is the character of a modern infidel, who
prefers a system of irreligion before the system of
Christianity ? He is an idiot ; a man, who voluntarily
^huts his eyes against evidence and truth : a man who.

The little Success of Chris fs Ministry. 185

under pretence that all cannot be explained to him,
determines to deny what can : a man who cannot di-
gest the difficulties of religion, but can digest those
of scepticism ; a man who cannot conceive how the
world should owe its existence to a Supreme Being,
but can easily conceive how it was formed by chance.
On the contrary, What is the character of a believ-
er ? He is a wise man, a child of wisdom ; a man
who acknowledgeth the imperfections of his nature :
a man who, knowing by experience the inferiority
and uncertainty of his own conjectures, applies to
revelation : a man who, distrusting his own reason,
yields it up to the direction of an infallible Being,
and is thus enabled, in some sense, to see with the
eyes of God hnuself.

What is the character of a man who refuseth to
obey this saying of Jesus Christ, No man can serve
two Masters ? Matt. vi. 24. He is an idiot ; he is a
man who, by endeavouring to unite the joys of hea-
ven with the pleasures of the world, deprives him-
self of the happiness of both: he is a man, who is
always agitated between two opposite parties, that
make his soul a seat of war, where virtue and vice
are in continual fight. On the contrary. What is
the character of a man who obeys this saying of Je-
sus Christ ? He is a man who, after he hath applied
all the attention of which he is capable, to distin-
guish the good from the bad, renounceth the last,
and embraceth the first: a man who, having felt
the force of virtuous motives, doth not suffer him-
self to be imposed on by sensual sophisms: a man,
who judgeth of truth and error by those infallible

VOL. ir. 24

186 The little Success of Christ* s Ministry.

marks which characterize both ; and not by a circu-
lation of the blood, a flow, or dejection, of animal
spirits, and by other similar motives, which, if I
may be allowed to say so, make the whole course
of the logic, and the whole stock of the erudition,
of the children of this world.

What is the character of the man w ho refuseth to
obey this command of Jesus Christ, Lai/ not up trea-
sures upon earth ; for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also? Matt. vi. 19. 21. He is a
man who fixeth his liopes on a sinking world; a man
'who forgets that death will spoil him of all his trea-
sures ; a man w^ho is blind to the shortness of his
life ; a man who is insensible to the burden of old
age, even while it weighs him down; who never
saw the wrinkles that disfigure his countenance ; a
man who is deaf to the voice of universal nature,
to the living, the dying, and the dead, w^ho in con-
cert cry, Rememher thou art mortal ! On the contra-
ry, what is the character of him who obeys this
command of Jesus Christ ? It is wisdom. The man
is one who elevates his hopes above the ruins of a
sinking world ; a man who clings to the Rock of
ages; who buildeth his house on that Rock; who
sendeth all his riches before him into eternity ; who
maketh God, the gi'eat God, the depositary of his
happiness : a man, who is the same in every turn of
times, because no variation can deprive him of the
happiness w hich he hath chosen.

And what are the men who resist our ministry,
who bear our sermons, as if they were simple
amusements ; who, when they depart from their pla-

The little Success of Christ's Ministry, 187

ces of worship, return to the dissipations and vices
from which they came; who, after they have fasted,
and prayed, and received the communion, are al-
ways as worldly, always as proud, always as re-
vengeful, always as ready to calumniate as before ?
They are really idiots, who know not the days of
their visitation ; who " despise the riches of the for-
" bearance of God, not knowing that his goodness
" leadeth to repentance," Rom. ii. 4. ; they are idi-
ots, who felicitate themselves to-day with worldly
pursuits, which to-morrow will tear their souls asun-
der on a death-bed, and the sorrowful remembrance
of which will torment them through the boundless
ages of eternity. And those auditors, who are at-
tentive to our doctrines, and obedient to our pre-
cepts ; those auditors, who thankfully receive the
wise, and patiently bear with the weak, in our min-
istry : What are they ? They are wise men, who re-
fer our ministry to its true meaning, who nourish
their souls with the truths, and daily advance in
practising the virtues of their calling.

How much doth a contrast of these characters
display the glory of Christianity ? Is this religion
less the work of wisdom, because idiots reject it ?
Doth not the honour of a small number of wise dis-
ciples indemnify us for all the attacks that a croud
of extravagant people make on it ? And were you
to choose a pattern for yourselves to-day, my breth-
ren, which of the two examples would make the
deepest impressions on you ? Would you choose to
imitate a small number of wise men, or a multitude
of fools ? To be reproached for preciseness and sin-

1S8 The little Success of Chris fs Ministry.

gularity is a very powerful temptation, and piety
will often expose us to it. What ! every body else
goes into company; and would you distinguish
yourself by living always shut up at home ? How !
every body allows one part of the day to gaming
and pastime ; and would you render yourself re-
markable by devoting every moment of the day to
religion ? What ! nobody in the world requires
above a day or two to prepare for the sacrament;
and would you distinguish yourself by employing
whole weeks in preparing for that ceremony ? Yes,
I would live a singular kind of life! Yes, I would
distinguish myself! Yes, though all the pharisees,
though all the doctors of the law, though all the
whole synagogue should unite in rejecting Jesus
Christ ; I would devote myself to him ! World !
thou shalt not be my judge. World! it is not thou,
who shalt decide what is shameful, and what is glo-
rious. Provided I have the children of wisdom for
my companions, angels for my witnesses, my Jesus
for my guide, my God for my re warder, and heav-
en for my recompense, all the rest signify but little
to me ! May God inspire us with these sentiments !
Amen,

SERMON VI.

Christianity not Seditioiis.

>9^

Luke xxiii. 5,
He stirreth up the people.

JN EVER was a charge more unjustly brought, nev-
er was a charge more fully and nobly retorted, than
that of Ahab against Elijah. Elijah was raised up
to resist the torrent of coiTuption and idolatry which
overflowed the kingdom of Israel. God, who had
appointed him to an office so painful and important,
had richly imparted to him the gifts necessary to dis-
charge it : so that when the scriptures would give us
a just notion of the herajd of the Messiah, it saithj
He shall go in the spirit and power of JElias, Luke i»
1 7. Sublimity in his ideas, energy in his expressions,
grandeur in his sentiments, glory in his mkacles, all
contributed to elevate this prophet to the highest
rank among them who have managed the sword of
the spirit with reputation and success. This extraor-
dinary man appears before Ahab, who insults him
with this insolent language. Art thou he that troub-
leth Israel? 1 Kings xviii. 17. Was ever a charge
more unjustly brought? Elijah is not terrified with
this language. Neither the majesty nor the madness
of Aliab, neither the rage of Jezebel, nor tlie remem*

190 Christianity not seditious,

brance of so many prophets of the true God sacrifi-
ced to false godg, nothing terrifies him, nothing af-
fects him. / have not troubled Isiael, replies he ;
" but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have
" forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou
" hast followed Baalim," ver 18. Was ever a charge;
retorted with more magnanimity and courage ?

My brethren, I invite you to-day to contemplate,
men more unjust than Ahab, and I invite you to con-
template one more magnanimous than Elijah. Jesus
Christ undertook a work, that all the prophets — what
am I saying? he undertook a work which all the an-
gels of heaven united would have undertaken in vain.
He came to reconcile heaven and earth. God, who
gent him into the world in this grand business ; com-
mvmicated " the Spirit without measure to him,'*
John iii. -34. Jesus Christ dedicated himself entirely
to the office. He made the will of the Father, who
had charged mm with the salvation of mankind, his
meat and drinks rh. iv. 34. By meditation, by re-
tkement, by a holiness formed on the plan of the ho-
liness of God, of whose glory he is the brightness, of
whose person he is the express image^ Heb. i. 3. he
prepared himself for that grand sacrifice, which was
designed to extinguish the flames of divine justice,
burning to avenge the wickedness of mankind. Al-
ter a life so truly amiable, he was dragged before
judges, and accused Ijefore human tribunals of being
a firebrand of sedition, who came to set society in a
flame. Jesus Christ was not moved with this accusa-
tion. Neither the inveteracy of his accusers, nor the
pailiality of his judge, neither the prospect of death.

Christianity not seditious, 191

nor the idea of the cross, on which he knew he vvas
to expire, nothing could make him act unworthy of
his character. Always ready to communicate to en-
quirers the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, of
w^hich he was the depositary, ar.d to reveal himself to
them, as the true light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world, John i. 9. On this occasion,
he justly discovered his superiority over his accusers,
and over his judges, by refusing to gratify the vain
desire of Herod, who wished to see him work a mir-
acle, and by leaving, without any other apology,
his doctrine to apologise for itself.

These are the grand objects which are proposed to
your meditation in the text, and in the seven follow-
ing verses that are connected with it. The whole pe-
riod is perhaps the most barren part of the history of
the passion : but the most barren parts of this mirac-
ulous history are so fruitful in instruction, that I
must needs omit many articles, and confine myself
to the examination of the first words, which are my
text, he stirreth up the people. It will be necessary,
however, briefly to explain the following verses, and,
after a short explication of them, we will return to the
text, the principal matter of this discourse. We will
examine the charge of troubling society, which hath
always been laid against Jesus Christ, and his gospel.

O, you ! who so often blame religious discourses
for troubling that false peace, which you taste in the
arms of security, blush to-day to see what unv*orthy
models you imitate ! And w-e, ministers of the living
God, so often intimidated at this odious charge, let
us learn to-day courageously to follow the steps of

192 Christianity not seditious.

that Jesus who bore so great a contradiction of sin-
ners against himself! Heb. xii. 3. May God assist
us in this work! Amen.

Jesus Christ had been interrogated by Pilate, and
had answered two calumnies, tliat had been object-
ed against him. The conduct of Jesus Christ had
always been remarkable for submission to magistra-
cy, and for contempt of human grandeurs. How-
ever, he had been accused before Pilate of having
forbidden to pay tribute to Caesar, and of having
affected royalty. Pilate had examined him on these
two articles, and on both, Jesus Christ had justified
his innocence, confounded his accusers, and satisfi-
ed his judge.

An upright judge would have acquitted this illus-
trious prisoner after he had acknowledged his in-
nocence. Pilate took another method. Whether it
were cowardice, or folly, or policy, or all these dis-
positions together, he seized the first opportunity that
offered, to remove a cause into another court, which,
he thought he could not determine without danger
to himself. My brethren, I have know n many ma-
gistrates of consummate knowledge ; I have seen
many of incorruptible principles, whose equity was
incapable of diversion by those bribes which the
scripture saith blind the eyes of the wise, Exod. xxiii. 8.
But how rare are they who have resolution enough,
not only to judge with rectitude, but also to support
with an undaunted heroism, those ufirages which
are the dictates of equity and truth ! Pilate, instead
of discharging Jesus Christ from his persecutors and
executioners, in some sort assisted their cruelty.

Christianity not seditious. 193

Neither able sufficiently to stifle the dictates of his
own conscience to condemn him, nor obedient
enough to them to acquit him, he endeavoured to
find a judge, either more courageous, \vho might
deliver him, or less scrupulous, who might condemn
him to death.

The countrymen of Jesus Christ furnished Pilate
w ith a pretence. They were the morejiercey saith our
Evangelist, saying. He stirreth up the people from
Galilee to this place. Who were they who brought
this accusation against Jesus Christ ? Were they on-
ly the Roman soldiery and the Jewish populace ?
No : they were divines and ecclesiastics ! ... let
lis turn from these horrors. When Pilate heard oj
Galilee, adds St. Luke, he asked whether the man
jvere a Galilean 1 Christ was born in Bethlehem, a
town in Judea, according to this prophecy of Mi-
cah : " And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of .Tudah>
" art not the least among the princes of Judah ;
" for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall
" rule my people Israel," Matt. ii. 6. ; but his mother
w^as of Nazareth, in Galilee, from whence she came
to Jerusalem with Joseph, on account of a command
of Augustus, w4iich it is needless to enlarge on here.
In Galilee, therefore, and particularly at Naza-
reth, Jesus Christ passed those thirty years of his
life, of which the Evangelists gave us no account.
We may remark, by the way, that these circumstan-
ces brought about the accomplishment of this pro-
phecy. He shall he called a Nasarene, ver. 23. This
prophecy, cited in the New Testament, is not to be
found literally in the Old : but the propliets very

VOL. II. 25

194 Christianity not seditious,

often foretold the contempt that the Jews would
pour on Jesus Christ ; and his dwelling in Galilee,
particularly at Nazareth, was an occasion, as of
their contempt, so of the accomplishment of pro-
phecy. The Jews considered Galilee as a country
hateful to God; and although Jonah was born there,
yet they had a saying, that no Galilean had ever re-
ceived the Spirit of God, Hence the Sanhedrim said
to Nicodemus, Search, and look ; for out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet, John vii. 52. Agreeably to this,
when Phihp said to Nathaniel, " We have found
" him of whom Moses and the prophets did write,
" .Tesus of Nazareth," chap. i. 45. ; the latter repli-
ed. Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?
ver. 46. The Jews were transported to find that
Jesus Christ was an inhabitant of this city; because
it served them for a pretence to give him a name of
contempt, accordingly they called him a Nazarene,
They afterwards gave the same despicable name to
his disciples. St. Jerom tells us, that in his time
they anathematized christians under the name of
Nazarenes. — We see also in the book of Acts, that
christians were called Galileans ; and by this name
they are known in heathen writers.

Let us return. Herod Antipas, (son of Herod
the Great, the same whom John the Baptist reprov-
ed for keeping Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,)
reigned in Galilee, under the name of Tetrarch,
when Jesus Christ was cited before Pilate. This
was what engaged the Roman governor to send him
to this prince. Whether Antipas, the Tetrarch of
Galilee, descended from heathen parents, as some

Christianity not seditious. 195.

affirm ; whether he were of Jewish extraction, as
others say ; or whether he were an Idumean, accord-
ing to the general opinion, is not very material. It
is very certain, that if this prince were not sincere-
ly of the religion of Moses, he pretended to be so ;
and, as the law required all heads of families to cel-
ebrate four grand festivals in the year at the capital
of Judea, he had come up to Jerusalem to keep the
passover, at which time the Lord Jesus underwent
his passion.

The reputation of our Saviour had reached this
prince. The gospel tells us the absurd notion that
he had entertained of him. He thought him John
the Baptist, whom he had sacrificed, with as much
cowardice as cruelty, to the revenge of Herodias.
His notion was founded on an opinion of the Jews,
who thought, that many prophets, particularly they
who had sealed their doctrine with their blood,
Avould rise again at the coming of the Messiah.
Herod was glad of an opportunity of informing him-
self on this article. He flattered himself, that if he
should not see such a singular object as a man rais-
ed from the dead, at least Jesus Christ would not
refuse to conciliate his esteem, by gratifying his cu-
riosity, and by performing some extraordinary work
in his presence. But should Providence interrupt
the ordinary course of nature to amuse a profane
court ? Jesus Christ not only would not prostitute
his miraculous gifts before Herod, he would not
even deign to answer him.

A very little attention to the genius of the great
will be sufficient to convince us, that the silence of

196 Christianity 7iol seditious.

Jesus Christ, and his refusal to condescend to the
caprice of Herod, must naturally expose him to the
contempt of this prince, and to that of his courtiers.
Accordingly, we are told, that they set him at noughty
and mocked him, and sent him back again to Pilate,
Some have inquired a reason, why Herod put on
him a white garment j^ and some learned men have
thought he intended thereby to attest his innocence ',
and this opinion seems to agree with what Pilate said
to the Jews ; neither / nor Herod have found any
fault in this man, touching those things whcf eof ye ac-
cuse him. But they who advance this opinion, ought
to prove, that the Jews, or the Romans, did put

* Our author follows the reading of the French bible, revestu
d'un vestement blanc ; our translation reads it, arrayed in a gor-
geous robe; and the original word Xee,f^,w^ocv signifies both. A
nvhite garment was a gorgeous, a splendid garment, because
firiests, and Xr/zz^s wore ivhite garments. See Esther viii. 15.2 Chron.
T. 12. The heavenly visions, which are recorded in scripture,
and which were intended for the more easy apprehension, and in-
struction, of those who were honoured with them, preserve an
analogy in their imagery between themselves and the knoAvn ob-
jects of real life. Hence God, Christ, angels, and the spirits of
the just, are represented as clothed m ivhite, Dan, vii. 9. Luke ix.
29. Acts i. 10. and Rev. iii. 4.

Herod's design in arraying Christ in white is not known ; and
whether we ought, with Casaubon, in the following words, to
find a mystery in it, we will not pretend to say. " Cum igitur
vestis Candida, apud veteres, regia pariter et sacerdotalis esset ;
quis mysterio factum a providentia divina non agnoscat ; quod ve-
rus rex, verus sacerdos, a suis irrisoribus Candida veste amicitur?
Fuit, quidem, istorum animus pessimus : sed hoc veritatis signi-
ficationem mysticam, neque hie, neque iu crucis titulo li^edebat,''
Exerc, in Bar. Annal. S. 7o, E. 16,

Christianity not seditious. 197

white garments on persons whom they acquitted. I
own, though I have taken some pains to look for
this custom in the writings of antiquity, I have not
been able to find it : however, it doth not follow,
that others may not discover it. Nor is it any clear-
er, in my opinion, that the design of those, who put
this habit on Jesus Cljrist, was the same with that of
the soldiers, who put a reed in the form of a sceptre
into his hand, to insult him, because he said he was
a king. I would follow the rule here which seems
to me the most sure, that is, I would suspend my
judgment on a subject that cannot be explained.

I add but one w^ord more before I come to the
principal object of our meditation. The Evangelist
remarks, that the circumstances which he related, I
mean the artful address of Pilate to Herod, in send-
ing a culprit of his jurisdiction to his bar ; and the
similar artifice of Herod to Pilate, in sending him
back again, occasioned their reconciliation. What
could induce them to differ? The sacred history
doth not inform us ; and we can only conject-
ure. We are told, that some subjects' of Herod
Antipas, who probably had made an insurrection
against the Romans, had been punished at Jerusa-
lem during the passover by Pilate, Luke xiii. 1. who
had mixed their blood with that of the sacrifices,
which they intended to offer to God at the feast;
But the scripture doth not say, whether this affair
occasioned the difference that subsisted betw^een the
tetrarch of the Jews and the Roman governor. In
general, it was natural for these two men to be at en-
mity. On the one hand, the yoke, which the Ro-

198 Christianity not seditious,

mans had put on all the nations of the earth, was
sufficient to excite the impatience of all, except the
natives of Rome ; and to stir them up to perplex
and to counteract, the governors, whom they set
over the countries which they had invaded. On the
other, it must be acknowledged, that they, who are
deputed to govern conquered provinces, and, for a
time to represent the sovereign there, very seldom
, discharge their offices with mildness and equity.
They are instantly infatuated with that shadow of
royalty to which they have not been accustomed;
and hence come pride and insolence. They imagine,
they ought to push their fortune, by making the
most of a rank, from which they must presently de-
scend; and hence come injustice and extortion. The
reconciliation of Herod and Pilate is more surpri-
zino; than their discord.

We hasten to more important subjects. We will
direct all your remaining attention to the examina-
tion of the text. He stirreth up the people from Gali-
lee to this place. The doctrine of Jesus Christ hath
always been accused of troubling society. They,
who have preached truth and virtue, have always
been accounted disturbers of the peace of society.
I would inquire,

I. In what respects this charge is false : and in
what respects it is true.

II. From the nature of those troubles which Jesus
Christ, and his ministers, excite, I would derive an
apology for Christianity in general, and for a gospel
ministry in particular ; and prove that the troubling
of society ought not to be imputed to those who

Christianity not seditious, 199

preach the doctrine of Christ; but to those Avho
hear it.

III. As we are now between two days of solemn
devotion, between a fast, whicli we have observed a
few days ago, and a communion, that we shall re-
ceive a few^ days hence : I shall infer from the sub-
ject a few rules, by which you may know, Avhether
you have kept the first of these solemnities, or wheth-
er you will approach the last, with suitable disposi-
tions. Our text, you see, my brethren, will supply
us with abundant matter for the remaining part of
this exercise.

1. One distinction will explain our first article, and
will shew^ us in what respects religion doth not dis-
turb society, and in what respects it doth. We must
distinguish what religion is in itself from the eflects
which it produceth through the dispositions of those
to whom it is preached. In regard to the first, Jesus
Christ is the Prince of Peace, This idea the prophets,
this idea the angels, who announced his coming,
gave of him: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a
"son is given, and the government shall be upon his
" shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonder-
"ful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
" Father, the Prince of Peace :" this is what the pro-
phets said of him, Isa. ix. 6. " Glory to God in the
"highest, and on earth peace, good will towards
"men!'* Luke ii. 14. This was the exclamation of
the heavenly host, when they appeared to the shep-
herds. Jesus Christ perfectly answereth tliese de-
scriptions*

200 Christianity not seditious*

Consider the kingdom of this divine Saviour, and
you will find, all his maxinris are peace, all tend to
unity and concord : " A new commandment I give
"unto you, that ye love one another; by this shall
" all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
" love one to another," John xiii. 34. Peace is the
inheritance he left to his disciples : peace / leave
with you, my peace I give unto you, chap. xiv. 27.
Peace between God and man ; being justified by
faith we have peace with God, Rom. v. 1 . he hath re-
conciled all things unto himself, having made peace
thro' the blood of his cross, Col. i. 20. Peace between
Jews and Gentiles ; for he is our peace, rvho hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle rvall
of partition between us ; and came and preached peace
to you which were afar off', and to them that were nigh,
Eph. ii. 14, 17. Peace in the society of the first
disciples ; for all that believed ivere together, and had
all things common. Acts ii. 44. Peace in the con-
science; for without Jesus Christ trouble and terror
surround us. Heaven is armed with lightnings and
thunderbolts, the earth is under the curse, a terrible
angel, with a flaming sword, forbids our access to
the gate of paradise, and the stings of conscience
are the arrows of the Ahnighty ; the poison whereof
drinketh up the spirit, .Tob vi. 4. But at the approach
of Jesus Christ our miseries flee, and we listen to his
voice, which cries to us, Come unto me, all ye that
labour, and are heavy laden, and ye shall find rest un-
to your souls, Matt. ix. 28, 29.

But, if religion, considered in itself, breathes on-
ly peace, it actually occasioneth trouble in society.

Christianity not seditious. 201

thro' the dispositions of those to whom it is preach-
ed, xlccording to the general dispositions of man-
kind, the religion of Jesus Christ must necessarily
disgust, and therefore disturb, schools, courts, church-
es, and families; stirring up one minister against
another minister, a confessor against a tyrant, a
pastor against a people, a father against his family.

1. Schools. There were two celebrated schools
in the days of Jesus Christ, the Pagan school, and
the Jewish school. The Pagan schools were foun-
tains of eiTors. They taught erroneous opinions of
God, whose excellence they pretended to represent
by figures of men, animals, and devils. They taught
erroneous opinions of man, of whose origin, obli-
gations, and end, they were totally ignorant. They
taught erroneous opinions of morality, which they
had adjusted, not according to the dictates of con-
science, but agreeably to the suggestions of their
own vicious hearts.

The Jewish schools, originally diiected by a hea-
Tenly light, had not fallen into errors so gross : but
they were not exempt; they had even embraced
some capital mistakes. The fundamental article of
the Jewish religion, that on which depended all their
hopes and all their joys, I mean the doctrine of the
Messiah, was precisely that of which they had en-
tertained the most false ideas. They represented to
themselves a Messiah of flesh and blood, one adapt-
ed to the relish of human passions. They author-
ized the most criminal remissness, and violated the
piost inviolable rights of religion and nature. Re-
venge, in their opinion, was inseparable from man.

TOL. IT. 26

202 Christianity not seditious*

Concupiscence was perfectly consistent with purity
of heart. Pejjury changed its nature, when it was
accompanied with ceilain douceurs. Divorce was
a prevention of discord, and one of the domestic
rights of a married person.

The christian religion appears in the world, and in
it other ideas of God, of man, of virtue, of the ex-
pected Messiah ; other notions of concupiscence and
revenge, of perjury, and of all the principal points
of religion and morality. Christianity appears in
the world. Tlie Lord of the universe is no longer
associated with other beings of the same kind. He
is no longer an incestuous being, no more a parri-
cide, an aduherer. He is a being alone in his es-
s«-nce, independent in his authority, just in his laws,
wise in his purposes, and irresistible in his perform-
ances. Philosophy is folly. Epicurus proves him-
self an idiot, destitute of reason and intelligence^
by not discovering the characters of intelligence and
reason, that shine throughout all the universe, and
by attributing to a fortuitous concourse of atoms
the efTects of wisdom the most profound, and of
power infinite and supreme. Pythagoras is a mas-
ter-dreamer, who seemeth to have contracted the
stupidity of all the animals, the bodies of which his
soul hath transmigrated. Zeno is an extravagant
creatme, who sinks the dignity of man by pretend-
ing to assign a false grandeur to him, and maketh
him meaner than a beast, by affecting to set him a
rival witli God. The christian religion appears in
the world. The Messiah is not a pompous, formid-
able conqueror, whose exploits are all in favour of

Christianity not seditious. 203

one single nation. Revenge is murder, concupis-
cence is adultery, and divorces are violations of the
jprerogatives of God, separating what he hath joined
together, and subverting the order of the world and
the church.

In this manner, christian theology undermined
that of the Jewish rabbif^s. and that of the philoso-
phers of Paganism. It is easy to judge what their
fiiry must be, when they saw their schools deserted,
their pupils removed, their decisive tone reprimand-
ed, their reputation sullied, their learning degen-
erated into ignorance, and their wisdom into folly.
Have you any difficulty in believing this ? Judge of
"what passed in former ages by what passeth now.
As long as there are christians in the world, Chris-
tianity will be divided into parties; and as long as
Christianity is divided into sects and parties, those
divines, w ho resist preachers of erroneous doctrines,
will render themselves odious to the followers of
the latter. No animals in nature are so furious as
an idiot in the habit of a divine, when any offers to
instruct him, and a hypocrite when any attempts to
unmask him.

2. Let us pass to our next article, and let us at-
tend the doctrine of Christ to court. If the servants
of Christ had stirred up no other enemies beside
priests and rabbles, they might have left their adver-
saries to bawl themselves hoaise in tlieir solitary
schools ; to hurl after the innocent, the anathemas
and thunders of synagogues and consistories ; and
each Christian, despising their ill-directed discipline,
might have appealed from the tribunal of such ini-

204 Christianity not seditious,

quitous judges to that of a sovereign God, and, with
a prophet, might have said, " Let them curse, but
" bless thou : when they arise, let them be ashamed,'*
Psal. cix. 28.

But the grandees of the world have often as false
ideas of their grandeur and power, as pedants have
of their jurisdiction and learning. Dizzy with the
height and brightness of their own elevation, they ea-
sily imagine the regal grandeur extends its govern-
ment over the priestly censer, and gives them an ex-
clusive right of determining articles of religion, and
of enslaving those whose parents and protectors they
pretend to be. As if false became true, and iniqui-
ty just, by proceeding from their mouths, they pre-
tend, that whatever they propose is therefore to be
received, because they propose it. They pretend
to the right of making maxims of religion as w ell as
maxims of policy ; and, if I may express myself so,
of levying proselytes in the church as they levy sol-
diers for the army, with colours flying, at the first
word of command of His Majesty, for such is our
good pleasure. They make an extraordinary display
of this tyranny, when their consciences accuse them
of some notorious crimes which they have committed ;
and, as if they would wash away their sins, with the
blood of martyrs, they persecute virtue to expiate
vice. It hath been remarked, that the greatest per-
secutors of the church have been, in other cases, the
least regular, and the most unjust of all mankind.
This was observed by Tertullian, who, in his apolo-
gy, says, " We have never been persecuted, except
'^by princes, whose lives abounded with injustice and

Christianity not seditious. 205

" uncleanness, with infamous and scandalous practi-
" ces ; by those whose lives ye yourselves have
'*been accustomed to condemn, and whose unjust
*' decisions ye liave been obliged to revoke, in or-
*' der to re-establish the innocent victims of their
"displeasure^'." Let us not insult our persecutors;
but, after the example of Christ, let us bless them that
curse us ; and when we are reviled, let us not revile
again. Matt. v. 44. 1 Pet. ii. 23. Perhaps in succeed-
ing ages posterity may make similar reflections on
our sufferings; or perhaps some may remark to our
descendants what Tertullian remarked to the senate
of Rome, on the persecutions of the primitive Chris-
tians. I will not enlarge this article, but return to
my subject. The religion of Jesus Christ hath arm-
ed a tyrant against a martyr ; a combat worthy of
our most profound considerations, in which the ty-
rant attacks the martyr and the martyr the tyrant,
but with very different arms. The tyrant with cru-
elty, the martyr with patience; the tyrant with blas-
phemy, the mailyr with prayer ; the tyrant with cur-
ses, the martyr with blessing ; the tyrant with inhu-
man barbarity, beyond the ferocity of the most fierce
and savage animals, the martyr with an unshaken
steadiness, that elevates the man above huinanity,
and fills his mouth with songs of victory and benev-

* Tertullian, in the chapter from which our author quotes the
passage above, remarks, from the Roman historians, that Nero was
t\\Q Jlrst who abused the imperial sword to persecute Christians;
that Dom.itian was the second^ and then adds ; Tales semper no-
bis insecutorcs, injusti, impii, turpes : quos ct ipsi damnare con-
suestis, et a quibus damnatos ristitucre soliti cstis. Apol. cap. v.

20fl Chnstianitij not seditious,

olence, amidst the most cruel and barbarous tor-
ments.

3. I said, further, that the religion of Jesus Christ
often occasioned troubles in the churchy and excited
the pastor against the flock. The gospel- ministry,
I mean, is such that we cannot exercise it, without
often applying the fire and the knife to the wounds
of some of our hearers. Yes! these ministers of
the gospel, these heads of the mystical body of
Christ, these fathers, these ambassadors of peace,
these shepherds, to whom the scriptures give the
kindest and most tender names; these are sometimes
incendiaries and fire-brands, who, in imitation of their
great master, Jesus Christ, the shepherd and bishop
of souls, come to set Jire on the earth, 1 Pet. ii. 25.
Luke xii. 49.

Two things will make this article very plain : con-
sider our commission, and consider society. It is
our conwiissio7i, that we should suffer no murmuring
in your adversities, no arrogance in your prosperi-
ties, no revenge under your injuries, no injustice in
your dealings, no irregularity in your actions, no
inutility in your words, no impropriety in your
thoughts.

Society, on the contrary, forms continual obstacles
ascainst the execution of this commission. Here> w^e
meet with an admired wit, overflowing with cajumny
and treachery, and increasing his own f'aiae by com-
mitting depredations on the characters of others.
There, we see a superb palace, where the family tread
on azure and gold, glittering with magnificence and
pomp, and founded on the ruins of tlie houses of wi-

Christianity not seditious. 207

clows and orphans. Yonder we behold hearts close-
ly united ; but, alas ! united by a criminal tie, a scan-
dalous intelligence.

Suppose now a pastor, not a pastor by trade and
profession, but a zealous and religious pastor; who
judgeth of his commission, not by the revenue which
belongeth to it, but by the duties which it obligeth
him to perform. What is such a man ? A fire-brand, an
incendiary. He is going to sap the foundations of that
house, which subsists only by injustice and rapine:
he is going to trouble that false peace, and those un-
worthy pleasures, which the impure enjoy in their
union, and so of the rest.

Among the sinners to whose resentment we expose
ourselves, we meet with some whom bu'th, credit,
and fortune have raised to a superior rank, and who
hold our lives and fortunes in their hands. Moses
findeth a Pharaoh ; Elijah an Ahab, and a Jezebel ;
St. John Baptist a Herod, and an Herodias ; St. Paul
a Felix and a Drusilla; St. Ambrose a Theodosius;
St. Chrysostom an Eudoxia, or, to use his own words,
another Herodias, ivho rageth afresh, arid who de-
mandeth the head of John Baptist again. How is it
possible to attack such formidable persons without
arming society, and without incurring the charge of
mutiny? Well may such putiified bodies shriek,
when cutting, and burning, and actual cauteries are
applied to the mortified parts ! Well may the crimi-
nal roar when the judgments of God put his con-
science on the rack !

4. But censure and reproof belong not only to pas-
tors and leaders of flocks^, they are the duties of all

208 Christianity not seditious.

christians ; Christianity, therefore, will often excite
troubles in families, A slight survey of each family
will be sufficient to convince us, that each hath some
prevailing evil habit, some infatuating prejudice,
some darling vice. Amidst all these disorders, each
christian is particularly called to censure, and to re-
prove ; and each of our houses ought to be a church,
in which the master should alternately execute the of-
fices of priest and prince, and boldly resist those
who oppose his maxims. Christian charity, indeed j
requii'eth us to bear with one anottier's frailties.
Charity maintains an union, notwithstanding differ-
ences on points that are not essential to salvation and
conscience. Charity requireth us to become to the
Jews as Jews to them that are without law as without
law, to be made all things to all men, 1 Cor. ix. 20,
21, 22. But, after all, charity doth not allow us to
tolerate the pernicious practices of all those with
whom we are connected by natural or social ties,
much less doth it allow us to follow them down a pre-
cipice. And, deceive not yourselves, my brethren,
there is a moral as well as a doctrinal denial of Je-
sus Christ. It is not enough, you know, to believe
and to respect the truth inwardly : when the mouth
is shut, and sentiments palliated, religion is denied.
In like manner, in society, in regard to morals, it
is not enough to know our duty, and to be guilty
of reserves in doing it. If virtue be concealed in
the heart ; if, through timidity or complaisance, peo-
ple dare not openly profess it, they apostatize from
the practical part of religion. Always when you fall
in Avith a company of slanderers, if you content your-

Christianity not seditious. 209

self with abhorring the vice, and conceal your abhor-
rence of it; if you outwardly approve what you in^
w ardly condemn, you are apostates from the law that
forbids calumny. When your parents endeavour to
inspire you with maxims opposite to the gospel, if
you comply with them, you apostatize from the law,
that saith, we ought to obey God rather than men. Acts
vi. 29.

Such being the duty of a Christian, who doth not
see the troubles which the religion of Jesus Christ
may excite in families? For, I repeat it again, where
is the society, wliere is the family, that hath not
adopted its peculiar errors and vices? Into what so-
ciety can you be admitted ? With what family can
you live ? What course of life can you pursue, in
which you will not be often obliged to contradict
your friend, your superior, your father ?

II. The explanation of our first article, hath al-
most been a discussion of the second ; and, by con-
sidering the nature of the troubles which religion
occasions, we have, in a manner, proved, that they
ought not to be imputed to those who teach this re-
ligion, but to them who hear and resist it. This is
the apology for our gospel, for our reformation, and
for our ministry. This is our reply to the objec-
tions of ancient and modern Rome.

One of the strongest objections that was made
against primitive Christianity , was taken from the
troubles which it excited in society. "A religion,
" said some, that kindles a fire on earth ; a religion,
"which withdraws subjects from the allegiance they

VOL, II. 27

210 Christianity not seditious.

" owe to their sovereign ; which requireth its votaries
*' to hate father, mother, children ; that exciteth peo-
" pie to quarrel with the gods themselves ; a religion
"of this kind, can it be of heavenly original? Can it
"proceed from any but the enemy of mankind?"
Blasphemy of this kind is still to be seen in a city of
Spain^, where it remains on a column, that was erect-
ed by Dioclesian, and on which we read these
Words : " To Dioclesian, Jovius, and Maximinus,
" Caesars, for having enlarged the bounds of the
" empire, and for having exterminated the name of
" Christians, those disturbers of the public repose f.'^
The enemies of our reformation adopt the senti-
ment, and speak the language of the ancient Ro-
mans. They have always this objection in their
mouths : Your reformation was the source of schisms
and disturbances. It was that which armed the Con-
des, the Chatillons, the Williams; or, to use the
words of an historian J, w^ho was educated in a soci-
ety, where the sincerity necessary to make a faithful
historian is seldom acquired : Nothing was to be
seen^ says he, in speaking of the wars, which were
excited under the detestable triumvirate ^, Nothing

* Cluny,

t Grutery corpus Inscript. Tom. I, p. 280.

:|: Father Maimbourg, in his history of Calvinism. Book iv.

§ The Duke of Guise, the Constable de Montmorenci, and the
Marshal dc St. Andre. The Jesuit, whose words our author
quotes, is speaking of the reign of Henry II. in which the kingdom
was governed, or rather disturbed by the triumvirate^ mentioned
by Mr. Savunn, They, according to the President Thuanus, were
governed by Diana of Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinois, the king's
mistress; and she by her own violent <ind capricious passions.

Christianity not seditious, 211

mas to he seen hut the vengeance of some, and the
crimes of others, nothing hut ruins and ashes, hlood
and carnage, and a thousand frightful images of
death : and these were, (adds this venal pen,) these
7vere the fruits of the new gospel, altogether contrary
to that of Jesus Christ, who brought peace on earthy
and left it at his death with his apostles.

But I am pleased to see my religion attacked with
the same weapons with which Jesus Christ and his
apostles were formerly attacked. And I rejoice to
defend my religion with the same armor, with which
the primitive christians defended it against the first
enemies of Christianity. To the gospel, then ; or
to the cruelty of tyrants, to the inflexible pride of
the priesthood, to the superstitious rage of the pop-
ulace, ought these ravages to be imputed? What
did the primitive christians desire, but liberty to
^vorship the true God, to free themselves from er-
ror, to destroy vice, and to make truth and virtue
triumph in every place ? And we, who glory in fol-
lowing these venerable men, we ask, What treasons
have we plotted ? Rome ! What designs hast thou
seen us form? Have we attempted to invade thy
property, to conquer thy states^ to usurp thy crowns?
Have we envied that pomp, which thou display est
with so much parade, and which dazzles thy gazing
followers? What other spirit animated us, beside

H(£c violenta et acerba regni initia . . . facile ministris trU
buta sunt ; proicijiue Diana Pictaviensi, superbi et imfiotentis ani-
mi femin<£ ; . . . hujus femin^e arbitrio omnia rege-
BANTUR. Thiian. hist. lib. 3. These were the favourites TnGn"
Uoned in our preface to the 1st vol. pac^e 23.

212 Christianity not seditious,

that of following the dictates of our consciences, and
of using our learning, and all our qualifications, to
purify the christian world from its errors and vices ?
If the purity of our hands, if the rectitude of our
hearts, if the fervour of our zeal, have provoked
thee to lift up thine arm to crush us, and if we have
been obliged to oppose thine unjust persecutions by
a lawful self-defence ; is it to us, is it to our refor-
mation, is it to our reformers, that the discord must
be ascribed ?

That which makes an apology for the reformation,
and for the primitive gospel, makes it also for a gos-
pel-ministry. It is sufficiently mortifying to us, my
brethren, to be obliged to use the same armour
against the children of the reformation that we em-
ploy against the enemies of it. But this armour,
how mortifying soever the necessity may be that
obligeth us to put it on, is an apology for our minis-
try, and will be our glory before that august tribu-
nal, at which your cause, and ours, will be heard ;
when the manner in which Ave have preached the gos-
pel, and the manner in which you have received our
preaching, will be examined. How often have you
given your pastors the same title which the enemies
of our reformation gave the reformers ? I mean,
that of disturbers of the peace of society. How
often have you said of him, who undertook to shew
you all the light of truth, and to make you feel all
the rights of virtue. He stirreth up the people ? But
I ask again, Ought the disturbances, which are oc-
casioned by the preaching of the gospel, to be im-
puted to those who foment error, or to them whp

Christianity not seditious. 213

refute it; to those who censure Tice, or to them
who eagerly and obstinately commit it? Is the dis^
cord to be attributed to those who drown reason in
wine, or to them who shew the extravagance of
drunkenness ? Is it to those who retain an unjust
gain, or to them who urge the necessity of restoring
it? Is it to those who profane our solemn feasts, who
are spots in our assemblies, as an apostle speaks,
Jude 12. and who, in the language of a prophet,
defile our courts with their feet,^ or to them who en-
deavour to reform such abuses? To put these ques-
tions is to answer them. I shall, therefore, pass
from them to our last article, and I shall detain you
but a few^ moments in the discussion of it.

III. We are now between two solemnities ; be-
tween a fast, which we kept a few days ago, and a
communion, that we shall receive a few days hence.
I wish you would derive from the words of the text
a rule to discover, whether you have attended the
first of these solemnities, and whether you will ap-
proach the last, with suitable dispositions.

There is an opposition, we have seen, between
the maxims of Jesus Christ and the maxims of the

* Isaiah i. 12. Tread my courts. The French version is bet-
ter, q e vous foiiliez de -vos fiieds mes fiarvis. Fouler aux pieds,
is to trample on by way of contempt. The prophet meant to sheM'
the imperfection of exterior worship; and probably our transla-
tors intended to convey the same idea by our phrase, Wherefore
do ye tread my courts ? As if it had been said, " The worship of
the mind and heart is essential to the holiness of my festivals ; but
you ONLY tread my courts ; your bodies indeed arc present ; but
your attention and affections are absent : you dejile my courts, that
is, you celebrate my festivals z^7z/jo///i/." See chap. xxix. 13.

214 Christianity not seditious,

world; and consequently, we have been convinced,
that a christian is called to resist all mankind, to
stem a general torrent ; and, in that eternal division,
which separates the kingdom of Jesus Christ from
the kingdom of sin in the world, to fight continual-
ly against the world, and to cleave to Jesus Christ.
Apply this maxim to yourselves, apply it to every
circumstance of your lives, in order to obtain a
thorough knowledge of yourselves.

Thou ! thou art a member of that august body, to
which society commits in trust its honour, its pro-
perty, its peace, its liberty, its life, in a word, its fe-
licity. But with what eye do men of the world el-
evated to thy rank accustom themselves to consid-
er these trusts? How often do these depositaries en-
ter into tacit agreements, reciprocally to pardon sa-
crifices of public to private interest? How often do
they say one to another? Wink you at my injustice
to-day^ and I will wink at yours to-morrow. If thou
enter into these iniquitous combinations, yea, if thou
wink at those who form them ; if thou forbear de-
tecting them, for fear of the resentment of those,
whose favour it is thine interest to conciliate ; most
assuredly thou art a false christian ' most assuredly
thy fast was a vain ceremony, and thy communion
will be as vain as thy fast.

Thou ! thou art set over the church. In a body
composed of so many different members, it is impos-
sible to avoid finding many enemies of Jesus Christ,
some of whom oppose his gospel with erroneous
maxims, and others with vices incompatible with
Christianity. If thou live in, I know not what, un-

Christianity not seditious. 215

ion with thy flock ; if thou dare not condemn in
public those with whom thou art familiar in private;
if thou allow in private what thou condemnest in
public ; if the fear of passing for an innovator^ a
broacher of new opinions^ prevent thine opposing
abuses which custom hath authorized ; and if the
fear of being reputed a reformer of the public pre-
vent thine attacking the public licentiousness; if
thou say, Peace, peace, when there is no peace, Ezek,
xiii. 10. most assuredly thy fast was a vain ceremo-
ny, and thy communion will be a ceremony as vain
as thy fast.

Thou ! thou art a member of a family, and of a
society which doubtless have their portion of the
general corruption ; for, as I said before, each hath
its particular vice, and its favourite false maxim : a
maxim of pride, interest, arrogance, vanity. If thou
be united to thy family and to thy society by a cor-
rupt tie ; if the fear, lest either should say of thee,
he is a troublesome fellow, he is a morose unsocial soul,
he is a mopish creature, prevent thy declaring for
Jesus Christ : most assuredly thou art a false Chris-
tian ; most assuredly thy fast was a vain ceremony,
and thy communion will be as vain as thy fast.

Too many articles might be added to this enume-
ration, my brethren. I comprise all in one, the
peace of society. I do not say that peace, which so-
ciety ought to cherish ; but that peace, after which
society aspires. It is a general agreement among
mankind, by which they mutually engage themselves
to let one another go cjuietly to hell, and, on no oc-
casion whatever, to obstruct each other in the w^ay.

216 Christianity not seditious.

Every man, wh6 refuseth to accede to this con-
tract, (til is refusal, however, is our calling) shall
be considered by the world as a disturber of public
peace.

Where, then, will be the christian's peace? Where,
then, will the christian find the peace after which
he aspires ? In another world, my brethren. This
is only a tempestuous ocean, in which we can prom-
ise ourselves very little calm, and in which we seem
always to lie at the mercy of the wind and the sea.
Yes, which w ay soever I look, I discover only ob-
jects of the formidable kind. Nature opens to me
scenes of misery. Society, far from alleviating them,
seems only to aggravate them. I see enmity, discord,
falsehood, treachery, perfidy. Disgusted with the
sight of so many miseries, I enter into the sanctua-
ry, I lay hold on the horns of the altar, I embrace
religion. I find, indeed, a sincerity in its promises.
I find, if there be an enjoyment- of happiness in this
world, it is to be obtained by a punctual adherence
to its maxims. I find, indeed, that the surest way
of passing through life, with tranquillity and ease, is
to throw one's self into the arms of Jesus Christ.
Yet, the religion of this Jesus hath its crosses, and
its peculiar tribulations. It leads me through paths
edged with fires and flames. It raiseth up in anger
against me, my fellow-citizens, relations, and friends.

W^hat consequences shall we derive from this prin-
ciple ? He, who is able and willing to reason, may
derive very important consequences ; consequences,
with which I would conclude all our discourses, all
our sermons, all our pleasures, all our solemnities :

Christianity not seditious, 217

consequences, which I would engrave on the walls
of our churches, on the walls of your houses, on the
frontispieces of your doors, particularly on the ta-
bles of your hearts. The consequences are these,
That this is not the place of our felicity ; that this
world is a valley of tears; that man is in a continu-
al warfare on earth; that nature with all its treas-
ures, society with all its advantages, religion with
all its excellencies, cannot procure us a perfect feli-
city on earth. Happy we ! if the endless vicissi-
tudes of the present world conduct us to rest in the
world to come, according to this expression of the
Spirit of God, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord, they rest from their labours, and their works
do follow them, Rev. xiv. 1 3. To God be honour
and glory for ever. Amen.

VOL. n. 28

SERMON YIL

Christ the King of Truth*

John xviii. 36, 37, 38.

Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. . . .
Pilate said unto him, Art thou a king then ? Jesus
answered. Thou say est that I am a king : to this
end was I horn, and for this cause came 1 into the
world, that 1 should hear witness unto the truth.
Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice, Pi-
late saith unto him. What is truth ?

JcIaVE you ever considered, my brethren, the
plain conclusion that resulteth from the two motives
which St Paul addresseth to Timothy? Timothy
was the apostle's favourite. The attachment which
that young disciple manifested to him entirely gain-
ed a heart, which his talents had conciliated before.
The apostle took the greatest pleasure in cultivating
a genius, which was formed to elevate truth and vir-
tue to their utmost height. Having guarded him
against the temptations to which his age, his charac-
ter, and his circumstances, might expose him ; hav-
ing exhorted him to keep clear of the two rocks,
against which so many ecclesiastics had been ship-
wrecked, ambition, and avarice; he adds to his in-
^ructions this solemn charge, " I give thee charge^

220 Christ the King of Truth

" in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and
" before Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate wit-
^^ nessed a good confession, that thou keep this com-
"mandinent," 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14. God quickeneth
all things. Jesus Christ, before Pontius Pilate, wit-
nessed a good confession. From the union of these
two motives ariseth that conclusion which I would
remark to you.

The first may be called the motive of a philoso-
pher : the second may be called the motive of a
christian. A philosopher, I mean a man of sound
reason, who finds himself placed a little while in this
Avorld, concludes, from the objects that surround him,
that there is a Supreme Being, a God who quicken-
eth all things. His mind being penetrated w ith this
truth, he cannot but attach himself to the service of
the Supreme Being, whose existence and perfections
he is able to demonstrate. He assures himself, that
the same Being, whose power and wisdom adorned
the lirmament witli stars, covered the earth with
riches, and filled the sea with gifts of beneficence,
will reward those, who sacrifice their inclinations to
that obedience which his nature requires.

But, let us own, my brethren, the ideas we form
of the Creator are, in some sense, confounded, when
we attend to the miseries to which beseems to aban-
don some of his most devoted servants. How can
the great Supreme, who quickeneth all things, leave
those men to languish in obscurity and indigence,
who live and move only for the glory of him ? In
order to remove this objection, which hath always
formed insuperable difficulties against the belief of

Christ the King of Truth 221

a God, and of a Providence, it is necessary to add
the motive of a christian to that of a philosopher.
This motive follows, that God, who quickeneth all
things, who disposeth all events, who bestow eth a
sceptre or a crook, as he pleaseth, hath wise reasons
for deferring the happiness of his children to anoth-
er economy; and hence presum.ption ariseth, that
he will give them a king, whose kingdom is not of
this world, St. Paul joins this second motive to the
first. / give thee charge, in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ, who
before Pontius Pilate rvitnessed a good confession.
What is this good confession? It is that which you
have heard in the words of the text, Yerily, ''I am
" a king, to this end was 1 born ; but my kingdom
"is not of this world."

The first of these motives, my brethren, you can
never study too much. It is a conduct unworthy
of a rational soul, to be surrounded with so many
wonders, and not to meditate on the author of them.
But our present circumstances, the solemnity of this
season, and particularly the words of the text, en-,
gage us to quit at present the motive of a philoso-
pher, and to reflect wholly on that of a Christian.
I exhort you to-day, by that Jesus, who declared
himself a king, and who at the same tijue said. My
kingdom is not of this rvorld, to endeavour to divert
your attention from the miseries and felicities of this
world, to which the subjects of the Messiah do not
belong. This is the chief, this is the only point of
view, in which we shall now consider the text. We
will omit several questions, which the words have

222 Christ the King of Truth.

occasioned, vvhich the disputes of learned men have
rendered famous, and on which, at other times, we
have proposed our sentiments ; and we will confine
ourselves to three sorts of reflections.

I. We intend to justify the idea which Jesus Christ
giveth of his kingdom, and to prove this proposition,
M]/ kingdom is not of this world.

II. We will endeavour to convince you, that the
itino'dom of Jesus Christ is therefore a kingdom of
truth, because it is not a khigdom of this world,

III. We will enquue whether there be any in this
assembly, who are of the truth, and who hear the
voice of Jesus Christ ; whether this king, whose king^^
dom is not of this world, have any subjects in this
assembly. To these three reflections we shall em-
ploy all the moments of attention with which you
shall think proper to indulge us.

I. Let us justify the idea, which Jesus Christ giv-
eth us of his kingdom, and let us prove the truth of
this proposition, My kingdom is not of this world.
To these ends, let us remark the end of this king,
his maxims, his exploits, his arms, his courtiers,
and his rewards.

1. Remark the end, the design of this king. What
is the end of the kingdoms of the world ? They are
directed to as many different ends as there are dif-
ferent passions, which prevail over the minds of those
who are elevated to the government of them. In a
Sardanapalus, it is to wallow in sensuality. In a
Sennacherib, it is to display pomp and vain glory.
In an Alexander, it is to conquer the whole world.

Christ the King of Truth. iiSt

But let us not be ingenious to present society to
view by its disagreeable sides. To render a state
respectable, to make trade flourish, to establish
peace, to conquer in a just war, to procure a life of
quiet and tranquillity for the subjects, these are the
ends of the kingdoms of this world. Ends worthy
of sovereigns I own. But, after all, what are all
these advantages in comparison of the grand senti-
ments which the Creator hath engraven on our souls?
What relation do they bear to that unquenchable
thirst for happiness, which all intelligent beings feel ?
What are they when the lightning darts, and the
thunder rolls in the air ? What are they when con-
science awakes? What are they when we meet
death, or what is their value when w'e lie in the
tomb ? Benevolence, yea humanity, I grant, should
make us wish our successors happy: but strictly
speaking, w4ien I die, all dies with me. Whether
society enjoy the tranquil warmth of peace, or burn
With the rage of faction and war ; whether com-
merce flourish or decline : whether armies conquer
their foes, or be led captives themselves: each is
the same to me. " The dead know not any thing,
" Their love, and their hatred, and their envy is
" perished : neither have they any more a portion
" for ever in any thing that is under the sun,*' Eccl.-
ix. 5, 6.

The end of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is of
another kind- Represent to yourselves the divine
Saviour in the bosom of God, himself the blessed
God, He cast bis eyes down on this earth. He
saw prejudices blinding the miserable sons of Adamy

224 Christ the King of Truth

passions tyrannizing over them, conscience condemn-
ing them, divine vengeance pursuing them, death
seizing and devouring them, the gulfs of hell yawn-
ing to swallow them up. Forth he came, to make
prejudice yield to demonstration, darkness to light,
passion to reason. He came to calm conscience, to
disarm the vengeance of heaven, to swallow up death
in victory, 1 Cor. xv. 54. and to close the mouth of
the infernal abyss. These are the designs of the
king Messiah, designs too noble, too sublime for
earthly kings. My kingdom is not of this world.

2. The maxims of this kingdom agree with its
end. What are the maxims of the kingdoms of this
world ? I am ashamed to repeat them, and I am
afraid, if 1 suppress them, of betraying the truth.
Ah ! why did not the maxims of such as Hobbes and
Machiavel vanish with the impure authors of them !
Must the Christian world produce partizans and
apologists for the policy of hell ! These are some
of their maxims. " Every way is right that leads to
" a throne. Sincerity, fidelity, and gratitude, are
" not the virtues of public men, but of people in
" private life. The safety of the people is the su-
" preme law. Religion is a bridle to subjects; but
" kings are free from its restraints. There are some
" illustrious crimes."

The maxims of Jesus Christ are very difTerent.
" Justice and judgment are the basis of a throne.
" Render unto C2esar the things which are C8esar's,
" and unto God the things that are God's. Seek
*' first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
" and all other things ghall be added to you. What-

Christ the King of Truth. 225

" soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
" even so to them. Let your comLnunication be yea,
*' yea, and nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than
" these cometh of evil," Psal. Ixxx. 14* Matt. xxi. 21*
vi. 33. vii. 12. and v. 37.

3. The exploits of the kingdom of Jesus Christ
accomplish his designs. He doth not employ such
artillery as the kings of the earth do to reduce whole
cities to ashes. His soldiers use none of those for-
midable engines of death in his wars, which are cal-
led the final reasons of kings. His forces are strangers
to that desperate avidity of conquest, which makes
worldly generals aim to attain inaccessible moun-
tains, and to penetrate the climes that have never
been trodden by the footsteps of men. His exploits
are, neither the forcing of intrenchments, nor the
colouring of rivers with blood, nor the covering of
whole countries with carcases, nor the filling of the
world with carnage, and terror, and death.

The exploits of the Messiah completely effect the
end of his reign. He came, we just now observed,
to dissipate prejudice by demonstration, and he hath
gloriously accomplished his end. Before the com-
ing of Jesus Christ, philosophers were brute beasts :
since his coming, brute beasts are become philoso-
phers. Jesus Christ came to conquer our tyrannical
passions, and he hath entirely effected his design.
He renovated disciples, who rose above the appe-
tites of sense, the ties of nature, and the love of
self; disciples who, at his word, courageously for-
sook their property, their parents, and their chil-
dren, and voluntarily went into exile ; disciples, who
VOL. II. 29

226 Christ the King of Truth.

crucijied the fleshy with the affections and lusts, GaL
V. 24 ; generous disciples, who sacrificed their lives
for their bretliren, and some times for their persecu-
tors ; disciples, who triumphed over all the horrors,
while they suffered all the pains, of gibbets, and
racks, and fires, Jesus Christ came to calm con-
science, and to disarm divine justice, and his design
hath been perfectly answered. The church perpet-
ually resounds with grace, grace unto it, Zech. iv. 7,
The penitent is cited before no other tribunal than
that of mercy. For thee, converted sinner ! there
are only declarations of absolution and grace. Je-
sus Christ came to conquer death, and he hath man-
ifestly fulfilled his purpose. Shall we still fear deaths
after he iiath brought life and immortality to light hy
the gospel? 2 Tim. i. 10. Shall we still fear death,
after we have seen our Saviour loaded with its spoils?
Shall we yet fear death, while he crieth to us in our
agony, Fear not, thou worm Jacob ; fear not, for I
am with thee, Isa. xli. 14, 10.

4. Let us consider the arms, which Jesus Chrisi
hath employed to perform his exploits. These
arms are his cross, his word, his example, and his
Spirit.

The enemies of Jesus Christ considered the day
of his crucifixion as a triumphant day. They had
solicited his execution with an infernal virulence.
But how much higher are the ways of God than the
ways of men, and his thoughts than their thoughts,
Isa. Iv. 9. From this profound night, from this hour
of darkness, which covered the whole church, arose
the most reviving light, Jesus Christ, during his

Christ the King oj Truth. 227

crucifixion, most effectually destroyed the enemies
of our salvation. Then, having spoiled principalis
ties and powers, he made a shew of them openly, tri-
umphing over them in it. Col. ii. 15. Then, he offer-
ed to the God of love a sacrifice of love, to which
God could refuse nothing. Then, he placed him-
self as a rampart around sinners, and ;eceived in
himselfthe artillery that was discharged against them.
Then, he demanded of his Father, not only by his
cries and teais, but by that blood, w hich he poured
out in the richest profusion of love, the salvation of
the whole world of the elect, for whom he became
incarnate.

To the power of his cross add that of his word.
He bad been introduced in the prophecies speaking
thus of himself; he hath made my mouth like a sharp
sword, and like a polished shaft, Isa. xlix. 2. And
be is elsewhere represented, as having a sharp, two-
edged sword, proceeding out of his mouth. Rev. i.
16. Experience hath fully justified the boldness of
these figures. Let any human orator be shewn,
wliose eloquence hath produced equal effects, either
in persuading, or in confounding, in comforting, con-
firming, or conciliating the hearts of mankind, and
in subduing them by its irresistible charms. Had
not Jesus Christ, in all these kinds of elocution, an
unparalleled success ?

The force of his word was corroborated by the
purilv of his example. He was a model of all the
virtues which he exhoiled others to observe. He
proposed the re-establishment of the empire of or-
der, and he first submitted to it. He preached a de-

228 Christ the King of Truth

tachment from the world, and he had not where to
lay his head. He preached meekness and humility,
and he was himself meek and lowly in heart, maJdng
■himself of no reputationy and taking upon him the
form of a servant. He preached benevolence, and
he went about doing good. He preached patience,
and when he was reviled he reviled not again: He
suffered himself to be led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he open-
ed not his mouth. Matt. viii. 20. ix. 29. Phil. ii. 7.
Acts X. 38. 1 Pet. ii. 23. and Isa. liii. 7. He preach-
ed the cross, and he bore it. What conquests can-
not a preacher make, when he himself walks in that
path of virtue in which he exhorts others to go ?

Finally, Jesus Christ useth the arms of the Spirit,
I mean miracles ; and with them he performeth the
exploits of which we speak. To these powerful
arms, Jesus Christ and his disciples teach all nature
to yield : tempests subside ; devils submit; diseases
appear at a word, and vanish on command ; death
seizeth, or lets fall his prey; Lazarus riseth; Ely-
mas is stricken blind ; Ananias and Sapphira die
sudden and violent deaths. Moreover, with these
all-conquering arms, he converteth unbelieving souls;
he planteth the gospel ; openeth the heart ; worketh
faitl) ; writeth the law in the mind; enlighteneth the
understanding; createth anew; regenerateth and
sanctifieth the souls of men ; he exerciseth that om-
nipotence over the moral void that he exercised in
the first creation over the chaos of natural beings,
and raiseth a new world out of the ruins of the
old.

Christ the King of Truth, 229

5. Let us attend to the courtiers of the king Mes-
siah. Go to the courts of earthly princes ; behold the
intriguing complaisance, the feigned friendships, the
mean adulations, the base arts, by which courtiers
rise to the favour of the prince. Jesus Christ hath
promised his to very different dispositions. And to
which of his subjects hath he promised the tenderest
and most durable union? Hear the excellent reply,
which he made to those who told him his mother
and his brethren desired to speak with him : Who is
my mother ? And who are my brethren ? said he, and
stretching forth his hand toward his disciples, he ad-
ded, Behold my mother, and my brethren ! for who-
so ever shall do the will of my Father, which is in heav-
en, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Matt,
xii. 48 — 50. Fraternal love, devotedness to the will
of God, the most profound humility, are the dispo-
sitions that lead to the heart of Jesus Christ. How
impossible to arrive at the favour of earthly kings by
such dispositions as these !

Finally, The great proof, my brethren, that the
kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world, is taken
from its leewards, Yutue, I grant, sometimes pro-
cureth temporal prosperity to those who practise it.
The sacred authors have proposed this motive, in
order to attach men to the laws of Jesus Christ. God-
liness is profitable to all things, hating promise of the
life that now is, as well as of that which is to come, 1
Tim. iv. 8. He that will love life, and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that
they speak no guile, let him eschew evil, and do good,
let him seek peace, and ensue it, I Pet. iii. 10. 11.

230 Christ the King of Truth.

One would suppose St. Peter's thought might be
amplified, and that we might add, Would any man
acquire a fortune ? Let him be punctual to his word,
just in his gains, and generous in his gifts. Would
any man become popular in his reputation ? Let him
be grave, solid, and cautious. Would any 7nan rise
to the highest promotions in the army ? Let him be
brave, magnanimous, and expert in military skill.
Would any one become prime minister of state ? Let
him be affable, incorruptible, and disinterested. But,
may I venture to say it ? This morality is fit only for
a hamlet now-a-days ; it is impracticable on the great
theatres of the world, and, so great is the corruption
of these times, we must adopt a contrary style. Who
would acquire a fortune ? Let hhn be treacherous,
and unjust, let him be concentred in his own inter-
est. Who 7voidd become popular^ and would have a
crowded levee ? Let him be a shallow, mtriguing, self-
admirer. Who would occupy the first posts in the ar-
my ? Let him flatter, let him excel in the ail of sub-
stituting protection and favour in the place of real
merit.

What conclusion must we draw from all these mel-
ancholy truths? The text is the condusion, my king'
dom is not of this world. No, christian, by imitating
thy Saviour, thou wilt acquire neither riches, nor
rank : thou wilt meet with contempt and shame, pov-
erty and pain 1 But peace of conscience, a crown of
martyrdom, an eternal mansion in the Father's housCy
John xiv. 2. the society of angels, the heavenly Jeru-
salem, these are the rewards which Jesus Christ him-
self reaped, and these, he hath promised, thou shall
reap !

Christ the King of Truth. 231

II. We have proved that the kingdom of Jesus
Christ is not of this world, we will proceed now to
prove, that it is therefore a kingdom of truth. Thou
say est that I am a king ; to this end was I born, and
for this cause came Unto the world, that I should bear
witness unto the truth.

What is this ti'uth ? Two ideas may be formed of
it. It may be considered, either in regard to the
Jews who accused Christ before Pilate ; or in regard
to Pilate himself, before whom Jesus Christ was ac-
cused.

If we consider it in regard to the Jews, this truth
will respect the grand question, which was then in
dispute between Jesus Christ and them; that is.
Whether he were the Messiah whom the prophets
had foretold.

If we consider it in regard to Pilate, and to the
Pagan societies, to which this Roman governor be-
longed, a more general notion must be formed of it.
The Pagan philosophers pretended to inquire for
truth ; some of them aflfected to have discovered it,
and others affirmed that it could not be discovered,
that all was uncertain, that finite minds could not
be sure of any thing, except that they were sure of
nothing. This was particularly the doctrine of So-
crates. Learned men have thought the last was Pi-
late's system, and, by this hypothesis, they explain
his reply to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said to him,
I came to bear witness to the truth. Pilate answered.
What is truth? Can frail men distinguish truth from
falsehood? How should they know truth?

Whether this be only a conjecture, or not, I affirm,

232 Christ the King of Truth

that, let the term iruth be taken in which of the two
senses it will, Jesus Christ came to bear witness to
truth in both senses ; and that his is a kingdom of
truth, because it is not a kingdom of this world :
whence it follows, that there are some truths of which
we have infallible evidence.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world,
therefore Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah. The
Jew^s meet with nothing in Christianity equal in diffi-
culty to this ; and their error on this article, it must
be acknowledged, claims our patience and pity.

The prophets have attributed a sceptre to Jesus
Christ, an emblem of the regal authority of tempo-
ral kings : " Thou shalt break them with a sceptre of
iron^." They attributed to him a throne, the seat
of temporal kings : " thy throne, O God ! is for ever
" and ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
" sceptre," Psal. xlv. 6. They attributed to him the
armies of a temporal king : " thy people shall be
" willing in the day when thou shalt assemble thine
" army in holy pomp," Ps. ex. Sf. They attributed
to him homages, like those which are rendered to a

* Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Our author uses
the French version, Tu les froisseras avec un scejitre de fer.
The Hebrew word 733^ is put literally for a common ivalking-
stick^ Exod. xxi. 19. A rod of correction, Prov. x. 13. The staff"^
that was carried by the head of a tribe, or by a magistrate, as an
ensign of his office, Gen. xlix. 10. The sceptre of a prince, and
indeed for a rod, or staff, of any kind. It is put figuratively for
support^ affliction^ fiower^ 8cc. The epithet iron is added to ex-
press a penal exercise of power, as that of golden is to signify
mild use of it.

t Sec the note, page 122.

Christ the King of Truth 233

temporal king : " they that dwell in the wilderness
" shall bow before him ; and his enemies shall lick
'' the dust," Psal. Ixxii 9* Tiiey attributed to him
the subjects of a temporal king : " ask of me, and I
" shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
" and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy pos-
" session," Psal. ii. 8. They attributed to him the
prosperity of a temporal king : " the kings of Tar-
*' slsish, and of the isles, shall bring presents ; the
" kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts," Psal.
Ixxii. 10. They attributed to him the exploits of
temporal kings : " he shall strike through kings in
" the day of his wrath ; he shall judge among the
" heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bo-
" dies, he shall wound the heads over many coun-
" tries," Psal. ex. 5, 6. They even foretold that the
king promised to the Jews should carry the glory of
his nation to a higher degree than it had ever attain-
ed under its most successful princes.

How could the Jews know our Jesus by these de-
scriptions, for he was only called a king in derision,
or at most, only the vile populace seriously called
him so ? Our Jesus had no other sceptre than a reed,
no other crown than a crown of thorns, no other
throne than a cross ; and the same may be said of
the rest. Never was an objection seemingly more
unanswerable, my brethren : never was an objection
really more capable of a full, entire, and conclusive
solution. Attend to the following considerations :

1. Those predictions, which are most incon-
testible in the ancient prophecies, are, that the scep-
tre of the Messiah was to be "a sceptre of righteous-

TOL. IT. 30

234 Christ (he King of Trtdh,

ness," Ps. xlv. 6. Heb. i. 8. and that they, who would
enjoy the felicities of his kingdom, must devote them-
selves to virtue. They must be humble, and "in^
"lowliness of mind, each must esteem other better
"than himself," Phil. ii. 3, They must be clement
toward theii' enemies, " do good to them that hate
"them, and pray for them which persecute them,"
Matt. V. 44. They must subdue the rebellion of the
senses, subject them to the empire of reason, and
" crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts," GaL
V. 24. But of all the means that can be used to sub-
jugate us to those virtues, that which we have sup-
posed, is the most eligible ; I mean, the giving of a
spiritual and metaphorical sense to the ancient pro-
phecies. What would be the complexion of the
kingdom of the Messiah, were it to afford us all
those objects which are capable of flattering and of
gratifying our passions ? Riches would irritate our
avarice. Ease would indulge our sloth and indo-
lence. Pomp would produce arrogance and pride..
Reputation would excite hatred and revenge. In
order to mortify these passions, the objects must be
removed by which they are occasioned or fomented.
For the purpose of such a mortification, a cross is^
to be preferred before a bed of down, labour before
ease, humiliation before grandeur, poverty before
wealth.

2. To give a literal meaning to the prophecies
which announce the kingdom of Christ, is to make
them contradict themselves. Were terrestrial pomp,
were riches, and human grandeurs, always to attend
the Messiah, what would become of those parts of

Christ the King of Truth. 233

the prophecies which speak with so much energy of
his humiliation and sufferings? What would become
of the prophecy, which God himself gave to the first
man, "The seed of tlie woman shall bruise the ser-
"pent's head :" but indeed "the serpent shall bruise
*' his heel ?" What would become of this prophetic
saying of the psalmist, " I am a worm, and no man ;
" a reproach of men, and despised of the people ?"
Ps. xxii. 6. What would become of this prophecy of
Isaiah, "He hath no form nor comeliness; when
" we shall see him, there is no beauty, that we should
^' desire him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him
"not," chap. liii. 2, 3. Whether, to free ourselves
from this difficulty, we say, with some Jews, that
the prophets speak of two Messiahs ; or with others,
dispute the sense in which even the traditions of the
ancient Rabbles explained these prophecies, and de-
ny that they speak of the Messiah at all : in either
case, we plunge ourselves into an ocean of difficul-
ties. It is only the kingdom of our Jesus, that unit-
eth the grandeur and the meanness, the glory and
the ignominy, the immortality and the death, which,
the ancient prophets foretold, would be found in the
kingdorq, and m the person of ihe Messiah.

3. The prophets themselves have given the keys
of their prophecies concerning the Messiah, " Be-
"hold! the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
" make a new^ covenant w ith the house of Israel, and
" with the house of Judah. I will put my law in
" their inward parts, and write it in theu' hearts,"
Jer. xxxi. 31, 33. And again, " I will have mercy up-
^'on the house of Judah, and will save them bv the

236 Christ the King of Truth.

" Lord their God ; and will not save iliem by bow,
"nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by
*' horsemen," Hos. i. 7. What is that covenant,
which engageth io put the divine larv in the hearts of
them wath whom it is made ? What is this salvation
"which is procmed neither hy bo7V nor hy sword?
\Yhere is the unprejudiced man, who doth not per-
ceive that these passages are clues to the prophecies,
in which the Messiah is represented as exercising a
temporal dominion on earth ?

4. If there be any thing literal in what the pro-
phets have foretold of the eminent degree of tem-
poral glory to which the Messiah was to raise the
Jewish nation ; if the distinction of St. Paul, of Is-
rael after the flesh, 1 Cor. x. 18. from Israel after the
Spirit, Rom. ix. 3, 6. be verified in this respect; if
the saying of John the Baptist, God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham, Mat. iii. 9.;
if, in one word, as we said before, there be any thing
literal in those prophecies, we expect a literal ac-
complishment of them. Yes! we expect a period,
in which the king Messiah will elevate the Jewish
nation to a more eminent degree of glory, than any
to which its most glorious kings have ever elevated
it. The heralds of the kingdom of our Messiah, far
from contesting the pretensions of the Jews on this
article, urged the truth and the equity of them. /
say then, (these are the words of St. Paul writing on
the rejection of the Jews) / say then, Have they stum-
bled that they should jcdl? Rom. xi. 1], 12. God
forbid ! " But rather tlirough their fall salvation is
^* come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to

Christ the King of Truth, 237

"jealousy. Now if tlie fall of them be the riches
" of tlie world, and the diminishing of them the
"riches of the Gentiles; how much more their ful-
"ness?"

St. Paul establisheth in these words two callings
of the Gentiles: a calling which was a reproach to
the Jewish nation, and a calling which shall be the
glory of that nation. That calling which was a re-
proach to the Jews, was occasioned by their infidel-
ity ; the jail of them was the riches of the norld, and
the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles : that
is to say, the apostles, disgusted at the unbelief of
the Jews, preached the gospel to the Pagan world.

But here is a second calling mentioned, which will
be glorious to the Jews, and this calling will be oc-
casioned by the return of the Jews to the covenant,
and by their embracing the gospel. The Gentiles,
to whom the gospel had not been preached before,
will be so stricken to see the accomplishment of those
prophecies which had foretold it ; they will be so af-
fected to see the most cruel enemies of Jesus Christ
become his most zealous disciples, that they will be
converted through the influence of the example of
the Jews. If the fall of them, if the fall of the Jews,
were the riches of the world, and the diminishing of
them the riches of the Gentiles, how much 7nore their
fulness 1 This is an article of faith in the christian
church.

This furnisheth us also with an answer to one of
the greatest objections that was ever made against
tlie cliristian system, touching the spiritual reign of
the Messiah. A very ingenious Jew hath urged

238 Cfirist the King of Truth.

this objection ; I mean the celebrated Isaac OrohiG.
This learned man, through policy, had professed the
Catholic religion in Spain: but, after the fear of
death had made him declare himself a christian, in
spite of the most cruel tortures that the inquisition
could invent, to make him own himself a Jew ; at
length he came into these provinces to enjoy that
amiable toleration which reigns here, and not only
professed his own religion, but defended it, as well
as he could, against the arguments of christians. Of-
fended at first with the gross notions which his own
people had formed of the kingdom of the Messiah,
and mortified at seeing how open they lay to our
objections, he endeavoured to refine them. " We ex-
"pect, says he, a temporal kingdom of the Messiah,
*' not for the gratifying of our passions, nor for the
" acquisition of riches, neither for the obtaining of
" eminent posts, nor for an easy life in this world;
"but for the glory of the God of Israel, and for the
" salvation of all the inhabitants of the earth, who,
"seeing the Jews loaden witli so many temporal
" blessings, will be therefore induced to adore that
" God, who is the object of their worship." My
brethren, apply the reflection, that you just now
heard, to this ingenious objection^.

* This learned Jew was of Seville, in Spain, and, after he had
escaped from the prison of the inquisition by pretending to be a
christian, practised physic at Amsterdam. There he professed
Judaism, and endeavoured to defend it against Christianity in a
dispute with professor Limborch. The passage quoted by Mr,
Saurin, is the last of four objections, which he made against the
christian religion. The v/hole was published by Limborch, xm-

Christ the King of Truth. 239

5. If the ^lory of the king Messiah do not shine
so brightly in the present economy as to answer the
ideas which the prophets hath given of it; rvt expect
io see it shine with unexampled lustre after this econo-
my ends. When we say that the kingdom of the
Messiah is not of this world, we are very far from
imagining that this world is exempted from his do-
minion. We expect a period, in which om- Jesus>
sitting on the clouds of heaven in power and great
glory, elevated in the presence of men and angels,
will appear in tremendous glory to all those rvho
pierced him, Rev. i. 7. and will enter into a strict
scrutiny concerning the most horrible homicide that
w as ever committed. W"e expect a period in which
the plaintive voices of the souls under the altar will
be heard, chap. vi. 9. a period, in which they will
reign with liim, and will experience ineffable trans-
ports, in casting their crow^ns at his feet, in singing
the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, and in saying. Alleluia! for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneih : let us be glad and rejoice,
and give honour to him, chap. xix. 6, 7. And we do
not expect these excellent displays, merely because
they delight our imaginations, and because we have
more credulity than means of conviction, and motives
of credibility. No such thing. The miracles which

der the title, Z)e veritate religioiiis christiatKS arnica, collatio cum.
erudito Judao,Q,oviCL2i. 4to. 1687. The inquisitors exasperated
this celebrated Jew, Limborch confuted him : but neither con-
verted him; for he thought that every one ought to continue in
his own religion ; and said, if he had been born of parent s nvhr?
ivorshipped the sun^ he should not renounce that rjorship.

240 Christ the King of Truth.

our Jesus bath already wrought, are pledges of oth-
ers which he will hereafter perform. The extensive
conquests, that he hath obtained over the Pagan
world, prove those which he will obtain over the
whole universe. The subversion of the natural
world, which sealed the divinity of his first advent,
demonstrates that which will signalize his second ap-
pearance.

The kingdom of the Messiah is not of this world,
therefore it is a kingdom of truth, therefore Jesus
Christ is the Messiah promised by the prophets. In
explaining the prophecies thus, we give them not on-
ly the most just, but also the most sublime sense,
of which they are capable. To render those hap-
py who should submit to his empire, was the end of
his coming. But, let us not forget, every idea of
solid happiness must be regulated by the nature of
man.

What is man ? He is a being divested of his priv-
ileges, degraded from his primitive grandeur, and
condemned by the supreme order and fitness of
things to everlasting misery.

Again, What is man? He is a being, who, from
that depth of misery into which his sins have alrea-
dy plunged him, and in sight of that bottomless
abyss into which they are about to immerse him for
ever, crieth, O wretched man that I am ! Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ? Rom. vii. 24.

Once more, What is man ? He is a being, who,
all disfigured and debased as he is by sin, yet feels
some sentiments of his prim2eval dignity, still con-
ceives some boundless wishes, still forms some im-

Christ the King of Truth. 241

mortal designs, which time can by no means accom-
plish.

This is man ! Behold his nature ! I propose now
two comments on the ancient prophecies. The in-
terpretation of Ihe synagogue, and the interpretation
of the christian church : the commentary of the pas-
sions, and that of the gospel. I imagine two Messi-
ahs, the one such as the synagogue thought him, the
other such as the disciples of Jesus Christ represent
him. I place man between these tw^o Messiahs, and I
demand, which of these two heroical candidates would
a rational man choose for his guide? Which of these
tw^o conquerors will conduct him to solid felicity ?
The first presents objects to him, sensual, carnal and
gross: The second proposeth to detach him from the
dominion of sense, to elevate him to ideas abstract
and spiritual, and, by alluring his soul from the dis-
tractions of earthly things, to impower him to soar to
celestial objects. The one offereth to open as many
channels for the passions as their most rapid flow
may require : the other to filtrate the passions at
the spring, and to keep all in proper bounds, by
giving to each its original placid course. The one
proposeth to march at the head of a victorious peo-
ple, to animate them by his valour and courage, to
enable them to rout armies, to take garrisons, to con-
quer kingdoms: the other oflereth to disarm divine
justice ; like David, to go weeping over the brook Ce-
dron, 2 Sam. xv. 23. .John xviii. 1 to ascend Mount
Calvary ; to pour out his soul an offering on the cross,
Isa. liii. 12. and, by these means, to reconcile l^eaven
and earth, I ask, Who, the Jews, or we, affix the

TOL. IT. 31

242 Christ the King of Truth.

most sublime meaning to the predictions of the pro-
phets? I ask, Wliether, if the choice of either of
these Messiahs were left to us, the christian Messiah
would not be infinitely preferable to the other? Our
Jesus, all dejected and disfigured as he is, all cover-
ed as he is with his own blood, is he not a thousand
times more conformable to the wishes of a man, who
knows himself, than the Messiah of the Jews, than
the Messiah of the passions, with all his power, and
with all his pomp ?

III. It only remains to examine, my brethren,
whetlier this Jesus, whose khigdom is not of this
world, have many subjects. But, alas ! to put this
question is to answer it; for where shall I find the
subjects of this Jesus, whose kingdom is not of this
world 1 I seek them first among the people, to whom
were committed the oracles of God, Rom. iii. 2. and
who grounded all their hopes on the coming of the
king Messiah. This nation, I see, pretends to be of-
fended and frightened at the sight of a spiritual king,
whose chief aim is to conquer the passions, and to
tear the love of the world from the hearts of his sub-
jects. Hark ! they cry, We will not have this man
to reign over us ! Away with him, away with him I
Caucify him, crucify him ! His blood be on us and on
mr children! Luke xix. 14. John xix. 15. and Mat,
xxvii. 25.

I turn to the metropolis of the christian world. I
enter the Vatican, the habitation of the pretended
successor of this Jesus, whose kingdom is not of this
world; and lo ! I meet with guards, drummers, en-
signs;, light-horse, cavalcades, pompous equipages in

Christ the King of Truth. 243

peace, instruments of death in war, habits of silver
and keys of gold, a throne and a triple crown, and
all the grandeur of an earthly court. I meet with
objects far more scandalous than any I have seen in
4he synagogue.

The synagogue refuseth to attribute a spiritual
meaning to the gross and sensible emblems of the
prophets ; but Rome attributes a gross and sensible
meaning to the spiritual emblems of the gospel.
The prophets had foretold, that the Messiah should
hold a sceptre in his hand ; and the synagogue re-
jected a Messiah, who held only a reed. But the
gospel tells us, the Messiah held only a reed, and
Rome will have a king who holdeth a sceptre. The
prophets had said Christ should be crowned with
glory ; and the synagogue rejected a king, who was
crowned only with thorns. But the gospel repre-
sents Jesus Christ crotvned with thorns; and Rome
will have a Jesus crowned with glory, and placeth a
triple crown on the head of its pontiff. The first of
these errors appears to me more tolerable than the
last. Judah hath justified her sister Samaria, Ezek.
xvi. 51, 52. Rome is, on this article, less pardon-
able than Jerusalem.

Where then is the kingdom of our Messiah ? I turn
toward you, my brethren ; I come in search of chris-
tians into this church, the arches of which incessant-
ly resound with pleas as^ainst the pretensions of the
synagogue, of the passions, and of Rome. But
alas ! Within these walls, and among a congregation
oi the children of the reformation, how few disci-

244 Christ the King of Truth.

pies do we find of this Jesus, whose kingdom is not
of this world ?

I freely grant, that a kingdom, which is not of this
world, engageth us to so much mortification, to so
much humility, and to so much patience ; and that
we are naturally so sensual, so vain, and so passion-
ate, that it is not very astonishing, if in some absent
moments of a life, which in general is devoted to Je-
sus Christ, we should suspend the exercise of those
graces. And I grant further, that when, under the
frailties which accompany a christian life, we are con-
scious of a sincere desu'e to be perfect, of making
some progress toward the attainmentof it, of genuine
grief when we do not advance apace in the road that
our great exaiuple hath marked out, when we resist
sin, when we endeavor to prevent the world from
stealing our hearts from God ; we ought not to des-
pair of the truth of our Christianity.

But, after all, the kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of
this world. Some of you pretend to be christians ;
and yet you declare coolly and deliberately, in your
whole conversation and deportment, for worldly max-
ims diametrically opposite to the kingdom of Jesus
Christ.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world.
You pretend to be christians ; and yet you would
have us indulge and approve of your conduct, when
you endeavor to distinguish yourselves from the rest
of tlie world, not by humility, moderation, and be-
nevolence ; but by a worldly grandeur, made up of
pomp and parade.

Christ the King of Truth. 245

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world.
You pretend to be christians ; and although yoiu-
most profound application, your most eager wishes,
and your utmost anxieties, are all employed in es-
tablishing your fortune, and in uniting your heart to
the world, yet you would not have us blame your
conduct.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this jvorld.
You pretend to be christians, and yet you are offend-
ed, when we endeavour to convince you by our
preaching, that whatever abates your ardour for spir-
itual blessings, how lawful soever it may be in itself,
either the most natural inclination, or the most inno-
cent amusement, or the best intended action, that all
become criminal when they produce this effect.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world.
You affect to be christians ; and yet you think we
talk very absurdly, when we affirm, that whatever
contributes to loosen the heart from the w orld, wheth-
er it be the most profound humiliation, poverty the
most extreme, or maladies the most violent, any thing
that produceth this detachment, ought to be account-
ed a blessing. You murmur, when we say, that the
state of a man lying on a dunghill, abandoned by all
mankind, living only to suffer ; but, amidst all these
mollifying circumstances, praying, and praising God,
and winding his heart about eternal objects ; is in-
comparably happier than that of a w orldling, living
in splendour and pomp, surrounded by servile flat-
terers, and riding in long processional state.

But open your eyes to your real interests, and
learn the extravagance of your pretensions. One, of

24G Christ the King of Trulh

two things, must be done to satisfy us. Either Jesus
Christ must put us in possession of the felicities of
the present world, while he enables us to hope for
those of the world to come; and then our fondness
for the first would cool our affection for the last, and
an immoderate love of this life would produce a dis-
relish for the next : or, Jesus Christ must confine his
gifts, and our hopes to the present world, and prom-
ise us nothing in the world to come, and then our des-
tiny would be deplorable indeed.

Had we hope only in this life, whither should we
flee in those moments, in which our minds, glutted
and palled with worldly objects, most clearly discov-
er all the vanity, the emptiness, and the nothingness
of them ?

Had we hope only in this life, whither could we
Hee when the world shall disappear ; when the "hea-
" vens shall pass away with a great noise, when the
''^elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the
" earth, and all its works, shall be burnt up ?" 2 Pet
iii. 10.

Had we hope only in this life, whither could we
flee when the springs of death, which we carry in our
bosoms, sliali issue forth and overwhelm the powers
of life ? What would become of us a few days hence,
when, compelled to acknowledge the nullity of the
present world, we shall exclaim, Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity ?

Ah! I am hastening to the immortal world, I
Mretch my hands toAvard the immortal world, I feel,
I grasp the immortal world; I have no need of a
Redeemer, who reigns in this present world ; I want

Christ the King of Truth. 247

a Redeemer, who reigns in the immortal world ! My
finest imaginations, my highest prerogatives, my most
exalted wishes, are the beholding of a reigning Re-
deemer in the world to which I go ; the sight of him
sitting on the throne of his Father ; the seeing of
" the four living creatures, and the four and twenty
"elders, falling down before him, and casting their
" crowns at his feet," Rev. iv. 9, 10. the hearing of
the melodious voices of the triumphant hosts, say-
ing, "Glory be unto him that sitteth upon the
"throne," ch. v. 13. The most ravishing object,
that can present itself to my eyes in a sick-bed, espe-
pecially in the agonies of death, when I shall be in-
volved in darkness that may be felt, is my Saviour,
looking at me, calling to me, animating me, and say-
ing, "To hira that overcorneth will I grant to sit
" with me in my throne." But what would all this
be ? J esus Christ will do more. He will give me
power to conquer, and he will crown me when the
battle is won. May God grant us these blessings!
Amen.

SERMON VIII.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ*

Psalm cxviiL 15, 16*

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the taberna'-
cles of the righteous : the right hand of the Lord
doth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is ex-
alted : the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly.

Woman/ why deepest thou? John xx. 13, 15.
was the language of two angels and of Jesus Christ
to Mary. The Lord had been crucified. The in-
fant church was in mourning. The enemies of Chris-
tianity were triumphing. The faith of the disciples
was tottering. Mary had set out before dawn of
day, to give vent to her grief, to bathe the tomb of
her master with tears, and to render funeral honours
to him. In these sad circumstances, the heavens
opened, two angels clothed in white garments de-
scended, and placed themselves on the tomb that in-*
closed the dear depositum of the love of God to the
church. At the fixed moment, they rolled away the
stone, and Jesus Christ arose from the grave loaden
with the spoils of death. Hither Mary comes to see
the dead body, the poor remains of him who shotdd
have redeemed Israel, Luke xxiv. 21. and, finding the
tomb empty, abandons her whole soul to grief, and
VOL. ir. 32

250 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

bursts into floods of tears. The heavenly messen-
gers directly address these comfortable words to her.
Woman I Why weepest thou 1 Scarcely had she told
them the cause of her grief, before Jesus puts the
same question to her, Woman I Why rveepest thou?
And to this language, which insinuateth into her
heart, and exciteth, if I may venture to speak so,
from the bottom of her soul every emotion of ten-
derness and love of which she is capable, he adds,
Mary I

This is the magnificent, this is the affecting object,
on which the eyes of all the church are this day fix-
ed. This is the comfortable language, which hea-
ven to-day proclaims. For several weeks past, you
have been in tears. Your churches have been in
mourning. Your eyes have beheld only sad and
melancholy objects. On the one hand, you have
been examining your consciences, and your minds
have been overwhelmed with the sorrowful remem-
brance of broken resolutions, violated vows, and
fruitless communions. On the other, you have seen
Jesus, betrayed by one disciple, denied by another,
forsaken by all ; Jesus, delivered by priests to secu-
lar powers, and condemned by his judges to die ;
Jesus, sneating, as it were, great drops oj blood,
Luke xxii. 44. praying in Gethsemane : O my Fa-
ther ! if it he possible, let this cup pass from me. Matt.
xxvi. 39. and crying on Mount Calvary, 3Iy God I
My God! Why hast thou forsaken me? chap, xxvii.
46. Jesus, lying in the grave : these have been the
mournful objec is of your late contemplation. At
the hearing of tuis tragical history, conscience trem-

The Resurrection of Jesus Oirist. 251

bles; and the whole church, on seeing the Saviour
entombed, weeps as if salvation were buried with
him. But take courage, thou tremulous conscience !
Dry up thy tears, thou church of Jesus Christ! Loose
thyself from the hands of thy neck, O captive daughter
of Sion I Isa. lii, 2. Come, my brethren ! approach
the tomb of your Redeemer, no more to lament his
death, no more to embalm his sacred body, which
hath not been suffered to see corruption, Acts ii. 27.
but to shout for joy at his resurrection. To this
the prophet inviteth us in the text ; *' the voice of re-
"joicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the
" righteous : the right hand of the Lord doth val-
" iantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted :
"the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly."

I have not questioned, whether the psalm in gen^
eral, and the text in particular, regard the Messiah,
The ancient Jews understood the psalm of him; and
therefore made use of it formerly among their pray-
ers for his advent. AVe agree with the Jews, and,
on this article, we think they are safer guides than
many Christians. The whole psalm agrees with Je-
sus Christ, and is applicable to him as w ell as to Da-
vid, particularly the famous words that follow the
text : " The stone, which the builders refused, is be-
" come the head-stone of the corner. This is the
" Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes." These
words are so unanimously applied to the exaltation,
and particularly to the resurrection, of Jesus Christ,
in the books of the New Testament, in the gospel of
St. Matthew, in that of St. Mark, in that of St. Luke,
in the book of Acts, in the epistle to the Romans,

S52 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

and in that to the Ephesians, that it seems needless,
niethinks, to attempt to prove a matter so fully de-
cided.

The present solemnity demands reflections of an-
other kind, and we will endeavour to shew you,

I. The truth of the event of which the text speaks ;
The right hand of the Lord is exalted : the right hand
of the Lord doth valiantly,

II. We will justify the joyful acclamations, which
are occasioned by it, The voice of rejoicing and sal-
vation is in the tabernacles of the righteous,

I. Let us examine the evidences of the truth of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Infidelity denies
it, and, what perhaps may be no less injurious to
Christianity, superstition pretends to establish it on
falsehood and absurdity. A certain traveller^ pre-
tends, that the inhabitants of the holy land still shew
travellers the stone which the builders refused, and
which became the head-stone of the corner. In order
to guard you against infidelity, we will urge the ar-
guments which prove the truth of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ : but, to prevent superstition, we will
attribute to each argument no more evidence than
what actually belongs to it.

In proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we
have, 1. Presumptions. 2. Proofs. 3. Demonstrations.
The circumstances of his burial afford some pre-
sumptions ; the testimonies of the apostles furnish
us with some arguments; and the descent of the Ho-

* Peter Belon. Observ. lib. ii. cap. 83, Belon was a country-
lYian of our author's, a physician oi'Le Mans, who travelled fr9m
1546 to 1549. His travels were published 1555,

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 253

\y Spirit on the church furnisheth us with demonstra-
tions.

1. From the circumstances of the burial of Jesus
Christ, I derive some presumptions in favour of the
doctrine of the resurrection. Jesus Christ died.
This is an incontestable principle. Our enemies, far
from pretending to question this, charge it on Chris-
tianity as a reproach.

The tomb of Jesus Christ was found empty a few
days after his death. This is another incontestable
principle. For if the enemies of Christianity had
retained his body in their possession, they would cer-
tainly have produced it for the i'uin of the report of
liis resurrection. Hence ariseth a presumption that
Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

If the body of .Tesus Christ were not raised from
the dead, it must have been stolen away. But this
theft is incredible. Who committed it ? The ene-
mies of Jesus Clnist ? Would they have contributed
to his glory, by countenancing a report of his resur-
rection ? Would his disciples ? It is probable, they
would not; and, it is next to certain, they could not.
How could they have undertaken to remove the bo-
dy ? Frail and tiuiorous creatures, people, who fled
as soon as they saw him taken into custody ; even
Peter, the most courageous, trembled at the voice of
a servant-girl, and three times denied that he knew
him ; people of this character, would they have dar-
ed to resist the authority of the governor? AVould
they have undertaken to oppose the determination
of the Sanhedrim, to force a guard, and to elude,
or to overcome, soldiers armed and aware of dan-

254 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,

ger ? If Jesus Christ were not risen asjain, (I speak
the language of unbelievers) he had deceived his
disciples with vain hopes of his resurrection. How
came the disciples not to discover the imposture ?
Would they have hazarded themselves by under-
taking an enterprise so perilous, in favour of a man
who had so cruelly imposed on their credulity ?

But were we to grant that they formed the design
of removing the body, how could they have execu-
ted it ? How could soldiers, armed, and on guard,
suffer themselves to be over-reached by a few timo-
rous people? "Either, (says St. Augustine*,) they
" were asleep or awake : if they were awake, why
" should they suffer the body to be taken away ? If
" asleep, how could they know that the disciples
" took it away ? How dare they then depose that it
" was stolen ?" All these, however, are only pre-
sumptions.

The testimony of the apostles furnisheth us with
arguments, and there are eight considerations which
give their evidence sufficient weight. Remark the
nature, and the mmber, of the witnesses : the facts
they avow, and the agreement of their evidence : the
tribunals before which they stood, and the time in
which they made their depositions : the place where
they affirmed the resurrection, and their motives for
doing so.

1 . Consider the nature of these witnesses. Had they

been men of opulence and credit in the world, we

might have thought that their reputation gave a run

to the fable. Had they been learned and eloquent

* Serm. ii. in Psal. xxxvi.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 255"

men, we might have imagined, that the style in
ivhich they told the tale had soothed the souls of the
people into a belief of it. But, for my part, when
I consider that the apostles were the lowest of man-
kind, without reputation to impose on people, with-
out authority to compel, and without riches to re-
ward: when I consider, that they were mean, rough,
unlearned men, and consequently very unequal to
the task of putting a cheat upon others ; I cannot
conceive, that people of this character could suc-
ceed in deceiving the whole church.

2. Consider the number of these witnesses. St. Paul
enumerates them, and tells us, that Jesus Christ was
seen of Cephas, 1 Cor. xv. 5, kc. This appearance
is related by St. I^uke, who saith, the Lord is risen
indeed, and hath appeared to Simon, chap. xxiv. 34.
The apostle adds, then he was seen of the twelve :
this is related by St. Mark, who saith, he appeared
unto the eleven, chap. xvi. 14. ; it was the same ap-
pearance, for the apostles retained the appellation
twelve, although, after Judas had been guilty of sui-
cide, they w^ere reduced to eleven, St. Paul adds
further, after that he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once : Jesus Christ promised this appear-
ance to the women. Go into Galilee, and tell my breth-
ren that they shall see me there, Matt, xxviii. 10. St.
Luke tells us, in the first chapter of Acts, that the
church consisted of about an hundred and twenty
members ; this was the church at Jerusalem : but the
greatest part of the five hundred, of whom St. Paul
speaks, were of Galilee, where Jesus Christ had
preached iiis gospel, and where these converts abode

256 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

after his resurrection. The apostle subjoins, after
that he was seen of James ; this appearance is not
related by the evangelists, but St. Paul knew it
by tradition^. St. Jerom writes, that in a Hebrew
gospel attributed to St. Matthew, called The Gospel
of the Nazarenes, it was said, Jesus Christ appeared
to St, James j that this apostle having made a vow
neither to eat nor drink till Jesus should rise from
the dead, the divine Saviour took bread and broke
it, took wine and poured it out, and said to him,
Eat and drink, for the son of man is risen from the
dead.t St. Paul yet adds fiirther, Then he was seen

* Two of our Lord's apostles were named James. The elder
of the two, brother of John, was put to death by Herod, Acts
xii. 2. The other, who was first cousin to Jesus Christ, was
called the less, the younger propably, and lived many years after.
It is not certain which of the two St. Paul means. If he mean
theirs?, he had the account of the appearing of the Lord to him,
probably, as Mr. Saurin says, by tradition : If the last, it is like-
ly he had it from James himself; for him he saiv at Jerusalem,
Gal. i. 19. and he was living in the year 57, when St. Paul wrote
liis first epistle to the Corinthians.

t The gospel, of which Mr. Saurin, after St. Jerom, speaks, is
now lost. It was probably one of those mangled, interpolated
copies of the true gospel of St. Matthew, which, through the
avidity of the lower sort of people to know the history of Jesus
Christ, had been transcribed, and debased, and was handed about
the world. I call it mangled; because some parts of the true
gospel were omitted. I call it interpolated ; because «07;2e things
were added from other gos/iels, as the history of the woman caught
in adultery, from St. John : (Euseb. Eccl. hist. lib. iii. cap. 39.)
and others from re//or/,as the above passage relative to James, See.
This book was written in Syriac, with Hebrew characters. St.
Jerom translated it into Greek and Latin, and divers of the fa-
thers quoteit, as Hegesippus. Euscb. E. H. lib. iy. 22. Ignatius

The Besurrectioii of Jesus Christ 257

of all the apostles ; and, last of ally of me also, as of
one born out of due time. So numerous were the wit-
nesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ ! from this
fact we derive a second argument ; for had the wit-
nesses been few, it might have been said, that the
base design of deceiving the whole church was form-
ed by one, and propagated by a few more ; or that
some one had fancied he saw Jesus Christ : but when
St. Paul, when the rest of the apostles, when five
hundred brethren attest the truth of the fact, what
room remains for suspicion and doubt ?

3. Observe the facts themselves ivhich they avow.
Had they been metaphysical reasonings, depending
on a chain of principles and consequences; had they
been periods of chronology, depending on long and
difficult calculations ; had they been distant events,
which could only have been known by the relations
of others; their reasonings might have been suspect-
ed : but they are facts which are in cjueslion, facts
which the witnesses declared they had seen with
their own eyes, at divers places and at several times.
Had they seen Jesus Christ? had they touched him?
had they sitten at table and eaten w^ith him? had
they conversed witli him ? All these are questions of
iiict : it was impossible they could be deceived in
them.

Ep. ad Smyrnenses, Edit. Usserii, p. 112. Clement of Alexan-
dria, Stromat. lib. ii. p. 278, Edit. Lugdun, 1616. Origen, St. Je-
rom, See. It went by the names of the gospel according to St.
Matthew, the gospel according to the Hebrews, the gospel of the
tivejve afiostles^ the gospel of the J^azarene-s. See Luke i. 1, ?.
VOL. II. 33

258 The Resurrection of Jesus Chrish

4. Remark the agreement of their evidence. They
all unanimously deposed, that Jesus Christ rose from
the dead. It is very extraordinary, that a gang of
five hundred impostors, (I speak the language of in-
fidels) a company, in which there must needs be
people of different capacities and tempers, the witty
and the dull, the timid and the bold ; it is very
strange, that such a numerous body as this should
maintain an unity of evidence. This however is the
case of our witnesses. What christian ever contra-
dicted himself? what christian ever impeached his
accomplices? what christian ever discovered this
pretended imposture ?

5. Observe the tribunals before which they gave evi-
dence^ and the innumerable multitude of people by
whom their testimony was examined, by Jews and
Heathens, by philosophers and rabbles, and by an
infinite number of people, who went annually to Je-
lusalem. For, my brethren. Providence so ordered
those circumstances, that the testimony of the apos-
tles might be unsuspected. Providence continued
Jerusalem forty years after the resurrection of our
Lord, that all the Jews in the world might examine
the evidence concerning itj and obtain authentic proof
of the truth of Christianity. I repeat it again, then,
the apostles maintained the resurrection of Jesus
Christ before Jews, before Pagans, before philoso-
phers, before rabbles, before courtiers, before law-
yers, before people expert in examining, and in cross-
examining witnesses, in order to lead them into self-
contradiction. Had the apostles borne their testimo-
ny in consequence of a pre-concerted plot between

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 25,9

themselves, is it not morally certain, that, as they
were examined before such different and capable
men, some one would have discovered the pretended
fraud ?

6. Consider the place, in which the apostles bore their
testimony. Had they published the resurrection of
the Saviour of the world in distant countries, beyond
mountains and seas, it might have been supposed,
that distance of place, rendering it extremely diffi-
cult for their hearers to obtain exact information,
had facilitated the establishment of the error! But
the apostles preached in Jerusalem, in the syna-
gogues, in the pretorium ; they unfolded and display-
ed the banners of their master's cross, and set up to-
kens of his victory, on the very spot on which the
infamous instrument of his sufferings had been set
up.

7. Observe the time of this testimony. Had the
apostles first published this resurrection several years
after the epocha which they assigned for it ; unbe-
lief might have availed itself of the delay : but three
days after the death of Jesus Christ, they said, he
was risen again, and they re-echoed their testimony
in a singular manner at Pentecost, when Jerusalem
expected the spread of the report, and endeavoured
to prevent it ; while the eyes of their enemies Avere
yet sparkling with rage and madness, and while Cal-
vary was yet dyed with the blood they had spilt
there. Do impostors take such measures ? Would
not they have waited till the fury of the Jews had
been appeased, till judges, and public officers, had

260 -/%e Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

been changed, and till people had been less attentive
to their depositions ?

8. Consider, lastly, the motives which induced the
apostles to publish the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Survey the face of the world, examine all the impos-
tures, that are practised in society : falsehood, impo-
sition, treachery, perjury, abound in society. To
every different trade and profession some peculiar
decef»tions belong. However, all mankind have one
design in deceiving, they all deceive for their own
interest. The'r interests are infinitely diversified :
but it is interest, liowever, that always animates all
deceivers. There is one interest of pride, another
of pleasure, a third of profit. In the case before us,
the nature of things is subverted, and all our notions
of the human heart contradicted. It must be pre-
vSupposed, that, whereas other men generally sacri-
fice the interest of their salvation to their temporal
interest, the apostles, on the contrary, sacrificed their
temporal interest without any inducement from the
interest of salvation itself. Suppose they had been
craftily led, during the life of Jesus Christ, into the
expectation of some temporal advantages, how came
it to pass, that, after they saw their hopes blasted, and
themselves threatened with the most rigorous pun-
ishments, they did not redeem their lives by confes-
sing tl:e imposture ? In general, the more wicked a
traitor is, the more he trembles, alters, and confesses,
at theaj)proach of death. Having betrayed, for his
own interest, tlie laws of his country, the interests of
society, the confidence of his prince, and the credit
of religion, he betrays the companions of his impos-

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 261

ture, the accomplices of his crimes. Here, on the
contrary, the apostles persist in their testimony till
death, and sign the truths they have published with
the last drops of their blood. These are our argu-
ments.

We proceed now to our demonstrations y that is,
to the miracles with which the apostles sealed the
truth of their testimony. Imagine these venerable
men addressing their adversaries on the da\^ of the
christian pentecost in this language: "You refuse
" to believe us on our dep(>sitions ; five hundred of
"us, you think are enthusiasts, all infected with the
"same malady, who have carried our absurdity so
"far as to imagine that we have seen a man whom
"we have not seen; eaten with a man with whom
" we have not eaten ; conversed w^ith a man, with
"whom we have not conversed: or, perhaps, you
" think us impostors, or take us for madmen, who
"intend to sutler ourselves to be imprisoned, and
"tortured, and crucified, for the sake of enjoying
" the pleasure of deceiving mankind, by prevailing
" upon them to believe a fanciful resurrection : you
" think we are so stupid as to act a piart so extrava-
" gant. But bring out your sick ; present your de-
"moniacs; fetch hither your dead; confront us with
" Medes, Parthians, and Elamiles ; let Cappadocia,
"Pontus, Asia, Egypt, Phyrgia, Pamphylia, let all
" nations and people send us some of their inhabi-
"tants, we will restore hearing to the deaf, and sight
"to the blind, we will make the lame walk, we will
" cast out devils, and raise the dead. We, we pub-
" licans, we illiterate men, we tent-makers, we fisher-

262 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,

" men, we will discourse with all the people of the
"world in their own languages. We will explain
*' prophecies, elucidate the most obscure predictions,
" develope the most sublime mysteries, teach you no-
" tions of God, precepts for the conduct of life, plans
"of morality and religion, more extensive, more
"sublime, and more advantageous, than those of
"your priests and philosophers, yea than those of
"Moses himself. We will do more still. We will
" communicate these gifts to you, the word of wis-
" (lorn, the word of knowledge, faith, the gifts of heal-
" ing, the jvorking of miracles, prophecy, discerning
" of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, interpretation
" of tongues, 1 Cor. xii. 8, &c. all these shall be com-
"municated to you by our ministry."

All these things the apostles professed ; all these
proofs they gave of the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
this Jesus hath God raised up ; and he hath shed forth
this which ye now see and hear. Acts ii. 32, 33. This
consideration furnisheth us with an answer to the
greatest objection that was ever made to the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ, and, in general, to his whole
economy. " How is it," say unbelievers sometimes,
" that your Jesus exposed all the circumstances of
" his abasement to the public eye, and concealed
"those of his elevation ? If he were transfigured on
"the mount, it was only before Peter, James, and
"John. If he ascended to heaven, none but his dis-
" ciples saw his ascent. If he rose agahi from the
"dead, and appeared, he appeared only to those who
" were interested in his fame. Wliy did he not shew
"himself to the synagogue ? Why did he not appear

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 263

'*to Pilate? Why did he not shew himself alive in
" the streets, and public assemblies, of Jerusalem ?
"Had he done so, infidelity would have been eradi-
"cated, and every one would have believed his own
"eyes: but the secrecy of all these events exposeth
" them to very just suspicions, and giveth plausible
"pretexts to errors, if errors they be." We omit
many solid answers to this objection ; perhaps we
may urge them on future occasions, and at present
we content ourselves with observing, that the apos-
tles, who attested the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
wrought miracles in the presence of all those, be-
fore whom, you say, Jesus Christ ought to have
produced himself after his resurrection. The apos-
tles wrought miracles ; behold Jesus Christ! see his
Spirit ! behold his resurrection ! God hath raised up
Jesus Christ, and he hath shed forth what ye now see
and hear. This way of proving the resurrection of
Christ w^as as convincing as the shewing of himself
to each of his enemies would have been ; as the ex-
posure of his wounds before them, or the permitting
of them to thrust their hands into his side, would
have been. Yea this was a more convincing way
than that would have been for which you plead.
Had Jesus Christ shewn himself, they might have
thought him a phantom, or a counterfeit ; they might
have supposed, that a resemblance of features had
occasioned an illusion: but what could an unbeliev-
er oppose against the healing of the sick, the rais-
ing of the dead, the expulsion of devils, the altera-
tion and subversion of ail nature?

264 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It may be said, perhaps all these proofs, if indeed
they ever existed, were conclusive to them, who, it
is pretended, saw the miracles of the apostles ; but
they can have no weight with us, who live seventeen
centuries after them. A¥e reply, The miracles of
the apostles cannot be doubted without giving into
an universal scepticism ; without establishing this
unwarrantable principle, that we ought to believe
nothing but what we see; and without taxing three
sorts of people, equally unsuspected, with extrava-
gance on this occasion.

1. They, who call themselves the operators of these
miracles, would be chargeable with extravagance.
If they wrouglit none, they were impostors, who
endeavoured to deceive mankind. If they were
impostors of the least degree of common sense, they
would have used some precautions to conceal their
imposture. But see how they relate the facts, of
the truth of which we pretend to doubt. Tliey spe-
cify times, places, and circumstances. They say,
such and such facts passed in such cities, such public
places, such assemblies, in sight of such and such
people. Thus St. Paul writes to the Corinthians.
He directs to a society of Cliristians in the city of
Corinth. He tells them, that they had received
miraculous gifts, and censures them for making a
parade of them. He reproves them for striving to
display, each his own gifts in their public assemblies.
He gives them some rules for the regulation of their
conduct in this case : '^ If any man speak in an un-
" known tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by
"three, and that by course, and let one interpret. If

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 265

^' If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence iri
" the church. Let the prophets speak, two, or three.
^' If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by,
"let the first hold his peace,'' 1 Con xiv. 27, 28, &c.
I ask, with what face could St. Paul have written in
this fnanner to the Corinthians, if all these facts had
been false? If the Corinthians had received neither
"the orifts of prophecy, nor the discerning of spirits,
" nor divers kinds of tongues ?" What a front had
he who wrote in this manner?

2. The enemies of Christianity must be taxed with
extravagance. Since christians gloried in the shin-
ing miracles that their preachers wrought ; and since
their preachers gloried in performing them before
whole assemblies, it would have been very easv to
discover their imposture, had they been impostors.
Suppose a modern impostor preaching a new reli-
gion, and pretending to the glory of confirming it by
notable miracles wrought in this place : What meth-
od should we take to refute him? Should we affirm
that miracles do not prove the truth of a doctrine ?
Should we have recourse to miracles wrought by
otlicrs? Should we not exclaim against the fraud?
Should we not appeal to our own eyes ? Should we
want any thing more than the dissembler's own pro-
fessions to convict him of imposture ? W^hy did not
the avowed enemies of Christianity, who endeavour-
ed by their publications to refute it, take these meth-
ods? How was it, that Celsus, Porphyry, Zosimus,
Julian the apostate, and Hierocles, the greatest antag-
onists that Christianity ever had, and wiiose writings
are in our hands, never denied the facts; but, allow-

TOL. IT. 34

266 The Resurrection of Jems Christ

ing the principle, turned all the points of their argu-
ments against the consequences that christians infer-
red from them ? By supposing the falsehood of the
miracles of the apostles, do we not tax the enemies
of Christianity with absurdity ?

In fine, This supposition chargeth the whole multi'
lude of christians, who embraced the gospel with extra-
vagance. The examination of the truth of religion,
now, depends on a chain of principles and conse-
quences which require a profound attention; and
therefore, the number of those who profess such
or such a religion, cannot demonstrate the truth of
their religion. But in the days of the apostles the
whole depended on a few plain facts. Hath Jesus
Christ communicated his Spirit to his apostles ? Do
the apostles work miracles ? Have they the power of
imparting miraculous gifts to those who embrace
their doctrine ? And yet this religion, the discussion
of which was so plain and easy, spread itself far and
wide. If the apostles did not work miracles, one of
these two suppositions must be made : — either these
proselytes did not deign to open their eyes, but sac-
rificed their prejudices, passions, educations, ease,
fortunes, lives and consciences, witliout condescend-
ing to spend one moment on the examination of this
question. Do the apostles work miracks? or that, on
supposition they did open their eyes, and did find
the falsehood of these pretended miracles, they yet
sacrificed their prejudices, and their passions, their
educations, their ease, and tl^eir honour, their prop-
erties, their consciences, and their lives, to a religion.

The Hesurrection of Jesus Christ^ 267

which wholly turned on this false principle, that its
iriirarles were true.

Collect all these proofs together, my brethren,
consider them in one point of view, and see how ma-
ny extravagant suppositions must be advanced, if the
resurrection of our Saviour be denied. It must be
supposed that guards who had been particularly
cautioned by their officers, sat down to sleep, and
that however they deserved credit, when they said
the body of Jesus Christ was stolen ; it must be sup-
posed that men, who had been imposed on in the
most odious and cruel manner in the world, hazard-
ed their dearest enjoyments for the glory of an im-
postor. It must be supposed, that ignorant and il-
literate men, who had neither reputation, fortune,
nor eloquence, possessed the art of fascinating the
eyes of all the church. It must be supposed, either
that five hundred persons were all deprived of their
senses at a time ; or that they were all deceived in
the plainest matters of fact ; or that this multitude
of false witnesses had found out the secret >of never
contradicting themselves, or one another, and of be-
ing always uniform in their testimony. It must be
supposed, that the most expert courts of judicature
could not find out a shadow of contradiction in a
palpable imposture. It must be supposed, that the
apostles, sensible men in other cases, chose precisely
those places, and those times, which were the most
unfavorable to their views. It must be supposed,
that millions madly suffered imprisonments, tortures,
and crucifixions, to spread an illusion. It must be
supposed, that ten thousand miracles were wrought

268 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

in favor of falsehood : or all these facts must be de-
nied, and then it must be supposed, that the apostles
were idiots, that the enemies of Christianity were idi-
ots, and that all the primitive christians were idiots.
The arguments, that persuade us of the truth of
the resurrection of Jesus Cl;rist, are so clear and so
conclusive, that, if any difficulty remain, it ariseth
from the brightness of the evidence itself Yes, I de-
clare, if any thing have shaken my confidence in it,
it liath arisen from this consideration. I could not
conceive how a truth, attested by so many irreproach-
able witnesses, and confirmed by so many notorious
miracles, should not make more proselytes, how it
could possibly be, that all the Jews, and all the hea-
thens, did not yield to this evidence. But this diffi-
culty ought not to weaken our faith. In the folly of
mankind its solution lies. Men are capable of any
thing to gratify their passions, and to defend their
prejudices. The unbelief of the Jews and Heathens
is not more wonderful than a hundred other ptjenom-
ena, which, were we not to behold them e\e\y day,
would equally alarm us. It is not more surprising
than the superstitious veneration in which, for many
ages, the christian world held that dark, confused,
pa^an genius, Aristotle ; a veneration, which was
carried so far, that when metaphysical questions were
disputed in the schools, questions, on which every
one ought always to have liberty to speak his opin-
ion; when they were examining whether there were
a void in nature, whether nature abhorred a vacuum,
whether matter were divisible, whether they were at-
toms; properly so called ; when it could be proved,

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 269

in disputes of this kind, that Aristotle was of such
or sucli an opinion, his infallibility was allowed, and
the dispute was at an end. The unbelief of the an-
cients is not more surprisino; than the credulity of
the moderns. We see kings, and princes, and a great
part of Christendom, submit to a pope, yea to an in-
ferior priest, often to one who is void of both sense
and grace. It is not more astonishing than the im-
plicit faith of christians, who believe, in an enlight-
ened age, in the days of Descartes, Paschal and Mal-
branche : what am I saying ? Descartes, Paschal, and
Ma'branche themselves believe, that a piece of bread
whicli tl;ey reduce to a pulp with their teeth, which
they taste, swallow, and digest, is the body of their
Redeemer. The ancient unbelief is not more won-
derful than > ours, protestants ! You profess to be-
lieve there is a judgment, and a hell, and to know
that misers, adulterers, and drunkards, must suffer
everlasting punishments there; and, although you
cannot be ignorant of your being in this fatal list,
yet you are as easy about futurity, as if you had
read your names in the book of life, and had no
reason to entertain the least doubt of your salvation.

II. We have luged the arguments, that prove the
resurrection of Christ: 1 shall detain you only a lit-
tle longer in justifying the joyful acclamations which
it produced. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is
in the tabernacles of the righteous : the right hand of
the Lord doth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord
is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly.

1 iie three melancholy days that passed between
the death of Jesus Ciirist and his resurrection, were

270 The Resurrection of Jesus ChrisL

days of triumph for the enemies of the church. Je-
sus Christ riseth again ; and the church triumphs in
its turn : The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in fhe
tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the
Lord is exalted ; the right hand of the Lord doth vcd-
iantly,

1. In those melancholy days, heresy triumphed
over truth. The greatest objection that was made
against the satisfaction of Jesus Christ, was taken
from his innocence, which is the foundation of it.
For if Jesus Clirist were innocent, where was divine
justice, when he was overwhelmed with sufferings,
and put to death? Where was it, when he was ex-
posed to the unbridled rage of the populace? This
difficulty seems at first indissoluble. Yea, rather let
all the guilty perish ; rather let all the posterity of
Adam be plunged into hell; rather let divine justice
destroy every creature that divine goodness hath
made, than leave so many virtues, so much benevo-
lence, and so much fervour, humility so profound,
and zeal so great, without indemnity and reward.
But when we see that Jesus Christ, by suffering
death, disarmed it, by lying in the tomb took away
its sting, by his crucifixion ascended to a throne, the
difficulty is diminished, yea it vanisheth away : *' The
" voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the taberna-
" cles of the righteous. Tlie right hand of tlie Lord
" is exalted : the right hand of the Lord doth val-
" iantly." God and man are reconciled; divine jus-
tice is satisfied ; henceforth we may go " boldly to
" the throne of grace. There is now no condemna-
" tion to them which are in Clirist Jesus. Who shall

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 271

" lay any thins; to the charge of God's elect? Who
" is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea,
" rather that is risen again," Heb. iv. IG. Rom. viii,
1, 32, 34.

2. In those mournful days injidelily triumphed over
faith. At the sight of a deceased .Tesus the infidel
displayed his system by insulting him, who sacrifi-
ced his passions to his duty, and by saying, See, see
that pale, motionless carcase : " Bless God and die !*

* So the iFrench Bibles render the words, Bless God a?id die !
our translation hath it, Curse God and die. Job, who best knew
his wife, calls this a foolish sayinsj ; thatis,a saying void o{ human-
itij and religion : for so the word foolish signifies in scripture. It
was a cruel, popular sarcasm, frequently cast by sceptics on those
who persisted in the belief of a God, and of the perfection and
excellence of his providence, even while he suffered them to sink
under the most terrible calamities, " Your Cxod is tlie God of
universal nature ! He regards the actions of men ! He rewards
virtue I He punishes vice ! On these erroneous principles your
adoration of him has been built. This was a pardonable folly in
the time of your prosperity : but what an absurdity to persist in
it now ! If your present sufferings do not undeceive you, no fu-
ture means can. Your mind is past information. Persevere 1
Go on m your adoration till you die^

It may seem strange, at first, that the same term should stand
for two such opposite ideas as blessing and cursing : but a veiy
plain and natural reason may be assigned for it. The HebreAV
word originally signified to blessy benedicere : and, when applied
to Gof/, it meant to bless^ that is, to firaise God by ivorshijiping
him. The Talmudists say, that the religious honours, which
Avere paid to God, were of four sorts. The prostration of the
whole body was one : The bowing of the head, another : The
bending of the upper part of the body toward the knees, a third :
and genuflexion, tlie fourth. Megillae fol. 22. 2. apud Buxtorf.
Lex. In these ways was God praised, worshipped, or blessed,
and the Hebrew word for blessing was naturally put for genuficx^
iouy the expression of blessing, or praising j thus it; is rendered

272 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

" All events come alike to all : there is one event to
" the righteous and to the wicked; to the clean and

Psal. xcv. 6. let us kneel before the Lord: 2 Chron. vi. 13. Solo-
mon kneeled dov/n upon his knees. The bending of the knee be-
ing a usual token of resfiect which people paid to one another
when they met, the word was transferred to this also, and is pro-
perly rendered salute^ 2 Kings iv. 29. If thou meet any man,
salute him not. The same token of respect being paid at part-
ing, the word was also applied to that : They blessed Rebekah,
that is, they bade her farewelly accompanying their good wishes
with genuflexion. From this known meaning of the word, it was
applied to a bending of the knee w^here no blessing could be in-
tended ; he made his camels kiieel doton, Gen. xxiv. 11. It was
put sometimes for the respect that was paid to a magistrate. Gen.
xli. 43. and sometimes for the respect which idolaters paid to false
gods. But to bow the knee to an idol was to deny the zxi,-ittnce of
God^ to renounce his worship^ or, in the scripture style, to curse
God, to blaspheme God, Sec. If I beheld the sun<, or the movn,
and my mouth hath kissed my hand ; I should have denied the
God that is above^ Job xxxi. 26, 27, 28. Only the scope of the
place, therefore, can determine the precise meaning of the word.
The word must be rendered curse^ deny God, or renounce his
worship^ Job i. 5, 11. and it must be rendered bless, acknowledge,
or worshi/i him, in ver. 21. The Septuagint, after a long sarcas-
tic paraphrase, supposed to have been spoken by Job's wife, ren-
ders the phrase et^ov ri ^Tjf^ce. 9r^o5 icv^toy, x.eci rtXtvret. To
bring our meaning into a narrow compass. If an aixient Jew
had seen a dumb man bend his knee in the tabcrvacle, or in the
temple, he would have said mn< to he blessed tht Lord. Ha»u he
seen him bend his knee at coiirt, in the presence of Solomon, he
would have said i^d "|0 he blessed, that is, he saluted the king.
And had he seen him bend his knee in a house of Baal, or in an
idolatrous grove, he would have said, rx n3 he blessed an idol ;
or, as the em.bracing of idolatry was the renouncing of the wor-
ship of the true God, he would have exprcsseei the same action
by r^^r\'< n: he cursed Jehovah. We have ventured this con-
jecture, to prevent any prejudices against the Enp^iisii Bible t; at
may arise from the seemingly uncertain meaiung of some He-
brew words.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 273

" to the unclean ; to him that sacrifireth and to him
" that sacrificeth not ; as is the good, so is the sin-
" ner, and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an
" oath," Eccl. ix. 2. Jesus Christ riseth from the
dead : *' The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in
" the tabernacles of the righteous." The system of
the infidel sinks : " he errs, not knowing the scrip-
" tures, nor the power of God," Matt. xxii. 29.

In those dismal days, tyranny triumphed over the
perseverance of martyrs. Innocence was oppressed,
and the rewards of virtue seemed to be buried in the
tomb of him, who, above all others, had devoted
himself to it. Jesus Christ riseth again : The voice
of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the
righteous. The designs of the enemies of innocence
are all frustrated, and their attempts to disgrace pu-
rity serve only to exalt its glory, and to perpetuate
its memory. Let the tyrants of the church, then,
rage against us; let the gates of hell. Matt. xvi. 18.
consult to destroy us ; let the kings of the earthy
more furious often than hell itself, set themselves
against the Lord, and against his anointed, Psal. ii.
2. let them set up gibbets, let them equip galleys,
let them kindle fires to burn us, and prepare racks
to torture us ; they themselves, and all their cruel
inventions, shall seiTe the purposes of the Almighty
God: The Assyrian is only the rod of his anger, Isa.
X. 5. Herod and Pilate do only what his hand and
his counsel determined before to be done. Acts iv. 28.
God knoweth how to restrain their fury, and to say-
to them, as he saith to the ocean, Hitherto shalt thott

VOL. ir. 35

274 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

come, hut no further : and here shall thy proud ivaves
he stayed. Job xxxviii. 2.

4. Finally, in those fatal days, death triumphed
over all human hope of immortal glory. The desti-
ny of all believers is united to that of Jesus Christ.
He had said to his disciples, Because I live, ye shall
live also, John xiv. 19. In like manner, on the same
principle, we may say, If he be dead, we are dead
also. And how could we have hoped to live, if he,
who is our life, had not freed himself from the state
of tlie dead ? Jesus Christ riseth from the dead :
The voice of rejoicing is in the tahernacles of the right-
eous. Nature is re-instated in its primaeval dignity ;
death is swallowed up in victory, 1 Cor. xv. 54, the
grave is disarmed of its sting. Let my eye-sight de-
cay; let my body bow under the weight of old age;
let the organs of my body cease to perform their
wonted operations ; let all my senses fail ; let death
sweep away the dear relatives of my hosom, and my
friends, 7vho are as mine own soid, Deut. xiii, 6. let
these eyes, gushing with tears, attended with sobs,
and sorrows, and groans, behold her expire, who was
my company in solitude, my counsel in difficulty,
my comfort in disgrace ; let me follow to the grave
the bones, the carcase, the precious remains of this
dear part of myself; my converse is suspended, but
is not destroyed ; ha2arus, my Jriend, sleepeth, hut
if I helievcy I shall see the glory of God, Jesus
Christ is the resurrection and the life, John xi. 2, 40,
25. He is risen from the dead, we, therefore, shall
one day rise. Jesus Clirist is not a private person^
he is a public representative, he is the surety of the

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 275

church, " the first fruits of them that sleep. If the
"spirit of him, that raised up Jesus from the dead,
" dwell in you ; he that raised up Christ from the
**dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by
"his Spirit that dwelleth in you," 1 Cor. xv, 20.
Rom. viii. 2.

AVas ever joy more rational ? Was triumph ever
more glorious ? The triumphant entries of conquer-
ors, the songs that rend the air in praise of their vic-
tories, the pyramids on which their exploits are
transmitted to posterity, when they have subdued a
general, routed an army, humbled the pride, and re-
pressed the rage of a foe ; ought not all these to
yield to the joys that are occasioned by the event
which we celebrate to day ? Ought not all these to
yield to the victories of our incomparable Lord, and
to his people's expressions of praise? One part of the
gratitude, which is due to beneficial events, is to
know their value, and to be affected with the bene-
fits which they procure. Let us celebrate the praise
of the Author of our redemption, my brethren; let
us call heaven and earth to witness our gratitude.
Let an increase of zeal accompany this part of our
engagements. Let a double portion of fire from
heaven kindle our sacrifice ; and with a heart pene-
trated with the liveliest gratitude, and with the most
ardent love, let each christian exclaim. Blessed be
the God and hathcr of my Lord Jesus Christ, who,
according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten me
again to a Hi el' hope, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, 1 Pet. i. 3. Let him join his
voice to that of angels, and, in concert with the ce-

276 The Hesurrection of Jesus Christ

lestial intelligences, let him sing, Holy, holijy holy,
is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his
glory, Isa. vi. 3. Let the tabernacles of the right-
eous resound with the text, the right hand of the Lord
doth valiantly : the right hand of the Lord doth val-
iantly.

But what melancholy thoughts are these, which
interrupt the pleasures of this day? Whose taberna-
cles are these ? The tabernacles of the righteous ?
Ah ! my brethren ! woe be to you, if, under pre-
tence that the righteous ought to rejoice to-day, you
rejoice by adding sin to sin! The resurrection of the
Saviour of the world perfectly assorts with the other
parts of his economy. It is a spring flowing with
motives to holiness. God has left nothing undone
in the work of your salvation. The great work is
finished. Jesus Christ completed it, when he rose
from the tomb. The Son hath paid the ransom.
The Father hath accepted it. The Holy Spirit hath
published it, and, by innumerable prodigies, hath
confirmed it. None but yourselves can condemn
you. Nothing can deprive you of this grace, but'
your own contempt of it.

But the more precious this grace is, the more crim-
inal, and the more affronting to God, will your con-
tempt of it be. The more joy, with which the glo-
ry of a risen Jesus ought to inspire you, if you be-
lieve in him, the more terror ought you to feel, if
you attempt to disobey him. He, wlio declared him
the Son of God with power by the resurrection from
the dead, put a sceptre of iron into his iiand, that he
might break his enemieS; and dash them in pieces like

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 277

a potter's vessel, Rom. i, 4. Psal. ii. 9. Dost thou en-
ter into these reflections ? Dost thou approach the
table of Jesus Christ with determinations to live a
new life ? I believe so. But the grand fault of our
communions, and solemn festivals, doth not lie in
the precise time of our communions and solemnities.
The representation of Jesus Christ in the Lord's
supper; certain reflections, that move conscience;
an extraordinary attention to the noblest objects in
religion ; the solemnities that belong to our public
festivals; inspire us with a kind of devotion: but
how often does this devotion vanish with the objects
that produced it ? These august symbols should fol-
low t! ee into thy warfare in the world. A voice
should sound in thine ears amidst the tumult of the
world ; amidst the dissipating scenes that besiege thy
mind ; amidst the pleasures that fascinate thine eyes ;
amidst the grandeur and glory which thou causest to
blaze around thee, and with which thou thyself, al-
though, alas! always mortal, always a worm of the
earth, always dust, and ashes, art the first to be daz-
zled ; a voice should sound in thine ears. Remember
thy vows, Remember thine oaths, Remember thy
joys.

My brethren, if you be not to-morrow, and till
the next Lord's-supper-day, what you are to-day, we
recall all the congratulations, all the benedictions,
and all the declarations of joy, w hich w^e have ad-
dressed to you. Instead of congratulating you on
your happiness in being permitted to approach God
in your devotions, we will deplore your wickedness
in adding perfidy and perjury to all your other

278 The JResurredion of Jesus Christ

crimes. Instead of benedictions and vows, we will
cry, " Anathema, Maranatha ; if any man love not
" the Lord Jesus Clirist, let him be Anathema,"
1 Cor. xvi. 22. If any man who hath kissed the Sa-
viom* betray him, let him be Anathema. If any
man defile the mysteries of our holy religion, let
him be Anathema. If any man " tread under foot
" the Son of God, and count the blood of the cove-
" nant an unholy thing, let him be Anathema," Heb.
X. 29. Instead of inviting thee to celebrate the
praise of the Author of our being, we forbid thee
the practice, for it is comely only for the upright,
Psal. xxxiii. 1. "God, by our ministry, saith to
"thee. Thou wicked man! What hast thou to do
*' to take my covenant in thy mouth?" Psal. 1. 16.
Why doth that mouth now bless my name, and then
blaspheme it : now praise me, thy Creator, and then
defame my creatures : now publish my gospel, and
then profane it ?

If, on the contraiy, you live agreeably to the en-
gagements into which you have entered to-day ;
what a day, what a day, my brethren, is this day !
A day, in which you have performed the great work
for which God formed you, and which is all that de-
serves the attention of an immortal soul. A day in
which many impurities, many calumnies, many pas-
sionate actions, many perjuries, and many oaths,
have been buried in everlasting silence. It is a day
in which you have been w^ashed in tlie blood of the
Lamb ; in which you have entered into fellowship
with God; in which you have heard these trium-
phant shouts in the church, Grace, grace unto ity

The Resurrection of Jesus ChrisL 279

Zech. iv. 7. A day in which you have been '^ rais-
" ed up together, and made to sit together in heav-
" enly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 6. A day,
the pleasing remembrance of which will follow you
to your death-bed, and will enable your pastors to
open the gates of heaven to you, to commit your
souls into the hands of the Redeemer, who ransom-
ed it, and to say to you. Remember, on such a day
your sins were effaced ; remember, on such a day
Jesus Christ disarmed death ; remember, on such a
day the gate of heaven w^as opened to you.

O day ! which the Lord hath made, let me for
ever rejoice in thy light ! O day of designs, resolu-
tions, and promises, may I never forget thee! O
day of consolation and grace, may a rich effusion
of the peace of God on this auditory preserve thy
memorial through a thousand generations !

Receive this peace, my dear brethren. I spread
over you hands washed in the innocent blood of my
Redeemer; and as our risen Lord .Jesus Christ, when
he appeared to his disciples, said to them. Peace,
peace be unto you; so we, by his command, while
we celebrate the memorable history of his resurrec-
tion, say to you, " Peace, peace be unto you. As
" many as walk according to this rule, peace be on
*' them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God,"
John XX. 19, 2L Gal. vi. 16. To him be honour
and dorv for ever. Amen.

SERINIOX IX.

The Ejf)\ision of the Holy Spirit,

Acts ii. 37.

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their
heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the
apostles. Men and Brethren, What shall we do /

"Son of Man, I send thee to the children of Is-
"rael.toa rebellious nation. They will not hear-
"ken unto tliee; for thev will not hearken unto me:
" yet thou shalt speak unto them, and tell them,
"Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear,
"or whether they will forbear; and they shall know
"that there hath been a prophet among them,"
Ezek. ii. 3, 5. and iii. 7, 11. Thus God formerly
forearmed Ezekiel against the greatest discourage-
ment that he was to meet with in his mission, I mean
the uns access fulness of his ministry. For, my breth-
ren, they are not only your ministers, who are disap-
pointed in the exercise of the ministry : Isaiahs, Jere-
miahs, Ezekiels, are often as unsuccessful as we. In
such melancholy cases, we must endeavour to sur-
mount the obstacles which the obduracy of sinners
opposeth against the dispensations of grace, ^,^e
must shed tears of compassion over an ungrateful
Jerusalem ; and if, after we have iL^ed ever> passi-
^OL. ir. 36

282 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit.

ble mean, we find the corruption of our hearers in-
vincible, we must be satisfied with the peace of a
good conscience, we must learn to say with the pro-
phet, or rather with Jesus Christ, "I have laboured
" in vain, 1 have spent my strength for nought, and
"in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord,
"and my work with my God," Isa, xlix. 4. We
must content ourselves with this thought, if our hear-
ers have not been sanctified, they have been left
without excuse ; if God have not been glorified in
their conversion, he will be glorious in their destruc-
tion.

But how sad is this consolation ! how melancholy
is this encouragement ! By consecrating our minis-
try to a particular society, we unite ourselves to the
members of it by the tenderest ties, and whatever
idea we have of the happiness which God reserveth
for us in a future state, we know not how to per-
suade ourselves that we can be perfectly happy,
when those christians, whom we consider as our
brethren, and our children, are plunged in a gulph
of everlasting wo. If the angels of God rejoice over
one sinner that repenteth, Luke xv. 10. what pleas-
ure must he feel, who hath reason to hope that in
this valley of tears he hath had the honour of open-
ing the gate of heaven to a multitude of sinners, that
he hath saved himself, and them that heard him, 1 Tim,
iv. 16.

This pure joy God gave on the day of Pentecost
to St. Peter. When he entered the ministerial course,
he entered on a course of tribulations. When he
w^as invested with the apostleship, he w^as invested

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit 283

with martyrdom. He who said to him, Feed my
sheep, feed my lambs, said also to him, " Verily, veri-
"ly, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou
" girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou would-
" est: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
" forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and
"carry thee whither thou wouldest not," John xxi.
15, 16, 18. In order to animate him against a world
of contradicting opposers, and to sweeten the bitter-
nesses which were to accompany his preaching, Jesus
Christ gave him the most delicious pleasure that a
christian preacher can taste. He caused, at the
sound of his voice, those fortresses to fall which
were erected to oppose the establishment of the gos-
pel. The first experiment of St. Peter is a miracle ;
his first sermon astonishes, alarms, transforms, and
obtains, three thousand conquests to Jesus Christ.

This marvellous event the primitive church saw,
and this, while we celebrate, we wish to see again to-
day. Too long, alas ! we have had no other encour-
agement in the exercise of our ministry than that
which God formerly gave to the prophet Ezekiel :
shall we never enjoy that which he gave to St Peter?
Too long, alas ! we have received that command
from God, "Thou shalt speak unto them, and tell
" them, Thus saith the Lord, whether they will hear,
"or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebell-
" ious house." Almighty God ! pour out that bene-
diction on this sermon, which will excite compunc-
tion in the hearts, and put these words in the mouths
of converts, 3Ien and brethren, what shall we do 1
Add new^ members to thy church, Acts ii. 47. not on-

284 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit,

\y to the visible, but also to the invisible church,
which is thy peculiar treasure, Exod. xix. 5. the ob-
ject of thy tenderest love. Amen.

When they heard this they werepiicked in their heart.
They of wliom the sacred historian speaks were a
part of those Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,
and dwellers in IMesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cap-
padocia, in Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Egypt, ver. 9,
10. who had travelled to Jerusalem to keep the feast
of Pentecost. When these men heard this, that is,
when they heard the sermon of St Peter, " they were
"pricked in their heart, and said. Men and brethren,
*' what shall we do ?" In order to understand the hap-
py effect, we must endeavour to understand the
cause. In order to comprehend what passed in the
auditory, we m.ust understand the sermon of the
preacher. There are five remarkable things in the
sermon, and there are five correspondent dispositions
in the hearers.

I. I see in the sermon a noble freedom of speech ;
and in the souls of the hearers those deep impres-
sions, which a subject generally makes, when the
preacher himself is deeply affected with its excel-
lence, and emboldened by the justice of his cause.

II. There is in the sermon a miracle, which gives
dignity and weight to the subject : and there is in
the souls of the auditors that deference, which can-
not be withheld from a man to whose ministry God
puts his seal.

III. I see in the sermon of the preacher an invin-
cible power of reasoning ; and in the souls of the au-

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 285

dience that conviction which carries along with it
the consent of the will.

lY. There are in the sermon stinging reproofs ;
and in the souls of the hearers painful remorse and
regrets.

V. I observe in the sermon threatenings of ap-
proacliing judgments ; and in the souls of the hear-
ers a horror that seizeth all their powers, for fear of
the judgments of a consuming God, Heb. xii. 29.
These are five sources of reflections, my brethren ;
five comments on the words of the text.

1. We liave remarked in the sermon of St. Peter,
that noblt freedom of speech which so w^ell becomes a
christian preacher, and is so well adapted to strike his
hearers. How much soever w-e now admire this beau-
tiful part of pulpit-eloquence, it is very difficult to
imitate it. Sometimes a weakness of faith, which at-
tends your best established preachers; sometimes
worldly prudence ; sometimes a timidity, that pro-
ceedeth from a modest consciousness of the insuffi-
ciency of their talents ; sometimes a fear, -too well
grounded, alas ! of the retorting of those censures,
which people, always ready to murmur against them,
who reprove their vices, are eager to make ; some-
times a fear of those persecutions, which the world
always raiseth against all whom heaven qualifies to
destroy the empire of sin : all these considerations
damp the courage of the preacher, and deprive him
of freedom of speech. If in the silent study, when
tlie mind is filled with an apprehension of the tremen-
dous majesty of God, we resolve to attack vice, how
eminent soever the seat of its dominion may be,Iow^n,

286 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit.

my brethren, we are apt to be intimidated in a public
assembly, when in surveying the members of whom
it is composed, we see some hearers, whom a [nulti-
tude of reasons ought to render very respectable to
us.

But none of these considerations had any weight
with our apostle. And, indeed, why should any of
them affect him ? Should the weakness of his faith ?
He had conversed with .Tesus Christ himself; he had
accompanied him on the holy mount, he had heard a
voice from the excellent glory , saying, This is my be-
loved Son in whom I am well pleased, 2 Pet. i. 17.
Moreover, he had seen him after his resurrection
loadcn with the spoils of death and hell, ascending
to heaven in a cloud, received into the bosom of God
amidst the acclamations of angels, shouting for joy,
and crying, Lift up your heads, O ye gates I ye ever-
lasting doors ! the king of glory shall come in, Psalm
xxiv 7. Could he distrust his talents ? The prince
of the kingdom, the author, and finisher of faith,
lieb. xii. 2. had told him, Thou art Peter and upon
this rock I will build my church. Matt. xvi. 18. Should
be dread reproaches and recriminations ? The puri-
ty of his intentions, and the sanctity of his life con-
found them. Should he pretend to keep fair with
the world ? But what finesse is to be used, when
eternal misery is to be denounced, and eternal hap-
piness proposed? Should he shrink back from the
sufferings that superstition and cruelty were prepar-
ing for christians? His timidity would have cost him
too dear ; it would have cost him sighs too deep, tears
too many. Persecuting tyrants could invent no pun-

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit 287

ishinents so severe as those which his own conscience
had inflicted on him for his former fall : at all adven-
tures, if he must be a martyr, he chooseth rather to
die for religion than for apostacy.

Philosophers talk of certain invisible bands that
unite mankind to one another. A man, animated with
any passion, hath in the features of his face, and in
the tone of his voice, a something, that partly com-
municates his sentiments to his hearers. Error pro-
posed in a lively manner by a man, who is affected
with it himself, may seduce unguarded people. Fic-
tions, which we know are fictions, exhibited in this man-
ner, move and affect us for a moment. But what a
dominion over the heart doth that speaker obtain who
delivers truths, and who is affected himself with the
truths which he delivereth \ To this part of the elo-
Cjuence of St. Peter, we must attribute the emotions
of his hearers ; they were pricked in their heart. They
said to the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do 1 Such are the impressions which a man, deeply
affected with the excellence of his subject, and em-
boldened by the justice of his cause, makes "on his
hearers.

II. A second thing which gave weight and dignity
to the sermon of St. Peter was the miracle that pre-
ceded his preaching, I mean the gift of tongues,
which had been communicated to all the apostles.
This prodigy had three characteristic marks of a
genuine miracle. What is a true, genuine, authen-
tic miracle ? In my opinion, one of the principal
causes of the fruitlessness of all our inquiries on
this article is the pretending to examine itphilosoph-

288 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit.

ically. This rock we should cautiously endeavour
to avoid. Mankind know so little of the powers of
nature, that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to
determine strictly and philosophically, whether an
action, which seems to us a real miracle, be really
such ; or whether it be not our ignorance that caus-
eth it to appear so to us. We are so uiiacquainti^d
with the faculties of unerabodied spirits, and of oth-
ers which are united to some portion of matter by
laws different from those that unite our bodies and
souls, that we cannot determine whether an event,
which seems to us an immediate work of the omnip-
otence of God, be not operated by an inferior pow-
er, though subordinate to his will.

But the more reason a philosopher hath for morti-
fication, when he pretends thoroughly to elucidate
abstruse questions, in order to gratify curiosity, the
more helps hath a christian to satisfy himself, when
he investigates them with the laudable design of
knowing all that is necessary to be known, in order
to salvation. Let us abridge the matter. The prod-
igy, that accompanied the sermon of St. Peter, had
three characteristic marks of a real miracle.

1. // was above human porter. Every pretended
miracle, that hath not this first character, ought to
be suspected by us. The want of this hath prevent-
ed our astonishment at several prodigies that have
been played off against the reformation, and will al-
ways prevent their making any impression on our
minds. No; should a hundred statues of the bles-
sed virgin move before us ; should the images of all
the saints walk; should a thousand phantoms ap-

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 289

pear ;^ should voices in tlie air be heard asjainst Cal-
vin and Luther; we should infer only one conclu-
sion from all li]ese artifices, that is, that they, who
use them, distrusting the justice of their cause, sup-
ply the want of truth with trick ; that, as they des-
pair of obtaining rational converts, they may, at
least, proselyte simple souls.

But the prodigy in question was evidently supe-
rior to human power. Of all sciences in the world,
that of languages is the least capable of an instant
acquisition. Certain natural talents, a certain supe-
riority of genius, sometimes produce in some men
the same effects which long and painful industry
can scarcely ever produce in oti ers. We have some-
times seen people, whom nature seems to have de-
signedly formed in an instant, become courageous
captains, profound geometers, admirable orators:
but tongues are acquhed by study and time. The
acquisition of languages is like the knowledge of
history. It is not a superior genius, it is not a great
capacity, that can discover to any man what passed
in the world ten or twelve ages ago. The monu-
ments of antiquity must be consulted, huge folios
must be read, and an immense number of volumes
must be understood, arranged and digested. In
like manner, the knowledge of languages is a know-
ledge of experience, and no man can ever derive it
from his own innate fund of ability. Yet the apos-
tles, and apostolical men, who were known to
be men of no education, all on a sudden knew the

* See a great number of examples of tliis kind in Lavatcr's
Trait d€8 S/iectres.

TOL. II. 37

290 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit

arbitrary signs, by which different nations had agreed
to express their thoughts. Terms, which had no natu-
ral connection with their ideas, were all on a sudden
arranged in their minds. Those things, which other
men can only acquire by disgustful labour, those
particularly, which belong to the most difficult
branches of knowledge, they understood without
making the least attempt to learn them. They even
offered to communicate those gifts to them, who be-
lieved tiicir doctrine, and thereby prevented the sus-
picions that might have been formed of them, of hav-
ing affected ignorance all their lives, in order to as-
tonish all the world at last with a display of litera-
ture, and by tliat to cover the black design of impo-
sing on the clmrch.

2. But perhaps these miracles may not be the
more respectable on account of their superiority to
human power. Perhaps, if they be not human,
they may be devilish ? No, my brethren, a little atten-
tion to their second character will convince you that
they are divine. Their end was to incline tneny not
to renounce natural and revealed religion^ but to res-
pect and to follow both : not to render an attentive
examination unnecessary^ but to allure men to it.

It is impossible that God should divide an intelli-
gent soul between evidence and evidence ; between
the evidence of falsehood in an absurd proposition,
and the evidence of truth that results from a miracle
wrought in favour of that proposition. I have evi-
dent proofs in favour of this proposition. The whole
is greater than a part : were God to work a miracle
in favour of the opposite proposition. The whole is

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit 291

less than a part, he would divide my mind between
evidence and evidence, between the evidence of my
proposition, and the evidence that resulted from the
miracle wrought in favour of the opposite proposi-
tion : he would require me to believe a truth, that
could not be established without the renouncing of
another truth.

In like manner, were God to work a miracle to
authorize a doctrine opposite to any one of those
which are demonstrated by natural or revealed reli-
gion, God would be contrary to himself; he would
establish that by natural and revealed religion which
he would destroy by a miracle, and he would estab-
lish by a miracle what he would destroy by natural
and revealed religion.

The end of the prodigy of the preaching of St. Pe-
ter, the end of all the miracles of the apostles, was
to render men attentive to natural and revealed re-
ligion. When they addressed themselves to Pagans,
you know, they exhorted them to avail themselves
of the light of nature in order to understand their
need of revelation : and in this chapter the apostle
exhorts the Jews to compare the miracle that was
just now wrought with their own prophecies, that
from both there might arise proof of the divine
mission of that Messiah whom he preached to them.

3. The prodigy that accompanied the preaching
of vSt. Peter had the third character of a true mira-
cle. It was wrought in the presence of those who had
the greatest interest in knowing the truth of it. AVith-
out this, how could this miracle have inclined them
to embrace the religion in favour of which it was

292 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit

wfoDfi^ht? On this article there hath been, and there
will be, an eternal dispute between us and the mem-
bers of tf at communkm, with which it is far more
desirable fv)r us to i:ave an unity of faith than an
open war. It is a maxim, which the church of Rome
hath constituted an article of faith, that the presence
of an heretic suspends a miracle. How unjust is
this maxim !

We dispute with you the essential characters of
the true ctiurch. You pretend that one indelible
character is the power of working miracles: and,
you add, this power resides with you in all its glory.
We require you to produce evidence. We pro-
mise to be open to conviction. We engao;e to al-
low the argument, which you derive from the pow-
er of working miracles, all the weight that religion
will suffer us to give it. But you keep out of s^ght.
You choose for your theatres, cloisters and monas-
teries, arKl yoiH' own partisans and disciples are your
only spectators.

The apostles observed a different conduct. Yery
far from adopting your maxim, that the presence of
a heretic suspends a miracle, they affirmed the direct
contrary, St. Paul expressly saith. Tongues are for
a sign, not to Ihtm that believe, but to them that believe
not, I Cor. xiv. 22. This is a very remarkable pas-
sage. Some of the primitive christians made an in-
discreet parade of their miraculous gifts in religious
assemblies. St. Paul reproves their vanity : but at
the same time tells the Corinthians, that in some ca-
ses they might produce those gifts in their assem-
blies, they might exercise them when unbelievers were

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit 293

present ; that is, when persons were in their assem-
blies who were not convinced of the truth of the gos-
pel.

Read the history of the apostles. Where did Phil-
ip the evangelist heal a great number of demoniacs ?
Was this miracle performed in the cell of a monas-
tery ? In the presence of partial and interested per-
sons? No: It Avas in Samaria; in the presence of
that celebrated magician, who, not being able to de-
ny, or to discredit the miracles of the apostle, offer-
ed to purchase the power of working them, Acts viii.
7, 9, 18, &c. Where did the Holy Spirit descend on
Cornelius, the Centurion, and on all those who were
with him? chap. x. In a darkchamber of a convent?
Not in the presence of suspected persons? Behold!
it was in Cesarea, a city full of Jews, a city, in which
the Roman governors held their courts, and where
a considerable garrison of Roman soldiers was al-
ways stationed. In what place was the imagination
of the populace so stricken with the miracles that
were wrought by St. Paul in the course of two years,
that tliey carried unto the sick handkerchiefs and
aprons, at the touching of which, diseases departed
Jrom them, and the evil spirits went out of them ?
Acts xix. 12. Was it in a nunnery? Was it not in
the presence of suspected persons? Behold! it was
at Ephesus, another metropolis, where a great num-
ber of Jews resided, and where they had a famous
synagogue. And not to wander any further from
my principal subject, where did the apostles exer-
cise those gifts which they had received from the Ho-
ly Ghost? In a conclave? No. In the presence of

294 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit

suspected persons ? Yea : in the presence of Medes,
Parthians, and Elamites, before dwellers in Meso-
potamia, in Pontus, in Asia, in Phrygia, and in
Egypt, in Pampliylia, in Lybia, and in Rome. They
exercised their gifts in Jerusalem itself, in the very
city where Jesus Christ had been crucified. The
prodigy, that accompanied the preaching of St. Pe-
ter, had all the characters then of a true, real, genu-
ine miracle.

The miracle being granted, I affirm, that the com-
piinction of heart, of which my text speaks, was an
effect of that attention which could not be refused
to such an extraordinary event, and of that deference,
which could not be withheldfrom a man, to whose min-
istry God had set his seal. Such prodigies might
^vell give dignity and weight to the language of those
who w rought them, and prepare the minds of spec-
tators to attend to the evidence of their argumenta-
tion. Modern preachers, sometimes borrow the in-
nocent artifices of eloquence, to engage you to hear
those truths which you ought to hear for their own
sakes. They endeavour sometimes to obtain, by a
choice of words, a tour of thought, an harmonious
cadence, that attention which you would often with-
hold from their subjects, were they content with pro-
posing them in a manner simple and unadorned.
But how great were the advantages of the first her-
alds of the gospel over modern preachers! The res-
urrection of a dead body ; what a fine exordium !
ihe sudden death of an Ananias and a Sapphiia,
what an alarming conclusion ! The expressive elo-
quence of a familiar supernatural knowledge of the

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit, 295

least known, and the best sounding tongues ; how
irresistibly striking! Accordingly, three thousand
of the hearers of St. Peter yielded to the power of
his speech. They instantly, and entirely, surrender-
ed themselves to men, who addressed them in a man-
ner so extraordinary, tkej/ were pricked in their hearty
and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles,
3Ien, and brethren, what shall we do 1

in. VVe remark, in the discourse of the apostle,
an invincible power of reasoning, and, in the souls
of his lieiuers that conviction which carries along
rvith it the consent of the will. Of all methods of
reasoning with an adversary, none is more close and
conclusive than that which is taken from his own
priucipJes. It hath this advantage above others, the
opponent is obliged, according to strict rules of rea-
soning, to admit the argument, although it be sophis-
tical and false. For by what rule can he reject my^
pioposition, if it have an equal degree of probabili-
ity with another proposition, which he receives as
evident and demonstrative ? But when the principles
of an adversary are well grounded ; and w hen Ave
are able to prove that his principles produce our con-
elusions, our reasoning becomes demonstrative to a
rational opponent, and he cannot deny it.

Christianity, it is remarkable, is defensible both
>vays. The first may be successfully employed,
against Pagans ; the second more successfully against
the Jews. It is easy to convince a heathen, that he
can have no right to exclaim against the mysteries
of the gospel ; because, if he have any reason to
exclaim against the mysteries of Christianity, he hath

296 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit

infinitely more to exclainn aoainst those of Pa2;anism.
Doth it become you. said Justin Martyr to the hea*
thens- in his second apology for Christianity, " Doth
" it become you to disallow our mysteries ; that the
" Word was the only begotten Son of God, that he
" was criiCitied, that he rose from the dead, that he
" a'=!C ended to heaven? We affirm nothing but what
" hath been taught and believed by you. For the
" authors, ye know, whom ye admire, say that Ju-
" piter had many children; that Mercury is the
" word, the interpreter, tlie teaciier of all ; that Es-
" culapius, after he had been stricken with thunder,
" ascended to heaven, and so on^."

The second way was employed more successful-
ly by the apostles against the Jews. They demon-
strated, that all the reasons, which obliged them to
be Jews, ought to have induced them to become
christians : that every argument, which obliged them
to acknowledge the divine legation of Moses, ought
to have engaged them to believe in Jesus Christ.
St. Peter made use of this method. All the apostles
used it. Put together all tliose valuable fragments
of their sermons which the Holy Spirit hath preser-
ved, and you will easily see, that these holy men
took the Jews on their own principles, and endeav-
oured to convince them, as we just now said, that
whatever engaged them to adhere to Judaism ought
to have engaged them to embrace Christianity, that
what induced them to be .Tews ought to have indu-
ced them to become christians.

* Justin. Martyr. Apol. 2. pro Christian. Pages 66, 67. Edit. Pa-
ris 1636.

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit 297

What argument can you allege for your religion,
said they to the Jews, which doth not establish that
which we preach ? Do you allege tlie privileges
of your legislator ? Your argument is demonstra-
tive : Moses had access to God on the holy moun-
tain ; he did converse with him as a man speaketh
to his friend. But this argument concludes for us.
The christian legislator had more glorious privileges
still. God raised him up, having loosed the pains of
dtath, Acts ii. 24, &c. he suffered not his Holy One
to see corruption, he hath caused him to sit on his
throne, he hath made him both Lord and Christ,

Do you allege the purity of the morality of your
religion? Your argument is demonstrative. The
manifest design of your religion is to reclaim men
to God, to prevent idolatry, and to inspire them with
piety, benevolence, and zeal. But this argument
concludes for us. What do we preach to you but
these very articles? To what would we engage you,
except to repent of your sins, to receive the promise
which w as made unto you and to your children, and
to save yourselves from this untoward generation?
verse 39. Do we require any thing of you beside
that spirit of benevolence, which unites the hearts of
mankind, and which makes us " have all things com-
" mon, sell our possessions, part them to all men as
*' every man hath need, and continue daily in the
" temple with one accord ?" ver. 44, kc.

Do you allege the miracles that were wrought to
prove the truth of your religion ? Your argument is
demonstrative. But this argument establisheth the
truth of our religion. Behold the miraculous gift«v

VOL. II. 38

298 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit,

which have been already communicated to those
who have believed, and which are ready to be com-
municated to those who shall yet believe. Behold
each of us working miracles, which have never been
wrought by any, except by a fewof the divine men
who are so justly venerable in your esteem. See,
the Holy Ghost is " poured out upon all flesh; our
" sons, and our daughters prophecy, our young men
" see visions, and our old men dream dreams, our
" servants and our handmaidens" are honoured with
miraculous gifts, verse 17.

What, then, are the prejudices that still engage
you to continue in the profession of Judaism ? Are
they derived from the prophecies ? Your principles
are demonstrative : but, in the person of our Jesus,
we shew you to-day all the grand characters which,
your own prophets said, would be found in the Mes-
siah. In the person of our Jesus is accomplished
that famous prophecy in the sixteenth Psalm, which
some of you apply to David, and, to support a mis-
representation, propagate a ridiculous tradition, that
he never died, altho' his tomb is among you : " Thou
" wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suf-
" fer thine Holy One to see corruption," ver 10. In
the person of Jesus is accomplished the celebrated
prediction of the Psalmist, Sit thou at my right handy
nntil I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psal. ex. 1.
Such were the arguments of St. Peter.

Close reasoning ought to be the soul of all dis-
courses. I compare it in regard to eloquence with
benevolence in regard to religion. Without benevo-
lence we may maintain fi shew of religion, but we

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 299

cannot possess the substance of it. Speak with the
tongues of angels, have the gifts of prophecy, under-
stand all mysteries, have all faith, so that ye could re^
move mountains, bestow all your goods to feed the poor,
and give your bodies to be burned, if you have not be-
nevolence, you are nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1, &c. if you
be destitute of benevolence, all your virtue is nothing
but a noTse, it is only as sounding brass, or as a iiik-
ling cymbal. In like manner in regard to eloquence ;
speak with authority, display treasures of erudition,
let the liveliest and most sublime imagination wing it
away, tiu'n all your periods till they make music in
the most delicate ear, what will ail your discourses
be, if void of argumentation ? a noise, sounding brasSy
a tinkling cymbal. You may surprize ; but you can-
not convince : you may dazzle ; but you cannot in-
struct : you may, indeed, please ; but you can nei-
ther change, sanctify, nor transform.

lY. There are, in the sermon of St. Peter, stinging
reproofs ; and, in the souls of the hearers, a pungent
remorse. The apostle reproveth the Jews in these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God
among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, him.y
being delivered bi/ the determinate counsel and fore-
knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain, ver. 22. This single reproof
excited the most shocking ideas that can alarm the
mind. And who can express the agitations which were
produced in the souls of the audience ? What pen-
cil can describe the state of tlieir consciences ?
They had committed this crime through ignorance.
Acts iii. 17. They had congratulated one another on

300 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit,

having destroyed the chief enemy of their religion,
and on having freed the church from a monster who had
risen up to devour it. They had lifted up their bloody
hands toward heaven, and, to the rewarder of virtue,
had prayed for a recompence for parricide. They
had insolently displayed the spoils of Jesus, as tro-
phies after a victory are displayed. The same prin-
ciple which excited them to commit the crime, pre-
vented their discovery of its enormity, after they had
committed it. The same vails, which they had
thrown over the glorious virtue of Jesus Christ, dur-
ing his humiliation, they still continued to throw over
it, in his exaltation. St. Peter tore these fatal vails
asunder. He shewed these mad-men their own con-
duct in its true point of light; and discovered their
parricide in all its horror : Ye have taken, and cruci-
Jied JesuSy who was approved of God, Methinks I see
the history, or, shall I say the fable? ofaTheban
king acting over again. Educated far from the place
of his nativity, he knew not his parents. His mag-
nanimity seemed to indicate, if not the grandeur of
his birth, at least the lustre of his future life. The
quelling of the most outrageous disturbers of society,
and the destroying of monsters, were his favourite
employments. Nothing seemed impossible to his
courage. In one of his expeditions, without know'-
ing him, he killed his father. Some time after, he
encountered a monster, tliat terrified the whole king-
dom, and for his reward obtained his own mother in
marriage. At length he found out the fatal myste-
ry of his origin, and the tragical murder of his own
father. Shocked at his wretchedness ; it is not right,

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 301

exclaimed he, that the perpetrator of such crimes
should enjoy his sight, and he tore out his own eyes.

This image is too faint to express the agonies of
the Jews. The ignorance of Oedipus was invinci-
ble: that of the Jews was vohmtary. St. Peter dis-
sipated this ignorance. Jesus of Nazareth a man
approved of God, ye have taken, and hy wicked hands
have crucijied and slain. This charge excited ideas
of d thousand distressing truths. The apostle re-
minded them of the holy rules of righteousness
which Jesus Christ had preached and exemplified,
and the holiness of him whom they had crucified,
filled tliem with a sense of their own depravity.

He reminded them of the benefits which Jesus
Chribt liad bountifully bestowed on their nation, of
the preference which he had given tliem above all
other people in the world, and of the exercise of his
ministry among the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
Matt. XV. 24. and his profusion of these blessings dis-
covered their black ingratitude.

He reminded them of the grandeur of Jesus
Christ. He shewed them, that the Jesus, w ho had
appeared so very contemptible to them, " upheld all
" things by the word of his pow er ; that the angels
" of God worshipped him; that God had given him
" a name above every name, that at the name of Je-
" sus every knee stiould bow," Heb. i. 3, 6. Phil,
ii. 9, 10.

He reminded them of their unworthy treatment
of Jesus Christ ; of their eager outcries for his death;
of their repeated shoutings, Away with him, away
with him, crucify him, crucify him, Luke xxiii. 18, 21.

302 The Effusion of the Holy SpiriL

of their barbarous insults, He saved others, let him
save himself, ver. 35. ; of the crown of thorns, the
scarlet robe, the ridiculous sceptre, and all other
cruel circumstances of his sufferings and death ; and
the whole taught them the guilt of their parricide.
The whole was an ocean of terror, and each reflec-
tion a wave, that overwhelmed, distorted, and dis-
tressed their souls.

Y. In fine, we may remark in the sermon of St.
Peter, denunciations of divine vengeance, Tlie most
effectual mean for the conversion of sinners, that
which St. Paul so successfully employed, is terror^
2 Cor. V. 11. St. Peter was too well acquainted with
the obduracy of his auditors not to avail himself
of this motive. People, who had imbrued their
hands in the blood of a personage so august, wanted
this mean. In order to attack them with any prob-
ability of success, it was necessary to shoot the ar-
rows of the Almighty at them, and to set the terrors
of God in array against them, .Job vi. 4. St. Peter
described to these murderers that great and notable
day of the Lord, ver. 21. so famous among their
prophets, that day, in which God would avenge the
death of his Son, punish the greatest of all crimes
with the greatest of all miseries, and execute that
sentence which the Jews had denounced on them-
selves. His blood be on us and on our children, Matt,
xxvii. 25.

St. Peter quoted a prophecy of Joel, which foretold
that fatal day, and the prophecy was the more terri-
ble, because one part of it was accomplished ; be-
cause the remarkable events that were to precede it

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit, 303

were actually come to pass ; for the Spirit of God
Lad begun to pour out his miraculous influences
upon all fleshy young men had seen visions, and old men
had dreamed dreams j and the formidable prepara-
tions of approachinof judgments were then before
their eyes. Herod the Great had already put those
to a cruel death who had raised a sedition on ac-
count of his placing the Roman eagle on the gate of
the temple. Already Pilate had set up the Roman
standard in Jerusalem, had threatened all, who op-
posed it, with death, and had made a dreadful hav-
oc among them who refused to agree to his making
an aqueduct in that city. Twenty thousand Jews
had been already massacred in Cesarea, thirteen
thousand in Scythopolis, and fifty thousand in Alex-
andria. Cestius G alius had already overwhelmed
Judea with a formidable army.=^ Terrible harbin-
gers of that great and notable day of the Lord! Just
grounds of fear and terror! Tlie auditors of St. Pe-
ter, on hearing these predictions, and on perceivino-
their fulfilment, were pricked in their heart, and said
to all the meml>ers of the apostolical college. Men
and brethren, What shall ive do?

Such was the power of the sermon of St Peter
over the souls of his hearers ! Human eloquence hath
sometimes done wonders worthy of immortal memo-
ry. Some of the ancient orators have governed the
souls of the most invincible heroes, and the life of
Cicero affords us an example. JJgarius had the au-
dacity to make war on Caesar. Caesar >vas determin-

* Joseph. Antiq. lib. xvii, cap. 6. p. 766. Oxon. 1720.
I>id. lib. :;viii. p. 797. De bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 18. p. 1095.

304 The E fusion of the Holy Spirit

ed to make the rash adventurer a victim lo his re-
venge. The friends of Ligarius durst not interpose,
and Ligarius was on the point, either of being justly
punished for his offence, or of being sacrificed to the
unjust ambition of his enemy. What force could
controul the power of Ceesar ? But Csesar had an ad-
Tersary, whose power was superior to his own. This
adversary pleads for Ligarius against Caesar, and Cae-
sar, all invincille as he is. yields to the eloquence of
Cicero. Cicero |)leads, Caesar feels ; in spite of him-
self his wrath sul>sides, liis hatred diminishes, his ven-
geance disapyiears. The fatal list of the crimes of
Ligarius, which he is about to produce to the judges,
falls from his hands, and he actually absolves him at
the close of the oration, whom, when he entered the
court, he meant to condemn. But yield, ye orators
of Athens and Rome! Yield to our fishermen and
tent-makers. O how powerful is the sword of the
Spirit in the hands of our apostles ! See the execu-
tioners of .Tesus Christ, yet foaming with rage and
madness against him. See ! they are as ready to shed
the blood of the disciples, as they were to murder
their Master. But the voice of St. Peter quells all
their rage, turns the current of it, and causes those
to bow to the yoke of Jesus Christ who had just be-
fore put him to death.

Allow, my brethren, that you cannot recollect the
sermon of St. Peter without envying those happy pri-
mitive christians, who enjoyed the precious advan-
tage of hearing such a preacher; or, without saying
to yourselves, such exhortations would have found
the way to our hearts, they would have aroused us

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit, 303,

fronr our security, touched our consciences, and pro-
duced effects which the modern way of preaching is
incapable of producing.

But, my brethren, will you permit us to ask yoa
one question ? Would you choose to hear the apostles,
and ministers like the apostles ? Would you attend
their sermons ? or, to say all in one word, Do yoa
wish St. Peter w as now in this pulpit ? Think a little,
before you answer this question. Compare the taste
of this auditory with the genius of the preacher ;
your delicacy with that liberty of speech with which
he reproved the vices of his own times. For our
parts, we, who think we know you, we are persuad-
ed, that no preacher would be less agreeable to you
than St. Peter. Of all the sermons that could be ad-
dressed to you, there could be none that would be
received less favourably than those which should be
composed on the plan of that which this apostle
preached at Jerusalem.

One wants to find something neAv in every sermon ;
and, under pretence of satisfying his laudable desire
of improvement in knowledge, would divert our at-
tention from well known vices, that deserve to be
censured. Another desires to be pleased, and would
have us adorn our discourses, not that we may obtain
an easier access to his heart ; not that we may, by the
innocent artifice of availing ourselves of his love of
pleasure, oppose the love of pleasure itself: but that
we may flatter a kind of concupiscence, wdiich is con-
tent to sport with a religious exercise, till, when divine
service ends, it can plunge into more sensual joy. Al-
most all require to be lulled asleep in sin ; and al-

voi,. ri. 39

306 The Effusion of the Holy Spirit

tho' nobody is so gross as to say, Flatter my wicked
inclinations, stnpify my conscience, praise my crimes,
yet almost every body loves to have it so, Jer. v. 31,
A principle of, I know not what, refined security
makes us desire to be censured to a certain degree,
so that the slight emotions, which we receive, may
serve for a presutnption that we repent, and may
produce an assurance, which we could not enjoy un-
der an apology for our sins. We consent to the
touching of the wour.d, but we refuse to suffer any
one to probe it. Lenitives may be applied, but the
fire and the knife must not go to the bottom of the
putrefaction to make a sound cure.

Ah! how disagreeable to you would the sermons
of the apostles have been! Realize them. Imagine
one of those venerable men ascending this pulpit^
after he had been in the public places of your resort,
after he had been familiarly acquainted with your
domestic economy, after he had seen thro' the flim-
sy veils that cover some criminal intrigues, after he
had been informed of certain secrets which I dare
not even hint, and of some bare-faced crimes that are
committed in the sight of the sun : Would the ven-
erable man, think you, gratify your taste for preach-
ing? Would he submit to the laws that your pro-
found wisdom tyrannically imposeth on your preach-
ers? Would he gratify your curiosity, think you,
Avith nice discussions? Do you believe he would
spend all his time and pains in conjuring you not to
despair ? Would he content himself, think you, with
coolly informing you in a vague and superficial
manner, that you must be virtuous 1 Would he tiin-

The Effusion of the Holy Spirit. 307

ish bis sermon uitb a pathetic exhortation to you
not to entertain the least doubt about your salva-
tion ?

Ah ! my brethren, methinks I hear the holy man,
iiiethinks I liear the preacher animated with the
same spirit, that made him boldly tell the murder-
ers of Jesus Christ ; " Jesus of Nazareth, a man ap-
" proved of God amon^" you, by miracles, and vvon-
" ders, and si«;ns, ye have taken, and by wicked
" hands have crucified and slain." Methinks I see
St. Peter, the man who was so extremely affected
with ttje sinful state of his auditors; the preacher
^vho exliibited the objects that he exposed in his ser-
mon, in that point of view which was most likely to
discover to his auditors the enormity of their actions :
methinks I see him tearing the miserable veils with
\vhich men conceal the turpitude of their crimes, af-
ter they have committed them. Methinks I hear
him enunjerating the various excesses of this nation,
and saying. You ! you are void of all sensibility,
Avhen we tell you of the miseries of the church, when
"we describe those bloody scenes, that are made up
of dungeons, gallies, apostates, and martyrs. You!
you have silently stood by, and suffered religion to
be attacked; and have favoured tlie publication of
those execrable books which plead for a system of
impiety and atheism, and which are professedly writ-
ten to render virtue contemptible, and the perfec-
tions of God doubtful. You ! you iiave spent twen-
ty, thirty, forty years, in a criminal neglect of reli-
gion, without once examining whether the doctrines
of God, of heaven, and of hell, be fables or facts.

308 The Effusion of the Holy SpiriL

Methinks I hear him exhort each of you to " save
*' himself from this untoward generation." Acts ii.
40.

Let us throw ourselves at the feet of the apostle,
or rather, let us prostrate ourselves at the foot of the
throne of that Jesus, whom we have insulted, and
who, in spite of all the insults that w^e have offered
liim, still calleth, and still inviteth us to repent. Let
each of us say to him, as the convinced Saul said to
him on the road to Damascus, " Lord ! what wilt
*' thou have me to do ?" chap. ix. 6. O ! may emo-
tions of heart as rapid as words, and holy actions as
rapid as emotions of heart; may all we are, and all
we have, may all form one grand flow of repentance ;
and may " the day of salvation, the day of the glad-
*' ness of the heart, succeed that great and notable
'' day of the Lord," Isa. Ixix. 8. Cant. iii. 2. the
distant prospect of which terrifieth us, and the com-
ing of which will involve the impenitent in hopeless
destruction. May God himself form these disposi-
tions within us ! To him be honour and glory for ev-
er. Amen,

SERMON X.

The Sufficiency of Revelation.

Luke xvi. 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

The rich man said, I pray thee, father Abraham, that
thou nouldst send Lazarus to my father's house ;for
I have Jive brethren j that he may testify unto them,
lest they also come into this place of torment. Abra-
ham saith unto him, They have Moses, and the pro-
phets ; let them hear them. And he said. Nay, fath-
er Abraham : but if one went unto them from the
dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they
he persuaded, though one rose from the dead,

JuET no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted
of God : for God cannot be tempted jvith evil, neither
tempteth he any man. Thus speaks St. .lames in the
first chapter of his general epistle, ver. 13. The
apostle proposeth in general to humble liis readers
under a sense of their sins, and in particular to op-
pose that monstrous error, which taxeth God with
injustice by making him the author of sin. This
seems at first view quite needless at least in regard
to us. God the autlior of sin ! Odious supposition !
So contrary to our surest ideas of the Supreme Be-
ing, so opposite to his law^, so incompatible wuth the

310 The Sijfficiency of Revelation.

purity of those eyes, which cannot look on iniquity ,
Hab. i. 13. that it seems impossible it should enter
the mind of man ; or, if there were any in the time
of St. James who entertained such an opinion, they
must have been monsters, who w^ere stifled in their
biith, and who have no followers in these latter
ages.

Alas ! my brethren, let us learn to know ourselves.
Although this notion seems repugnant to oiu' reason
at first, yet it is but too true, we secretly adopt it ;
we revolve it in our minds ; and we even avail our-
selves of it to excuse our corruption and ignorance.
As the study of truth requires leisure and labour,
man, naturally indolent in matters of religion, usu-
ally avoids both, and, being at the same time inclin-
ed to evade a charge of guilt, and to justify his con-
duct, seeks the cause of his disorder in heaven, tax-
eth God himself, and accuseth him of having thrown
such an impenetrable veil over truth, that it cannot
be discovered ; and of having placed virtue on the
top of an eminence, so lofty and so craggy, that it
cannot be attained. It is therefore necessary to op-
pose that doctrine against modern infidels, which
the apostles opposed against ancient heretics, to pub-
lish, and to establish, in our auditories, the maxim
of St. James, Let no man say ivhen he is tempted, I
am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted rvih
evil, neither iempfeth he any man.

To this important end we intend to direct our
meditation to-day, and to this the Saviour of the
world directed the parable, the conclusion of which
we have just now read to you, Our Saviour de-

The Sufficiency of Revelation, 311

scribes a man in misery, who, by soliciting; Abra-
ham to employ a new mean for the conversion of
his brethren, tacitly exculpates himself, and seems
to tax Providence with having formerly used only
imperfect and improper means for his conversion,
Abraham reprimands his audacity, and attests the
sufficiency of the ordinary means of grace. Thus
speaks our Evangelist; '' Tlie rich man said, I pray
" thee, father Abraham, that thou wouldst send
" Lazarus to my father's house; for I have five breth-
" ren ; that he may testify unto tliem, lest they also
" come into this place of torment. Abraham saith
" unto him, They have Moses and the prophets ; let
" them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abra-
"ham: but if one went unto them from the dead,
" they will repent. And tie said unto him. If they
" hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they
** be persuaded though one rose from the dead."

Before we enter into a particular discussion of the
subject, we will make two general observations,
which are the ground of the wliole discouri^e. The
passage we have read to you seems at first an unnat-
ural association of heterogeneous ideas: a disembo-
died, wicked man, m flames ! ver. 24.; a conversa-
tion between a miserable man in hell, and Abraham
amidst angels in glory ! compassion in a damned soul,
revolving in the horrors of hell ! The combination
of these ideas doth not appear natural, and therefoie
they necessarily put us on enquiring, Is this a bare
history ? Is it the relation of an event that actually
came to pass, but coloured with borrowed imagery,
which Jesus Christ, according to his usual custom.

312 The Sufficiency of Revelation.

employed to convey to his hearers some important
truth ?

We shall enter no fmiher at present into a discus-
sion of these articles than the subject before us re-
quires. Whether the Lord narrate a real history,
as some pretend, because Lazarus is named, and be-
cause a circumstantial detail ao;rees better with re-
al facts than with fiction : or whether the whole be
a parable, which seems not unlikely, especially if, as
some critics affirm^, some ancient manuscripts in-
troduce the passage with these words, Jesus spake
A PARABLE, SAYING, Thcrc was CI ccrtaiu rich ?nan,
and so on: or whether, as in many other cases, it be
a mixture of real history, coloured with parabolical
simile : which of these opinions soever we embrace,
(and, by the way, it is not of any great consequence
to determine which is the true one,) our text, it u
certain, cannot be taken in a strict literal sense. It
cannot be said, either that the rich man in hell con-
versed with Abraham in heaven, or that he discover-
ed any tenderness for his brethren. No, there is no
communication, my brethren, between glorified saints
and the prisoners whom the vengeance of God con-
fineth in hell. The great gulf that is Jixed between
them, prevents their approach to one another, and de-
prives them of all converse togetlier. Moreover,
death, which separateth us from all the living, and
from all the objects of our passions, effaceth them
from our memories, and detacheth them from our
hearts. And although the benevolence of the glori-
fied saints may incline them to interest themselves

*See Dr. MilFs Greek Testament.

The Siifficiency of Her elation, 313

in the state of the militant church, yet the torments
of the damned exchide all concern from their minds,
except that of their own tormenting horrors.

Our next observation is on the answer of Abra-
ham ; // thei/ hear not Moses and the prophets, nei-
ther will theij he persuaded though one rose from the
dead. What a paradox ! Who would not be affect-
ed and converted, on seeing one return from the
other world to attest the truth of the gospel? Could
the tyrants of our days see the places where Nero,
Dioclesian, and Decius, expiate their cruelties to
the primitive christians, would they persist in their
barbarities ? Were that proud son, who wastes in
so much luxury the wealth that his father accumula-
ted by his extortions, to behold his parent in devour-
ing fire, would he dare to abandon himself to his
stupid pleasures, and to retain a patrimony which was
acquired with a curse ? Tliis difficulty is the more
considerable, because Jesus Christ speaks to Jews.
The Jews were less acquainted with the state of
souls after death than christians are. It should seem,
the rising of a person from the dead, by increasing'
their knowledge on that article, would have been a
much stronger motive to piety than all their ordina-
ry means of revelation.

My brethren, this is one of those undeniable
truths which, although some particular exception
may be made to them, are yet strictly verified in the
ordinary course of things. The precise meaning of
our Saviour, if I mistake not, may be included in
two propositions, of which the one regards infidels,
and the other libertines.

VOL. 11. 40

314 2^}ie Sufficiency of Bevelation.

First. The revelation that God addresseth to us
hath evidence of its truth sufficient to convince eve-
ry reasonable creature who will take the pains to
examine it.

Secondly. God hath founded the gospel exhorta-
tions to virtue on motives the most proper to pro-
cure obedience.

From these two propositions it follows, that men
have no right to require either a clearer revelation,
or stronger motives to obey it : and that, were God
to indulge the unjust pretensions of sinners ; were he
even to condescend to send persons from the dead, to
attest the truth of the gospel, and to address us by
new motives, it is probable, not to say certain, that
the new prodigy would neither effect the conviction
of unbelievers, nor the conversion of libertines.
My text is an apology for religion, and such I intend
this sermon to be. An apology for cluistianity,
against the difficulties of infidels; and an apology
for Christianity against the subterfuges of libertines.
Let us endeavour to convince both, that he, who re-
sisteth Moses and the prophets, or rather, .Jesus
Christ, the apostles, and the gospel, (for we preach
to a christian auditory,) would not yield to any evi-
dence that might arise from the testimony of a per-
son raised from the dead. If the obscurity of reve-
lation under the Mosaical economy seem to render
the proposition in the text less evident in regard to
the Jews, we will endeavour to remove this difficul-
ty at the close of this discourse.

I. We begin with unbelievers, and we reduce
them to five classes. The first eonsists of stupid in-

The Sufficiency of Bevelation, 315

fidels ; the next of negligent infidels ; the third of
witty infidels ; the fourth is made up of those who
iire interested in infidelity ; and the last we call Phi-
losophical infidels. We affirm that the proposition
of Jesus Christ in the text, that is, that it would not
be just, that, in general, it would be useless, to evoke
the dead to attest the truth of revelation, is true in
regard to these five classes of unbelievers.

1. We place the stupid injldel in the first rank.
By a stupid infidel we mean a person, whose genius
is so small, that he is incapable of entering into the
easiest arguments, and of comprehending the plain-
est discussions; whose dark and disordered mind
perplexeth and enslavetli reason; and whom God
seems to have placed in society chiefly for the sake
of rendering the capacities of others more conspic-
uous. Unbelievers of this kind attend to the mys-
teries of Christianity w^ith an incapacity equal to that
which they discover in the ordinary affairs of lifcj
and they refuse to believe, because they are incapa-
ble of perceiving motives of credibility. Have
these people, you will ask, no right to require a rev-
elation more proportional to theh' capacities ; and
may God, agreeably to cjxact rules of justice and
goodness, refer them to the present revelation? To
this we have two tilings to answer.

First. There would be some ground for this pre-
tence, w ere God to exact of dull capacities a faith
as great as that which he requireth of great, lively,
and capable minds. But the scriptures attest a truth
that perfectly agrees with the perfections of God ;
tliat is, that the number of talents^ which God giveth

316 The Sufficiency of Revelation.

to mankind, will regulate the account which he will
require of them in that great day when he will come
to judge the world. As many as have sinned without
law Rom. ji. 12. (rememlier these maxims, you
faint and trembling consciences ; you whose minds
are fruitful in doubts and fears, and who, after you
have made a thousand laborious researches, trem-
ble lest you sl'ould have taken the semllance of
truth for truth itself.) As many as have sinned with-
out law, shall also perish without law ; that is to say,
without being judged by any law, which they have
not received, That servant, which knew his Lord's
willy and prepared not himself, neither did according
to his will, shall be beaten with more stripes, than
he who knew it not. It shall be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon than for the cities in which Jesus
Christ himself preached his gospel, Luke xii. 47.
Matt. xi. 22. If it were granted, then, that such a
prodigy as the appearance of one risen from the dead
would strike a stupid infidel, God is not obliged to
raise one ; because he will regulate his judgment,
not only by the nature of that revelation which was
addressed to him, but also by that portion of capaci-
ty which was given him to comprehend it. I would
impress this observation on those savage souls, who
act as if they were commissioned to dispense the
treasures of divine justice, and who are as liberal of
the judgments of God as he is of his eternal mercy.
No, my bretliren, these are not the saints who shall
judge the world, 1 Cor. vi. 2. These are the wicked
and slothful servants, who accuse their master of
reaping where he hath not sown, Matt. xxv. 24. The

The Sufficiency of Revelation. 317

blessed God, who is less inclined to punish than to
pardon, will never impute to his creatures the er-
rors of an invincible ignorance. Without this con-
sideration, I own, although I am confirmed in believ-
ing my religion by the clearest evidence, yet my
conscience would be racked with continual fears,
and the innumerable experiences I have had of the
imperfection of my knowledge would fill me with
horror and terror, even wljile in the sincerest man-
ner I should apply my utmost attention to my sal-
vation.

We affirm, in the second place, that the funda-
mental truths of religion lie within the reach of peo-
ple of the meanest capacities, if they ivill take the
pains to examine them, Tliis is one of the bases of
our reformation. Happy protestants ! (by the way)
were you always to act consistently with your own
principles, if, either by an obstinate heresy, or by an
orthodoxy too scholastic, you were not almost al-
ways falling into one of these two extremes, either
into that of renouncing Christianity, by explaining
away its fundamental truths; or, if I may venture
to speak so, into that of sinking it, by overloading
it witli the embarrassing disputes of the schools.

W^e say, then, that the fundamental points of Chris-
tianity lie within the reach of the naiTowest capaci-
ties. The christian religion teacheth us, that God
created the world. Doth not this truth, which phi-
losophy hath established on so many abstract and
metaphysical proofs, demonstrate itself to our minds,
to our eyes, and to all our senses ? Do not the in-
numerable objects of sense, which surround us, most

318 T'he Siifficiency of licveluiion.

emphatically announce the existence and the glory
of tlse Creator? The christian religion command-
eth us to live holily. Doth not this truth also de-
monstrate itself ? Is not the voice of conscience in
concert with that of religion ; doth it not give evi-
dence in favour of the laws which religion prescribes?
The christian religion teacheth us, that Jesus Christ
came into the world, that he lived among men, that
he died, that he rose again, that he gave the Holy
Spirit to tliC first heralds of the gospel ; these are
facts, and we maintain that these facts are supported
by proofs, so clear, and so easy, that men must be
entirely destitute of every degree of impartial rea-
son not to perceive their evidence.

Further. Take the controversies that now sub-
sist among christians, and it will appear that a man
of a very moderate degree of sense may distinguish
truth from error on these articles. For, my breth-
ren, we ought not to be intimidated, either at the au-
thority, or at the characters, of those who start ditii-
culties. The greatest geniusses have often main-
tained the greatest absurdities. It hath been affirm-
ed, that there is no motion in nature. Some philos^
ophers, and philosophers of name, have ventured" to
maintain thatthere is no matter,and others have doubt-
ed of their own existence. If you determine to admit
no propositions, that have been denied, or disputed,
you will never admit any. Consider modern contro-
versies with a cool impartiality; and you will acknow-
ledge, that an ordinary capacity may discern the true
from the false in the contested points. A man of an or-
dinary capacity may easily perceive, in reading the

The Siifficienci/ of Revelation. 319

lioly scriptures, that the author of that book neither
intended to teach us the worsliip of images, nor the
invocation of saints, nor transubstantiation, nor pur-
gatory. A moderate capacity may conclude, that
the scriptures, by attributing to Jesus Christ the
names, the perfections, the works, and the worship
of God, mean to teach us that he is God. A mod-
erate capacity is capable of discovering, that the
same scriptures, by comparing us to the deaf, the
blind, the dead, the things which are not, 1 Cor. i,
28. intend to teach us that we have need of grace,
and that it is impossible to be saved without its as-
sistance. Men, who have not genius and penetra-
tion enough to comprehend these truths, would not
be capable of determining whether the attestation
of one sent from the dead were inconclusive or de-
monstrative. But infidels are rarely found among
people of the stupid class; their fault is, in general,
the believing of too much, and not the crediting of
too little. Let us pass, then, to the next article.

2. We have put into a second class negligent infi-
dels, those who refuse to believe, because they will
not take the pains to examine. Let us prove the
truth of the proposition in the text in regard to them,
and let us shew, that if they resist ordinary evi-
dence, neither would they he persuaded though one
rose from the dead.

Careless people are extremely rash, if they re-
quire new proofs of the truth of Christianity. If,
indeed, they had made laborious searches; if they
had weighed our arguments; if tliey had examined
our systems; if, after all their inquiries, they had

320 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

not been able to discover any thing satisfactory on
the side of religion ; if our gospel were destitute of
proof; if, notwithstanding this defect, God would
condemn them for not believing, and, instead of pro-
posing new arguments, would insist on their yielding
to arguments, which neither persuaded the judgment,
nor affected the heart ; they would have reason to
complain. But how astonishing is the injustice and
ingratitude of mankind ! God hath revealed himself
to them in the most tender and affectionate manner.
He hath announced those truths, in which they are
the most deeply interested a hell, a heaven, a so-
lemn alternative of endless felicity, or eternal mise-
ry. He hath accompanied these truths with a thou-
sand plain proofs, proofs of fact, proofs of reason,
proofs of sentiment. He hath omitted nothing that
is adapted to the purposes of convincing and per-
suading us. Careless unbelievers will not deign to
look at these arguments ; they will not condescend
to dig the field, in which God hath hid his treasure;
they choose rather to wander after a thousand vain
and useless objects, and to be a burden to themselves
thro' the fatigues of idleness, than to confine them-
selves to the study of religion ; and, at length, they
complain that religion is obscure. They, who at-
test the truth to you, are venerable persons. They
tell you they have read, weiglied, and examined the
matter, and they offer to explain, to prove, to de-
monstrate it to you. All this does not signify, you
will not honour them with your attention. They
exhort you, and assure you, that salvation, that
your souls, that eternal felicity, are articles of the

The Sufficiency of Revelation, 321

titmost importance, and require a serious attention:
It does not signify, none of these considerations move
you ; and, as we said just now, you choose rather
to attach yourselves to trite and trifling affairs ; you
choose rather to spend your time in tedious and insipid
talk ; you choose rather to exhaust your strength in
the insupportable languors of idleness, than to devote
one year, one month, one day, of your lives to the
examination of religion : and after you have gone
this perpetual round of negligence, you complain of
God ; it is he who conducts you through vallies of
darkness; it is he who leads you into inextricable
labyrinths of illusions and doubts ! Ought the Deity,
then, to regulate his economy by your caprices;
ought he to humour your wild fancies, and to reveal
himself exactly in the way, and punctually at the
time, which you shall think proper to prescribe ta
him?

This is not all. It is certain, were God to grant
persons of this character that indulgence which the
wicked rich man required; were God actually to
evoke the dead from tlie other world to reveal what
was doing there ; it is very plain, they w ould receive
no conviction, and the same fund of negligence,
which prevents their adherence to religion now,
would continue an invincible obstacle to their faith,
even after it had been confirmed in a new and extra-
ordinary manner. This is not a paradox, it is a de-
monstration. The apparition in question would re-
quire a chain of principles and consequences. It
w ould be liable to a great number of difficulties, and
difficulties greater than those which are now object-

VOL. IK 41

322 The Sufficiency of Revelation.

ed against religion. It must be inquired, firsts
whether he, who saw the apparition, were free from
all disorder of mind when he saw it; or whether it
were not the effect of a momentary insanity, or of a
profound reverie. It must be examined further,
whether the apparition really came from the other
world, or whether it were not exhibited by the craft
of some head of a party, like those which are seen
in monasteries, like those which were rumoured
about at the reformation to impose on the credulity
of the populace ; many instances of which may be
seen in a treatise on spectres, w ritten by one of our
divines.* On supposition that it w^ere a dead person
sent from the other world, it would be necessary to
examine, whether he were sent by God, or by the
enemy of our salvation, who, under a pretence of
reforming us, was setting snares for our innocence,
and creating scruples in our minds. If it were prov-
ed that the vision came from God, it must still be in-
quired, whether it were an effect of the judgment of
that God, who judicially hardens some, by sending
them strong delusionSy that they should believe a lie,
because they received not the love of the truth, 2 Thess.
ii. 2. or whether it were an effect of his grace conde-
scending to smooth the path of religion. All these
questions, and a thousand more of the same kind,
which naturally belong to this matter, would require
time, and study, and pains. They would require
the merchant to suspend his commercial business, the
libertine to lay aside his pleasures, the soldier to
quit for a while his profession of arms, and to de-
vote himself to retirement and meditation. They

* Lavater.

The Sufficiency of Revelation. 323

would require them to consult reason, scripture, and
history. The same fund of carelessness, that now
causeth the obstinacy of our infidel, would cause it
then, and would prevent his undertaking that exam-
ination, which would be absolutely necessary in or-
der to determine whether the apparition proved the
truth of that religion which it attested, and whether
all the difficulties, that attended it, could be remov-
ed. We may then say in regard to idle infidels,
" they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear
" them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
" neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from
" the dead."

3. The same observations which we have just now
made, in regard to negligent people, are equally ap-
plicable to a tliird order of persons, whom we have
called witty infidels, and we class them by them-
selves, only on account of their rank in the world,
and of the ascendency which they know how to ob-
tain over the hearts of mankind. We denominate
those witty infidels, who, agreeably to the taste of
the last age, have not cultivated their geniusses with
a sound and rational philosophy ; but have made an
ample collection of all ihe tinsel of the sciences
(pardon this expression,) and have polished and en-
riched their fancies at the expence of their judg-
jnents. They are quick at repartee, smart in an-
swering; their wit sparkles, and their railleries bite;
and, being infatuated with a conceit of their own su-
periority, they dispense with those rules of examina-
tion, in tlieir own favour, to which the rest of man-
kind are confined, and study only to excel in sub^ti-

024 The Siifflciency of Eevelation,

tuling jest for solid argument. Dispute as long a&
we will with a man of this character, we can never
obtain an exact answer. His first reply is a bit of
historical erudition. Next he will quote one line
from Horace, and two from Juvenal, and, by eluding
in this manner our arguments and objections, he will
think himself the victor, because he kncAV how to
avoid the combat, and he will, therefore, think him-
self authorized to persist in intidelity.

The same reflections w^hich regard the negligent
infidel, are applicable to him, whom we oppose in
this article. It is neither agreeable to the justice,
nor to the wisdom of God, to employ new evidence
in his favor. Not to his justice ; for how can a man
who is profane by profession, a man who, for the
sake of rendering himself agreeable to his compan-
ions, and of procuring the reputation of ingenuity,
ridicules the most grave and serious truths, declares
open war with God, and jests w ith the most sacred
things ; how can a man of this character be an object
of the love of God ? Why should God alter the
economy of his Spirit and grace in his favour? Nei-
ther is it agreeable to his wisdom : but, as what we
have said on the foregoing article may be applied to
this, we pass to the fourth class of unbelievers, whom
we have denominated interested injidels, infidels, the
gratifications of w hose passions render the destruc-
tion of Christianity necessary to them.

4. Infidels thro' depraved pasdOns, it must be grant-
ed, are very numerous. I cannot help asking, why,
on every other article but that of religion, our infi-
dels content themselves with a certain degree of ev-

The Sufficiency of Revelatioiu 325

idence, whereas on this they cannot see in the clear-
est light? The more we examine, the clearer we
perceive, that the reason originates in the passions :
other subjects either very little, or not at all, inter-
est their passions: these they see; religion sways
the passions; to religion therefore they are blind.
Whether the sun revolve around the earth, to illu-
minate it; or whether the earth revolve around the
sun, to beg, as it were, light and influence from it:
whether matter be infinitely divisible ; or whether
there be atoms, properly so called : whether there
be a vacuum in nature ; or whether nature abhor a
Void : take which side we will on these questions,
we may continue covetous or ambitious, imperious,
oppressive, and proud. Pastors may be negligent,
parents careless, children disobedient, friends faith-
less. But whether there be a God; whether he have
appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in
righteousness, Acts xvii. 32. ; whether an eye, an in-
visible eye, watch all our actions, and discover all
our secret thoughts : these are questions, which
shock our prejudices, attack our passions, thwart and
disconcert all our whole system of cupidity.

Unbelievers, whose passions are interested in in-
fidelity, are affected in this manner ; and nothing can
be easier to prove, than that tlie resurrection of a
dead person would produce no conviction of truth
in them. Enter into your own hearts, my breth-
ren; the proof of our proposition may be found
there. The sentiments of the heart have a close
connection with the ideas of the mind, and our pas-

326 7%e Sttfficiency of Revelation.

gions resemble prisms, which divide every ray, and
colour every object with an artificial hue.

For example : employ a sensible christian lo re^
concile two enemies, and you will admire the wise
and equitable manner in which he would refute ev-
ery sophism that passion could invent. If the ground
of complaint should be exaggerated, he would in-
stantly hold the balance of equity, and retrench
what anger may have added to truth. If the offen-
ded should say, he hath received a grievous injury,
he would instantly answer, that between two jarring
christians, it is immaterial to inquire, in this case, the
degree of iniquity and irrationality in the ofTence ;
the immediate business, he would say, is the reason-
ableness of forgiveness. If the offended should al-
lege, that he hath often forgiven, he would reply,
this is exactly the case between the Judge of the
world and his offending creatures, and yet, he would
add, the insulting of a thousand perfections, the for^
getting of a thousand favours, the falsifying of a
thousand oaths, the violating of a thousand resolu?
tions, do not prevent God from opening the treas-
ures of his mercy to us. If the complainant should
have recourse to the ordinary subterfuge, and should
protest that he had no animosity in his heart, only
he is resolved to have no future intimacy with a
man so odious, he would dissipate the gross illusion,
by urging the example of a merciful God, who doth
not content himself with merely forgiving us, but,
in spite of all our most enormous crimes, uniteth him-
>self to us by the tenderest relations. Lovely moral-
ity, my brethren ! Admirable effort of a mind, covt-

The Sufficiency of Hevelation, 327

templatin^ truth without prejudice and passion!
But place this arbitrator, who preacheth such a mo-
rality, in different circumstances. Instead of a
referee, make him a party ; instead of a mediator
between contending parties, put him in place of one
of them. Employ his own arguments to convince
him, and, astonishing! he will consider each as a
sophism, for all his arguments now stand at the tri-
bunal of a heart full of wrath and reveno;e. So true
it is, that our passions alter our ideas, and that the
clearest arguments are divested of all their evidence,
when they appear before an interested man.

Do you seriously think, that the divines of the
church of Rome, when they dispute with us, for ex-
ample, on the doctrines of indulgences and purgato-
ry, do you really think they require proofs and ar-
guments of us? Not they. The more clearly we rea-
son against them, the more furiously are they irrita-
ted against us. Methinks I see them calculating the
profits of their doctrines to themselves, consulting
that scandalous book, in which the price of every
crime is rated, so much for a murder, so much for
assassination, so much for incest ; and finding in each
part of the inexhaustible revenue of the sins of man-
kind, arguments to establish their belief.* Thus

* Mr. Saurin means the tax -book of the Roman chancer u^ which
^ve have mentioned in the preface to the 1st vol. p. 17. This scan-
dalous book was first printed at Rome in 1514, then at Cologne
in 1515, at Paris in 1520, and often at other places since. It is
entitled, Regule, Constitutiones, Reservationis Cancellarie S. Dom-
ini nostri Leonis Pafie decimi, Ijfc.

There we meet with SHch articles as these.

328 The Siifficiency of jRevelation.

our interested infidels reject the clearest ari^umetits.
It is a fixed point with them, that the religion which
indulgeth their passions is the best religion, and that
which restrains them most, the worst. This is the
rule, this is the touchstone, by which they examine
all things. The more proofs Ave produce for reli-
gion, the more we prejudice them against religion ;
because the more forcible our arguments are, the
more efFectually we oppose their passions ; the more
we oppose their passions^ the more we alienate them
from that religion which opposeth them.

I appeal to experience. The scripture affords us
a plain example, and a full comment, in the behav-
iour of the unbelieving Jews who lived in the time
of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ preached ; he con-
demned the prejudices of the synagogue; he sub-
verted the favourite carnal systems of the Jews; he
attacked the vices of their superiors ; he preached
against the irregularity of their morals ; he unmask-
ed the hypocritical Pharisees. These attacks were

Absolution for killing one's father or mother 1 ducat — v carlins.

Ditto, For all the acts of lewdness committed by a clerk — Avith
a dispensation to be capable of taking orders, and to hold eccle-
siastical benefits, Sec. — -__ 36 tourn. 3 due.

Ditto, For one who shall keep a concubine, with a dispensation
to take orders, See. — — 21 tour. 5 due. 9 carl.

As if this traffic were not scandalous enough of itself, it is ad-
ded, Ei nota diligenter^ Sec. Take 7iotice particidariy^ that such
graces and dispensatio7is are not granted to the poor \for^nQt hav-
ing wherewith to pay ^ they cannot be comforted.

The zeal of the reformers against the church of Rome ceaseth
to appear intemperate in my eye, when I consider these detesta-
ble enormities.

The Sufficiency of Revelation, 329

sufficient to excite their rage and madness; and
they, being disposed to gratify their anger, examin-
ed the doctrine of Jesus Christ only for the sake of
finding fault with it. Jesus Christ must be destroy-
ed ; for this purpose, snares must be laid for his in-
nocence, his doctrine must be condemned, and he
must be proved, if possible, a false Messiah. They
interrogate him on articles of religion and policy;
but Jesus Christ gives satisfactory answers to all
their questions. They examine his morals; but ev-
ery step of his life appears wise and good. They
sift his conversation ; but every expression is always
with grace seasoned with salt, Col. iv. 6. None of
these schemes will effect their designs. The man,
say they, preacheth a new doctrine ; if he were sent
of God, he would produce some proof of his mis-
sion; Moses, and the prophets, wrought miracles.
Jesus Christ performeth miracles, he heals the sick,
raises the dead, calms the winds and the waves, and
altereth all the laws of nature. He operateth more
than enough to persuade impartial minds. But their
passions suggest answers. This fellow doth not cast
out devils, say they, but by Beehcbuby the prince of
the devils. Matt. xii. 24. But Lazarus, who was
raised from the dead, and who is now living among
you, speaks in favour of Jesus Christ ; Lazarus must
be made away with ; he must be a second time laid in
the tomb ; all the traces of the glory of Jesus Christ
must be taken away ; and that light, which is alrea-
dy too clear, and which will hereafter be still clear-
er, must be extinguished, lest it should discover, ex-
pose, and perplex us.
VOL. II. 42

330 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

This is a natural image of a passionate infideL
Passion blinds him to the most evident truths. It is
impossible to convince a man, who is determined not
to be convinced. One disposition, essential to the
knowing of truth, is a sincere love to it : The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him, Psal. xxv. 14.
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doc-
iriney whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my-*
self John vii. 17. This is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil, chap,
iii. 19.

5. We come, finally, to the philosophical irfidel;
to him who, if we believe him, is neither blinded by
prejudices, nor prevented by negligence, nor infatu-
ated by his imagination, nor beguiled by irregular
passions. Hear him. He assures you, the only
^visli, that animates him, is that of knowing the truth,
and that he is resolved to obey it, find it where he
will : but after he hath agitated a thousand questions,
after he hath undertaken a thousand investigations,
and consulted a thousand volumes, he hath found no-
thing satisfactory in proof of Christianity ; in short,
he says he is an unbeliever only because he cannot
meet w^ith any motives of belief. Can it be said to
such a man, neither wilt thou be persuaded though one
rose from the dead?

We will reply presently. But allow us first to
ask a previous question. Are there any infidels of
this kind] Is the man, whom we have described, a
real, or an imaginary being? What a question I say

Tlie Sufficiency of Revelation. 331

jou. What ! can a man, who devotes his whole life
to meditation and study, a man, who hath searched
all the writings of antiquity, who hatii disentangled
and elucidated the most dark and difficult passages,
who hath racked his invention to find solutions and
proofs, who is nourished and kept alive, if the ex-
pression may be used, with the discovery of truth ;
a man, besides, who seems to have renounced tiie
company of the living, and has not the least relish
for even the innocent pleasures of society, so far is
he from running into their grossest diversions ; can
sucli a man be supposed to be an unbeliever for any
other reason than because he thinks it his duty to
be so ? Can any, but rational motives, induce him to
disbelieve ?

Undoubtedly; and it would discover but little
knowledge of the human heart, were we to imagine,
either that such an infidtl was under the dominion of
gross sensual passions, or that he was free from the
government of other, and more refined passions. A
desire of being distinguislied, a love of fame, the
glory of passing for a superior genius, for one who
hath freed himself from vulgar errors ; these are, in
general, powerful and vigorous passions, and these
are usually the grand spnngs of a pretended philo-
sopliical infidelity. One undeniable proof of the
truth of my assertion is his eagerness in publishing
and propagating infidelity. ISovv this can proceed
from nothing but from a principle of vain glory.
For why should lis opinion be spread? For our
parts, when we publish our systems, whether we

332 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

publish truth or error, we have weighty reasons for
publication. Our duty, we think, engageth us to pro-
pagate what we believe. In our opinion, they who
are ignorant of our doctrine are doomed to endless
misery. Is not this sufficient to make us lift up our
voices? But you, who believe neither God, nor
judgment, nor heaven, nor hell; what madness in-
spires you to publish your sentiments ? It is, say you,
a desire of freeing society from the slavery that re-
ligion imposeth on them. Miserable freedom! a
freedom from imaginary errors, that plungeth us in-
to an ocean of real miseries, that saps all the bases
of society, that sows divisions in families, and ex-
cites rebellions in states; that deprives virtue of all
its motives, all its inducements, all its supports. And
what, pray, but religion, can comfort us under the
sad catastrophes to which all are subject, and from
which the highest human grandeur is not exempt ?
What, but religion, can conciliate our minds to the
numberless afflictions which necessarily attend hu-
man frailty ? Can any thing but religion calm our
consciences under their agitations and troubles ?
Above all, what can relieve us in dying illnesses,
■when lying on a sick-bed between present and real
evils, and the frightful gloom of a dark futurity ?
Ah ! if religion, which produceth such real effects,
be a deception, leave me in possession of my decep^
tion ; I desire to be deceived, and I take him for my
most cruel enemy who offers to open my eyes.

But let us give a more direct answer. You are a
philosopher. You have examined religion. You
liricl i:n)thing that convinces you. Difficulties and

TAe Sufficiency of JRevelatioiu 333

doubts arise from every part ; the prophecies are ob-
scure; the doctrines are contradictory ; the precepts
are ambii/uous; the miracles are uncertain. You
require some new prodigy, and, in order to your
full persuasion of tlie truth of immortality, you wish
some one would come from the dead and attest it.
I answer, if you reason consequentially, the motive
would be useless, and, having resisted ordinary proofs,
you ought, if you reason consequentially, to refuse
to believe the very evidence which you require. Let
us confine ourselves to some one article to convince
you ; suppose the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
apostles bore witness that Jesus Christ rose from the
dead. This is our argument. To you it appears
jejune and futile, and your undetermined mind floats
between two opinions ; either the apostles, you tiiink,
were deceived; or they deceived others. These
are your objections. Now, if either of these objec-
tions be well grounded, I affirm you ought not to
believe though one rose from the dead to persuade
you.

The apostles were deceived you say. But this
objection, if well grounded, lies against not only
one, but twelve apostles ; not only against tw elve
apostles, but against more i\\?^n Jim hundred hrcfh^
ren ; not only against more than Jive hundred breth-
ren, 1 Cor. XV. 6. but against all who attested the mir-
acles wrought in favour of the resurrection of Christ :
all these persons, who in other cases were rational,
must have been insane, had they thought they had
seen what they had not seen, heard what tliey had
Qot heard, conversed with a man with whom thev

334 Tlie Sufficiency of Revelation,

had not conversed, wrought miracles which they
had not wrought. They must be supposed to have
persisted in these extravagances, not only for an
hour, or a day, but for forty days, yea, for the
whole course of their lives. Now, I demand, since
an allusion produced a persuasion so clear and full,
how could you assure yourself that you was not de-
ceived in examining that new evidence which you
require? if so many different persons may be justly
taxed with absence of mind, or insanity, what assu-
rance would you have that you was not thrown into
a disordered state of mind at the sight of an appari-
tion ?

Let us reason in a similar manner on your second
supposition. If the apostles were impostors, there
nnist have been in the world men so contrary to all
the rest of their species, as to suffer imprisonment,
punishment, and death, for the support of a false-
hood. This absurdity must have intoxicated not
only one person, but all the thousands who sealed
the gospel with their blood. The apostles must have
been destitute of every degree of common sense, if,
intending to deceive the world, they had acted in a
manner the least likely of any to abuse it; marking
places, times, witnesses, and all other circumstances,
the most proper to discover their imposture. More-
over, their enemies must have conspired with them
in the illusion. Jews, Gentiles, and Christians, di-
vided on every other article, must have all agreed
in this, because no one ever confuted: What ami
saying ? No one ever accused our sacred authors of
imposture, although nothing could have been easier,

The Siifficiency of Revelation, 335

if they bad been impostors. In one word, a thou-
sand strange suppositions must be made. But I de-
mand again, if these suppositions have any likeli-
hood, if God have given to falsehood so many char-
acters of truth, if Satan be allowed to act his part
so dexterously to seduce us, how can you assure
yourself that God will not permit the father of false-
hood to seduce you also by an apparition ? How
could you assure yourself afterward that he had not
done it ? Let us conclude, then, in regard to unbe-
lievers of every kind, that if the ordinary means of
grace be inadequate to the production of faith, ex-
traordinary prodigies would be so too.

Let us proceed now, in brief, to prove, that mo-
tives to virtue are sufficient to induce men to be vir-
tuous, as we have proved that motives of credibili-
ty are sufficient to confound the objections of infi-
dels.

We believe, say you, the truths of religion : but
a thousand snares are set for our innocence, and we
are betrayed into immorality and guilt. Our minds
seduce us. Examples hurry us away. The propen-
sities of our own hearts pervert us. A new miracle
would awake us from our indolence, and would re-
animate our zeal. We have two things to answer.

L We deny the effect which you expect from this
apparition. This miracle will be wrought either sel-
dom, or frequently. If it were wrought every day,
it would, on that very account, lose all its efficacy ;
and as the Israelites, through a long habit of seeing
miracles were familiarized to them, till they received
no impressions from them, so it would be with you.

336 The Sufficiency of Revelatioiu

One while they saw waters turned into blood, anoth-
er they beheld the Jirst born of Egypt smitten; now
the sea divided to open a passage for them, and then
the heavens rained bread, and rivers flowed from a
rock ; yet they tempted and provoked the most high
God, and kept not his testimonies^ Psal. Ixxviii. 44,
51, 56, You yourselves every day see the heavens
and the earth, the works of nature, and the proper-
ties of its elementary parts, a rich variety of divine
workmanship, which, by proving the existence of the
Creator, demand the homage that you ought to ren-
der to him ; and as you see them without emotions
of virtue, so would you harden your hearts against
the remonstrances of the dead, were they frequently
to rise, and to exhort you to repentance.

Were the miracle wrought now and then, what
you experience on other occasions would infallibly
come to pass on this. You would be affected for a
moment, but the impressions would wear ofl", and
you would fall back into your former sins. The
proofs of this conjecture are seen every day. Peo-
ple who have been often touched and penetrated at
the sight of certain objects, have as often returned
to their old habits when the power of the charm hath
abated. Have you never read the heart of an old
miser at the fimeral of one of his own age ? Methinks
I hear the old man's soliloquy : '* I am full fourscore
years of age, I have out-lived the time which God
usually allots to mankind, and I am now a pall-bear-
er at a funeral. The melancholy torches are light-
ed, the attendants are all in mourning, the grave
yawns for its prey. For whom h all this funeral

The Sufficiency of Revelatim^ 33lf

pomp? What part am I acting in this tragedy 1
Shall I ever attend another funeral, or is my own al-
ready preparing ? Alas! if a few remains of life and
motion tell me I live, the burying of my old friend
assures me I must soon die. The wrinkles which
disfigure my face ; the weight of years that makes
me stoop; the infirmities which impair my strength;
the tottering of my enfeebled carcase ; all second
the voice of my deceased friend, and w^arn me of my
approaching dissolution. Yet, what am I about ? I
am building houses, I am amassing money, I am
pleasing myself with the hopes of adding to my cap-
ital this year, and of increasing my income the next.
O fatal blindness ! folly of a heart, which avarice
hath rendered insatiable! Henceforth I will think
only about dying. I will go and order my funeral,
put on my shroud, lie in my coffin, and render my-
self insensible to every care except that of dying the
death of the righteous,'' Numb, xxiii. 10. Thus
talks the old man to himself, as he goes to a grave,
and you think, perhaps, his life will resemble his re
flections, and that he is going to become charitable,
liberal, and disinterested. No, no, all his reflections
will vanish with the objects that produced them, and
as soon as he returns from the funeral, he will forget
he is mortal. In like manner, the return of one
from the dead would perhaps affect you on the spot;
you w^ould make many fine reflections, and form a
thousand new resolutions : but, when the phantom
had disappeared, your depravity would take its old
course, and all your reflections would evaporate.
This is our first answer.

TOL. IT, 43

338 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

2. We add, secondly. A man persuaded of the
divinity of religion, a man who, notwithstanding that
persuasion, persisteth in impenitence, a man of this
character hath carried obduracy to so high a pitch,
that it is not conceivable any new motives would al-
ter him. He is already so guilty, that far from hav-
ing any right to demand extraordinary means, he
ought rather to expect to be deprived of the ordina«
ry means, which he hath both received and resisted.
Let us dive into the conscience of this sinner ; let us
for a moment fathom the depth of the human heart ;
let us hear his detestable purposes. " I believe the
truth of religion ; I believe there is a God ; God, I
believe, seeth all my actions, and from his penetra-
tion none of my thoughts are hid; I believe he holds
the thunder in his liand, and one act of his will is
sufficient to strike me dead ; I believe these truths,
and they are so solemn, that I ought to be influen-
ced to my duty by them. However, it does not
signify, I will sin, although I am in his immediate
presence ; I will provoke the Lord to jealousy^ as if
I were stronger than he, 1 Cor. x. 22. and the sword
that hangs over my head, and hangs only by a single
thread, shall convey no terror into my mind. I believe
the truth of religion ; God hath for me, I think, a
Jove which passeth knowledge ; I believe he gave me
my existence, and to him I owe my hands, my eyes,
my motion, my life, my light ; moreover, I believe
he gave me his Son, his blood, his tenderest mercy
and love. All these affecting objects ought indeed to
change my heart, to make me blush for my ingrati-
tude, and to induce me to render him love for love.

The Sufficiency of Revelation. 339

life for life. But no ; I will resist all these innumer-
able motives, I will affront my benefactor, I will
wound that heart that is filled with pity for me, I
will crucify the Lord of glory afresh, Heb. vi. 6. If
his love trouble nie, I will forget it. If my con-
science reproach me, I will stifle it, and sin with
boldness. I believe the truth of religion ; there is,
I believe, a heaven, a presence of God in which there
is a fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore, Psal.
xvi. 2. The idea of felicity consummate in glory
ought, I must own, to make me superioi* to worldly
pleasures, and I ought to prefer the fountain of liv-
ing waters before my own broken cisterns that can
hold no water, .Ter. ii. 1 3. but it does not signify, I
will sacrifice the things that are not seen to the things
that are seen, 2 Cor, iv. 18. the glorious delights of
virtue to the pleasures of sin, and the exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, Heb. xi. 25. 2 Cor. iv. 17.
to momentary temporal pursuits. I believe the truth
of religion ; there is, I believe, a hell for the im-
penitent, there are chains of darkness, a worm that
dieth not, a fire that is never quenched, 2 Pet. ii. 4.
Mark ix. 44. In hell, I believe, there are pains far
more excruciating than the most violent agonies
here, worse than the gout and the stone, less toler-
able than the sufferings of a galley-slave, the break-
ing of a criminal on the wheel, or the tearing asun-
der of a martyr with red-hot pincers of iron. I be-
lieve these things ; and I am, I know, in tlie case of
them, against w4iom these punishments are denoun-
ced : freedom from all these is set before me, and I
m^ay, if I will, avoid the bottomless abyss, Kev, ix, L

340 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

but, no matter, I will precipitate myself headlong
into the horrible gulf. A small pittance of reputa-
tion, a very little glory, an inconsiderable sum of
money, a few empty and deceitful pleasures, will
serve to conceal those perils, the bare ideas of which
"would terrify my imagination, and subvert my de-
signs. Devouring worm! chains of darkness ! ever-
lasting burnings! infernal spirits! fire! sulphur!
smoke ! remorse ! rage 1 madness ! despair ! idea,
frightful idea of a thousand years, of ten thousand
years, of ten millions of years, of endless revolu-
tions of absorbing eternity ! You shall make no im-
pressions on my mind. It shall be my fortitude to
dare you, my glory to affront you."

Thus reasons the sinner who believes, but who
lives in impenitence. This is the heart that wants a
new miracle to affect it. But, I demand, can you
conceive any prodigy that can soften a soul so hard!
I ask. If so many motives be useless, can you con-
ceive any others more effectual ? Would you have
God attempt to gain an ascendency over you by
means more influential? Would you have him give
you more than immortality, more than his Son,
more than heaven ? Would you have him present
objects to you more frightful than hell and eternity?

We know what you will reply. You will say,
We talk fancifully, and fight with shadows of our
own creation. If the sinner, say you, would but
think of these things, they would certainly convert
him ; but he forgets them, and therefore he is more
to be pitied for his distraction, than to be blamed
for lus insensibility. Were a person to rise from the

The Sufficiency of Revelation, 341

dead, to recall, and to fix his attention, he would
awake from his stupor. Idle sophism! As if dis-
traction, amidst numberless objects that demand his
attention, were not the highest degree of insensibil-
ity itself. But why do I speak of distraction ? I
have now before me clear, full, and decisive evi-
dence, that even while sinners have all those objects
in full view, they derive no sanctifying influence from
them. Yes, I have made the experiment, and con-
sequently my evidence is undeniable. I see that all
the motives of love, fear, and horror, united, are
too weak to convert one obstinate sinner. My evi-
dences, my brethren, will you believe it ? are your-
selves. Contradict me, refute me. Am I not now
presenting all these motives to you ? Do not speak
of distraction, for I look at you, and you hear me.
I present all these motives to you : this God, the
witness, and judge of your hearts ; these treasures
of mercy, which he opens in your favour ; this Je-
sus, who, amid the most excruciating agonies, ex-
pired for you. To you we open the kingdom of
heaven, and draw back all the vails that hide futuri-
ty from you. To you, to you we present the devils
with their rage, hell with its torments, eternity with
its horrors. We conjure you this moment, by the
solemnity of all these motives, to return to God.
I repeat it again, you cannot pretend distraction
now, you cannot plead forgetfulness now, nor can
you avoid to-day, either the glory of conversion, or
the shame of an impenitence that resisteth the most
solemn and pathetic objects. But is it not true that
none of these motives touch you ? I mean, they do

342 The Stifficiency of Revelation,

not reform you. For it doth not ar^ue any piety, if,
after we have meditated on a subject, chosen our
sentiments and our expressions, and, with an assem-
blage of scripture-imagery, covered the pleasures of
paradise, and the horrors of hell, with colouring the
best adapted to exhibit their nature, and to affect
yours ; I say, it requireth no pity to feel a moving
of the animal spirits, a slight emotion of the heart.
You are just as much affected with a representation, '
which, you know, is fiction, and exhibited by actors
in borrowed guise ; and you do us very little hon-
our, by giving us what you bestow on theatrical de-
claimers. But is any one of you so affected with these
motives, as to go, without delay, to make restitution
of ill-gotten gain, to embrace an enemy, to break off
an impure connection ? I ask again. Can you contra-
dict me? Can you refute me? Alas! we know what
a sermon can do, and we have reason for affirming,
that no known motives will change some of our
hearts, although we do attend to them ; and for in-
ferring this just consequence, a thousand new mo-
tives would be as useless as the rest.

In this manner we establish the truth, thus we
prove the sufficiency of the Christian religion, thus
we justify providence against the unjust reproaches of
infidel and impenitent sinners, and thus, in spite of
ourselves, we trace out our own condemnation.
For, since we continue some of us in unbelief, and
others of us in impenitence, we are driven either to
tax God with employing means inadequate to the
ends of instruction and conversion, or to charge the
guilt of not improving them on ourselves. We have

The Sufficiency of Revelation. 343

seen that our disorders do not flow from the first ; but
that they actually do proceed from the last of these
causes. Unto thee, then, " O Lord ! belongeth right-
" eousness ; but unto us confusion of faces this day,"
Dan. ix. 7.

Here we would finish this discourse, had we not
engaged at first to answer a difficult question, which
naturally ariseth from our text, and from the manner
in which we have discussed it. Could the Jews, to
whom the state of the soul after death was very lit-
tle known, be numbered among those who would
not he persuaded though one rose from the dead ? We
have two answers to this seeming difficulty.

1. We could deny that notion which creates this
difficulty, and affirm, that the state of the soul after
death was much better understood by the Jews than
you suppose. W^e could quote many passages from
the Old Testament, where the doctrines of heaven
and of hell, of judgment and of the resurrection,
are revealed; and we could shew, that the Jews
were so persuaded of the truth of these doctrines,
that they considered the Sadducees, who doubted of
them, as sectaries distinguished from the rest of the
nation.

But as our strait limits will not allow us to do jus-
tice to these articles by fully discussing them, we
will take another method of answering tiic objection.

2. The Jews had as good evidence of the divine
inspiration of the Old Testament as Ciiristians have
of that of the New. So that it miglit as trulv be
said to a Jew, as to a Christian, If thou resist the or-
dinary evidence of the truth of revelation, neither

344 The Sufficiency of Revelation,

wouldst thou be persuaded though one rose from the
dead to attest it.

It is questionable, whether the Jewish revelation
explained the state of souls after death so clearly
that Jesus Christ had sufficient ground for his pro-
position. But were we to grant what this question
implies; were we to suppose, that the state of souls
after death was as much unknown as our querist
pretends ; it would be still true, that it w as incon-
gi^uous with the justice and wisdom of God to em-
ploy new means of conversion in favour of a Jew
who resisted Moses and the prophets. Om- proof
follows.

Moses and the prophets taught sublime notions of
God. They represented him as a Being supremely
wise, and supremely powerful. Moreover, Moses
and the prophets expressly declared, that God, of
whom they gave such sublime ideas, w^ould display
his pow er, and his wisdom, to render those complete-
ly happy who obeyed his laws, and them complete-
ly miserable who durst affront his authority. A
Jew, who was persuaded, on the one hand, that Mo-
ses and the prophets spoke on the part of God ; and,
on the other, that Moses and the prophets, wbose
mission w as unsuspected, declared that God would
render those completely happy w^ho obeyed his laws,
and them completely miserable who durst affront
his authority ; a .Tew, w ho, in spite of this persuasion,
persisted in impenitence, was so obdurate, that his
conversion, by means of any new motives, was in-
conceivable; at least, he was so culpable, that he

The Sufficiency of Revelalion. 345

could not equitably require God to eniploy new
means for his ronversion.

What doth the gospel say more on the punishments
which God will inflict on the wicked, than Moses
and the prophets said ? (I speak on the supposition
of those who deny any particular explications of the
doctrine of immortality in the Old Testament.)
What did Jesus Christ teach more than Moses and
the prophets taught? He entered into a more par-
ticular detail; he told his hearers, there was rveeping^
and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ; a worm that died
not, and a fire that was not quenched. But the gen-
eral thesis, that God would display his attributes in
punishing the wicked, and in rewarding the good,
this general thesis was as well known to the Jews as
it is to Christians ; and this general thesis is a suffi-
cient ground for the words of the text.

The most that can be concluded from this objec-
tion is, not that the proposition of Jesus Christ was
not verified in regard to the Jews, but that it is much
more verified in regard to Christians : not that the
Jews, who resisted Moses and the prophets, were
not very guilty, but that Christians, who resist the
gospel, are much more guilty. We are fully con-
vinced of the truth of this assertion. We wish your
minds were duly affected with it. To this purpose
we proceed to the application.

First, W^e address ourselves to infidels: O that
you would for once seriously enter into the reason-
able disposition of desiring to know and to obey the
truth ! At least examine, and see. If, after all your
pains, you can find nothing credible in the christian

TOL. ir. 44

346 The Sufficiency of Revelation.

religion, we own we are strangers to the human
heart, and we must give you up, as belonging to a
species of beings different from ours. But what ir-
ritates us is to see, that among the many infidels, who
are endeavouring to destroy the vitals of religion,
there is scarcely one to be found whose erroneous
principles do not originate in a bad heart. It is the
heart that disbelieves ; it is the heart which must
be attacked ; it is the heart that must be convinced.

People doubt because they will doubt. Dreadful
disposition! Can nothing discover thine enormity?
What is infidelity good for ? By what charm doth it
lull the soul into a willing ignorance of its origin
and end? If, during the short space of a mortal
life, the love of independence tempt us to please
ourselves with joining this monstrous party, how
dear will the union cost us, when we come to die!

O ! were my tongue dipped in the gall of celestial
displeasure, I would describe to you the state of a
man expiring in the cruel uncertainties of unbelief;
who seeth, in spite of himself, yea, in spite of him-
self, the truth of that religion, which he hath en-
deavoured to no purpose to eradicate from his heart.
Ah ! see ! every thing contributes to trouble him
now. " I am dying — I despau* of recovering — phy-
sicians have given me over — ^the sighs and tears of
my friends are useless ; yet they have nothing else
to bestow — medicines take no effect — consultations
come to nothing — ^alas ! not you — not my little for-
tune— ^the whole world cannot cure me — I must die
— It is not a preacher — it is not a religious book —
ij is not a trifling declaimer — ^it is death itself that

The Sufficiency of Revelation^ 347

preacheth to me — I feel, I know not what, shivering
cold in my blood — I am in a dying sweat — my feet,
my hands, every part of my body is wasted — I am
3nore like a corpse than a living body — I am rather
dead than alive — I must die — AVhither am I going ?
What will become of me ? What will become of my
body ? My God ! what a frightful spectacle ! I see it 1
The horrid torches — the dismal shroud — the coffin —
the pall — the tolling bell — the subterranean abode —
carcases — worms — putrefaction — What will become
of my soul \ I am ignorant of its destiny — I am
tumbling headlong into eternal night — my infidelity
tells me my soul is nothing but a portion of subtil
matter — another world a vision — immortality a fan-
cy— But yet, I feel, I know not what, that troubles
my infidelity — annihilation, terrible as it is, would
appear tolerable to me, were not the ideas of heaven
and hell to present themselves to me, in spite of my-
self— But I see that heaven, that immortal mansion
of glory shut against ine — I see it at an immense dis-
tance— I see it at a place, which my crimes forbid me
to enter — I see hell — hell, which I have ridiculed —
it opens under my feet— I hear the horrible groans
of the damned — tlie smoke of the bottomless pit
choaks my words, and wraps my thoughts in suffo-
cating darkness."

Such is the infidel on a dying bed. This is not an
imai>:inary flight ; it is not an arbitrary invention, it
is n description of what we see every day in the fa-
tal visits, to which our ministry engageth us, and to
which God seems to call us to be sorrowful witnesses
iof his displeasure and vengeance. This is what infi-

348 The Siifficiency of Revelation.

delity comes to. This is what infidelity is good for.
Thus most sceptics die, although, while they live,
they pretend to free themselves from vulgar errors.
I ask again, What charms are there in a state that
hath such dreadful consequences ? How is it possible
for men, rational men, to carry their madness to such
an excess ?

Without doubt it would excite many murmurs in
this auditory; certainly we should be taxed with
strangely exceeding the matter, were we to venture
to say, that many of our hearers are capable of car-
rying their corruption to as great a length as I have
described. Well ! we will not say so. We know
your delicacy too well. But allow us to give you a
task. We propose a problem to the examination of
each of you.

Who, of two men, appears most odious to you?
One resolves to refuse nothing to his senses, to grati-
fy all his wishes without restraint, and to procure all
the pleasures that a worldly life can atford. Only
one thought disturbs him, the thought of religion.
The idea of an offended benefactor, of an angry Su-
preme .Judge, of eternal salvation neglected, of hell
contemned ; each of these ideas poisons the pleas-
ures which he wishes to pursue. In order to concil-
iate his desires with his remorse, he determines to try
to get rid of the thought of religion. Thus he be-
comes an obstinate atheist, for the sake of becoming
a peaceable libertine, and he cannot sin quietly till
he hath iiattered himself into a belief that religion is
chimerical. This is the case of the first man.

The Svfficiency of Revelation, 349

The second man resolves to refuse nothing to his
sensual appetites, to gratify all his wishes without
restraint, and to procure all the pleasures that a
worldly life can afford. The same thought agitates
him, the thought of religion. The idea of an of-
fended benefactor, of an angry Supreme Judge, of
an eternal salvation neglected, of hell contemned,
each of these ideas poisons the pleasures which he
wishes to pursue. He takes a different method of
conciliating his desires with his remorse. He doth
not persuade himself that there is no benefactor :
but he rendereth himself insensible to his benefits.
He doth not flatter himself into the disbelief of a
Supreme Judge ; but he dares his majestic authority.
He doth not think salvation a chimera ; but he har-
dens his heart against its attractive charms. He
doth not question whether there be a hell ; but he
ridicules its torments. This is the case of the second
man. The task, which we take the liberty to assign
you, is to examine, but to examine coolly and delib-
erately, which of these two men is the most guilty.

Would to God, our hearers had no other interest in
the examination of this question than what compas-
sion for the misery of others gave them ! May the
many false christians, who live in impenitence, and
who felicitate themselves for not living in infidelity,
be sincerely affected, dismayed, and ashamed of giv-
ing occasion for the question, whether they be not
more odious themselves than those whom they ac-
count the most odious of mankind,! mean, sceptics and
atheists ! May each of us be enabled to improve the
means which God hath employed to save us ! May

350 The Siifflcicncit/ oj Revdatioru

our failli and obedience be crowned ! and may we
be admitted with Lazarus into the bosom of the Fa-
ther of the faitliful ! The Lord hear our prayers ! To
him be honour and glory forever. Amen^

SERMON XI.

The Advantages of llcvelatioiu

1 Cor. i. 21.

After that in the wisdom of God, the world hj ms-
dom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishr
ness of preaching to save them that believe.

XT is a celebrated saying of Tertullian, my breth-
ren, that every mechanic among Christians knew Gml^
and could make him known to others, Tertulliaa
spoke thus by way of contrast to the conduct of the
philosopher Thales toward Croesus the king. Croe-
sus asked this philosopher, What is God ? Thales,
(by the way, some relate the same story of Simon-
ides,) Thales required one day to consider the mat-
ter, before he gave his answer. When one day was
gone, Croesus asked him again, What is God? Thales
intreated two days to consider. When two days
were expired, the question was proposed to him
again; he besought the king to grant him four days.
After four days, he required eight: after eight, six-
teen ; and in this manner he continued to procrasti-
nate so long, that the king, impatient at his dela\-,
desired to know the reason of it. O king! said
Thales, be not astonished that I defer my answer.
It is a question in which my insufficient reason i^

352 The Advantages of Revelation,

lost. The oftener I ask myself, What is God? the
more incapable I find myself of answering. New
difficulties arise every moment, and my knowledge
diminisheth as my inquiries increase.

Tertullian hereupon takes an occasion to triumph
over the philosophers of paganism, and to make an
eulogium on Christianity. Thales, the chief of the
wise men of Greece; Thales, who hath added the
erudition of Egypt to the wisdom of Greece ; Thales
cannot inform the king what God is ! The meanest
Christian knows more than he. "What man know-
" eth the things of a man save the spirit of man which
" is in him : even so the things of God knoweth no
" man, but the spirit of God," 1 Cor. ii. 11. The
christian hath more understanding than all his teach-
ers, according to the psalmist, Psal. cxix. 99.; for, as
far as the light of revelation is above that of nature,
so far is the meanest christian above the wisest hea-
then philosopher.

Of this superiority of knowledge we intend to treat
to-day. Tliis St. Paul had in view in the first chap-
ters of tbiis epistle, and particularly in the text. But,
in order to a thorough knowledge of the apostle's
meaning, we must explain his terms, and mark the
occasion of tliem. With this explication we begin.

Greece, of which Corinth was a considerable city,
was one of those countries which honoured the sci-
ences, and which the sciences honoured in return.
It was the opinion tljere, that the prosperity of a
state depended as much on the culture of reason, and
on the establishment of lilerature, as on a Avell-disci-
plined army, or an advantageous trade; and that

The Advantages of Revelation, 353

neither opulence nor sjrandeiir were of any value in
tlie hands of men who were destitute of learning and
good sense. In tliis they were worthy of emulation
and praise. At the same time, it was very deplora-
ble that their love of learning should often be an oc-
casion of their ignorance. Nothing is more common
in academies and universities (indeed it is an imper-
fection almost inseparable from them) than to see
eaclj science alternately in vogue; each branch of
literature becomes fashionable in its turn, and some
doctor presides over reason and good sense, so tliat
sense and reason are nothing without his approba-
tion. In St. Paul's time, philosophy was in fashion
in Greece ; not a sound, cliasle philosophy, that al-
ways took reason for its guide, a kind of science,
which has made greater progress in our times than
in all preceding ages ; but a philosophy full of pre-
judices, subject to the authority of the heads of a sect
which was then most in vogue, expressed politely,
and, to use the language of St. Paul, proposed with
the words which rnan's wisdom teachcth, 1 Cor. ii.
13. Without this philosophy, and this eloquence,
people were despised by the Greeks. The apostles
were very little versed in these sciences. The gos-
pel they preached was formed upon another plan;
and they who preached it were destitute of these or-
naments: accordingly th.ey were treated by the far
greater part with contempt. The want of these was
a great offence to the Corinthians. They could not
comprehend, that a doctrine, which came from hea-
ven, could be inferior to human sciences. St. Paul
intended in this epistle to guard tlie Corinthians

VOL. II. 15

354 The Advantages of Hett^ation.

airainst this objection, and to make an apolo2;y for
the j2:ospel, and for his ministry. The text is an
abridorment of his apology.

The occasion of the words of the text is a key to
the sense of each expression ; it explains those terms
of the apostle which need explanation, as well as the
meaning of the whole proposition : " After that in the
" wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
" God, it pleased God. by the foolishness of preach-
** ins^, to save them that believe,"

The ivis^om, or the learning, of which St. Paul
speaks, is philosophy. This I think, is incontesti-
ble. The first epistle to the Corinthians, I grant, was
WTitten to two sorts of Christians, to some who came
from the profession of Judaism, and to others who
came from the profession of Paganism. Some com-
mentators doubt, whether, by the wise, of whom St.
Paul often speaks in this chapter, we be to understand
Jews, or Pagan philosophers : Whether, by jiisdom,
we be to understand the system of the synagogue, or
the system of the porch. They are inclined to take
the words in the former sense, because the Jews usu-
ally called their divines and philosophers, wise meUy
and gave the name of wisdom to every branch of
knowledge. Theology they called wisdom eoncern-
ingGod; natural philosophy they called h'u</o?w con-
cerning nature; astronomy they called wisdom con-
cerning Iht stars; and so of the rest. But, although
we grant the tmth of this remark, we deny the ap-
plication of it here. It seems very clear to us, that
St. Paul, throughout this chapter, gave the Pagan
philosophers the appellation wisey which they affect-

The Advantages of 'Revelation, 35S

ed. The verse, that follows the text, makes this ve-
ry plain : the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek
lifter wisdom : that is to say, the Greeks are as earn-
estly desirous of philosophy as the Jews of mira-
cles. By wisdom, in the text, then, we are to un-
derstand philosophy. But the more fully to com-
prehend the meaning of St. Paul, we must define
this philosophy agreeably to his ideas. Philosophy,
then, '' is that science of God, and of the chief good,
" which is grounded not on the testimony of any su-
" perior intelligence, but on the speculations and dis-
" coveries of our own reason.'^

There are two more expressions in our text, that
need explaining ; the foolishtiess of preaching, and
ihem that believe : " after that in the wisdom of God
" tiie world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God
*' by the foolishness of preaching to save th^m that
*' believe." They who believe, are a class of people,
who take a method of knowing God opposite to that
of philosophers. Philosophers determine to derive
all their notions of God, and of the chief good, from
their own speculations. Believers, on the contrary,
convinced of the imperfection of their reason, and
of the narrow limits of their knowledge, derive their
religious ideas from the testimony of a superior in-
telligence. The superior intelligence, whom they
take for their guide, is .Iesus Christ; and the tes-
timony, to which they submit, is the Gospel. Our
meaning will be clearly conveyed by a remarkable
passage of Tertullian, who shews the difference
between him, whom St. Paul calls wise, and him,
whom he calls a believer. On the famous words of

356 The Advantages of Revelation.

St. Paul to the Colossians, Beware lest any man spoil
you through iihilosophy and vain deceit, diap. ii. 8.
says this father; " St. Paul had seen at Athens that
" human wisdom, which curtaileth and disguiseththe
" truth. He had seen, that some heretics, endeav-
*' oured to mix that wisdom with the gospel. But
" what communion hath Jerusalem Avith Athens ?
*' The church with tl e academy ? Heretics with true
'' christians ? Solomon's porch is our porch. We
*' have no need of speculation, and discussion, after
" we have known Jesus Christ and his gospel. When
" we believe we ask nothing more; for it is an arti-
" cle of our faith, that he wlio believes, needs nooth-
" er ground of his faith than the gospel." Thus
speaks Tertullian.

But why doth St. Paul call the gospel the foolish-
ness of preaching ? It pleased God hy the foolishness of
^preaching to save them that believe. Besides he cail-
eth it, the foolishness of God: The foolishness of God
is iviser than men, ver. 25. And lie adds ver. 27. God
licdh chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
ihe wise.

It is usual with St. Paul, and the style is not pecul-
iar to him, to call an object not by a name descrip-
tive of its real nature but by a name expressive of
the notions that are formed of it in the world, and of
the effects tliat are produced by it. Now, the gos-
pel being considered by Jews and heathens as a fool-
ish system, St. Paul calls ii foolishness. Tiiatthis was
the apostle's meaning two passages prove. The nat-
ural man receiielh not the things of the Spirit of God ;
for they arc f oolishjness uinto iiim, chap, ii. 14. You

The Advantages of Revelation. 357

see, then, in what sense the gospel is foolishness ; it is
so called, because it appears so to a natural man, A-
gain, We preach Christ crucified., unto the Jews a stumb-
ling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. You
see in what sense the gospel is called foolishness ; it
is because the doctrine of Jesus Christ crucified,
Avhich is the great doctrine of the gospel, was treated
?iS foolishness. The history of the preaching of the
apostles fully justifies our comment. The doctrines
of the gospel, in general, and that of a Gud-man cru-
cified, in particular, w ere reputed foolish. " We are
" account ed/00/5, says Justin Martyr,for giving such
"an eminent rank to a crucified man."^ "The wise
"men of the world, says St. Augustine, insult us, and
" ask, Where is your reason and intelligence, when
" you w^orship a man who was crucified?"t

These two words, ivisdom nnd foolishness, being thus
explained, melhinks we may easily understand the
whole text. After that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolish-
ness of preaching, to save them thcd believe. To know
God is a short phrase, expressive of an idea of the
virtues necessary to salvation; it is equal to the term
theology, tliat is, science concerning God ; a body of
doctrine, containing all the truths which aie necessa-
ry to salvation. Agreeably to this, St. Paul explains
the phrase to know God, by the expression, to be sav-
ed. After that in the wisdom of God the world by wis-
dom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe : and a little lower,
what he had called /c/io/m/o- God, he cMs knowing the

* Apol. Sccund. f Serm. yiii. de yerbo Aposl.

358 The Advantages of Revelation^

mind of the Lord, chap. ii. 16. that is, knowing that
plan of salvation which God hath formed in regard to
man.

When therefore the apostle said, Tlie world hy wis-
dom knew not God, he meant, that the heathens had
not derived from the light of nature all the help
necessary to enable them to form adequate notions
of God, and of a worship suited to his perfections.
Above all, he meant to teach us, that it was impossi-
ble for the greatest philosophers to discover by the
light of nature all the truths that compose the sys-
tem of the gospel, and particularly the doctrine of a
crucified Redeemer. The accomplishment of the
great mystery of redemption depended on the pure
will of God, and, consequently, it could be known
only by revelation. With this view he calls the mys-
teries of revelation " things which eye hath not seen,
*' nor ear heard, but which God hath revealed by his
*^ Spirit," ver. 9, 10.

The apostle saith, " After the world by wisdom
*'knew not God, it pleased God to save believers by
"the foolishness of preaching." That is to say, since
the mere systems of reason were eventually insuffi-
cient for the salvation of mankind ; and since it was
impossible that their speculations should obtain the
true knowledge of God ; God took another way to
instruct them : he revealed by preaching the gospel,
what the light of nature could not discover, so that
the system of Jesus Christ, and his apostles, supplied
all that was wanting in the systems of the ancient
philosophers.

The Advantages of Revelation. 35^

But it is not in relation to the ancient philosophers
only that we mean to consider the proposition in our
text; we will examine it also in reference to modern
philosophy. Our philosophers know more than all
those of Greece knew; but their science, which is of
unspeakable advantage, while it contains itself within
its proper sphere, becomes a source of errors when it
is extended beyond it. Human reason now lodgeth
itself in new intrenchments, when it refuseth to sub-
mit to the faith. It even puts on new armor to attack
it, after it hath invented new methods of self defence.
Under pretence that natural science hath made great-
er progress, revelation is despised. Under pretence
that modern notions of God the Creator are purer
than those of the ancients, the yoke of God the Re-
deemer is shaken off. We are going to employ the
reniaining part of this discourse in justifying the pro-
position of St. Paul in the sense tliat we have given it:
we are going to endeavor to prove, that revealed re-
ligion hath advantages infinitely superior to natural
religion : that the greatest geniussesare incapable of
discovering by their own reason all the truths neces-
sary to salvation : and tliat it displays the goodness
of God, not to abandon us to the uncertainties of our
own wisdom, but to make us the rich present of rev-
elation.

We will enter into this discussion by placing on
the one side, a philosopher contemplating the works
of nature ; on the other, a disciple of .Tesus Christ re-
ceiving the doctrines of revelation. To each we will
give four subjects to examine : the attribute so^ God:
the nature of man : the means of appeasing the re-

360 The Advantages of Revelation.

morse of conscience : and a future state. From their
judgments on each of these subjects evidence will
arise of the superior worth of tl)at revelation, which
some minute philosophers affect to despise, and
above which they prefer that rough draught which
they sketch out by their own learned speculations,

I. Let us consider a disciple of natural religion,
and a disciple of revealed religion, meditating on the
attributes of God. When the disciple of natural re-
ligion considers the symmetry of this universe ; when
he observes that admirable uniformity, which appears
in the succession of seasons, and in tlie constant ro-
tation of night and day ; when he remarks the exact
motions of the heavenly bodies; the flux and reflux
of the sea, so ordered that billows, which swell into
mountains, and seem to threaten the world with an
universal deluge, break away on the shore, and re-
spect on the beach the command of the Creator, who
said to the sea. Hitherto shalt thou come, hut no far-
ther ; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed^ Job
xxxviii. 11.; when he attends to all these marvellous
works, he will readily conclude, that the Author of
nature is a being powerful and wise. But when he
observes winds, tempests, and earthquakes, which
seem to threaten the reduction of nature to its prim-
itive chaos ; when he sees the sea overflow its banks,
and burst the enormous moles, that the industry of
mankind had raised ; his speculations will be perplex-
ed, he will imagine, he sees characters of imperfec-
tion among so many proofs of creative perfection
and power.

The Advantages of Revelation, 361

When he thinks that God, havino; enriched the
habitable world with innumerable productions of in-
finite woilh to the inhabitant, halh placed man here
as a sovereign in a superb palace ; w hen he consid-
ers how admirably God hath proportioned the divers
parts of the creation to the construction of the hu-
man body, the air to the lungs, aliments to the dif-
ferent hinnors of the body, the medium by which
objects are rendered visible to the eyes, that by
which sounds are communicated to the ears; when
he remarks how God hath connected man with his
ow^n species, and not with animals of another kind;
how he hath distributed talents, so that some requir-
ing the assistance of others, all should be mutually
united together ; how he hath bound men together
by visible ties, so that one cannot see another in
pain without a sympathy that inclines him to relieve
him : when the disciple of natural religion meditates
on these grand subjects, he concludes that the Au-
thor of nature is a beneficent Being. But when he
sees the innumerable miseries to which men are sub-
ject ; when he finds that every creature which con-
tributes to support, contributes at the same time to
destroy us ; when he thinks that the air, which as-
sists respiration, conveys epidemical diseases, and
imperceptible poisons ; that aliments w hich nourish
lis are often our bane ; that the animals that serve us
often turn savage against us ; when he observes the
perfidiousness of society, the mutual industry of
mankind in tormenting each other; the arts which
they invent to deprive one another of life; when he
attempts to reckon up the innumeral.)Ie maladies that

YOI. IT. 40

362 The Advantages of Revelation.

consume us ; when he considers death, which bows
the loftiest heads, dissolves the firmest cements, and
subverts the best-founded fortunes : when he makes
these reflections, he will be apt to doubt, whether it
be goodness, or the contrary attribute, that inclineth
the Author of our being to give us existence. When
the disciple of natural religion reads those reverses
of fortune of which history furnislieth a great many
examples ; when he seeth tyrants fall from a pinna-
cle of grandeur; wicked men often punished by
their own wickedness ; the avaricious punished by
the objects of their avarice ; the ambitious by those
of their ambition ; the voluptuous by those of their
voluptuousness; when he perceives that the laws of
virtue are so essential to public happiness, that with-
out them society would become a banditti, at least,
that society is more or less happy or miserable, ac-
cording to its looser or closer attachment to virtue;
when he considers all these cases, he will probably
conclude, that the Author of this universe is a just
and holy Being. But, when he sees tyranny estab-
lished, vice enthroned, humility in confusion, pride
wearing a crown, and love to holiness sometimes ex-
posing people to many and intolerable calamities ;
he will not be able to justify God, amidst the dark-
ness in which his equity is involved in the govern-
ment of the world.

But, of all these mysteries, can one be proposed
which the gospel doth not unfold ; or, at least, is
there one on which it doth not give us some princi-
ples which are sufficient to conciliate it with the per-

The Advantages of Revelation. 363

fections of the Creator, how opposite soever it may
seein ?

Do the disorders of the world puzzle the disciple
of natural relio;ion, and produce difficulties in his
mind ? With tl;e principles of the gospel I can solve
them all. When it is remembered, that this world
hath been defiled by the sin of man, and that he is
therefore an object of divine displeasure ; when the
principle is admitted, that the world is not now what
it was when it came out of the hands of God ; and
that, in comparison with its pristine state, it is only
a heap of ruins, the truly magnificent, but actually
ruinous heap of an edifice of incomparable beauty,
the rubbish of which is far more proper to excite
our grief for the loss of its primitive grandeur, than
to suit our present wants. Wlen these reflections
are made, can we find any objections, in the disor-
ders of the world, against the wisdom of ovu' Cre-
ator ?

Are the miseries of man, and is the fatal necessity
of death, in contemplation? With the principles of
the gospel I solve the difficuHies which these sad
objects produce in the mind of the disciple of natu-
ral religion. If the principles of Christianity be ad-
mitted, if we allow that the aflftictions of good men
are profitable to them, and that, in many cases, pros-
perity would be fatal to them; if we grant, that the
present is a transitory state, and that this momenta-
ry life will be succeeded by an immortal state ; if
we recollect the many similar truths Avhich the gos-
pel abundantly declares ; can we find in human mis-

364 The Advantages of Revelation.

eries, and in the necessity of dying, objections against
the goodness of the Creator ?

Do the prosperities of bad men, and the adversi-
ties of the good, confuse our ideas of God ? With
the principles of the gospel I can remove all the dif-
ficulties which these different conditions produce in
the mind of the disciple of natural religion. If the
principles of the gospel be admitted, if we be per-
suaded that the tyrant, whose prosperity astonishes
us, fulfils the counsel of God ; if ecclesiastical histo-
ry assure us that Herods and Pilates themselves con-
tributed to the establishment of that very Christiani-
ty which they meant to destroy ; especially, if we
admit a state of future rewards and punishments ;
can the obscurity in Avhich Providence hath been
pleased to wrap up some of its designs, raise doubts
about the justice of the Creator ?

In regard then to the first object of contemplation,
the perfection of the nature of God, revealed reli-
gion is infinitely superior to natural religion ; the
disciple of the first religion is infinitely wiser than
the pupil of the last.

II. Let us consider these two disciples examining
the nature of man, and endeavouring to know them-
selves. The disciple of natural religion cannot know
mankind: he cannot perfectly understand the na-
ture, the obligations, the duration of man.

1. The disciple of natural religion can only im-
perfectly know the nature of man, the difference of
the two substances of which he is composed. His
reason, indeed, may speculate the matter, and he
may perceive that there is no relation between mo-

The Advantages of Revelation. 365

tion and thought, between the dissolution of a few
fibres and violent sensations of pain, between an ao;i-
tation of humors and profound reflections ; he may
infer from two different effects, that there ought to
be two different causes, a cause of motion and a cause
of sensation, a cause of a<yitating humours and a cause
of reflecting, that there is a body, and that there is a
spirit.

But, in my opinion, those philosophers who are
best acquainted whh the nature of man, cannot ac-
count for two difFiculties, that are proposed totliem,
when, on the mere principles of reason, tliey affirm
that man is composed of the two substances of mat-
ter and mind. I ask, first, Do you so well under-
stand matter, are your ideas of it so complete, that
you can affirm, for certain, it is capable of nothing
more tlian this, or that ? Are you sure it implies a
contradiction to affirm, it hath one property which
hath escaped your observation ? and consecjuently,
can you actually demonstrate, that the essence of
matter is incompatibhe with though.t ? Since, when
you cannot discover the union of an attribute with a
subject, you instantly conclude, that two attributes,
Avhich seem to you to have no relation, suppose tvvo
different subjects: and, since you conclude, that ex-
tent and thought compose tvvo different subjects,
body and soul, because you can discover no natural
relation between extent and thought : if I discover a
third attribute, which appears to me entirely uncon-
nected with both extent and thought, I shall have a
right, in my turn, to admit three subjects in man ;
matter, which is the subject of extent ; mind, which

366 The Advantages of Revelation.

is the subject of thouo;bt ; and a third subject, which
belongs to the attribute that seems to me to have no
relation to either matter or mind. Now I do know
such an attribute ; but I do not know to which of
your two subjects I ought to refer it : I mean sensa-
tion. I find it in my nature, and I experience it eve-
ry hour ; but I am altogether at a loss whether I
ought to attribute it to body or to spirit. I perceive
no more natural and necessary relation between sen-
sation and motion, than between sensation and thought.
There are, then, on yoiu' principle, three substances
in man ; one the substratum, which is the subject of
extension ; another which is the subject of thought ;
and a third, which is the subject of sensation : or
rather, I suspect there is only one substance in man,
which is known to me very imperfectly, to which all
these attributes belong, and which are united togeth-
er, although I am not able to discover their relation.
Revealed religion removes these difficulties, and
decides the question. It tells us, that there are two
beings in man, and, if I may express myself so, two
different men, the material man, and the immaterial
man. The scriptures speak on these principles thus :
2'he dust shall return to the earth as it was, this is
the material man : I'he spirit shall return to God
nlio gave it, Eccl. xii. 7. this. is the immaterial man.
Fear not them which kill the body, that is to say, the
material man : fear him, which is able to destroy the
soul, Matt. x. 28. that is the immaterial man. We
are willing to he absent from the body, that is, from
the material man; and to be present with the JLordy
2 Cor. V. 8. that is to say, to have the immaterial man

The Advantages of Revelation. 367

disembodied. They stoned Stephen, that is, the mate-
rial man : calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. Acts vii. 59. that is to say, receive
the immaterial man.

2. The disciple of natural reliorion can obtain only
an imperfect knowledge of the obligations, or duties
of man. Natural religion may indeed conduct him
to a certain point, and tell him that he ought to love
his benefactor, and various similar maxims. But is
natural religion, think you, sufficient to account for
that contrariety, of which every man is conscious,
that opposition between inclination and obliga-
tion? Avery solid argument, I grant, in favor of
moral rectitude, ariseth from observing, that to
whatever degree a man may carry his sin, whatever
efforts he may make to eradicate those seeds of virtue
from his heart which nature hath sown there, he can-
not forbear venerating virtue, and recoiling at vice.
This is certainly a proof that the Author of our be-
ing meant to forbid vice, and to enjoin virtue. But
is there no room for complaint? Is there nothing spe-
cious in the following objections ? As, in spite of all
my endeavors to destroy virtuous dispositions, I can-
not help respecting virtue, you infer, that the Au-
thor of my being intended I should be virtuous: So,
as in spite of all my endeavors to eradicate vice, I
cannot help loving vice, have I not reason for infer-
ring, in my turn, tliat the Author of my being de-
signed I should be vicious; or, at least, that he can-
not justly impute guilt to me for performing those
actions which proceed from some principles that
were born with me ? Is there no sliew of reason in

368 The Advantages of Revelation,

this famous sophism ^ Reconcile the God of nature
with, the God of relisjion. Explain how the God of
religion can forbid what the God of nature inspires;
and how he who follows those dictates, which the
God of nature inspires, can be punished for so do-
ing by the God of religion.

The gospel unfolds this mystery. It attributes
this seed of corruption to the depravity of nature.
It attributeth the respect we feel for virtue to the re-
mains of the image of God in which we were form-
ed, and which can never be entirely effaced. Be-
cause we were born in sin, the gospel concludes that
we ought to apply all our attentive endeavours to
eradicate the seeds of corruption. And, because
the image of the Creator is partly erased from our
hearts, the gospel Concludes that we ought to give
ourselves wholly to the retracing of it, and so to
answer the excellence of our extraction.

3. A disciple of natural religion can obtain only
an imperfect knowledge of the duration of man,
whether his soul be immortal, or wiiether it be in-
volved in the ruin of matter. Reason, I allow, ad-
vanceth some solid arguments in proof of the doc-
trine of the immortality of the soul. For what ne-
cessity is there for supposing that the soul, which is
a spiritual, indivisible, and immaterial being, that
conslitutcs a whole, and is a distinct being, although
united to a portion of matter, should cease to exist
when its union with the body is dissolved ? A posi-
tive act of the Creator is necessary to the anniliila-
tion of a substance. The annihilating of a being
that subsists, recjuireth an act of power similar to

The Advantages of Revelation. 369

that which gave it existence at first. Now, far from
havinfij any ground to believe that God will cause
his power to intervene to annihilate our souls, every
thing that we know persuadeth us that he himself
hath engraven characters of immortality on them,
and that he will preserve them forever. Enter into
thy heart, frail creature! see, feel, consider those
grand ideas, those immortal designs, that thirst for
existing, which a thousand ages cannot quench, and
in these lines and points behold the finger of thy
Creator writing a promise of immortality to thee.
But, how solid soever these arguments maybe, how-
ever evident in themselves, and striking to a philos-
opher, they are objectionable, because they are not
popular, but above vulgar minds, to wiiom the bare
terms, spirituality and existence, are entirely barba-
rous, and convey no meaning at all.

Moreover, the union between the operations of
the soul, and those of the body, is so close, that all
the philosophers in the world cannot certainly de-
termine, whether the operations of the body ceas-
ing, the operations of the soul do not cease with
them. I see a body in perfect health, the mind there-
fore is sound. The same body is disordered, and
the mind is disconcerted with it. The brain is filled,
and the soul is instantly confused. The brisker the
circulation of the blood is, the quicker the idea? of
the mind are, and the more extensive its knowleds:e.
At length death comes, and dissolves all the parts of
the body ; and how difficult is it to persuade one's
self that the soul, which was affected with every fpr-

VOL. II. 4 7

370 The Advantages of Revelation.

iner motion of the body, will not be dissipated by its
entire dissolution !

Are tliey the vulgar only to whom the philosoph-
ical arguments for the iin mortality of the soul appear
deficient in evidence? Do not superior geniusses re-
quire, at least, an explanation of what rank you as-
sign to beasts, on the principle, that nothing capable
of ideas and conceptions can be involved in a disso-
lution of matter? IN o body would venture to afRrm
now, in an assembly of philosophers, what was soaie
time ago maintained with great warmth, that beasts
are mere self-moving machines. Experience seems
to demonstrate the falsity of the metaphysical rea-
sonings which have been proposed in favour of this
opinion ; and we cannot observe the actions of beasts
without being inclined to infer one of these two con-
sequences: either the spirit of man is mortal, like
his body, or the souls of beasts are immortal, like
those of mankind.

Revelation dissipates all our obscurities, and teach-
eth us clearly, and witliout any may-be, that God vvill-
eth our hnmortality. It carries our thoughts forward to
a future state, as to a fixed period, whither the greatest
part of the promises of God tend. It commandeth us,
indeed, to consider all the blessings of this life, the
aliments that nourish us, the rays which enlighten us,
the air we breathe, sceptres, crowns, and kingdoms,
as el!ects of the liberality of God, and as grounds
of our gratitude. But, at the same time, it requir-
eth us to surmount tlie most magnificent earthly ob-
jects. It commandeth us to consider light, air, and
aliments, crowns, sceptres, and kingdoms, as unfit

The Advantages of Eevelafion, 371

to constitute the felicity of a soul created in the im-
as^e of the blessed Gody 1 Tim. i. 11. and with whom
the blessed God hath formed a close and intimate
union. It assureth us, that an age of life cannot fill
the wish of duration, which it is the noble preroga-
tive of an immortal soul to form. It doth not ground
the doctrine of immortality on metaphysical specu-
lations, nor on complex arguments, uninvestigable
by the greatest part of mankind, and which always
leaves some doubts in the minds of the ablest philos-
ophers. The gospel grounds the doctrine on the
only principle that can support the weight with
which it is encumbered. The principle which I
mean is the will of the Creator, who, having created
our souls at first by an act of his will, can either
eternally preserve them, or absolutely annihilate
them, whether they be materia], or spiritual, mor-
tal or immortal, by nature. Thus the disciple of re-
vealed religion doth not float between doubt and as-
surance, hope and fear, as the disciple of nature
doth. He is not obliged to leave the most interest-
ing question that poor mortals can agitate undecid-
ed ; whetlier their souls perish with their bodies, or
survive their ruins. He doth not say, as Cyrus said
to his children : " I know not how to persuade my-
" self that the soul lives in this mortal body, and
" ceaseth to be when the body expires. I am more
" inclined to think, that it acquires after death more
" penetration and purity."^ He doth not say, as
Socrates said to his judges: " And now we are go-
"• ing, I to suffer death, and you to enjoy life. God

* Xcnophon. Cyrop.

372 The Advantages of Bev elation.

" only knows which is best."^ He doth not say as
Cicero said, speaking on this important article : " I
" do not pretend to say, that what I affirm is as in-
" fallible as the Pythian oracle, I speak only by con-
" jecture."t The disciple of revelation, authorised
by the testimony of Jesus Christ, who " hath brought
" life and immortality to light through the gospel,'*
2 Tim. i. 10. boldly affirms, " Though our outward
" man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day
" by day. We, that are in this tabernacle, do groan,
" being burdened : not for that we would be uncloth-
" ed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
" swallowed up of life. I know whom I have be-
*' lieved, and 1 am persuaded that he is able to keep
^' that which I have committed to him, against that
" day," 2 Cor. iv. 16. v. 4. and 2 Tim. i. 12.

III. We are next to consider the disciple of natu-
ral religion, and the disciple of revealed religion, at
the tribunal of God as penitents soliciting for pardon.
The former cannot find, even by feeling after it, in
natural religion, according to tlie language of St.
Paul, Acts xvii. 27. the grand mean of reconcilia-
tion, which God hath given to the church ; I mean
the sacrifice of tlie cross. Reason, indeed, discov-
ers that man is guilty, as the confessions and acknow-
ledgements which the heathens made of their crimes
prove. It djscerns that a sinner deserves punisliment,
as ihe remorse and fear with which their consciences
vifre often excruciated, demonstrate. It presumes,
indeed, that God will yield to the entreelties of his

* Platon. Apol. Socrat. ad fin.
t Ciceron. Tusc, Quaest. lib. I.

The Advantages of Revelation! 373

creatures, as their prayers, and temples, and altars
testify. It even goes so far as to perceive the neces-
sity of satisfying divine justice; this theii' sacrifices,
this their burnt-oflferings, this their human victims,
tliis the rivers of blood that flowed ^on their altars,
shew.

But, how likely soever all these speculations may
be, they form only a systematic body without a head ;
for no positive promise of pardon from God himself
belongs to them. The mystery of the cross is en-
tirely invisible; for only God could reveal that, be-
cause only God could plan, and only he could exe-
cute that profound relief. How could human rea-
son, alone, and unassisted, have discovered the mys-
tery of redemption, when, alas ! after an infallible
God had revealed it, reason is absorbed in its depth,
and needs all its submission to receive it as an arti-
cle of faith ?

But, that which natural religion cannot attain, re-
vealed religion clearly discovers. Revelation exhib-
its a God-man, dying for the sins of mankind, and
setting grace before every penitent sinner; grace
for all mankind. The schools have often agitated
the questions, and sometimes very indiscreetly,
Whether .Tesus Christ died for all mankind, or only
for a sinall number? Whether his blood were shed
for all who hear the gospel, or for those only who
believe it? We will not dispute these joints now ;
but we will venture to affirm, that there is not an in-
dividual of all our hearers, who hath not a right to
say to himself. If I believe, I shall be saved ; I shall
believe, if I endeavour to believe. Consequently

374 The Advantages of Revelation*

every individual hath a right to apply the benefits
of the death of Christ to himself. The gospel re-
veals grace, wliich pardons the most atrocious crimes,
those that have the most fatal influences. Although
you have denied Christ with Peter, betrayed him
with Judas, persecuted him with Saul; yet the blood
of a God-man is sufficient to obtain your pardon, if
yon be in the covenant of redemption — Grace, which
is accessible at all times, at every instant of life. Wo
be to you, my brethren ; wo be to you, if, abusing
this reflection, you delay your return to God till
the last moments of your lives, when your repen-
tance will be difficult, not to say impracticable and
impossible! But it is always certain that God eve-
ry instant opens the treasures of his mercy, when
sinners return to hiai by sincere repentance — Grace,
capable of terminating all the melancholy thoughts
that are produced by the fear of being abandoned
by God in the midst of our race, and of having the
w^ork of salvation left imperfect ; for, after he hath
given us a present so magnificent, what can he re-
fuse ? He that spared not his own Son, hut delivered
him up for us ally how shall he not with him also
jreely give us all things 1 Rom. viii. 32. — Grace, so
clearly revealed in our scriptures, that the most ac-
curate reasoning, heresy the most extravagant, and
infidelity the most obstinate, cannot enervate its dec-
larations ; for the death of Christ may be considered
in different views : it is a sufficient confirmation of
his doctrine ; it is a perfect pattern of patience ; it
is the most magnanimous degree of extraordinary
excellencies that can be imagined : but the gospel

The. Advantages of Revelation. 375

very seldom presents it to us in any of these views,
it leaves them to om- own perception ; but when it
speaks of his death, it usually speaks of it as an ex-
piatory sacrifice. Need we repeat here a number of
formal texts, and express decisions, on this matter?
Thanks be to God, we are preacliing to a Christian
auditory, who make the death of the Redeemer the
foundation of faith ! The gospel, then, assureth the
penitent sinner of pardon. Zeno, Epicurus, Pythago-
ras, Socrates, Porch, Academy, Lycaeum, what have
you to offer to your disciples equal to this pro-
mise of the gospel ?

IV. But that which principally displays the pre-
rogatives of the Christian above those of the phi-
losopher is, an all-sufficient provision against the
fear of death. A comparison between a dyhig Pa-
gan and a dying Christian will shew this. I consid-
er a Pagan, in his dying-bed, speaking to himself
what follows: "On which side soever I consider my
state, 1 perceive notliing but trouble and despair. If
I observe the forerunners of death, I see awful symp-
toms, violent sickness and intolerable pain, which
surround my sick-bed, and are the first scenes of
the bloody tragedy. As to the world, my dearest
objects disappear; my closest connections are dis-
solving ; my most specious titles are effacing ; my
noblest privileges are vanishing away; a dismal cur-
tain falls between my eyes and all the decorations
of the universe. In regard to my body, it is a njass
without motion and life ; my tongue is about to be
condemned to eternal silence ; my eyes to perpetual
darkness; all the organs of my body to entire disso-

376 The Advantages of Revelation,

lution ; and the miserable remains of my carcase to
lodge in the grave, and to become food for the worms.
If 1 consider my soul, I scarcely know whether it be
immortal ; and could I demonstrate its natural im-
mortality, I should r^/ol be able to say, whether my
Creator would display his attributes in preserving,
or in destroying it ; whether my wishes for immor-
tality be the dictates of nature, or the language of
sin. If I consider my past life, I have a witness with-
in me, attesting that my practice hath been less than
my knowledge, how small soever the latter hath been;
and that the abundant depravity of my heart hath
thickened the darkness of my mind. If 1 consider
futurity, I think I discover, through many thick
clouds, a future st^te ; my reason suggests that the
author of nature hath not given me a soul so sub-
lime in thought, and so expansive in desire, merely
to move in this little orb for a moment : but this is
nothing but conjecture; and, if there be another
economy after this, should I be less miserable than
I am here ? One moment I hope for annihilation,
the next I shudder with the fear of being annihila-
ted ; my thoughts and desires are at war with each
otl.er ; they rise, they resist, ttiey destroy one anoth-
er." Such is the dying heathen. If a few examples
of those who have died otherwise be adduced, th( y
ought not to be urged in evidence against what we
have advanced ; for they are rare, and very proba-
bly deceptive, their outward tranquility being only
a concealment of trouble within. Trouble is the
greater for confinement within, and for an affected
appearance without. As we ouglit not to believe

The Advantages of Revelation, 377

that philosophy hath rendered men insensible of pain,
because some philosophers have maintained that pain.
is no evil, and have seemed to triumph over it ; so
neither ought we to believe that it hath disarmed
death in regard to the disciples of natm-al religion,
because some have affirmed that death is not an ob-
ject of fear. After all, if some Pagans enjoyed a
real tranquillity at death, it was a groundless tran^
quillity, to which reason contributed nothing at all.

O! how differently do Christians die! How doth
revealed religion triumph over the religion of nature
in this respect ! May each of our hearers be a new
evidence of this article ! The whole that troubles
an expiring heathen, revives a Christian in his dying
bed.

Thus speaks the dying Christian : " When I con-
sider the awful symptoms of death, and the violent
agonies of dissolving nature, they appear to me as
medical preparations, sharp, but salutary ; they are
necessary to detach me from life, and to separate the
remains of inward depravity from me. Besides, I
shall not be abandoned to my own frailty; but my
patience and constancy will be proportional to my
sufferings, and that powerful arm which hath support-
ed me through life, will uphold me under the pres-
sure of death. If I consider my sins, many as they
are, I am invulnerable ; for I go to a tribunal of mer-
cy, where God is reconciled, and justice ^s satisfied.
If I consider my body, I perceive I am putting off
a mean and corruptible habit, and putting on robes
of glory. Fall, fall, ye imperfect senses, ye frail or-
gans ; fall, house of clay, into your original dust ;

VOL. IT. 48

378 The Advantages of Revelation.

you will be sown in corruption, but raised in incor-
ruption; sown in dishonour, but raised in glory;
sown in weakness, but raised in power, 1 Cor. xv. 42.
If I consider my soul, it is passins^, I see, from slave-
ry to freedom. I shall carry with me that which
thinks and reflects. I shall carry with me the delica-
cy of taste, the harmony of sounds, the beauty of
colours, the fragrance of odoriferous smells. I shall
surmount heaven and earth, nature, and all terrestri-
al things, and my ideas of all their beauties will mul-
tiply and expand. If I consider the future econo-
my to which I go, I have, I own, very inadequate
notions of it ; but my incapacity is the ground of
iny expectation. Could I perfectly comprehend it,
it would argue its resemblance to some of the pres-
ent objects of my senses, or its minute proportion to
the present operations of my mind. If worldly dig-
nities and grandeurs, if accumulated treasures, if the
enjoyments of ttie most refined voluptuousness were
to represent to me celestial felicity, I should sup-
pose that, partaking of their nature, they partook of
their vanity. But, if nothing here can represent the
future state, it is because that state surpasseth every
other. My ardour is increased by my imperfect
knowledge of it. My knowledge and virtue, I am
certain, will be perfected ; I know I shall compre-
hend truth, and obey order; I know 1 shall be
free from all evils, and in possession of all good ; I
shall be present with God, I know, and with all the
happy spirits, who surround his throner; and this
peifect state, I am sure, will continue for ever and
ever."

The Advantages of Revelation.' 379

Such are the all-sufficient supports which reveal-
ed religion affords against the fear of death. vSuch
are the meditations of a dying Christian ; not one of
whose whole Clirislianity consists of dry speculations,
which have no influence over his practice; but of
one who applies his knowledge to relieve the real
wants of his life.

Christianity then we have seen is superior to nat-
ural religion, in these four respects. To these we
will add a few more reflections in further evidence
of the superiority of revealed religion to the religion
of nature.

1 . The ideas of the ancient philosophers concerning
natural religion were not collected into a body of doc-
trine. One philosopher had one idea, another studi-
ous man had another idea; ideas of truth and vir-
tue, therefore, lay dispersed. Who doth not see
the pre-eminence of revelation on this article ? No
human capacity eitlier hath been, or would ever
have been equal to the noble conception of a perfect
body of truth. There is no genius so narrow as not
to be capable of proposing some clear truth, some
excellent maxim: but to lay down principles, and
to perceive at once a chain of consequences, these
are ttie effc)rts of great geniusses; this capability is
philosophical perfection. If this axioFn be incontes-
tible, what a fountain of wisdom does the system of
Christianity argue ? It presents us, in one lovely bo-
dy of perfect symmetry, all the ideas we have enu-
merated. One idea supposeth another idea; and
the whole is united in a manner so compact, that it

38© The Advantages of Revelation.

is impossible to alter one particle without defacing
the benuty of all.

2. Pagan philosophers never had a system of nat-
ural religion comparable with that of modern philoso-
phers^ although the latter glory in their contempt of
revelation. Modern philosophers have derived the
clearest and best parts of their systems from the ve-
ry revelation which they affect to despise. We
grant, the doctrines of the perfections of God, of
Providence, and of a future state, are perfectly con-
formable to the light of reason. A man who should
pursue rational tracks of knowledge to his utmost
power, would discover, we own, all these doctrines :
but it is one thing to grant that these doctrines are
conformable to reason, and it is another to affirm
that reason actually discovered tliem. It is one
thing to allow, that a man, who should pursue ration-
al tracks of knowledge to his utmost power, would
discover all these doctrines ; and it is another to pre-
tend, that any man hath pursued these tracks to the
utmost, and hath actually discovered them. It was
the gospel that taught mankind the use of their rea-
son. It was the gospel that assisted men to form a
body of natural religion. Modern philosophers
avail themselves of these aids ; they form a body of
natural religion by tlie light of the gospel, and tlien
they attribute to their own penetration what the^ de-
rive from foreign aid.

3. What was most rational in the natural religion
of the Pagan philosophers was mixed with fancies and
dreams. There was not a single philosopher who
did not adopt some absurdity, and communicate it

The Advantages of Revelation. 381

to his disciples. One taught that every being was
animated with a particular soul, and on this absurd
hypothesis he pretended to account for all the phe-
nomena of nature. Anotl.er took every star for a
god, and thought the soul a vapor, that passed from
one body to another, expiating in the body of a
beast the sins that were committed in that of a man.
One attributed the creation of the world to a blind
chance, and the government of all events in it to an
inviolable fate. Another affirmed the eternity of
the world, and said, there was no period in eternity
in which heaven and earth, nature and elements,
w ere not visible. One said, Every thing is uncer-
tain ; we are not sure of our own existence ; the dis-
tinction between just and unjust, virtue and vice, is
fanciful, and hath no real foundation in the nature
of things. Another made matter equal to God; and
maintained, that it concurred with the Supreme Be-
ing in the formation of the universe. One took the
world for a prodigious body, of which he thought
God was the soul. Another affirmed the materiali-
ty of the soul, and attributed to matter the faculties
of thinking and reasoning. Some denied the im-
mortality of the soul, and the intervention of Prov-
idence ; and pretended that an infinite number of
particles of matter, indivisible, and indestructible,
revolved in the universe; that from their fortuitous
concourse arose the present world; that m all this
there was no design ; that the feet were not formed
for walking, the eyes for seeing, nor the hands for
handling. The gospel is liglit without darkness. It
hath notiiing mean ; nothing false ; nothing that doth

382 The Advantages of Revelation.

not bear the characters of that wisdom from which
it proceeds.

4. What was pure in the natural religion of the
heathens was not known, nor could he known to any
hut philosophers. The common people were incapa-
ble of that penetration and labour, which the inves^
tigating of truth, and the distinguishing of it from
that falsehood, in which passion and prejudice had
enveloped it, required. A mediocrity of genius, I
allow, is sufficient for the purpose of inferring a
part of those consequences from the works of na-
ture, of which we form the body of natural reli-
gion ; but none but geniusses of the first order are
capable of kenning those distant consequences which
are infolded in darkness. The bulk of mankind
wanted a short way proportional to every mind.
They wanted an authority the infallibility of which
all mankind might easily see. They wanted a rev-
elation founded on evidence plain and obvious to all
the world. Philosophers could not shew the world
such a short way, but revelation hath shewn it. No
philosopher could assume the authority necessary to
establish such a way : it became (iod alone to dic-
tate in such a manner, and in revelation he hath
done it.

Here we would finish this discourse ; but, as the
subject is liable to abuse, we think it necessary to
guard you against two common abuses : and as tlie
doctrine is reducible to practice, we will add two
general reflections on the w hole to direct your con-
duct.

The Advantages of Bevelation, 383

1 . Some, who acknowledge the superior excellence of
revealed religion to the religion of nature, cast an odi-
ous contempt on the pains that are taken to cidtiiate
reason, and to improve the miiuL They think the
way to obtain a sound system of divinity is to neg-
lect an exact method of reasoning ; with them to be
a bad philosopher is the ready way to become a
good Christian ; and to cultivate reason is to render
the design of religion abortive. Nothing can be
more foreign from the intention of St. Paul, and
the design of this discourse, than such an absurd
consequence. Notliing would so effectually depre-
ciate the gospel, and betray the cause into the hands
of atheists and infidels. On the contrary, an exact
habit of reasoning is essential to a sound system of
divinity ; reason must be cultivated if we would
understand the excellent characters of religion ; the
better philosopher, the more disposed to become a
good Christian. Do not deceive yourselves, my
brethren ; without rational knowledge, and accurate
judgment, the full evidence of the arguments that
establish the doctrine of the existence of God can
never be perceived; at least the doctrine can never
be properly defended. Without the exercise of rea-
son, and accuracy of judgment, we can never per-
ceive clearly the evidence of the proofs on which we
ground the divinity of revelation, and tlie authenti-
city of the books that contain it; at le;ist, we can
never answer all the objections which libertinism op-
poseth against this important subject. Without ra-
tional and accurate knowledge, tlie true meaning of
revelation can never be understood. Without ex-

384 The Advantages of Hevelation,

ercisin^ reason, and accuracy of judoiTient, we can-
not distinguish which of all the various sects of
Christianity hath taken the law of Jesus Christ for
its rule, his oracles for its guide, his decisions for in-
fallible decrees; at least we shall find it extremely
difficult to escape those dangers which heresy will
throw across our path at every step, and to avoid
those lurking holes in which the most absurd secta-
ries lodge. Without the aid of reason, and accura-
cy of thought, we cannot understand the pre-emi-
nence of Christianity over natural religion. The
more a man cultivates his reason, the more he feels
the imperfection of his reason. The more accu-
racy of judgment a man acquires, the more fully
will he perceive his need of a supernatural revela-
tion to supply the defect of his discoveries, and to
render his knowledge complete.

2. The pre-eminence of revelation inspires some with
a cruel divinity, who persuade themselves, tliat all
who they think have not been favoured with revela-
tion, are excluded from salvation, and doomed to
everlasthig flames. The famous question of the
destiny of those who seem to us not to have known
any thing but natural religion, we ought carefully
to divide into two questions ; a c|uestion of fact, and
a question of right. The question of right is, whe-
ther a heathen, considered as a heathen, and on sup-
position of his having no other knowledge than that
of nature, could be saved? The question of fact is,
whether God, through the same mercy, which in-
clined him to reveal himself to us in the clearest
manner, did not give to some of the heathens a
knowledge superior to that of natural religion.

The Advantages of Revelation, 385

What we have already heard is sufficient to deter-
mine the question of right : for, if the notion we
have o^iven of natural religion be just, it is sufficient
to prove, that it is incapable of conducting mankind
to salvation. ThisisUfe eternal, to know thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast senty^o\\n
xvii. 3. There is no other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved, Acts iv. 13.
The disciples of natural religion had no hope, and
were ivithout God in the world, Eph. ii. 12. A lati-
tudinarian theology in vain opposeth these decisions,
by alleging some passages of scripture which seem
to favour the opposite opinion. In vain is it urged,
that God never left himself without witness, in doing
the heathens good j for it is one thing to receive of
God rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons. Acts xiv.
17. (and the apostle speaks of these blessings only,)
and it is another thing to participate an illuminating
faith, a sanctifying spirit, a saving hope. In vain is
thai quoted, which our apostle said in his discourse
in the Areopagus, that God hath determined^ that the
heathens should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel
after him, and find him, chap. xvii. 27. : for it is one
thing to find God, as hhn who givtth life and breath
to all mankind; as hitn who hath made of one blood all
nations of men; as him in whom we live, and move, and
have our being ; as him whom gold, or silver, or stone
cannot represent, ver. 25, 28, 29. ; and another thing
to find h in as a propitious parent ; opening the treas-
ures of his mercy, and bestowing on us his Son. It
is to no purpose to allege that the heathens are said
to have been ivithout excuse: for it is one thing to

VOL. IT. 49

386 The Advantages of Revelation,

be inexcusable for changing the glory of the uncor-
rvptible God into an image made like to corruptible
many and to birds, and four-Jooted beasts, and creep-
ing things, Rom. i. 20. for i2;ivin^ themselves up to
those excesses which the holiness of this place for-
bids me to name, and which tlje apostle depicts in
the most odious colours; and it is another thing to
be inexcusable for reji ctmg an economy that reveals
every thing necessary to salvation. There is no dif-
ficulty, then, m the question of right. The disciple
of natural religion, considered as such, could not be
saved. Natural religion was insufficient to conduct
men to salvation.

But the question of fact, (whether God gave any
Pagan knowledge superior to that of natural reli-
gion ?) ought to be treated w ith the utmost caution.

We will not say, with some divines, that the hea-
thens were saved by an im^jflicit faith in Jesus Christ.
By implicit faith, they mean, a disposition in a wise
heathen to, have believed in Jesus Christ, had .Tesus
Christ been revealed to him. We will not affirm,
with Clement of Alexandria, that philosophy Avas
that to the Greeks which the law was to the Jews, a
schoolmaster, to bring men unto Christ,^ Gal. iii. 24.
We will not affirm with St. Clirysostom, that they
who, despising idolatry, adored the Creator before
the coming of Christ, were saved without faith.f
We will not, like one of the reformers, in a letter to
Francis I. king of France, place Theseus, Hercules,
Numa, Aristides, Cato, and the ancestors of the king,

* Strom, lib. i. p. 282. Edit. Par. vi. 499.
t Horn, xxvii. St. Math.

The Advantages of Revelation. 387

with the patriarchs, the virgin Mary, and the apos-
tles; acting less in the character of a minister, whose
office it is to declare all the counsel of God, Acts xx.
27. than in that of an author, whose aim it is to flat-
ter the vanity ofman.J Less still, do we think we
have a right to say, with St. Augustine, that the
Erythrean Sybil is in heaven.^ Some, who now quote
St. Ci rysostom, St. Clement and Ft. Augustine, with
great veneration, would anathematize any contempo-
rary who should advance the same propositions which
these fathers advanced. But after all, who dare/mi7
the Holy One of Israel / Psal. Ixxviii. 41. Who dare
affirm, that God could not reveal hiaiself to a hea-
then on liis death bed? Who will venture to say, he
hath never done so ? Let us renounce our inclination
to damn mankind. Let us reject that theok)gy wliich
derives its glory from its cruelty. Let us entertain
sentiments more charitable than those of some di-
vines, who cannot conceive they shall be happy m
heaven, unless they know that thousands are miser-
able in hell. This is the second abuse which we wish
to prevent.

But, although we ought not to despair of the salva-
tion of those w ho were not born under the economy
of grace as we are, we ouglit, however, (and this is
the first use of our subject to which we exliort you,)
we ought to value this economy very highly, to at-
tach ourselves to it inviolably, and to derive from it
all the succour, and all tlie knowledge, that we can-

\ See an epistle of Zuinglius, at the beginning of his Exposition
of the Christian Faith.
§ City of God, lib. xviii. c. 23.

388 The Advantages of Hevelalion,

not procure by our own speculations. Especially,
ve ought to seek in this economy for remedies for
the disorders vvich sin hath caused in our souls. It
is a common distemper in this age, to frame ai bilia-
ry systems of religion, and to seek divine mercy
where it is not to be found. The wise Christian de-
rives his system from the gospel only. Natural rea-
son is a very dangerous guarantee of our destiny.
Nothing is more fluctuating and precarious than the
salvation of mankind, if it have no better assurance
than a few metaphysical speculations on the good-
ness of the Supreme Being, Our notions of God, in-
deed, include love. The productions of nature, and
the conduct of Providence, concur, I grant, in assur-
ing us, that God loves to bestow benedictions on his
creatures. But the attributes of God are fathomless,
boundless oceans, in which we are as often lost
as we have the presumption to attempt to tra-
verse them without a pilot. Nature and Provi-
dence are both labyrinths, in which our frail rea-
son is quickly bewildered, and finally entangled.
The idea of justice enters no less into a notion of
the Supreme Being than that of mercy. And, say
what we will, that we are guilty creatures will not
admit of a doubt ; for conscience itself, our own con-
science, pronounceth a sentence of condemnation on
us, however prone we may be to flatter and favor
ourselves. God condescends to terminate tlie doubts
which these various speculations prodpce in our
minds. In his word of revelation he assures us that
he is merciful ; and he informs us on what we mav
found our hopes of sharing his mercy, on the cove-

The Advantages of Revelatim, 389

nant he hath made Avith us in the gospel. Wo be
to us if, by criminally refusing to bring every thought
to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. x. 5. we forsake tliese
Jountains of living waters, which he openeth to us in
religion, and persist in hewing out broken cisterns
of speculations and systems ! Jer. ii. 13. The sacred
books, which are in our liands, and which contain the
substance of the sermons of inspired men, shew us
these fountains of living waters. They attest, in a
manner the most clear, and level to the smallest at-
tention of the lowest capacity, that .Tesus Christ a-
lone hath reconciled us to God ; that God hath set
him forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his
blood; that God called him to be an high priest, that
he might become the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that come unto God by him, Rom. iii. 25.Heb.
V. 9, 10. and chap. vii. 25. Let us go then unto God
by him, and by him only : and, let me repeat it a-
gain, Wo be to us, if we determine to go to God by
Qur own speculations and systems.

But the principal use we ought to make of the text,
and of this sermon, is truly and thoroughly to ac-
knowledge that supeiiority of virtue and holiness,
to whicli the superiority of revealed religion engag-
eth us. A mortifying, but a salutary reflection!
What account can we give of the light that shines
in the gospel with so much splendor, and which dis-
tinguisheth us from tlie heathens, whose^blindness we
deplore? When we place the two economies oppo-
site to each other, and contemplate both, a croud of
reflections arise, and our prerogatives present tliem-
selves from every part. The clearest light shines

390 The Advantages of Revelation,

around us. Light into the attributes of God ; light
into the nature, the obligations, the duration of man;
light into the grand method of reconciliation, which
God hath presented to the church ; light into the cer-
tainty of a future state. But when we oppose dis-
ciple to disciple, virtue to virtue, we hardly find
any room for comparison. Except liere and tliere an
elect soul ; here and there one lost in the crowd, can
you see any great diflference'between the Christian
and the Pagan world.

What shame would cover us, were we to contrast
Holland with Greece, the cities in these provinces
with the city of Corinth ! Corinth was the metropo-
lis of Greece. There commerce prospered, and at-
tracted immense riches from all parts of the universe,
and along with wealth, pride, imperiousness, and de-
bauchery, which ahnost inevitably follow a prosperous
trade. Thither went some of the natives of other
countries, and carried with them their passions and
their vices. There immorality was entl>roned.
There, according to Ftrabo,^ was a temple dedi-
cated to the immodest Yenus. There the palace
of dissoluteness was erected, the ruins of which
are yet to be seen by travellers; that infamous
palace, in which a thousand prostitutes were main-
tained. There the abominable Lais held her court,
and exacted six talents of every one who fell a prey
to her deceptions. There impurity was become so
notorious, that a Corinthian was synonym()Us to a
prostitute ; and the proverb, to live like a Corinthian,
was as much as to say, to live a life of debaucheri/.f

*Geop:. lib. viii. p. 378. Edit. Par. 1620.
t Erasm. Adag. Cent. 7. pag. 633. 720.

The Advantages of Revelalimi, 391

Ye provinces ! in which we dwell. Ye cities ! in
which we preach. O, Lais! Lais! who attendest

our sermons so often, I spare

you. But how could we run the parallel between
Holland and Greece, between these cities and that
of Corinth ?

Moreover, were we to compare success with suc-
cess, the docility of our disciples with the docility
of th(»se disciples to whom the Pagan philosophers,
who lived in tiiose days of darkness, preached, how
much to our disadvantage would the comparison be ?
Pythagoras would say, When I taught philosophy
at Crotona, I persuaded the lascivious to renounce
luxury, the drunkard to abstain from wine, and
even the most gay ladies to sacrifice their rich and
fashionable garments to modesty .f When I was in
Italy, I re-established liberty and civil government,
and by one discourse reclaimed two thousand men;
I prevailed w^ith them to subdue the suggestions of
avarice, and the emotions of pride, and to love med-
itation, retiretnent and silence. I did more with my
philosophy than you do with that morality, of which
you make such a magnificent display. Hegesias
would say, I threw all Greece into an uproar : what
I said on the vanity of life, on the insipid nature of
its pleasures, the vanity of its promises, tlie bitter-
ness of its calamities, had an effect so orreat, that
some destroyed themselves, others would have fol-
lowed their example, and I should have depopulated
whole cities, had not Ptolomy silenced me.J My

t Diog. Laert. lib. iii. in Pythaj^. pajj. 114. Edit. Rom. fol. 1594.
t Cic. Qu. Tusc. lib. i. Diog. Laen, in Arisiip. lib. ii.

392 The Advantages of Revelation,

discourses detached men from the world more effect-
ually than yours, although you preach the doctrines
of a future life, of paradise, and of eternity. Zeno
would tell us, I influenced my disciples to contemn
pain, to despise a tyrant, and to trample on punish-
ment. I did more towards elevating man above hu-
manity with that philosophy, of which you have
such unfavorable ideas, than you do with that reli-
gion on which you bestow such fine encomiums.

AVhat then ! Shall the advantages, which advance
the Christian revelation above the speculations of
the Pagan world, advance at the same time the vir-
tues of the Pagans above those of Christians? and
shall all the ways of salvation, which are opened to
us in the communion of Jesus Christ, serve only to
render salvation inaccessible to us? God forbid!
Let us assimilate our religion to the economy under
which we live. May knowledge conduct us to vir-
tue, and virtue to felicity and glory ! God grant us
this grace! To him be honour and glory for ever.
Amen.

SERMON XII.

The Superior Evidence and Iiiftuence of Christianity.

1 John iv. 4.
Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

X HAT appearance, which is recorded in the second
book of Kings, chap. vi. 8, &c. was very proper to
embolden the timid servant of Elisha. The king of
Syria was at war with the king of Israel. The wise
counsel of the prophet was more advantageous to
his prince tljan Ihat of his generals was. The Syri-
an thought, if he could render himself master of such
an extraordinary man, he could easily subdue the re«t
of the Israelites. In order to insure succes?, he sur-
rounded Dothan, tlie dwelling place of the prophet,
with his troops in the night. The prophet's servant
was going out early the next morning with his mas-
ter, when on seeing the numerous Syrian forces, he
trembled, and exclaimed, Alas ! my master, how shall
we do 1 Fear not, replied Elisha, they that he with us,
are more than they that be with them. To this he add-
ed, addressing himselt to God in prayer, Lord, open
his eyes that he may see I The prayer was heard. The
servant of Elisha presently saw tlie sufficient ground
of his master's contidence ; he discovered a celestial
TOL. ir. 50

394 The Superior Evidence

multitude of horses, and chariots of fire, which God
had sent to defend his servant from the king of Syria.
How often, my brethren, have you trembled at the
sight of that multitude of enemies which is let loose
against you ? When you have seen yourselves called
to wrestle, as St. Paul speaks, " not only against flesh
" and blood, but against principalities, against pow-
ders, against spiritual wickedness in high places;"
against the sophisms of error, against the tyrants of
the church, and, which is still more formidable, against
the depravity of your own hearts : how often in these
cases have vou exclaimed, "Alas ! how shall we do?
" Who is sufficient for these things ?" 2 Cor. ii, 16.
"Who then can be saved?" Matth. xix. 25.

But take courage. Christian wrestlers ! " they that
" be with you are more than they that are against
" you. O Lord ! open their eyes, that they may see !
" May they see the great cloud of witnesses," Heb.
xii. 1., who fought in the same field to which they
are called, and there obtained a victory ! May
they see the blessed angels who encamp round
about them, to protect their persons, and to defeat
their foes ! May they see the powerful aid of that
Spirit which thou hast given them ! " May they see
" Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith," Psalm
xxxiv. 7. 1 John iii. 24. andHeb.xii. 2. who animates
them from heaven, and the eternal rewards which
thou art preparing to crown their perseverance ! and
may a happy experience teach them that truth, on
which we are going to fix their attention, ^' Greater
" is he that is in them, than he that is in the world."
An^en.

and Influence of Christianity, 395

Two preliminary remarks will elucidate our sub-
ject :

1. Although the proposition in my text is general,
and regards all Christians, yet St. John wrote it with
a particular view to those persons to whom he ad-
dressed the epistle from which we have taken it. In
order to ascertain this, reflect on the times of the apos-
tles, and remark the accomplishment of that proph-
ecy which Jesus Christ had some time before deliver-
ed. He had foretold, that there would arise in Ju-
dea " false Christ?, and false prophets, who w^ould
" «hew great signs and wonders, insomuch that (if it
" were possible,) they w^ould deceive the very elect,"
Matt. xxiv. 24. This prophecy was to be accom-
plished immediately before the destruction of Jeru-
salem ; and to that period learned men assign the
publication of this epistle. St. John calls the time
in which he wrote, the last time, chap. ii. 18. that is
to say, in the Jewish style, the time in which the
metropolis of Judea was to be destroyed : and adds
the sign by which Christians might " know, that it
" was the last time ; as ye have heard that Antichrist
" shall come, even now are there many Antichrists;
" whereby we know that it is the last time." Re-
mark those words, as ye have heard: the apostle
meant, by them, to remind his readers of the proph-
ecy of Jesus Christ.

I do not pretend now to inquire what seducers Je-
sus Christ particularly intended in this prophecy. Si-
mon the sorcerer may be placed in the class of false
Christs. There is a very remarkable passage to this
purpose in the tenth verse of the eighth chapter of

396 The Superior Evidence

Acts. It is there said, that this impostor had so
" bewitched the people of Samaria, that all, from
" the least to the greatest, said, This man is the great
" power of God." What means this phrase, the
great power of God? It is the title which the ancient
Jews gave the Messiah. Philo, treating of the di-
vine essence, establisheth the mystery of the Trini-
ty, as clearly as a Jew could establish it, who had
no other guide than the Old Testament. He speaks
first of God; then of what he calls the logos, the
word, (the same term is translated word in the first
chapter of the gospel of St. John,) and he calls this
word the great power of God, and distinguisheth him
from a third person, whom he denominates the second
power. Moreover, Origen says, Simon the sorcerer
took the title of Son of God, a title which the Jews
had appropriated to the Messiah.

As there were false Christs in the time of St. John,
so there were also false prophets, that is, false teach-
ers. These St. John hath characterised in the chap-
ters which precede my text; and the portraits drawn
by the apostle are so exactly like those, which the
primitive fathers of the church have exhibited of
Ebion and Cerinthus, that it is easy to know them.
A particular investigation of this subject would di-
vert our attention too far from our principal design ;
and it shall suffice at present to observe, that these
impostors caused great mischiefs in the church. Si-
mon, the sorcerer, indeed, at first, renounced his
imposture ; but he soon adopted it again. Justin
Martyr informs us, that, in his time, tliere remained
some disciples of that wretch, who called him the

aiid Influence of Christianity. 397

first intelligence of the divjnity, that is, the word; and
wlio named Helen, the associate of Simon in his im-
posture, the second intelligence of the divinity, by
which title they intended to describe the Holy
Gtiost. Only they, who are novices in the history
of primitive Christianity, can be ignorant of the rav-
ages, which Ebion and Cerinthus made in the church.

But Jesus Christ had foretold, and all ages have
verified the prediction, that the gates of hell should
not prevail against the church, Matt. xvi. 18. The
most specious sophisms of Ebion and Cerinthus, the
most seducing deceptions of Simon and his associ-
ates, did not draw off one of the elect from Jesus
Christ ; tlie faithful followers of the Son of God,
notwitl standing their dispersion, triumplied over
false Christs, and false teachers. St. John extols
their victory in the words of my text: " Ye have
" overcome them (says he,) because greater is he
'* that is in you, than he that is in the world."

Il seems almost needless precisely to point out here
whom St. John means by him^ ivho is in helievers, and
by him, rvho is in the world; or to determine which
of the diflf rent senses of commentators seems to us
the most defensible. Some say, tlie apostle intend-
ed the Holy Spirit hy him who is in you; others
tliink, he meant Jesus Christ; and others suppose
him speaking of the principle of regeneration, which
is in Christians, and which renders them invulnera-
ble by all the attacks of the world. In like manner,
if we endeavour to aifix a distinct idea to the other
terms, him who is in the world; some pretend that
St. John means Satan; others, that he expresseth, in

398 The Superior Evidence

a vague manner, all the means which the world era-
ploys to seduce good men.

But, whatever difference there may appear in
these explications, they all come to the same sense.
For if the apostle speaks of the inhabitation of Je-
sus Christ, it is certain, he dwells in us b} his Holy
Spirit; and if he mean the Holy Spirit, it is certain
lie dwells in us by the principles of regeneration.
In like manner in regard to the other proposition.
If it be Satan, who, the apostle saith, is in the
world, he is there undoubtedly by the errors which
his emissaries published there, and by the vices
which they introduce there. The design of the
apostle, therefore, is to shew the superiority of the
means which God employs to save us, to those which
the world employs to destroy us.

2. But this produceth another difficulty, and the
solution of it is my second article. It should seem,
if the apostle had reason to say of them who had
persevered in Christianity, that " he who was in
" them was greater than he w ho w^as in the world,"
seducers also had reason to say, that he who was in
those whom they had seduced, was greater than he
who was in persevering Christians. Satan hath still,
in our day, more disciples than Jesus Christ. Can
it be said, that Satan is greater than Jesus Christ?
Can it be said, that the means employed by that ly-
ing and murdering spirit to seduce mankind, are su-
perior to those which the Holy Spirit employs to il-
luminate them? No, my brethren; and our answer
to these questions, which requires your particular
attention, will serve to elucidate one of the most

and Influence of Ckrislianily. 399

obscure articles of religion. We will endeavour
to express the matter clearly to all our attentive
hearers.

We must carefully distinguish a mean applied to
an irrational agent from a mean applied to an intel-
ligent agent. A mean, that is applied to an irra-
tional agent, can never be accounted superior to the
obstacles which oppose it, unless its superiority be
justified by success. A certain degree of power is
requisite to move a mass of a certain weight ; a de-
gree of power superior to the weight of a certain
mass will never fail to move the mass out of its
place, and lo force it away.

But it is not so with the means which are applied
to intelligent beings ; they are not always attended
with that success which, it should seem, ought to
follow^ the application of them. I attempt to prove
to a man, on whom nature has bestowed common
sense, that if an equal number be taken from an
equal number, an equal number will remain. I
propose my demonstiation to him with all possible
clearness, and he hath no less faculty to comprehend
it, than I have to propose it. He peisists, however,
in the opposite proposition : but his obstinacy is the
only cause of his error; he refuseth to believe me,
because he refuseth to hear me. AVere an attentive
and teachable man to yield to my demonstration,
while the former persisted in denying it^ could it
be reasonably said then, that motives of incredulity
in the latter were superior to motives of credibility?
We must distinguish, then, a mean applied to an in-

400 The Superior Evidence

telligent being, from a mean applied to an irrational
being.

Further. Among the obstacles, with which intel-
ligent beings resist means applied to them, physical
obstacles must be distinguished from moral obstacles.
Physical obstacles are such as necessarily belong to
the being that resisteth, so that there is no faculty
to remove them. I propose to an infant a conclu-
sion, the understanding of which depends on a chain
of propositions, which he is incapable of following.
Tlie obstacle, which I find in him, is an obstacle
merely physical ; he hath not a faculty to remove it.

I propose the same conclusion to a man of mature
age; he understands it no more than the infant just
now mentioned: but his ignorance doth not proceed
from a want of those faculties which are necessary
to comprehend it, but from his disuse of them. This
is a moral obstacle.

It cannot be fairly said, that the power applied to
physical resistance is greater tlian the resistance, un-
less it necessarily prevail over it: but it is very dif-
ferent with tliat power, which is applied to moral
resistance. Those who have attended to what hath
been said, easily perceive the reason of the differ-
ence, without our detaining you in explaining it.

Why do we not use the same fair reasoning on
religious subjects, which we profess to use on all
other subjects ? Doth religion authorise us to place
that to the account of God which proceedeth solely
from the free obstinacy, and voluntary malice of
mankind ? Jesus Christ did not descend to this
world to convert irrational beings, but intelligent

and Influence of Christianiti/, 401

Creatures : he found two sorts of obstacles in the
way of their conversion, obstacles merely physical,
and obstacles merely moral. Obstacles merely phy-
sical are those which would have prevented our dis-
covering the plan of redemption, if he had not re-
vealed it ; and of the same kind are those, which
om^ natural constitution, being disconcerted by sin,
opposeth against the end, which our Saviour propo-
seth, of rendering us holy. Jesus Christ hath sur-
mounted these obstacles by the light of revelation,
and by the aid of his Holy Spirit.

But he found also other obstacles merely moral.
Such were those which he met with in the Pharisees,
and which hindered those execrable men from yield-
ing to the power of his miracles. Such are those
siill of all erroneous and wicked men, whose errors
and vices proceed from similar principles. The su-
periority of the means, which Jesus Christ useth to
reclaim them, doth not depend on the success of those
means : they fail, it is evident, through the power of
those merely moral obstacles, which a voluntary
malice, and a free obstinacy, oppose against them.

This remark, as I said before, elucidates one of
the most obscure articles of Christianity. It accounts
for the conduct of God towards his creatures, and
for the language which his servants used on his be-
half The omnipotence of God is more than suffi-
cient to convince tlie most obstinate miifds, and to
change the mobt obdurate hearts, and yet he declar-
eth, although he hath displayed only some degree of
it, that he hath employed all the means he could to
convert the last, and to convince tfie first. " What

VOL. II. 51

402 The Superior Evidence

^' could have been done more to my vineyard that I
" have not done in it ? Wherefore, when I looked
" that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth
" wild grapes ? O, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
" men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and
" my vineyard. What could have been done more
" to my vineyard ^" Isa. v. 3, 4. Acts of omnipo-
tence might have been done, in order to have forced
it to produce good grapes, and to have annihilated
its unhappy fertility in producing wild grapes. But
no, his vineyard, as he saith, v^as the house of Israel.
The house of Israel consisted of intelligent beings,
not of irrational beings, (lod applied to these be-
ings means suitable, not to irrational, but to intelli-
gent beings. He met with two sorts of obstacles to
the conversion of these beings ; physical obstacles,
and moral obstacles ; and he opposed to each sort
of these obstacles a superior power: but a power
suited to the nature of each. The superiority of
that, which he opposed to physical obstacles, neces-
sarily produced its effect, witliout which it would
not have been a superior, but an inferior power.
To moral obstacles he opposed a power suited to
moral obstacles; if it did not produce its effect, it
was not because it had not in itself superior influ-
ence ; God w as not to be blamed, but they, to whom
it was applied.

Our remark is, particularly, a key to our text.
The means which God employs to irradiate our
minds, and to sanctify our hearts, are superior, ta
those which tlie world employs to deceive and to
deprave us; if that superiority, which is always in-

and Injiuenct of Christianity, 403

fluential on believers, be destitute of influence on
obstinate sinners, it is no less superior in its own
nature. The unsuccessfulness of the means with
the last proceedeth solely from their own obstinacy
and malice. " What could have been done more
'^to my vineyard, that 1 have not done in it? Ye
" have overcome them, because greater is he that is
" in you, than he that is in the world." This, I
think, is the substance of the meaning of the apostle.
But, as it is only the general sense, it requires to
be particularly developed, and I ought to investigate
the subject by justifying three propositions, which
are included in it, and which I shall have occasion
to apply to the Christian religion.

I. Truth hath a light superior to all the glimmer-
ings of falsehood.

II. Motives to virtue are stronger than motives
to vice.

III. The Holy Spirit, who openeth the eyes of a
Christian, to shew him the light of the truth, and
w ho toucheth his heart, in order to make him feel
the power of motives to virtue, is infinitely more
pow^erful than Satan, who seduceth mankind by
falsehood and vice.

Each of these propositions would require a whole
discourse ; I intend, however, to explain them all in
the remaining part of this: the uiore brevity I am
obliged to observe, the more attention you ought to
give.

I. 7Vm/A hath a light superior to all the glimmerings
of error. Some men, I grant, are as tenacious of
error, -as others are of truth. False religions have

404 The Superior Evidence

disciples, who seem to be as sincerely altaclied to
them, as believers are to true religion ; and if Je-
sus Christ hath his martyrs, Satan also hath liis.

Yet I affirm, that the persuasion of a man, who
deceives himself, is never equal to that of a man
who doth not deceive himself. How similar soever
that impression may appear, which falsehood makes
on the mind of him who is seduced by it, to that
which truth makes on the mind of him who is en-
lightened by it; there is always this grand differ-
ence, the force of truth is irresistible, whereas it is
always possible to resist that of error.

The force of a known truth is irresistible. There
are, it is granted, some truths, there are even infi-
nite numbers, which lie beyond the stretch of my
capacity: and there may also be obstacles, that hin-
der my knowledge of a truth proportional to the ex-
tent of my mind. There may, indeed, be many dis-
tractions, which may cause me to lose sight of the
proofs that establish a truth ; and there may be ma-
ny passions in me, which may induce me to wish it
could not be proved, and which, by urging me to
employ the whole capacity of my mind in consider-
ing objections against it, leave me no part of my
perception to attend to what establislieth it. Yet all
these cannot diminish the light which is essential to
truth ; none of these can prevent a known truth from
carrying away the consent in an invincible manner.
As a cloud, that conceals the sun, doth not diminish
the splendour which is essential to that globe of fire ;
so all the obstacles, which prevent my knowledge of
a truth, that lies within the reach of my capacity,

and Influence of Christianiti/. 405

cannot prevent my receiving the evidence of it, m
spite of myself, as soon as I become attentive to it.
It doth not depend on me to believe, that from the
addition of two to two there results the number four.
It is just the same with the truths of philosophy ; the
same with the truths of religion, and the same with
all the known trutlis in the world. To speak strict-
ly, the knowledge of a truth, and the belief of a truth,
is one and the same operation of the mind. Mental
liberty doth not consist in believing, or in not be-
lieving a known truth ; it consisteth in giving, or in
not giving that attention to a truth which is requisite
in order to obtain the knowk-dge of it. Merit, and
demerit, (allow me these expressions, and take them
in a good sense,) merit and demerit do not consist in
believing, or in disbelieving, a know^n truth; for nei-
ther of these depend upon us ; they consist in resist-
ing, or in not resisting the obstacles which prevent
the knowledge of it. We conclude, then, that the
force of a known truth is irresistible.

It is not the same with error. How strong soever
the prejudices may be that plead for it, it is always
possible to resist it. Never was a man deceived in
an invincible manner. There is no error so spe-
cious, in regard to which a man, whose mental powd-
ers are in a good state, and not depraved by a long
habit of precipitation, cannot suspend his judgment.

I do not say, that every man is always capable of
unravelling a sophism : but it is one thing not to be
able to unravel a sophism, and it is another to be in-
vincibly carried away with its evidence. Nor do I
affirm, that a man will always find it easy to suspend

406 The Superior Evidence

hh judgment. AVhat there is of the plausible in
^ome errors ; our natural abhorrence of labour ; the
authority of our seducers ; the interest of our pas-
sions in being seduced ; each of these separately, all
these together, will render it sometimes extremely
difficult to us to suspend our judgments, and will
hurry us on to rash conclusions. It belongs to hu-
man frailty to prefer an easy faith above a laborious
discussion ; and we rather choose to believe we have
found the truth, than to submit to the trouble of
looking for it.

It is certain, however, when we compare what
passed in our minds, when we yielded to a truth,
with what passed there when we suffered ourselves
to be seduced by an error, we perceive, that in the
latter case our acquiescence proceeded from an abuse
of our reason ; whereas in the former it came from
our fair and proper use of it. Truth, then, hath a
light superior to the glimmerings of error. There
is, therefore, something greater in a man whom
truth irradiates, than there is in a man whom false-
hood blinds.

Let us abridge our subject. Let us apply what
we have said of truth in general to the truths of re-
ligion in particular. To enter more fully into the
design of our text, let us make no difficulty of re-
tiring from it to a certain point, and, leaving Ebion,
Cerinthus, and Simon the sorcerer, whom, probably,
St. .John had in view ; let us stop at a famous mod-
ern controversy. Let us attend to tlie contest be-
tween a believer of revelation and a sceptic, and we
shall see the superior evidence of that principle of

and Influence of Christianity, 407

truth, which enlig;htenetli the first, above the princi-
ple of error, which bhndeth the last. What a su-
periority hath a believer over a sceptic ! What a su-
periority at the tribunal of authority ! at the tribu-
nal of interest ! at the tribunal of history ! at the tri-
bunal of conscieace! at the tribunal of reason ! at
the tribunal of scepticism itself! From each of these
it may be truly pronounced. Greater is he that is in
you^ than he that is in the world.

1. The believer is superior at the tribunal of au-
thority. Ttie sceptic, objecteth against the believer
the examples of some few nations, who, it is said,
live without religion; and those of some philoso-
phers, whose pretended atheism hath rendered them
famous. The believer replieth to the sceptic, by
urging his well grounded suspicions in regard to
those historians, and travellers, who have published
such examples, and, opposing authority against au-
thority, in favour of the grand leading principles of
religion, he allegeth the unanimous consent of the
whole known world.

2. At the tribunal of i?i/ere5^. The sceptic resist-
eth the believer, by arguing the constraint which re-
ligion continually putteth on mankind ; the pleasure
of pursuing every wish, without being terrified with
the idea of a formidable witness of our actions, or a
future account of our conduct. The believer resist-
eth tlie sceptic, by arguing the benefit 'of society,
wliich would be entirely subverted, if infidels could
effect their dreadful design of demolishing those bul-
warks, which religion builds. He urgeth the interest
of each individual, who in those periods of life, ia

408 The Superior Evidence

which he is disgusted with the world; in those, in
which he is exposed to catastrophesof glory and for-
tune ; above all, in the period of death, hath no re-
fuge from despair, if the hopes, that religion affords,
be groundless.

3. At the tribunal of history. The sceptic objects
to the believer the impossibility of obtaining demon-
stration, properly so called, of distant facts. The
believer urgeth on the infidel his own acquiescence
in the evidence of events, as ancient as those, the dis-
tance of which is objected ; and, turning his own
weapons against him, he demonstrates to him, that
reasons, still stronger than those, which constrain the
sceptic to admit other events, such as number of
witnesses, unanimity of historians, sacrifices made to
certify the testimony, and a thousand more similar
proofs, ought to engage him to believe the facts on
which religion is founded.

4. At the tribunal of conscience. The infidel op-
poseth his own experience to the believer, and boasts
of having shaken off* the yoke of this tyrant. The
believer replies, by relating the experiences of the
most celebrated sceptics, and, using the infidel him-
self for a demonstration of the truths, which he pre-
tends to subvert, reproaches him with feeling, in spite
of himself, the remorse of that conscience, from which
he aff'ects to have freed himself; he proves that it
awakes when lightnings flash, when thunders roll in
the air, when the messengers of death approach to
execute their terrible ministry.

5. At the tribunal o{ reason. The sceptic objects
to the believer, that religion demands the sacrifice of

and Injluence of Christianity. 409

reason of its disciples ; that it reveals abstruse doc-
trines, and incomprehensible mysteries; and that it
requires all to receive its decisions with an entire
submission. The believer opposeth the infidel, by
arguino- the infallibility of the Intelligence who re-
vealed tliese doctrines to us. He proves to him,
that the best use that can be made of reason, is to
renounce it in the sense in which revelation requir-
etli its renunciation, so that reason never walks a
path so safe, nor is ever elevated to a degree of
honour so eminent, as when ceasing to see with its
own eyes, it seeth only with the eyes of the infalli-
ble God.

6. The believer triumphs over the infidel at the
tribunal of scepticism itself. One single degree of
probability in the system of the believer, in our opin-
ion, disconcerts and confounds the system of the
sceptic ; at least it ought to embitter all the fancied
sweets of infidelity. AVhat satisfaction can a man of
sense find in that boasted independence, which the
system of infidelity procures, if there be. the least
shadow of a probability of its plunging him into
endless misery ? But this very man, who finds the
evidences of religion too weak to induce a man of
sense to control his passions, during the momentary
duration of this life, this very man finds the system
of infidelity so evident, that it engageth him to dare
that eternity of misery which religion denounceth
against the impenitent. AVhat a contrjfst! The ob-
stinate sceptic falls into a credulity that would be
unpardonable in a child. These fiery globes, that
revolve over our heads with so much pomp and glo-

TOL. ir. 52

410 The Superior Evidence

xy ; these heavens, that declare the glory of God,
Psal. xix. 1. that firmament, which sheweth his han-
dy-work ; these successions of seasons ; that symme-
try of body ; these faculties of mind ; the martyrs,
who attested the truth of the facts on which religfion
is founded ; the miracles, that confirm the facts; that
harmony, between the prophecies and their accom-
plishment ; and all the other numerous arguments,
that establish the doctrine of the existence of God,
and of the truth of revelation; all these, he pretends,
cannot prove enough to engage him to render hom-
age to a Supreme Being : and the few difficulties,
wdiich he objects to us; a few rash conjectures; a
system of doubts and uncertainties, seem to hnu suf-
ficiently conclusive to enoasje him to brave tliat
adorable Being, and to expose himself to all the
miseries that attend those who aflront him.

We conclude, then, that our first proposition is
sufficiently justified. Truth in general, the truths of
religion in particular, have a light superior to all the
glimmerings of error. Greater is he that is in, youy
than he that is in the world,

II. We said, in the second place, motives to virtue
are superior to motives to vice. This proposition is a
necessary consequence of the first. Every motive
to vice supposeth an error. Every motive to vice
supposeth that, in some cases, it is more advantage-
ous to a man to abandon himself to vice than to
cleave inviolably to virtue : this is a falsehood ; this
is even a falsehood of the grossest kind. , In what
case can a creature promise himself more happiness
in rebelling against his Creator, than in submitting

and Influence of ChrisHanilij. 411

to his authority ? In what case can we hope for more
happiness in pleasing Satan than in pleasing God?

What I affirmed of all known truth, tliat its force
is irresistible, I affirm, on the same principle, of all
motives to virtue : the njost hardened sinners cannot
resist them if they attend to them, nor is there any
other way of becoming insensible to them, than that
of turning the eyes away from them. Dissipation is
the usual cause of our irregularities. The principal,
1 had almost said, the only secret of Satan, in his
abominable plan of human destruction, is to dissi-
pate and to stun mankind ; the noise of company,
the din of amusements, the bustle of business ; it
does not signify if it be but a noise, it will always
produce its effect; it will always divide the capacity
of the mind, it will prevent him, in whose ears it
sounds, from thinking and reflecting, from pursuing
an argument, and from attending to the weight of
conclusive evidence.

And really, where is the man so blind as to di-
gest the falsehoods which motives to vice imply ?
Where is the wretch so resolute as to reason in this
manner ?

" I love to be esteemed ; I will therefore devote
myself wholly to the acquisition of the esteem of
tliose men who, like me, will shortly be devoured
witli worms; whose ashes, like mine, will bje shortly
confounded with tlie dust of the eartli : but 1 will
not take the least pains to obtain the approbation of
those noble intelligences, those sublime geniusses,
those angels and seraphims, who incessantly surround
the throne of God ; I will not give myself a moment's

412 The Superior Evidence

concern about obtaining a share of those praises,
which the great God will one day bestow, in rich
abundance, before heaven and earth, on them who
have been faithful to him.

J love honour ; I will therefore apply myself
wholly to make the world say of me, That man hath
an excellent taste for dress; his table is delicately
served ; the noble blood of his family was never de-
based by ignoble alliances; nobody can offend him
with impunity ; he must always be approached with
respect: but I will never give myself any trouble
to tbrce them to say of me, That man fears God ; he
prefers his duty above all other things; he thinks
there is more magnanimity in forgiving an affront
than in revenging it ; to be holy, in his opinion, is
better than to be noble in the world's esteem, and
so on.

I am very fond of pleasure; I will therefore give
myself wholly to the gratification of my senses ; to
the leading of a voluptuous life ; a feast shall be suc-
ceeded by an amusement, and an amusement shall
conduct to debauchery ; this round I intend perpet-
ually to pursue : but I will never stir one step to ob-
tam that fulness of joy, which is at God's rigid handy
that river of pleasures, with which they, who put their
trust under the shadow of his wings, are abundantly
satisfied, Psal. xvi. 11. and xxxvi. 7, 8.

I iiate constraint and trouble ; I will therefore di-
vert my attention wholly from all penitential exer-
cises; and particularly from imprisonment, banish-
Hient, racks, and stakes : but I will brave the chains
of darkness, with their gaibng weight; the devils,

and Influence of Ginslianiti/. 413

with their fury; hell, with its flames; I am at a
point, T consent to curse eternally the day of my
birth ; eternally to consider annihilation as an inval-
uable o;ood ; to seek death for ever without finding
it; for ever to blaspheme my Creator; eternally to
bear the howlings of the damned; to howl eternally
^vith them ; like them, to be for ever and ever the
object of that condemning sentence, Depart from
me, ye cursed! into evtrlasting Jire, prepared for the
devil and his angels. Matt. xxv. 41. I ask again.
Where is the wretch hardened enough to digest
these propositions ? Yet these are the motives to vice.
Is not the developing of these sufficient to discover,
that they ought to yield to virtue, and to prove in
our second sense, that " Greater is he that is in us,
" than he that is in the world ?"

But, how^ active soever the light of religion may
be, prejudices often cover its brightness from us;
how superior soever motives to virtue may be to
motives to vice, our passions invigorate motives to
vice, and enervate those to virtue. Were we even
free from innate dispositions to sin, we should be
hurried into it by an external enemy, who studies
our inclinations, adapts himself to our taste, avails
himself of our frailties, manages circumstances, and
who, according to the expression of an apostle, walk-
eth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de-
vour, 1 Pet. V. 8. This enemy is Satan.

III. But the Holy Spirit, who openeth our eyes,
(and this is my third proposition,) the Holy Spirit,
who openeth our eyes to shew us the light of truth,
and who toucheth our hearts to make us feel the

^^^ The Superior Evidence

force of virtuous motives, is infinitely more power-
ful than Satan.

I do not pretend to agitate here the indissoluble
question concerning the power of the devil over
sublunary beings, and particularly over man: what
I should advance on this subject would not be very
agreeable to my hearers. We are naturally inclin-
ed to attribute too much to the devil, and we easily
persuade ourselves that we are in an enchanted
^vorld. It seems to us, that as many degrees of pow-
er as we add to those Avhich God hath given the
tempter, so many apologies we acquire for our frail-
ties ; and that the more power the enemy hath, with
Avhom we are at war, the more excusable we are for
suffering ourselves to be conquered, and for yield-
ing to superior force. Do Vv e revolve any black de-
sign in our minds ? It is the devil who inspires us
with it. Do we lay a train for executing any crim-
inal intrigue ? It is the devil who invented it. Do
we forget our prayers, our promises, our protesta-
tions ? It is the devil who effaced them from our
memory. My brethren, do you know who is (he
most terrible tempter? Our own cupidity. Do you
know what devil is the most formidable ? It is self

But, passing reflections of this kind, and taking,
in its plain and obvious meaning, a truth which the
holy scriptures in a great many places attest, that is,
that the devil continually endeavours to destroy
mankind ; I repeat my third proposition, The Holy
Spirit, wlio v*atcheth to save us, is infinitely more
powerfiil than the devi), who seeks to destroy us.

mid Iiifluence of Christianity, 415

The power of Satan is a borrowed power. This
mischievous spirit cannot move without the permis-
sion of God ; yea, he is only a minister of his will.
This appears in the history of Job. Jealous of the
prosperity, more still of the virtue of that holy man,
]he thought he could corrupt his virtue by touching
his prosperity. But he could not execute one of his
designs further than God, by loosing his rein, allow-
ed him to execute it. The power of the Spirit of
God is a power proper and essential to him who ex-
ercises it.

Because the power of the devil is a borrowed
power, it is a limited power, and, although we are
incapable of determining its bounds, yet we may
reasonably believe they are nanow. Jehovah will
not give his glory to any other, Isa. xlii. 8. least of all
will he give it to such an unworthy being as the de-
vil.

The power of the Spirit of God is a boundless
power. He acts on exterior beings to make them
concur in our salvation. He acts on our blood and
humours, to stir them to motion, or to reduce them
to a calm. He acts on our spirits, I mean on those
subtile particles which, with inconceivable rapidity,
convey themselves into the divers organs of our
bodies, and have an extensive influence over our fac-
ulties. He acts on our memories, to impress them
with some objects, and to efface otLers. He acts
immediately on tlie substance of our souls; he pro-
duceth ideas; he exciteth sensations ; he suspendeth
the natural effects of their union to the body. He
sometimes, by this suspension, renders a martvr in-

416 The Superior Evidence

sensible to the action of the flames that consume
him ; and teaches him to say, even amidst the most
cruel torments, " I glory in tribulations, knowing
"that tribulation worketh patience; and patience
" experience, or proof," (this is a metaphor taken
from gold, which is proved by the fire that purifieth
it,) " and experience hope ; and hope maketh not
" ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad
" in my heart by the Holy Ghost, wiiich is given un-
" to me," Rom. v. 3—5.

As the power of Satan is limited in its degrees, so
is it also in its duration. Recollect a vision of St.
John. / saw^ said he, an angel come downjrom hea-
ven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great
chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he
shoidd deceive the nations no more, Rev. xx. 1 — 3.
Without making any vain attempts to fix the sense
of tills vision, let us be content to derive this instruc-
tion from it, that the power of the devil is limited in
its duration, as well as in its degrees. There are
periods in which Satan is bound with the chain of the
superior povvcr of the Holy Ghost. There are times
in which he is shid up in a prison, sealed with the
seal of the decrees of God ; a seal that no created
power can open.

The power of the Spirit of God is without limits
in its periods as it is in its degrees. Christian ! the
Avorse thy times are, the more ready \\\\\ tl is Spirit
be to succour thee, if thou implore his aid. Art

and Ijifluence of Christianity. 41 7

thou near some violent operation ? Doth an object
fatal to thine innocence fill thee with fear and dread?
" Do the sorrows of death compass thee? Do the
" pains of hell get hold on thee ? Call upon the name
" of the Lord ;" say, " O Lord ! I beseech thee, de-
" liver my soul," Psal. cxvi. 3, 4. He will hear thy
voice, and thy supplications; and, by the mighty ac-
tion of his Spirit, he will " deliver thy soul from
" death, ihine eyes from tears, and thy feet from fal-
"ling," ver. 1. 8.

How invincible soever the hatred of Satan to us
may appear, it cannot equal the love of God for us;
whatever desire the devil may have to destroy us,
it cannot compare with that which the Holy Spirit
hath to save us. It would be easy to enlarge these
articles, and to increase their number; but our time
is nearly elapsed. What success can Satan have
against a Spirit armed with so much power, and ani-
mated with so much love ? " Surely, there is no en-
" chantment against Jacob, neither is there any divi-
" nation against Israel. Ye have overcome them :
" because greater is he that is in you, than" he that is
" in the world."

My brethren, the age for which God hath reserv-
ed us hath a great resemblance to that of the apos-
tles. Satan is as indefatigable now in his attempts
to destroy mankind as he was then. We also have
our Simons, who call themselves the great power of
God, We have men like Ebion and Cerinthus; and
if the ministers of Jesus Christ conquer the world,
the world also conquers some of the ministers of
Christ.

YOL. II. 53

418 The Superior Evidence

In which class, my brethren, must you be placed ?
In that of the disciples of false Christs, or in that of
the disciples of the true Saviour? In the class of
those whom the world conquers, or in the class of
those who have conquered the world? On a clear
answer to this question depends the consequence
you must draw from the words of the text.

If you be of those who are overcome by the
world, the text should alarm and confound you.
You have put arms into the hands of this enemy.
Nothing but a fund of obstinacy and malice could
have induced you to resist the superior means which
God hath employed to save you. You are that
vineyard, of which the prophet said, " My well-be-
" loved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill ; and
" he fenced it, and built a tower, and planted it
" with the choicest vine ; and he looked that it
" shoidd bring forth grapes, and it brought forth
" wild grapes," Isa. v. 1 — 3. and as you are the ori-
ginal of this portrait, you are also the object of the
following threatening, " And now, O inhabitants of
" Jerusalem, I will tell you what I will do to my
" vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof
" and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall
" thereof, and it shall be trodden down, and I will
" lay it waste, I will also command the clouds, that
" they rain no rain upon it," ver. 5, 6.

But the text ought to fill you with joy and conso-
lation, if you be of those who have overcome the
world. What pleasure doth it afford a believer to
remember his combats with the world and his con-
quests over it! What unspeakable pleasure, to be

and Influence of Christianity, 419

able to say to himself, *' In my youth my vigorous
constitution seemed to threaten to drive me to the
utmost excesses; in my mature age, I walked in
some slippery paths, which made me almost despair
of preserving my candour and innocence; here a
certain company had an absolute authority over my
mind, and used it only to seduce me ; there, an in-
veterate enemy put my resolution to the severest
trial, and exhausted ahnost all my patience; here,
false teachers, who were so dexterous in the art of
enveloping the truth, that the most piercing eyes
could scarcely discern it, had well nigti beguiled me ;
there, violent persecutors endeavoured to force me
to an open abjuration of religion. Tiianks be to
God ! 1 have resisted all these efforts ; and, al-
though Satan hath sometimes succeeded in his de-
signs, and hath made me totter, he hath always fail-
ed in his main purpose, of making me fall finally, and
of tearing me for ever from the communion of Je-
sus Christ."

The victories you have obtained, my brethren, are
pledges of others which you will yet obtain. Come
again, next Lord's-day, and renew your strength at
the table of Jesus Chiist. Come, and promise him
anew, tliat you will be always faithful to that reli-
gion, the light of which shines in your eyes with so
much glory. Come, and protest to him, that you
>vUl give yourselves wholly up to those powerful
motives to virtue which his gospel affords. Come,
and devote yourselves entirely to that Spirit which
be hath given you. Having done these things, fear

4^0 The Superior Evidence

nothing ; let Vour courage redouble, as your dangers
increase.

All the attacks, which Satan hath made on your
faith to this day, should prepare you for the greatest
and most formidable attack of all ; 7/e have not yet re-
sisted unto bloody striving against sin, Heb. xii. 4.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, 1 Cor.
XV. 26. The approaches of death are called an ag-
ony, that is, the combat by excellence. Then Satan
will attack you with cutting griefs, with doubts, and
remorse. He will represent to you a deplorable
family, whose cries will pierce your hearts, and
which by tightening the ties that bind you to the
world, will retain your souls on earth, while they
long to ascend to heaven. He will terrify you with
ideas of divine justice, and fiei^i/ indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries, Heb. x. 27. He will
paint in dismal colours to you, the procession at
your funeral, the torch, the shroud, and the grave.

But he who is in you, will render you invulnera-
ble to all these attacks. He will represent to you
the delightful relations you are going to form ; the
heavenly societies to which you are going to be uni-
ted ; the blessed angels, waiting to receive your
souls. He will shew you that in the tomb of Jesus
Christ which will sanctify your's. He will remind
you of that death of the Saviour which renders
your's precious in the sight of God. He will open
the gates of heaven to you, and will enable you to
see, without a sigh, the foundations of the earth sink-
ing away from your feet. He will change the groans
of your death-beds into songs of triumph; and,

and hvfiuence of Christianity, 421

amidst all your horrors, he will teach each of you
to exult, " Blessed be the Lord my strength, who
" teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight,"
Psal. cxliv. 1. "Thanks be unto God, who always
" causeth us to triumph in Christ," 2 Cor. ii. 14.
" O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy
" victory ?"• 1 Cor. xv. 55, God grant you this bles-
sing. To him be honour and glory. Amen.

SERMON XIII.

The Absurdity of Libertinism and Infidelity,

Psalm xciv. 7, 8, 9, 10.

They say, the Lord shall not see : ne'ther shall the
God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye most
brutish among the people : and ye fools, when mil ye
be wise / He tha' planted the ear, shall he not hear ?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see ? He
that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct 1
He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he
know ?

iNVECTIYE and reproach seldom proceed from
the mouth of a man who loves truth and defends it,
Tliey are the usual weapons of them who plead a
desperate cause ; who feel themselves hurt by a for-
midable adversary ; who have not the equity to yield
when they ought to yield ; and who have no other
part to take than that of supplying the want of solid
reasons by odious names.

Yet, whatever charity we may have for erroneous
people, it is difficult to see with moderation men ob-
stinately maintaining some errors, guidjng their
minds by the corruption of their hearts, and choos-
ing rather to advance the most palpable absurdities,
than to give the least check to the most irregular

424 The Absurdity of

passions. Hear how the sacred authors treat peo-
ple of this character : " My people is foolish, they
" have not known me ; they are sottish children,
" they have no understanding. The ox knoweth his
" owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel
" doth not know, my people do not consider.
" Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart. O
" generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee
" from the wrath to come ? O foolish Galatians, who
" hath bewitched you ?" Jer. iv. 22. Isa. i. 3. Hos. vii.
11. Matt. iii. 7. and Gal. iii. 1.

Not to multiply examples, let it suffice to remark,
that if ever there were men who deserved such odi-
ous names, they are such as our prophet describes.
Those abominable men I mean, who, in order to vi-
olate the laws of religion without remorse, maintain
that religion is a chimera ; who break down all the
bounds which God hath set to the wickedness of
mankind, and who determine to be obstinate infi-
dels, that they may be peaceable libertines. The
prophet tlierefore lays aside, in respect to them, that
charity which a weak mind would merit, that errs
only through the misfortune of a bad education, or
the limits of a narrow capacity. O ye most brutish
among the people, says he to them, understand. Ye
fools, 71 hen will ye be wise ?

People of this sort I intend to attack to-day. Not
that I promise myself much success with them, or
entertain hopes of reclaiming them. These are the
fools of whom Solomon says, " though thou should-
" est bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a
" pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him,'"'

Libertinism and Infidelity, 425

Prov. xxvii. 22. But I am endeavouring to prevent
the progress of the evil, and to guard our youth
against favourable impressions of infidelity and lib-
ertinism, which have already decoyed away too ma-
ny of our young people, and to confirm you all in
your attachment to your holy religion. Let us en-
ter into the matter.

In the style of the sacred authors, particularly in
that of our prophet, to deny the existence of a God,
the doctrine of Providence, and the essential differ-
ence between just and unjust, is one and the same
thing. Compare the psalm out of which I have ta-
ken my text, with the fourteenth, with the fifty-third,
and particularly with the tenth, and you will per-
ceive, that the prophet confounds them, who say in
their hearts, there is no God, with those who say,
God hath forgotten ; he hideth his face, he ivill never
see it, Psal. x. 11.

In effect, although the last of these doctrines may
be maintained without admitting the first, yet the
last is no less essential to religion than the first. And
although a man may be a deist, and an epicurean,
without being an atheist, yet the system of an athe-
ist is no more odious to God than that of an epicu-
rean, and that of a deist.

I shall therefore make but one man of these dif-
ferent men, and, after the example of tlie prophet,
I shall attack him with the same arms. In order to
justify the titles that he gives an infidel,.! shall at-
tack,

I. His taste.

II. His policy.

VOL. IT, 54

426 The Absurdity of

III. His Indocility.

TV. His loonies, or, to speak more properly, his
way of reasoning.
Y. His morality.

VI. His conscience.

VII. His politeness, and knowledge of the world.
In all these reflecdons, which I shall proportion

to the length of these exercises, I shall pay more
regard to the genius of our age than to that of the
times of the propliet : and 1 shall do this the rather,
because we cannot determine on what occasion the
psalm was composed of which the text is a part.

I. If you consider the taste, the discernment, and
choice of the people of whom the prophet speaks,
you will see he had a great riglit to denominate them
most hrutish and foolish. What an excess must a
man have attained, when he hates a religion without
which he cannot but be miserable ! Who, of the
happiest of mankind, doth not want the succour of
religion ? Wliat disgraces at court ! What mortifica-
tions in the army ! W hat accidents in trade ! What
imcertainty in science ! What bitterness in pleasure !
What injuries in reputation! What inconstancy in
riches! What disappointments in projects! What
infidelity in friendship ! What vicissitudes in fortune!
Miserable man ! Wliat will support thee under so
many calamities? What miserable comforters are
the passions in these sad periods of life ! How inad-
equate is philosophy itself, how improper is Zeno,
how unequal are all his followers to the task of
calming a poor mortal, when they tell nim, " Mis-
** fortunes are inseparable from human nature. No

Libertinism and Infidelity, 427

"' man should think himself exempt from any thing
" that belongs to the condition of mankind. If mal-
" adies be violent, they will be short ; if they be
'' long, they will be tolerable. A fatal necessity
" prevails overall mankind ; complaints and regrets
^' cannot change the order of things. A generous
" soul should be superior to all events, it should
^' despise a tyrant, defy fortune, and render itself in-
" sensible to pain." Tolerable reflections in a book,
plausible arguments in a public auditory! But weak
reflections, vain arguments in a bed of infirmity,
while a man is suffering the pain of the gout or the
stone !

O ! how necessary is religion to us in these fatal
circumstances ! It speaketh to us in a manner infi-
nitely more proper to comfort us under our heaviest
afflictions ! Religion saith to you, '' Out of the
" mouth of the Most Higli proceedeth evil and good,"
Lam. iii. 38. " He formeth light, and createth dark-
" ness ; he maketh peace, and createth evil," Isa.
xlv, 7. " Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord
" hath not done it ?" Amos iii. 6, Religion tells you,
that if God afflict you it is for your own advantage ;
it is, that, being uneasy on earth, you may take
your flight toward heaven ; that " your light afflic-
" tion, which is but for a moment, may w^ork for
'' you a far more exceeding; and eternal weight of
" glory." 2 Cor. iv. 17. Religion bids you " not to
'' think it strange concerning the fiery tJ'ial, which
" is to try you, as though some strange thing hap-
" pened unto you," 1 Pet. iv. 12. but to believe,
i^hat " the trial of your faith, being much more pre-

428 The Absurdity of

^' cious than that of gold, which perisheth, will be
*' found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the
*' appearing of Jesus Christ," chap. i. 7.

But religion is above all necessary in the grand
vicissitude, in the fatal point, to which all the steps
of life tend ; I mean, at the hour of death. For at
length, after we have rushed into all pleasures, after
we have sung well, danced well, feasted well, we
must die, we must die. And what, pray, except
religion, can support a man, struggling with the king
of terrors ? Job xviii. 14. A man, who sees his
grandeur abased, his fortune distributed, his con-
nections dissolved, his senses benumbed, his grave
dug, the world retiring from him, his bones hanging
on the verge of the grave, and his soul divided be-
tween the horrible hope of sinking into nothing, and
the dreadful fear of falling into the hands of an an-
gry God.

In sight of these formidable objects, fall, fall, ye
bandages -of infidelity! ye vails of obscurity and de-
pravity! and let me perceive how necessary religion
is to man. It is that which sweetens the bitterest of
all bitters. It is that which disarms the most invin-
cible monster. It is that which transformeth the most
frightful of all objects into an object of gratitude
and joy. It is that which calms the conscience, and
confirms the soul. It is that which presents to the
dying believer another being, another life, another
economy, otlier objects, and other hopes. It is that
which, while the outward man perisheth, renew eth the
inward man day by day, 2 Cor. iv. 16. It is that
which dissipates the horror« of the valley of the shadow

Libertinism and Infideliti/, 429

of death, Psal. xxiii. 4. It is that which cleaves the
clouds in the sight of a departing Stephen ; tells a
converted tliief, to-day shalt thou he in paradise, Luke
xxiii. 43. and cries to all true penitents, "Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord," Rev. xiv. 13.

IL Having taken the unbelieving libeiline on his
own interest, I take him on the public interest, and,
having attacked his taste and discernment, I attack
his policy. An infidel is a disturber of public peace,
wlio, by undertaking to sap the foundations of reli-
gion, undermines those of society. Society cannot
subsist without religion. If plausible objections may
be formed against this proposition, it is because op-
p(ments have had the art of disguising it. To ex-
plain it, is to preclude the sophisms which are ob-
jected against it. Permit us to lay down a few ex-
planatory principles.

First. When we say, Society cannot subsist with-
out religion, we do not comprehend in our proposi-
tion all the religions in the world. The proposition
includes only those religions which retain the funda-
mental principles that constitute the base of virtue ;
as tlie immortality of the soul, a future judgment, a
particular Providence. We readily grant there may
be in the world a religion worse than atheism ; for
example, any religion that should command its vota-
ries to kill, to assassinate, to betray. And as we
readily grant tl)is truth to those who take the pains
to maintain it, so whatever they oppose to us, taken
from the religions of Pagans, which were hurtful to
society, is only vain declamation, that proves noth-
ing against us.

430 The Ahsurdiiy of

Secondly. When we affirm, Society cannot subsist
without religion, we do not pretend, that religion,
which retains articles safe to society, may not so mix
those articles with other principles pernicious to it,
that they may seem at first sight worse than atheism.
We affirm only, that, to take the whole of such a re-
ligion, it is more advantageous to society to have it
than to be destitute of it. All, therefore, that is ob-
jected against our proposition concerning those wars,
crusades, and persecutions, which were caused by
superstition, all this is only vain sophistry, which
doth not affect our thesis in the least.

Thirdly. W^hen we say, Society cannot subsist
without religion, we do not say, that religion, even
the purest religion, may not cause some disorders in
society; but we affirm only, that these disorders,
however numerous, cannot counterbalance the bene-
fits which religion procures to it. So that all objec-
tions, taken from the troubles which zeal for truth
may have produced in some circumstances, are only
vain objections, that cannot weaken our proposition.

Fourthly. When we affirm. Society cannot subsist
without religion, we do not affirm that all tiie virtues
which are displayed in society proceed from reli-
gious principles; so that all just magistrates are just
for their love of equity ; that all grave ecclesiastics
are serious because they respect their character;
that all chaste women are chaste from a principle of
love to virtue : human motives, we freely grant, of-
ten prevail instead of better. We affirm only, that
religious principles are infinitely more proper to reg-
ulate society than human motives. Many persons,

Libertinism and Lifidelity, 431

we maintain, do actually o;overn their conduct by
reliction? principles, and society would be incompar-
ably more irregulai', were there no religion in it.
Tiiat list of virtues, therefore, which only education
and constitution produce, doth not at all affect the
principle which we are endeavouring to establish ;
and he, who takes his objections from it, doth but
beat the air.

Lastly. When we affirm, Society cannot subsist
nithout religion, we do not say, that all atheists and
deists ought therefore to abandon themselves to all
sorts of vices; nor that they who have embraced
atheism, if indeed there have been any such, w^ere
always the most wicked of mankind. Many people
of these characters, we ow n, lived in a regular man-
ner. AYe affirm only, that irreiigion, of itself, open-
eth a door to all sorts of vices ; and that men are so
formed, that their disorders would increase were
they to disbelieve the doctrines of the existence of a
God, of judgment, and of Providence. All the ex-
amples, therefore, that are alleged against us, of a
Diagoras, of a Theodorus, of a Pliny, of a Yanini,
of some societies, real or chimerical, who, it is pre-
tended, lived regular lives without the aid of reli-
gion ; all these examples, I say, make nothing against
our hypothesis.

These explanations being granted, we maintain,
that no politician can succeed in a design of uniting
men in one social body without supposing the truth
and reality of religion. For, if there be no religion,
each member of society may do what he pleaseth ;
and then each would give a loose to his passions ;

432 The Ahsnrdity of

each would employ his power in crush ini^ the weak,
his cunning in deceiving the simple, his eloquence
in seducing the credulous, his credit in ruining com-
merce, his authority in distressing the whole with
horror and terror, and carnage and blood. Fright-
ful disorders in their nature ; but necessary on prin-
ciples of infidelity ! For, if you suppose these disor-
ders may be prevented, their prevention must be at-
tributed either to private interest, to worldly hon-
our, or to human laws.

^ni private interest cannot supply the place of re-
ligion. True, were all men to agree to obey the
precepts of religion, each would find his own ac-
count in his own obedience. But it doth not de-
pend on an individual to oppose a popular torrent,
to reform the public, and to make a new world : and,
while the world continues in its present state, he w ill
find a thousand circumstances in which virtue is in-
compatible with private interest.

Nor can worldly honour supply the place of reli-
gion. For what is worldly honour ? It is a superfi-
cial virtue; an art, that one man possesseth, of dis-
guising himself from another ; of deceiving politely ;
of appearing virtuous rather than of bemg actually
so. If you extend the limits of worldly honour fur-
ther, if you make it consist in that purity of con-
science, and in that rectitude of intention, which are
in effect firm and solid foundations of virtue, you
will find, either that this is only a fine id a of what
almost nobody is capable of, or, if I may be allowed
to say so, that the virtues which compose your com-

Libertinism and Infidelity. 433

plex idea of worldly honour are really branches of
religion.

Finally. Human laws cannot supply the place of
religion. To whatever degree of perfection they
may be improved, they will always savour in three
things of the imperfection of the legislators.

1. They will be imperfect in their substance. They
may prohibit, indeed, enormous crimes ; but they
cannot reach refined irregularities, which are not the
le^s capable of troubling society for appearing less
atrocious. They may forbid murder, theft, and
adultery ; but they can neither forbid avarice, an-
ger, nor concupiscence. They will avail in the pre-
serving and disposing of property, they may com-
mand the payment of taxes to the crown, and of
debts to the mercliant, the cultivation of sciences,
and liberal aits; but they cannot ordain patience,
meekness, and love ; and you will grant, a society,
in which there is neither patience, meekness, nor
love, must needs be an unhappy society.

2. Human laws will be weak in their motives. The
rewards which tliey offer may be forborne, for men
may do without them; the punishments which they
indict may be suffered; and there are some particu-
lar cases in which they, who derogate from their au-
thority, may advance their ov\n interest more than
if they constantly and scrupulously submit to it.

3. Human laws will be restrained in their extent.
Kings, tyrants, masters of the world, know the art of
freeing themselves from them. The laws avenge us
on an insignificant tliief, whom the pain of hunger
and tie fear of death tempted to break open our

VOL, II. 5.5

434 The Absurdity of

houses, to rob us of a trifling sum ; but who will
avenge us of magnificent thieves ? For, my breth-
ren, some men, in court-cabinets, in dedicatory epis-
tles, in the sermons of flatterers, and in the prologues
of poets, are called conquerors, heroes, demi-gods;
but in this pulpit, in this church, in the presence of
the God who filleth this house, and who regardeth
not the appearances of men, you conquerors, you
heroes, you demi-gods, are often nothing but thieves
and incendiaries. Who shall avenge us of those
men who, at the head of a hundred thousand slaves,
ravage the whole world, pillage on the right hand and
on the left, violate the most sacred rights, and over-
wdielm society with injustice and oppression? Who
doth not perceive the insufficiency of human laws
on this article, and the absolute necessity of reli-
gion ?

III. The infidel carrieth his indocility to the ut-
most degree of extravagance, by undertaking alone
to oppose all mankind, and by audaciously prefer-
ring his own judgment above that of the whole world,
who, excepting a small number, have unanimously
embraced the truths w^hich he rejects.

This argument, taken from unanimous consent,
furnisheth, in favour of religion, either a bare pre-
sumption or a real demonstration, according to the
different faces under which it is presented.

It furnisheth a proof, perhaps more than presump-
tive, when it is opposed to the objections which an
unbelieving philosopher alledgelh against religion.
For, although the faith of a rational man pught not
to be founded on a plurality of suffrages, yet una-

Libertinism and Infidelity. 435

nimity of opinion is respectable, when it hath three
characters. 1. Iflien an opinion prevails in all pla-
ces. Prejudice varies with climates, and whatever
depends on human caprice differs in France, and in
Spain, in Europe, and in Asia, according as the in-
habitants of each country have their blood hot or
cold; their imagination strong or weak. 2. When
an opinion prevails at all times. Prejudices change
with the times ; years instruct ; and experience cor-
rects errors, which ages have rendered venerable.
3. When an opinion is contrary to the passions of men,
A prejudice that controuls human passions cannot
be of any long duration. The interest that a man
hath in discovering his mistake will put him on using
all his endeavours to develope a delusion. These
three characters agree to truth only.

I am aw^are that some pretend to enervate this ar-
gument, by the testimonies of some ancient histo-
rians, and by the relations of some modern travel-
lers, who tell us of some individuals, and of some
whole societies, who are destitute of the knowledge
of God and of religion.

But, in order to a solid reply, we arrange these
atheists and deists, who are opposed to us, in three
different classes. The first consists of philosophers,
the next of the senseless populace, and the last of
profligate persons. Philosophers, if you attend close-
ly to the matter, will appear, at least the greatest
part of them w ill appear, to have been accused of
having no religion, only because they had a purer
religion than the rest of their fellow-citizens. They
would not admit a plurality of god^, they were

436 The Ahsiirdity of

therefore accused of believing in no God. The in-
fidelity of the senseless populace is favourable to
our argument. We affirm, wherever there is a spark
of reason, there is also a spark of religion. Is it
astonishing that they who have renounced the for-
mer, should renounce the latter also? As to the prof-
ligate, who extinguish their own little light, we say
of them, with a modern writer, // is glorious to reli-
gion to have enemies of this character.

But let us see whether this unanimous consent,
which hath afforded us a presumption in favour of
religion, will furnish us with a demonstration against
those who oppose it.

Authority ought never to prevail over our minds,
against a judgment grounded on solid reasons, and
received on a cool examination. But authority, es-
pecially an authority founded on unanimity of senti-
ment, ought always to sway our minds in regard to
a judgment formed without solid reasons, without
examination, and without discussion. No men deserve
to be called the most foolish, and the vwst brutish^
among the people, ^o much as those men, who being, as
the greatest number of infidels are, without study and
without knowledge ; who without deigning to weigh,
and even without condescending to hear, the rea-
sons on which all the men in the world, except a few,

* Mr. Saurin follows the reading of the French version, les
filus brutaux, most brutish. This is perfectly agreeable to the
original, for the Hebrew forms the superlative degree by prefix-
ing the letter bcth to a noun-substantive, which follows an ad-
jective, as here, Cant. i. 8. Prov. xxx. 30. hominum hvwtis simi ;
hominum stupidis^zzwz ; totius hujus populi stupidi^s/w? ; say
commentators.

Libertinism and Infidelity. 437

found the doctrine of the existence of God and of
Providence, give themselves an air of infidelity, and
insolently say, Mercury Trisinegistus, Zoroaster,
Pythagoras, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Seneca;
moreover, Moses, Solomon, Paul, and the Apostles,
taught such and such doctrines ; but, for my part, I
am not of their opinion. And on what ground pray
do you reject the doctrines which have been defend-
ed by such illustrious men ? Do you know that, of
all characters, there is not one so difficult to sustain
as that which you atft ct? For, as you deny the most
common notions, the clearest truths, sentiments,
which are tiie most generally received, if you w ould
maintain an appearance of propriety of character,
you must be a superior genius. You must make
profound researclies, digest immense volumes, and
discuss many an abstract question. You must learn
the ail of evading demonstrations, of palliating so-
phisms, of parrying ten thousand thrusts, that from
all parts will be taken at you. But you, contempti-
ble genius! you idiot! you, who hardly know how
to arrange two words without offending against the
rules of grammar, or to associate two ideas without
shctcking common sense, how do you expect to sus-
tain a character which the greatest geniusses are in-
capable of supporting ?

W. Yet, as no man is so unreasonable as not to
profess to reason, and as no man takes up a notion
so eagerly as not to p'cjue himself on Tiaving taken
it up after a mature deliberation, we must talk to
the iniidel as to a philosopher, who always follow^s
the dictates of reason, and argues by principles and

438 The Absurdity of

consequences. Well then ! Let us examine his logic,
or, as I said before, his way of reasoning ; his way of
reasoning, you will see, is his brutality, and his logic
constitutes his extravagance.

In order to comprehend this, weigh, in the most
exact and equitable balance, the argument of our
prophet. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see ? He that chas-
tiseth the heathen, shall he not correct 1 He that teach-
tth man knowledge, shall not he know 1 These are, in
brief, three sources of evidence, which supply the
whole of religion with proof. The first are taken
from the works of nature ; He who planted the ear ;
He who formed the eye. The second are taken from
the economy of Providence ; He that chastiseth the
heathen. The third are taken from the history of
the church ; He that teacheih man knowledge.

The first are taken from the wonderful works of
nature. The prophet allegeth only two examples;
the one is that of the ear, the other that of the eye.
None can communicate what he hath not, is the most
incontestible of all principles. He who communi-
cateth faculties to beings whom he createth, must
needs possess wliatever is most noble in such facul-
ties. He who empowered creatures to hear, must
himself hear. He who imparted the faculty of dis-
cerning objects, must needs himself discern them.
Consequently, there is great extravagance in saying.
The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob
regard it. ,

The same argument which the structure of our
ears, and that of our eyes aflbrd us, we derive also

Libertinism and Infidelity, 439

from all the wonderful works of the Creator. The
Creator posses:seth all those ^reat and noble excel-
lencies, in a superior degree, the faint shadows of
which he hath communicated to creatures. On this
principle, what an idea ought we to form of the
Creator? From what a profound abyss of power
must those boundless spaces have proceeded, that
immeasurable extent, in which imagination is lost,
those vast bodies tliat surround us, those luminous
globes, those flaming spheres which revolve in the
heavens, along with all the other works that compose
this universe ? From what an abyss of wisdom must
the succession of seasons, of day and of night, have
proceeded, those glittering stars, so exact in their
courses, and so punctual in their duration; along
with all the different secret springs in the universe,
which with the utmost accuracy answ er their design I
From what an abyss of intelligence must rational
creatures come, beings who constitute the glory of
the intelligent world ; profound politicians, who pry
into the most intricate folds of the human heart ;
generals, who diffuse themselves through a whole ar-
my, animating with their eyes, and with their voices,
the various regiments which compose their forces ;
admirable geniusses, who develope the mysteries of
nature, rising into the heavens by dioptrics, descend-
ing into the deepest subterranean abysses ; quitting
continental confinement by the art of navigation;
men who, across the waves, and in spite of the winds,
contemn the rocks, and direct a few planks fastened
together to sail to the most distant climes? Who can

440 The Absurdity of

refuse to the author of all these wonderful works the
faculty of seeing and hearing ?

But 1 do not pretend to deny, an infidel will say,
that all these wonderful works owe their existence
to a Supreme cause ; or that the Supreme Being, by
whom alone they exist, doth not himself possess all
possible perfection. But I affirm, tliat the Supreme
Being is so great, and so exalted, that his elevation
and inconceivable excellence prevent him from cast-
ing his eyes down to the earth, and paying any re-
gard to what a creature, so mean and so indigent as
man, performs. A being of infinite perfection, does
he interest himself in my conduct? Will he stoop
to examhie whether I retain or discharge the wages
of my servants ? Whether I be regular or irregular
in my family ? and so on. A king, surrounded with
magnificence and pomp, holding in his powerful
hands the reins of his empire ; a king, employed in
weighing reasons of state, in equipping his fleets,
and in levying his armies; will he concern himself
with the demarches of a few worms crawling beneath
his feet ?

But this comparison of God to a king and of men
to u'orms, is absurd and inconclusive. The economy
of Providence, and the history of the church, in
concert with the wonderful works of nature, discov-
er to us ten thousand differences between the rela-
tions of God to men, and those of a king to worms
of the earth. No king hath given intelligent souls
to worms; but God hath given intelligent souls tons.
No king hath proved, by ten thousand avenging
strokes, and by ten thousand glorious rewards, that

Libertinism and Infidelity. 441

he observed the conduct of worms ; but God, by tea
thousand glorious recompenses, and by ten thousand
vindictive punishments, hath proved his attention to
the conduct of men. No king liath made a covenant
with worms; but God hath entered into covenant
with us. No king hath commanded wor.ms to obey
him ; but God, we affirm, hath ordained our obedi-
ence to him. No king can procure eternal felicity
to worms; but God c n communicate endless happi-
ness to us. A king, although he be a king, is yet a
man; his mind is little and contracted, yea infinitely
contracted; it would be absurd, that he, being call-
ed to govern a kingdom, should fill his capacity with
trifles : But is this your notion of the Deity ? The
direction of the sun, the government of the world,
the formation of myriads of beings which live through
universal nature, the management of the whole uni-
verse, cannot exhaust that Intelligence who is the
object of our adoration and praise. While his
thoughts include, in their boundless compass, all re-
al and all possible beings, his eyes survey every indi-
vidual as if each were the sole object of his atten-
tion.

These arguments being thus stated, either our in-
fidel must acknowledge that they, at least, render
probable the truth of religion in general, and of this
thesis in particular, God regardeth the actions of
men ; or he refuseth to acknowledge it. If he re-
fuse to acknowledge it ; if he seriously afiirm, that
all these arguments, very far from arising to de non-
stration, do not even atford a probability in favour
of religion; then he is an idiot, and there remain?

VOL. ir. 56

442 The Absurdity of

no other argument to propose to bim Iban that of
our prophet, Thou fool ! When will thou be ivise I

I even question whether any unbeliever could ev-
er persuade himself of what he endeavours to per-
suade others; that is, that the assemblage of truths,
which constitute the body of natural religion; that
the heavy strokes of justice avenging vice, and the
extatic rewards accompanying virtue, which appear
in Providence; that the accomplishment of nume-
rous prophecies; that the operation of countless
miracles, w^iich are related in authentic histories of
the church; no, I cannot believe that any infidel
could ever prevail with himself to tiiink, that all
this trnin of argument doth not form a probability
against a system of infidelity and atheism.

But if the power and the splendour of truth force
his consent ; if he be obliged to own, that although
my arguments are not demonstrative, tliey are how-
ever, in his opinion, probable ; then, with the pro-
phet, I say to him, O thou most brutish among the
jKopIe !

V, Why? Because in comparing his logic with
his moralitij, (and this is my fifth article,) I perceive
that nothing but an excess of brutality can unite the
two things. Hear how he reasons: " It is probable,
" not only that there is a God, but also that this God
" regardelh the actions of men, that he reserves to
" himself the punishment of those who follow the
" suggestions of vice, and the rewarding of them
." who obey the laws of virtue. The system of ir-
'' religion is counterbalanced by that of religion.
" Perhaps irreligion may be wxll grounded ; but

Libertinism and Iiifiddity. 443

" perhaps religion may be so. In this state of un-
" certa:nly, I will direct ?ny conduct on the princi-
" pie that u religion is well-grounded, and that reli-
" gion hath no foundation. I will break in pieces'"*
ver. 5. (this was the language, according to our
Fsalmist, of the unbelievers of his tnne,) " I wdl
" break in pieces the people of God ; I ivill afflict his
" heritage ; I tvill slay the ividorv and the stranger ;
" 01, to speak agreeably to the genius of our own
" time, I will spend my life in pleasure, in gratify-
" ing my sensual appetites, in avoiding what would
" check me in my course ; in a word, in living as if
" I w^re able to demonstrate either that there was
" no God, or that he paid no regard to the actions
*' of men." Ought he not rather, on the contrary,
as his mind is in a state of uncertainty between both,
to attach himself to that which is the most safe?
Ought he not to say? " I will so regulate my con-
" duct, that if there be a God, whose existence in-
" deed I doubt, but, however, am not able to dis-
" prove ; if God pay any regard to the actions of
" men, w hich I question, but cannot deny ; he may
'"^ not condemn me." Judge ye, Ghristians! men
who can thus brutally insult a dark futurity, and the
bare possibility of those punishments which religion
denounceth against the wicked; such men, are they
not either the most foolish, or tlie most brutish
among the people ? Understand, ye most brutish
among the people ! Ye fools ! When will ye be wise ?
VI. I would attack the conscience of the libertine,
and terrify him w^ith the language of my text. He
m'ho teachcth man knorvledgCy shall iwt he correct 1

444 The Absurdity of

That is to say, He who gave you laws, shall not he re-*
gard your violation of them ? The persons whom I
attack, I am aware, have defied us to find the least
Testicle of what is called conscience in them. But
had you thoroughly examined yourselves when you
set us at defiance on this article ? Have you been
as successful as you pretended to have been in your
daring enterprize of freeing yourselves entirely
from the terrors of conscience ? Is this light quite
extinct? This interior master, doth he dictate no-
thing to you ? This rack of the Almighty, doth it
never force you to confess what you would willing-
ly deny ? x4re your knees so firm, that they never
Sfriiite together with dread and horror ?

The question, concerning the possibility of entire-
ly freeing a man from the empire of conscience, is
a question of fact. We think we have reason for af-
firming, that no man can bring himself to such a
state. You pretend to be yourselves a demonstra-
tion of the contrary. You are, you declare, per-
fectly free from the attacks of conscience. This is
a fact, and I grant it ; I take your word : but here
is another fact, in regard to which we ouglit to be
believed in our turn, and on which our word is worth
as much as yours. This is it : We have seen a great
number of sick people ; we have attended a great
number of dying people. Among those, to whom
in the course of our ministry we have been called,
we lave met with all sorts of characters. We have
visited some, who once were what you profess to be
now, people who boasted of having freed themselves
from vulgar errors, from the belief of a God, a reli-

Libertinism and Lifideliti/, 445

gion, a hell, a heaven, and of sayino;, when they
abandoned themselves to the utmost excesses, as you
say, The Lord shall not see ; neither shall the God of
Jacob regard it. But we tiave never met with a sin-
gle individual, no, not one, who hath not con-
tradicted himself at the approach of death. It is
said some have not done this. For our parts, we
have never met with any such ; we have never at-
tended one who hath not proved by his example,
that you will contradict yourselves also. We have
often visited those who have renounced all their
systems, and have cursed their infidelity a thousand
and a thousand times. We have visited many who
have required the aid of that very religion which
they had ridiculed. W^e have often seen those who
have called superstition to assist religion ; and who
have turned pale, trembled, and shaken, at the bare
sight of our habit, before they had heard tlie sentence
which God pronounced by our mouths. But we
have never seen an individual, no, not (me, who died
in his pretended scepticism. It remains with you
to account for these facts. You are to inquire,
whether you yourselves will be more courageous.
It belongs to you to examine, whether you can bet-
ter support the character, and whether you can
bear those dying agonies, those devouring regrets,
those terrible misgivings, which made youi- prede-
cessors unsay all, and discover as much cowardice
at death as tliey had discovered brutality in tiieir
lives.

VII. Perhaps you have been surprised, my breth-
ren, that we have reserved tlie weakest of our at-

446 The Absurditi/ of

tacks for the last. Perhaps you object, that motives,
taken from what is called politeness, and a knowledge
of the world, can make no impressions on the minds
of those who did not feel the force of our former
attacks. It is not without reason, however, that we
have placed this last. Libertines and infidels often
pique themselves on their geniiliti/ and good breed-
ing. They frequently take up their system of infi-
delity, and pursue their course of profaneness, mere-
ly through their false notions of gentility. Reason
they think too scholastic, and faith pedantry. They
imaorine, tiiat in order to distin2;uish themselves in
the world, they must affect neither to believe nor to
reason.

Well ! you accomplished gentleman ! do you know
what the world thinks of you? The prophet tells
you: but it is not on the authority of the prophet
only, it is on the opinion of your fellow-citizens,
that I mean to persuade you. You are considered
in the world as the most brutish of mankind. Under-
stand, ye most brutish among the people! What is an
accomplished gentleman I What is politeness and good
breeding? It is the art of accommodating one's self
to the genius of that society, and of seeming to en-
ter into the sentiments of that company in which we
are; of appearing to honour what they honour; of
respecting what they respect; and of paying a re-
gard even to their prejudices, and their weaknesses.
On these principles, are you not the rudest and most
unpolished of nmukindl Or, to repeat the language
of my text, are you not the most brutish among the
people ? You live among people who believe a God,

Liberiinism and Lifuhlity , 447

and a relis^ion; amon2: people who were educated
in these principles, and who desire to die in tliese
principles; amoni^ people who have many of them
sacrificed their reputation, their ease, and their for--
tune to religion. Moreover, you live in a society,
the foundations of which sink with those of religion,
so that were the latter undermined, the former would
therefore be sunk. All the members of society are
interested in supporting this edifice, which you are
endeavouring to destroy. The magistrate commands
you not to publish principles that tend to i\\e sub-
version of his authority. The people request you
not to propagate opinions w hich tend to subject tliem
to the passions of a magistrate, who will imagine he
hath no judge superior to himself. This distressed
mother, mourning for the loss of her only son, prays
you not to deprive her of the consolation which she
derives from lier present persuasion, that the son
w horn she laments is in possession of immortal glory.
That sick man beseecheth you not to disabuse him
of an error that sweetens all his sorrows. Yon dy-
ing man begs you would not rob him of his only
hope. The whole world conjures you not to estab-
lish truths, (even supposing they were truths, an hy-
pothesis which I deny and detest,) the whole world
conjures you not to establish truths, the knowledge
of which would be fatal to all mankind. In spite
of so many voices, in spite of so many prayers, in
spite of so many entreaties, and among so many peo-
ple interested in the establishment of religion; to af-
firm that religion is a fable, to oppose it with eager-
ness and obstinacy, to try all your strength, and to

448 The Ahsurdity of

place all your ^lory in destroying it : What is this
but tie height of rudeness, brutality, and madness?
Understand, ye most brutish among the people ! Ye
fools ! When will ye he wise ?

Let us put a period to this discourse. We come
to you, my brethren ! When we preacli against char-
acters of these kinds, we think we read what passes
in your hearts. You congratulate yourselves, for
the most part, for not being of the number, for de=
testing infidelity, and for respecting religion. But
shall we tell you, my brethren ? How odious soever
the men are, whom we have described, we know
others more odious still. There is a restriction in
the judgment, which tlie prophet forms of the first,
when he calls them in the text, The most foolish, and
the most Iriiiish among the people; and there are some
men who surpass them in brutality and extrava-
gance.

Do not think we exceed the truth of the matter, or
that we are endeavouring to obtain your attention
by paradoxes. Really, I speak as I think ; I tlimk
there is more ingenuousness, and even, (if I may ven-
ture to say so,) a less fund of turpitude in men who,
having resolved to roll on with the torrent of their
passions, endeavour to persuade themselves either
that there is no God, or that he pays no regard to
the actions of men ; than in those who, believing the
existence and providence of God, live as if they be-
lieved neither. Infidels were not able to support,
in their excesses, the ideas of an injured benefactor,
of an angry Supreme Judge, of an eternal salvation
neglected, of daring hell, a lake burning with Jire and

Libertinism and LificMity, 449

brimsto7i€y and smoke ascending up for ever and ever,
Rev. xxi. 8. and xiv. 11. In order to give their pas-
sions a free scope, they found it necessary to divert
their attention from all these terrifying objects, and
to efface such shocking truths from their minds.

But you! who believe the being of a God! You!
who believe yourselves under his eye, and who in-
sult him every day without repentance, or remorse!
You! who believe God holds thunder in his hand to
crush sinners, and yet live in sin! You! who think
there are devouring flames, and chains of darkness,
and yet presumptuously brave their horrors! You!
who believe the immortality of your souls, and yet
occupy yourselves about nothing but the present
life! What a front! What a brazen front is yours!

You consider religion a revelation proceeding
from heaven, and supported by a thousand authen-
tic proofs. But, if your faith be well grounded,
hoW' dangerous is your condition ! For, after all, the
number of evidences who attest the religion which
you believe, this number of witnesses depose the
truth of the practical part of religion, as well as the
truth of the speculative part. These witnesses at-
test, tliat nithout holiness, no man shcdl see the Lord;
that neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of
God, Heb. xii. 14. 1 Cor. vi. 10. And consequently,
these evidences attest that you thieves, that you cov-
etous, that you drunkards, that you j'evilers, that
you extortioners, shall be excluded from that happy
mansion. Do you reject this proposition? Class
yourselves then with infidels. Contradict nature ;

VOL. II. f)?

450 The Ahsurdily oJ\ S(c,

contradict conscience ; contradict the church ; deny
the recovery of strength to the lame ; the giving of
sight to the blind ; the raising of the dead ; contra-
dict heaven, and earth, and sea, nature, and every
element. Do you admit the proposition ? Acknow-
ledge then that you must be irretrievably lost, unless
you renounce the world that enchants and fascinatcB
your eyes.

This, my brethren, this is your remedy. This is
Avhat we hope for you. This is that to which we
exhort you by the compassion of God, and by the
great salvation which religion presents to you. Res-
pect this religion. Study it every day. Apply its
comforts to your sorrows, and its precepts to your
lives. And, joining promises to precepts, and pre-
cepts to promises, assort your Christianity. Assure
yourselves then of the peace of God in this life, and
of a participation of his glory after death. God
grant you this giace ! Amen.

SERMON XIV.

The Sale of Truth,

Prov. xxiii. 23.
Sell not the Truth.

IF Balak ivouM give we his house full of silver and
goldy I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my
God, to do less or more, Numb. xxii. 18. This was
the language of a man whose memory the church
holds in execration ; but who, when he pronounced
these words, was a model worthy of the imitation of
the whole world. A king sent for him ; made him,
in some sort, the arbiter of the success of his arms;
considered him as one w^ho could command victory
as he pleased ; put a commission to him into the
hands of the most illustrious persons of his court ;
and accompanied it with presents, the magnificence
of which was suitable to the favour he solicited.
Balaam was very much struck with so many hon-
ours, and charmed with such extraordinary presents.
He felt all that a man of mean rank owed to a
king, who sought and solicited his help ; but he
felt still more the majesty of his onnu character. He
professed himself a minister of that God, before
whom a/l nations are as a drop of a bucket, Isa. xl.
i "). and, considering Ralak, and his courtiers, in this

452 The Sale of Truth

point of view, he sacrificed empty honour to solid
glory, and exclaimed in this heroical style, If Ba-
lak would i^ive me his house full of silver and gold, I
cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do
less or more. Moreover, before Balak, in the pres-
ence of all his courtiers, and, so to speak, in sight
of heaps of silver and gold sparkling to seduce
him, he gave himself up to the emotions of the pro-
phetic spirit that animated him, and, burning with
that divine fire which this spirit kindled in his soul,
he uttered these sublime w^ords: " Balak the king of
" Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the
" mountains of the East, saying. Come, curse me eJa-
" cob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse
^' whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy
" whom the Lord hath not defied? Behold, I have
" received commandment to bless ; and he hath bles-
'' sed, and I cannot reverse it. Surely there is no
*' enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any
" divination against Israel," Numb, xxiii. 7, 8. 20.
23, " How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy
" tabernacles, O Israel," ch. xxiv. 5.

I would excite your zeal to-day, my brethren, by
an example so worthy of your emulation. A few
days ago, you remember, we endeavoured to shew
you tliC importance of this precept of Solomon, Buy
the truth. We pointed out to you then the means
of making the valuable acquisition of truth. We
told you God had put it up at a price, and that he
required, in ordei" to your possession of it, the sa-
crilice of dissipation, tli<^ sacrifice of indolence, the
sacrifice of precipitancy of judgment, the sacrifice

The Sale of Truth, 453

of prejudice, the sacrifice of obstinacy, the sacrifice
of curiosity, and the sacrifice of the passions. In
order to inspire you with the noble design of ma-
king all these sacrifices, we expatiated on the worth
of truth, and endeavoured to convince you of its val-
ue in regard to tliat natural desire of man, the in-
crease and perfection of his intelligence, which it
fully satisfies; in regard to the ability which it af-
fords a man to fill those posts in society to which
Providence calls him ; in regard to those scruples
which disturb a man's peace, concerning the choice
of a religion, scruples which truth perfectly calms;
and, finally, in regard to the banishment of those
doubts, which distress people in a dying hour, doubts
which are ahvays intolerable, and which become
most exquisitely so, when they relate to questions
so interesting as those that revolve in the mind of a
dving man.

Having thus endeavoured to engage you to buy
the truth, when it is proposed to you, we are going
to exhoii you to-day to preserve it carefully after
you have acquired it. We are going to enforce
this salutary advice, that were ten thousand envoys
from Moab, and from Midian, to endeavour to en-
snare you, you ought to sacrific e all things rather
than betray it, and to attend to that same Solomon,
who last Lord's-day said. Buy the truth, saying to
you to-day, and sell it not.

If what we shall propose to you novV^ require less
exercise of your minds than wliat we said to you
in our former discourse, it will excite a greater ex-
orcise of vour hearts. When vou hear us examine

451 The Sale of Truth,

the several cases in which the truth is sold, you may
perhaps have occasion for all your respect for us
to hear with patience what we shall say on these sub-
jects.

But, if a preacher ahvays enervate the force of
his preachin^^, when he violates the precepts himself,
the necessity of which he urgeth to others, doth he
not enervate them in a far more odious manner still,
when he violates them while he is recoiumending
them; preaching humility with pride and arrogance;
enforcing restitution on others, while he himself is
clothed witli the spoils of the fatherless and the wid-
ow ; pressing the importance of fraternal love with
hands reeking, as it were, with the blood of his breth-
ren? AYhat idea, then, would you form of us if,
while we are exhorting you not to sell truth, any hu-
man motives should induce us to sell it, by avoid-
ing to present portraits too striking, lest any of you
should know yourselves again. God forbid we
siiould do so ! If Balak would give me his house full
of silver and, gold, I would not go beyond the ivord
of the Lord my God, to speak less or more. Allow
us, then, that noble liberty which is not inconsist-
ent with the profound respect which persons of
our inferior station owe to an auditory as illus-
trious as this to which we have the honour to
preach. Permit us to forget every interest but
that of tridh, and to have no object in view but
your salvation and our own. And thou, God of
truth! fill my mind, during the whole of this ser-
mon, with this exhortation of thine apostle: " I charge
" thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who

The Sale of Truth. 455

" shall jud2^e the quick and the dead*at bis appear-
" infi^ and his kingdom ; preach the word ; be instant
'* in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort
" with all long-suffering and doctrine, 2 Tim. iv. 1,
" 2. Take heed unto tliyself, and unto thy doc-
" trine ; for in doing this thou shalt both save thy-
" self and them that hear thee," 1 Tim. iv. 16.
Amen.

You may comprehend what we mean by selling
truth, if you remember what we said it is to buy it.
Truth, according to our detinition last Lord's day, is
put in our text for an agreement betw^een the nature
of an object and the idea we form of it. To buy
truth is to make all the sacrifices which are necessa-
ry for the obtaining of ideas conformable to the ob-
jects of which they ought to be the express images.
On this principle, our text, I think, will admit of on-
ly three senses, in each of wiiich we may sell truth,

1. Sell not the truth, that is to say, do not lose the
disposition of mind, that aptness to universal truth,
when you have acquired it. Justness of thinking and
accuracy of reasoning, are preserved by the same
means by which they are procured. As the constant use
of these means is attended with difficulty, the practice
of them frequently tires people out. Tiiere are seeds of
some passions which remain, as it w^cre, buried during
the first years of life, and which vegetate only in mature
ao;e. There are virtues which some men would have
practised till death, had their condition been always
the same. A Roman historian remarks of an em-
peror,* that he always nould hare nKrifrd the imperi-

* Galba. Tacit. Hist. Lib. 1.

456 Tlie Sale of Truth,

al dignity^ had he never arrived at it. He who was a
model of docility, when he was only a disciple, be-
came inaccessible to reason and evidence as soon as
he was placed in a doctor's chair. He who applied
himself wholly to the sciences, while he considered
his application as a road to the first offices in the
state, became wild in his notions, and lost all the
fruit of his former attention, as soon as he obtained
the post which had been the object of all his wishes.
As people neglect advancing in the path of truth,
they lose the habit of walking in it. The mind
needs aliment and nourishment as well as the body.
To sell truth is to lose, by dissipation, that aptness
to universal truth which had been acquired by atten-
tion; to lose, by precipitation, by prejudice, by ob-
stinacy, by curiosity, by gratifying the passions,
those dispositions which had been acquired by oppo-
site means. Tliis is the first sense that may be giv-
en to the precept. Sell not the truth.

2. The wise man perhaps intended to excite those
who possess superior knowledge to communicate it
freely to others. He intended, probably, to reprove
those mercenary souls, who trade with their wisdom,
and sell it, as it were, by the penny. This sense
!?eems to be verified by the following words, wisdom,
and instruction, and under stetnding. Some supply the
first verb bui/, huy wisdom, and instruction. The last
verb may also be naturally joined to the same words,
and the passage may be read. Sell neither wisdom, nor
instruction. Not that Solomon intended to subvert
an order established in society ; for it is equitable,
1hat they, wlio have spent their youth in acquiring

The Sale of Truth. 457

literature, and have laid out a part of their fortune
in the acquisition, should reap the fruit of their la-^
hour, and be indemnified for the expense of their
education : the workman is worthy of his meat, and
they who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
Matt. X. 10. 1 Cor. ix. 14. Yet, the same Jesus
Christ, who was the herald as well as the pattern of
disinterestedness, said to his apostles when he was
spt^aking to them of the miracles which he had im-
powered them to perform, and of the truths of the
gospel in general, which he intrusted them to preach.
Freely ye have received, freely give, Matt. x. 8. And
St. Paul was so far from staining his apostleship with
a mercenary spirit, that when he thought a reward
for his ministry was likely to tarnish its glory, he
chose rather to work with his hands than to accept
it. That great man, who liad acquired the delight-
ful habit ot living upon meditation and study, and of
expanding his soul in contemplating abstract things;
that great man was seen to supply his wants by work-
ing at the mean trade of tent-making, while he was
labouring at the same time in constructing the mys-
tical tabernacle, the church : greater in this noble
abasement than his pretend d successors in all
their pride and pomp. A man of superior under-
standing ought to devote himself to the service of
the state. His depth of knowledge should be a pub-
lic fount, from which each individual sliould have
liberty to draw. A physician owes tliat succour to
the poor which his profession affords; the counsel-
lor owes them his advice ; the casuist his directions;
without expecting any other reward than that which
VOL. II. 58

458 The Sale of TrutL

God hath promised to benevolence. T cannot help
repeating here the idea which Cicero gives us of
those ancient Romans, who lived in the days of lib-
erty, and of the true glory of Ronje. " They ac-
" quainted themselves, sai/s that orator, with whatev-
" er might be useful to the republic. They were
" seen walking backward, and forward, in the public
" places of lie city, in order to afford a freedom of
" access to any of the citizens who wanted their ad-
" vice, not only on matters of jurisprudence, but
" on any other atlairs, as on the marrying of a daugh-
" ter, the purchasing, or improving of a farm, or, in
" short, on any other article that might concern
" them."=^

3 A third sense may be given to the precept of
Solomon, and by selling we may understand what,,
in modern style, we call heiraying truth. To betray
truth is, through any sordid motive, to suppress, or
to disguise things of consequence, to the glory of
religion, the interest of a neighbour, or the good of
society.

It would be difFiCult to demonstrate which of these
three meanings is most conformable to the design of
Solomon. In detached sentences, such as most of
tlie writings of Solomon are, an absolute sense can-
not be precisely determined ; but, if the interpreter
ought to suspend his judgment, tlie preacher may
regulate his choice by circumstances, and of several
probable meanings all agreeable to the analogy of
faith, aud to the genius of the sacred a'uthor, may
take that sense which best suits the state of liis au-

* Dc Oralorc. Lib. iii.

The Sale of Truth. 459

€ience. If this be a wise maxim, we are oblij^ed,
melliinks, having indicated the three significations,
to confine ourselves to the third.

In this sense we observe six orders of persons who
may sell truth,

I. The courtier.

II. The indiscreet zealot.

III. The apostate, and the Nicodemite*
lY. The Judge.

y. The politician.

VI. The pastcn-.

A courtier may sell truth by a mean adulation.
An indiscreet zealot b}; pious frauds, instead of de-
fending truth with the arms of truth alone. An apos-
tate, and a Nicodemite, bi/ loving this present ivorld^
2 Tim. iv. 10. or by fearins^ persecution wlicn they
are called to give a reason of the hope that is in them,
1 Pet. iii. 15, and to follow the example of that Je-
sus who, according to the apostle, before Pontius Pi-
fate ivitnessed a good corfession, 1 Tim. vi. 13. A
judge may 5fZ/ /n//A by a spirit of partiality, when
he ought to be blind to the appearance of persons.
A politician, by a criminal caution, when he ought
to probe the wounds of the state, and to examine in
public assemblies what are the real causes of its de-
cay, and who are the true authors of its miseries.
In fine, a pastor may sell truth through a cowardice
that prevents his declaring all the counsel of God ; his
declaring unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel
his sin, Micah iii. 8. Thus the flattery of the cour-
tier ; the pious frauds of the indiscreet zealot ; the
worldly-mindedness and timidity of the apostate^

460 The Sale of Truth.

and of the Nicodemite ; the partiality of the judge ;
the criminal circumspection of the members of legis-
lative bodies ; and the cowardice of the pastor ; are
six defects which we mean to expose, six sources of
reflections that will supply the remainder of this dis-
course.

I. Mean adulation is the first vice we attack ; the
first way of selling truth. We intend here that frau-
dulent traffic which aims, at the expense of a few
unmeaning applauses, to procure solid advantages ;
and, by erecting an altar to tl;e person addressed,
and by offering a little of the smoke of the incense
of flattery, to conciliate a profitable esteem. This
unworthy commerce is not only carried on in the
palaces of kings, it is almost every where seen, where
superiors and inferiors meet; because, generally
speaking, wherever there are superiors, there are
people who love to hear the language of adulation ;
and because, wherever there are inferiors, there are
people mean enough to let them hear it. W hat a
king is in his kingdom a governor is in his province ;
what a governor is in his province a nobleman is in
his estate ; what a nobleman is in his estate a man
of trade is among his workmen and domestics. Fur-
ther, tlie incense of flattery doth not always ascend
from an inferior only to a superior, people on the
same line in life mutually offer it to one another, and
sometimes the superior stoops to offer it to the in-
ferior. TliCre are men who expect that each mem-
ber of society should put his hand to forward the
building of a fortune which entirely employs them-
selves, and which is the spring of every action of

The Sale of Trittk. 461

their own lives ; people who aim to shelter them-
selves under the protection of the 2;reat to incor-
porate their own reputation with that of illustrious
persons, to accumulate wealth, and to lord it over
the lower part of mankind. These people apply
one engine to all men which is flattery. Tiiey pro-
portion it to the various ordeis of persons whom
they address; they direct it according to their dif-
ferent foibles ; vary it according to various circum-
stances ; give it a diflerent ply at diflierent times ;
and artfully consecrate to it, not only their voice,
but whatever they are, and whatever they possess.
They practice an absolute authority over their coun-
tenances, compose them to an air of pleasure, dis-
tort them to pain, gild them with gladness, or be-
cloud them with grief. They are indefatigable in
applauding; they never present themselves before a
man without exciting agreeable ideas in him, and
these they never fail to excite when, blind to his
frailties, they affect an air of extacy at his virtues,
and hold themselves ready to publish his abilities
and his acquisitions for prodigies. They acquire
friends of the most opposite characters, because
they praise alike the most opposite qualities. They
bestow as much praise on the violent as on the mod-
erate ; they praise pride as much as they praise hu-
mility ; and give equal encomiums to the lowest av-
arice and to the highest generosity.

Such is the character of the flatterer. This is the
first traffic which tlie wise man forbids. Sell not the
truth. Shameful traffic! a traffic unworthy not only
of a Christian, and of a pliilusoplier ; but of every

462 The Sale of Truth.

man who preserves the smallest degree of his prim-
itive liberty. Against this traffic the church and
the synagogue, Christianity and paganism, St. Paul
and Seneca have alike remonstrated. A traffic
shameful not only to him who offers this false in-
cense, but to him who loves and enjoys it. The
language of a courtier who elevates his prince
above humanity is often a sure mark of his inward
contempt of him. A man who exaggerates and am-
plifies yoiu' virtues, takes it for granted that you
know not yourself. He lays it down for a princi-
ple, that you are vain, and that you love to see
yourself only on your bright side. His adulation
is grounded on a belief of your injustice, he knows
you arrogate a glory to yourself to which you have
no just pretension. He lays it down for a princi-
ple, that you are destitute of all delicacy of senti-
juent, and that you prefer empty applause before
respectful silence. He lays it down for a principle,
that you liave little or no religion, as you violate
its most sacred law, humility. A man must be yG-
ry short-sighted, he must be a mere novice in the
W'orld, and a stranger to the human heait, if he be
fond of flattering eulogiums. Tliere is no king so
cruel, no tyrant so barbarous, no monster so odious,
whom flattery doth not elevate above the greatest
lieroes. The traffic of the flatterer, then, is equal-
ly shameful to him who sells truth, and to him who
buys it.

II. Indiscreet zealots make the second class of them
who sell truth. If the zealot be guilty of the same
4?rime, he is so from a motive more proper, it should

The, Sale of Truth 463

seeiii, to exculpate him. He useth falsehood only
to establish truth ; and if he commit a fraud, it is a
fraud consecrated to religion. 1 am not surprized,
my bretliren, that the partizans of erroneous com-
munities have used this method; and that they have
advanced, to establish it, arguments, in their own
opinions, inconclusive, and facts of their own inven-
tion. A certain cardinal who made himself famous
in the church by his theological attacks on the pro-
testants, and who became more so still by the repul-
ses which the latter gave him, hath been justly re-
proached with using these methods. People have
applied that comparison to him which he applied to
a certain African named Leo, whom he likens to
that amphibious bird in the fable, which was some-
times a bird, and sometimes a fish ; a bird when the
king of the fish required tribute, and a fish when
the king of the birds demanded it.'^

To supply the want of truth with falsehood is a
kind of 7visdom that better becomes the children of
this R'orld, Luke xvi. 8. than the ministers of the
living God. It would be hardly credible, unless we
saw it with our own eyes, that the ministers of God
should use the same arms which the ministers of the
devil employ ; and endeavour to suppm't a religion
founded on reason and argument by the very same
artifices which are only needful to uphold a religion
founded alone on the fancies of men< We blush
for religion when we see tlie primitive fathers adop-
ting this method, not only in the heat of argument,
when disputants forget their own principles, but

* See Bayle in the article Bellanniru Rem. D,

464 The Sale of Truth.

coolly and deliberately. We are ashamed of prim-
itive times, when we hear a St. Jerom commending
those who said not what they believed, but whatev-
er they thouo;ht proper to confound their pa^an op-
ponents; making a captious distinction between
what was written in dogmatising, and what was
written in disputing; and maintaining that, in dispu-
ting, people were free to use what arguments they
would, to promise bread, and to produce a stone.*
We are confounded at finding, among the archieves
of Christianity, letters of Lent ul us to the Roman
senate in favour of Jesus Christ ; those of Pilate
to Tiberius ; of Paul to Seneca and of Seneca to
Paul ; yea those of king Agbarus to Jesus Christy
and of Jesus Christ to king Agbarus. We are
shocked at liearing the fathers comp re the pretend-
ed Sibylline oracles to the inspired prophecies ; at-
tribute an equal authority to them ; cite them with
the same confidence ; and thus expose Christianity
to the objections of its enemies.f And would to
God we ourselves had never seen among us celebra-
ted divines derive, from the visions of enthusiasts,
arguments to uphold the truth !

Mere human prudence is sufficient to perceive the
injustice of this method. The pious frauds of the
primitive ages are now the most powerful objections
that the enemies of religion can oppose against it.
They have excited suspicions about the real monu-
ments of the church, by producing the spurious wri-
tings which an indiscreet zeal had propagated for its

♦ Epist. ad Pammach. Vide Daille usage dcs peres, chap. vL
t Vid, Blondel dcs Sibilles. Liv. i. chap. y. x. xiv. and xxiv.

The Sale of Truth, 465

glory ; and those unworthy artifices have much of-
tener stiaken believers than reclaimed infidels.

God anciently forbad the Jews to offer to him in
sacrifice the hire of a ivhorey or the price of a dog,
Deut. xxiii. 18. Will he suffer Christianity to be
established as the religion of Moha;nmed is propa-
gated ? Will Jesus Christ call Belial to his aid?
Shall light apply to the powers of darkness to spread
the glory of its rays? And do we not always sin
against this precept of Solomon, Sell not the truth,
wlien we part with truth even to obtain truth itself?

III. We put apostates, and time-servers, or IVic-
odemites, in the third class of those who sell the
truth.

1. Apostates, But we need not halt to

attack an order of men against which every thing
becomes a pursuing minister of the vengeance of
heaven. The idea they leave in the community
tljey quit ; the contempt of tliat which embraceth
them; the odious character they acquire; the hor-
rors of their own consciences; the thundering Ian-
guage of our scriptures; the dreadful examples of
Judas, and Julian, of Hymeneus, Philetus, and Spi-
ra ; the fires and flames of hell : these are arguments
against apostacy ; these are the gains of those who
sell the truth in tliis manner.

2. But there is another order of men to whom we
would shew the justice of the precept of Solomon;
they are persons who sell the truth, tluqugh the fear
of those punishments which persecutcus mfiict on
them who have courage to hang out tiie bloody flag ;
I mean time-servers. Nicodemites, You know tiiem,

VOL. IT. 59

466 The Sale of Truth

my brethren : would to God the misfortunes of the
times bad not given us an opportunity of knowing
them so well ! They are the imitators of that timid
disciple who admired Jesus Christ, who was fully
convinced of the truth of his doctrine, stricken with
the glory of his miracles, penetrated with the divin-
ity of his mission, and his proselyte in his heart; but
who, for fear of the Jews, John vii. 13. durst not ven-
ture to make an open profession of the truth, and,
as the evangelist remarks, went to Jesvs hy night, chap,
iii. 2. Thus our modern Nicodemites. They are
shocked at superstition, they thoroughly know the
truth, they form a multitude of ardent wishes for the
prosperity of the church, and desire, they say, to
see the soldiers of Jesus Christ openly march with
their banners displayed, and to list themselves un-
der them the first : but they only pretend, that in
time of persecution, when they cannot make an open
profession without ruining their families, sacrificing
their fortunes, and fleeing their country, it is allow-
able to yield to the times, to disguise their Christian-
ity, and to be anti-christian without, provided they be
christians within.

1. But, if their pretences be well-grounded, what
mean these express decisions of our scriptures?
" Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will
" I confess also before my Father which is in hea-
" ven : but whosoever shall deny me before men,
" him will I also deny before my Father which is in
" heaven: He that loveth fatlier or mother more
" than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh
" not his cross, and followeth after me, is not wor-

The Sale of Truth. 467

** thy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it ;
" and he that loseth his life, for my sake, shall find
" it. Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of
*' me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful
" generation, of him also shall the Son of man be
** ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Fa-
" ther, with the holy angels," Matt. x. 32. Mark
viii. 38.

2. If there be any ground for the pleas of tempo-
rizers, why do the scriptures set before us the ex-
amples of those believers w^ho walked in paths of
tribulation, and followed Jesus Christ with heroical
firmness in steps of crucifixion and martyrdom]
Why record the example of the three children of Is-
rael, who chose rather to be cast into a fiery furnace,
than to fall down before a statue, set up by an idol-
atrous king ? Dan. iii. 19. Why that of the martyrs,
who suffered under the barbarous Antiochus, and
the courage of that mother, who, after she had seven
times suffered death, so to speak, by seeing each of
her seven sons put to death, suffered an eighth, by
imitating their example, and by crowning tlieir mar-
tyrdom with her own ? Why that " cloud of witnes-
" ses, who through faith were stoned, were sawn
" asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword,
" wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins ; be-
" ing destitute, afflicted, tormented ?" Heb. xi. 37.

3. If the pretences of time-servers be well-ground-
ed, what was the design of the purest actions of the
primitive church ; of those councils which were held
on account of such as had the Aveakness to cast a
grain of incense into the fiie that burned on the al-

468 The Sale of Truth.

tar of an idol? Why those rigorous canons which
were made as^ainst them ; those severe penalties that
were inflicted on them; those delays of their absolu-
tion, which continued till near the last moments of
their lives ?

4. If these pretences be allowable, what is the use
of all the promises which are made to confessors and
martyrs; the white garments, that are reserved for
them ; the palms of victory which are to be put in
their hands ; the crowns of glory that are prepared
for them ; the reiterated declarations of the author
and finisher of their faith. To him that over com eth
will I grant to sit with me in my throne. Hold that
fast nhich thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Rev.

iii. 11. and 21.

5. If these pretences be reasonable, would God
have afforded such miraculous assistance to his ser-
vants, the martyrs, in the time of their martyrdom ?
It was in the suffering of martyrdom that St. Peter
saw an angel, who opened the prison-doors to him,
Acts xii. 7. In suffering martyrdom, Paul and Silas
felt the prison, that confined them, shake, and their
chains loosen and fall off, ver. 14. In suffering mar-
tyrdom, St. Stephen saw the heavens opened, and Je-
sus standing on the right hand of God, chap. xvi. 26.
and viii. 56. In the suffering of martyrdom, Ba-
laam sang this song, Blessed be the Lord who teach-
eth my hand to war, arid my fingers to fight, Psal.
cxliv. 1.=^ It was during their martyrdom, that Per-
petua and Felicitassaw a ladder studded with swords,
daggers, and instruments of punishment that reached

* Basil. Tom. i. 440. Homil. 18. Edit, de Paris, 16S8,

The Sale of Truth. 469

up to heaven, at the top of which stood Jesus Christ
encouraging them.f And you, my brethren, in par-
ticipating the sufferings of primitive believers, have
you not partaken of their consolations ? Sometimes
providence opened ways of escape in spite of the
vigilance of your enemies. Sometimes powerful
protections, which literally fulfilled the promise of
the gospel, that he who should quit any temporal ad-
vantage for the sake of it, should receive an hundred
fold, even in this life. Sometimes deliverances,
which seemed perfectly miraculous. Sometimes a
firiuness equal to the most cruel tortures ; an heroic-
a! courage, that astonished yea, that wearied out
your executioners. Sometimes transporting joys,
enabled you to say, When we are weak, then are we
strong. We are more than conquerors, through him
that loved us. We glory in tribulations also. So ma-
ny reflections, so many arguments, which subvert
the pretences of Nicodemites ; and which prove that,
witli tlic greatest reason, we place them among those
w ho betray the truth.

But, great God! to what am I doomed this day ?
Who are these time-servers, who are these Nicode-
mites, whose condemnation we are denouncing? How
many of my auditors have near relations, enveloped
in tliis misery ? Where is there a family of our ex-
iles, to which the words of a prophet may not be ap-
plied ; My flesh is in Babylon, and my blood among
the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jer. li. 35.^ Ah! shame
of the reformation ! Ah ! fatal memoir ! just cause
of perpetual grief! Rome ! who insultest and glori-

t Tertul. cle anima. Cap. Iv.

470 The Sale of Trvth.

est over us, do not pretend to confound us with the
vsight of galleys filled by thee with protestant slaves,
"whose miseries thou dost aggravate with reiterated
blows, with galling chains, with pouring vinegar into
their wounds! Do not pretend to confound us by
shewing us gloomy and filthy dungeons, inaccessible
to every ray of light, the horror of which thou dost
augment by leaving the bodies of the dead in those
dens of the living: these horrid holes have been
changed into delightful spots, by the influences of
that grace which God hath shed abroad in the hearts
of the prisoners, Rom. v. 5. and by the songs of tri-
umph which they have incessantly sung to his glory.
Do not pretend to confound us, by shewing us our
houses demolished, our families dispersed, our fugi-
tive flocks driven to wander over the face of the
whole world. These objects are our glory, and
thine insults are our praise. Wouldst thou cover
us with confusion? Shew us, shew us the souls,
which thou hast taken from us. Reproach us, not
that thou hast extirpated heresy ; but that thou hast
caused us to renounce religion : not that thou hast
made martyrs ; but that thou hast made protestants
apostates from the truth.

This is our tender part. Here it is that no sorrow
is like our sorrow^ On this account tears run down
the wall of the daughter of Zion like a river, day and
nighty Lam. ii. 18. What shall I say to you, my
brethren, to comfort you under your just complaints?
Had you lost your fortunes, I would tell, you, a
Christian's treasure is in heaven. Had you been
banished from your country only, I would tell you,

The Sale of Truth. 471

a faithful soul finds its God in desert wildernesses, in
dreaiy solitudes, and in the most distant climes.
Had you lost only your churches, I would tell you,
the favour of God is not confined to places and to
walls. But, you weeping consorts! who shew me
your husbands separated from .Jesus Christ, by an
abjuration of thirty years; what shall 1 say to you?
"What sliall I tell you, ye tender mothers! who shew
me your children lying at the foot of the altar of an
idol?

O God ! are thy compassions exhausted ? Hath
religion, that source of endless joy, no consolation
to assuage our grief? These deserters of the truth
are our friends, our brethren, other ourselves.
Moreover, they are both apostates and martyrs :
apostates, by their fall ; martyrs, by their desire, al-
though feeble, of rising again : apostates, by the
fears that retain them; martyrs, by the emotions
that urge them: apostates, by the superstitious
practices which they are constrained to perform;
martyrs, by the secret sighs and tears which they
address to heaven. O may the martyr obtain mer-
cy for the apostate ! Blay their frailty excuse their
fall ! May their repentance expiate their idolatry 1
or rather, may the blood of Jesus Christ, covering
apostacy, frailty, and the imperfection of repent-
ance itself, disarm thy justice, and excite thy com-
passion.

IV. We have put Judges in the fourth class of
those to whom the text must be addressed, Sell not
the truth.

472 The Sale of Truth

1. A Judge sells truth, if he be partial to him
whose cause is unjust, on account of his connections
with him. When a Judge ascends the judgment-
seat, he ought entu'ely to forget all the connections
of friendship, and of blood. He ought to guard
against himself, lest the impressions, that connections
have made on his heart, should alter the judgment of
his mind, and should make him turn the scale in fa-
vour of those with whom he is united by tender ties.
He ought to hear the srvord indifferently, Rom. xiii.
4. like another Levi, against his brother, and against
his friend, and to merit the praise that was given to
that holy man. He said unto his father, and to his
mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge
his brethren, nor knew his own children, Deut. xxiii.
19. He ought to involve his eyes in a thick mist,
through which it would be impossible for him to dis-
tinguish, from the rest of the crowd, persons for
whom nature so powerfully pleads.

2. A]\K\ge sells truth, when he suffers himself to
be dazzled with the false glare of the language of
him who pleads against justice. Some counsellors
have the front to affirm a maxim, and to reduce it to
practice, in direct opposition to the oaths they took
when they were invested with their character. The
maxim I mean is this ; as the business of a judge is
to distinguish truth from falsehood, so the business
of a counsellor is, not only to place the rectitude of
a cause in a clear light, but also to attribute to it all
that can be invented by a man expert in, giving so-
phisti-y the colours of demonstration and evidence.
To suffer himself to be misled by the ignes fatid of

The Sale of TnttL 473

eloquence, or to put on the air of being convinced,
either to spare himself the trouble of discussing a
truth, which the artifice of the pleader envelopes in
obscurity ; or to reward the orator in part for the
pleasure he hath afforded him by the vivacity and
politeness of his harangue : each of these is a sale of
truth, a sacrificing of the rights of widows and or-
phans, to a propriety of gesture, a tour of expression,
a figure of rhetoric.

3. A judge sells tridh, when he yields to the
troublesome assiduity of an indefatigable solicitor*
The practice of soliciting the judges is not the lesg
irregular for being autliorized by custom. AYhen
people avail themselves of that access to judges,
which, in other cases, belongs to their reputation,
their titles, or their birth, they lay snares for their
innocence. A client ought not to address his judg-
es, except in the person of him, to whom he hath
committed his cause, imparted his grounds of ac-
tion, and left the making of the most of them. To
regard solicitations instead of reproving them ; to
suffer himself to be carried away with the talk of a
man, whom the avidity of gaining his cause inflames,
inspires subtle inventions, and dictates emphatical
expressions, is, again, to sell truth,

4. A judge sells truth, when he receives presents.
Thou shall not take a gift ; for a gift doth blind the
€yes of the wise, and pervert the ivords of the righteous^
Deut. xvi. 19. God gave this precept .to the Jews,

5. A judge makes a sale of tndh, when he is ter-
rified at the power of an oppressor. It hath been
often seen, in the most augu&t bodies, that sufTrageR

VOL. IT. 60

474 The Sale of Truth.

have been constrained by the tyranny of some, and
sold by the timidity of others. Tyrants have been
known to attend, either in their own persons, or in
those of their emissaries, in the very assemblies
which were convened on purpose to maintain the
rights of the people, and to check the progress of
tyranny. Tyrants have been seen to endeavour to
direct opinions by signs of their hands, and by mo-
tions of their eyes ; they have been known to in-
timidate judges by menaces, and to corrupt them
by promises ; and judges have been know^n to pros-
trate their souls before these tyrants, and to pay the
same devoted deference to maxims of tyranny, that
is due to nothing but to an authority tempered with
equity. A judge on his tribunal ought to fear none
but him whose sword is commhted to him. He
ought to be not only a defender of truth, he ought
also to become a martyr for it, and to confirm it
with his blood, were his blood necessarv to confirm
it.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, Mat. xi. 15.
There is a primitive justice essential to moral beings;
a justice independent on the will of any Superior
Being ; because there are certain primitive and es-
sential relations between moral beings, which belong
to their nature. As, when you suppose a sc[uare,
you suppose a being that hath four sides ; as, when
you suppose a body, you suppose a being, from
which extent is inseparable, and independent on any
positive will of a Superior Being; so when you sup-
pose a benefit, you suppose an equity, a j'ustice, a
fitness, in gratitude, because there is an essential re-

The Sale of Truth. 475

lation between gratitude and benefit ; and the same
may be said of every moral obligation.

Tlie more perfect an intelligent being is, the more
intelligence is detached from prejudices; the clearer
the ideas of an intelligent mind are, the more fully
will it perceive the opposition and the relation, the
justice and the injustice, that essentially belong to
the nature of moral beings. In like manner, the
more perfection an intelligence hath, the more doth
it surmount irregular motions of the passions; and
the more it approves justice, the more will it disap-
prove injustice ; the more it is inclined to favor what
is right, the more will it be induced to avoid what is
wrong.

God is an intelligence, who possesseth all perfec-
tions ; his ideas are perfect images of objects ; and
on the model of his all objects were formed. He
seeth, with perfect exactness, the essential relations
of justice and of injustice. He is necessarily inclin-
ed, though without constraint, and by the nature of
his perfections, to approve justice, and to disap-
prove injustice ; to display his attributes in procur-
ing happiness to the good, and misery to the wicked.

In the present economy, a part of the reasons of
which we discover, wliile some of the reasons of it
are hidden in darkness, God doth not immediately
distinguish the cause that is founded on equity,
from that which is grounded on iniquitous princi-
ples. This office he hath deposited in the hands of
judges; he hath entrusted them with his power; he
hath committed his sword to tliem ; he hath placed
them on his tribunnl ; and said to them. Ye arc gods.

476 The Sale of Truth.

Psal. Ixxxii, 6. But the more august the tribunal,
the more inviolable the power, the more formidable
the sword, the more sacred the office, the more rig-
orous will their punishments be, who, in any of the
ways we have mentioned, betray the interests of
that truth and justice with which they are intrusted.
Some judges have defiled the tribunal of the Judge
of all the earth. Gen. xviii. 25. on which they were
elevated. Into the bowels of the innocent they have
thrust that sword which was given them to maintain
order, and to transfix those who subvert it. 1 hat
supreme power, which God gave them, they have
employed to war against that God himself who vest-
ed them with it, and him they have braved wdth inso-
lence and pride. / saw under the sun the place of
judgment, that wickedness was there ; and the place of
righteousness, that iniquity was there ; and I said in
mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wick'
ed. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
perverting of judgment and justice in a province, Triar"
vel not at the matter : for He, that is higher than the
highest, regardeth it, and there be higher than they. Be
wise now, therefore, O ye kings : be instructed, ye judg-
es of the earth. Buy the truth and sell it not, EccL
iii. 16. V. 8. Psal. ii. 10.

V. This precept of Solomon, Sell not the truths
regardeth the politician who, by a timid circumspec-
tion, useth an artful concealment, when he ought to
probe state-wounds to the bottom, and to discover
the real authors of its miseries, and the true causes
of its decline. In these circumstances, it is not
enough to momn over public calamities in secret ^

The Sale of Truth. 477

they must be spoken of with firmness and courage:
the statesman must be the mouth and the voice of ail
those oppressed people, whose only resources are
prayers and tears ; he must discover the fatal in-
trigues, that are whispered in corners against his
country; unvail the mysterious springs of the con-
duct of him, who, under pretence of public benefit,
seeks only his own private emolument; he must pub-
lish the shame of him, who is animated with no other
desire, than that of building his ow^n house on the
ruins of church and state; he must arouse him from
his indolence, who deliberates by his own fire-side,
when imminent dangers require him to adopt bold,
vigorous, and effectual measures; he must, without
scruple, sacrifice him, who himself sacrificeth to his
own avarice or ambition., whole societies; he must
fully persuade other senators, that, if the misfortunes
of the times require the death of any, it must be
that of him who kindled the fire, and not of him
who is ready to slied the last drop of his blood to
extinguish it. To keep fair with all, on these occa-
sions, and by a timid silence to avoid incurring the
displeasure of those w4io convulse the state, and of
tiiose who cry for vengeance against them, is a con-
duct, not only unworthy of a Christian, but unwor-
thy of a good patriot. Silence then is an atrocious
criuje, and to suppress truth is to sell it, to betray it.

How doth an orator merit applause, my brethren,
when, being called to give his suffiage for the pub-
lic good, he speaks with that fire, which the love of
his country kindles, and knows no law but equity,
and the safety of the people 1 With this noble free-

478 The Sale of Truth

dom the heathens debated ; their intrepidity astori-
isheth only those who are destitute of courage to
imitate them. Represent to yourselves Demos-
thenes speaking to his masters and judges, and en-
deavouring to save them in spite of themselves, and
in spite of the punishments which they sometimes
inflicted on those who offered to draw them out of
the abysses into which they had plunged themselves.
Represent to yourselves this orator making remon-
strances, that would now-a-days pass for firebrands
of sedition, and saying to his countrymen, Will ye
then eternally rialk backward and forivard in your
public places, asking one another. What news ? Is
Philip dead ? says one. No, replies another ; but he
is extremely ilL Ah ! what does the death of Philip
signify to you, gentlemen ? No sooner would heaven
have delivered you from him, than ye yourselves would
create another Philip^, Imagine you hear this ora-
tor blaming the Athenians for the greatness of their
enemy : For my part, gentlemen, I protest I could not
help venerating Philip, and trembling at him, if his
conquests proceeded from his orvn valour, and from
the justice of his arms : but whoever closely examines
the true cause of the fame of his exploits, will find it
in our faults : his glory originates in our shame, f
Represent to yourselves this orator plunging a dag-
ger into the hearts of the perfidious Athenians, even
of them, who indulged him with their attention, and
loaded him with their applause. War, immortal
war with every one who dares here to plead for Philip^
You must ahsolidely despair of conquering your ene-

* Prem. Philipiq. t Prem. Olynth.

The Sale of Truth, 479

mies without, while you suffer them to have such eager
advocates wUhiiu Yet you are arrived at this pitch
oj, what shall I call it ? imprudence, or ignorance,
I am often ready to think, an evil genius possesseth
you. You have brought yourselves to give these mise-
rable, these perfidious wretches a hearing, some of whom
dare not disown the character 1 give them. It is not
enough to hear them, whether it be envy, or malice, or
an itch for satire, or whatever be the motive, you order
them to mount the rostrum, and taste a kind of pleas-
ure as often as their outrageous railleries and cruel
ealumnies rend in pieces reputations the best establish-
ed, and attack virtue the mmt respectable,"^ Such an
orator, my brethren, merits the highest praise. With
whatever chastisements God may correct a people,
he hath not determined their destruction, while he
preserveth men, who are able to shew them in this
manner the means of preventino* it.

VI. Finally, the last order of persons, interested
in the words of my text, consists of pastors of the
church. And who can be more strictlv engaged
not to sell truth than the ministers of the God of
tndh ? A pastor should have this precept in full
view m our public assemblies, in his private visits
and particularly when he attends dying people.

1. In our public assemblies all is consecrated to
truth. Our churches are houses of the living and
true God. These pillars are pillars of truth, 1 Tim.
111. 15. The word, that we are bound to anhounce to
you, ts truth, John xvii. 17. Wo be to us, if any
human consideration be capable of making us dll

* Trois Phil.

480 The Sale of TriilL

guise that truth, the heralds of which we ou<^ht to
be; or if the fear of shewing you a disagreeable
light, induce us to put it under a bushel I True, there
are some mortifying truths: but public offences mer-
it public reproofs, whatever shame may cover the
guilty, or however eminent and elevated their post
may be. We know not a sacred head, when we see
the name ofhlasphiiny written on it, Rev. xiii. L But
the ignominy of such reproof, say ye, will debase a
man in the sight of the people whom the people
ought to respect, and will disturb the peace of so-
ciety. But who is responsible for this disturbance,
he who reproves vice, or he who commits it ? And
ought not he, who abandons himself to vice, rather
to avoid the practice of it, than he who censures
such a conduct, to cease to censure it ? If any claim
the power of imposing silence on us, on tliis article,
let him produce his right, let him publish his preten-
sions ; let him distribute among those, who have been
chosen to ascend this pulpit, lists of the vices which
we are forbidden to censure ; let liim signify the law,
that commands the reproving of the offences of the
poor, but forbids that of the crimes of the rich ; that
allows us to censure men witliout credit, but prohib-
its us to reprove people of reputation.

2. A pastor ought to have this precept before his
eyes in his private visits. Let him not publish be-
fore a whole congregation a secret sin ; but let him
paint it in all its horrid colours with the same priva-
cy with which it was committed. To |:lo this is the
principal design of those pastoral visits, which are
made among this congregation, to invite the mem-

The Sale of Truth. 481

bers of it to the Lord's supper. There a minister of
truth ou^lit to trouble tliat false peace, which impu-
nity nourisheth in the souls of the guilty. Tliere he
ouo^ht to convince people, that the hiding of crimes
from the eyes of men cannot conceal them froin the
sigl t of God. There he ouoht to make men trem-
ble at the idea of th :t eye, froai the penetration of
which neither tie darkness of the night nor the most
impenetrable depths of the lieart can conceal any
thing.

Our ideas of a minister of Jesus Christ are not for-
med on our fancies ; but on the descriptions which
God hath given us in his word, and on the exam-
ples of the holy men who went before us in the
church, whose glorious steps we wish, (although,
alas! so far inferior to these models,) whose glorious
steps we wish to follow. See how these sacred men
announced the truth. Hear Samuel to Saul : Where-
fore didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, hut
didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of
the Lord, Hath the Lord as great deli'j^ht in burnt-
offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the
Lord? Behold! to obey is better than sacrifice; and
to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as
the si I of nitchcraft, and sluhbornness is as inijuity
and idolatry, 1 Sam. xv. 19 22. Eelold Nathan be-
fore David. 77/0?/ art the man. Wherefore hast thou
despised the comn aulment of the Lord, to do evil in his
sight ! Thou hast killed Uriah the Hiltite with the
sword, and hctst taken his wife to be thy ili/e and hast
slain him with the sword of the children of Amtnon^
Now thfreforCy the sword shall never depart J) om thine

vot. II. 61

482 The Sale of Truth.

house. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up
evil against thee oid of thine own house, and I will take
thy wives ^fore thine eyes, and give them unto thy
neighbour. For thou didst it secretly : T)ut I will do
this thing before all Israel, and before the sun, 2 Sam.
xii. 7 — 12. See Elijah before Abab, who said to him.
Art thou he that trouhleth Israel? 1 have not troiihled
Israel; bid thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have
forsaken the commandments of the Lordy and thou hast
followed Baalim, 1 King? xviii. 17, 18.; and not to
increase this list by quoting examples from the New
Testament, see Jeremiah. Never was a minister
more gentle. Never was a heart more sensibly af-
fected with grief than his at the bare idea of the ca-
lamities of Jerusalem. Yet were there ever more
terrible descriptions of the judgments of God, tlian
those which this prophet gave ? When we need any
fiery darts to wound certain sinners, it is he w lio must
furnish them. He often speaks of nothing but sack-
cloth and ashes, lamentation and wo. He announ-
ceth nothing but mortality, famine, and slavery. He
represents the earth without form, and void, returned,
as it were, to its primitive chaos ; the heavens desti-
tute of light ; the mountains trembling ; the hills mov-
ing lightly. He cannot find a man; Carm .- is a
wilderness, and the whole world a desolation. All
the inhabitants of Jerusalem seem to him climbing
up upon the rocks, or runnmg into thickets to hide
themselves from the horsemen and the bowmen. When
he strives to hold his peace, his heart maketh a noise in
him, Jer. iv. 23, 24, 26, 29, 19. His whole imagina-
tion is filled with bloody images. He is distorted.

The Sale of Truth. 4a3

if I may speak so, with tlie poison of that cup of
vengeance, which was about to be presented to the
whoJe^ earth. A minister announcing nothing but
maledictions seems a conspirator against the peace
of a kingdom. .Jeremiah was accused of holding a
correspondence with the king of Babylon. It was
pretended, that either hatied to his country, or a
melancholy turn of mind, produced his sorrowful
prophecies: nothing but punishment was talked of
tor him, and, at length, he was confined in a miiy
dungeon, chap, xxxviii. 6. In that filthy dungeon the
love of truth supported him.

3. But, when a pastor is called to attend a dying
person, he is more especially called to remember this
precept of Solomon, Sell not the truth. On this arti-
cle, my brethren, I wish to know the most accessible
paths to your hearts ; or rather, on this article, my
brethren, I wish to find the unknown art of uniting
all your hearts, so that every one of our hearei^
niight receive, at least, from the last periods of this
discourse, some abiding impressions. In many dy-
ing people a begun work of conversion is to be fin-
ished. Others are to be comforted under the last
and most dangerous attacks of the enemy of their
salvation, who terrifies them with the fear of death.
In regard to others, we must endeavour to try whether
our last efforts to reclaim them to God will be more
successful than all our former endeavours. ' Can an>
reason be assigned to counterbalance the motives
which urge us to speak plainly in these circimistan-
ces? A soul is ready to perish; the sentence is pre-
paring ; the irrevocable voice, Depart, ye'airsed. w-

484 The Sale of Truth.

to everlasting fire, will presently sound; the gulfe
of hell yawn, the devils attend to seize their prey.
One sino;le method remains to be tried: the last ex-
hortations and efforts of a pastor. He cannot enter-
tain the least hope of success, unless he unvail mys-
teries of iniquity, announce odious truths, attack pre-
judices, which the dving man continues to clierish,
even though eternal torments are following close at
their heels. Wo be to us if any human considera-
tion stop us on these pressing occasions, and prevent
our uiaking the most of this, the last resource !

It belongs to you, my brethren, to render this last
act of our office to you practicable. Jt belongs to
you to concur with your pastors in sending away
coiupany, that we may open our hearts to you, and
that you may open your's to us. Those visitors,
who, under pretence of collecting the last words of
an expiring man, cramp, and interrupt him, who
would prepare him to die, should repress their un-
seasonable zeal. If, when we require you to speak
to us alone, on your deatls-bed, we be anima-
ted with any human motive; if we aim to penetrate
into your family-secrets ; if we wish to share your
estate ; pardon traitors, assassins, and the worst of
xnuideiers; but let national justice inflict all its rig-
ours on those, who abuse the weakness of a d\ing
man, and, m functions so holy, are animated with
motives so proi'ane. Tn ail cases, except in this one,
we are ready to oblige you. A minister, on this oc-
casion ougl't not only not to fall, he ought not to
stn r;bie. But how can you ex[)ect that, in the pres-
ence of a great number of witnessess, we sliouid ful-

The Sale of Truth, 485

iy expatiate on some truths to a sinner? Would you
advise us to tell an immodest woman of the excesses
to which she had abandoned herself, in the presence
of an easy, credulous husband? Would you have us,
in th.e presence of a whole family, discover the
shame of its head?

Here I finish this meditation. 1 love to close all
my discourses with ideas of death. Nothing; is more
proper to support those, who experience the difficul-
ties, that attend the path of virtue, than thinking
that the period is at liand, w hich will terminate the
patis and reward the pain. Nothino is more pro-
per to arouse others, th n thinkino- that the same
period will quickly imbitter their wicked pleasures.

Let every person, of eacli order to which tlie text
is addressed, take the pains of applyino- it to himself.
IMay the meanness of flatterers ; may the pious
frauds of indiscreet zealots ; may the fear of perse-
cution and the love of the present world, which
makes such deep impressions on the minds of apos-
tates and Nicodemites; may the partiality of judg-
es ; may the sinful circumspection of statesmen, may
all the vices be banished from among us. Above
all, we, who are ministers of truth! let us never dis-
guise truth; let uslove/rwM; let us preach truth;
let us preach it in this pulpit; let us preach it in our
private visits; let us preach it by the bed-sides of
the dying. In such a course we may safely apply
to ourselves, in our own dying-beds, the words of
those prophets and apostles, vvitii whom we ought to
concur in the rvork of the ininistry, in the perfecting
fff the saints, I have coveted no man's silver , or gold,

4^6 The Sale of Truth.

or apparel. I have kept hack nothing, that was pro-
Jitahle. I have taught publicly, and from house to
house. I am pure from the blood of all men, I have
not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. O my
God! I have preached righteousness in the great con-
gregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord,
thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within
my heart ; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy sal-
vation; I have not concealed thy loving kindness, and
thy truth, Jrom the great congregation. Withhold not
thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord; let thy lov-
ing kindness and thy truth continually preserve them,
Eph. iv, 12. Acts xx. 33, 20, 26, &c. Amen.

j:^d of the second volume.

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