glorious privileges! A person educated with other Christians in the noble hope of immortality, and obtaining afterw d proof that this hope is founded only in the ancies of enthusiasts; a man rejoicing at th discovery; a man congratulating himself on ha ing lost a treasure so rich; a person unaffected with the vanishing of such inestimable advant res;-such a man, I say, discovers an enormous depravity of heart. not regard as false what the genius which he has given us makes appear false. If it should happen, then, that a man, having exercised all the attention, and all the rectitude of which he is capable, in examining the most important questions of religion, cannot obtain evidence enough to determine his judgment; if what appears evident to others seem doubtful to him; if what seems demonstrative to them appears only probable to him, he cannot be justly con- 4. We require an unbeliever to acknowledge, demned for unbelief. Consequently, what we that religion has at least some probability. A have called a prejudice looks like the very man who can maintain that the system of inessence of reason and truth; and this proposi-fidelity is demonstrative, that this proposition, tion, Speculative errors cannot be attended with any fatal consequences, ought to be admitted as a first principle. My brethren, were it necessary to give our opinion of this article, we should boldly affirm, that the case just now proposed is impossible. We are fully persuaded, that it is not possible for a man who has a common share of sense, and who employs it all in examining whether there be a God in heaven, or whether the Scripture be a divine revelation, to continue in suspense on these important subjects. But our conviction affords no proof to others. There are some truths which cannot be demonstrated; and equity requires us to allege in a dispute only what is capable of demonstration. We confine ourselves to that class of unbelievers whose infidelity of mind proceeds from depravity of heart; and affirm, that they are included in the sentence denounced by our apostle, and deserve to suffer it in all its rigour. Now we have reason to form this judgment of an unbeliever, unless he observes all the following conditions, which we have seen associated in any one person of this character. 1. He ought to have studied the great questions of religion with all the application that the capacity of his mind, and the number of his talents, could admit. These questions belong to subjects the most interesting. To examine them carelessly, to offer them only, if I may venture to speak so, to the surface of his mind, is a full proof of the depravity of his heart. 2. We require an unbeliever to enter upon the discussion of these truths with a determination to sacrifice to them not only his strongest prejudices, but also his most violent passions and his dearest interests. If there be a God in heaven, if the Christian religion be divine, all the plans of our love and hatred, sorrow and joy, ought to be regulated by these great truths. Every man who is not conscious of having examined them in such a disposition, and who has obtained by his examination only doubts and uncertainties, has reason to fear that the emotions of his senses, and the suggestions of his passions, have shackled, yea, imprisoned, the faculties of his mind. 3. We require an unbeliever, who, notwithstanding all these conditions, pretends to be convinced that the ideas of believers are imaginary, to show at least some mortification on account of this affected discovery. Mankind have the highest reason to wish that the hopes ́excited by religion may be well-grounded; that we may be formed for eternity; that we may enjoy an endless felicity after death. If these be chimeras, behold man stripped of his most There is no God, is evident; that this other is incontestable, Religion has not one character of divinity; a man who can maintain that a good philosopher ought not to retain in his mind the least doubt or uncertainty on these articles, that for his own part he has arrived at mathematical demonstration;-such a man, if he be not the most extravagant of mankind, is, however, one of the most corrupt. 5. In fine, we require an unbeliever, on supposition that his system were probable, that the plan of religion were only probable, that had his a hundred degrees of probability, and ours only one degree, I say, we require this unbeliever to act as if our system was evidently true, and as if his was demonstratively false. If our system of faith be true, all is hazarded when the life is directed by a system of infidelity; whereas nothing is hazarded if the life be regulated by religion, even supposing the system of religion groundless. An unbeliever who is not ready to sacrifice his dearest passions even to a mere probability of the truth of the doctrine of a future life, gives full proof of the depravity of his heart. Whether there be any one in the world, who, in spite of these dispositions, can persuade himself that religion has no character of truth, we leave to the judgment of God: but as for those who sin against any of the rules just now mentioned (and how many reasons have we to conclude that there are numbers of this character!) they are included in the sentence of our apostle, and they deserve to feel its utmost rigour. "The unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." IV. Let us advert to the fourth prejudice. Religions are indifferent. We will not go through the various sects of Christianity, and decide these litigious questions, Which of these religions are compatible with salvation? Which of these religions are destructive of it? We will affirm only with our apostle, that "idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." We intend particularly to wipe off that imputation which the church of Rome constantly casts on our doctrine. Under pretence that we have never been willing to denounce a sentence of eternal damnation against members of the most impure sects, they affirm, that, in our opinion, people may be saved in their community, and this, they say, is one of the articles of our faith. This is a sophism which you have often heard attributed to a prince, who had united, as far as two such different things could be united, the qualities of a great king with those of a bad Christian. Having a long time hesitated between the peaceable possession of an earthly crown, and the steadfast hope of a heavenly crown, his historians tell us, he assembled some doctors of the Roman communion, and some of ours. He asked the first, Whether it were possible to be saved in the Protestant communion? They answered, No. He then asked the second, Whether it were possible to be saved in the Roman communion? They replied, They durst not decide the question. On this, the prince reasoned in this manner. "The Roman Catholic doctors assure me there is no salvation in the Protestant communion. The Protestants dare not affirm that there is no salvation in the communion of Rome. Prudence, therefore, requires me to abandon the Protestant religion, and to embrace the Roman; because in the opinion of the Protestants, it is at most only probable that I should perish in the church of Rome, whereas, in the opinion of the Roman Catholics, it is demonstrative that I should be damned in the Protestant community." We will not attempt to investigate this point of history, by examining whether these Protestant ministers betrayed our religion by advancing a proposition contrary to it, or whether these historians betrayed the truth by altering the answer attributed to our ministers. Whatever we think of this historical fact, we affirm with St. John, that "Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." However, we ought to make a cautious distinction concerning doctrines, as we do concerning precepts, a distinction between questions of fact and questions of right. There is a question of right in regard to precepts; as for example-Is a course of life opposite to the precepts of the gospel a damnable state? To this we reply, Undoubtedly it is. There is also a question of fact, as for example-Shall all those who follow such a course of life suffer all the rigour of damnation? A wise man ought to pause before he answers this question; because he does not know whether a man who has spent one part of his life in a course of vice, may not employ the remaining part in repentance, and so pass into a state to which the privileges of repentance are annexed. In like manner, there are questions of fact and questions of right in regard to doctrines. The question of right in regard to the present doctrine is this: Can we be saved in an idolatrous community? Certainly we cannot. The question of fact is this: Will every member of an idolatrous community be damned? A wise man ought to suspend his judgment on this question, because he who had spent one part of his life in an idolatrous community, may employ the remaining part in repenting, and consequently may share the privileges of repentance. Except in this case, according to our principles, "Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." But, according to our principles, the Roman Catholic church is guilty of idolatry; *This artifice of Henry the Fourth is differently told by the Catholics: they say that the Protestant doctors answered,-A Catholic may be saved. | consequently, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome, if they do not forsake that community, are among such as "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." If it be necessary to prove, that, according to our principles, the church of Rome is guilty of idolatry, the evidence is easily obtained. Let us form a distinct idea of what, agreeably to Scripture, we call idolatry. To regard a simple creature as God supreme; to render to a simple creature the worship that is due only to the Supreme God, is what we call idolatry. Now, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome do render to a creature, to a bit of bread, such worship as is due only to the supreme God. By consequence, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome are guilty of idolatry. They defend themselves by a somewhat specious but groundless argument. It was employed by a man who disgraced his name by abandoning the Protestant religion, though, thanks be to God, I hope, I and my family shall always be enabled to continue it in the list of sincere Protestants. His words are these: "Two or three articles," says he, "excited strong prejudices in my mind against the church of Rome; transubstantiation, the adoration of the holy sacrament, and the infallibility of the church. Of these three articles, that of the adoration of the holy sacrament led me to consider the church of Rome as idolatrous, and separated me from its communion. A book which I one day opened without design, instantly removed this objection. There I found a distinction between error of place in worship, and error of object. The Catholic worships Jesus Christ in the eucharist, an object truly adorable. There is no error in this respect. If Jesus Christ be not really present in the eucharist, the Catholic worships him where he is not; this is a mere error of place, and no crime of idolatry." A mere sophism! By the same argument the Israelites may be exculpated for rendering divine honours to the golden calf. We must distinguish error of place from error of object. The Israelite worships in the golden calf the true God, an object truly adorable. "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord, the God, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," Exod. xxxii. 5. There is no error in this respect; if God be not really present in the golden calf the Israelite worships him where he is not, a mere error of place, and not the crime of idolatry. But St. Stephen says expressly that this calf was an idol. "They made a calf, and offered sacrifice unto the idol," Acts vii. 41. By consequence, error of place in worship does not exculpate men from idolatry. As, therefore, according to our principles, there is an error of place in the worship which Roman Catholics render to their host, so also, according to our principles, they are guilty of idolatry. But are we speaking only according to our own principles? Have we seen any thing in the wilderness of Sinai which we do not daily see in the Roman communion? Behold, as in the desert of Sinai, an innumerable multitude, * Mr. Saurin of Paris. | she fights only with the "sword of the Spirit," and the "hammer of the word," Eph. vi. 17; Jer. xxiii. 29. Ah poor people! How long will you live without perceiving the golden candlestick which Jesus Christ has lighted up in his church! May God take away that fatal bandage, which hides the truth from thine eyes! Or, if this favour be refused us, may God enable us to take away from thee such of our children as thou hast barbarously torn from the breasts of their mothers, in order to make them, like thine own, the children of a harlot. V. To proceed to the last prejudice. None but the vulgar ought to be afraid of committing certain crimes. Kings and statesmen will be judged by a particular law. The greatness of the motive that inclined them to manage some affairs from divine vengeance. What reason would subjects have to complain, and, I will venture to add, how insecure would princes and magistrates be, my brethren, if these pretences were well-grounded; if they who hold our lives and fortunes in their hands, were under no restraint in the abuse of sovereign power; and if, under our oppressions, we could not inwardly appeal to a Supreme Governor, and say, at least to ourselves, in private, "I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there, and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work," Eccles. iii. 16, 17. tired of rendering spiritual worship to an invisible God, and demanding "gods to be made, which shall go before them!" Behold, as in the desert of Sinai, a priest forming, with his own hands, a god to receive supreme adoration! See, as in the desert, a little matter modified by a mortal man, and placed upon the throne of the God of heaven and earth! Observe, as in the desert, the Israelites liberally bestowing their gold and their jewels, to deck and adorn, if not to construct the idol! Hark! as in the desert of Sinai, priests publish profane solemnities, and make proclamation, saying, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord!" Behold, as in the desert, the people rising early on festivals to perform matins! Hearken! criminal voices declare, as in Sinai, "These are thy gods, or this is thy god, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." What am I say-of state will plead their excuse, and secure them ing? I hear expressions more shocking still. This is, O shame to Christianity! O scandal in the eyes of all true Christians! This is, yea, this bit of bread, on which a priest has written, Jesus Christ the saviour of mankind, this is thy God. This is the God whom all the angels in heaven adore. This is the God "by whom all things were created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, principalities, or powers." This is the God, who upholds all things by the word of his power. This is the God who, in the fulness of time, took mortal flesh. This is the God who, for thy salvation, O Israel, was stretched on the cross. This is he, who in the garden of Gethsemane said, "O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," Matt. xxvi. 39, who rose conqueror over death and the grave, who passed into the heavens, and at whose ascension the heavenly intelligences exclaimed, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ve everlasting doors, that the Lord of hosts, the King of glory, may come in," Ps. xxiv. 7, &c. "O Judah, Judah, thou hast justified thy sister Samaria. O ye deserts of Sinai, never did ye see any thing equal to what our weeping eyes behold! Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come hither. Ye sons of Levi, separated to the service of the Lord, consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah." But what are we about? Are we interrupting the soft still voice of the gospel, to utter the thundering commands of mount Sinai? Shall we command you to-day, as Moses did formerly the Levites, 66 put every man his sword by his False protestations, by which a statesman, side, and go in and out, from gate to gate, if I may speak so, obtains leave to lodge in throughout the camp, and slay every man his the bosom of an ally, that he may be the betbrother, and every man his companion, and ter able to stab him to the heart; indeterminate every man his neighbour." Ah, Rome! Were treaties, and frivolous distinctions between the we to adopt this method, you could not re- letter and the spirit of a public instrument; these, proach us; you could only complain that we which we call illustrious lies, these are exploits were too ready to learn the lessons you have worthy of immortal glory! Bloody wars, untaught us, and too eager to imitate your bloody dertaken less for the good of the state than example! Even in such a case we should have for the glory of the governors; cruel expedione great advantage over you; our hands would tions, tragical battles, sieges fool-hardy and grasp the murdering sword to destroy thee only desperate in a theory of the military art, but for the glory of God, whereas thine has butch- practicable in the eyes of ambition, or rather ered us for the honour of an idol! We are not raving madness; rivers discoloured with blood; come with fire, and blackness, and darkness, heaps of human bodies loading the earth; these and tempest; but Zion, though all mangled by which we call illustrious murders, these are exthy cruelty, utters only cool exhortations, affec-ploits thought worthy of immortal glory! Dark tionate remonstrances, and tender entreaties; machinations, in which treason supplies the VOL. I.-48 But if this be a claim of tyranny, it is not, however, a privilege derived from religion. It is destroyed by St. John in the words of our text, "abominable, and murderers, and poisoners, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." We do not understand that the apostle speaks here only of such eminent persons as govern mankind. There are liars, murderers, poisoners, and abominable of all ranks and conditions: but it is only in the courts of kings, it is on thrones, it is at the head of armies, and in the persons of such as are usually called heroes in the world, that crimes of this sort are ennobled: here altars are erected, and these detestable actions elevated into exploits worthy of immortal glory; they are inserted in our histories, in order to be transmitted to the latest posterity. place of courage, assassination of the right of war, secret poison of public battle: these are actions truly abominable, yet these are thought worthy of immortal glory, provided they be crowned with success, and provided an historian can be found to disguise and embellish them! An historian, who can celebrate and adorn such heinous crimes, is, if possible, more abominable than his hero who committed them. Shall we go back to the periods of fable? Shall we take example from those nations which lived without hope, and without God in the world? Shall we narrate ancient history? Shall we publish the turpitude of modern times? Ye horrid crimes! ye frightful actions! ye perfidious outrages! more fit for the hearts of infernal furies than for the bosoms of mankind, depart into eternal silence, and never show your ghastly features again! Never were propositions more unwarrantable than these: the vulgar only ought to be afraid of certain crimes. Kings and statesmen will be judged by a particular law. The greatness of the motive that inclined them to manage some affairs of state, will plead their excuse, and secure them from divine vengeance. Why were so many commands given to princes concerning administration of justice, breaches of peace, and declarations of war? To what purpose have so many Pharaohs been drowned, Nebuchadnezzars reduced to the condition of beasts, Herods devoured by worms, and strokes of divine vengeance fallen upon the proudest heads, except to teach us that no creature is so august, no throne so magnificent, no dominion so invincible, as to free a creature from the necessity of obeying his Creator? What means that law which God formerly gave by the mouth of Moses? "When thou shalt set a king over thee, he shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away," Deut. xvii. 14, &c. He shall not amass for himself silver and gold. "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left." What mean these thundering words? "Thou profane wicked prince of Israel! thy day is come, thine iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; I will overturn it, and it shall be no more,' Ezek. xxi. 25-27. In one word, what does St. John mean by the words of my text? "All liars and poisoners, murderers and abominable, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." It would be difficult, my brethren, for men who never saw any thing greater than the courts of princes, a sort of earthly gods, to imagine a more pompous and venerable image than that which St. John exhibits here to our view. He brings forth the terrible day in which the supreme Lawgiver will bring earthly judges to account for that power with which he intrusted them, and of which most of them have made a very criminal use. There, all their flattering titles will be laid aside, no more emperors, monarchs, arbiters of peace or war; or rather, there will these titles be repeated to mortify the pride, and to abate the insolence, of every one who abused them. There, pale, trembling, and afraid will appear those tyrants, those scourges of Almighty God, those disturbers of mankind, who once made the earth tremble with a single cast of their eyes. Then will be produced the vexations they have caused, the unjust decrees they have pronounced, the families they have impoverished, the houses, the cities, the kingdoms they have burnt to ashes. Then will be judged the famous quarrels of Alexander and Darius, Cyrus and Croesus, Pyrrhus and Fabricius, Hannibal and Scipio, Cæsar and Pompey, ill decided, in Cato's opinion, by the gods themselves in the battle of Pharsalia. And you, you who hold the reins of this republic, you, in regard to whom we often say to this people, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers; the powers that be are ordained of God; whosoever resisteth power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation," Rom. xiii. 1, 2; you, our governors and lords, what appearances will you make in that great day, and what sentence will you then receive? Ah! if it be possible for you to be so intoxicated with your own grandeur as to forget the majesty of that God, who placed you at the head of this people, and so neglect the duties of your station; if it be possible for the cries of the oppressed to sound in vain in your ears, and bribes to blind your eyes; if it be possible for you to bestow the rewards due to fidelity and courage upon solici tation and intrigue, to sacrifice the public interest to private views; if a personal pique dissolve a union essential to the good of the state; if love of pleasure consume time devoted to the administration of justice; if the tears of Sion in distress be not tenderly wiped away; if religion and good manners be decried, and trampled on with impunity; if Lord's-days and public solemnities be openly profaned; if, in a word, Christianity be sacrificed to worldly policy, what will your condition be! God grant this people may always be as happy in the character of their governors as in the gentle constitution of their government! May a visible and bountiful benediction rest upon those, who, "in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, shine as lights in the world!" Phil. ii. 15. Never, never may any be at the head of the state who are unworthy of being members of the church! God grant we may behold you who are intrusted with the public welfare, models worthy of our imitation: and by imitating your conduct in this life may we follow you into the world of glory! Amen. To God be honour and glory for ever Amen. SERMON XLVI.* GOD'S CONTROVERSY WITH ISRAEL MICAH vi. 1-3. Hear ye now what the Lord saith. Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me." This is the unheard of action which we are going to exhibit to you, in order to excite in you such sentiments of contrition and repentance as the solemnity of the day requires of you, especially now that the arm of the Lord is lifted up and stretched out over your heads, shall I say to destroy or to defend you? At such a time can it be necessary to prepare your minds, and solicit your attention? If I have yet any more wishes to form for your felicity, I conjure you by the walls of this church, now indeed standing, but doomed to be razed by the enemy; by the interests of your wives and children, whose death is determined; by your regard for your civil and religious liberties; in the name of your magistrates, generals, and soldiers, whose prudence and courage cannot succeed without the blessing of the Almighty; I conjure you to address yourselves to this exercise with attentive minds and accessible hearts. May all worldly dis some birds of prey, always alighting on our sacrifices, O may you all be driven away today! God grant we may be left alone with him! O Lord, help us to repair the breaches made in our Jerusalem, to prevent others yet threatened, to engage thee, the God of armies, on our side, and to draw down by our prayers and tears thy benedictions on the state and the church! Amen. THE wickedness of Sodom was so abominable, when God was about to consume it by fire, that we can never remark without astonishment his condescension to Abraham, when he gave him leave to plead for that detestable city. Abraham himself was amazed at it. He was afraid of inflaming that anger which he endeavoured to abate. "Oh!" said he, "let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Be-tractions, may all secular anxieties, troublehold now, I, who am but dust and ashes, have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord," Gen. xviii. 30. 27. Yet God heard him, and agreed to spare Sodom, and to pardon an innumerable multitude of guilty persons, on condition that a small number of righteous people could be found among them. Abraham asked, "Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city, wilt thou not spare the place, for the fifty righteous that are therein?" God replied, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, I will spare all the place for their sakes." Abraham continued: "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty? Peradventure there shall be forty, peradventure thirty, peradventure twenty, peradventure ten," Gen. xviii. 24. 26. 28, 29, &c. God heard Abraham, and suffered him to proceed to the utmost of his compassion, waiting, if I may speak so, till his servant gave the signal for the destruction of Sodom. So true is it, that his essence is love, and that "mercy and grace" are the strongest emanations of his glory! Exod. xxxiv. 6. But, my brethren, if we admire the goodness of God, when he suffers only one worm of the earth to reason against his judgments, and to plead the cause of those criminals whose ruin was determined, what emotions, pray, ought the objects set before us in the text to produce in our minds to-day? Behold! in the words of my text, behold! God not only permitting the sinner to plead his cause before him, and suspending his sovereign rights, but behold him offering himself to plead before the sinner, behold him descending from his tribunal, accounting for his conduct, and submitting himself not only to the judgment of one of his creatures, but proposing to do so to us all. "Hear ye what the Lord saith. Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto * This Sermon was preached on a fast-day, at the opening of a campaign in the year 1706. Before we enter into the spirit of our text, let us take a cursory view of the terms; each deserves our attention. Hear ye what the Lord saith. "Hills, mountains, ye strong foundations of the earth, hear ye what the Lord saith." What loftiness in these terms! This is to prepare the mind for great things. It is a bad maxim of orators to promise much to auditors. The imagination of the hearer often outflies that of the speaker. Artful rhetoricians choose to surprise and amaze their hearers by ideas new and unexpected, so that the subjects of their orations may appear sublime by being strange. But has the Holy Spirit need of our rules of rhetoric, and is the everlasting gospel subject to our oratorical laws? There is no proportion between the human soul, to which the prophet addresses himself, and the spirit of that God who animates the prophet. How great soever your expectation may be, your expectation will be always exceeded. Great objects will not be wanting to exercise your capacities, your capacities indeed may want ability to investigate them. "The thoughts of God will always be higher than your thoughts, as the heavens will always be higher than the earth," Isa. lv. 8. A prophet frequently seems at first to present only one object to view; but on a nearer examination his one object includes many; he seems at first only to speak of a temporal deliverer, but he speaks of the Messiah; at first the present life seems only intended, but at length we find eternity is contained in his subject. Our prophet had reason, therefore, to exclaim, "Mountains, hills, ye strong foundations of the earth, hear ye." "Hear ye what the Lord saith," adds the prophet. It is the Lord, who speaks by the |