But the prophet no less intended to shame scarcity, medicines to mortality, an active idolatry in morals, which consists in distrust- vigilance to the danger of a contagion; and ing the promises of God in extreme dangers take no pains to extirpate those horrible and in expecting from men a succour that crimes, which provoke the vengence of heacannot be expected from God. A man is ven to inflict punishments on public bodies; guilty of moral idolatry, when, in dangerous ye are guilty of this second kind of idolatry, crises, he says, My way is hid from the Lord; ye stand exposed to this malediction, "Cursed my judgment is passed over from my God." be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh Be not surprised at my giving so odious a flesh his arm," Jer. xvii. 5. Were your conname to a disposition of mind, which is too fidence placed in God, ye would endeavour to common even among those whose piety is the avert national judgments by purging the state least suspected, and the best established. The of those scandalous commerces, those barbaessence of idolatry, in general, is to disrobe rous extortions, and all those wicked practhe Deity of his perfections, and to adorn a tices, which are the surest forerunners, and creature with them. There are indeed many the principal causes, of famine, and pestidegrees of this disposition. He, who renders lence, and war. divine honours to the glimmering light of a taper, is guilty perhaps of a more gross idola-pectations upon one single head; ye, who try, than he who worships the sun. The Egyptian, who worships a rat, is perhaps more absurd than the Roman, who ranks a Cæsar with the gods. But, after all, there is so small a difference between the meanest insect and the greatest emperor, the glimmering of a taper and the glory of the sun, when compared with the Supreme Being, that there can be no great difference between these two sorts of idolatry.

Let us apply this to our subject. God is the sole arbiter of events. Whenever ye think, that any more powerful being directs them to comfort you, ye put the creature in the Creator's place; whether ye do it in a manner more or less absurd: whether they be formidable armies, impregnable fortresses, and wellstored magazines, which ye thus exalt into deities; or whether it be a small circle of friends, an easy income, or a country-house; it does not signify, ye are alike idolaters.

The Jews were often guilty of the first sort of idolatry. The captivity in Babylon was the last curb to that fatal propensity. But this miserable people, whose existence and preservation, whose prosperities and adversities, were one continued train of obvious miracles, immediately from heaven; this miserable people, whose whole history should have prevailed with them to have feared God only, and to have confided in him entirely; this miserable people trembled at Nebuchadnezzar, and his army, as if both had acted independently of God. Their imaginations prostrated before these second causes, and they shuddered at the sight of the Chaldean Marmosets, as if they had afforded assistance to their worshippers, and had occasioned their triumphs over the church.

Thanks be to God, my dear brethren, that the light of the gospel hath opened the eyes of a great number of Christians, in regard to idolatry in religion. I say a great number, and not all: for how many parts of the Christian world still deserve the prophet's reproach? "the workman melteth a graven image, the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold. Have ye not known? have ye not heard?" Blessed be God, we are quite free from this kind of idolatry! But how many idolaters of the second kind do I see?

Ye, who, in order to avert public calamities, satisfy yourselves with a few precautions of worldly prudence, and oppose provisions to

Desolate family, ye who rested all your ex

made one single person the axis of all your schemes and hopes, ye, who lately saw that person cut down in the midst of his race, and carried away with the torrent of human vicissitudes; ye, who see nothing around you now but indigence, misery, and famine; who cry in the bitterness of your grief, no more support, no more protector, no more father: ye are guilty of this second kind of idolatry. Ye "trusted in man, ye made flesh your arm." Were God the object of your trust, ye would recollect, amidst all your grief, that Providence is not enclosed in your patron's tomb: ye would remember, that an invisible eye incessantly watches over, and governs, this world; that God, "who feedeth the fowls of heaven, and clothes the lilies of the valley," Luke xii. 24. 28; that a God so good and compassionate, can easily provide for the maintenance and encouragement of your family.

And thou, feeble mortal, lying on a sick bed, already struggling with the king of terrors, Job xviii. 14; in the arms of death; thou, who tremblingly complainest, I am undone! physicians give me over! friends are needless! remedies are useless! every application is unsuccessful! a cold sweat covers my whole body, and announces my approaching death! thou art guilty of this second kind of idolatry, thou hast "trusted in man," thou hast "made flesh thine arm." Were God the object of thy trust, thou wouldst believe, that though death is about to separate thee from men, it is about to unite thee to God: thou wouldst preclude the slavish fear of death by thy fervent desires: thou wouldst exult at the approach of thy Redeemer, "Come, Lord, come quickly! Amen." Rev. xxii. 20. How easy would it be, my brethren, to enlarge this article!

"Dearly beloved, flee from idolatry," 1 Cor. x. 14; is the exhortation of an apostle, and with this exhortation we conclude this discourse, and enforce the design of the prophet in the text. "Flee from idolatry," not only from gross idolatry, but from that which, though it may appear less shocking, is no less repugnant to the spirit of religion. Why sayest thou, O Jacob; why speakest thou, Ŏ Israel; My way is hid from the Lord; my judgment is passed over from my God?" The guardianship of you is that part of the dominion of God of which he is most jealous. His love for you is so exquisite, that he con

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descends to charge himself with your happiness. The happiness which ye feel in communion with him, is intended to engage you to him; and the noblest homage that ye can return, the purest incense that ye can offer, is to say to him, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? there is none upon earth I desire besides thee. It is good for me to draw near to God," Ps. lxxiii. 25. 28.

If ye place your hopes upon creatures, ye depend upon winds, and waves, and precarious seasons: upon the treachery, iniquity, and inconstancy, of men: or, to say all in one word, ye depend upon death. That poor man is a self-deceiver, who, like the man in the gospel, saith within himself, "My soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," Luke xii. 17. 19. But, I expect to find him, yes, I expect to find him, at the sound of that voice, which may this very night require his soul, I expect to find him in a sick bed. There, all pale, distorted, and dying, let him assemble Ins gods; let him call for his treasures, and send for his domestics, and acquaintances; in that fatal bed let him embrace his Drusillas and Dalilahs; let him form harmonious concerts, amuse himself with fashionable diversions, or feast his eyes with gaudy decorations, the vacuity and vanity of which, in spite of himself, he will be obliged to discover.

O give me more solid foundations for my hopes! May I never build my house upon the sand, endangered by every wind and wave; may the edifice of my felicity be superior to human vicissitudes, and "like mount Sion, which cannot be removed," Ps. cxxv. 1; may I build upon the rock of ages, and be able in public calamities and in my private misfortunes, above all, in the agonies of death to appropriate those precious promises which God hath made to his church in general, and to every individual in it: "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed," Isa. liv. 10.

To this God, of whose grandeur we form such elevated notions, and upon whose promises we found such exalted hopes, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON V.

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The text that we have read to you, my brethren, and which, though very short, hath doubtless already excited many grand ideas in your minds, is a homage which the prophet Jeremiah paid to the perfections of God, when they seemed to counteract one another. To make this plain to you, we will endeavour to fix your attention on the circumstances in which our prophet was placed, when he pronounced the words. This is the best method of explaining the text, and with this we begin.

Jeremiah was actually a martyr to his ministry, when he addressed that prayer to God, of which this text is only a part. He was reduced to the disagreeable necessity of not being able to avail himself of the rites of religion, without invalidating the maxims of civil government. This is one of the most difficult straits, into which the ministers of the living God can be brought; for, however they may be opposed, people always regard them, if not with entire submission, yet with some degree of respect, while they confine themselves to the duties of their own office, and while, content with the speaking of heavenly things, they leave the reins of government in the hands of those to whom Providence has committed them. But when religion and civil policy are so united that ministers cannot discharge their functions without becoming, in a manner, ministers of state, without determining whether it be proper to make peace or to declare war, to enter into alliances or to dissolve them: how extremely delicate and difficult does their ministry become! This was our prophet's case. Jerusalem had been besieged for the space of one year by Nebuchadnezzar's army, and it was doubtful whether the city should capitulate with that prince, or hold out against him. God himself decided this question, by the ministry of the prophet, and commanded him in his name, to address the Israelites: "Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans; but shall surely be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper," ver. 3-5.

A prediction so alarming was not uttered with impunity: Jeremiah was thrown into prison for pronouncing it: but before he could well reflect on this trial, he was exercised with another that was more painful still. God comWIS-manded him to transact an affair, which seems OF at first sight more likely to sink his ministry

THE GREATNESS OF GOD'S
DOM, AND THE ABUNDANCE
HIS POWER.

JEREMIAH XXxii. 19. Great in counsel, and mighty in work. THESE words are connected with the two preceding verses: "Ah, Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Thou showest loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name, great in counsel, and mighty in work."

into contempt, than to conciliate people's esteem to it. He commanded him to avail himself of the right, which every Israelite enjoyed, when his nearest relation offered an estate to sale: a right founded upon an institute recorded in Leviticus. God required the Israelites to consider him as their sovereign, and his sovereignty over them was absolute, Lev. xxv. They cannot be said to have possessed any thing as proper owners; they held every thing conditionally, and in trust; and they had no other right in their patrimonial estates than what they derived from the arbitrary will of God. In order to preserve in them a sense of this dependence, they were forbidden to sell

beast, it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences," ver. 42-44.

Jeremiah entered into these views, obeyed the command, and believed the promise: but, to fortify himself against such doubts as the distance of its accomplishment might perhaps produce in his mind, he recollected the eminent perfections, and the magnificent works, of him from whom the promise came. "Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch (says the prophet,) I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Ah! Lord God, behold thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Thou art the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is thy name, great in counsel, and mighty in work."

But as it might happen that a landholder might become indigent, and be reduced by this prohibition to the danger of dying with hunger, even while he had enough to supply all his wants, God had provided, that, in such a case, the lands might be sold under certain restrictions, which were proper to convince the seller of that sovereignty, from which he would never depart. The principle of those restrictions were two; one, that the estate should be rather mortgaged than sold, and, at the jubilee, should return to its first master; and hence it is, that to sell an estate for ever, in the style of the Jewish jurisprudence, is to mortgage it till the jubilee. The other restriction was, that the nearest relation of him who was obliged to sell his land, should have the right of purchasing it before any others, either more distant re-cessary to re-establish the Jewish exiles in lations or strangers.

In virtue of this law, Jeremiah had a right to purchase an estate, which Hanameel, the son of Shallum, had offered to sale. The land lay at Anathoth, a town in the tribe of Benjamin, where our prophet was born, and was actually occupied by the Chaldeans at that time. Jerusalem was besieged, and Jeremiah was fully persuaded, and even foretold that it would be taken; that the Jews would be carried away into captivity; and would not be re-established in their own country till their return from Babylon at the expiration of seventy years. What a time to purchase an estate! What a season to improve a right of redemption!

The considering of the circumstances that attended the text, is a sufficient determination of its end and design. The prophet's meaning, which is quite clear, is, that the wisdom of God perfectly comprehended all that would be ne

their own land; and that his power could effect it. The words are, however, capable of a nobler and more extensive meaning, and in this larger view we intend to consider them. God is "great in counsel," either, as the words may be translated, "great in designing, and mighty in executing:" or, as the same phrase is rendered in Isaiah, "wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working," xxviii. 29. We will endeavour to give you a just notion of this sublime subject in two different views.

I. We will consider the subject speculatively. II. We will consider it in a practical light. We intend by considering the subject speculatively, to evince the truth of the subject, the demonstration of which is very important to us. By considering it practically, we intend to convince you on the one hand, of the monstrous extravagance of those men, those little rays of intelligence, who, according to the wise man, pretend to set their "wisdom and counsel against the Lord," Prov. xxi. 30; and on the other, of the wisdom of those, who, while they regulate their conduct by his laws alone, commit their peace, their life, and their salvation, to the care of his Providence. This is what I propose to lay before you.

But this command of God to the prophet was full of meaning; God gave it with views similar to, but incomparably surer than, those which the Romans had, when they publicly offered to sell the land where Hannibal was encamped when he was besieging the city of Rome. What the prophet was commanded to do, was designed to be an image of what the Jews should have the liberty of doing after their re-establishment. Ye may ascertain that this was the design of the command given to Jeremiah, if ye attend to the words which he addressed to God himself, in the twenty-fourth I. "O Lord, thou art great in counsel, and verse of this chapter: "Behold the mounts, the mighty in work." Let us consider this propocity is given into the hands of the Chaldeans:sition speculatively. I shall establish it on two and thou hast said unto me, O Lord God, buy thee the field for money," ver. 25. 27. To this the Lord answers, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for me? Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or

*The case of the daughters of Zelophehad, related in Numbers xxvii. 8, procured a general law of inheritance. If a man died without a son, his daughters were to inherit: if without children, his brethren were to inherit: if without brethren, his uncle was to inherit: if without uncle, his nearest relation was his heir. Grotius says that this law, which preferred an uncle before a nephew, passed from the Jews to the Phoenicians, and from the Phoenivians into all Africa. Saurin. Dissert. Tom. II. Disc. vii.

kinds of proofs. The first shall be taken from the nature of God: the second from the history of the world, or rather from the history of the church.

1. My first proofs shall be taken from the nature of God; not that it belongs to a preacher to go very deeply into so profound a subject, nor to his auditors to follow all the reflections that he could make: yet we wish, when we speak of the Supreme Being, that we might not be always obliged to speak superficially, under pretence that we always speak to plain people. We wish ye had sometimes the laudable ambition, especially when ye assist in this sacred place, of elevating your minds to those sublime objects, of the meditation of which, the occupations, to which your frailties