grandeur of God; and although God "dwell- | the nature of God; this object is too high for eth in a light which no man can approach us: let us take another method, (and here I unto," 1 Tim. vi. 16; although it is impossi- allege the second proof of the truth of my text, ble for feeble mortals to have a free access to that is, the history of the world, or as I said him; yet it is pleasing to endeavour to di- before, the history of the church:) let us take, minish the distance that separates them. II say, another method of proving that God, cannot but think, that without presuming too much upon natural reason, any one who habituates himself to consult it, may assure himself of finding sufficient evidence of this truth, that the efficiency of God's will is equal to the extensiveness of his ideas, and by close and necessary consequence, that he is as mighty in work as he is great in counsel. Carry your thoughts back into those periods in which the Perfect Being existed alone. Sound reason must allow that he has so existed. What could then have been the rule or model of beings which should in future exist? The ideas of God were those models. And what could cause those beings that had only an ideal existence in the intelligence of God, actually to exist out of it? The efficiency of his will was the cause. The will of the same Being then, whose ideas had been the exemplars, or models, or the attributes of creatures, caused their existence. The Supreme Being therefore, who is "great in counsel," is "mighty in work." This being granted, consider now the ocean of God's power, as ye have already considered the greatness of his counsel. God not only knows what motion of your brain will excite such or such an idea in your mind, but he excites or prevents that idea as he pleases, because he produces or prevents that motion of your brain as he pleases. God not only knows what objects will excite certain passions within you, but he excites or diverts those passions as he pleases. God not only knows what projects your passions will produce, when they have gained an ascendency over you, but he inclines you to form, or not to form, such projects, because as it seems best to him, he excites those passions, or he curbs them. What we affirm of men, we affirm also of all other intelligent beings: they are no less the objects of the knowledge of God than men, and like them, are equally subject to his efficient will: and hence it is that God knows how to make all fulfil his designs. It is by this that he makes every thing subservient to his glory; Herod and Pilate, our hatred and our love, our aversions and our desires; the ten thousand times ten thousand intelligences, some of which are superior to us, and others inferior, all that they are, all that they have, the praises of the blessed and the blasphemies of the damned, all by this mean are instrumental in the execution of his designs, because the determinations of his will are efficient, because to will and to do, to form a plan and to have the power of executing it, is the same thing with the Supreme Being, with him whose ideas were the only models of the attributes of all creatures, as his will was the only cause of their existence. But perhaps I am falling into what I meant to avoid; perhaps I am bewildering my hearers and myself in speculative labyrinths too intricate for us all. Let us reason then no longer on who is " great in counsel," is also "mighty in work." What counsel can ye imagine too great for God to execute, or which he hath not really executed? Let the most fruitful imagination exert its fertility to the utmost; let it make every possible effort to form plans worthy of an infinite intelligence, it can invent nothing so difficult that God has not realized. It should seem, according to our manner of reasoning, that greatness of wisdom and sufficiency of power never appear in greater harmony in an intelligent being, than when that intelligence produces effects by means, in all appearance, more likely to produce contrary effects. This, we are sure, God has effected, and does effect every day. And, that we may proportion this discourse, not to the extent of my subject, but to the length of these exercises, we will briefly remark, that God has the power of making, 1. The deepest afflictions of his children produce their highest happiness. 2. The contrivances of tyrants to oppress the church procure its establishment. 3. The triumphs of Satan turn to the destruction of his empire. 1. God has the power of making the deepest of his children's afflictions produce their highest happiness. The felicity of the children of God, and, in general, the felicity of all intelligent beings, is founded upon order. All happiness that is not founded upon order, is a violent state, and must needs be of a short duration. But the essence of order, among intelligent beings, is the assigning of that place in their affections to every relative being which is fit for it. Now there is a fitness in having a higher esteem for a being of great excellencies, than for one of small. There is a fitness in my having a higher degree of affection for one from whom I have received more benefits, and from whom I still expect to receive more, than for one from whom I have received, and still hope to receive, fewer. But God is a being of the highest excellence; to God, therefore, I owe the highest degree of esteem. God is the being from whom I have received the most benefits, and from whom I expect to receive the most; consequently to God I owe the highest degree of affectionate gratitude. Yet, how often do the children of God lose sight of this grand principle? I do not speak only of a few absent moments, in which the power of thought and reflection is, in a manner, gone; nor do I mean only those violent passions which criminal objects excite: I speak of a poison much less sensible, and therefore perhaps much more dangerous. We will give you one example out of many. Two pious persons enter into the honourable state of marriage on principles of virtue, and compose a family that reveres the Creator by considering him as the only source of all the blessings which they enjoy. Their happiness consists in celebrating the beneficence and perfections of the adorable God, and all their possessions they devote to his glory. He blesses their union by multiplying those who compose to give that place to God in your souls which But the reflections which naturally belong to this article, ye heard a few weeks ago, when we explained these words in the Revelation, "Here is the patience of the saints," Rev. xiii. 10. We endeavoured then to prevent the gloomy fears that might be occasioned in your minds by those new edicts, which Rome, always intent upon making "the kings of the earth drunk with her fornication," Rev. xvii. 2; had extorted against your brethren. We exhorted you, in the greatest tribulations of the church, never to lose sight of that Divine Providence which watches to preserve it. From this depth of misery, however, arises the highest felicity. The prosperity, of which we have been speaking, was so much the more dangerous by how much the more innocent it appeared; for if the persons in question had founded it in vice, they would have quickly forsaken it, as wholly incompatible with their pious principles; but, as they had founded it in piety, there is great reason to fear they had placed too much of their happiness in earthly prosperity, and that it had almost entirely engaged the attention of their minds, and set bounds to the desires of their hearts. But what is it to engage the mind too much in temporal prosperity? It is to lose sight of God, our chief good, in a world where at best we can obtain but an imperfect knowledge of him. What is it to confine the desires of our hearts to earthly happiness? It is to forget our best interest in a world, where, when we have carried that love which God so abundantly merits, to the highest pitch, we can offer him but a very imperfect service. Every object that produces such an effect, occupies a place in the heart which is due to none but God. And while any other fills the seat of God in the heart, we may indeed have a kind of happi ness, but it must be a happiness contrary to order; it is violent and must be short. I am aware that the loss will be bitter in the same degree as the enjoyments had been sweet; but the bitterness will produce ineffable pleasures, infinitely preferable to all those that have been taken away. It will reclaim us again to God, the only object worthy of our love, the alone fountain of all our felicity. This may be inferred from many declarations of Scripture, and from the lives of many exemplary saints, as well as from your own experience, if, indeed, my dear hearers, when God has torn away the objects of your tenderest affection, ye have been so wise as to make this use of your losses, to re-establish order in your hearts, and We reminded you of some great truths which proceeded from the mouth of God himself; such as, that the Assyrian was only "the rod of his anger," Isa. x. 5; that Herod and Pilate did only "what his hand and his counsel determined before to be done," Acts iv. 27, 28. These truths should be always in our minds; for there never was a time when we had more need to meditate on them. The distresses of our brethren seem to be past remedy. To incorporate our felicity with that of a church, a considerable part of which has been so long bathed in tears, seems as irrational as the conduct of Jeremiah, who, just before the dissolution of Judea, purchased an estate in that devoted country, with the money which he wanted to alleviate his captivity in Babylon. Yet, "O Lord God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for thee? Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power, and by thy stretched-out arm. Thou art the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is thy name; great in counsel, and mighty in work," Numb. xvi. 22. 3. Finally, God turns the victories of Satan to the ruin of his empire. Here fix your attention upon the work of redemption, for the perfections of God, which we celebrate to-day, are more illustriously displayed in it than in any other of the Creator's wonders. It is, if I may be allowed to express myself so, the utmost effort of the concurrence of the greatness of his counsels with the abundance of his power. I resume this subject, not for the sake of filling up my plan, but because my text cannot be well explained without it. Those inspired writers, who lived under the Old Testament dispensation, always mixed something of the gospel redemption with the temporal deliverances which they foretold. One of the strongest reasons that they urged to convince the Jewish exiles that God would restore their country to them, was that their return was essential to the accomplishment of the promises relating to the Messiah. Jeremiah particularly uses this method in the verses which are connected with the text. Why does he exalt the greatness of God's counsel, and the abun dance of his power? Is it only because, as he expresses it," God would gather the Jews out of all countries whither he had driven them in his fury," Jer. xxxii. 37; so that “men should *This is the seventh sermon of the twelfth vol. and is entitled, Le Nouveaux Malheurs de d'Eglise. What a victory had Satan obtained, when the object of Israel's hopes was nailed to an accursed tree, and there ended a life, upon which seemed to depend the salvation of mankind! What a triumphant victory for Satan, when he had inspired the nation of the risen Redeemer to treat the report of his resurrection as an imposture, and to declare an everlasting war against him in the persons of all who durst declare in his favour! But, however, the more impracticable the redemption of mankind seemed, the more did God display the greatness of his counsel, and the abundance of his power, in effecting it; for he turned all the triumphs of Satan to the destruction of his dominion. The Branch was lodged in a stable, the king of the universe did lie in a manger; but a star in the heavens announced his birth, angels conducted worshippers to him from the most distant eastern countries, and joined their own adorations to those of the wise men, who offered to him their gold, their frankincense, and their myrrh. buy fields in the places about Jerusalem?" No, | one tribunal to another, and, in fine, conbut it is because he "would make an everlast- demned by his judges to die! ing covenant with them," Jer. xxxii. 40. It is because "at that time he would cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David," Jer. xxxiii. 15. Who is this branch? It is he of whom our prophet had before spoken in the twenty-third chapter of his prophecy, ver. 5. "Behold the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous branch." It is he of whom Isaiah said, "The branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious," Isa. iv. 2. It is he whom God promised by Zechariah, after the captivity, in order to convince the Jews that the promises concerning the branch had not been accomplished by their release: "Behold the man whose name is The Branch, he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord," Zech. vi. 12. It is he whom the Jews themselves have acknowledged for the Messiah. It is the holy seed who was promised to man after the fall, and who has been the object of the church's hope in all ages. It is eminently in behalf of this branch that God has displayed, as I said before, in all their grandeur, the abundance of his power, and the greatness of his counsel. I do not speak here of that counsel, which has been from all eternity, in the intelligence of God, touching the redemption of mankind. My capacity is absorbed, I own, in contemplating so grand an object, and to admire and to exclaim seem more suitable to our finite minds than to attempt to fathom such a prodigious depth; for where is the genius that can form adequate ideas of a subject so profound? A God, who, from all eternity, formed the plan of this universe: a God, who, from all eternity, foresaw whatever would result from its arrangement: a God, who, from all eternity, resolved to create mankind, although he knew from all eternity that they would fall into sin, and plunge themselves into everlasting miseries: but a God, who, foreseeing from all eternity the malady, from all eternity provided the remedy: a God, who, from everlasting determined to clothe his Son in mortal flesh, and to send him into the world: a God, who, according to the language of Scripture, slew, in his design from all eternity, the lamb Rev. xiii. 8. But, His attendants were only a few fishermen and publicans; but this served the more ef fectually to secure his doctrine from the most odious objections that could be opposed against it. The meaner the vessel appears, the more excellent seems the treasure contained in it: the weaker the instruments employed in building the church appear, the more evident will the ability of the builder be. These fishermen confounded philosophers; these publicans struck the Rabbins dumb; the winds and the waves were subject to their authority; and to their commands all the powers of nature were seen to bow. He was apprehended like a malefactor, and crucified; but upon the cross he bruised the serpent's head, while Satan vaunted of bruising his heel, Gen. iii. 15. Upon the cross "he spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it," Col. ii. 15. He was wrapped in burying clothes, laid on a bier, and, with all the mournful furniI repeat it again, my brethren, it better be-ture of death, deposited in a tomb; but by comes such feeble minds as ours to admire and this he conquered death, and disarmed him to exclaim, than to attempt to fathom. Let us of his sting, Cor. xv. 56. By this he furcontent ourselves with beholding in the execu- nished thee, Christian, with armour of proof tion of this divine plan, how the victories of against the attacks of the tyrant, who would Satan have subverted his empire. enslave thee, and whose formidable approaches have caused thee so many fears. What a victory for Satan, when that Redeemer, that king Messiah, whose advent had been announced with so much pomp and magnificence, appeared in a form so mean, and so inferior to the expectations which the prophecies had occasioned, and to the extraordinary work for which he came into the world, when he lodged in a stable, and lay in a manger! What a triumph for Satan, when Jesus had no attendants but a few forlorn fishermen, and a few publicans, as contemptible as their master! What a victory for Satan, when Jesus was apprehended as a malefactor, dragged from He was rejected by his own countrymen, even after he had risen victorious from the tomb, laden with the spoils of "the king of terrors," Job xviii. 15; but their rejection of him animated his apostles to shake off the dust from their feet against those execrable men, who, after they had murdered the Master, endeavoured to destroy the disciples, and put them upon lifting up the standard of the cross in every other part of the universe, and thus the heathen world was bound to his triumphal chariot, and the whole earth saw the accomplishment of those prophecies which had foretold that he should reign from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." How | ed them simply, will actually take the oppogreat the counsel! my dear brethren, how site side when ye propose the same questions mighty the work! "Ah, Lord God, there is no- relatively. But who then, ye will ask me, thing too hard for thee." Thou art, "the who are those men, who presumptuously think great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is of overcoming God by their superior knowthy name, great in counsel and mighty in ledge and power? work." Who? It is that soldier, who, with a brutal courage, defies danger, affronts death, resolutely marches amidst fires and flames, even though he has taken no care to have an interest in the Lord of hosts, or to commit his soul to his trust. Who? It is that statesman, who, despising the suggestions of evangelical prudence, pursues stratagems altogether worldly; who makes no scruple of committing what are called state-crimes; who with a disdainful air, affects to pity us, when we affirm, that the most advantageous service that a wise legislator can perform for society, is to render the Deity propitious to it; that the happiest nations are those "whose God is the Lord." Ps. xxxiii. 12. Who? It is that philosopher, who makes a Here we may pause, and very properly come to a conclusion of this discourse; for, though we proposed at first to consider "the greatness of God's counsel and the omnipotence of his working," in a practical light, after having examined them speculatively, yet, I think the examination of the subject in one point of light, is the explication of it in both. When we have proved that God is "great in counsel, and mighty in work," in my opinion, we have sufficiently shown, on the one hand, the extravagance of those madmen, who, in the language of the Wise Man, pretend to exercise "wisdom and understanding, and counsel, against the Lord," Prov. xxi. 20; and on the other, the wisdom of those, who, taking his laws for the only rules of their conver-parade of I know not what stoical firmness; sation, commit their peace, their lives, and their salvation, to the disposal of his Providence. Only let us take care, my dear brethren, (and with this single exhortation we conclude,) let us take care, that we do not flatter ourselves into an opinion that we possess this wisdom while we are destitute of it: and let us take care, while we exclaim against the extravagance of those madmen, of whom I just now spoke, that we do not imitate their dangerous examples. who conceits himself superior to all the vicissitudes of life; who boasts of his tranquil expectation of death, yea, who affects to desire its approach, for the sake of enjoying the pleasure of insulting his casuist, who has ventured to foretell that he will be terrified at it. Who? It is that voluptuary, who opposes to all our exhortations and threatenings, to the most affecting denunciations of calamities from God in this life, and to the most awful descriptions of judgment to come in the next, to all our representations of hell, of an eternity spent in the most execrable company, and in the most excruciating pain; who opposes to all these the buz of amusements, the hurry of company, gaming at home, or diversions abroad. Study all these characters, my brethren, lay aside the specious appearances that men use to conceal their turpitude from themselves, and ye will find that, to dare the Deity, to pretend by superior knowledge and strength to resist the wisdom and omnipotence of God, is not so rare a disposition as ye may at first have supposed. Let us abhor this disposition of mind, my brethren; let us entertain right notions of sin; let us consider him who commits it as a madman, who has taken it into his head that he has more knowledge than God, the fountain of intelligence, more strength than He, beneath whose power all the creatures of the universe are compelled to bow. When we are tempt But what is it possible to find, among beings who have the least spark of reason, an individual mad enough to suppose himself wiser than that God who is "great in counsel," or, is there one who dares resist a God, "mighty in working?" My brethren, one of the most difficult questions, that we meet with in the study of human nature, is, whether some actions in men's lives proceed from intentions in their minds. To affirm, or to deny, is equally difficult. On the one hand, we can hardly believe that an intelligent creature can revolve intentions in his mind directly opposite to intelligence, and the extravagance of which the least ray of intelligence seems sufficient to discover. On the other, we can hardly think it possible, that this creature should follow a course of life altogether founded on such an intention, if indeed he have it not in his mind. The truth is, a question of this kind may be either affirmed or denied according to the different lights in which it is considered. Put these questions to the mosted by sin, let us remember what sin is: let irregular of mankind: Dost thou pretend to each ask himself, What can I, a miserable oppose God? Hast thou the presumption to at- man, mean? Do I mean to provoke the Lord tempt to prevail over him by thy superiority to jealousy? Do I pretend to be stronger than of knowledge and power? Put these questions he? Can I resist his will? Shall I set briars simply apart from the conduct, and ye will and thorns against him in battle? "He will hardly meet with one who will not answer No. go through them, he will burn them together," But examine the conduct, not only of the 1 Cor. x. 22. Rom. ix. 19. Isa. xxvii. 5. Let most irregular men, but even of those who us seek those benefits in a communion with imagine that their behaviour is the most pru- the great God, of which our fanciful passions dent; penetrate those secret thoughts, which can only offer the shadows. Let us not prethey involve in darkness in order to conceal tend to deceive him by the subtilty of our the horror of them from themselves; and ye stratagems; but let us endeavour to please will soon discover that they, who answered so him by acknowledging our doubts, our darkpertinently to your questions when ye propos-ness, and our ignorance; the fluctuations of our minds about the government of the state, the management of our families, and above all, the salvation of our souls. Let us not appear in his presence boasting of our natural power; but let us present ourselves before him weak, trembling, and undone. By the greatness of his compassion let us plead with him to pity our meanness and misery. Let our supplies flow from the fountains of his wisdom and power; this is real wisdom; may God inspire us with it. This is substantial happiness; may God impart it to us. Amen. To him be honour and glory for ever. SERMON VI. THE HOLINESS OF GOD. LEVITICUS XIX. 1, 2. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak I ADDRESS to all the faithful, whom the devotion of this day has assembled in this sacred place, the command which Moses by the authority of God addressed to all the congregation of Israel. However venerable this assembly may be, to which I am this day called by Providence to preach, it cannot be more august than that to which the Jewish legislator formerly spoke. It was composed of more than eighteen hundred thousand persons. There were magistrates appointed to exercise justice, and to represent God upon earth. There were priests and Levites, consecrated to the worship of God, and chosen by him to signify his will to the church. There were various ranks and degrees of men proportional to so great a multitude of people. God had given particular laws before, which were adapted to their different ranks, and to their various circumstances. But this is a general law: a law which equally belongs to magistrates, priests, and Levites: a law which must be observed at all times, and in all places. This is the law of holiness; "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy." peculiar people, ye ought also to be a holy na tion, that ye may show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light," 1 Pet. ii. 9. Whatever prerogative Moses had above us, we have the same law to prescribe to you that he had to Israel; and the voice of Heaven says to us now, as it said once to him, "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." This discourse will have three parts. The term holiness is equivocal, and consequently, the command ye shall be holy, is so. We will endeavour to fix the sense of the term, and to give you a clear and distinct idea of the word holiness: this will be our first point. Holiness, which in our text is attributed to God, and prescribed to men, cannot belong to such different beings in the same sense, and in all respects. We will therefore examine in what sense it belongs to God, and in what sense it belongs to men; and we will endeavour to explain in what respects God is holy, and in what respects men ought to be holy: this will be our second part. Although the holiness that is attributed to God, differs in many respects from that which is prescribed to men, yet the first is the ground of the last. The connexion of these must be developed, and the motive enforced, "ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy:" this shall be our third part. And this is the substance of all that we intend to propose. I. The term holiness is equivocal, and consequently, the command, ye shall be holy, is so.. Let us endeavour to affix a determinate sense to the term, and to give you a clear and distinct idea of the meaning of the word holiness. The original term is one of the most vague words in the Hebrew language. In general, it signifies to prepare, to set apart, to devote. The nature of the subject to which it is applied, and not the force of the term, must direct us to determine its meaning in passages where it occurs. An appointment to offices the most noble, and the most worthy of intelligent beings, and an appointment to offices the most mean and infamous, are alike expressed by this word. The profession of the most august office of the high priesthood, and the abominable profession of a prostitute, are both called holiness in this vague sense. I repeat it again, my brethren, I address to all the faithful, whom the devotion of this day The poorest languages are those in which has assembled in this sacred place, the same words are the most equivocal, and this is the precept that God commanded Moses to address character of the Hebrew language. I cannot to all the congregation of Israel. The law of think with some, that it is the most ancient holiness, which I preach to-day, commands language in the world; the contrary opinion, I you, our supreme governors. Arbiters of your think, is supported by very sufficient evidence. own laws, ye see no mortal upon earth to whom However, it must be granted, that it has one ye are accountable for your conduct, but there grand character of antiquity, that is, its imis a God in heaven whose creatures and sub-perfection. It seems to have been invented in jects ye are, and who commands you to be holy. The law of holiness commands you, priests and Levites of the New Testament. The sacred character, with which ye are invested, far from dispensing with your obligation to holiness, enforceth it on you in a more particular manner. This law commands you all, my dear hearers, of what order, of what profession, of what rank soever ye be. "If ye be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a the first ages of the world, when mankind could express their ideas but imperfectly, and before they had time to render language determinate, by affixing arbitrary names to the objects of their ideas.* This remark may at first appear useless, par which have distinct imports were differently pronounces by the people; as Sheol, which signifies both Saul and the grave. J. S. It is granted by the Rabbins, that the Hebrew words |