>'•*.- i^ ^ o^ s:^ .^:^ 5::^. ^2^ .IT PRINCETON, N. J. SAMUEL AONEAV, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. 1 ^^' .^Z:-/«.2f^^05 of ten tribes, down to the final subjection of the resickie to the Roman yoke; an event, which, by a judicial chain of providence, rapidly brought on the melancholy catastrophe, which ended in the ruin of their city and temple, and marked that awful sera, in which they ceased to be a peo- ple. " How unsearchable are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out !" Rom. xi. 33. Admitting that there is a God, who created and now governeth the universal frame of na- ture, a truth, as we have seen, founded upon the most incontestable evidence both of his word and works — it follows of course, that He can never be at a loss for expedients to assert his sovereignty, and vindicate his injured laws. As the heavens and the earth are his property, he can, with as much equity as ease, summon either or both to act in his controversy with a guilty world. His own creation will, at all times, fur- nish him with ample materials for conducting his judicial dispensations; insomuch, that every creature might be armed against us, and every element be made the vehicle of destruction ; or the divine appointment might make the very food we eat, or the air we breathe, the channels to convey instantaneous death. But our busi- ness is not now to consider these ordinary inci- dents, by which " the King of terrors" is con- tinually peopling the regions of the dead, and 206 AN ALARMING VIEW OF to which the constitution of our frame is sub- ject ; but rather those awful instruments of divine visitation, which arc scourges of the Almighty to a guilty world. And one of the most fatal of these, is 1. War. This, howsoever necessary and in- evitable it may often be, is always to be es- teemed a great evil; if we advert, either to its origination or its effects; and nothing can jus- tify its exertions, but the laws of self-preserva- tion. The sin of man first gave it an existence; and the same bitter cause continues it to this day. " From whence come wars and fightings among you ? come they not hence, even from your lusts?" James, iv. 1. Tyrannical passions predominating in the mind, give birth to those sanguinary schemes, which, when pursued, pro- duce every species of confusion and death. If we examine carefully, from whence all those scenes of devastation have arisen, that have de- luged the world with blood, we shall find, that, in general, they have sprung from unbounded ambition, avarice, pride, or resentment. And multitudes of tyrants, as well as factious confe- derates in usurpation and rebellion, have never been able, in thousands of cases, to assign any other reason for their enterprises in blood and slaughter, but this ; that the one could not bear an equal, nor the other a superior; or those had GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 207 too little, and these not enough. While, to fo- ment the dreadful quarrel, the lust of revenge and rebellion operates like oil poured on the flame. Thus nations begin and carry on war, until they are tired of worrying and killing one another; and when the consequences of this horrid work are weighed in the balance of hu- manity and reason, many a conqueror may sit down and weep over his victories, when he reflects that they have been purchased at the expense of the blood of thousands of his fellow- creatures. And he who could contemplate such victories with pride or pleasure, unmixed with remorse and compassion for the sorrow, the ruin, the desolation they have caused, is a des- perate character, that, one would hope, can meet with a parallel, only in " Macedonia's madman and the Swede." What desolations have been made in the earth by war, the history of former and latter ages informs us ; and, God knoweth, 'we need no comment on the awful truth. What we want principally, is to be humbled under the visita- tion; to " hear the rod, and Him that appointed it." For, we are sure the matter is not fortuir tons. If the sword be drawn, it is because God hath said, " Sword go through this land." Or, if it continue unsheathed, it is because he hath 208 -"^N ALARMING VIEW OF said also, " O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet ? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. How^ can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge ?" Jer. xlvii. 6, 7. Or, if wide-extended destruc- tion mark its progress, it is because, " Thus saith the Lord, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished; it is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; should we then make mirth? The sword is sharpened, to give it into the hand of the slayer. /Jehovah have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their hearts may faint, and their ruins be multiplied^ Ezek. xxi. 9—11, 15. These awful passages intimate, that it is an act of justice in God, to appoint that evil, into which men's inordinate passions precipitate them : and it may turn out an act of mercy too, if they see their sin in their punishment, and get sick of both. Otherwise additional expe- dients may be adopted, and increasing judg- ments be sent. For, the Lord hath at his com- mand the 2. Pestilence. When David, for his sin in numbering the people of Israel, had proposed to him his choice of three modes of punishment, and he preferred falling into the hand of the Lord, for very great were his mercies, and not into the hand of man, whose tender mercies, GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 209 often, are cruel ; '' the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men." 1 Chron. xxi, 12 — 14. This sore visitation, which sin brought upon David and his people, was often repeated among the other judgments which desolated Israel. See Lev. xxvi. 25. Psal. Ixxviii. 50. Jer. xliv. 13. It is mentioned as one of the ominous antece- dents of the day of judgment, that " there shall be pestilence in divers places." Mat. xxiv. 7. And in that inimitable piece of subHme descrip- tion in Habak. iii. where all nature is repre- sented as convulsed and shrinking to nothing, under impressions of the indignation and gran- deur of God, " before him," it is said, " went the pestilence r verse 5. Because of the secret manner in which this fearful visitant performs his work, the Psalmist saith, " the pestilence walketh in darkness." Psal. xci. 6. He enters silently and secretly as the thief, and impercepti- bly yet rapidly executes his commission. There is often no security against its approach, since the air we breathe wafts the deadly contagion to all the senses, which, in a moment, convey them to, and, in conveying, contaminate the whole mass of blood. Thousands imbibe the poison, and fall in agonies under the stroke. The bolted door is no barrier against its intru- sion ; the power of medicine no antidote to the glO AN ALARMING VIEW OF noisome malady. Thousands and tens of thou- sands fall on the right hand and on the left; and it has been known that this sweeping scourge has often swelled the bills of mortality more in a few weeks, than the whole train of common diseases have in as many years. Never do death's arrows fly so thick or so envenomed, as when he fills his quiver with the plague ; and never is the grave so crowded with dead, as when the pestilence waiteth at its gates. Though the land before it should resemble the garden of Eden, yet behind it the scene will be like a de- solate wilderness. And were it not for that hand, which guides its progress, and limits its commission, nothing but rapid desolation and destruction would ensue ; especially if we con- sider, that there follows close at his heels, 3. Famine. As bread is the staff of life, if the prop be removed, the constitution must necessarily fall. The vitals deprived of their wonted nutriment, must languish and die, under one of the most painf.il and insatiate sensations of nature. As famine is an evil in effect, the causes which produce it may be various. The spread of war, the want, or excess of rain, parch- ing or vitiating the fruits of the earth, great in- undations, blasting and mildew, long sieges, intense heat, a long frost or multitudes of de- vouring insects, locusts in particular, called by GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 21] one of the prophets, " God's army," may, and often have, in their turns, introduced the plague of famine. But who can describe, or bear a description of such scenes as those which mark the effects of tliis pale visitant ! when, as in Samaria's siege, those things which the stomach would nauseate the very mention of, in a time of plenty, are coveted as food, when the un- happy sufferers have been driven to the horrid necessity of turning cannibals, and casting lots for each others' persons, till at last a want of every resource brings death, and closes the ghastly scene. A visitation this, one would think, sufficient to alarm and reform a careless people; and yet it is recorded, as an astonishing- instance of stupidity and hardness of heart in Israel, that when God " gave them cleanness of teeth in all their cities, and want of bread in all their places, they returned not" unto him that smote them. Amos, iv. 6. So that divine jus- tice was obliged to repeat the stroke, by that, which is of all others the most tremendous visi- tation of Jehovah, the 4. Earthquake. Of all judicial dispensa- tions, that which appoints the earthquake, is the most terribly vindictive ; when the earth, thrown into dreadful concussions, cracks and opens like the gaping grave, or heaves and swells like the agitated ocean. Even the sword, 212 AN ALARMING VIEW OF the pestilence, and the famine, are mild in their effects, and slow in their progress, when com- pared with the earthquake. It often gives no warning, but overwhelms in a moment. Its subterraneous motions tear the bowels of the earth, and make its solid pillars bend, like a reed shaken with the wind ; while the sound of thun- der from beneath, and the crash of falling struc- tures from above, are often heard at the same in- stant. A few minutes put a period to the works of ages ; to wisdom's archives ; to all the boasted monuments of conquest and of fame ; to all the pageantry of the great, and all the hoarded riches of the wealthy; to all the illicit plea- sures of the licentious, and all the busy schemes of the proud or factious contending for sway. The loftiest towers, the strongest rocks, afford no hiding-place from its fury, but often increase the ruin. Nor is there any security in flight : since in the open field or spacious plain, a yawn- ing gulf may open and devour multitudes in an instant, or jam them between the closing earth. " Tremendous issue ! to the sable deep, Thousands descend in business, or asleep." To the desolations which this messenger of Almighty vengeance has spread through the earth, let Lima, Callao, Catania, Jamaica, Lis- GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 213 bon, bear witness. In the last place, soon after the dreadful visitation which, in 17^')^'), disturbed the procession of the cursed Juto de fe, and shook the foundations of that bloody tribunal, which Popish barbarity and superstition had set up ; the king of Portugal represented his dis- tresses to the king of Spain in a letter, in which was the following affecting passage : — " I am without a house, living in a tent; without sub- jects, without servants, without money, and without bread." How humiliating the stroke, which reduces royalty to the dust, or brings all the dignity of crowned heads to a level with the common beggar ! Such, but accompanied with circumstances infinitely more terrible and abasing, will that final catastrophe be, when " the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth ; when it shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again ;" Isa. xxiv. 20; when " the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves 'of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." Isa. ii. 17, 19- The quiver of Jehovah is not yet exhausted, though we take into our account the ravages of J214 AN ALARMING VIEW OF war, the desolation of famine, the fatal eifects of the noisome pestilence, or the overwhelm- ing fury of the earthquake. When he " opens his armoury, he can hring forth" innumerable *' weapons of his indignation." Jer. 1. 25. He can execute his tremendous purposes by " fire and hail, snow and vapor." Psal. cxlviii. 8, or " fulfil his word" of threatening and promise, by 5. Storms and Tempests. These are nothing- more than the violent and unnatural agitation of that circumambient air, in which we live and breathe; and which might at any time be excited to such a degree of fearful perturbation, as to discharge some of the most dreadful artil- lery of heaven. What secret laws produce these phenomena are only known to that God, whose *' way is in the whirlwind and in the storm, who maketh the clouds the dust of his feet, and holdeth the winds in the hollow of his hand." For their dreadful effects we have no occasion to look very far back. The close of the last year exhibited a scene of desolation in the wes- tern islands, which their inhabitants can never forget ; and in reviewing which, we ought to be actuated with sentiments of the tenderest commiseration and benevolence towards the unhappy sufferers, as well as with impressions full of reverential awe of that God, who sends his judgments through the earth, that the in- GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 215 habitants thereof might learn righteousness. A few outlines of the devastation occasioned by the late hurricanes, will, it is presumed, convince us of this. — After the storm began, which had been preceded by weather remarkably calm, but by a sky surprisingly red and fiery ; the wind was so impetuous as to bear down every object that stood in its way, with a sud- den breaking in of the sea, in some places, which swept every thing away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of man, beast, or house, behind;* and all this scene of horror and desolation heightened by repeated shocks of an earthquake. In one island,! we have been informed, that not ten houses survived the fury of the storm. Whole families were buried in the ruins of their habitations ; and many, in attempting to escape, were maimed, and disabled. A general convulsion of nature seemed to take place, and universal destruction ensued. On the one hand, might be seen the ground covered with mangkd bodies; and on tlie other, reputable families wandering through the ruins, seeking for food and shelter. Every building and plantation was levelled with the ground; trees were torn up by the roots, or Savai\nah-la-mar. + Barbadoes. 216 AN ALARMING VIEW OF stripped of their branches ; and the most luxu- riant spring was changed, in one night, to the dreariest winter. In vain was it to look for shelter, when all was a general wreck before the sweeping tempest. Many fell victims to the violence of the winds ; and great numbers were driven into the sea and there perished, to the amount of some thousands. Alarming con- sequences were dreaded from the multitudes of dead bodies which lay uninterred : while, to complete the dismal scene, inevitable famine seemed to stare the miserable survivors in the face. This description includes the calamities of a single island ; and, when to these we add, what other islands belonging to us and our enemies suffered by a similar visitation, how accumulated must the loss be of property and of lives ! And who can help, in a reflection upon such events, crying out, " Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord ! who among the sons of the mighty can be likened imto Jehovah ! Thou hast a mighty arm ; strong- is thy hand, and high is thy right hand ; jus- tice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Psal. Ixxxix. 6, 13, 14. I presume not to decide on the particular da- signs or intentions of Providence, in selecting some parts of the earth for a manifestation of his power, while others remain untouched; GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 217 much less do the scriptures warrant us to con- clude, that exemplary sufferers are necessarily " sinners above'' the rest of the world. A hasty conclusion of this nature would reflect highly on our candor and humility, and involve in it too, a bold usurpation of the prerogative of God, to explore and distinguish the grounds of his own dispensations. And, indeed, the late visitation was so indiscriminate, as to leave us no room to draw inferences, either flattering to ourselves, or insulting to our enemies. And, perhaps, the impartiality and severity, which have marked these recent calamities, in their application, might serve to prove, that powers exhausting blood and treasure in a contest for the empty names of power and sway, are both wrong ; when Jehovah seems to take up the controversy, and to punish both. One thing we cannot help seeing; which is, that if the Most High God were to exercise his power, as he is able, or, as we deserve, the necessity of waging or carrying on war would be very soon superseded ; for there would exist no belligerent powers to do either the one or the other. We talk of our fleets and armies, and record with triumph the mighty achievements of our he- roes ; but, behold ! the Almighty accomplishes in a few hours, what the armies of the earth are not able to effect in numerous campaigns ! 218 AN ALARMING VIEW OF We may, however, safely conclude in general, that if " there be evil in a city, the Lord hath done it," as the scriptures peremptorily affirm. That is, if any part of the earth is visited with evils or calamities, the agency of God, either permissive or decretive, is to be acknowledged in them. We may with equal safety infer, too, that all the judgments originate from, and im- ply the existence of, sin ; since it would be an impeachment of his justice, to suppose, that he would suffer the elements to conspire to man's ruin, if there were nothing in human nature to provoke his wrath. But this leads me to consider II. In what light, and with what temper, we ought to contemplate such portentous dealings. If we consider the works themselves, they should teach us the great evil of sin ; if we reflect on the great author of them, they should impress us with a reverential awe of his tre- mendous majesty, and a dread of his wrath • or, if we have any just idea of our own character as sinners and mortals, they should preach to our hearts the necessity of seeking the great means of conciliating the divine favor, that we may be prepared for those contingencies, which render our existence upon earth so very preca- rious, and proclaim the folly of those who seek terrestrial good to the fatal injury of their ever- GODS DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 219 lasting interests. If we are Christians, we should contemplate the works of Jehovah, with confi- dence and joy ; and, standing at a distance equally from presumption and unhelief, should rejoice with trembhng that the great Ruler of the Universe is our Father and our God ; while we feel ourselves encompassed with the most forcible motives to love his name and obey his will. But if, instead of living as Christians, any of us should be sunk in ignorance, dissi- pated by pleasure, supine in carelessness, and immersed in sin ; we should awake from the fatal lethargy, and fly from the wrath to come, ere death overtake us, and judgment fix our miserable and eternal doom. 1. The desolating works of God are intended to display the heinous nature of shi. All the evils which oversj^read the natural and moral world spring from this source. Sin is the great parent- evil, to which, as to a bitter and com- mon fountain, may be traced every corruption that has depraved the heart, every malady that has invaded the human frame, and every judg- ment that has rent the earth. All the disorder of jarring elements, all the commotions in con- tending nations, all the convulsions that shake the globe, and all the dispensations that sweep away its inhabitants, imply its existence, and publish its malignity. The sin of man " is 220 AN ALARMING VIEW OF written as with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, on the tables of the heart," and stands engraven, in capital characters, upon his words and actions ; while all the dispensations of God, directed to the great end of obliterating the writing, shew how enormous that evil must be, which requires the exertions of omnipotence either to punish or reform. Come, ye, who think or speak lightly of sin, and see what desolations it hath occasioned in the earth. Look at the ruins of mighty cities, the depo- pulation of flourishing states, and the fall of great empires, and then say, whether it be a small thing to sin against God. View the first rebellious pair expelled their earthly Paradise; their sinful progeny swept away with a flood ; the earth cursed for the sin of man ; and all the generations that are past buried in the promis- cuous ruin of the grave; and entertain, if you can, low thoughts of the evil, that has produced these dire effects. Or, if this complex scene of misery and desolation does not sufficiently dis- play sin's enormity ; examine death's quiver, review the envenomed shafts that fill it ; count over the formidable names of war, pestilence, earthquake, famine, tempest, fire, with the nu- merous train of bodily and mental disorders ; and then if you ask, what has gi\en such strength to the arm of the King of terrors. GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 22 1 and such execution to the deadly arrows upon the string of this insatiate archer ? an apostle informs you, that " the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law ; 1 Cor. xv. 66; that by one man sin entered into the world, and DEATH bi/ sin, and so death passeth upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. But, should this representation not answer the end of convincing some of you, that sin is an abomination of such enormity, give me leave to ask, " Wherefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure?" Isa. v, 14. What kindled the flames of Tophet ? what awakened the wrath of God ? or what exposed his Son to the bitter agonies of the cross? In each dreadful view, sin is the instrumental cause. The sufferings of Jesus, the torments of the damned, proclaim its God-provoking nature. Go then, sinner, and after you have in thought traversed the globe, and seen its desolations; after you have dropped a tear over the monu- ments of the dead, and looked with horror into the chambers of the grave ; go, and visit Cal- vary. See who hangs there in agonies and shame. What means this afl^'ecting scene? Wherefore is the sun darkened, and why are the rocks rent ? Why does the immaculate Jesus thus suffer and die, while nature feels the shock, and sympathizes with strong goiji- 222 AN ALARMING VIEW OF VLilsions ? S'm, thy sin is at the bottom of this trao-ic scene. This was tlie bitter ino-redient in the Redeemer's cup, the dregs of which he drank off in our stead. This was the intolerable burden which he bore for us; and which in the bearing* sunk him to the grave. Say then, must not that be a great evil, which is the cause of such calamities to man, and of such incompre- hensible sufferings to the " Son of man?" But do we see this ? and are we affected at the sight ? We are assembled together for the purpose of humbling ourselves before Almighty God, on account of " our manifold sins and/j/'o- 'oocationsS'' Do the feelings of our hearts cor- respond with the profession of our lips ? Do we mean what we say ? Is it not to be feared, that many content themselves with a repetition of a devotional form, adapted to the present occa- sion, without ever entering into the spirit of it? and hereby add to that immense load of inconsistency and guilt, which similar conduct has been increasing for numbers of years? And does not melancholy matter of fact demonstrate, that we are guilty of no breach of truth or charity, when we assert, that multitudes mock Jehovah to his face, by loving and living in the secret practice of those very sins, which, on this day, they condemn with their lips? We profess to regret the continuance of war, and GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 223 to lament the expense of blood and treasure incurred by it. But, if our eyes are shut to the real cause of the evil, the visitation may be lengthened out, until we are at last forced to read our sin in our punishment. For, what- ever some may think, war is a grievous scourge of the Almighty, permitted as a chastisement for crying sins, and a loud call to the nations of the earth to repent and turn to God. Hear what the Lord saith by the prophets. " Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart : therefore destruction upon destruction is cried." Jer. iv. 18, 20. " Because they have cast away the laxv of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel ; therefore the anger of the Lord is kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them : and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched OUT STILL." Isa. v. 25. And, in that long list of threatenings recorded in Lev. xxvi. among other denunciations, is the following: — " If ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary to you, and will punish you yet sereti 224 AN ALARMING VIEW OF ti7nes for your sins ; and I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant." Verse 23, 25. Would to God there were no occasion to apply the following charge to ourselves ! " Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but they have re- fused to receive correction ; they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have re- fused to return." Jer. v. 3. Whether this scripture is not fulfilled in this day, let facts declare. We have been for some years involved in all the horrors of war. The desolations of it are continually upon the increase. Our ene- mies are multiplied ; and with them our dan- gers too. Four great powers are uniting their force against us ; and we have not one single ally in Europe, that we can call our own. The conjuncture of our affairs is more and more cri- tical ; especially if we consider, that an intes- tine faction still secretly works in the bosom of the state, and labors hard to kindle and keep alive the expiring flame of discord and rebellion. Add to this, that, through the last year, the metropolis of the kingdom was just upon the point of destruction ; and with it the wealth and power of the nation. These are loud calls ; alarming visitations. The rod hath spoken again and again ; yet how few hear its voice, GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 225 or fear him that appointed it ! The rich and poor amongst us go on as usual. Iniquity stalks with brazen front through our streets ; and error, in ten thousand forms, vents its unsoft- ened blasphemies against God and his Messiah. Places of amusement are crowded ; and the whirl of dissipation goes on, as if there were nothing to solemnize us, or make us think. Multitudes of our gentry are laughing, at the play-house, or pursuing a more childish farce at the masquerade, while their poor country- men are groaning in the field of battle, and, at the expense of their blood and lives, are fighting for that which is to keep others in ease and idleness. Thus, while the deepest tragedy is exhibited beyond the Atlantic, on this side the water we are carrying on the grossest farce. Youth are educated in igno- rance, or trained up in fashionable vice ; by which they fall an easy prey to the first bold invader of their morals and their virtue. Dress, visiting, and various species of dissipation, leave no time for the serious calls of religion ; and a knowledge of the truths of revelation forms, in the system of many, no part of modern educa- tion. Frothy and lascivious novels occupy the place of God's word ; and there is no book so little read or understood, as the Book of books. The aged lead the way in folly and vanity ; and Q 226 AN ALARMING VIEW OF endeavour to initiate their tender offspring, as early as possible, in those " pomps and vanities of a wicked world," which both promised to renounce. Thus grey hairs give a sanction to evils, which youth want a curb in the pursuit of And thus many a child has to curse its parent for an initiation into the pride of life and lusts of the flesh, by which his disgrace and ruin have been led on by a sort of neces- sary gradation. An introduction to the world, that is, to its nonsense, vanity, and dissipation — is deemed, with many, an essential in good- breeding. And, with many, to keep good com- pany, is not to associate with those who fear God, but with those, who are distinguished by no other excellence but the possession of a title or a fortune. These accidental acquisitions are often complimented with the appellation of good; though all beside should be nothing but a com- pound of wretchedness and vice. Thus no dis- tinction is made between men and their acci- dents ; and adulation frequently offered at the shrine of debauchery and pride. And thus men confound the names of good and evil ; put dark- ness for light, and light for darkness. And can it be said that God's desolations have taught us the evil of sin? No. While vice maintains its wonted vigor, pleasure at- tracts its votaries as usual, and profaneness rears GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 227 its triumphant crest without control or shame, it can never be said, that we are advancing ih reformation. Rather, as our visitations have increased, the stupefaction of sinners has in- creased with them. The storms, which should rouse, have eventually rocked them to rest Even the deaf adder is quick of hearing, when compared with numbers, who neglect or refuse to hear that " Charmer," whose voice, in his promises, is sweeter and more harmonious than all the choristers of heaven ; and, in his threat- enings, more tremendous than the roaring of the seas, and all the artillery of conflicting elements. Which leads me to observe, that, 2. God's desolations in the earth should im- press us with a reverential awe of his majesty and a dread of his wrath ; should make us see his hand and acknowledge his interposition in every event. As it is the part of bad divinity to make as little as possible of the Lord Jesus Christ, so it is the province of bad philosophy to leave God out of its favorite systems. In the latter case recourse is had to the doctrine of second causes, and to what are called the laws of nature. * Upon this principle, vain man would attempt to account for every thing, ^nd to exclude all mystery from the natural and spiritual world ; although, in both respects, the phenomena exhibited evince 223 AN ALARMING VIEW OF the vanity and danger of the effort, and prove that, " as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts." But, still proud man cannot bear that his reason should be con- founded, or his understanding limited ; and sooner than confess his ignorance, will explore depths, which angels cannot fathom, and soar so high into the regions of speculation, as to drop into materialism, and lose sight of his God. Thus it appears, that from pride springs every atheistical hypothesis, that produces a con- tempt of God and a denial of his sovereign interposition; but that the very first step in that heavenly science, which revelation styles " the wisdom from above," is humility, which makes a man submit to be taught by his Maker, and not dispute away the existence of what he cannot comprehend. The system of nature, it is allowed, is a chain of second causes, concatenated in such a man- ner, as to make one link depend upon another by a necessary coherence. But second causes must have a first, and laws must originate in some law-giver. So that, admitting that na- ture is regulated by certain laws interwoven with its existence and constitution, still the contrivance and execution of the wonderous plan force us to acknowledge, that an infinite GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 229 mind must liave tied together at first every link in the golden chain ; and that what heathenism called the an'ima mundi, is in reality the all-per- vading, all-supporting, and all-comprehending presence and power of Deity. But what shall we say, when the laws of nature suffer a temporary infringement ? When the regularity of her course is diverted, and broken in upon ? Do the convulsions of the earth, and the rage of elements, form any part of her laws, or any link in the concatenation of her parts ? Was it by any inherent law, that the ocean once burst its barriers and overspread the earth ? that the ground opened and swallowed Korah and his sacrilegious associates? that Sinai's base shook, while its summit was enveloped with " black- ness, and darkness, and tempest?" that the sun was eclipsed without any interveiiing sphere, and the rocks were rent, when Jesus expired on the cross ? Or upon what principle will philosophy account for that final conflagration, which shall, in the destined period, burn up the earth and the works that are therein ? when " The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great Globe itself • Shall dissolve ; and, like the baseless fabric Of a vision, leave not a wreck behind !" Are these nature's laws ? No ; they are the disruption of them — the rending, not the order 230 ^^ ALARMING VIEW OF of the system. Who breaks in upon this har- mony? The God of nature. The Creator is the dissolver of the world. He who spoke it from chaos into hght and arrangement, speaks it into ruin. And those who insinuate, that " all things continue as they were from the beginning of the world," an inspired apostle calls, " scoffers, who walk after their own lusts. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water ; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But, the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word, kept in store, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment." 2 Pet. iii. 4, 7. As, therefore, there is a Supreme Being, that made and now supporteth the world, so there is a God that judgeth the earth. And as the world could not have existed in the beginning without his fiat, so neither can the course of nature be disturbed without his interposition. And they who are so ready upon every occa- sion to ascribe to second causes merely, what must be the effect of the great First Cause, indirectly strike at the existence of si7i, and the being of God. Leaving, therefore, the vain philosopher and cavilling sceptic to speculate about the natural causes of earthquakes, tem- pests, pestilences, famine, sword; come, behold GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 231 the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth. For thus saith Jeliovah, ** I form light, and create darkness : I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.''' Isa. xlv. 7- If the earth be convulsed, Jehovah shakes it. If the sword rages. He " gives it its charge." If the tempest lours, and the heavens are clothed with black, He guides the storm, and rides upon the wings of the wind. If the artillery of the skies send out their voice, and shoot their arrows, it is He, who maketh the thunder and darts the lightening. If Jerusalem is to be buried in ruins, it is because He saith, " This is the city to be visited." Jer. vi. 6. Let all the earth stand in awe of Him, and all its inhabitants revere his majesty and dread his indignation. " He measured the waters in the hollow of his hand ; he meted out hea- ven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." Isa. xl. 12, 15, 17. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning ^32 AN ALARINIING VIEW OF with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy ; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire." Isa. xxx. 27. If he whet his glittering sword, and his hand take hold on judgment, he will render vengeance to his ene- mies, and will reward them that hate him." Deut. xxxii. 41. " Fear ye not me ? saith the Lord. Will ye not tremble at my pre- sence r" Jer. v. 22. " Who can stand before his indignation ? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger ? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence, yea the world, and all that dwell therein." Nah. i. 5, 6. " He frowns, and darkness veils the moon, The fainting sun grows dim at noon ; The pillars of heav'n's starry roof Tremble and start at his reproof!" These sublime passages taken from the in- spired writings, and descriptive of the wisdom, majesty, grandeur, and indignation of God, are written, that we might form a due estimate of the littleness and impotence of that reptile man, when contending with Omnipotence? and learn from the desolations of the earth, to tremble at his presence. But where are the people that GODS DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 233 have learned this lesson? If a veneration for the institutions of Heaven, a delight in the ways of God, a reverent mention of his sacred name, a conscientious observation of the Sabbath, and a hatred of sin, be characteristics of God's pecu- liar people, I fear the number Mill be found very small, when compared with the bulk of the profane. And here I cannot paint in stronger colors the prevalence of immorality in the present day, than by adopting the words of good Bishop Sherlock, in his description of the predominant wickedness of his own times. In a sermon delivered at Salisbury, the good bishop says, " Surely the Gospel of Jesus Christ was never treated with greater malice and contempt by Jews or Heathens, than it has been in this Chris- tian country. — Is not Sunday become a day of diversion to great ones, and a day of idleness to little ones ? And has not this been followed by a great increase of great wickedness among the lower sort of people?" And, when speaking of the licentiousness of that period, which suc- ceeded the Restoration, and opened flood-gates of iniquity, which have continued through si- milar channels ever since ; he says, " The sense of religion decayed, and the very appearances of it were suspected as a remnant of hypocrisy. And, if we may judge by iho, performcDiccs of (he stagey which are formed to the taste of the peo- 254 A^ ALARMING VIEW OF pie, there never was a time when lewdness, i?T€- ligion, and profane7iess, were heard with more patience." No wonder that, from a contempt of the gospel, and a love of dissipation, should spring what the good Bishop asserts in his Pas- toral Letter, p. 7, " Blasphemy and horrid im- precations domineer in our streets; and poor wretches are every hour wantonly and wickedly calling for damnation on themselves and others, which may be, it is to be feared, too near them already. Add to this, the lewdness and de- bauchery that prevail among the lowest peo- ple ; which keep them idle, poor, and miserable, and the number of lewd houses which trade in their vices, and must be paid for making sin convenient to them ; and it will account for villanies of other kinds. For where is the wonder, that persons so abandoned should be ready to commit all sorts of outrage and vio- lence. A CITY WITHOUT RELIGION CAN NEVER BE A SAFE PLACE TO DWELL IN."* Thus the excellent prelate, like a faithful watchman, lifted up his voice like a trumpet, and dared to speak out. And should not the ministers of the present day copy the example? The lion hath roared, who will not fear ? The See Whiston's Memoirs, pages 94 — 96. GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 235 Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? O ye ambassadors of Christ, " cry aloud and spare not," that sinners may take the alarm, and fly from impending judgments and immi- nent destruction, to that way of salvation re- vealed in the gospel. And this suggestion points to another improvement to be derived from a view of God's desolating dispensations ; namely, 3. The necessity and importance of an inte- rest in the blessed Jesus, as the great antidote against every calamity, and the glorious security against sin and its consequences. Of all the symptoms of false security, which mark the complexion of the present day, there is none more truly alarming, than the supine indifference about truth, and the sovereign con- tempt of the gospel, which prevailamongst us. Our times are distinguished by much free think- ing ; and I wish there was no cause to add, by much free blaspheming too. I mean not here to insinuate any thing derogatory from that liberty which every rational being indisputably claims of thinking, and judging for himself, in the investigation of truth ; provided always that he make the scriptures the ground arid guide of his researches. Freedom of inquiry has ever proved friendly to the cause of truth, and ini- mical to that of ignorance and superstition. 236 AN ALARMING VIEW OF But, when this hberty is abused, as penal shackles are taken off, it looks as if men only wanted an easy opportunity of setting up for system-makers, to drav/ after them a gaping multitude, and make them stare at these pro- digies in theology, who profess to suit their tenets to the taste of all. Hence, some make liturgies, and omit all divine homage to Him, whom the scriptures command us " to honor even as we honor the Father." This appears a bright discovery to others, who immediately take the hint, and frame a manual upon a broader plan ; in which the name of Jesus Christ is not so much as mentioned. A com- pliment this to the Deists, who are very much enraged at the idea of making a crucified man the centre of any system, or the object of any divine honors. But a third, still more hugely catholic, steps forw^ard, and proposes a more enlarged plan, in which Jews, Turks, and the worshippers of Jupiter Ammon, may be blended together in one common brotherhood with be- lievers in Jesus Christ; and a way to happiness be secured for Julian the Apostate, as well as Paul the Apostle. This is free-thinking with a witness. But, would such persons think as closely and calmly, as they think freely, the desolating judgments of God might teach them, that the Jewish nation could not practise idol- GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 237 atry without sufFering- severely for it; and that rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his gospel, were the aggravated sins that reduced their city and temple to ashes, and themselves to the abject state of vagabonds on the earth. If there be any one truth, which appears more prominent than all the rest in the sacred scriptures, it is, that " other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ ;" — that he is our " wisdom, righteousness, sanc- tification, and redemption ;" — that " there is none other name under heaven whereby we can be saved ;" — that he is " set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood;" — that he " offered himself a sacrifice to God, and died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;" — that not our works, but his work-, is to be the ground of our acceptance, since " we are ac- cepted in the beloved ;" and that, to stamp sufficiency on his glorious salvation, " in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And yet how little do these truths enter into popular systems ! Is there any question that would appear more difiicult to many professors of Christianity to be solved, than, " What think ye of Christ ?" But while the infidel sports with truth, aiid the careless contemn its admo- nitions, O let us ofive dilii^ence to make our calling and election sure. Let us fly to him, 238 AN ALARMING VIEW OF to whom all the nations of the earth are com- manded to look and be saved. Would we be secure from the guilt of sin, or armed against the sting of death, let us betake ourselves to him, who bore the one and conquered the other, by dying himself. Would we be prepared for whatever afflictions may befall us as individuals, or judgments overtake us as a nation ; let us but build our hope upon the rock of ages, and then all shall work for good. If Christ be ours, then whether wrath is revealed or judg- ments impend, we shall have a secure shelter in his blood and righteousness. The earth may be removed, and the mountains cast into the midst of the sea ; yet, in the midst of nature's wreck, we shall sing, " The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge." 4. We should view even the desolations of the earth as an accessory ground of joy and confidence in God. When Martin Luther and his associates in reformation were in any trou- ble, he used often to say, " Come let us sing the 46th Psalm." With the words of this sweet composition in his mouth, and the energetic power of it in his heart, he animated himself and his companions in tribulation. When any storms arose within, the subject of the psalm dispelled them, and, like the melody of David's harp, soothing to rest the turbulent spirit of GOD'S DESOLATING JUDGMENTS. 339 Saul, calmed their fears, and enabled them to sing their troubles away. We should imitate the heroic spirit of these champions in the cause of truth ; for we have the same reason to rejoice that they had. If the Lord be our God, we should trust in him and not be afraid. He never gives up that tender relation towards his people, amidst any troubles that may arise. Though he desolate the earth with the most fearful judgments, yet he is the Father of his chosen still. And when this globe shall be in flames, Jesus will collect his jewels, and pre- serve them from ruin. Therefore, in the words of Habakkuk, *' Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet let us rejoice in the Lord, let us joy in the God of our salvation." Hab. iii. 17, 18. 240 SERMON VI. THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. [Preached at Nantwicli, December 8th, 1782.] *' Except ye he converted, and become as little childreif, ye shall not enter into the kingdom oj" heaven." Matthew, xviii. 3. Our blessed Saviour uttered these words upon the following memorable occasion : — The disci- ples came unto Jesus, saying, " Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" verse 1. Upon comparing this vvnth the parallel place in Mark, ix. 34, it appears, that " they had been disputing among themselves, who should be the greatest." A dispute this, extremely unprofit- able, and highly unbecoming the disciples of that meek and lowly Jesus, who, though he thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet took upon him the form of a servant, and THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING, &c. 24 1 came not to be ministered unto, but to mi- nister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Phil. ii. 6, 7. Mat. xx. 28. But see how deeply the love of power, and a fondness for pre-emi- nence, are rooted in human nature ! One would have thought, that with such an illustrious example of humility and condescension before their eyes as their divine Master, they should have been the last men in the world to com- mence a contest about greatness ; especially if they at all reflected, that the uniform obscurity of their origin and education placed them all upon a level. But when we behold pride creep- ing into the little college of our Lord's own disciples, and see a company of illiterate fisher- men urging a controversy about superiority in office, we may from hence infer, that " to be as gods," Gen. iii. 5, is a desire as predominant in the nature of man as it proved fatal to our first parents ; that every man is born a Diotrephes, — would have the pre-eminence in all things ; and that the same arrogant spirit, which lifts up a Roman pontiff with pride and blasphemy, is congenial to human nature ; and that there is that in every man's heart, which would in- cline him to be a little pope in pre-eminence, how low soever his pretensions may be, or con- tracted his sphere of action. 242 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING What led to the dispute among the disciples, was, probably, the mistaken notion they had conceived respecting the nature of the Messiah's kingdom. Fancying that it was to be a secular establishment, and having their heads full of ideas of their own future greatness, it should seem that they anticipated the period of their exaltation ; and, concluding, that they should be raised to the highest posts of civil and eccle- siastical preferment, it remained only for them to determine, who among them should be chief. For genuine pride can never brook a superior ; and is never perfectly gratified, until every competitor is vanquished, and its own sove- reign mandates acquire a sanction from a pre- eminence of office and power. The source this, of all the fierce contentions, that have often for centuries rent the church, and are at this day ravaging the world. The unsanctified disputes of ecclesiastical rulers, or the bloody contests among the tyrannical governors of states and empires, when narrowly examined, appear to originate, for the most part, in this question, " Who shall be greatest?" In order to strike at the root of this impe- rious disposition in his disciples, their wise Master gave such an answer to their question, as would best tend to mortify their vanity, and MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 243 tlisappoint their affectation of false greatness. To give an emphasis to his observations on this important question, he took a child, and placed him in the midst of them, and then pronounced the great and interesting truth of the text. As if our Lord should say, " Imagine not that my kingdom, as to its origin and establishment, is of this world. It is entirely spiritual ; is not to be founded on secular dominion, or to be conducted agreeably to the principles and tem- per of earthly potentates. And whereas, among men, human greatness is estimated by worldly exaltation ; and they are generally deemed the chief, who rise to the highest post of honor, though avarice, pride, and ambition, are the mischievous tempers that lead to their exalta- tion, and are fed by the enjoyment of it ; yet it shall not be so in the kingdom which I am about to establish in the hearts of the children of men. There, ambition is to have for its object, not earth, but heaven ; not temporal, but eternal concerns : and the laws by which the subjects of that kingdom are to be governed, will require, not the temper of the proud and the ambitious, that is so successful in the schemes of the men of the world, but the disposition of a child, humble, teachable, dead to the world, and dependant upon me for every provision. And except ye be inwardly changed, 244 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING and become transformed into this amiable and heavenly characteristic of the subjects of my kingdom, ye cannot be partakers of my glory." From the words, thus opened, I shall take occasion to consider ; Firsts The nature of con- version; Secondly, The temper that distinguishes this great change ; Thirdly, I shall endeavour to shew, how much every individual among us is concerned in the subject, since our Lord declares, that, without conversion, we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. I. As to the nature of conversion, it essen- tially consists in an inward and universal change of heart, wrought by the gracious operation of the Spirit of God ; by which new principles are established in the mind, new inclinations are imparted, and new objects pursued. The word conversion signifies the being turned away from an object of former attachment, in order to contemplate and enjoy one, that had been previously disregarded and despised. In the work, which this word is adapted to describe, there occurs this twofold change. The heart is turned away from the love of sin, the love of self, and the love of the world, and becomes captivated with the love of God, and turns to him as its chief good. Sin loses its dominion, . the world appears in its true colors, stript of all that false beauty, in which a depraved heart is MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 245 apt to paint it. Pleasure, that fatal enchant- ress, can allure no longer. She spreads all her nets, and gilds all her baits, in vain. The con- verted sinner perceives no melody in her syren voice, and feels no attraction from all her studied blandishments. Conversion removes the scales from his eyes, and rends the veil from his heart, that prevented him from seeing through the false disguise that covered all her lying vanities. And he turns away with disgust and disap- pointment from that cup, of which he once drank so freely. He nauseates what he once imbibed so eagerly ; and in that draught, from which he once hoped to derive such happiness, he now sees poison and death concealed. The love of God having vanquished the love of the world in his heart, he now heartily coincides with that wise man, whose experience taught him, that ** all isvanity and vexation of spirits" Eccles. i. 14. As it is a very common case for one, who has been a profligate, to commence Pharisee, or to turn from sin to self, which is but a refined species of wickedness; it is necessary to ob- serve, that in the great change of which the Holy Spirit is the author, it is the principal office of that divine Agent, to convince of sin, and to drive the sinner from the false refuge of self-dependance, to the glorious righteousness 246 THE NATimE AND DISTINGUISHING of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without this, a sin- ner would take down one idol only to set up a worse in its stead. And, as there is none so injurious to the honor of the Redeemer, or so deeply prejudicial to a sinner^s immortal in- terests, as self-righteousness ; this idol, as the leader of all the rest, must be dethroned, that Christ might have in all things the pre-emi- nence. " In him shall all the seed of Israel be justified." Isa. xlv. 25. When a man, therefore, is truly converted, the Holy Spirit never teaches him to turn in upon himself, and contemplate with proud self-complacency his own worthi- ness, or to admire his own performances ; while, like the Pharisee in the gospel, he looks down with conscious superiority upon a poor publican at the footstool of mercy. No. With Job, he abhors himself, and repents as in dust and ashes. Job, xlii. 6. With Isaiah, he cries, " Woe is me 1 for I am ^undone." Isa. vi. 5. And, with St. Paul, he desires to " be found in Christ, not having on his own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of God by faith." Phil. iii. p. So that, as naturahsts say, it is the peculiarity of the heliotrope or sun-flower to expand its beauties to the rays of the sun, and always to keep its face turned towards that bright luminary ; in like manner, the converted soul spontaneously turns to the Sun of Right- MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. - 247 eousness, by the light of whose countenance it is cheered and attracted, and to whose merits it is indebted for all its prospects in time and eternity. The love of Jesus is the load-stone that draws, and his perfect righteousness the object which the happy sinner contemplates with delight and admiration. To that exhaust- less spring of all the hopes and comforts of God's people he turns, and from him he looks for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 1 Cor, i. 30. Where conversion is genuine, it may be dis- covered by the universality of its influence, and the depth of its operation. It begins at the heart, and extends its salutary effects to all the sublime faculties of the mind, and the whole tenor of the outward conversation. The under- standing is renewed in knowledge. Col. iii. 10. The contrariety of the will is broken, and is changed into a passive acquiescence in the sovereign will of God. " The carnal mind, which is enmity against God," Rom. viii. 7, is subdued by the superior influence of divine grace. All offences at the gospel-plan of sal- vation cease ; for, when the veil of ijnbelief that covers the heart is rent, it then " turns to the Lord." 2 Cor. iii. 15. The languid af- fections are quickened, and are set on things above. Col. iii. 1. The desires are turned into 248 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING a right channel, and directed to proper objects. The eye of the understanding being illuminated to " behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord Jesus," 2 Cor. iii. 18; the heart, enraptured with a view of his matchless excellency, cries out, " Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth, that I desire besides thee." Psal. Ixxiii. 25. The desire of the soul is to him, and to the remembrance of his great name and glorious salvation. Isa. xxvi. 8. The thoughts, that formerly wandered upon subjects of the most trivial, or the most pernicious na- ture, are now turned to the interesting concerns of eternity, and are often employed in meditat- ing upon that sweetest, most sublime, and most copious of all topics, the stupendous love of God manifested in the unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. The strain of conversation becomes very materially altered, from froth and levity, or, what is worse, from perhaps indecency and gross profaneness, to seriousness, purity, and spirituality. The aversion to engage in religious converse ceases ; and no company appears so honorable or so delightful, as that which is composed of persons, who love to talk of the great things that belong to their peace. Prayer is deemed an exalted privilege, as well as a duty; and praise is considered as the employ of heaven. The hands are lifted up, and the MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 049 knee is bent in supplication before the divine throne; and the tongue, which is the glory of man, awakes to vindicate the honor of truth, to recommend the Friend of sinners, or to pub- lish the preciousness of his salvation. The feet, turned away from crooked and perverse ways, are swift to .bear the converted sinner to the house of God ; where, as he sits rejoicing in the name of Jesus, and happy in the sound of that blessed gospel, that charms his ear, and captivates his heart, he joins issue with the sweet Psalmist of Israel, and says, " How amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord of Hosts! One day in thy courts is better than a thou- sand." Psal. Ixxxiv. 1, ]0. It has been suggested in the beginning of this head of the discourse, that to turn the heart of a sinner is the work of God. And most certainly, whatever conversion is, the scriptures authorize us to believe, that it is not the work of man ; and indeed cannot be, since the extreme depravity and helplessness of his nature render him altogether insufficient to any good word or work. If conversion con- sisted in nothing more than the breaking off some outwardly vicious courses, or the mere adopting a line of regular attendance on the external forms of devotion ; if it implied no more than decency of manners, and an exemp- 250 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING tion from gross indulgencies, or the relinquish- ing of former excesses ; in those cases, perhaps, man might exert his power with considerable success, and, in part at least, claim the honor of being instrumental to his own salvation. But as conversion hath, for its subject, the immortal soul, with all its strong propensities, intemperate desires, irregular passions, impe- tuous appetites, and depraved principles ; as it comprehends a work that gets at the very root of sin, and cleanses the fountain of cor- ruption, that renovates the very constituent faculties of the human mind, and forms a ra- dical cure in the very centre and seat of the malady ; it is evident, that the change neces- sary to produce this effect must be tlie result of a divine agency; or, in plainer terms, that He who made the heart, and He alone, can change it. A truth this, confirmed by the ex- press authority of the word of God. " With- out me," says Christ, " ye can do nothing.'* .John, XV. 5. And he says again, " No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, drazv him." John, vi. 44. In that solemn prayer uttered by the church in her distress, and recorded in the lamentations of Jeremiah, she acknowledges the same truth, when she cries, " Turn thou us unto thee O Lord, and we shall be turned." Lam. v. 21. MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. ojj And this is the language of Ephraim bemoaning himself in Jer. xxxi. 18. Where, after having bewailed the refractoriness of his heart, that made him feel, under the discipline of Jeho- vah's rod, like " a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke," he cries out, " Turn thou me and I shall be turned." And when the great change was effected, in retrospect, as before in prospect, he attributes the accomplishment of it to the power of God, saying, " Surely, after that I WAS TURNED, I rcpcntcd," &c. verse 19- And, indeed, the passive form of the words of the text fully implies the truth I am contending for, especially when compared with similar lan- guage in Acts, iii. I9. Psal. li. 13. As for those passages of scripture, which seem to make the power of turning to be the sinner's, sole act, or to rest in the efforts of the ministers of the gos- pel, as Ezek. xiv. 6. and Mai. iv. 6. Acts, xxvi. 18. they are to be interpreted, in consistency with the general maxim already laid down, as only declarativ^e in one case, of the instommen'taUty, which divine wisdom iiseth in the accomplish- ment of its purposes; and, in the other, of the derived influence, which the sinner himself is enabled to exert, but by a power, originally not his own. Thus, ministers are said to turn others from darkness to light, and sinners to turn themselves, only in consequence of the 252 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING blessing and power of God, which enable them to do the one and the other respectively. For, when the great Apostle of the Gentiles reviewed the success of his ministrations, or when he contemplated the evidences of his conversion, he resolves both into the agency and sovereignty of divine grace, saying, " Not I, but the grace of God which was with me. — By the grace of God I am what I am." 1 Cor. xv. 10. I cannot prevail upon myself to dismiss this branch of the subject, without observing fur- ther, in confirmation of what hath been already urged, that the change effected in the conver- sion of a sinner, is compared, in scripture, to some of those operations in nature, to accom- plish which nothing short of an Almighty agency is requisite. It is, for instance, called " a new creation,'" 2 Cor. v. 17; — a new birth, John, iii. 3 ; — a resurrection from the dead, Col. iii. 1 ; — a quickening from a death in tres- passes and sins, Ephes. ii. 1 ; — the communica- tion of light to the soul, by the same powerful voice that said in the beginning, " Let there be light." 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; — a translation from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Col. i. 13. And the renovation which it produceth, is said to make believers " the habitation of God by his spirit," Ephes. ii. 22 ; — *' his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 253 good works," Ephes. ii. 10 ; — branches, taken from a barren stock, and engrafted into the " true vine" by the operation of the Spirit, John, XV. 5; — sons of God by adoption, Gal. iv. 6; — and joint-heirs with Christ to an everlasting inheritance, purchased at the price of his blood. Now, from such bold and striking metaphors, as make the power that created the universe, that arranged the elements when in a state of chaos, that formed the light, and that raised the dead, to be representative of that influence exerted in conversion, what are we to infer? but that, as an omnipotent agency is displayed in the works of nature, it is equally requisite in the operations of grace; and, in fact, that none but He who made the world, can convert a sinner. A truth this, to which the experience of every true believer bears an additional testi- mony. Reviewing himself as a brand plucked from the burnings, he cannot but stand asto- nished at the mighty power of that grace, which saved him from eternal perdition, when he was just upon its very brink. " How infinitely in- debted," he will often say, " do I consider my- self to that gracious Saviour, whose njercy van- quished such a rebel ! and whose blood was sufficient to expiate the guilt of such deep-dyed transgressions! When J reflect, with what im- 254 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING petuosity I was running in the road to ruin ; with what obduracy of heart I defied Omnipo- tence, while I was tramphng his law under my feet, and lived regardless either of his threaten- ings or his promises ; what a contumacious re- sistance I made to all the overtures of divine mercy in the gospel, and with what blindness, unbelief, and hardness of heart, I quarrelled with the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour; in what a false security I was wrapt up, even when my headstrong corruptions were precipitating me to destruction ; and how deter- mined I was never to relinquish the fond but fiital prepossessions that only fed the pride of my heart, and kept it in a state of servile con- formity to a world lying in wickedness ; — when I revolve all these considerations in my mind, I rejoice with trembling, to think, how narrowly I escaped ; and am constrained to attribute all to the sovereign and unsought interposition of divine grace. Surely nothing but a superna- tural power could have softened a heart so hard as mine; and none but God himself could have saved a sinner so rebellious. Therefore, while life, and breath, and being, last, to Him I will offer up the glowing effusions of love and gra- titude, and record through eternity what he hath done for my soul. MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. Q5S A work of tills nature, in which the hand of God is so conspicuous, must he productive of the most sahitary effects to the highly favored sinner, who is the subject of it. For, " if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (n' xxivv) xlto-j? a new creation) : old things are passed away ; behold all things are become new." 2 Cor. V. 17. The renovation, intimated in this passage, having introduced new light into the understanding, and new desires into the heart and affections, it must consequently have a proportionable effect upon the temper ; not wholly to eradicate the constitutional peculi- arity of it, but to sanctify, and render it sub- servient to the glory of God and the good of society. Nor does this great change go merely to correct, regulate, and sanctify the natural temper,whatever in different constitutions it may happen to be, but it likewise establishes in the heart tempers, to which it was before an utter stranger ; which I now proceed to consider under the second head ; and that is, II. The distinguishing mark of true conver- sion, that, of " becoming as little children." Although, in numerous instances, the work of conversion is attended with circumstances so striking as not only to obviate all doubt re- specting the reality of it, but also to enable many to fix, with the utmost precision, the 256 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING date of its origin, and to recollect perfectly the time and manner in which the light of convic- tion first dawned ; yet, as in others, the work has been wrought at an early period of life, has been less perceptible in its first impressions, and has been carried on by degrees slow and pro- gressive, like " seed cast into the ground, which springeth and groweth up, a man knoweth not how ;" Mark, iv. 27. I prefer the consideration of what is essential to conversion, and common to all the subjects of it, to what is peculiar to some, and comparatively of little consequence. For the point of real moment with every sinner is, not so much to inquire how, when, and by what instrument he was converted, as to ascer- tain, that the work has really been wrought. And, indeed, as it is extremely possible for a man, busy in the former inquiry, and partial in his inferences respecting the safety of his state, to rest the great affair on circumstances rather uncertain in their nature, and at no time deci- sive, while he fatally overlooks what is essential to the work itself; in order to set us right in a matter of such vast concern, the text, and the whole tenor of sacred scripture, lead us to ex- amine, whether we are " become as little chil- dren ;" because this is the safest and most cer- tain criterion of our being the children of God : and thus, in particular, St. Peter argues with MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 257 the professors of Christianity in his day, saying, *' If these things, (faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kind- ness, charity,) be in you, and abound, they make you, that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things, is blind, and cannot see afar off." 2 Pet. i. 8, 9. When our Lord makes the principal charac- teristic of true conversion to consist in a temper resembling that of little children, the compari- son is not designed to consider them, as they are by nature, but as they happen to be by con- stitution, by the texture of their tender frame, and their accidental inability to exercise those faculties of the mind, or those organs of the body, which, when age and strength co-operate, man very soon uses as instruments of unright- eousness. It is in this light, and this alone, that we can interpret the force of the resem- blance in the text, consistently either with scripture or matter of fact. The former assures us, that " man is born as the wild ass's colt." Job, xi. 12. And experience soon demonstrates the truth of this striking comparison, when that " folly which is bound up in the heart of a child," Prov. xxii. 15, shooteth forth into those branches of-iniquity, and fruits of unrighteous- ness, which, like the flower in the seed, or the 258 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING fruit wrapt up in the genu, only wanted time and strength to bring them to maturity. Yet, as long as corruption is checked by infantile weakness, and nature has not power, in that first stage of the life of man, to put forth its innate propensities, infants and little children become eventual teachers to adults ; and many with hoary heads need not be ashamed to go and learn wisdom from the weakest and youngest of their own species ; especially if they attend to the several points of view, in which scripture places little children, as objects worthy of our imitation. 1. In the first place, as they are no sooner ushered into life, than they cry for that nutri- ment, which the God of nature hath so wisely adapted to their weak condition ; in like man- ner, must we evidence the reality of our rege- neration, by an insatiate thirst for that spring of salvation opened in the scriptures of truth. Thus the Apostle Peter says, "As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Pet. ii. 2. And St. Paul uses the same idea, when writing to the Corinthian Church, he says, " I have fed you with milk and not with strong meat." 1 Cor. ii. 2. See also Heb. v. 13, 14. As the new-born babe, by instinct of nature, cries for the breast, so the new-born soul first evidences its introduction MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 355 into divine life, by its love to the scriptures. For this spiritual food, other things are thrown aside; and what constituted the soul's repast, when dead in sin, is, after its regeneration, esteemed as chaff, or dreaded even as poison. The midnight lamp, that had been often ex- hausted in the perusal of publications of the most frothy or the most pernicious tendency, is now extinguished, that the soul might in- dulge in sweet meditation on the word of God. In tlie streams, which flow from this fountain, there are no dregs of latent error or poison of lurking impurity. And, while they communi- cate life and health by their salubrious influence, they convey also the most refined enjoyment to the renewed mind. The sacred pages, like the fragrant name, which gives them all their pre- ciousness, are as " ointment poured forth." Solomon's Song, i. 3. They emit an odor that regales the senses and ravishes the heart. The promises are those " breasts of consolation," from whence the new-born soul derives all its nourishment; and while it " hears them, reads, marks, learns, and inwardly digests them,"* its life is fed, and its happiness enlarged. .This made the Royal Psalmist say, " How sweet are Service of the Church of England. 260 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth." Psal. cxix. 103. So that they who can dehght more in frothy novels, and the pernicious productions of the stage, than in a perusal of the word of God ; or who can make any other book whatever take the lead of the Bible, have no more pretensions to refinement of taste, than they have to true re- ligion. And such persons need not go far to find out whether they be converted or not ; their disrelish to the scriptures is as decisive a mark against them as possible. And till their vitious taste is refined, and their depraved na- ture renewed, they cannot resemble little chil- dren, according to the idea suggested in the text, and must, therefore, be far from the kingdom of heaven. 2. Another sense, in which we should become as little children, is in the imitation of their humility. This is the temper more immediately recommended in the context, because it is the direct reverse of that which led the disciples to dispute about pre-eminence, and to ask their Lord an unimportant and vain question. What- ever seeds of pride lurk in the nature of infants, yet such is their imbecility of constitution, that, for want of power to exert themselves, they are rather patterns of humility; but more espe- cially, if such little children as our Lord referred MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. %6l to, are partakers of the grace of God. Pride shews itself in forms of various nature. Ela- tion of heart, when the sun of worldly prospe- rity shines, and proportionable depression and pusillanimity, when the scene shifts to the gloom of adversity — envy at another man's good fortune, and repining at our own — impa- tience of reproof, and a quick and acrimonious resentment of injuries — an overweening desire to grasp at worldly things, only to feed and pam- per a worldly mind — a violent promptitude to boast of personal endowments, to the depre- ciating of others, and the aggrandizing of Self, that darling idol of an unhumbled heart — are all pride, that hydra with many heads, shewing itself in these and various other ways impossible to be enumerated. But, to be humble, look at the infant lulled to rest in his mother's arms, or the child taken up with the objects of his puerile amusement, dead to the broils of the contentious, and to all the ambitious pursuits of the proud : the former, anxious only for that nutriment, which, when received, operates as a pleasing opiate to its senses ; the latter extend- ing his solicitude and ambition only tq some little matter, which it costs no care or expense to possess, leaving sceptres, titles, riches, and honors, to those who exert all their subtlety and all their pride to procure them. To be 262 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING thus easy, like a little child, about worldly pre- eminence, and to be solicitous only, or primarily, about the honor that cometh from God, is the privilege of a Christian, and a mark of conver- sion. And why should infatuated mortals in- dulge a contrary temper, when, " before honor is humility ;" but especially when it is consi- dered that the loftiest head must be laid low in the grave, and that " dust to dust" will con- clude the noblest song of earth. If you disdain to learn humility from a little child, yet take as your pattern that illustrious example of con- descension, the holy child Jesus, who for us men and for our salvation exchanged the glory of the heaven of heavens for a manger and a cross. 3. We must become teachable as little chilr dren. This amiable disposition is one principal branch of true humility, and essentially consists in submitting our reason to the authority of revelation. A point this, not so easy to be accomplished, when we reflect on the pride of the human heart, and see multitudes propagat- ing such tenets, as if they meant to teach the scriptures, and not that the scriptures should teach them. This more especially happens, when the pride of reason and the parade of learning unite their influence to puff men up with a fond conceit of the superiority of their INIARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 0Q3 wisdom. But how mortifying to the vanity of these sons of science to hear the following de- claration from the mouth of the Son of God !" " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." ]\lat. xi. 25. Were a man possessed of all the learning of Greece and Rome, he may, notwithstanding, be a fool in God's account; and, until he is so, in his own estimation, his profound wisdom is nothing but foolishness, and, instead of aiding him in the investigation of truth, often proves a dreadful bar in his way. " If any man among you seem to be wise in this world," says St. Paul, " let him become a fool, that he maybe wise." 1 Cor. iii. 18. And the reason which the apostle urges for this ex- traordinary requisition, is, that " the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." Verse I9. Conceive human nature at the very summit of secular wisdom, and you see it elevated to the very pinnacle of pride; from whence men find it very difficult to descend into the valley of self-abasement. And yet descend they must, if ever they would know themselves or Christ Jesus the Lord; and instead of going to the throne of divine grace with philosophic pride and conscious wisdom, they must approach it as children, and as fools. 264 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING The language of this humble temper is, " That which I see not, teach thou me." Job, xxxiv. 32. — " Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Psal. cxix. 18. And he who has been enabled to adopt it, like a child under tutors and governors, submitting to their instruction, and acquiescing in their discipline, sits at the feet of Jesus, to learn the mysteries of his kingdom, and receive the fulfil- ment of that promise, " It is written in the prophets. And they shall he all taught of God" John, vi. 45. 4. As true religion is the most efficacious bond of society, by inspiring such tempers as promote benevolence and peace among men, St. Paul recommends the following maxim to the church of Corinth, "In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." 1 Cor. xiv. 20. Malice is a deeply- rooted ill-will, accompanied with rancorous hatred, and a thirst of revenge; a temper that rages in the hearts of natural men, but cannot be harboured or indulged in a rege- nerate breast. Here again we are to learn of little children. If a momentary passion ruffles their temper, or awakens their feeble resent- ment; yet how soon is the cause of their in- dignation forgot ! and in how few instances does the sun ever go down upon their wrath ! In the bounds which nature hath fixed to their MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 265 short-lived anger, they become examples highly worthy our imitation, that we should be " slow to wrath;" James, i. 19; " be angry and sin not;" Ephes. iv. 26; and that we should " put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another ; if any man have a quarrel against any ; even as Christ for- gave us, so also should we." Col. iii. 12, 13. But, where the contrary tempers of studied revenge and inveterate malice predominate, and are secretly indulged, they are as certain evidences of the reigning dominion of sin, and of an unconverted state of heart, as habitual drunkenness and debauchery. 5. As children look up to their parents for their entire provision; are indebted to them, under God, for their being; and receive their education and their fortune from their hands ; so, to demonstrate our conversion, we must live a life of dependance upon the Supreme Being for every thing contributory to our comfort here, and our salvation hereafter. That we all live, move, and have our being in Gqd, is a truth admitted by all. But yet, multitudes who subscribe to the doctrine, nevertheless " live as without God (dhoi atheists) in the world ;" possessing atheistical hearts with 266 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING orthodox heads ; " professing that they know God; but in works denying him, being abomi- nable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate ;" Tit. i. l6; never heartily imploring his blessing upon the bounties of his providence, or thanking him for the continu- ance of favors, which, by their ingratitude, they are daily forfeiting, together with the lives that his mercy so eminently spares. To instil the opposite temper, of dependance, gratitude, and confidence, our Lord sends us not only to little children, but also to the fowls of the air, and the flowers of the field; that, from the growth of a lily, or the provision made by the great Father of the universe, for the young ravens that call upon him, we may learn to live upon his all-beneficent hand ; to acknoMledge his parental care; and to trust that all-surrounding and all-protecting Providence, uhich makes the hairs of our head, as well as the whole world itself, the objects of his preserving and merciful superintendence. But how much more should we learn to look up to the great Author of redemption for our spiritual provision ! Whatever is necessary to the delight, the refreshment, the guidance, the establishment, the salvation of sinners, is all laid up in the rich fulness of the Son of God. If they want spiritual repast, he is MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 057 the " bread of life." If they want consola- tion, he is the fountain of living waters, and the God of all comfort. If they want wisdom, all the treasures of it centre in him, and he is Wonderful, Counsellor. If they want a right- eousness to justify before the great Jehovah, his name is The Lord our Righteousness. Jer. xxiii. 6\ If they want a friend to speak for them to God, to plead their cause, and render rheir services acceptable, he is their Advocate with the Father; and, for the un- changeableness of his affectiou, hath in all ages proved himself a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. If they want one, whose wis- dom and power are sufficient to baffle all the stratagems of hell, and to vanquish the most formidable enemies, Jesus is the Captain of sal- vation, and his strength is the arm of the Lord God omnipotent. If they want a foundation, whose stability is adequate to the immense weight th.it rests upon it, Lo ! Jesus is a sure foundation and the rock of ages. L^pon the covenant and promises sealed with his blood they may securely rest their peace and hap- piness, all their vast interests for time and eternity. That the mind may be formed into a suscep- tibility of these great truths, the temper of a $58 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING little child must first be implanted in it. For, while its natural pride and enmity remain, there is nothing to which a sinner is so averse, as to that of renouncing self, and being dependant for his whole salvation upon the Lord Jesus Christ. From hence arose the unwillingness of the Jews to " submit themselves unto the righteousness of God;" Rom. x. 3; and from the same bitter root sprung self-righteous Saul's " confidence in the flesh." Phil. iii. 4. But, as soon as the power of God brought that once- elated Pharisee to the dust, and effectually broke his heart, he who thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus, is made to cry out to that very person, whom he once blasphemed, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" From that moment, the lofty self-justiciary became a little child, and ever a-fter gloried only in the cross. He learned to " count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord ;" Phil. iii. 8 ; esteemed himself nothing, and Jesus all ; and " the life which he lived in the flesh, was by the faith of the Son of God." Gal. ii. 20. The idol of self-righteousness in his heart was pulled down, that Christ, and Christ alone, might ever after possess, in all things, the pre- eminence ; as he must, in ours also, if ever we MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 269 would enjoy a well-grounded hope of entering the kingdom of heaven. Which leads me to consider, III. How much every individual is concerned in the subject, since our Lord declares, that, without conversion, in the scriptural light in which it has been represented, none can be partaker of his glory. This awful declaration rests upon the veracity and power of God, and upon the nature of that work of the Spirit, " which makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Col. i. 12. 1. Unconverted sinners can not enter the kingdom of heaven, because the God of truth hath declared they shall not. His word is more than ten thousand barriers in the way. And his veracity is so engaged to defend and fulfil every threatening, as well as every promise, that sinners might as well expecc that God should change his nature, as change his word. Therefore if he hath said " the wicked shall be cast into hell;" Psal. ix. 17; — " he that be- lieveth not shall be damiied;" Mark, xvi. 16;— and that, *' neither fornicators, nor ic^olators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilcrs, nor ex- tortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God ;" 270 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; we may be fully persuaded, that Jehovah will as certainly fulfil these most tremendous threaten ings, as if we saw the ac- complishment of them, this instant, with our eyes. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the scriptures, until all be fulfilled. If Satan sug- gest " you shall not surely die," remember " he was a liar from the beginning;" and that the fatal consequence of crediting that original fal- sity, was a confirmation of this unalterable truth, " that the wages of sin is death," and that " what a man soweth that shall he also reap." 2. When God makes a promise or denounceth a threatening, his power as well as his faithful- ness is exerted equally to the accomplishment of the one and the other. No intervention of second causes shall stay his hand, or obstruct, or even retard his designs ; because himself the great First Cause makes them all subservient to his sovereign will. So that he must fulfil every promise to his people, because his ability is equal to his veracity, and both spring from his eternal willingness to do so. And he will execute every denunciation of his wrath, be- cause he can. Could the potsherds of the earth contend successfully with their Maker, they might then entertain some distant hope at least of evading his threatenings, and eluding his MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 07 i wrath : but, before they can expect to accom- plish either, they must first cope with Omnipo- tence, and take heaven itself by storm : for, sooner shall the great Jehovah be dethroned, and his dominion in the heavens be subverted, than sinners unconverted be suffered to dwell there. The hand of God himself shall shut the gates of the celestial city against them ; and all the power of the Lord God Almighty shall be exerted, together with his truth and justice, to keep them out, for ever. In vain shall the sons of Belial attempt to enter; in vain shall they knock, and importunately cry, saying, " Open unto us." Their exclusion will be announced and confirmed by those cutting words of the Judge, " Depart from me, for I know you not." 3. But the admission of unchanged sinners to the kingdom of God is an utter impossi- bility, because they want that conformity of heart to the exercise of heaven, which is neces- sary to make them willing to stay there, even if they wxre admitted. And it was upon this ground, that our Lord told Nicodemus, that " except a man be born again, he coul4 not see the kingdom of God." John, iii. 3. By regeneration, the aversion of the heart to spi- ritual exercises is" taken away, and a delight in them substituted in its stead. But in a carnal 272 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING mind this aversion is deeply rooted. And could a sinner, tinder the influence of it, be suffered to enter the kingdom of heaven, all the bliss of paradise would be no heaven to him. Carrying with him an indisposedness of heart to the employ of heaven, and having his eyes pre- viously blinded by carnal lusts, he would not see any beauty in the palace of the great King, or enjoy any satisfaction in the beatific presence of the King himself. Having been accustomed on earth to frequent the company of the disso- lute and the gay, he would feel awkward and unhappy in the society of saints and angels. All the harps of heaven would communicate no melody to his ears ; and the exercise of praise and adoration would appear, as it did on earth, an intolerable burden. He would derive no enjoyment even from that river of the water of life, that floweth in a pure and perennial stream of happiness from the throne of God, and of the Lamb : for, having left the world with his heart full of carnal delights, the recollected pleasures of the sensuality and dissipation be- low, would crowd in upon his mind to mar all the felicity of heaven, and to make him prefer a Mahometan paradise to the exalted fruition of the blessed God, and all the refined pleasures which they taste, who contemplate his perfec- tions, and bask in the beams of his love. MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 273 Besides the want of a disposition to the em- ploy of heaven, there is in the hearts of the un- regenerate a positiv^e enmity against God, and the laws of his kingdom, which makes them rebels and enemies. And it cannot be supposed that such could find a place in that harmonious society, where perfect love to God is the bond of eternal concord and happiness among the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem. As soon might the devil and his angels expect to be translated to glory, as sinners, with hearts fraught with enmity against God, hope for a place in his kingdom. Rev. xxii. 11, 15. From what has been said, it is evident, 1. That, as conversion is the work of God, to prescribe " rules" for the sinner's own accom- plishment of it, as some legal authors have done, is palpably as absurd as to furnish a man with a set of rules for making a world. For the old and the new creation have one and the same agent; and he is the Almighty Creator of the universe. Isa. xlv. 17, 18. 2. That conversion doth not consist in those things, which the blindness of some, the pride of others, and the pharisaical zeal of not a few^ would substitute in its stead. For instance; baptism is not conversion. It is only the out- ward sign of it. And, to mistake the sign for the thing itself, is as absurd as to make a sha- 274 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING dow equal to the substance. The thing signi- fied in baptism is, " a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness :" and this is con- version. But how many content themselves with having partaken of the outward ordinance, who do not understand the significancy of the institution, and know nothing of the blessings symbohcally represented in it! " He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly," (nor is he a Christian who is one no farther); '■ but he is a JeWj'' (and a Christian,) " who is one inwardly : and cir- cumcision," (or baptism) " is that of the hearty in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. ii. 28, 29. — Neither does the great change consist in a tran- sient effect on the passions. These may often be mechanically wrought upon, and violent emotions excited in them, without the least concomitant influence from the Spirit of God. One man may be affected under a sermon, and another weep at a tragedy, and both be in the same predicament as to their state of heart to- wards God. When the passions are moved, because the affections are engaged, and the understanding enhghtenod in the subject, then the work is produced, not by the pathos of eloquence, or the violent mechanism of bawl- ing and unmeaning vociferation, but by the finger of God. A change of the latter kind MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 27^ will be perma.nent and abiding. But conver- sions, such as spring from a transient gust of passion, will always evaporate, " like the morn- ing cloud or the early dew, that passelh away." Hos. vi. 4. — It would be equally absurd and dangerous to place true religion in an outward and partial reformation, often accompanied with a shew of zeal, which, at the bottom, is nothing but emptiness and ostentation. When a man all of a sudden cuts off some superfluities of naughtiness in dress and outward indulgence ; when he prunes off some excrescences, while the root of corruption remains untouched ; when to-day he acts the part of a novice, and to-mor- row, like a fungus that shoots up in a night, he raises his head as a Reformer, without wisdom or materials for beginning or conducting a re- formation ; in such cases, the conversion is of- ten from bad to worse ; it is as if a harmless statue should be transformed into a venomous reptile ; or folly, stealing the venerable garb of truth, should commence tyrant, and like Solo- mon's madman, with the hand of outrageous zeal, scatter about arrows, lire-brands, and death. Prov. xxvi. 19. From such conver- sions, and such converts as these, may' the Lord at all times defend and save his church! — To change a denomination, or to adhere to that in which one may happen to have been 276 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING born and educated, is not conversion. A man may turn protestant, then turn calvinist, then turn arminian, then turn methodist, then turn quaker or quietist, (an usual transition,) then turn dissenter, and last of all turn churchman, and yet, through all these revolutions, w^hich have been more than once exemplified in a single character, he may not once have thought seriously of turning christian — a name infi- nitely more honorable than all the empty titles that men assume to themselves to distract the minds of their brethren, and to rear their own consequence, often, upon the ruins of peace and union. Some are, no doubt, very sincere, and highly to be commended, for changing a denomination, when the interests of truth and the prosperity of their souls, or the dictates of conscience, are the objects in view. But there is not a greater delusion under the heavens, than for a man to infer the safety of his state, merely from an idea of the purity of the communion to which accident or bigotry may have induced him to join himself. To turn to a party, and to turn to God, are as different as light and darkness. — As for those, who plead for their continuance in the old beaten track of for- mality, because, as they say, " they will not change their religion," a discourse upon the nature of true conversion is intended to con- MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 277 vince such, that they have, in fact, no religion to change. And as for those, under the influence of a more refined dehision, who place religiou in the espousal of orthodox opinions, which have no renovating influence on their hearts and Hves, and often take a false refuge in doc- trines, of which, alas ! they never experienced the power ; it is necessary to tell these, and their partners in self-deception, that religion is principally a temper ; and that to be really changed, is to have " the mind that was in Christ Jesus," to be governed by that love, which St. Paul describes in 1 Cor. xiii. ; and to be influenced by the humble temper of a little child. Without this, party is an insig- nificant badge, doctrines but chaff, zeal but wild-fire, and conversion but a name. To conclude. Whatever denomination we adhere to, or whatever principles we espouse, let us remember, that, without the power of vital godliness, such badges of distinction must appear to him, who searcheth the heart, only as a '* sounding brass, or a tinkling cym- balp" And as I have labored to urge this as a leading sentiment through the whole dis- course, every candid hearer must see, that the ambition of my heart, like that of every dis- interested servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, 278 THE NATURE AND DISTINGUISHING is, to be instrumental, not in turning you to a particular name or favorite persuasion, but in converting you to God. Whether, then, you have erected your hopes, and built your system on the broad but rotten base of infi- delity; whether you have commenced a free liver in consequence of being a free thinker — for they are characters closely allied — or, with some right notions in your head, betray 9, heart immersed in the world and dead in sin ; whether you are dissipated with the gay, dissolute with the abandoned, or formal with the self-righteous ; whatever accidental supe- riority, by birth, education, or fortune, you may possess above others ; or howsoever ap- plauded you may be for decency of manners or regularity of outward de\'otion ; yet, in whatever light, either infidelity, libertinism, formality, or morality, can place a character, the unalterable truth of the text stands to cut oif the fallacious pretensions of each. Con- version implies infinitely more than any mo- ralist upon earth can attain to: and it differs as much from mere orthodoxy, as the genial and vivid light of the sun doth from the faint beams of the pale orb, that borrows light, but derives no heat, from his luminous body. As for formality in religion, it is not even the MARKS OF TRUE CONVERSION. 279 shadow of that, of which it claims the essence. And as for the profane and the licentious, continuing such, the text stands as a barrier against the impiety of their principles, and the presumptuousness of their hope. For, ex- cept they, and the characters already alluded to, be converted, and become as little chil- dren, they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. 280 SERMON VII. THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE, " Jf any man rvill do his will, he shall know of the doc- trine whether it be of God." John, vii. 17. The malevolent and unremitted opposition, which the truths of revelation have met with from infidels in all ages, hath made it necessary to urge every argument, derived from the ex- ternal and internal evidences of Christianity, in order to demonstrate that its origin is from God. This business of demonstrating would have been altogether superfluous, were the heart of man naturally accessible to truth and righteousness. But it is deplorably sunk in prejudices against both, in consequence of an apostacy from the Fountain of Wisdom. Hence, men quarrel with RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE, &c. 281 revelation, because they have first rebelled against the divine Author of it. An innate aversion to the genius of true Christianity is generally productive of controversies about the proofs of its divine authenticity. Corruption in the heart of an infidel prompts him to wish that some of the doctrines of the gospel may not be true; because they hurt his pride, or propose a bridle to his lusts. And what men earnestly wish, they at last bring themselves obstinately to believe. From this unhappy mixture of credulity and obstinacy in an infidel spring all his objections to the dictates of rea- son, and the evidences of sacred truth. But the cause of Christianity is supported on all sides by pillars of such strength, that the efforts of its adversaries to overturn the fabric, only serve to shew its firmness, and to expose their weakness. Its plan originated in the mind of Jehovah, and its foundation rests on eternal truth. The same wisdom that arranged the universe modelled the gospel system ; and the creation of the world and the revelation of truth in the Bible have but one and the same Almighty Agent. This will appear, if we consider, as pro- posed, the several arguments, that evince 1. The divine origin of the doctrines of the gospel. But these are so numerous, and would require such a compass of reasoning to discuss 282 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE them fully, that I must content myself with only giving you the outlines of them. The principal of these, as far as the external evi- dences of Christianity are concerned, are pro- phecies and miracles. When events have been predicted thousands of years before they hap- pen, the correspondence between the fact and the prophecy must be the effect of divine inter- position. Yet such a correspondence, the most punctual, even in the minutia; of time and cir- cumstances, is visible from the very face of scripture prophecy. ^liracles are justly consi- dered as an additional evidence of the divine origin of any doctrine, and of the divine mission of him who preaches it. And having been per- formed before a number of credible witnesses, under circumstances of public notoriety, with marks of preternatural operation, and with a tendency the most beneficial to mankind, they become so many indubitable vouchers to the cause of truth. Much accessional strength to this sacred cause might be derived from a con- sideration of the character of the first preachers of the gospel; who went forth to spread its truths, under the expectation, not of ease and honor, but of contempt, and poverty, and death itself; and, without any aid, save what they derived from the presence and blessing of the Lord, amidst universal opposition, erected the THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 283 standard of truth in divers countries, and planted truth in the most distant regions of darkness and error. But tlie internal excellences of the doctrine are among the other proofs of its divine origi- nal. Here you meet with none of the monstrous absurdities of paganism or superstition, that have often made virtues of the most abominable pas- sions, and deified vice itself, by consecrating tem- ples to lust and cruelty ; or that have dethroned both reason and religion, and established the most egregious fooleries, as maxims of truth, and modes of worship. Here every virtue is rescued from the false glosses that had been imposed upon it by the craft, or ignorance, or wicked- ness of men ; and every moral precept is placed in its true light of purity and extensive obli- gation ; shewing, that what is so pure in its ten- dency must have for its author the Holy One of Israel. What other system, but that of the gospel, produces such a harmony between the divine perfections ! Here, notwithstanding the oppo- site claims of mercy and truth, justice and peace, each is respectively honored, yet all mu- tually harmonize. They meet at the cross of Jesus, and, from his great propitiatory satisfac- tion, derive a power to unite with perfect con- 284 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE cord in the salvation of sinners. While Jesus bleeds, justice is satisfied, truth is fulfilled, mercy erects her throne, and peace extends an olive branch to a guilty world. Where is the system that carries such marks of divinity, as the gospel does ? even from the suitableness of its provision to the peculiar ne- cessities of lost sinners ? If any are oppressed with fears, or burdened with a load of guilt ; here they are pointed to the fountain of a cru- cified Saviour's blood, which is of infinite efficacy to heal the broken hearted, and make the foulest clean. If the world is a scene of misery and sin ; here life and immortality are brought to light, and the horrors of death changed into the portals of bliss. The king of terrors appears bereft of his sting, and he that had the power of death, that is the devil, receives his deadly bruise. The weak and ignorant, the poor and wretched, are invited to the feast, where all is of God's providing ; and all is offered without money and without price. Happy they who obey the invitation, and taste of the rich pro- vision ! Their own experience is then the best comment on the truth of the text. They have an internal evidence of the truth of the doc- trine, because they have felt the power of it : w^hich leads me to consider, THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 285 2. Wherein consisteth the privilege of know- ing that the gospel is of God. As the gospel is a system calculated equally to illuminate the understanding and to renovate the heart ; the blessedness of knowing that it is from God, must be in proportion to the great- ness of the privileges which it communicates. And these are, a deliverance from perplexing doubt and endless speculation — a discernment of the way of truth — and such an established per- suasion respecting the believer's personal inte- rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, as quickens his affections, and engages both heart and life in devotedness to the Lord his God. I. As the fall of man hath plunged his intel- lectual faculties in great darkness; in the inves- tigation of truth and the contemplation of spi- ritual objects, he thinks and judges as absurdly as a man born blind would do, in an attempt to expatiate on the nature and distinctions of co- lors. " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. ii. 14. And as long as this veil of natural obscurity covers his understanding, the very same reason, which, on natural and scientific subjects, exerts itself with such vigor and success, leaves him the subject 286 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE of doubt and uncertainty on the great concerns of eternity — the humiliating and unhappy situa- tion of every man by nature, from the grossly ignorant up to the acute and learned blasphemer. What a blessing to be extricated from all this scepticism and the darkness which occasions it! To have the mind no longer distracted with doubts and disquietude on what it is concerned to know ! This is the privilege of him who knows the gospel to be of God. He is no longer tossed about with every wind of doc- trine, or agitated by the clashing opinions of men, who are often more earnest to oppose one another than to investigate truth. The spirit of God hath rent the veil of darkness, and dis- sipated the mists that rendered his path doubW ful and perplexed. Retiring from the din of controversy, and the niceties of the schools, he 'hath seated himself down at the feet of Jesus, to learn, as an humble pupil, the truth from his mouth. There he listens to that word, which, while it drops refreshing as the dew on the tender herb, pours on his mind a divine light, that puts an end to former cavils at the autho- rity of revelation, and to former doubts about the doctrines contained in it. 2. A discernment of the way of truth and salvation is one essential branch of that know- THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 037 ledge, recommended in the text. *' He that is spiritual jiidgeth (^jax^n-it discerneth) all things." 1 Cor. ii. 15. This branch of knowledge is essentially ne- cessary to constitute the being of faith, and the comforts of a Christian. It is by ** the know- ledge of Christ that he justifies many." Isa. liii.l 1. But that knowledge implies the manifestative light and apprehensive power of faith, by which an interior eye is opened in the soul to behold the glory of Christ, and to cleave to his right- eousness for justification. Hence, St. Paul was so anxious to " know Christ," that he " counted all things loss for the excellency of that know- ledge."* Phil. iii. 8. 2 Cor. iii. 18. And could we suppose a Christian destitute of that light necessary to discern the way of salvation, we must suppose him to be the sub- ject of very painful disquietude. Because, when conviction of sin hath taught a man the know- ledge of himself, and made him weary and heavy laden with the burden of his guilt, a dis- cernment of the way of salvation must be im- parted, in order to buoy up the mind, and to support it under a load, which would otherwise be insupportable. Therefore the H0I3' 'Spirit * To ti7re^£%of !>?? yvu(7su<;. 288 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE operates as a Divine Agent, and the gospel as a powerful instrument, in manifesting the glorious sufficiency of Jesus Christ to the sinner, and in drawing out his soul in hope and dependance upon him. And to shew that a supernatural illumination is requisite to this end, an inspired apostle compares the power that effects it to that which commanded the light to shine out of darkness at the creation. 2 Cor. iv. 6. So that, if men pretend to any saving knowledge, and yet appear to be ignorant altogether of the gospel salvation, if their knowledge does not centre in him, and, by the Spirit's teaching, lead to him, in whom God's people have their all ; it is evident, that the light in them is darkness. 1 Cor. xii. 3. John, xvii. 3. 3. The privilege of knowing that the gospel is of God, implies such an established persuasion of the believer's personal interest in Christ, as quickens his aifections, humbles his heart, and engages body and soul in the consecration of all their faculties to the honor and service of God. This, it must be acknowledged, is not imme- diately the privilege of many, who nevertheless know the things that belong to their peace. Nor is it, in numerous instances, vouchsafed, until, after a long series of various trials, by which the soul is greatly exercised, but acquires THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 289 deep and genuine experience. Some valuable Christians, who know the gospel savingly^ and adorn it greatly, are so bowed down with a dis- couraging view of themselves, that unbelief robs them of that comfort, which they are warranted to take from the promises, made to those, who come to Christ by faith ; and it is a consider- able time, often, before they arrive at any well- grounded evidence of their title to heaven; though the inheritance is secure to them, and their title to it as valid, as the purchase of Christ and the immutability of the covenant could make it. It is, however, their privilege to overcome their doubts, to have a clear view of their interest in the Son of God, to rejoice in hope of future glory, and to know that, " when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, they have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1. These invaluable blessings are called by the Apostle, " the riches of the full assurance TrAn^oipo^ja of understanding ;" Col. ii. 2 ; and are the result of that establishment in the know- ledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which " fathers in Christ" enjoy, when they become rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus. Let not the weak and self-diffident, then, be discouraged. He who maketh " the path of the just to resemble the shining light u ogo RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Prov. iv. 8, will, in his own time, dispel the clouds that hang over their minds, and make the day-star arise in their hearts with assurance and consolation. " Then shall they know, if they follow on to know, the Lord : his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto them as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hos. vi. 3. If any think that this established persuasion, or appropriating knowledge of Christ, is apt to beget pride and presumption in the heart ; let it be remembered, that the objection, plausible as it may appear at first view, is entirely over- thrown by this single consideration, that the kind of knowledge, which the gospel conveys to the heart, is always clothed with humility, and productive of holiness. Did it imply a fond opinion of a man's superior claim to the divine favor above his fellow-sinners, in consequence of supposed superior merit ; or, did it allow of indulged self-confidence of heart, and licenti- ousness of manners ; then, indeed, the assur- ance I plead for, would be presumption of the most pernicious and the most dangerous sort, and the knowledge it springs from would be worse than the most profound ignorance. But this is far from being the case. Self-knowledge attends every step of the believer's progress in THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. Qg\ the knowledge of Christ ; and an abiding sense of his dependance upon the Redeemer for every thing, must of course check the risings of vanity, and keep him, where a sinner ought to be, in the vale of self-abasement. In that humble frame, he sees himself nothing ; and while he reviews the unspeakable obligations, which the undeserved grace of God hath laid him under, and reflects upon the innumerable benefits, which Jesus hath bought for him with his precious blood; his heart overflows with gratitude to the kind Donor of his mercies; and the language of it is, " What shall I render unto the Lord ?" Words are weak and inexpressive to speak the sentiments of his mind, either when he views himself, or contemplates the unsearchable riches of Christ. And the predominant desire of his soul is to grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of Christ. His advancement herein keeping pace with the knowledge of himself, a poor dependant sinner all his life ; from hence flows a desire, and, through grace, a determina- tion, to evidence the humility and gratitude of his heart, by giving the glory of his salvation wholly to Jesus, and by dedicating himself in righteousness and true holiness to the honor and service of his divine Lord and Master. And it will appear, upon calm consideration, that the knowledge, which the text recommends, 292 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE and the fruits which always attend it, are per- fectly correspondent with the genius of the gospel, and the end for which it has been sent to the children of men. Its great design is to abase the sinner, exalt the Saviour, and promote holiness. And the kind of knowledge I wish to inculcate, is specifically of that nature; by which all possible honor is given to Christ, and the heart penetrated with an habitual conviction of the necessity of glorifying him in body and spirit, which are his. How can he be elated, who knows that he has nothing to glory in but the cross of Christ? How can he be presump- tuous, whose assurance rests upon the promise and him that made it ? Or can he possibly want motives to obedience, or a principle of gratitude, whose eyes are opened to behold the salvation that rescued him from sin and hell, and whose heart is filled with love to the gra- cious Author of salvation ? No. If the enemies of truth are disposed to seek for objections against our experience and our principles, let them find some more plausible than that of a charge, which might with great ease and greater justice be retorted upon themselves. A proud presumptuous spirit, inflated with vanity, fdled with speculation, puffed up with self-conceit, and void of humility, we disclaim, because we think it the very bane of all religion. And the THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 293 amiable idea, which a Christian would wish to give of religion, is that of a man, who, the more lie knows, the more he sinks into self-abnega- tion ; whose head is filled with light, and his iieart with love ; and who would rather feel a little genuine poverty of spirit and contrition of heart, than possess the most shining endow- ments. And, that this apology for the princi- ples and temper of a true Christian is a just one, will still farther be made evident, if we consider, III. What is necessary to the attainment of that knowledge which the text promiseth. If the general plan of redemption, or the several constituent parts of that plan, be accu- rately surveyed, it will appear throughout to have been a very leading design of its great Author to pour contempt on those things, which are highly esteemed among men ; and to adopt a procedure in all his dispensations directly sub- versive of those principles, which are most com- monly received. Had he acted in conformity to the maxims and pretensions of the world, men of wisdom, of prowess, and of nobility, should have been his sole favorites. But that the very reverse is the case, is evident from St. Paul's testimony in 1 Cor. i. 26 ; who as- serts, that " God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and weak 294 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are ; that no flesh should glory in his presence." In no respect does this truth appear to be more remarkably verified, than in the kind of pre- requisite, which infinite wisdom hath thought proper to fix upon as necessary to the attain- ment of divine knowledge ; which is, not what human policy would have recommended, pro- found learning, an acquaintance with sciences, languages, or philosophy ; but a willingness £a^ rig ^sxn to do the will of God ; a temper of mind that is humble and docile, and that has been brought into subjection to the will of God, as revealed in the scriptures. What that will is, the following considerations will determine: 1. That it is the will of the Father, that the objects of salvation should honor the Son by looking to him as their propitiation. For, the work, will, and commandment of God, is, that we should believe in Christ to that end. 1 John, iii. 23. 2. That they should be set apart for the glory of God, by the dedication of soul and body to his service. " This is the will of God, even your sanctification," 1 Thes. iv. 3. 3. That they should renounce conformity to the world, and all friendship THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 295 with those who inordinately love the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Rom. xii. 2. 1 John, ii. 15, 16. 4. They should take up the cross, and tread in the footsteps of the hlessed Jesus ; following his illustrious example in doing and suffering the will of heaven with patience and resignation ; in a crucifixion to the world, and an ambition for the honor and favor that cometh from God. This is called " doing the will of God iTom the heart," Ephes. vi. 6, and is opposed to the doing of it, partially, insincerely, or by con- straint. As true Christianity is of practical tendency, doing the will of God is contra- distinguished from a mere knowledge of it, " Not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the Father." Mat. vii. 12. For, though a man cannot do the divine will, without having previously known it ; yet a knowledge of it is often entirely destitute of any sincere inclination to perform it ; and in every such case, " he that knowcth his Master's will and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." Luke, xii. 47- So that, while the word of God abounds with severe reproofs and awful denunciations against those, who are under the power of that self- 296 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE deception, which makes them content with be- ing hearers of the w^ord, and not doers of it, and leaves them satisfied with some head-know- ledge, though accompanied with carnality and hypocrisy of heart; the same sacred word gives all imaginable encouragement even to those, who are willing to conform to the will of God, though between their wishes and their practice there should be a considerable disparity, and the weakness of their faith should throw many impediments in their way. " The Lord will not despise the day of small things. lie will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax. To that man will he look, that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word." Zech. iv. 10. Isa. xlii. 3. Isa. Ixvi. 2. These, and promises of similar import, confirm the truth of the text, and embolden every true follower of Christ to look for a fulfilment of them in his experience; while with child-like simplicity of heart, and an earnest desire to be taught of God, he diligently useth the means of instruction, and waits for that blessing, re- quisite to render them effectual. Such persons the Lord will take by the hand, and guide into the way of truth, and peace. He will open to them the mysteries of his kingdom; and unfold the riches of his grace. The secret of the Lord is with them; and he will shew them his cove- THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 297 nant. He will manifest himself to them, as he doth not to the world; and shine upon their ways with a progressive and cheering light. They shall become conversant in the deep things of God, and acknowledge those very doctrines to be of divine original, which at first they trembled to receive. They shall see their con- sistency, and know them to be of God, from their effects ; since the doctrines of distinguish- ing, efficacious, and victorious grace, and these alone, have a tendency to make the heart hum- ble, holy, and happy, and to keep it so ; to sup- port the believer in an hour of temptation, and to help him to trust in the everlasting covenant when he walketh in darkness and hath no light. And, when multitudes of the presumptuous and self-confident, wiio soar on the wings of a tow- ering profession, shall faint and grow wear}^, and utterly fall into error and sin; they shall hold on their way, and wax stronger and stronger, they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Fed by the sincere milk of the word, their souls shall grow and thrive; and experiencing the preciousness of the promises, they shall anticipate with joy their fulfilment in glory. Safe in the everlasting arms of Divine protection, they shall be kept from every fatal snare. And happy in the 298 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE guidance of the Holy Spirit, they shall enjoy the influence of that Divine Comforter, until all the clouds of sin and error being passed away, a flood of divine light and ineffable glory shall break in upon their souls, and they shall sin, sorrow, and complain no more for ever. Having shewn, that the doctrine of the gospel is of divine original — from the prophecies and miracles that attest its divinity — from the purity of its system, equally remote from the monstrous absurdities of paganism and superstition — from the harmony it produces between the divine attributes — from its utility and suitableness to the condition of fallen man ; having considered the privilege of knowing that this doctrine is of God ; and having shewn what is necessary to the attainment of that knowledge, I shall conclude with observing, In the first place, that a rejection of the gos- pel argues a want of that temper necessary to investigate truth ; and that pride, or an attach- ment to some beloved lust, is at the bottom, whereby the judgment is corrupted and the heart depraved. Hence be assured, that evan- gelical truth and moral righteousness are inse- parably connected ; and that ignorance of, or opposition to, the truth, is the road direct to every immoral and dangerous path. THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE. 299 Secondly, since a willingness to do the will of God is the pre-requisite towards attaining the knowledge recommended in the text; let us confine ourselves to this simple criterion of heavenly wisdom and of a gracious heart, and not look for marks of it in the parade of learn- ing and pomp of profession, among those, who, upon these superficial grounds alone, boast of superior knowledge. Thirdly; since to know the gospel, is the pri- vilege of a renewed mind ; and to practise its precepts, the result of a divine power ; how should we importune the Father of lights to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of his Son ; without which, we must grope in the dark and fall into error I Mat. xi. 27. Lastly; encouraged by the salutary promise in the text, let the timid and unestablished plead it in faith before the throne of grace. God is faithful to fulfil what he hath spoken ; and the experience of his people hath borne testimony to his veracity and his compassion in all ages. Plead the promise in the ali-meri- torious name of Jesus, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. Urge the covenant engage- ments of the Father to him, whereby he hath promised that all his children shall be taught of God. Expect no favor upon your own ac- 300 RIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF DOCTRINE, &c. count ; but look for every thing from liim, in whom all fulness dwelleth, and in whom the Father is well pleased. Let not some difficul- ties, or a little suspense, discourage you. Con- tinue instant in prayer. Wait in faith, in hope, in patience. And the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you ! To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever ! Amen. 301 SERMON VIII. BELSHAZZAUS DOOM; OR, SINNERS, WHETHER PRINCELY. PATRICIAN, OR PLEBEIAN, WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE, AND FOUND WANTING. " TEKEL, Thou art weighed hi the balances and art found tcanting" Dan. v. 27. The history, to which the words of the text refer, is extremely memorable. During the captivity of the Jews, a variety of singular events concurred to prove that the sins, which brought desolation upon their country, and subjected them, for a period of seventy years, to the Babylonish yoke, had not, nevertheless, wholly alienated the affections of Jehovah from them, or dissolved that covenant relation which he had originally adopted towards them, as the " God of Abraham," and that any act of indig- nity perpetrated against an afflicted people, or 302 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. any insult cast upon the service of their temple, would be recognized as the highest affront to the Majesty of Heaven, and not be suffered to pass with impunity, though the perpetrators were the princes and potentates of the earth. Of this, Belshazzar is a remarkable instance. He was grandson to Nebuchadnezzar, and had an opportunity of seeing, in the divine dispen- sations towards his royal ancestor, how hateful pride is, even in royalty itself; how instantly God can blast the most blooming dignity of the brightest crown, and reduce him that wears it to a condition level with the beasts that perish ; how quickly, when the divine decre* goeth forth, a haughty rational can be converted into a brute, and a Nebuchadnezzar, in all the pomp of majesty upon his throne, be driven from human converse, and become a fit associate only for oxen that graze the field, and are wet with the dew of heaven ; and how much, there- fore, the prosperity of kings, and the stability of their thrones, depend upon acknowledging, that " the Most High ruleth in the kingdorti of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will — that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; that he doeth according to his will in the ajmy of heaven, and among the inhabit- ants of the earth : and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ? — that his BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 303 works are truth, and bis ways judgment ; and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." Dan. iv. 25, 35, 37. But this instruction, though conveyed through a dispensation, calculated to write it upon his heart as indelibly as w^ith a pen of iron, or the point of a diamond, seems to have been all lost on Belshazzar. In a depraved and debauched mind, the most striking memorials of divine interposition are soon buried in oblivion ; and all the impressions, which the most tremendous judgments of God generally make in such a case, only resemble characters made in the sand, which the first flux of the tide totally obliterates. Belshazzar had undoubtedly often heard the memorable history of his royal grandfather, and could not avoid seeing in it the great out- lines of that divine system of truth, which in- culcates the evil of sin, and recommends the fear of the Lord as the supreme wisdom. The very sight of those fields, where Nebuchadnezzar once roamed, or of the animals with which he herded, when deposed from his throne, and de- prived of his understanding, must have brought to his recollection the singular event, that so strongly marked God's displeasure at all sin ; especially that kind of it, which lifts up the heart with atheistic pride, and prompts arrogant worms of the earth to affect independance of 304 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. Him, " in whom they live, and move, and have their being." But Belshazzar, hive libertines in all ages, buried the remembrance of these things in his cups, and company ; or sought relief from any disquieting apprehensions, in the fulsome flattery of the civil and ecclesiastical sycophants, that herded round his throne, and constituted his levee. Thus soothed into a false security by court adulation or pulpit-daubing, he became a beast in sensuality, and indulged in every sordid gratification, that could make him hate- ful to God, and contemptible to man ; in which we may suppose him to have been immersed the more deeply, for want of some faithful monitor near his person, to tell him the truth, like honest Micaiah, without dread of royal resentment. There was one man in Belshazzar's kingdom, who was especially qualified for this important office ; but he had not the opportunity, being a Jew, and a captive, till a singular event brought him out of his obscurity, and displayed the su- periority of his wisdom above all the pretenders to it in Belshazzar's court. Upon a particular day, Belshazzar made a feast, to which were invited " a thousand of his lords." Dan. v. 1. Being a lewd polygamist, like all the heathen princes of the East, " his wives and his concubines" formed a part of his guests; for, to an abandoned prince a palace BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 305 hath no beauty unless it be a receptacle for prostitutes ; the whole apparatus of a court appears incomplete without a seraglio ; and in the esteem of the drunken king of Babylon, or the grand Turk with Mahomed's Koran in his hand, there are no blessings comparable with the blessings of polygamy. — Belshazzar, thus environed with his concubines and his lords, pushes about his intoxicating goblet, and poured out libations, or toasted the memory of their " gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." Verse 4. Proper deities, it must be acknowledged, to preside in such assemblies, in which the songs of the drunkard, and the conversation of the lascivious, render the scene perfectly worthy of all that indecency and excess, which idolatry ever promoted among its votaries. The king of Babylon, not content with blending idolatry and voluptuousness to- gether, at his luxurious feast, where lords and whores unite to strengthen him in his wicked- ness, adds sacrilege to his other sins. ** He commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem ; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concu- bines, might drink therein."" Verse 2. Thus this impious prince insulted the God of heaven by sacrilegiously profaning those vessels that had X 306 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. been consecrated to the service of his temple ; as if his wine would be doubly sweet, when drank out of God's sacred chalice, or the vessels of his hol}?^ sanctuary were only fit to be prosti- tuted to the purposes of riot and excess. In the desecration of these vessels, the temple- worship was profaned, a captive people insulted, and an atrocious act of indignity committed against the Holy One of Israel. While Belshazzar was thus employed in fill- ing the vessels of the temple with intoxicating liquor, God was filling for him the phials of his indignation. He bent his bow and made it ready; and the moment was approaching in which the barbed arrow of swift destruction was to be directed by an unerring hand against Belshazzar and his kingdom. A most awful presage of this event is given, when least ex- pected. In the midst of the entertainment, while the king and his guests are absorbed in pleasure ; behold ! a strange phenomenon arrests the solemn attention of the gay circle, and sud- denly damps all their mirth. Every face turns pale, and every heart is filled with a horrible dread. Their festivity and carousings are changed into confusion and despair. The sumptuous entertainmicnt entertains no longer ; and the wine, sparkling in the glass, or mant- ling in the, goblet, can yield no antidote against BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 307 the chilling fears that seize the hearts of the disturbed guests. The mirth and gaiety of this festive assembly are changed into silence, so- lemnity, and distraction. But what occasioned so instantaneous a perturbation ? Was it the ap- pearance of some angry cherub, like him whom God appointed as the flaming guardian of the tree of life ? or, was it the discovery of some instrument of death suspended from the ceiling over the king's head, like that sword, which hanging by a hair over Damocles, the base flat- terer of a Sicilian tyrant, disturbed his peace in the midst of a banquet? No; it was nothing more than " the fingers of a man's hand, writing over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace," verse 5, " and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." He saw, and trembled. But what ailed thee, O Belshazzar ! that thy peace should be broken at the sight of an object, that carried nothing hos- tile in its outward appearance ? Ah ! it is not the first time that a sinner has been made to tremble at hand-writing, when the hand of God appears to hold the pen. Belshazzar's conscience instantly commented upon the mysterious /cha- racters. The hand of God wrote his doom, and his own guilty fears anticipated it. " His countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loin^ 308 BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOM. were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." Verse 6. To what an abject and pusillanimous condition, a consciousness of guilt, and a dread of punishment, reduce often the most stout hearted! Nay, " the wicked fleetli, when no man pursueth, while the right- eous is bold as a lion." Prov. xxiii. 1. Belshazzar, distracted and amazed, cries aloud to bring in the astrologers and soothsayers. A considerable reward is offered to those, who should read and interpret the writing. They try, but in vain. The queen advises to consult Daniel. He is brought before the king. The honest Hebrew tells him of his pride, idolatr}^ and sacrilege. He reads the writing, and gives the interpretation ; which was, that " God had numbered his kingdom and finished it; that he was weighed in the balances and found want- ing ; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians." Verse 26 — 28. The interval between the writing of this awful prediction, and the accomplishment of it, was very short. For " in that night" was Belshaz- zar surprised by an army headed by Cyrus, "^ and slain," and the kingdom of the Chaldeans transfevre<;l by conquest to that of the Medes and Persians. Thus judgments tread close upon the heels of guilt, and are sometimes as swift in their progress, as they are sure .in their ar- BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOM. 309 rival ; the commission of sin, and the infliction of punishment, happening, not seldom, at the same instant. Let us now, first, make some practical obser- vations on the history referred to in the text ; and, secondly, accommodate the images in it to the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the principles and pretensions, of sin- ners. I. 1. The profanation of things sacred is highly affrontive to the Divine Majesty ; incurs great guilt, and exposes to danger in proportion ; because God himself is virtually dishonored in the abuse or contempt of what relates to his service. The men of Bethshemesh only look into the ark, and Uzzah only touches it, and God instantly punishes the presumption of the one, and the profane curiosity of the other, with judicial chastisement. And it is not so much the act as the intention of the agent, that God regards in such a case. Under circumstances of peculiar necessity, David " eats the shew- bread, which it was not lawful for any to eat but the priests." And yet this infringement of a positive ceremony passes with impunity, be- cause God considered the nature of the* case, and saw the purity of David's intention. But when the king of Babylon sent for the vessels of the temple, it was evident, that he meant 310 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. studiously to affront the God of the Jews, and to make the people and their religion objects of malicious triumph, and " cruel mockery." By thus blending the " cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, Belshazzar filled up the measure of his iniquity, and provoked Jehovah to make his punishment as conspicuous as his impiety was public. As sacrilege is a sin of very com- prehensive application, let us beware how we rob the Most High of the honor due to his truths, his ordinances, his name, and his own day. And particularly, let us see to it, that we profane not that sacred institution, which is commemorative of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ; when we reflect, what judgments this species of profanation brought upon the Corinthian Church. And, as public feasts are too often scenes of voluptuousness and intoxication, where the sons of riot some- times amuse themselves with ridiculins; relioion and its advocates ; and instead of partaking of such mirth, which is perhaps made up of the obscene jest, or the horrid oaths and impreca- tions, of the indecent and profane ; let us fly from the place, as from the very confines of hell. And, be assured, that " only fools make a mock at sin ;" and that, thouo-h God in sjene- ral is patient, though provoked every day, yet be sometimes strikes offenders dead upon the BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 31 spot, and calls them to his bar, just as the lie or the blasphemy was issuing from their mouth.* 2. Sensuality and security in sin, are the cer- tain presages of impending ruin. When the wicked say in their hearts, " Tush, God careth not ;" or the worldling counting his riches, and wrapping himself in false tranquillity, breaks out into that sordid soliloquy, " Soul take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up in store ; eat, drink, and be merry ;" then the storm is at the blackest, and the angry cloud ready to burst. Transgressors take occasion to sin, because " vengeance against an evil act is not speedily executed ;" and the people of the world often draw flattering inferences respecting one an- other from outward prosperity or inward gaiety ; measuring their interest in the divine favor by the extent of their rent-roll ; or, the degree of their happiness, by the height of their levity. * A most awful instance of this sort was recorded in the Evening Post, for June 1781, in the following words :— " Last week two soldiers at Chatham laid a trifling wager which could swear most oaths. After one of them had uttered many shocking ones, he hesitated a short time, and said, ' I^e could think hut of one more, which should be his last ;' but was instantly struck speechless, and so remained for about three hours, w hen he expired. His body was, by order of his officers, made a public spectacle to the populace and soldiers, as a warning." 312 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. But, alas ! they consider not that the ox is fat- tened to the slaughter, and that " the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." The world, like a true Delilah, makes a soft lap for her votaries to sleep on; but it is only to render them a more easy prey to the enemies that lie in wait, and consign them over to drudgery more servile than that of Sampson deprived of his sight, shorn of his locks, and grinding in a mill at Gaza. Besides, it is not considered, that God's judgments, though long protracted, are sure ; and are the more tremendous, for being delayed. They are often conducted, and operate, like the mine, which is sprung in the dark, and which never discovers its subterranean progress, until it involves all around it in darkness, uproar, and ruin. A sensualist is never nearer the verge of destruction than when he speaks peace to himself; and a " foolish virgin," assuming the appearance of happiness, while a life of perpetual thought- lessness and dissipation destroys time, and unfits for death and judgment, is only like the moth that is at last consumed in the flame that at- tracted it. 3. See how easily the carnal repose of the wicked may be disturbed, in the height of their voluptuousness and festivity ! This may be ef- fected at any time by a variety of incidents or instruments. God need only drop a slight sen- BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOiM. 3 13 sation of wrath upon the conscience ; suffer that faithful vicegerent to assume the office of severe remonstrance ; or let loose Satan with his train of accusations upon the sinner, and immediately all is tumult and disquietude within. For, " when he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him ? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only ?" Job, xxxiv. 29. Let God but give a reverse of fortune, and touch that mountain of prospe- rity on which the proud and opulent elevate their hopes so high ; and down fall all their imaginary peace and bliss in a moment. How low they build, who build beneath the skies ! when the fabric and the builders of it may be crushed together before the moth. ye dissipated and profane, consider, before it be too late, that he, who surprised the king of Babylon at his feast, and called him, unpre- pared, from his cups to a tribunal ; will one day come suddenly asthe thief in the night, and put an end to your mirth, by the summons of the archangeFs voice, and the trump of God. 1 might here call your attention to the sin- gular contrivances of divine wisdom displayed, in the case of Daniel, with a view to exalt de-. based and injured excellence ; or, consider, how incumbent it is upon Christ's ministers, when 314 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. called upon, to do it, in imitation of the illus- trious Hebrew, with faithfulness and impar- tiality, even before kings. But waving any enlargement upon these points, I shall proceed to state, as the last practical observation upon the history before us, 4. How unsafe and fallacious it is, to infer any man's happiness or infelicity, merely from outward appearances, be they ever so specious, or afflicted. Behold Belshazzar upon his throne ! Con- template the magnificence of his palace, and the extent of his empire. He looks around upon Babylon, the superb residence of his court, and calling " the glory of the Chaldees excellency" his own, thinks himself the hap- piest and most august monarch of the East. Thousands do him homage, and tens of thou- sands bow at his footstool. The earth and seas are ransacked to supply his table with delica- cies ; and he needs only ask, to have every luxury that the most unbounded appetite could desire. Multitudes live upon his smile, and princes triumph in the honor of being in the train of his dependants. His word is a law, and confers dignities or death at pleasure. And the grand emulation among courtiers, domes- tics, and subjects, is, who shall be first in obe- dience to the tyrant's edicts. — Such is Belshaz- BELSHAZZAR'S DOOiM. 315 zar on his throne. But could we only have fol- lowed him to his secret retirements, or looked into his breast, we should have seen all this semblance of splendor and felicity tarnished by some corroding care, that banished repose even from his bed of down ; or some vicious passion, that preyed continually upon his heart. A dreadful rival in power, a sullen contemner of his false dignity, like another Mordecai, refus- ing to bow to impious Haman, or a single dis- appointment in the pursuit of dominion and conquest, were sufficient to make his diadem tremble on his brow, and to plant such sharp thorns in the crown that adorned it, that a man upon the rack could not be more miserable than the haughty monarch of Babylon seated on his imperial throne. Who, therefore, would not have preferred the situation of a peasant in his cottage, or that of the poorest captive Jew within the walls of Babylon, before the gran- deur of a palace, in which wretchedness and sin took up their abode? But, follow Belshazzar to his banquet. See him seated at the head of his convivial assem- bly. The sumptuous feast is prepared ; and his lords sit down to share in the Entertain- ment. The charms of beauty, and the harmony of music, are -called in, to heighten the repast. Every face shines with mirth, and every heart 316 BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOM. overflows with joy. The richest juice of the vine contributes, in abundance, to the festivity of the scene. And, to the heart of an epicure, or in the eye of a bacchanalian, there never was a more pleasing- object than Belshazzar, at the head of his lords and concubines, laughing at religion, toasting his favorite gods, drinking destruction (as it is probable he did) to the poor captive Jews, and getting drunk out of the hallowed cups that once adorned their temple. But, should any really think this jovial assem- bly a happy one, let them remember the text, and the hand that wrote it. Look from the festive board to the lettered xcall. What is written there ? Then turn to Belshazzar. See, he looks aghast, and trembles ! Whither is his mirth fled ? Why are his lords astonished ? What will his riches and the glory of his king- dom do for him now ? See him falling under the sword of a victorious adversary ; and, after death, falling into the hands of the living God ; and then say, who would have been in his case, for his crown and empire ? or, for a thousand worlds ? From hence it is manifest, that, in order to judge aright of happiness, we must look deeper than the surface, and farther than the passing moment. The completest misery is, often, per- mitted to assume a smiling countenance ; and BELSllAZZAR'S DOOM. 317 it is only the event of things that is to throw light on the mysteries that veil present dispen- sations. A fallacious outside deceives and de- ludes the world in general. And were our judgment to be guided by the opinions, or our practice modelled by the lives of many, we should conclude, that the rich man " clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day," had the best pretensions to happi- ness, and Lazarus at his gate, full of sores, was misery itself; till we heard, that the one was translated to Abraham's bosom, and that the other was lifting up his eyes in the torments of hell. With a view, therefore, to detect the fal- lacy and danger of such conclusions, and to brush the vermilion from the cheek of painted misery or gilded error, I go on, as proposed, to II. Accommodate the images in our text to the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the principles and pretensions, of sin- ners of various complexions. The principal image in the text is taken from a custom, which hath prevailed amongst all na- tions, of regulating commercial intercourse, by the test of the balance, or of determining the value or deficiency of any commodity, by cer- tain standard weights. In allusion to this mode, the adjustment of which formed a part of that sacred code of juridical ceremonies. 318 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. which God gave to the Jewish legislator ; the king of Babylon is represented as put into the balance. His kingdom, and the glory thereof, his crown and sceptre, his wealth, dominion, and titles, are put in with him. These would be thought objects of prodigious appreciation in the eyes of the world, and would weigh im- mensely heavy in the false balance of human estimation ; as they probably did, in the opinion of Belshazzar and his abandoned court. But it is not a human hand that holds the balance, or the eye of a superficial mortal that is to watch its preponderation. No; the beam is suspended from God's hand, and the balance is to be regu- lated by One, in whose sight " a false balance is an abomination." Prov. xi. I. Belshazzar is weighed by Him, who can neither err nor be deceived. And the result of the scrutiny is, that he is found wanting. His moral character is defective, weighs nothing. The glory of an empire cannot make up for what is wanting in the man. In God's account, an act of truth or mercy outweighs a kingdom ; and, without ho- liness, earthly dignities are as the small dust of the balance, and all sublunary excellence lighter than vanity itself Belshazzar 's whole empire is no counter-balance against Belshazzar's iniqui- ties. And, while a court or pulpit-flatterer pro- nouncess bliss and glory in the king, God BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOM. 5]g makes no other account of bis royalty, than to damn it in the s'umer with the greater em- phasis. Let us borrow the striking imagery in the text, and apply it to ourselves. Let each indi- vidual fancy himself represented, as a mortal and a sinner, in the person of the king of Baby- lon, before his doom was fixed, and his life hung in suspense. Let him suppose himself, — his principles and pretensions, — his heart and life, — put into the balance. The scriptures of the Old and New Testament, in perfect coinci- dence with each other, are the two sacred even-balanced scales, by which his whole self is to be weighed. As the decalogue is the great standard of moral rectitude, and the gospel is the test of evangelical principles ; I hope it will not be any straining of the metaphor, to consider the ttvo tables of the law, and the requi- sitmis of the gospel, as the just weights, by which the pretensions of the pharisee and the soaring professor are to be examined ; since we are commanded to bring every tiling to the test of " the law ^nd the testimony." This is the more requisite, because the essential truth of God is the beam, from whence the two' scales of scripture are suspended, and by which they are made to connect in perfect harmony. Let us consider the hand of \\\?\i\\xe justice as hold- 520 BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. ing the balance, weighing its contents, and deter- mining the value. And let every sinner under heaven fancy himself thus subjected to the ex- amination of the Most High God, and his state to be determined l)y his just and unalterable judgment ; while the fate of his never-dying soul is to be fixed for ever by the issue. It is in vain to attempt either to supersede or elude this scrutiny. For, it is carrying on, every moment, though by an invisible process ; death is now hovering round the head of every one of us, and only waits for the divine commission to take out of the scale what God hath weighed in it, and to turn over the sinner to that tri- bunal, which retributive justice shall one day erect. In detecting the fallacious hopes and specious principles by which mankind are deceived and destroyed, it is necessary that we weigh in the balance of the sanctuary, all human righteous- ness, all the possessions oj earth, and all the plea- sures of sense. These are the three principal sources, from whence men, in general, are la- bouring to derive happiness. And if I can only convince them that every one of these springs is dry, and that happiness floweth in a pure and perennial stream from a different fountain ; much may be done towards bringing them to the enjoyment of what they have hitherto pur- BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 321 sued, with fruitless search, in objects calcu- lated rather to ensure misery, than procure happiness. 1. When it is proposed to put to the test all human righteousness, I mean by that term, every kind and degree of moral obedience, which a sinner in his natural state can perform, and upon which he builds his hopes of heaven. As the scriptures positively declare, that *' there is none righteous, no, not one ;" it is plain, at first view, that the terms human righteousness are intended to describe only what is so called, not what really exists. For, since that degree of moral rectitude, which implies perfection of obedience to the law of God, is no longer the claim of fallen sinners ; the word righteousness is used, as the language of the self-justiciary, not as the concession of truth. So that, when I adopt these terms, I do it, in order to prove, that the language of many, on theological sub- jects, is as improper as their pretensions are ill- founded. Now, that you may be convinced that all human righteousness, as a ground of acceptance before God, is absolutely ideal, and forms no part whatever of that moving cause,' which prompted Jehovah to confer upon us the bless- ings of his kingdom, please to recollect that it is written, " Not by works of righteousness Y 322 BELSIIAZZAR'S DOOM. which we had done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Tit. iii. 5. Mercy presupposes guilt and wretchedness. And to say that sin- ners, who possess no previous works of right- eousness, but require to be dealt with as objects of divine compassion, are notwithstanding right- eous, and must be saved by the merit of their works, is one of the grossest solecisms in divi- nity, that the church of Rome itself could ever have established in her erroneous creed. Be- sides, when revelation points us to the Media- tor of the new covenant, as to one who sustains the office of a Saviour, how can any man, that pays the least deference to divine authority, suppose, without violating the dictates of even common sense, that he can save himself, and at the same time give the glory of salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ ? Upon the plan of the erro- neous hypothesis I am combating, the truth of man's depravity must be denied, and the glorious redemption of the Son of God altogether va- cated. So that, before a sinner can arrogantly plead his own righteousness, as the meritorious cause of his salvation, he must first reason him- self out of common sense, and, in the face of allowed truths and indisputable facts, endeavour to demonstrate that he is not a sinner, nor Christ a Saviour. BELSHAZZAR'S DOOM. 323 But, let us examine the bold pretensions of human righteousness by the moral law. This is the standard of equity and the touchstone of truth. Before it gives the denomination of righteous to any act, or of righteousness to any agent, the law requires perfect, pure, universal, and uninterrupted obedience. A single failure even in thought, makes a man virtually a trans- gressor of the whole law, and brings him in- stantly under its curse. For, " if a man keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James, ii. 10. The law requires too, that not merely some, but all its precepts should be observed not only in the letter, but also in the spirit of them ; and not only for a certain space of the life of man, but also from the commencement to the close, with every moment inclusive. For, it is writ- ten again, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." Gal. iii. 10. The Apostle Paul contemplating the sanctions of the moral law, and its requirement of universal and incessant conformity, when compared with the corrup- tion of Imman nature, and the utmost efforts of all human works, draws this inference from the humiliating comparison, " If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is ' w, all sinned ; and that, because all sinned in him as their representative, therefore all die through him, or are obnoxious to death, the very moment they are born, and are by nature the children of wrath. Ephes. ii. 3. After the scriptures of truth have instructed us in the origin of sin, they then proceed to a description of that calamity of universal in- fluence — death, with which are connected innu- merable woes. This is done, with a view to impress man with a solemn truth, which every trifle tends to obHterate from his mind, viz. that he must die ; to humble him under a sense of that guilt, from whence his mortality originated, and to solemnize and prepare him for an event as inevitable, as uncertain, in the time of its arrival. Hence death is represented as a king of mighty power, extensive dominion, and uni- versal sway ; before whose imconquerable arm, even conquering kings themselves fall ; and to z 338 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR whom, as to a superior potentate, they must resign those very trophies that marked their own conquests, together with all the glittering regalia of sceptres, diadems, and thrones, which lie as spoils at death's footstool. — As a king of terrors ; whose train is composed of the terrific attendants of the pestilence, the famine, the sword, the earthquake ; and all the numerous maladies which attack the body, or torture the mind ; by which, as by a great army, death in- vades this microcos??i man, and converts the globe into an aceldama or field of blood, filled with promiscuous heaps of slain. As a monster, armed with a stingy 1 Cor. xv. 56, so pointed as to strike through the liver of the stoutest trans- gressor ; so impoisoned, as to communicate a venom, which mocks all the powers of medi- cine ; and so deadly, as, by its baneful influence, to blast health in its highest vigor, and youth in perfect prime ; and to reduce the outward fabric of man to a state, humble as the dust, and vile as the crawling reptile. This kino- of terrors, this deadlv monster, all must meet. He is a messenger of the Almighty. He bears a warrant signed in the court of hea- ven. He has executed his commission already upon millions ; and millions more shall fall be- fore his invincible arm. Kven now he is knock- ing at the door of thousands of our fcllow-mur- THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 339 tals, and God only knows, who next may be accosted by this awful visitant. In the midst of fancied security, and boasted health, this invisible foe may be this very moment whet- ting his scythe, and meditating a blow at the healthy and the strong ; while the pampered miser, who says to his soul, Soul take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up in stot^e, eat, dri?ik\ and be merry, may be instantly the first to be surprised with the unexpected call, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. If death call, we must hear. If he summon, we must obey. If he enter our doors, we must give him the meeting. Who can stay his hand ? Who can reverse or even retard the ex- ecution of his summons ? Is he to be bribed by- xvealth ? Is he to be repelled hy force ? Can titles OY honors demand his partiality? Will he compliment the dignified, or the opulent? Can entreaties move him ? Or, " Can^att'ty sooth the dull, cold car of deaih ?" No. lie is as impartial, as he is relentless and inexorable. He pays no respect to, age, sex, rank, or fortune. He visits equally the palace and the cottage. The king and peasant are alike indiscriminate objects of his summons. Crowns and sceptres are no more in his estima- 340 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR tion, weigh no more in death's balance, than rags or pebbles. The prince and the subject, the wise and the foolish, the healthy and invalid, the beautiful and deformed, shall lie down alike in the gra^ve, and the worms shall cover them. Job, xxi. 26. The small and the great are there ; Job, iii. 19 ; in that land of darkness, as darkness itself] and of the shadow of death, without any order, xohere the light is as darkness. Job, x. 22. Sin makes man meet death ; and death brings him to a meeting with God. Those, who would not meet him, in his ordinances, by prayer or through y^^V^, in a Mediator, shall ho, forced to an interview with the holy and eternal Jehovah at his tribunal, to give an account for all the deeds done in the body. To those, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, Rev. vii. 14, this meeting will be the commencement of perfect, perpe- tual, and uninterrupted bliss : but to the un- righteous it will be, beyond description, hor- rible. To these, death comes as an executioner; lays his axe to the root of the trees ; and gives the fatal blow. If rotten and fruitless, down they fall, and so they lie as fuel fit for everlast- ing burnings. Isa. xxxiii. 14. Then the wicked launch into eternity ; are consigned over to the bar of God ; and receive their eternal doom. The instant life's silken cord is broken, and the THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 341 soul dislodged from the body, the sinner is either transported on the wings of cherubs to Abraham's bosom, or lifts up his eyes with that rich man, in endless torments : if he meet God in his sins, unpardoned and unconverted ; God meets him as a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 29, clad in all his vengeance and terrors. O sirs, it is this consideration, that strips death of all that unimportance, with which, from the frequency of its arrival, it is viewed, in ge- neral, by a thoughtless world. To die, sounds common, and appears trivial ; but not so, to die and be damned, or to die and be saved. When we consider, that either eternal damnation, or eternal salvation, is the instant and inseparable consequence of death ; how wicked, how dia- bolically absurd, are the jests of the infidel and the wit, when affecting to smile at that solemn event ! However, with all the affected gaiety of the proud and the profane, when they come to lie on a death-bed, their mirth will forsake them, and all the boasted heroism of infidelity sink in a dreadful succession of horror and dis- may. And no wonder ; since " 'Tis not the dying, but 'tis this they fear, ' To be — they know not what, they know not where !" The prospect of meeting the Lord God Al- mighty, constitutes the bitterest drug in th« 34S THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR cup of the wicked, and is the most tormenting thought, in the view of their dissolution, that racks them on the verge of eternity. How would they court death, and solicit his arrival; were it not, that after death is the judgment ! How gladly would they meet and embrace the messenger, could they but be excused from meeting tliaj: God ; the light of whose counte- nance makes heaven, but in whose frown, is hell ! From a reluctance to do this, arise dismal apprehensions, dreadful impatience, torturing doubts, and a tormenting anxiety to live. All which conflict of raging and tumultuous pas- sions, in a soul, at the article of dissolution, and upon the point of meeting God, is most beauti- fully described in the following striking ima- gery of the poet : " In that dread moment, how the frantic soul Raves round the walls of her clay tenement ! Runs to each avenue ; and shrieks fur help ! But shrieks in vain ! How wishfully §he looks On all she's leaving, now no longer her's ! A little longer, yet a little longer, O might she stay, to wash away her crimes, And fit her for her passage ! Mournful sight I Her very eyes weep blood ; and every groan She heaves, is big with horror ! But the Foe,* Like a staunch murd'rer, steady to his purpose. Pursues her close through ev'ry lane of life, Nor misses once the track ; but presses on ; ' ' THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 343 'Till forced at last to the tremendous verge, At once she sinks," sinks into the bottomlesij and gloomy gulf of everlasting darkness and death ! Awful plunge ! Dreadful exit ! What heart can conceiv^e, or tongue describe, the state of an immortal soul, trembling on the brink of fate ; arrested by death ; the prisoner of guilt and fear ; reluctant to depart, yet viewing dis- solution inevitable ; looking forward to eternity with painful dread, and backward, upon the world, with sorrow and regret ; unwilling to go, yet unable to stay ; soliciting a reprieve for a year, another month only, or even a week, but denied one moment's delay ; putting off in imagination or in wish, what is present to sense ; quitting the world, and bidding an everlasting farewel to all its enjoyments, with nothing in prospect to compensate for the loss ; at length, forced to launch, though sure of shipwreck ; and nothing in view, but a black abyss, a for- feited heaven, and an angry God ! This is th^ end that awaits the wicked. This is the fate of those who die without Christ ! Oh that the consideration might awaken the fears of the careless, and prompt the people of Godjo give diligence to make their calling and election sure ! 2 Pet. i. 10. And yet this is not all. For, 2. We must meet God at the judgment-day ; when he will judge the world in righteousness by 344 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR that man, whom he hath appointed. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence : afire shall de- vour before him, and it shall be "cery tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from abo've, and to the earth that he may judge the people. Psal. 1. 3, 4. The Lord Jesus shall he re^vealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 7iot God, and that obey not the gospel of out Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thes. i. 7, 8. / beheld, says Daniel, till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool : his throne zvas like the Jiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued, and came forth from before him : thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him : the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Dan. vii. Q, 10. These are some of those sublime descriptions, which the inspired writers give us of that pe- riod, in which every circumstance that is grand, terrible, and august, shall conspire to render it the great and terrible day of the Lord, Joel, ii. 31, the great day of his wrath, Rev. vi. 17, the ge- neral assize. If we contemplate the dignity of the Judge, the splendor and multitude of his retinue, the majesty of his throne, the process arid issue of the judgment, together with all the THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 345 circumstances that shall precede, attend, and follow, his glorious appearing ; — if we take into consideration either the goodness or the severity, the wrath or the mercy, the destruction or the redemption, the felicity or the woes, which shall be respectively dispensed in this important pe- riod, have we not reason to cry out, who shall be able to stand befh^e this Holy Lord God ? Consider, what a Judge we have to meet ! — one of infinite dignity ; for he is the King of glory y Psal. xxiv. 7 ; the great God our Saviom% Tit. ii. 13; the mighty God the e'cerlasting Father, Isa. ix. 6 ; King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev. xix. \6 ; the Lord of hosts himself , Isa. viii. 13, 14; compared with 1 Pet. ii. 8. The true God. 1 John, V. 20. — A Judge as much trans- cending in dignity all earthly judges, as the heavens surpass in glory the earth', or the sun in the firmament, the twinkling stars, which all disappear, when he riseth. — A Judge, at whose footstool the kings of the earth shall prostrate themselves in either cheerful or com- pelled adoration ; and, before whose tribunal, judges themselves shall stand, and be judged. A Judge, whose eye is so keen, as with one glance to survey the universe ; to pervade the thickest darkness ; to penetrate the depths of hell ; and to search the heart ; whose arm is irresistible ; and whose power neither men nor 346 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR devils can control. He sliajl be seated on a great white throne ; white in unspotted, un- bribed, uncoriiipted administration of justice, from vvbence nothing can issue but purity, equity, wisdom, and truth ; and great, as being reared on the ruins of all eartlily thrones, and as forming the magnificent seat of him, who is the Most High God, possessor and arbiter oj hea- ven and earth. Gen. xiv. I9. Thy throne, O God! is for ever and ever. Heb. i. 8. What attendants shall grace his advent ! Count- less myriads, a multitude, which no man can number, of saints and angels bearing the harps of God, and decorated with crowns of gold ; all ambitious to be of his train ; all vying Math sacred emulation, who shall tune their harps to the sweetest notes, and exert their voices in loudest harmony, to the praise of Emmanuel ; and all joining, without a single discordant string, in one grand and unanimous hallelujah, To him that loved us and zcashed ns from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Rev. i. 5, 6. JVorthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, atid honor, and glory, and blessing. Rev. v. xii. What signs shall announce his arrival ! On earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; men's THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 347 hearts failing them for fear — wars and rumours of wars — eartliquakes in divers countries — pes- tilence and famine — all nature thrown into universal convulsions, dreadful pangs that pre- sage her approaching dissolution — the earth shaken to its centre, and sea horrihly agitated — the heavens wrapped together like a parch- ment scroll, and passing away with a great noise — the elements melting with fervent heat ; while the heavens and the earth are in one general flame — the sun turned into darkness, being utterly eclipsed by the overpowering lus- tre of the Sun of Righteousness ; and the moon into blood — the stars falling, as when the un- timely fruit of a fig-tree are thrown down by the wind — the tremendous blast of the trump of God, so loud as to pierce the cavern^ of the earth and the depths of the sea, to sound an alarm in the abyss of hell, and carry an awaken- ing summons through the regions of the dead — the grave and hadi^s resigning their respective charge — gaping tombs, and parting seas giving up their dead — bodies that slept for thousands of years in a bed of dust, roused at the Arch- angel's voice, to sleep no more ; and r,e-united to immortal souls, their ancient mates, all thronging to the tribunal of God. See the Judge himself enthroned ! a mixture of majesty and mercy, of vengeance and love, 348 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR seated on his brow; — the clouds his chariot, and the heavens his canopy ; while rocks and mountains flee before his face ! " His lightnings flash, his thunders roll, How welcome to the faithful soul I" Millions attend his bar. Men, angels, devils, all receive the summons, to await his decisive sentence. Adam and his numerous posterity, Lucifer and his apostate train, and all the angels who kept not their first estate, compose the awful levee. The righteous fly swifter than the wind or the rapid lightning, to meet their Lord in the air ; devils and the wicked, like criminals in chains dragged from their cells, are compelled, though reluctant, to appear at his tribunak Small and gjxat stand before God ; the books are opened; Rev. xx. 12; the judgment begins ; the grand transaction that is to decide the fate of the world goes on, till at last sen- tence is passed, Come ye blessed, or Depart ye cursed ; and then, upon the one hand, are heard doleful cries, tumultuous lamentations, bitter weepings, that bespeak guilt and despair ; but upon the other, the triumphant songs of elect angels and redeemed sinners, rending the hea- vens with applausive shouts and acclamations in honor of the Judge ; and with a voice, louder than the noise of many waters, and more har- THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 349 monious, than that which celebrated the crea- tion of all things, shouting Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne^ and unto the LAMB! And must we meet this glorious, this tre- mendous Judge of heaven and earth r We must. Every eye shall see hwi ; every knee shall bow to him ; every ear shall be witness to his deci- sive sentence ; and every tongue confess, either with cheerful and voluntary acknowledgment, or with forced and irresistible conviction, that he is God. The people oF his grace shall see him, and kindle into rapture at the sight ; shall meet him, and find their heaven of heavens in the interview. They shall meet him, to grace his triumphs, and adorn his mediatorial crown, as jewels, of an immense purchase, of infinite value, of unfading lustre. The day of Messiah's se- cond appearing will be his grand coronation day ; whereon, in the presence of admiring and applauding millions, the croxvn of salvation^ that crown of crowns, shall be unanimously, publicly, and solemnly placed on the headof King Jesus; and every voice shall shout. Worthy is the Lamb. Oh ! that each o^ us may bear some humble part in that immortal song ! some humble office in that great solemnity ! But who, among the wicked, may abide the day of his coming ; and zvho shall stand, when he 350 THE PREPARATION REQClSITE FOR appearefh? Mai. iii. 2. For behold the day com- et h^ that shall burn as an oven ; and all the PROUD, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. Mai. iv. 1. O what a meeting will take place between the Judge, and those, who once refused to acknow- ledge him as their Saviour and their King ! He will meet them as a bear bereaved of her zvhelps, and devour them as a lion ; Hos. xiii. 8 ; and they shall meet him, as the briers and thorns, the flame that consumeth them. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living GOD. In the character of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, his advent will be tremendous : but it is the wrath of the Lamb, of the once- wounded, rejected, persecuted, blasphemed, and injured Lamb, that will be most insufferably dreadful; and it is from that, they will earnestly solicit jfwuntains and rocks to hide them, as a shelter from his indignation. Rev. vi. 16. But, rocks and mountains will be no veil from his all-see- ing eye ; no covert from his Almighty arm ; no obstruction to the shafts of his vengeance, llo, will find them out though they make their bed in hell ; will pursue and overtake them, though they take the wings of the morning, and flee to the uttermost parts of the earth or sea; and THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 351 bring them down, though they make their nest in the stars. And who can conceive how fear- ful that meeting must be, when the parties are, rebelHous mortals and a holy God ; — potsherds of the earth, and the Creator of all worlds ! worms, and Omnipotence ! Since, then, there will be a certain and swiftly approaching interview between God and sin- ners, at the solemn hour of death ; and a more awful and decisive one, at the general assize : O how deeply incumbent it is upon all, to pre- pare for both ! But, are you ready ? Should death call, or God-Messiah descend to judg- ment ; would you be found in circumstances of security and preparation ? Ask your hearts. Are there no guilty misgivings there ? Ask your lives. Are they such as correspond with the temper of persons, looking out for, and liastening unto, the coming of the day of God? Ask conscience. Sprinkled from the evil of guilt by the blood of Christ, does it witness to your salvation ? or loaded w^ith sin, and fraught with pollution, does it proclaim you the subject of misery, and the heir of hell, and t>ear a loud testimony to your condemnation? Ask the word of God. Will your hearts and lives bear to be tried by that touchstone of truth ? If you profess Christianity ; are you Bible Christians? If you think you are sound 352 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR in the truth ; will you bear to be probed ? If you shrink from this examination ; is there not cause to fear, that there is some latent sore you wish to conceal ? some morbid part, you are unwilling to be touched even with a gentle hand, though it is festering deep, and spreading wide, and threatens death everlast- ing? You may think you are prepared, when you are not. The thought, in such a case, arises from a spiritual mortification, that deadens the conscience, and deprives it of feeling. And a supposition of safety, where there is no scrip- tural ground to warrant it, is only the reverie of a sick man, or the chimera of one that dream- eth. That you may not be deceived, or flat- tered, in a point of such vast moment ; let us now consider, 2. What kind o^ preparation it is incumbent upon sinners to make, in the prospect of an interview with God at death, and in the day of judgment. I. A gracious preparation ; or, a preparation ' through the inherent efficacy, and transforming influence of divine grace. The nature of man is so depraved, and all the faculties of the soul are so alienated from the life of God, that a divine and supernatural power is absolutely requisite to the restorationof that image, which sin effaced ; to the recovery of that happiness. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 353 which man, as a transgressor, has forfeited ; to the implantation of those fruits of righteousness, which were eradicated by the fall ; and to the possession of that divine and gracious " things which BY NATURE 771071 CANNOT HAVE."* For, " the condition of man, after the fall of Adamf is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his ow?i natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God : wherefore we have 710 power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ pre'ventiiig us, that we may have a good will, and zvorkmg with us, when we have that good will." Thus speaks Article X. " Of free will." And the Xlllth is equally strong and express. " Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith." It may be urged, that " these are the words of fallible men." A poor evasive plea this. For though the words be the composition of fallible men, yet the sentiments are the truths of the infallible God : for the scriptures declare that the preparation of the heart in 7nan is pr the Lord; Prov. xvi. 1. See also I Chron. xxix. 18; Office of baptism in the book of common prayer. A A 354 THE PllEPARATION REQUISITE FOR that we must be born again, John, iii. 7 ; that being dead in trespasses and si7is, we must be quickened by God, Ephes. ii. 1 ; that no man can come unto Christ, e.vcept the Father draw him, Jolm, vi. 44; that, if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his, lloni. viii. 9 ; that it is God who xvorketh in us, to will and to do of his good pleasure, Phil. xxii. 13; and that, without (or %w^jr sex'eiecl from) Christ we can do nothing, but sin, and err. John, xv. 5. The nature of man, since the fall, is depraved: nothing but grace can rectify and renew it. It is disordered: grace alone provides a remedy. It is polluted : its innate defilement is cleansed by grace. It is unholy : the grace of God, zvhich bringeth pre- sent salvation, teachethusto deny uiigodUness and worldly lusts. Titus, iii. 12. It is debased by sin : nothing can ennoble or exalt it, but all- sufficient grace. It is weak and impotent : grace alone can strengthen and fortify it against temp- tation. It is rebellious : grace controls and cap- tivates its most stubborn opposition, and makes its powers passive, and fiexible. Human nature is barren: and nothing but all-conquering grace can subdue its sterility. It is grace that breaks up thefalloiv ground ; softens the soil ; sows the seed ; cherishes it, when sown ; makes it spring; brings it to maturity ; blesses it with sunshines and -showers ; defends it from nipping frosts THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 35^ and scorching heat ; and crowns the once-bar- ren and stubborn soil witli a rich harvest of fruit. It is grace that makes that wonderful change, so beautifully described in Isa. xxxv% 1 — 9. The 'wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them : and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose : it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. For in the wildei^ness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall be- come a pool, and the thirsty land, springs of water : in the habitatioji of di^agons (fierce, untamed, im- poisoning lusts, that make a carnal mind to re- semble the haunt of venomous beasts) where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highxvay shall be there, and a ivay, and it shall be called the way of Holiness. Such is that gracious work which renews the soul, and makes it meet for a meeting with God; which makes all old things pass azvay and every thing become new ; 2 Cor. v. 7 ; and without which, man is iiulisposed to the ways of right- eousness, and unfit to perform any thing ac- ceptable to God. O that you may be enabled to determine whether or not this work has been wrought in you ! Trust not to poor, naked morality ; that meagre, superficial thing, which unsanctified immoral Pharisees make their all. Morality only skins over the wound ; but grace 556 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR effects a radical cure. Morality strikes at out- ward branches ; but grace alone can lay the axe to the root of corruption. Morality may give a specious white-washing to a sepulchre, or a gilded varnish to a statue ; but grace alone can cleanse from inward foulness, turn rottenness and death into life and purity, and convert dead men's bones into living members of Christ. Morality confines its attention only to the cleansing of the streams : but grace, like Elishds wonder-working cruse of salt, goes up to the springs of water, and pours its primary, its salu- tary, influence there. Q Kings, ii. 20, 21. Mo- rality gives the appearance only of that, of which grace makes the reality. Morality assumes the name of religion ; but grace forms its nature. Morality may make an useful member of society, but grace alone can make a faithful member of Christ. Human power can accomplish a doc- trinal speculatist, or constitute a pharisaical formalist ; but God that made the world, must make a Christian. 2. The preparation requisite, is such, as de- mands the solemn and unreserved dedication of the heart and life to the service and honor of God ; or such a devotion of all we have and are, to his glory, as bespeaks the purity of the principles by which we are to be governed ; the power and sincerity of the motives, by which THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 357 we are to be actuated ; and the great import- ance of the end we are to have in view. God has an indisputable right to all we pos- sess ; because all we have is the effect of his power, and the result of his unmerited bount}^ The heart is more especially his claim ; because he first made it himself, and, when fallen, re- deemed it with the blood of his Son. My Son give me thy heart, Prov. xxiii. 26, is therefore his most reasonable and gracious demand. To give it to any thing else, save to its original Proprietor and Redeemer, is black ingratitude, is palpable idolatry : and to pretend devotion, when the heart is withheld, is hypocrisy and dissimulation. Give God any thing, and keep back the heart, and you virtually give him no- thing, or present him with an abomination. He is a Spirit, and they who worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth. John, iv. 24. The most tedious round of duties, the most punctual and ceremonious attendance upon forms, are but so many elaborate modes of affronting Jehovah, if the heart be not right with God; and so many delusive methods to conceal a latent malady, which is opei) to the eye of omniscience, as the foulest insincerity, and the rankest pride. They who honor the Lord with lip-service, or draw nioh to him in 358 'I'l^E PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR mere formality, are they who trust i?i lying words and espouse a deUision ; especially when crying out, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. Jer. vii. 4. But how few consider this with becoming seriousness and attention ! Hurried on in the circle of dissipation, and driven impetuously forward by the torrent of popular example, multitudes possess neither leisure nor inclina- tion, to examine the grounds of their profes- sion, or to compare their hearts and lives with the word of God. As if religion had nothing to do with the heart, they only profess with their lips, what, alas ! is strongly reprobated by the current of their affections and the tenor of their lives. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, are their favorite idols : and to sacrifice to these, not to the Lord of Hosts, is the wish, the desire, the ultimate resolution of their hearts. To such, an inspired Apostle says. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not, that the friendship of the world is enmity xvith God. James, iv. 4. They attend public worship ; but while they are visible in their pews to the eye of man, their real selves, their hearts, appear to omni- science to be pursuing their vanities, and wan- dering immeasurably far from God, when they THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 359 should be approaching him in the most solemn and intimate communion : so that in the very act of pretending to worship him, they mock him most. Their " week's preparation" is hur- ried over with the rapidity of a school-boy re- peating his task ; only with not so much atten- tion, nor with equal fear; and, while they feel religion to be perfect bondage, and go through it as a drudgery, they nevertheless depend upon their lame performances for acceptance, and so make their very sin and abomination their Saviour. And is this the preparation the scriptures require ? Is this giving the heart to God ? Are such persons consistent worshippers of that God, who h a Spirit ? Can these be said to be preparing to meet the Lord ? Are they at all ready to go forth at the coming of the bride- groom ? No. A spiritual infirmity, deeper than that lameness, which prevented Mephibosheth from going out to meet King David, incapaci- tates, and indisposes them totally for the advent of the King of kings. Their preparation, like the ceremony of a funeral, is nothing but the pa- geantry of the dead ; and the decorations of a breathless corpse carried in pompous procession to be food for worms in the grave, exhibit too striking a representation of that unani mated 260 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE FOR and lifeless formality, which, with all its gaudy- trappings, is but the co7^pse of reWgion, and leads to the chambers of everlasting death. 3. An habitual zvatclifulness of spirit, that implies diligence, solicitude, fidelity, prayer, holiness, is absolutely required of those, who Avould wish to meet God with joy. This watch- fulness, in scripture, is contrasted to sloth, in- action, unfaithfulness, inordinate care, worldly- mindedness, and carnal security. It is com- pared to that circumspection and fidelity which should mark the conduct of a servant, entrusted with the care of a household, and obliged by the nature of his office, as well as the injunc- tions of his master, to nmnage every thing in his absence with wisdom, and to prepare for his return ; and to that wakeful diligence, by which a house is guarded against the depredations of nightly robbers. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that xvait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding. Blessed are those ser- vants, xvhom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he xcould have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Luke, xii. fi5 — 39. The contrary temper of unwatchfulness is de- THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 3^1 scribed in the character of an unfaithful, quar- relsome, disobedient, and drunken servant, who takes occasion to riot and revel, from the delay of his master's returning home. Biitf and if that servant say In his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men-scr- "vants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drmiken, the Lord of that servant will come iji a day xvhen he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not azvare, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbe- lievers. Luke, xii. 45, 4G. And in all those instances, the principal argument to urge the necessity of watching, is founded on the uncer- tainty of the time of our Lord's arrival. Be yc therefore ready, for the Son of man comet h at an hour, when ye think not. Luke, xii. 40. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. 2 Pet. iii. 10. The watchfLdness, therefore, recommended by our Lord, and implied in the text, comprehends an habitual spirit of prayer ; hence the exhor- tation, Watch and pray — habitual sobriety ; Watch and be sober; Thes. v. 6; — holiness in conversation ; Set a watch before my, mouth ; Psal. cxli. 3; — a patient, yet ardent expecta- tion of the Lord's arrival; and a cautious avoidance of every care, of every pleasure, and 362 THE PREPARATION REQUISITE, &c. of every entanglement, which might ensnare the heart, captivate the senses, and immerse the affections in sloth and self-indulgence. All which is enjoined in that concise but most solemn and comprehensive exhortation of the Son of God, What I say unto you^ I say unto ally Watch ! Mark, xiii. SI- 363 SERMON X. ON THE DEATH OF I\IR. I. A, " He shall enter into peace." Isaiah, Ivii. 2. The great and irreversible decree of Heaven, respecting tlie whole human race, is, " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." This sentence, originally pronounced upon the transgression of the first man, evidently included also his whole posterity to the end of time. It has already received its solemn execution upon the generations that are past : we see with our eyes, its effects in the multitudes, that are daily- passing from time to eternity : nor shall its in- fluence cease, until the wide-extended dominion of death be destroyed, and mortality svv'allowcd up of life. The divine appointment, through which the grave becomes the common receptacle of all 354 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. men, is not more awful, than it is Just : for, '' the wages of sin is death." Man deserves to die, because he hath sinned. Hence, there ariseth a necessary and inevitable connexion between our origin and our end. So that, if we wish to trace the innumerable calamities attendant upon death, to their source ; we shall soon find, that they all originate from sin. " As by one man SIN entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.'' Rom. v. 12. It is sin that hath brought universal disorder into the natural and spiritual world. It hath sown the seeds of mortality in the human frame ; hath filled the heart with alienation from God ; and rendered body and soul obnoxious to the sentence of everlasting separation from the kingdom of heaven. Sin hath given death his sting; and furnished that king of terrors with his formi- dable message and tremendous appearance. It hath opened the horrors of the tomb, and ex- panded wide the mouth of hell. It hath armed the law with a curse, more to be dreaded than death ; hath given the sword of justice its sharpest edge ; and hath awakened the indig- nation of that God, who is as a consuming fire. It is the great bar of separation between the creature and the Creator ; and is that moral evil, which, when finished, brings forth death, ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 3(^5 temporal and eternal. It brought a flood of waters upon the old world ; was the cause of Sodom's destruction ; and will, at last, bring a deluge of fire upon the world that now is. In a review of those innumerable evils, of which, even death is not the greatest, it will be incumbent upon us, therefore, to keep our eye fixed on the origin of them all, sin. Hereby We shall be able to vindicate the righteous pro- cedure of God, even when we behold him send- ing death to pull down the beautiful fabric, which his own hands had made ; and opening the grave, as the sad and silent repository of his own curious workmanship. When we re- flect, that it is «■??, that hath produced this melancholy change, and that this evil is found upon us ; the reflection will help to restrain the extravagance of grief, and to suppress that pre- dominancy of discontented repining, which of- ten makes sinners fly in the face of God, and charge him foolishly. For, if death be not duly considered and acknowledged as the desert and wages of sin, I can easily conceive that, for want of such humble consideration, sinners may be led to arraign the dispensations of .the Most High ; to charge unerring wisdom with foolish- ness ; infinite justice with unrighteousness; and mercy itself with cruelty. But, when once sin is viewed, in its damning nature, its dreadful 366 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. effects, and Just deserts ; the discovery will pro- duce submission to the divine will, under the most severe dispensations. It will make us " put our mouths in the dust," in silent acqui- escence in the wise and sovereign disposals of Heaven. Or, if we open them, it will only be to confess, that " the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." By atten- tively considering the nature of sin and the manner of its introduction, in order to account for the origin of all the evils that prevail in the natural and spiritual world, and to vindicate eternal Providence, and justify the ways of God with men; we shall hereby also possess the consequent advantage of beholding, in its most glorious point of view, the inestimable remedy for sin, by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, if the former con- siderations may be deemed sufiicicnt to work in the heart patient submission, and unrepining acquiescence in the dispensations of Jehovah ; this will inspire it with a hope blooming, and full of immortality. If reflections on the de- merit of sin can stop the mouth in silence in the dust ; this will open it in bursts of praise, and glowing effusions of gratitude and admira- tion. Sin is redemption's advantageous foil. And as the variegated colors of the rainbow shine with greatest beauty on the blackest cloud : ON THE DEATH OF Mil. 1. A. ^6? SO, the malignity of sin, and the gloom of death, tend proportionably to set off the glory of the Saviour, and to give additional lustre to that Jjright manifestation of life and immortality, which are brought to light by the gospel. This chain of thought, if pursued, will neces- sarily lead us, not only to behold the riches of divine grace and the out- beaming of all the di- vine attributes, rendered eventually more glo- rious even by the intrusion of the most horrid evil ; but also to consider death itself as the portal to eternal life. This consideration will immediately fix the heart in delightful medita- tion on the great work of him, who came " ta put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and through death to destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil." Heb. ii. 14. And here such a bright scene will present it- self to the eye of contemplative faith, as shall dispel the horrors of the tomb ; gild with joy and triumph the shadow of death ; and enable us to derive wisdom and consolation, even from the solemn apparatus of a funeral. Here we shall be led to meditate on the great and glo- rious end of the Redeemer's incarnation, and the wonderful effects of his mediatorial undertak- ing. We shall behold him triumphing over sin in his cross, and leading captivity captive by his glorious resurrection. Bereaving death of its $68 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. sting, and embalming the regions of the dead by his own burial ; — shutting the mouth of Tophet, and opening to his people the gates of everlasting bliss ; and still going forth conquer- ing and to conquer, till sin, Satan, the world, and death, are made his footstool. These contemplations will suggest the grand preservative against immoderate grief; and ad- minister that healing balm for woe, which the heavy calamities of this mortal life require ; and without which, the pressure of them would be insupportable. Whoever is acquainted with the great doctrines of the gospel, and the sav- ing influence of them upon the heart, is the only person duly prepared for the arrival of those alarming incidents, which often give such a ve- hement shock to the feelings of human nature. And, as no event whatever more sensibly touches the heart, than that which bereaves us of our earthly friends ; consequently nothing can bear up the mind under such losses, but that which administers a ground of consolation, adequate to the cause of our sorrow. This, divine revela- tion can do. It assures us, that " blessed are the dead which die in the Lord :" that, though " one event happeneth to the righteous and the wicked," yet that the souls of the former ai:e " taken away from the evils" of time, and made possessors of the glories of eternity : that, ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 369 therefore, " we should not sorrow" immoderately, as others which have no hope, but, " if we be- lieve that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 1 Thes. iv. 14. Truths these, which brighten the prospect of even a dread eternity, and strip death of every thing really terrifying. Under a firm persua- sion of their credibility, we may give up our friends, without any reluctance, into the icy arms of death : and when depositing their pre- cious remains in the cold and gloomy recess of the tomb, may rejoice in lively hope of that happy resurrection-morn, when the sound of the last trumpet shall awaken them from their slumber in the dust, and call them from their long confinement into life and glorious immor- tality. So that, while a disconsolate parent is bedewing the corpse of a beloved child with his tears, or one friend is bemoaning the loss of another, crying, " Ah, my brother ! it is suffi- cient at any time to repress the impetuous cur- rent of grief, and admit the soothing remon- strances of hope and resigriation, to reflect, that deceased friends are not lost, but gone before ; and, that if they have died in the Lord, our loss is their everlasting gain. But here let us I. Examine the character of those, who shall be thus favored : and B B 370 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. II. Consider the nature and extent of their happiness implied in the terms entering into peace. — After I have gone through these two heads, I shall, then, III. Endeavour to suggest some serious re- flections, particularly adapted to the consider- ation of young persons, and not unworthy the solemn attention of the aged. I. We are to examine the character of those who shall be so favored, as, after death, to be translated to glory. They are described, in the very first verse of the chapter, from whence I have selected the text, under the general character of " the right- eous." A denomination this, which compre- hends their manner of acceptance before God, and the nature of their walk before men. But, as mistakes respecting these two points are not more frequent, than they are fatal, permit me to state this part of the subject, under the fol- lowing scriptural observations. 1. We can only determine what is righteous or unrighteous by the test of God's holy law. Every thing that is repugnant to this perfect rule, is unrighteousness ; and that which is commensurate with its sacred requisitions, is righteousness. In the former branch of the definition, there is implied every kinddind every degree of contrariety to the law : as the latter ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A, 371 comprehends universality and perfection of obe- dience. From hence it must, at first view, ap- pear, that although there is, allowedly, a deeper malignity in some sins than in others, yet that every transgression of the law is sin, and merits death : and that, therefore, no medium can be found between righteousness and unrighteous- ness : for the scripture asserts, that " all un- righteousness is sin :" so that, before the popish distinction between sins venial and sins mortal can be admitted, it must first be demonstrated that there is a middle something between right- eousness and unrighteousness, which neither keeps the law nor breaks it ; that there are some sins, which in their nature are not damning ; and are pardonable, merely because they are little in point of aggravation. But, that absur- dities of this nature «re as contrary to sound divinity, as they are repugnant to right reason, it is evident, because, " the wages of *iw," of every sin, " is death ;" and the holy law of God, without leaving vain man to judge for himself in a matter of so great importance, stamps a curse upon every failure in obedience, whether great or small ; saying, " Cui^sed is ev^ry one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." 2. As every transgression of the law is sin, consequently, that can only be denominated 372 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. righteousness, which implies a full conformity to all its precepts. Under this term, therefore, are comprehended purity of principle, perfection, unimrsality, andspii'ituality of obedience. 1 . That any single act of an external nature can possess no claim to righteousness, unless the principle be intrinsically good, is evident ; because, St. Paul supposes it possible to *' give one's goods to feed the poor," and to suifer martyrdom, and yet to do both from a false principle. The nature of fruits is determinable, not by their appearance, but by the state of the tree : and fruits of righteousness can only grow upon a righteous stock. As the heart is the seat of principle, ^^«^ must consequently possess " truth in the inward parts," in order to communicate purity to its desires, purposes, and aims. If the streams are pure, they must issue from a pure fountain. So that there must be spotless purity of heart to give existence to a righteous act. 2. There is included in the term right- eousness, not only immaculate purity in prin- ciple, but likewise perfection and universality 'n\ the act. As every branch of the law is equally holy, just, and good ; therefore every precept of it hath an equal demand of obedience, *' For, he that said. Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, tl^ou art become a transgressor ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 373 of the law." James, ii. 11. Man is not left to pick and choose, according to his own option, which of the commandments he may think pro- per to keep, but is required, on pain of death, to observe the xvhole law : for, if any one precept could be dispensed with, so of course might all. But " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James, ii. 10. 3. The righteousness which the law demands, must not only respect the letter^ but also the spirit of it ; for " the law is spirit- uaiy Rom. vii. 14. By the spirituality of the law, the thoughts of the heart come as much under its strict cognizance, as the outward ac- tions of the life. Thus the same precept, which prohibits the act of adultery, equally condemns the lustful thought and lascivious glance, as vio- lations of the seventh commandment. " Who- soever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Mat. v. 28. And the same prohibition, which, in its letter, condemns the worshipping of images; gives, by its spirituality, the name of idolatry to the inordinate love of any thing that robs God of his right. Thus covetousness in the heart, or the inordinate love of pleasure, will as eifectually constitute idolatry, in the eye of the law, as the most formal prostration to graven images. So that the righteousness, which 374 ^^ THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. the law requires^ includes a conformity to its sanctions, as fully, in the spirit, as in the letter of them ; and as much to the whole, as to a single precept. 3. From the foregoing considerations, it is plain, that as righteousness consists in a fulfil- ment of the whole law, according to the perfec- tion, purity, and deep spirituality of its com- mands ; consequently he alone can be denomi- nated a righteous msLU, whose conduct is a literal transcript of the above definition of righteous- ness. Or, in other words, he is righteous legally, whose thoughts, words and actions, can bear the rigorous examination of God's law ; whose heart is perfectly free from every wrong prin- ciple, and every corrupt inclination ; whose life exemplifies the whole obedience of the law in its fullest extent ; and who can therefore chal- lenge either the law or the law-giver to find any sin in him. And, there is one ingredient more indispensably requisite in the character of a man righteous, according to the law ; which is, incessancy of obedience. In order to be jus- tified by it, man must not only obey, hwt perse- vere in obeying. Perfect obedience will not be sufficient unless it be continued, and that to the end of life. The righteousness of the law saith, •'* The man that doeth those things shall live by them." Rom. x. 5. And its penal sanction ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 375 crieth, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things," &c. 4. And now, where is such a righteous cha- racter to be found ? The heart and life of Adam, indeed, previous to his fall, literally exemplified it in its greatest perfection. But since that melancholy event, there is an end of all human righteousness. For " the scripture concluding all under sin," declare th that " there is none right- eous, no not one." Rom. iii. 10. A declaration, which equally affects Gentiles as well as Jews, and places the fallen children of Adam upon an equal footing, in point of justifying righteous- ness. " Every mouth must now be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD bccomc GUILTY bcforc God." Rom. iii. 19- Man cannot justify him- self: for an attempt to do so would only " prove him perverse," and be an additional manifesta- tion of his unrighteousness. The law cannot justify him, because " it is weak through the Jlesh,'' or the inherent corruption of human na- ture. " By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified." Rom. iii. 20. For, "if right- eousness come by the law" — if a sinner could be justified by his obedience to it — " then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. This inability to justify, is not the effect of any absolute weak- ness in the law itself, but is eventually occa- sioned through the dreadful degeneracy of 376 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. human nature, styled In scripture, " the flesh." The law still retains as intrinsic a power in it- self to constitute righteous, as it ever did ; and if any man could be found capable of fulfilling its condition of perfect obedience, it would not only justify him, but also entitle him to glory, independant of the Son of God : for its condi- tion and promise are connected, when it says on this wise, " Do this, and Ike" But man's original guilt and practical disobedience, incur- ring a double forfeiture of the promised reward, the law possesseth an eventual incapacity of making righteous : and this is, what the apostle says, " the law could not do," Rom. viii. 3, or TO aSwaJov ts vofj^a is, the impossibiUty of the law. So that, whoever seeks justification by it, seeks an impossibility ; and by having recourse to its obligation of perfect obedience, and failing not- withstanding in a fulfilment of that obligation, he lays himself open to the full force of its condemning sentence, its penal sanctions, and tremendous curse. " As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse." Gal. iii. 10. 5. But, since, according to numerous testi- monies of scripture ; agreeably to the purity, spirituality, and indispensable requirements of the law ; and consistently with the universal depravity of human nature ; man cannot, with- ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 377 out the highest arrogance, and even blasphemy, lay any claim to personal merit : how then is lie to become righteous ? This is an inquiry of infinite importance ; since it is declared, that " the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God;" and since, without an exemption from guilt and an interest in a positive righteousness, man can have no scriptural ground to hope for a deliverance from death or a title to life ; to expect the favor of God here, or to claim his kingdom hereafter. In illustrating this point, it will be necessary to consider, how a man's person may be righteous towards God, and how his works may so justify his religious profession before the world, as to vindicate his character from the imputation of hypocrisy, and demon- strate the genuineness of his faith. 6. As to the manner, in which a sinner is to be made righteous before God ; since it has al- ready been demonstrated, by irrefragable proof from the scriptures of truth, as well as by ar- guments deduced from the corruption of human nature, and the sanctions and sentence of the law, that all obedience of the sinner is insuffi- cient towards his justification before the majesty of heaven ; nothing farther in a negative way need be added, to corroborate, what is, indeed, in itself, so evident, and incontrovertible. It may, however, be necessary to quote a few scriptures, 378 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. in which two of the most illustrious saints, in language of the deepest self-renunciation, dis- claim any the least pretensions to justification before the most High and Holy God, howsoever they might esteem their conduct justifiable be- fore fallible creatures, like themselves. " Be- hold I AM vile!" says he, who was a mirror of patience, " what shall I answer thee ?" Job, xl. 4. " How can man be justified with God ?" says the same person, " or how can he be clean that is born of a woman ? Behold even to the moon and it shineth not : yea the stars are not pure in his sight ; how much less man that is a worm !" Job, xxv. 4, 5. Hear how the man after God's own heart trembleth at the thought of Jehovah's entering into judgment with him, or any other creature. " If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities ; O Lord, who shall stand ? Psal. cxxx. 3. Enter not into judgment with thy servant : for, in thy sight shall n^ man living be justified." Psal. cxliii. 2. — Passages these, which are but few out of the multitudes that might be produced, to demonstrate the impossibility of being justified in ourselves be- fore a heart-searching God, as well as the dread- ful peril of abiding the sentence and scrutiny of his righteous law. 7.. But how, then, can man stand before this holy Lord God, and be constituted righteous in ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 379 his sight ? This question cannot better be an- swered than in the words of the Xlth article of the Church of England. " We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and not for our owti works or deservings." I quote this excel- lent article of our church, not with any design of establishing its authority as infallible and de- cisive, but merely because it affords a plain and scriptural definition of the point in question, as well as exhibits a striking proof, that our senti- ments, on the mode of a sinner's justification before God, are supported by the venerable sanction of the Church of England : and I be- lieve it will satisfactorily appear, that it is not without scriptural ground, that she requires of all her ministers, an unequivocal and solemn subscription to this, as well as every other ar- ticle in the thirty-nine. 8. According to our church, therefore, and the word of God, with which, on this head, she perfectly accords, our justifying righteousness is the meritorious work of Christ ; which con- sisteth in a perfect obedience to the law, and a full satisfaction to divine justice ; thfe one in- cluding what he did^ the othev wh^itht suffered ; and both, in inseparable connexion, constituting that glorious and " everlasting righteousness," which the Mediator hath brought in, by his en- 380 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. tire obedience to the death of the cross. This is called by our church, " the merit'' of Christ, be- cause when the dignity of his person is taken into consideration, it appears that an infinite suffi- ciency is thereby communicated to his obe- dience, and every part thereof; and that he possesseth an inherent power of meriting for others, or of constituting others righteous, as well as being righteous himself. This he can only do, as being " God over all, blessed for evermore." For, if he had been a mere creature, though his righteousness might be sufficient to justify himself, yet it could never have transferred a power of justifying others : because, it is re- pugnant both to reason and scripture, that ajiy created being, even the first-born seraph round the throne of God, should not only merit for himself, but also possess a redundancy of merits transferable to others. But that the Redeemer is possessed of such a power, is evident from the words of the apostle, " By the obedience of one shall many be inade righteous.'' Rom. v. 19. This argument proves, therefore, that Christ is >very God, as well as very man : that there is a translation of merit infinitely sufficient in a sin- ner's justification : and that the active and pas- sive obedience of the Mediator, is, through the infinite dignity of his person, a divine righteous- ness. Hence it is written, " This is his name ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. SS 1 •whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jer. xxiii. 6. And again, " We are made the righteousness of God in him." 1 Cor. V. 21. 9. " We are accounted righteous before God ONLV for the merit of Christ," says our church: and so saith the scripture. " There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," Acts, iv. 12. " I will make mention of thy righteousness," says David, " even of thine only." Psal. Ixxi. 17. To suppose, that any thing but the righteous- ness of Christ can justify us before God, is a supposition big with pride, blasphemy, and ab- surdity : — with pride ; because it inclines a man to esteem himself a sort of coadjutor in the work of salvation with Christ : — with blas- phemy ; because, by implying an insufficiency in the Redeemer's righteousnessyw//j/ to justify, without the co-operation of human merit, it de- tracts from his personal and mediatorial honor, and gives a share of glory where none is due : — \N\t\\ absurdity ; because it implies, that Christ came only to be a /z^/f Saviour ; and attempts to establish a coalition between hum^n xvorks and divine grace^ by making eternal salvation depend partly upon the one, and partly upon the other; a heterogeneous mixture this, which the scriptures disavow in most explicit terms. 382 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. " If by grace, then it is no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more of grace : other- wise work is no more work." Rom. xi. 6, 10. The righteousness, by which we are jus- tified, is made over to us by an act of gracious and sovereign imputation. Thus " David de- scribeth the blessedness of the man, to w^hom God imputeth righteousness without works, say- ing, blessed are they, &c." Rom. iv. 7. And, because faith is the instrument in receiving and cleaving to this righteousness ; therefore this grace is said in a secondary and subordinate sense, to operate in our justification. So " Abra- ham belie'ced God, and it was accounted iXoyia-h imputed to him for righteousness. But, that faith itself cannot constitute a justifying right- eousness, properly so called, is evident, because it is opposed to workings to him that worketh not but believethj" &c. Rom. iv. 5; and because, if it justified in the proper sense of the word, as an act, our justification being in that case by works, we should then claim heaven as a reward due to personal merit. For, " to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace hut of debt" Rom. iv. 4. But, that faith cannot found any such claim, is abundantly demonstra- ble, from the distinction which the scriptures observe between faith and its object ; making ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 333 use SO frequently of the terms, " the righteous- ness which is by and through faith," Phil. iii. 9, and " faith in the righteousness of Christ." 2 Pet. i. 1. So that, when our church says " we are justified hy faith only" in opposition to works, it means that we are justified instru- mentally by faith, but that the object which it apprehends, viz. the righteousness of Christ, is the primary and meritorious cause of our justi- fication. 11. The grace of faith, by which we are jus- tified, is also the great instrument in the inward work of sanctification ; because it " receives from Christ's fulness," grace to " purify the heart" and " work by love." It cleanseth the conscience from dead works to serve the living God ; and lays the axe to the root of corrup- tion, by destroying the love, and mortifying the power of sin. An increase of faith produceth a proportionable increase of sanctification : for, as the first production of the fruits of righteousness originates from this life-giving grace, so the subsequent abounding of them derives its pro- sperity from its fructifying influence. And, as " works done before the grace of Ctjrist and the inspiration of his spirit are not pleasing to God, because they do not spring from faith ;" (see the article); consequently, those which fol- low after justification, derive their acceptable- 384 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. ness from that faith, which offers them upon the golden altar of the Redeemer's sacrifice, which sanctifieth the gift. Hence we see how a sinner isniiade inherently holy, as well as per- sonally righteous ; viz. hy one and the same faith, apprehending Christ as our sanctification, as well as our righteousness in justification. And, from hence it is apparent, 1. that no good works can go before justification ; or that, until a sinner is made partaker of divine faith, he can perform nothing acceptable in the sight of God ; because, " whatsoever is not of faith, is sin :" 2. and therefore, that he cannot bring forth the fruits of righteousness in his heart and life be- fore men, until the person is accepted before God, through the infinitely meritorious work of the Mediator. 12. This inward work of the spirit is abso- lutely necessary to the sinner's meetncss for hea- ven ; and the external fruits of it justify his re- ligious character before the world. Thus Abra- ham was justified by works before men, and by faith before God. The intentional offering up of his son was the illustrious instance of the strength and genuineness of his faith, and con- stituted his declarative justification before the world : but his " believing in the promised Messiah, which was accounted to him for right- eousness," was the ground of his justification ON THE DEATH OF MR. L A. 385 before God, and preceded his justification by works. So that the father of the faithful him- self, " if he were justified by works, hath where- of to glory, but not before God." Rom. i v. 2. And thus the scripture, without incurring the charge of self-contradiction, was eminently ful- filled, when it saith, " Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness :" and, " Was not Abraham our father justified by works?" James, ii. 21, 23. 13. By this scriptural distinction, every thing is kept in its proper place. Justification and sanctification are not confounded ; and their respective offices are so ascribed to faith and works, as that the honor of the one is not va- cated, nor the declarative evidence of the other superseded ; but both are established in their proper stations ; — that to justify before God ; — these to justify before men. By this distinction, the word of God is easily reconciled with itself; and while one branch of.it furnishes an antidote to the insolent claims of self righteousness, the other equally secures obedience to the law, against the presumptuous h(;pe of the antino- mian hypocrite. " Do we make void^the law throug-h faith ? God forbid: vea we establish the law." Rom. iii. 31. — " By grace ye are saved through faith : not o^ works, lest any man should boast." Ephes. ii. 8, 9- c c 386 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. From all, which I have urged on this head, with studied copiousness because of its import- ance, it is manifest that a righteous man is one, •who renouncing his own, betaketh himself to the righteousness of Christ ; who, through the infinite merit of the Saviour's blood, and the perfection of his obedietice to the law, is de- livered from curse and condemnation, and is possessed of a legal title to heaven ; who re- ceiving this method of justification by faith, believeth to the saving of the soul ; in whose heart the fruits of righteousness are implanted ; and in whose life there is a complete portraiture of a consistent professor of the gospel. Such a man is now blessed in the possession of present good ; but he has secured to him still greater happiness in reversion. Standing in Christ, he has nothing to fear from sin, Satan, the law, or justice. And having his loins girded and his lamp burning, he is ready at all times to arise and meet the bridegroom. To him to live is Christ, to die is gain. — But tliis brings me II. To consider the nature and extent of his happiness implied in the terms entering into peace. As peace necessarily pre-supposes trouble or warfare, it consequently leads back our ideas to the state of the righteous in this howling wil- derness, previous to their arrival at the heavenly ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 337 Canaan, Here, as pilgrims and sojourners, in a strange land, they undergo a great variety of fatigue and hardship before they accomplish the important journey they are taking; and one can never contemplate the rest they enter upon in a glorious hereafter, without tracing in idea the wearisome steps that lead to it. Afflictions and trials are the lot of the right- eous in this world ; and they are not more re- markable for their number, than for the pecu- liarity of their nature, and the end of their ap- pointment. Though they are sharers in those common and general afflictions, to which human nature, since the fall, is subjected, and to which man is born as the sparks fly upward ; yet they have a superadded portion of trials distinct from those, which are inseparably connected with their character, as Christians, and with their life, as believers ; and for bearing of which they require a proportionable degree of grace and consolation from on high. Indeed, those trials, peculiar to God's people, are not only the in- evitable consequence of their gospel profession, but also the result of divine appointment. So the Apostle Paul expressly declares in his epistle to the suffering professors of the church of Christ at Thessalonica ; when, after exhorting them " not to be moved by their afflictions," lie immediately adds, " For yourselves know that 385 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. ye are appointed thereunto/' 1 Thes. iii. 3. As the great Head of the church is glorified by the patience and fortitude of his suffering witnesses on earth ; his infinite wisdom appoints the na- ture, and fixes the weight, number, and measure of their trials, in order that he may have an op- portunity of illustrating the power of his grace in their support. And there is a no less mani- festation of mercy and love, than of wisdom, in the various trials which God hath appointed as the lot of his church militant. Hereby, he pos- sesses innumerable occasions of demonstrating, that he loves his people under their afflictions, and that the severest chastisements of his rod are suggested by the most tender parental affec- tion. By making the darkest dispensations work together for their good, he shews them the determinations of his love, and the wonder- working operations of his o\tY-\\\\'m^ power : he points out to them what he can do, and what he zvill do for them. So that their sufferings illustrate his goodness, and furnish the most ample display of that wisdom, n\crcy, faitliful- ness, and power, which so illustriously shine orth in all the gracious and providential dis- pensations of Jehovah towards his church and people. Besides ; affliction constitutes a distinguish- ing mark in the character of the righteous. ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 389 " Many are tlie troubles of the righteous," says David. " In the world you shall have trihula- tioriy^ said David's Lord to his disciples. And, as a proof that neither persecution, nor any other species of affliction, was confined to the days of the apostles, St. Paul assures Timothy, that " ALL who xcill live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." C Tim. iii. 12. The world and the " god of the world" will ever unite in opposition to those, who have deserted the maxims of the one, and have solemnly re- nounced the service of the other ; and because the righteous are engaged in a cause diametri- cally opposite to the interests of both, therefore the world and Satan hate them with a perfect hatred, and pursue them with intentions of the most infernal nature. And is this to be won- dered at, when it is considered, that the most spotless character that ever appeared upon earth, was loaded with the heaviest reproaches? If, therefore, affliction be the path, which the blessed Jesus himself trod ; and if they called the Mas- ter of the house Beelzebub ; can they of the household hope for an exemption from similar calumnies ? As long as the righteous are in a state of na- ture, so long the world loves them. But, the moment a saved sinner enters into the peace of the gospel, in that very moment the world and 390 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. the devil enter the lists against him. As long as the strong man armed is permitted to keep his palace undisturbed, all is peace ; but when a stronger than he comes to dispossess him, then Satan begins to rage. While a sinner fights under his banner he gives him no disturbance; but as soon as he is delivered from the captivity under this infernal tyrant, instantly Apollyon draws the sword, and never puts it up during the Christian soldier's abode in the wilderness. Then he prepares all his snares ; sets all his en- gines to work, and has recourse to every strata- gem ; in order, if possible, to recover him, whom he looks upon as a deserter from his camp. He brings forth his loaded quiver ; puts his most envenomed arrows upon the string; and shoots many a^erj/ dart, at least to distress, where he cannot destroy. But the believer having put on the whole armour of God, receives coolly all the accusations, terrors, blasphemous sugges- tions, and discouraging fears, of the enemy of his salvation, and snaps them to pieces on his adamantine shield of faith. And yet renewed assaults and renewed disappointments of the enemy never discourage him from repeating the attack ; in a renewal of which, the world hear- tily joins him. While he lived according to the course of this world, blind, careless, and at enmity with God, so long no encomium was ON THE DEATH OF MR, I. A. 391 too high for him ; and not only the most fulsome panegyrics were poured upon his virtues, but blind partialit}^ threw a veil over his very vices, and would not allow that " so mighty good a man could be wrong;" although at the same time, perhaps, his principles and practice were equally corrupt. But let this same person, late the darling of the world, and the object of its warmest commendations, only be awakened to a feeling sense of his lost state, take but a few steps out of Babylon • and immediately the note of the men of the world is changed : their bless- ings are converted into curses ; their praises, into reproach and calumny ; and the most ridi- culous, depreciating, illiberal, and even abomi^ nable epithets, are not bad enough for him, who has avowed non-conformity to the world, and is determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. So that, if to these trials from Satan and the world, be added a consider- ation of the still keener ones from the remainder of corruption ; with how great propriety do the scriptures represent the life of a Christian, as a warfare, a race, a difficult jowrwej/, ^n agony f But is there no release at all for the C^jristian soldier from this severe struggle with sin, Satan, and the world ? Yes, the same hand that ap- points the scene of battle, will sign a discharge 392 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. from it also. The day is fixed, when, after his exit from the field, he is to " enter into j^e^ce;" not like a coward who flies from battle, but as a magnanimous veteran, worn out in the services of the Captain of his salvation ; to whom '* to live was Christ, and to die is gain/' Then shall he put off that " harness,^' in death, which he put on, when he enlisted as a volunteer under the Messiah ; and shall lay down the weapons of his warfare and his earthly tabernacle to- gether. His ears shall then no longer be stunned with the din of war, nor his heart be made so frequently the seat of terror and agitation, under apprehensions of losing the day after all; but, relieved from all his fears, and released from all his conflicts, he shall enter into that land of consummate peace, in his march towards which he had been obliged to fight every step of the way, with his sword in hand. There he shall receive, as the gratuitous donation of divine grace, and as the gracious reward of his faith- fulness unto death, an immortal crown of glory; wdiich, when his divine Captain places it on his head, he shall, with the hand of self-renuncia- tion, take off, and in deepest humility lay at Immanuel's feet. There he shall be placed at an infinite distance from the seat of war in this troublesome world ; and, beyond the reach of ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 393 all his enemies, shall enjoy peace that shall never be interrupted, and bliss that shall never have an end. View the righteous man under the represen- tation of a trardUr. A sinful world is the place, from whence he sets out : heaven, the country to which he is bound. Satan and sin are the great enemies that oppose him in his journey ; and many a wearisome step he takes, before he gains the point in view. Temptations from his own heart's corruptions, as well as from the world and Satan, are the storms he meets with in the way ; but Christ is his sun and shield, to illuminate and defend. After having, perhaps, borne the burden and heat of the day, death at last arrives, a welcome messenger, to relieve him from his toil, and usher him into his heavenly Father's kingdom. " The rest of a laboring man," says Solomon, " is sweet." How- much more delectable must rest in the placid bosom of the tomb be to him, whose labors have been great in proportion to the greatness of the cause in which he embarked ! and all the powers of whose body and soul were ex- erted in the arduous toil ! Eut after the fatigue of the day, how sweet the approach of the sea- son of repose ! Even in the prospect of it, the believer anticipates a degree of heaven ; and an 394 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. assurance that his light afflictions will, as it were in a moment, come to a period, alleviates every present cross, and enables him, in the view of future trials, to take no anxious thought for to-morrow. When death actually comes, he finds him prepared for his arrival. Clad with the ^vhole armour of God, and washed fron^ every defilement in the Mediator's blood, he shouts, " O death where is th}'^ sting? O grave where is thy victory?" With intrepidity of soul, he touches the sting of death, and feels it not only blunted, but also free from poison. He then examines the whole streno-th of the quiver of death, and finds there is not one shaft in it that can penetrate his shield of faith and wound his soul ; and then he shouts again, *' Thanks be to God, who giveth me the vic- tory through my Lord Jesus Christ!" And as soon as death executes his commission ; that fatal blow of the King of terrors, which, by a judicial sentence, cuts down the wicked as cumberers of the ground, and is only a pre- lude to the transplantation of the righteous from this desert to the celestial Eden ; his body then drops into its original dust, and is consigned to the silent grave ; where " it lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be no more." Job, xiv. 12. There the wicked cease from ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 395 " troubling, and tliere the weary are at rest." Chapter iii. 17. Then his mortal part " enters into peSce," being exempt from every thing that could give pain, or cause trouble. There " The corpse is affected no more With trouble, or shaken with pain, The war in the members is o'er, And never shall vex him again. The languishing head is at rest ; Its thinking and aching are o'er : The quiet immovable breast Is heav'd by affliction no more. The heart is no longer the seat Of trouble and torturing pain : It ceases to flutter and beat ; It never shall flutter again." But what tongue can describe, or heart con- ceive, the nature of that peace, which the dis- embodied spirit enters upon ! The instant the thread of life is cut, and the soul is disengaged from the cumbrous clod of earth in which it was imprisoned, it flies to regions above, and towers away on the wings of cherubim, to that celestial city, whither it had often fled before on the wings o^ faith, and hope, and strong de- sire. A convoy of angels attended till the happy spirit was released from its prison ; after which the heavenly escort conducts it to the promised 3q6 ox the death of mr. i. a. rest. The gates of the New Jerusalem are thrown open wide to admit the blessed stranger; whom Immanuel waits to introduce to his kingdom, and clasp to his heart. Then the righteous enters, amidst the congratulatory salutations of kindred spirits : — enters ! through the infinite merit of the blood of atonement : — enters! like the weary traveller arriving joyful, though fa- tigued, at his journey's end : — enters ! like an exile, returning from a long captivity, to his native home: — enters! triumphant, as a victor loaded with spoils, and crowned with conquest, after a severe campaign : — enters ! like seme richly-laden vessel, with all its sails crowded to the wind ; escaping the horrors of the deep, and making for the destined haven, where it would be. — Thus the righteous enters, while, we "may suppose every golden harp is new- strung, to shout him welcome to the celestial city ; and every voice is exerted in singing, *' Open ye the gates, that the righteous which keepeth the truth may enter in." Isa. xxvi. 2. He enters mto peace. This blessing was in a degree the privilege of the l.)eliever upon earth, when, " being justified by faith," and " having access into this grace wherein we stand," Rom. v. 1,2, he entered into peace passing all understanding. But, as that peace was con- ON THE DEATH t)F MR. I. A. 297 stantly assaulted, and frequently interrupted upon earth, it is necessary that he be for ever delivered from such interruption and all the causes of it. Such " a rest remaineth for the people of God :" where Satan shall never be able to annoy, the world cannot obtrude its temptations ; and sin shall no more extort that groan, " Wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death I" Rom. vii. 24. " Where the righteous shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more : for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes!" Rev. vii. 16, 17. What a glorious exchange ? — of sickness and pain, for everlasting rest and peace !— of a ruin- ous tabernacle ; for a house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ! — of a howling wilderness ; for the heavenly Canaan, the palace of angels, the city of God I — of the groanings of corruption and sin ; for the songs of the re- deemed round the throne ! — of the chamber of sickness; for the regions of unfading health, *' where the inliabitant shall never say, / am sick!'" — of the cross; for a crown of glory, in- corruptible, undc tiled, and that fadeth not away ! — and of earth, with all its distractions, ^■aIlities, vicissitudes, and woes ; for the beatitudes of 398 ON THE DtLATII OF MR. I. A. heaven, and the rapturous enjoyment of the vision of God ! " Happy day ! that breaks our chain ! That manumits ; that calls, from exile, home : That leads to nature's great metropolis : And readmits us, thro' the guardian hand Of elder brothers, to our Fathers throne !" But it is time I should now proceed to con- sider the last thing proposed, which was, III. To suggest some serious reflections, more particularly adapted to the consideration of young persons ; and not unworthy, I hope, the solemn attention of the aged. 1. You have heard the character, and the blessedness of the righteou'S^ described : Do you wish to be followers of such ? Follow them to the gTave you certainly must ; and it is impos- sible to tell, how soon that maybe the case. While your passions are moved under a subject, that is in itself deeply affecting, perhaps you are adopting the wish of Balaam, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" But do you wish, not only to follow the righteous to the glory that awaits him, but also to tread that path which leads to it? If not, your wishes are insincere, and delusory. The life and death of the righteous will always be of a piece : if that be not holy, this will not be blessed. ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 399 2. But, perhaps, subjects of this nature, and the scene to which they refer, are too solemn for the gaiety of your temper. But, O remem- ber, that scene (I mean that of death) in all its solemnity, will very soon be exemplified in your- self, as it constantly is, in the departure of mul- titudes, that drop beside you on the right hand and on the left. You are young. But youth, in its utmost vigor, is accessible to disease; and the most healthful constitution possesses no infallible antidote against the shafts of death ; which make equal havock in the bodies of the youthful and robust, as in those of the aged and infirm : — Surely the sable ornaments of the pul- pit, in which I stand, afford a most striking- memorandum of this truth. — Death's cold hand often seizes, and effectually chills the most blooming flower ; and either nips it in the bud, or blasts all its full-blown beauties, just as they arrived at maturity. How many go off the stage of life, " in their full strength," as the book of Job says ! " How soon might the consumptioji, that ravager of youth, if commissioned by the sovereign arbiter of life, lay thy blooming con- stitution in ruins! and reduce thee to 'such a state of languor and debility, that " the grass- hopper should be a burden ! " Yea, cannot death find access to thy frame, by innumerable ave- nues ? Are not the seeds of mortality sown in 400 ON THE DEATH OF Wll. 1. A. the very substance of our bodies, and mingled with the minutest particles of their contexture? So that, " in the midst of life we are in death?" Are not our end, and our origin, dust ? 3. If, therefore, health be so fading a flower, and the young are no less liable to disease and death, than the aged : is it wise, is it safe, to squander away your precious, your precarious moments in vice and dissipation ? Can you imagine that your business in this world, is nothing; more than " to eat and drink and rise up to play?" Remember what was the dread- ful fate of those who thought so, in the days of Noah. Is our time so lo?7g, that you can spare such a considerable portion of it to vanity ? Is it so much at our disposal, that we can even pro- mise ourselves to-morroxv ? Or, is it of so little value, that we should throw it away upon per- nicious lusts ? " Throw time away? Throw e?r)pires, and be blameless. Moments seize : Heav'ti's on their wing. A moment we may wish, When worlds want wealth to buy ! ■" * 4. Perhaps you suppose, that youth is the season for gaiety and dissipation, and mature years, the proper time for seriousness and devo- * Young's Night Thoughts. ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 401 tion ; and, therefore, that you are to seek the salvation of your soul, only in some distant period of life. But this supposition is not more dangerous, than it is erroneous. How do you know, that the time will ever come which you allot for that great work, which is not so much as begun? Have you made a covenant with death ? And if you should even arrive at old age ; it is ten thousand to one, that your soul's concerns will occupy your thoughts, in the least, after a long series of previous dissipation, dead- ncss, and delay. Does not the want of certainty, therefore, in this case, furnish a most awful ar- gument against the daring presumption of your conduct ? Besides, why should the prime of life be devoted to sin, and only the enfeebled close of it consecrated to religion ? -Is there any reason, (rather, is there not the most infernal absurdity?) in supposing, that God may be put off with the services of infirm old age, while the Devil is to be complimented with the bloomino- honors of health and strenirth? Dread- o o ful preposterousness !• 5. If, therefore, the great uncertainty of life, under all the advantages which youth and health can give it : — if tlie importance of time, which surpasseth, in value, the gold of' Ophir ; and in szvifhiess, the flight of the eagle or the arrow : — if the great danger of postponing matters of D D 402 ON THE DEATH OF Mil. I. A. infinite moment, to some future period, which may never arrive : — if the awful absurdity of dedicating youth to pleasure, from a supposition, that only the close of life is to be appropriated to religion : — and, if the probability of being suddenly cut oif by the stroke of death, amidst all these vain imaginations ; and of being sum- moned into the presence of God, before a single resolution has been adopted, respecting the se- curing of future bliss, or the avoiding of future misery : — if solemn considerations, like these, can have any weight with you ; let me beseech you, to admit their force, and to obey their powerful suggestions. If you do not ; the time will come, when each of them will penetrate your heart, keen as so many daggers ; and when it will be out of your power, for ever, to recal the opportunities, talents, and privileges, which you are now so grossly abusing. 6. Young as you may be, you are old enough, it seems, to rebel against God : and why not old enough to begin seriously to seek an interest in Jesus ? Would you wish to postpone your happiness? True felicity consists in a solemn dedication of the heart to God. The sooner this is done, the sooner you will be happy : the longer it is delayed, tlie longer you will be es- stranged from true bliss. Why then should not your happiness commence as carli/ as possible ? ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 403 I know, the blessed attainment will cost you the loss of your lusts, or your self-righteousness. But, who ever esteemed it a loss, to exchange fleeting and unsubstantial trifles for glorious and eternal realities? — to give up the xoorlddXid gain Christ ? — to part with sin, and secure ^e^- "oe?! ? Your loss, here, will be your everlasting gain ; and so you will esteem it, when life is made to appear in its genuine colors of vanity and nothingness ; when " the chief among ten^ thousand " is manifested to your heart, in all his matchless beauties ; and when death draws the curtain, that hides the invisible world from your view. 7. But what is it, which the world has to bestow, that will admit of any comparison with the unsearchable riches of Christ ? " The things that are in the world," says St. John, " are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." These are the great all of which the world can boast : these the sum total of its admired gratifications. And, when you weigh the entire aggregate of all its accumulated good in the balance of truth, it amounts to no more than " vanity of vanities. All is vanity !" But, supposijig, that the gratifications of sense and all the pride of life could furnish a degree of feli- city : yet how extremely short is their duration ! " The world passeth away and the fashion there- 404 C>N THE DEATH OF MR. 1. A. of." Ere long, every fleeting object shall be torn from your embraces. *' The lusts of the flesh" will expire in corruption ; the " eye" be closed in darkness : and all " the pride of life" evaporate in smoke, and vanish like a dream of the night. But, the existence of sublunary bliss is not more fleeting, than the inordinate enjoy- ment of it is pernicious. The positive declara- tion of God's word is, " Ifye live after the flesh, , ye shall die," eternallji. Will you, then, erect your happiness on so precarious a basis ; when misery and ruin must be the certain conse- quences ? Will you, dare you, run the awful risk of losing an eternity of bliss, for the en- joyment of a little transient pleasure in time ? Had you rather endure the gnawings of " the worm that never dies," than deny the cravings of some headstrong lust? Is it a matter of greater moment to flutter away in all the' empti- ness and parade of dress and dissipation, than to " redeem the time" and prepare for eternity ? 8. If you wish to be in earnest about the sal- vation of your souls, let me entreat you j 1. to avoid the company of those, who, as a color for their profligacy and licentiousness, laugh at all religion, sis priest-ct^ajt. Shun the conversation of such, as you would the y;/<7^7^e. Their prin- ciples are supported by injidelity ; their practice founded upon wickedness itself; and their steps ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. 40b lead to liclL 2. Be not intimidated by those titles of" reproach and epithets of cakinmy, by which, such as dare to be singular, are now dis- tinguished. It is a fact as lamentable, as it is notorious, that tlic power of religion is by mul- titudes decried and discountenanced, under the application of hackneyed stigmas, that have no more sense in them, than seriousness. But this has been always the case. When people want arguments, they call names ; and because they have no religion themselves, therefore they abuse those who have. Sitting in " the seat of the scornful," they contemptuously arraign the conduct of the humble followers of the Son of God, because it is such a contrast to their own, and reproves their ignorance, carelessness, and vanity. But " whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto such men rather than unto God.; judge yQ." Acts, iv. I9. 3. Beware of despising in your heart or lightly esteeming that gospel, which " is the power of God to sal- vation to every one that believeth/' Rom. i. \6. Rather, " give the more earnest heed to the things which you have heard ;" Heb. ii. 1 ; be- cause, a reflection in an awful hereafter, that the salvation of the gospel has been oifered/ but rejected, will constitute the most torturing aggravation in the miseries of a sinner finally lost. Read Ilcb. x. 28, £9- 4. Be not satisfied 406 ON THE DEATH OF MR. I. A. wit]i a little external decency of behaviour, without a real inward change o^ heart. If you would enter into heaven, you must be converted: and conversion is a work of the spirit of God, which corrects irregular propensities, in their very rise: it lays the axe to the root of sin ; so that where this inward eradication takes place, outward branches fall with it. You may be civilized and orderly, as the Pharisees of old were, and yet, like them, be equally unchanged and iinpurified in heart. But, if it please God, to " renew you in the spirit of your mind ;" you will then be furnished with an antidote against the force of temptation : you will be prepared for death and judgment : and " whether you live or die, you will be the Lord's." FINIS. k^ BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MATHEWS AND LEIGH. 1. A COMPLETE EDITION of Dr. GILL'S EXPOSITION of the OLD and NEW TESTAMENT is now publishing ; in which the sense of the Sacred Text is given ; Doctrinal and Practical Truths are set in a plain and easy light ; difficult Passages explained ; seem- ing Contradictions reconciled ; and whatever is material in the various Reading?, and the several Oriental Versions, is observed. The whole illustrated with Notes from the most ancient Jewish Writings. With a full and interesting Account of his Life and Writings. 2. On the 1st of March, 180.9, was published, Part I. price 16s. (continued Monthly) of Dr. GILL'S EXPOSITION of the NEW TESTAMENT, &c. The New Testament may now be had complete, in Six Paris, price 16s. each j or in Three Volumes, price 41. 16s. boards. 3. The Sixth Part of the OLD TESTAMENT was pub- lished on the 1st of March, 1810 ; and a Part will appear every suc- ceeding Month, till the Work, be complete. The Old Testament will consist of Twelve Parts, price ItJs. each ; or Six Volumes, price 9l. 1*2^. boards. The Life of Dr. Gill will be found in the Second Part of the Old Testament. A few Copies are printed on fine Royal Paper, price 11. 4s. each Part, in extra board?. All elegant Portrait of Dr. Gill is prefixed both to the GUI and New Testament. 4. THE FAMILY EXPOSITOR ; or, a Paraphrase and Version of the New Testament ; with Critical Notes, and a practical Improvement of each Section. By Philip Doddridge, D. D. With the Life of the Author, by Mr. Job Orto\. A superb Edition, splendidly embellished, complete in 4 volumes, medium 4to. Price 61. 6s. boards. This edition of the Family Expositor is much superior to any other Edition that has been published : the type is remarkably lar^e and clear. The Work is published in Twelve Parts, at lOs. 6d. each, and may be had by one or more at a lime, as may suit the convenience of Purchasers. *,* A fetv select Copies are printed with peculiar eltgance, on superjine impe- rial wove paper, with proof impressions of the plates, 4 volt. Price \0l. 10*. boards. * 5. SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS; or, a Practical Improve^ ment of the principal Histories contained in the Old and New Tes- tament. By Thomas Robinson, M. A. Vicar of St. Mary's, Leices- ter, late Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. In 4 vols. 8vo. ^iiixth Edition. Price ll. 16s. boards. *^* An Edition is just published in 4 vols. 12mo. price ll. 2s. boards. 6. Just publibtied, in 2 vols. 8vo. lf)s. boards, FIFTY-TWO SERMONS on the BAPTISMAL COVENANT, TEN COM- 1 Books Pitb/ished by MatIieTc:s and Leigh. MANDMENTS, do. being Sefmons for every Sunday in the 3'ear, Sic. By the Rev. Samuel Walkkk, (of Truro). New Edition, corrected and revised by the Rev. Samuel Burder, M. A. 7. CHRIST CRUCIFIED, &c. By the Rev. Richard De CouRcy, M. A. in one handsome volume, 8vo. 9s. boards. 8. THE CHRISTIAN OFFICER'S COMPLETE AR- MOUR ; containing Evidences in Favour of a Divine Revelation. By Colonel Burn, of the Royal Marines. Third Edition, 4s. 6d. boards. Ur. Collycr, in his popular Work, " Xectures on So fptnre FRCts," has been pleased to make the foUowins; mention of it :— ' AFay I be permitted to recommend a small and well-composed Treatise, called the Christian Cfficer's Tanoply, (now called the f'hristian Officer's Complete Armour,) written by an excellent Ollicer in the Marines, now living and personally known to me ? This little volume is the best compendium of Evidences in favor of the Bible, and the most familiar, I have ever seen. ' The style of writing adopted, is at oiue entertaining and instructive; and I never received more of pleasure and of satisfaction from any book which I ever perused.' , Ciillyer's Lectures. ' We gladly embrace the opportunity atforded us by a new edition of this excellent little vork, to give it the sanction of our warmest recomniendaticm. It exhibits the cliief arguri'ientS iu favour of a Divine Revelation in a distinct, luminous, and pleasing form. The substance of it is cast into a free and interesting dialogue between a Cap- tain, a sincere believer in Christianity, and his sceptical friend, a Major in the same regiment. Both chwaoters are taken from the life. We are glad to observe that the name of the worthy writer is avowed in this second edition ; the first, it may be pro- per to observe, was entitled the Christian Officer's Panoply.' Eclectic Review. ' A consider:^b^e number of years have elapsed since we enjoyed the pleasure of perusing the fu st edition of this agreeable book ; it comes to us recommended by a sharacter (Sir Richard Hill) well known in the Religious World,' &c. Theological Ecview. ' We find six dialogues between a Captain who is religious, and a l\Iajor who is tlie reverse ; five of which contain proofs, in answer to the common objections against the truth of Revelation. In these five dialogues wc have met with a respectable degree of learning and argument.' British Critic. ' This Publication certainly does abundant credit to the pious intention of the Antho.-, who, if a Colonel of Marines, is, to say the least, a very extraordinary charac- ter.' Oentleincii's Magazine. ' Tills Work was recommended by the late .Sir Riehard Hill, and we are happy iit coinciding on the present iccasion with the Honourable Baronet. Colonel B. has here compiled, for the use of tlic Army and Kavy, a neat summary of the Tividences ia favot" of Revelation ; and he has managed the dialogue between the Major and Captain witli great ease, and at the same time with much eftect.' Munthly Review. ' All the great, and wc need scarcely add irrefragable arguments in support of Christianity, are here enforced in a dialogue between two Officers, one of them very seriously impressed with the importance of Religion, the other a man of the world, who has paid but little attention to tlie subject." Cabinet. 9. WHO FARES BEST, THE CHRISTIAN OR THE MAN OF THE WORLD.? By Colonel Burn. Third Edition, '2%. 6d. boards. Our readers are well acquainted with this intelligent and pious writer, as Author of the Christian Ollicer's Complete Aniiour : we hope the Dialogue now reprinted will soon be more generally known than it is at present ; we think the sound reasoning, devotional sentiment and engaging style, by which it is distinguished, will render its extensive circulation a public benefit. Eclectic Review. In the Press, THE SCRIPTURE ATLAS ; or, a Series of Maps, to illustrate the Old and New Testament ; to be published in 4to. and iieatly. half bound. J. moves, printer, CrevilU Street. Ilatton GaiUen, Londuit. */ /^6-- 2^^