'W^ ^^%^ mp!-:. 53a a 5:13 iB. ,£i. O^ ^2- AT PRINCETON, N. -J. i» c» ;v _<». Ti o :v u »- SAMUEL AGNEW, OK P H I I, A n E L P H H . PA. QTo. Ph/^i^tA/c^ M-?^ /^^cT I) Case, _C N' . . .OOd . \ I Stuff, : .cS9s58^. ji I Hooh„ \ DISCOURSES PREACHED BEFORE THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY O F LINCOLN's-INN, B Y Thk ASSISTANT-PREACHER, ROBERT NARES, a.m. Cheplain to His Royal Highnefs the Duke of Torkf i^c. LONDON: PRINTED FOR F. AND C. RIVINGTON, N* $2, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 1794. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, &c. &c. &c, TREASURER (for the present year.) T O T H E HON. SOCIETY OF LINCOLN'S INN, THESE DISCOURSES ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, May I, 1794. ROBERT NARES, CONTENTS. DISCOURSE I. ON THE MEANS OF REVIVING THE TRUE SPIRIT OF PIETY. Romans xiv. 19. Page. LAet us \therefore'\ follow after the things which jnakefor peace ^ and things where- with one may edify another. - - - x DISCOURSE II. ON THE SUBLIMITY OF DEVOTION. Lam. Jer. iii. 41. het us lift up our heart with our ha?ids unto God in the heavens. - - - - 17 DISCOURSE III. ON THE MERCY OF GOD. PSAL. CXXX. 4. For there is ?nercy with thee, therefore fialt thou be feared. ----- 37 b DIS- vi CONTENTS. DISCOURSE IV. ON WHAT IS CALLED RATIONAL CHRIS- TIANITY. I Cor. i. 20. part of. Page Hath not God made foolifi the wifdom of this world ? SS DISCOURSE V. on THE AGENCY OF SPIRITS- I Peter v. 8. Befober, be vigilant -, becaiife your adver- Jary the devil, as a roaring lion, walk- eth about feeking ivhotn he may devour. 73 DISCOURSE VI. ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION. Hebrews xil. 25. See that ye refufe not him that fpeaketh : for if they efcaped not who refufed him that f pake on earth, much more Jl: all not we efcape, if we turn away from him that fpeaketh from heaven. - - - 89 D IS- CONTENTS. vii DISCOURSE VII. ON THE HISTORY OF THE SEDUCED PROPHET. I Kings xiii. i . 'Page And behold, there ca?ne a man of God out of fudah, by the word of the Lord imto Bethel. ~ - - - - - -107 DISCOURSE VIII. ON PROVING ALL THINGS. I Thess. V. 21. Prove all things : hold fajl that which is good, ---------125 DISCOURSE IX. ON THE REGARD OF GOD FOR THE TEM- poral welfare of men. Deut. v. 29. that there were fiich an heart in them that they would fear ine, and keep my commandments always y that it might be well with them, and with their children forever! -------- 141 b 2 D I S- viii CONTENTS. DISCOURSE X. AGAINST CONCEALING OUR RELIGION. 2 Tim. i. 8. part of. Page Be not thou therefore ajhamed of the tejii- mony of our Lord. - - - - - 159 DISCOURSE XI. ON LETTER AND SPIRIT. 2 CoR. iii. part of ver. 6. For the letter killeth, but the fpirk giveth life. _----___- 179 DISCOURSE XII. ON HOLDING FAST THE FAITH. Heb. X. 23. Let us hold fafl the profeffon of our faith without waueringyfor he is faithful that promifed. ---__-__i^^ D IS- CONTENTS. ix DISCOURSE XIII. THAT WE CANNOT TRULY LOVE GOD, UN- LESS WE FIRST LOVE OUR BRETHREN. I John iv. 20. Page If a man fay, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath feen, how call he love God, whom he hath not feen ? ___^__-2r5 DISCOURSE XIV. ON THE LOVE OF GOD ; HOW IT ARISES.— A Sequel to that on i John iv. 20. Matt. xxii. 37, 38. fefus faid unto him, "Thou Jhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy fnind. This is the firft and great commandment, 233 DISCOURSE XV. ON THE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR. Matt. xxii. part of ver. 39. Thou Jlialt love thy neighbour as thy f elf 249 D I S- X CONTENTS. DISCOURSE XVI. WHY IT WAS NECESSARY FOR CHRIST TO SUFFER. For Good-Friday. Luke xxiv. 25, 26. Page T!hen he /aid unto them, O fools and Jlow of heart to believe all that the prophets have fpoken I ought not Chrijl to have fuffered thefe things, and to enter into his glory '^ - - - -- - -265 DISCOURSE XVII. ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE FROM THE DEAD. An Easter-Sermon. Luke xvi. 31. And (Abraham) faid unto him. If they hear not Mofes and the Prophets, nei- ther will they be perfiiaded though one rofe from the dead. - - - - -283 D I S- CONTENTS. xi DISCOURSE XVIII. on the last injunctions of christ. V/hit-Sunday Sermon. Matt, xxviii. i8, 19, 20. Page A?2d yeftis came^ and fpake unto them, faying. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye, therefore^ and teach all natio'ns, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoji : teaching them to obferve all things ivhatfoever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen, ________ 297 DISCOURSE XIX. on mysteries in religion. Trinity Sermon. I Cor. ii. 6, 7. Howbeit we fpeak wifdom among them that are perfeB ; yet not the wifdo?n of this world. xd CONTENTS. Page world y nor of the princes of this world that come to nought ^ but we fpeak the ivifdom of God in a myjiery* - - -317 DISCOURSE XX. • CN THE TITLE OF The LORD, AS A PROOF OF Christ's divinity. Christmas-Day. Luke ii. 11. For unto you is horn, this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Chrifi the Lord. - - - - - - - -333 D I S- ^/ A li A A< V *.» .--. (.-J ^midil abundance of raillery and ridicule, which, though they could not move the wife who were few, yet caught the weak and un Heady who were many, and kept them greatly in awe of what fome fophifls would gladly have eflabliflicd as the final teji of truth. In thefe circumflanccs, I fay, it be- came a kind of faihion to fuppr^fs religious fentiments, to fuffer them by all imaginable methods to b.' difcountenanced in public, and to retain them, if at all, among the fecrets of the DISCOURSE I. g tlie heart, known only to him to whom all hearts are open. Not to expatiate upon the unchriftian pu- fillanimity, and the guilt of fuch condud:, the 'cffcO: of it upon the public morals has been alarming and deftrucftive. They who judge chiefly by appearances, and are influenced very greatly by the example of their fuperiors, I mean the lower orders of fociety, feeing fo little appearance of religion in thofe above them, and fo little anxioufnefs to preferve even an outward refped: to it, have been tempted, in too many inftances, to throw it off entirely, and we are punifhed for our guilty negligence by an extended profligacy, which at length is felt and lamented, but which it mufl be the work of time, and of Uiany ferious efforts, to reprefs and to reform. The great work is, however, begun ; and the zeal with which fome inftitutions of that tendency have b^n taken up and fupported, affords, at prefent, a pleafing fymptom of amendment, and will, no doubt, in time pro- duce its due effed:. But in the interval we are ftrongly called upon to quicken and extend our diligence, and, with the general attention which the apoflle lo DISCOURSE I. apoftle enjoins, " to follow after all thingJF *' wherewith we may edify one another.'' The fpirit of religion mufl be revived among us, and we muft ceafe to be afliamed, with a foolifli and a guilty fliame, of thofe things which are in truth our greateft glory ; not forgetting that of thofe who are now afhamed of Chrift, he alfo will furely be afhamed when he fits on the tribunal of Omnipotence. Some of thofe things by which vs^e may edify one another I will here concifely enu- merate, as an aid or guide to that obedience which is due to the apoftle's precept* The firfl and mofl obvious of thefe is the Education of Children, For by edifying one another we are not to underftand too ilridly and literally a mutual edification, or recipro- cation of inftrucftion, but the edifying of all thofe in every ftation on whom we may have an opportunity of conferring that great be- nefit. With refped to children, it has been very artfully inculcated by the enemies of rclieion, and not without confiderable effed:, that the choice of religious opinions is a work of mature judgment, and therefore ought to be left altogether to the decifion of mature age; and that in the mean time the mind fhould DISCOURSE I. IT ftiould be left free from every bias of preju- dice, and indifferent to every determination. This, like every other fallacy, has fome foun- dation in truth. It is true that the final de- cifion upon religious opinions is a w^ork of mature judgment j but it is not true that ia this matter prejudices are fo greatly to be ap^- prehended, or that it is fo difficult, as is in- finuated, to throw off the early bias of educa- tion. How many have we feen who, after every care taken in their youth to imprefs them with chriflian principles, have run the whole courfe of infidelity, and fhown themfelves through- out life exempt from every charge of preju- dice in favour of religion ! Nor can the mind be kept in fuch a neutral ftate as thefe in- ilrudors recommend. ** He that is not for " me," fays our Saviour, " is againfi: me," and the child that does not learn religion will Jearn irreligion. Befides, the leifure of early life is the only convenient opportunity fome men ever have for learning any thing of re- ligion ; immerfed afterwards in the hurry of bufinefs, and the temptations of life, they have need rather of previous knowledge to keep them fteady, than of difputes about firft principles. A Chriflian has much to learn, which i2 DISCOURSE I. which the docile mind of a child (a patted in that refped: for man, and as fuch recom- mended to imitation) very readily receives 5 but which will afterwards, without more leifure than many men will choofe to find, be attained but very imperfedly : and thus> by way of being impartial, we may leave one fide of the quedion altogether unheard. The fummary creed of infidelity, *' / believe *' nothingi'' is learned, if it be worth learn- ing, at any time, and without any fi:udy, fo that no provifions need be made for that ac- quirement: and if a man muft of neceffity fet out in life with prejudices, it is better, ork many accounts, for himfelf and for the worlds that he fhould have fuch as make him feel re* iponfible for what he does, than fuch as en- courage him to indulge his pafiions,at that time the ftrongeft, and to throw off all reflraint. — For thefe reafons, and for many more which the fubjed: will naturally fuggefi; to every reafonable mind, let us begin our reformation t)f the times by edifying where we have mofl power to edify, by inftilling into children, from their earliefi: years, the love of God and the true fpirit of religion. And, DISCOURSE I. 13 And, as among the means of doing this,. and of edifying, at the fame time, a larger circle of inmates and dependents, let me? ftrenuoully recommend the excellent, but toa. long neglected pra(ftice of domeftic prayer. The pi(flure of a mafler of a family kneeling at the head of his houfhold, and recommend- ing them and himfelf, in folemn prayer, to the proteftion and bleffing of heaven, is one of thofe which we know is pleafing in the light of God ; and which would be, if our taile were as correcft in this, as in fome in- ferior matters, in the light of man, affeding and fublime. The effe and united in communion with fpirits congenial to herfelf. This obfervation, the juflice of which will be readily confeffed by all who are capable of fuch feelings, leads dire(5lly to a truth which G feems i8 DISCOURSE 11. feems to have been too little confidered, be- ing of a nature to have a powerful influence on many minds, which is this ; that the Jinejl and niQJi fublime fenfations of which the foul of 7nan is ftfceptible, are conneSied with the prin^ ciple of devotion. In this remark religion is prefented to us in one of the mofl amiable and attracftive of her afpecfts j an illuflration of it, therefore, may be highly ufeful in re- viving the general attachment to her, and in difpeliing the cloud of prejudice from thofe darkened minds, which expecfl I know not what of dulnefs and infipidity in every thing pertaining to devotion. If thofe fweet, but powerful emotions of fublimity, for the fake of which men fly with io much eagernefs to the works of exalted genius, and to produce which is their higlieft boaft, the bafis of their noblefl fame, can be fhown to belong more peculiarly to religion, there mufl be an end of that ill- founded reproach ; and it muft be confeiTed that, in the exercifes of piety, a cold and languid infenfibility is difgraceful only to the heart that harbours it. An enquiry into the nature of the fublime would be altogether unfuitable to this time and place. Let us be contented then to take the decifion of the quefhion as we find it given by DISCOURSE II. 19 by others. — The moft perfed: account appears to be this, " that it is the idea of power, in " fome fliape or other infinuating itfelf, which " produces in all cafes the fenfation of fuhli- " mky*:" If this theory be juil, and it has every appearance of being fo, we have all that we can pofTibly defire for the demonftration of our prefent remark : an aflumption taken up on purpofe could not more exadly ac- cord. The contemplation of Omnipotence, the higheft and moft perfect power the uni- verfe contains, the fountain of all other power that does or can exift, is the due and proper province of religion. To trace the effedis, to acknowledge the dominion, and to conceive as fully as pofiible the glory of that tranfcendent Power, is the effential em- ployment of devotion. No wonder then, if we find fublimity, where its very effence is acknowledged to refide, in conned:ion with power, and that infinite in degree : and we may reft fatisfied with the full decifion of theory in favour of the remark which is now feledted for examination. It remains only to illuftrate the doctrine by fhowing it to be altogetiier confirmed by ex- perience. * Blair, C 2 If 20 DISCOURSE 11. If devotion be, In its own nature, a fubllme feeling, the records of the true religion ought eminently to poiTefs that character of fubli- niity. In this, our exped:ation is not deceived: the fublimefl: books exifting arc thofe from which we learn our faith. The writings of the infpired penmen abound with palTages for which no parallel can be found in the produc- tions of mere genius. On thefe holy books the marks of the divinity are every where flamped in characters of fimple dignity, and genuine, unaffe(5ledfmipllcity, which are not to be found in any human compolitions. The facred vo- lutne is. As it were, the tabernacle of the Moft High ftill remaining among us, pervaded throughout by the brightnefs of his prefence, and the tranfcendent majefty of his power. To recite examples of this high excellence, pleafmg as it might be to do fo, may fairly be efteemed fuperfluoua ; my hearers are, I truft, fufficiently acquainted with the treafures of infpifatlon to recal fuch paiTages to theif own recolle(ftion. There are writings in which it is exprefsly undertaken, and the fa6l is in ge- neral acknowledged. Even they who have hot in all refpedls fubmltted to the authority of fcripture, have, in general, been obliged to DISCOURSE II. 21 to confefs its fublimlty ; though in fo doing they have granted, perhaps, fomething more than they intended : this fublimity of holy writ being, among others, no mean argument of its authenticity. Had it contained only a vain and fabulous theology, thefc chara(5ters of augufl grandeur, and true elevation, had furely been wanting to it. The efforts of the moft pre-eminent genius could fcarcely raifc above abfurdity the dreams of the pagan fyf- tem; the mod fublime and celebrated de^* fcription of the fupreme deity of heathen -» ifm, implies a conception of him in a human form, with the darkeft hair, and overhanging eye-brows * : but the more general and purer ideas of an infinite fpirit, as fuggefted by ge- nuine religion ; Eternity, Immenfity, Omni- prefence. Omnipotence, the attributes, ac- tions and decrees of an all- wife and all-perfe(ft Deity,^r^what emotions are too elevated for them to excite, when delivered in the lan- guage of truth ? Hear the tellimony of one, whofe unexampled inconfiflency, joined to the moil exalted talents, was, in fome re- fpe(fts, unfavourable to the caufe of religion ; but whofe right fentiments on this fubje<5l * Horn. II. A. 528. C 3 appear 22 DISCOURSE II. appear to have been extorted by irrefiftlble feeling. *' The majefty of the fcriptures,'* fays this writer, " fills me with aftonifhment, ** the holinefs of the gofpel fpeaks to my (( very heart. Behold the books of the phi-^ ** lofophers, with all their pomp, how little " are they in comparifon ! — Is it poflible that ** a book at once fo wife and fo fublime fliould ** have been the produdlion of mere men *." Having cited this ample acknowledgement from one in many refped:s hoftile to the caufe of revealed religion, let us proceed, as a fur^ ther illuftration of our do(ftrine, to confider fome of the fituations of real life, which tend to prove the intimate connection between de-r votion, and the fources . of fublime feeling within us. Firft then, in the retirement of the clofet to what fpeculations will the mind of the de- vout be direded ? While under the impref- fion of that principle, probably, to the con- templation of God. How much of fubli- mity is neccflarily adjoined to the true notions of the Supreme Being, has been already fug- gefted ; nor will any one be hardy enough to all'ert that a more exalted topic of confidera;- * RoUiTeau, Peiifte^, p. 3. tioi^ D I S C Q U R S E IL 23 tion can poffibly be conceived. But it may be faid, with fome plaufibility, that the be- ing and attributes of the Creator are matters much too high above us, to ad: upon our minds with powerful energy. That, dazzled and confounded with the profpe(5l of infinity, the under {landing of man, employed upon this fubjed:, muft link under the fenfe of its own infufficiency ; and, inflead of expe- riencing the vigorous impreflions of fublime emotion, mufl feel only the languor and the fhame of baffled weaknefs. Thus, indeed, to unaffifted man it eafily might happen. But from this difappointment the nature of our divine religion refcues us : we are not left to bewilder ourfelves in the labyrinth of infinity, where all we could difcover would be our hopelefs ignorance ; it has pleafed God to declare to us, in part, what he is ; and to encourage us to raife our thoughts to him, by revealing to us, even in our prefent ftate of imperfedtion, fomething of the brightnefs of his glory. Affifted by this fupernatural aid, the devout Chriftian, in his fecret con- templations, lifts up his thoughts, not to an unknown being, like the Athenians of old, but to the Lord Jehovah, to the Creator and C 4 Lord 24 D I S C O U R S E IL Lord of heaven and earth, to the Holy One of Ifrael, tJie God of peace, of patience, and confolation * ; wlio, though throne^ in ever- lafting majefly, vouchfafes to \oipk upon the fons of men ; who, though offended hy innumerable tranfgreflions, fo loved the world that he fent his only-begotten Son, to the end that they who believe in him may not perifh, but have everlafting life; who hath jfent, fince him;j the ever-hleiTed Comfortef. to guide i;s, if we refufe not his guidance, into all truth. — -To this God, thys defcribed and fpecified, to the myfterious union of this Holy Trinity, are the contemplations of chrif- tian devotion dired:ed : to this objeft does the votary of true religion in folitude and retire- ment lift up his foul J and, though it be with humblenefs, and with a full conviction that to him the ways of God are of neceffity in- fer utable, yet it is v/ith confidence that he furely knows both of his ways and of his goodnefs, fo much at leaA as it hath pleafed him to reveal : and ever when hi$ own conceptions fail through weaknefs, and fall fhort of the fublimity of the fubjed, the fa- cred volurne is at hand to affift and invigorate * I ThefT. V. 2. and Rom. xv. 5, 33. his DISCOURSE II. 25 his imagination. Whence, though hitherto I have declined it, I cannot now refrain from pting at leaft a iingle inftance of the richnefs of its fubllme defcription. Speaking of the power of God, it is faid in the book of Job, that " He ftretcheth out the north over the *' empty place, and hangeth the earth upon *' nothing ', He bindeth up the waters in his *' thick clouds, and the clouds are not rent " under them. He holdeth back the face ** of his throne, and fpreadeth his cloud up- *' on it. He hath compalTed the water with " bounds, until the day and night come to ** an end. The pillars of heaven tremble and *' are aftonifhed at his reproof *." More, I think, need not be faid to prove that the contemplations to which devotion leads, are in their own nature elevated and fublime.— And though they may not all turn fpecifically upon the attributes c.ad perfed;ions of the Deity, they are all related to the fame fui?- jedt ; and bear in them, more or Icfs, the im- prefiion of a iimilar charac^ler. To be convinced of this, let us, inflead of purfuing the devout man to his clofet, attend him to the field. There, when he beholds * Job xxvi. 7, 6ic. the 26 DISCOURSE IL the beauteous order of creation, the fplendof and magnificence of the fky above him, the richnefs and variety of the earth' beneath, the vigour of life and health that glows around him, and the materials of abundant enjoy- ment, confiftent, if rightly ufed, with nature, with reafon and religion, and poured out on every fide with unbounded profufion; then, when his heart exulting in the profped: and participation of fo much colled:ed good, yearns towards the Divine Beflower, and exclaims with fervour, " Thefe are thy glorious works, ** Almighty Father, and thefe thy bounties !" who fhall deny that his fenfations are fub- lime, or perfuade him that the fame obje6ls, without this reference to heaven, without this afiiftance from the feelings of devotion, can pofiibly excite an equal tranfport. Another may enjoy the contemplation of magnificence, may be pleafed with the profpe6t of beauty, order, and variety, and feel the warmth of admiration ; but on the devout man alone will thefe coiifiderations operate with their fulled influence. He only will proceed, by a rapid tranfition, from the creatures to the Creator, and regard the perfections of his works as a reprefentation, ^nd, as it were a foretafle, of the DISCOURSE II. 27 the Infinitely higher excellencies of their holy- Author. To him mofi: truly it is that " the " heavens declare the glory of God !" Or if from great and general views of expanded nature, he defcend to a more mi- nute examination of its parts, fenfations of the fame exalted kind will ftill continue to be excited. He will never, in the minuteft of his refearches, lofe fight of the great and ad- mirable Contriver; but tracing the unerring wifdom and unbounded power of the Deity in the fmalleft fubdivifions of his works, will find a dignity in obje(5ls ufually defpifed, and will perceive the trueft magnificence, the marks of the mod: fublime intelligence, united with apparent meannefs. — Such are the fenfa- tions raifed by the view of nature, whether general or particular, in the mind of the pious Chriftian ; who, though he love not the world, when under that name are compre- hended thp follies, the paffions and the vices, of thofe who are too truly its children : yet wheij he furveys it as the theatre of Almighty Providence, as a fpecimen of unbounded Power, the refult and the difplay of unerring Wifdom, cannot fail to have produced within him the trmfports of rational wonder, and fbe exalted fervour of grateful admiration. ** When t^ DISCOURSE IL '' When I confider," fays the Pfalmift, '' the ** heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon ** and ftars which thou haft ordained; — what " is man that thou art mindful of him, and ** the fon of man that thou vifiteft him ? For ** thou haft made him a little lower than the ** angels, and haft crowned him with glory ** and honour *." To fuch a height of noble fpeculation can the fpirit of religion exalt the minds of its profeflbrs ! — But it is not only in the con- templation of nature that thefe eifedls may be produced; in every circumftance and fitua- tlon the proper operation of religious thoughts is to call up fuch fublime and fervent feel- ings. — Is the devout man in profperity ?— He acknowledges the bounty of his Almighty Father, looks up to Him with earneft grati- tude, and, even in humbling himfelf before God, acquires a dignity, a firmnefs and an elevation of mind. Well knoweth he that •* BlelTed is the man that feareth the Lord, *^ that delighteth greatly in his command- ** ments. He fhall not be afraid of evil tid- ** ings, his heart is fixed, trufting in the ** Lord ; his heart is eftablifhed, he Ihall not * Pfal. viii. 3, &c. " be DISCOURSE II. 19 *' be afraid *." — Such was the triumphant fong of the infpired monarch of Ifrael, and fuch is the perfuafion of the religious man ; a perfuafion naturally accompanied with ener- getic and fubiime emotion. But do his worldly advantages fail, and leave him plunged in the waters of adveriity? Driven from the confolations of the world, his fpirit ftill refifts, and rifes beneath the prefTure. He looks above this world, to a higher and more adequate affiftance. ** When ** the waves of death compafTed me ; the '* floods of ungodly men made me afraid; ** the forrows of hell compafTed me about, ** the fnares of death gat hold upon me. — -In " my diftrefs I called upon the Lord, and " cried unto my God -f." Encouraged to this reliance by the highefl: and moft exprefs authority, he turns from the afflictions that furround him, and in the profped: of another world, if not in this, fees hope and confola- tion beam upon him. But is this high and folemn appeal made, think you, without any fubiime emotions ? To pafs from the dark and gloomy regions of defpair, to the fplen- * Pfal. cxii. I. and 7. t 2 Sam. xxii. 5, &c. Pfal. xriii. 4. 4or 30 DISCOURSE II. dor of immortal hope, is it a dull or tame tranfition ? The foul that is diftrefled, af- flicted, and broken with the ills of life, feels it no exaltation, no warmth and energy of hope, in turning from the prefent evils to the fountain of all comfort, and the fource of in- exhauflible benevolence ? Far other wife. This pious effort, be aflured, obtains an im- mediate reward, in that yearning of pure de- light, which we cannot refufe to clafs among the moft exalted feelings of humanity. It is impoffible in this place to enumerate every inftance in which the feelings of true religion exalt the foul almoft above herfelf : in adls of fecret and even painful obedience, in ' felf-denials, in exertions of pure benevolence, in every private exercife of duty in which the applaufe of man cannot be fought, the appeal to Him who Jeeth in fecret, is, and ought to be made, with joy, and inward triumph ^ with a fublime feeling of duty, and a confcioufnefs of divine fuperintendence. — But waving the abundance of matter which thus prefents it- felf, let us, as more efpecially fuited to our prefent caufe of meeting, confider the fub- jeCt of adoration. From this holy a(5t, it will not, I think, be denied, that the heart which I DISCOURSE II. 31 which flandeth right is capable of feeling all that human nature can feel of fervour and fub- lime eiFed:. When. we kneel in private, we feel ourfelves beneath the eye and in the adlual prefence of God -, imagination tranfports us to the very footftool of his throne, and unites us with thofe more perfect creatures who adore him everlaftingly. On the other hand, if we confider the nature of public worfhip, we fhall find in it fomething which, though cold and luke-warm minds may pafs over as trivial and common, a mind impreffed with flrong devotion will naturally confider as au- guft ! The afi^embling of multitudes for the purpofe of fupplicating or adoring, with one confent, a Being fo infinitely above them, flanding as it were in a ftate of vifible inter- courfe with heaven, prefents a grand and mag- nificent idea; and though on common occafions but little may be felt, yet what the fituation is capable of producing may be conceived, if we figure to ourfelves the eite(ft which even the dulleft mind would feel from the united hal- lelujahs of multitudes. The Roman church, ever ftudious of power- ful efi^edts, has contrived an occafion on which the operation of this adive principle of devo- tion 2% DISCOURSE ir. tion is adually feen to exert itfelf with won- derful effee reforrnation of the offender^ can have no place in the punilhments decreed to fmners i^i another life. For it feems to be very clearly declared, that there remains after death no opportunity for expiation or amendment ; fuch as a man dies, fuch will he appear at the judgment-feat of God, and according to the works done in this life, and not to any other, v/ill he receive his fubfequent defti- nation. — That this is the cafe with Chrif- tians, at leaft, is very certain ; though there are texts which fecm to leave a latitude to thofe who never had the truth propounded to them in this life *, If this be fo, the re- * iPet.iii. 19. According to the interpretation of the fathers, ^:c. Chrift defccndcci into Hell, or Hades, to preach to the departed fouls there, that they inight re- pent : but f^e Pcarfon on the article " He ddccndcd into <' HcU" in the Creed, formatioA DISCOURSE III. 4S formation of the offenders cannot be the purpofe of the punifhments to be infliaed in another world. It remains then that they who are there punifhed muft fuffer for the fake of others, who either by their example may be deterred from offending the majefty of God, or by their fuffering may be fecured in that happinefs which the impunity and freedom of bad fpirits might perhaps be able effedlually to interrupt. We can judge of nothing fo fecurely as by arguments drawn from our experience. Let us apply them to this cafe; and we fnall find, by a fmgle moment's reflexion, that, in things which we are better able to comprehend, juftice is not only compatible with mercy, but is even a part of it. It would not be a virtuous lenity, however amiable it might appear to a fuperficial obferver, but a weak and fenfelefs pity, which, by fparing one offender, fhould endanger the morals or fecurity of innumer- able unoffending perfons. It is injuftice and cruelty, however fpecioufly it may be var- nifhed over, to fuffer thofe to corrupt and harrafs others, who, by undergoing what they have deferved, may be compelled to render an effential, though an unwilling, fer- 6 vice 46 DISCOURSE III. vice to fociety. On this principle do our laws proceed, Vv'hich Certainly in this place, and ii::deed in any place where they are rightly underftood, it cannot he neceflary to defend. It is indeed the principle of ail juft penal law whatfoeveri To apply this reafoning to the punifliment of finncrs denounced by the Gofpel, we mufb fuifer our ideas to take a wider ranire than o v/e ai-e wont to give them. In matters infi- nitely lefs fublime than the dod:rines of re- ligion, v»'e find that right intelligence can be drawn only frorri great and comprehenfive I'iewsj The principles Of the divine law muft be as extenfive as the univerfe which is the fphere of their application. We cannot pof- fibly have right ideas of the government of God, or indeed of any of the great features^ of revealed religion, if we keep our minds groveling and confined within fo inconfider- able a part of the great Legiflator's domi- nions, as this fmall planet which we novV inhabit. The glorious fcene of the incarna- tion, with all its wonderful confequences, appears not in any degree comprehenfible, if we confine its reference to this inconfiderable fpot on which it was tran^ded. To exalt our DISCOURSE Hi. 47 our fouls to conceptions more noble, and more juft, the veil of the invifible world has been drawn aiide by the fcriptures. There do our eyes, ilrengthened by faith, difcover whole orders and hierarchies of fpiritual beings, all concerned and interefted in thofe miraculous tranfadlions which took place among usj and we difcern a part of that connection by which, as it feems, the whole inteile(5tual fyflem is knit together. The' vindication of eternal jtiftice, and its recon- cilement with infinite mercy, was not a bufi- nefs to be traniadled in fecret, or in obfcurityy but was that into which every moral agent int the univerle had an intereft to enquire. In the cafe which we now examine, the puni{hment of finners after death can have, as we have obferved already, no tendency to their am^endment, fince before th^it period their whole probation mufl; have been com- pleted. Nor can it be necelTary for the fake of other men yet living, or to live,, within this Vv'orld, fince the dead are removed from us, and can neither hurt us by their vices, nor warn us by their fufferings, of which we are entirely ignorant : and the more fo, be- caufe, if we underftand the fcriptures aright, the 48 DISCOURSE IIL the whole exiflence of this world will havff pafled away before thofe fufferings fhall com- mence, fince there .is to be one great day foi* the judgment of all mankind. It remains then that their punifliment, as it cannot be infli(5led for mere vengeance-fake, muft be brought upon them for the fake of thofe who can be benefited by it ; for the warning of moral agents ftill capable of tranfgreffing, and of falling into mifcry by tranTgreflion, which we know may happen even to the angels themfelves. For the v/arning and inftrudion of fuch beings, of whatever rank or denomination they may be, muft thefe in- flictions happen^ whofe fituation and faculties muft of courfe be fuch, that they will fee and know their juftice and their ufe. Thus' have we an adequate and fufiicient caufe for that retribution for guilt which religion teaches us to exped ; and a very cogent rea- fon why it fliould not lightly, and upon mere compaffion, be remitted: thus do we fee why it is that becaufe God hath mercy, therefore he muft be juft, and the objed: of fear to thofe who offend againft that juftice. This, it is true, is not revealed, but if it be fairly deducible by reafon, as it feems to be, from that DISCOURSE IIL 49 tiiat which is revealed, and if it clear away fome of the greatefl difficulties attending oa religious fpeculations, why fliould we hefitate to admit it among our approved and probable opinions ? To what end are we informed of the exiftence and agency of other intellecflual beings, if we are not to conlider them as connected with us in the divine government of the univerfe ? By this idea we are enabled to perceive the exadt analogy which fubfiils between the ad- miniftration of divine government, and that iyftem of things, which, doubtlefs, for our inftru6lion, God has permitted to take place among ourfelves. For as it would be cruelty and injuftice to allow impunity in humaa fociety to crimes pernicious in example, and in operation deftruflive, and to favour of- fenders at the expence of the innocent and well-deferving ; fo is it inconfiftent with the purity of God's nature, and even with his mercy itfelf, that, by forgiving our trefpaffes, without atonement made, or reparation of- fered, he fliould lead into temptation and into evil all thofe beings, whatever may be their number, who by their faculties and iituation are enabled to behold the events in E which 56 DISCOURSE III. which we ai?C engaged, and principally con- cerned. The number of tranfgreirors here, it is true, is great ; but if we confider how we live furrounded by worlds which we can fee, and, doubtlefs, by many more of which we have no knowledge j if we recoiled: that every region of fpace is peopled, probably, by fit inhabitants, we may eafily conceive that the number of thofe delinquents here, how- ever highly eftimated, can bear no kind of proportion to the number of fuch beings, as, by the example of their punifliment, may be fecured in innocence and everlafting blifs.'— We cannot, perhaps, prove this to be fo ; but if it be reafonable, if it be probable, if it be even poiFible, that it fliould be true, we are furnifhed with a fufficient anfwer to thofe who are daring enough to argue againft the fyflem of revealed religion, as in thefe points inexplicable and abfurd. What can be rea- fonably explained in any way is not abfurd, though the mode of explanation adopted may not happen to be right. We fee then the fate of that reafoning which fuppofes it inconfiftent with the mercy of God to punifh.— An error which the Gentile philofophers in general are faid to have em- braced ; DISCOURSE III. Jt braced ; and which has not been unfafliion- able even in our own days: an error, pardon- able indeed in thofe who had only the light of nature to condud: them in the fearch of truth, but devoid of reafonable excufe in thofe to whom eternal truth hath openly vouchfafed to fpeak -, who have only to wi£h lincerely to difcover what is right, in order to be enabled to difcern it. There are writings current among us, and falfely called philofo- phical, in which the benevolence of God is afFed:edly extolled, and the frailty of man dif- honeftly exaggerated, for no other purpofe but to lead us to the dangerous conclufion, that, as far as the divine interference is con- cerned, every fpecies of enormity may be committed with entire impunity. How con- fident the publication of this dodrine is with that philanthropy of which thefe teachers alTume the pretence, let the philofophers of Greece declare, who, though they held a fimilar opinion, thought it not right to di- vulge or circulate it at large among the peo- ple, in whofe eyes they always wore the ap- pearance of aflenting to the popular religion, left by removing the ftrongeft reftraint upon the paflions, for which they could propels E Z (19 52 DISCOURSE III. no fubftitute, they fliould leave the world a prey to violence, cruelty, and every fpecies of mifery arifing from general and unchecked depravity. The modern henefaBors of man^ kind, on the contrary, have been willing to make the experiment, dangerous as it evi- dently is, and for the fake of publifhing what they cdl truth, without proving it to be fo, have ventured to put into the hazard the deared interefts of humanity. All that 7nercy could do, confidently with itfelf, and infinitely -more than any creature could expert, was done by the redemption of the Gofpel ; whereby the freeft grace was offered to all thofe who would accept it on fuch terms as might not be pernicious to the general intereils of morality, but might afford an univerfal example : and, left this grace fliould be abufed, and a pretence be made that the more was pardoned the more the mercy of God would be multiplied, an anti- dote to this poifon is provided in the infpired reafonings of the apoflles, and particularly of St. Paul, who labours more abundantly than any other to prove, that, though the mercy of the Almighty is infinite, yet no fecurity can thence be gained for the pre- fumptuous DISCOURSE III. 53 fumptuous tranfgrelTor. This Apoftle having with his ufual energy propofed the ftriking queftion, " Shall we then continue in fin, that *' grace may abound?" replies decifively to himfelf,asreafon evermuft reply, being fhocked at the very fuggeftion, — " God forbid!" — God forbid, indeed, fuch prefumption, fuch ingra- titude, fuch folly i that becaufe our heavenly Father has manifefled a ftrong defire to fave all thofe whom it was poffible to reclaim, we fhould prefume to think that we are autho- rized to fin, and to extend at our pleafure the limits of his forbearance, forcing it to extend itfelf to any point that our unreafonable paf- fions may require. As it is a confideration full of triumph, wonder, glory, and confolation, that, to redeem us from punifhment, without weakening the authority of holinefs and juf- tice, and leading other beings into fin, the eternal Son of God defcended from on high, and fuffered for us, bearing our infirmities, and healing us by his wounds ; fo is it a fub- je£t full of dread, and fitted to give us the mofl effedtual warning againfl fin, to reflect, that unlefs that bleffed Son had defcended and fuffered, nothing, confiftently even with the mercy of God, could have done away the E 3 Sf-^lt, j4 DISCOURSE III. guilt, or prevented the punliliment of our offences. — It is an awful thing to think that when we commit a wilful crime, we caufe an irregularity in the fyftem of things, which nothing but the interpofition of fo miraculous a Providence could fet in order : we put a flain upon the works of the divine Creator, which nothing lefs than the blood of his Son could wafh away. Had not man offended, no atonement had been neceffary -, but had he offended, and been pardoned without an expiation, of the proper value of which God alone could judge, licence would have been given to all other moral agents to offend with impunity, and fin would have remained tri- umphant in the univerfe. Let us then blefs God for his mercy, but in fo doing, left wc fhould be tempted to prefume upon it, let us remember th^t his juftice, inftead of being oppofed to it, is, in truth, an effential and infeparable part of the fam^ attribute ; and that, according to my text, " as there is mercy with God, ^' therefore muft he be feared." Now to God, &c. DIS- DISCOURSE IV. ON WHAT IS CALLED RATIONAL CHRIS- TIANITY. I Cor. i. 20. part of. Hath not God made foolijh the wifdom of this world? TH E queilion feems extraordinary : and it is afked, we may obferve, as if in- tended to be very ftrongly affirmed. It muft in fad be affirmed, or the honour of God's own word will be impaired : for God hath faid exprefsly by his prophets j ** The wif- *' dom of their wife men fhall perifli, and ** the underftanding of their prudent men " fhall be hid *." And again, '' The ** wife men are afhamed, they are dif- ** mayed and taken ; lo, they have rejeded ** the word of the Lord, and what wifdom " is in them "fV Thefe, and other paflages * Ifai. xxix. 14. t Jsr- ^''^^' 9' E 4 of 56 DISCOURSE IV. of the fame nature, fhow that, in the mighty fyftem of redemption, to which the prophe- cies referred, there was intended to be fome- thing fo unhke the wifdom of this world as to defeat its cxpedations, and confound its reafonings. This conclufion had been ad:ually juftified in the time of the apoftle, as he himfelf in- forms us, by the coming of our Saviour; whofe appearance in the flefli, fo very differ- ent from what human wifdom looked for, and whofe death upon the crofs, fo contrary to all that i eafon might have concluded to be £t and proper, had expofed the wifdom of the world to be mofl juftly branded with the name of folly. How could it be otherwife, when that which men defpifed and ftumbled at, was fhown to be in truth " the power of '* God, and the wifdom of God *?" When wifdom is fo proudly vaunted as it Ij at prefent, and reafon, as if recovered from t'lis firft defeat, prefents herfelf, and her ad- mirers, as competent to judge, and form de- clfions of irrefragable force on all things hu» man and divine ; at fuch a time, it may be prudent to enquire concerning Revelation, ♦ I Cor. i. 24. whether DISCOURSE IV. 57 whether this diftlndiive property of confound- ing human reafon, be conftantly inherent in it, or whether it was only once, and with a retrofpedt to its paft notions, that God made foolijh the ivifdom of this world. We have lately heard much faid within the chriftian world, of a profeffion which its admirers have denominated ^'atlonal Chrijli^ anityy or, in other words, the fyftem of God's Revelation accommodated to the wifdom oj this worldy and made entirely level to the reach of human Reafon : which, if it be true that God has formed his Revelation altogether, fo as to confound the vanity of man, in ar- guing and difputing about heavenly things, muft, it is very evident, be fomething different from real Chriflianity, and from the truth of that great fyftem which proceeded from Al- mighty Wifdom. Let us, however, before we proceed to the main queftion, underfland clearly what is meant by turning wifdom into fooliflanefs ; and why God, who gave man fuch an un- derilanding. as he has, fhould be inclined thus to reduce it to confufion and to fliame. Human wifdom is, it mufl be owned, the initrument that God himfelf has given us, to condud 58 DISCOURSE IV. condud us in our progrefs through this life ; and it may be thought a little ftrange, that he fhould thus determine to expofe its im- perfe6l"ions, and deprive it of our confidence. To thefe previous queftions the folutions are very obvious. Wifdom becomes folly when it employs itfelf on objeds far above its comprehenfion. All wifdom muft be ef- timated by comparifon, and that of an infe- rior being, however excellent within its pro- per fphere, is folly when it is found in oppo- fition to the wifdom of one infinitely higher. God, therefore, turns the wifdom of man- kind to folly, when he difplays his own in oppofition to it, and thus deteds its feeble- nefs and imperfedion. Why "he fhould do this is alfo clear ; not to decry it altogether, or to difcourage it from ading where the taik is well proportioned to its powders, but to point out its proper fphere, and there confine its energy and adion. This, we muft confefs, is worthy of the wifdom, and of the benevo- lence of God. To difcover whether the property of con- founding human wifdom in this manner, ilill belongs to Revelation, let us confider in what manner it had operated, at the time when it was DISCOURSE IV, ^9 was firfl declared. " Howbeit," fays St. Paul, ** we fpeak wifdom among them that *• are perfedl : yet not the wifdom of this ** world, nor of the princes of this world, *' that come to nought -, but we fpeak the *' wifdom of God in a myflery, even the hid- " den wifdom which God ordained before ** the world unto our glory. Which none *' of the princes of this world knew: for ** had they known it, they would not have ** crucified t/je Lord of Glory *"." The matter then in which the wifdom of this world was convidied principally of foolifhnefs, was the ignorance of men concerning the great counfels of God, and their fuppofition that Jefus was a mere man, who was in truth the Lord of Glory, In confequence of which fuppofition, co-operating with their evil paf- lions, they prefumed to crucify him. Surely then to that very point of folly and of wicked- nefs have they fallen back, crucifying him afrefh, and putting him, as far as in them lies, to open fhame, who maintain that he who then was crucified was mere man, and not the Lord of Glory. * I Cor. ii. 6—8. In 6o DISCOURSE IV, In this point it is that the wifdom of man is moft inchned to expofe its weaknefs. For, with a great opinion of its own fagacity, it forms objedions, and exclaims, how can it be that he who is the Lord of all, by whom all things were formed and flill fubiiH:, the only-begotten of the Father, fliould be veiled in human flefli, and fubjedt to the infults and the tyranny of impious men ? — While, on the other hand, the voice of God, regardlefs of thefe foolifli doubts, declares aloud, " This *' is my beloved Son, in whom I am well ** pleafed." Thus explicitly afferting that great truth which man is fo unable to con- ceive. In this manner has God evinced the vanity and imperfedlion of man's wifdom, by pre- ienting to it a fadt above its comprehenfion ; concerning which, if it prefumes to reafon, it is loft in error, in abfurdity, and guilt. The only means by which this ccnfure can be warded off are humble faith and acquiefcence : admitting the facft, becaufe the teftimony for it properly demands aflent, and, for the rea- fons of it, trufting that they do exift, within that mind, in which all knowledge dwells de- void of imperfe(5tion, Tlierc DISCOURSE IV. 6t There can be little doubt that God intended always to elude the fancied wifdom of man- kind, and compel it to be humble, by the myfterious darknefs of his difpenfations ; for the prophecies upon that fubjed: are general, and limited to no lingle period of completion. God even defcribes himfclf at large, as " the ** Lord, that turneth Vvife men backward, ** and maketh their knowledge foolifh *." Nor has there any change arlfen in the nature of man, or of the facred difpenfations, fmce St. Paul difputed on this fubjedt; fince he afked with fo much energy, " Where is the *' wife ? where is the fcribe ? where is the " difputer of this world ? hath not God made ** fcolifli the wifdom of this world ?" In fuch terms does the Lord declare that he efta- blifhes a iyftem above man's comprehenfion, and yet we fee men led away by the name of rational Kellgion -, we hear of Chriilianity de- prived of every difficulty, and brought down witliin the grafp of reafon. God faith rely on me, and hope through faith ; but man prefumes to fay, I will rely upon myfelf alone, and entertain no hopes but fuch as I can clearly cpmprehend.— God faith, you cannot under- * Ifai. xliv. 24. ilansl 62 DISCOURSE IV. fland my ways ; but man perlifts in thinking he can fully trace them out. Thefe things, he fays prefumptuoufly, may be 3 but this, and this, cannot ; and what appears to me improbable muft be, at all events, explained away. The queflion in my text, '* Hath not God '* made foolifh the wifdom of this world ?" may be interpreted, hath not God prefented to mankind a fyftem which they cannot com- prehend ? Which leads diredly to another of no lefs importance, why then will man tor- ment himfelf to raife his underflanding to it ? or, what is worfe, why will he disfigure and corrupt the gift of God, to bring it down- ward to the ftandard of his powers ? It is the will of heaven to humble him, by giving him a view of things above his reach. But his pride refufes to be humbled, and what it cannot comprehend, denies. We are frequently mifled by words, and if we change our terms can better underiland ourfelves. Rational Chriftianity, if it were called human Chrijlianity, would not be fo fe- du61ive in the found : and yet the term would be equivalent, for i-ational refers, of courfe, to human reajcn only. But rational, fo ufed, 5 has DISCOURSE IV. 63 has a deception in it ; for being commonly oppofed to irrational, a conclufion is drawn tacitly, that the Chriilianity to which that epithet is not applied, has in it fomething contrary to reafon, or inconfiftent with it ; and between ratmial and irrational belief no man of fenfe would helitate a moment. But the real oppofition marked by fuch a term, in this cafe, iliould be that between rational and Jiiper-rational, between hwnan and divine. And in this oppofition of terms, it would be , equally the part not only of common fenfe, but even of the highell underftanding, to give the preference to that which mufl be beft I and human Chrijiianity , however fpe- cioufly adorned, can be but ill regarded when compared with that which is divine. Could Chriftianity, retaining its effential properties, be made entirely level to the fa- culties of man, then to the triumphant quef- tion and implied affirmation of the Apof- tle, when he fays, " Hath not God made ** fooliih the wifdom of this world ?" we might boldly anfwcr, No. God hath rather eftablifhed and exalted the wifdom of this world, by fliowing that there is nothing in the moft important of his counfels, or the moft 64 DISCOURSE IV. moft obfcure of all his difpenfations, that is not open to the fearch, and fubjec-T: to the judgment of mankind. That this is not the cafe we have abundant affurance throughout the apoftolic v/ritings. It is, however, only the pretended wifdom which afpires to knowledge not within its reach, that God is willing to confound : when rightly exercifed, the reafon of mankind may rife to real wifdom, and is by its Divine Au- thor encouraged and approved. If we feek the limits of that human wif- dom which deferves fo honourable a title, they may, in a loofe and general way, be eafily defined to be coincident with the ex- tent of real knowledge that man is able to acquire. It is wife for him to reafon upon fubjed:s wherein he has the means of judging truly, and foolifli for him to attempt to fpe- culate in thofe wherein he has no certain grounds of knowledge to fupport him. To define this matter more exadly, we mull have recourfe to fpeculations of more fubtlety. It feems, however, that in the prefent flate of knowledge we may do it with fufficient ac- curacy. DISCOURSE IV, 6s The progrefs of enquiries has, in latter times, difcovered whence it is that all our knowledge is derived. We are born, it ap- pears, without diftind: ideas, which after- wards, by the medium of our fenfes, are by flow degrees acquired, and ftored for ufe. The mind, by its refle(ftion on the treafures thus colledled, can improve and render them more ufeful, and by its inward confcioufnefs of what itfelf performs, can gain fome fur- ther fleps. But nothing of original informa- tion can it poffibly colled, by its own ftrength, in an^ other way. Hence is it that, in all enquiries concerning any objeds of our fenfes, we muft invariably proceed by the means of obfervation and experiment, accumulating fadls, and, as we go, deducing v* hat we can from our acquirements. In matters of an intelledual nature, the mind, examining its own proceedings, and thofe it knows to be analogous to them, may alfo afcertain fome fads, and deduce fome general principles. Beyond thefe boundaries we cannot gain, by our own powers, a fingle flep with certainty. Of things which neither our fenfes can defcry, nor the internal furvey of oarfelres prefent, we can only form conje<^ures; of 66 DISCOURSE IV. fads we can know nothing but by informa* tion : And whence can information of that kind proceed ? undoubtedly, from fome fu- perior fource. In divine knowledge^ for ex- ample, whence can we be furniihed with the truths we may require ? certainly from divine communication only} experience and refledtion can do nothing for us^ If upon fuch fubjeds information has been actually beiiowed by God himfdf, there can- not be a doubt with what fubmiffion we fliould all receive it : nor is there any doubt among mankind, fo far as they agree, con- cerning the main fa€l, that the information has been imparted, or in the interpretation of the words in which it is conveyed; But di- vine truths, being communicated to us in the common language of men, are fubje(ft to par- take of that uncertainty which the imper- fe6lion of all human languages occafions 3 namely, a difference of interpretation, by means of which they may convey, to various men diffimilar view^ of things, unlefs fome certain rules can be laid down to afcertain the proper method of interpreting. . We cannot, perhaps, by any means obtain fuch limitations as will deliver us from all uncertainty : £) I S C O U Pv S E IV. 67 lincertain ty : one negative diredlion appears, however, fufficlently obvious; That w^e can- not in fuch fubjecls, as in thofe which lie more level to our comprehehiion, rejed; the literal meaning on Our Own authority, and feek another as more probable, or fuited better to our preconceived bplnions; for ouf previous notions, by our own confeffion, are drawn entirely from inferior objedls ; from what we fee, or hear, or touch," of othervv^ife perceive upon this earth • or from what is paffing in the intellectual part 6f our own compounded frame ; in all which there is nothing that can by any means diredt us rightly in divine fcience ; Nothing that can guide us to a knowledge, jufl or accu- rate, of the counfels, and ftill left of the peculiar mode of fixifbence of the Deity. If, Indeed, in different comrtiunications of divine knowledge there be found anyfeeminp- variation, it will then be the proper a for which even its zeal could by no means compenfate, had at length attained their height, the Reforma- tion produced a ferment and a ftruggle, which could not fail to keep in view the im- portant nature of thofe fundamental points for which men were contending. As long, there- fore,^ as the conteft continued with violence. We find few men of any fituation in life, who did not, one way or other, feel themfelves H interefl:e(^ 9'3 DISCOURSE VI. intercftcd in what was then in agitation ; {tW TN'ho did not exprt-fs a zeal for fome perfua- fion or bchef, and confefs the neceflity in- cumbent on tlit'ui of conforming their lives, as well as they were able, to the rule they had embraced. — The fubfiding of thefe mighty ftorms, at length produced a calm, in the peace of which a thoufand advantages might juflly be expecfted. A thoufand advantages have arifen. The acrimony of mens minds has been corre(fted, perfecution has become hateful, toleration, and the benevolent fpirit of true Chriftianity have pervaded, in fome degree, even thofe fe^ls into which their ad- mifTion appeared the moll: improbable : but there is this one evil to be dreaded in parti- cular,, which, if it be not guarded againft, may deprive us of every advantage, namely the rife and formidable increafe of religious indifference. In countries unreformed, the revolting abfurdity of feveral tenets fuper- added to the iimple texture of Chriftianity, has produced in many an abfolute rejection of Revelation, in many more a kind of nominal faith, fearful to examine Icil: it ihould difco- ver the imperfedlions of its fyftem j and not fuilieiently fupcriiitious to believe ([rungly without I) i S C O U R S E VI. 99 Ivlthout examination. In reformed eilablilh- fnents, the plainnefs and fimplicity of a doc- trine unfupportcd Hy fliow, and uninforced by violence, fecms, in fome inftances at leaft, to have wanted fufficient hold of tiie unflable tempers of mankind to keep them fleady to their duty : and men, left to their own difcre- tion for the performance of what religion re- quires, have been feduced by the tempting nature of temporal objeds, to ruili too blindly into the purfuit of them ; and, in the tumult of thefe avocations almofl, if not entirely, to jforget Religion. Yet the change of human opinions alters hot the nature of things ; the importance^of Religion remains : — and the warning ot the Apoflle fiill demands the mofl implicit at- tention t " See that Ye refufe not him that « [peakcthr—YiQ. who hath fpoksn is God, Whofe awful voice if man could hardly hear and live, neither can he, when it hath been uttered, pofllbly negledl its precepts and be guiltlefs. From the notion of a Deity it is impoffible for any man to fsparate that of the utmofl veneration and moll implicit obeiience due to him, from every creature. In comparifon H 2 "^vi^^ •> * 100 DISCOURSE VL with his authority, that of every other heing muft be feeble and infignificant ; — the laws that he has imprefled on our confciences muft demand exad obfervance, the commands that he has in any other way delivered mufl be re- ceived with no lefsperfe(ft fubmifTion. — If there were oiUy a vague report that God had fpoken to mankind, it muft become, to all who believed in his exiftence, an indlfpenfible duty to ex- amine into the truth of fuch an affertion. As long as it is poffible that he may have fpoken, there can be no excufe, but the want of means, for not enquiring whether it be fo or not. In every government it is the concern of the fub- je6t to enquire out the laws which refped his own condition 3 the omiflion of that fearch he muft abide at his peril, probably at his .utmoft peril. The higher the authority the more ftrong muft be this neceflity, and it is not a few defultory cavils which ought to pafs with any reafonable perfon for arguments again ft that fyftem, which is fandtioned by the awful name of God. A man muft be littl# converfant with the artifices of mifufed Rca- fon, lefs indeed than, in an age like this, any man can well be imagined, who has not feen, in a thoufand inftances unconneded with Re- ligion>. DISCOURSE VI. loi llglon, how the plaineft truth may be attacked by cavil, and the moft indubitable fad dif- iiguixd and rendered improbable by mlfre- prefentation. While thefe arts are known to he prafticable, are known to be daily pra^- tifed, can it be excufable in any man to let himfelf be deceived by them, and in matters of eternal moment to incur even the poffi- bility of a deception, which he might have avoided ? If then even they who think they have rea- fon to doubt of the truth of Revelation, be required, and in reafon obliged by fuch con- fiderations, to examine into the merits of the caufe ; what fnall we fay of thofe, by much the greater number, who, without pretend- ing to diibelieve, negled: and forget their Re- ligion : of the multitudes who live in total negligence of that faith in which they have been bred; negligence, I mean, with refped; t© the ftudy of its precepts, the performance of feme of its pofitive duties, and of every thing which impreiies and confirms that habitual veneration and refped, which every man is bound to entertain, for that which is fo facred as the word of God ? Of the numbers who live thus negligently, (for unhappily in the H 3 prefent J02 DISCOURSE VI. prefent age, and in our country, this delcrip- tlon will include a numerous clafs,) how few are there who can pretend to diibelieve that yvhich they cannot but confefs they overlook ? • — But what kind of life is this ? believing jhat God has fent down a Revelation, at lealt not attempting to difprove it, and living as if it were poffible for fuch a thing to exifl, and ^ yet to have no importance. — For Heaven's fake let us be confiftent ! — If we call refute what is faid by the aflertors of Religion, let us re- fute it, and no longer fuffer a fabric to re- main, the foundations of which are placed in rottennefs ; but if wc cannot fhake it, — as, the; truth is, no man can, — as it is founded on a rock againll: which even the powers of hdl cannot prevail, — let us not fuifer fupinenefs, indolence, and an inordinate love of worldly things, to present us from attending to truths, which, before the foundation of the world, were eftabli(hed j and to precepts, the con- fequences of which will rem.ain when not a trace of this globe fhail be found in the vo- lume of creation. To plead a v/ant of tirne for fuch enqui- ries, if it be not difhonefty, is felf-deceit; fmce it is well known that whenever the high impor-^ DISCOURSE VI. 103 importance of religion has been dijly felt, the moil: occupied of men have found abuiulunC time for every duty that a religious hfc ex- a(fts. Glorious examples are recorded of men involved in the bufieft of all profelTions, that peculiarly fludied in this place, v^'ho always fet apart a ftated portion of their hours to fuch purfuits ; yet felt not any want of time for fuch employments as their Nations put upon them .: and were fo far from being found deficient in any thing required, that they are to this hour extolled as men who were the light and boaft of their profef- fion. Nor can it poffibly be urged that an ap* plication of this nature is not requifite. If other principles befides thofe delivered by Revelation can guide us equally well. Re- velation was from the firfl: unnecefTary, and we mufl be inclined, upon fuch grounds, to doubt its proofs. — But if the proofs of it are fuch as never can be invalidated, then mufl there of neceffity be in it fuch treafures as can- not elfewhere be difcovered. The morality of the world, the beft fubftitute that can be found, is deficient in a thoufand points, buit mofl materially in thefe, that it leaves am- H 4 bitiorij 104 DISCOURSE VL bition, pride, covetoufnefs, an earnefl at- tachment to the gratifications of this life, and a thoufand other faults of human naturq uncorrecfled, unrepreiled j nay frequently aug- mented and inflamed. The fpirit of Chrifti- anity can only be imbibed by a fludy of itg facred books -, and without that amiable, that angelic fpirit, fo beautifully exemplified in the humble and beneficent life of the divine Sa- viour on earth, and there only to be ftudied and acquired, there is little reafon to fuppofe that man can ever become qualified for the fociety of the blefied in heaven. If this be a re vizard worth feeking, or if the punifhment of the contrary neglcdt be a reafonable objedt of fear, let us throw off that torpid negligence which has but too generally prevailed among us ; and confidering what is to be expedled " if we " turn away from him that fpcaketh froni ^* heaven," return to him with penitence for the pad, and fervour for the future ; and be- come an holy people zealous of good works. What attraction there is in other fludies is well known to thofe who purfue them ; and if, on the fame ground, the teftimony of one long employed in the fludy of religion may be received, there is in it, according to the Pfalmift, DISCOURSE VL 105 Pfalmift, " that which converteth the foul, niaketh wife the limple, enlighteneth the ^ycs, rejolceth the heart ; that which is more to be delired than fine gold, and fweeter than the honeycomb *." — The fu- periority of the fecond covenant to the firft is acknowledged -, yet even of that were thefe things faid, even of that were men ordered to lay up the words in their hearts and in their fouls ; to bind them as a iign upon their hands, and as a frontlet between their eyes ; to teach Aem to their children, fpeaking of them when they fat in their houfes, when they walked by the way, when they lay down, and when they rofe up -f-. Let us not do lefs for the more perfeft Revelation of Chrift ; but holding faft the form of found words which we have heard, become not negligent pf the word, but careful hearers; and not hearers only, but doers alfo. Now to God, 6cc. * Pfalm xix. &c. f Dcut. xi. DIS. DISCOURSE VII. pj^ TUE HISTORY OF THE SEDUCEH PROPHET. I Kings xiii. i. And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah, by the word of the Lord unto BetheL AS the narrative which defcribes the fate of this man of God is a part of facred hiftory which, when read as the lefTon for the day, may leave fome doubts and diffi- culties on the mind of the attentive hearer, and as it comprifes alfo many topics of in- ftru(Stion ufeful to be explained to all, I have determined to majie it the fubjed: of this day's difcourfe. The circumflances are briefly thefe. Soon after the divifion of the Jewifh kingdom, Jeroboam, whofe intereft it was to keep the ten revolted tribes as much as poffible apart fiom the two of Judah and Benjamin, from a viicksd io8 DISCOURSE VIL a wicked policy, fet up idols in the two ex- tremities of his kingdom, at Dan and Bethel, that his people might worfhip them, and not go up at the ftated feafts to Jerufalem, ac- cording to the Mofaic ordinance. This daring violation of the moft facred laws, for which we find him generally fligmatized in holy writ by the name of the man who caiifed IJrael to Jin^ was foon followed by a public token of divine difpleafure. A prophet was fent from Judah to Bethel, to denounce the de- llrudion of the altar and its priefts ^ and, in confirmation of the prophecy, miraculous iigns were exhibited upon the altar, and even on the perfon of the king himfelf. Bat the man of God, vi^ho had gone out under a ilrid: prohibition from abiding, or even taking re- frefhment, in that polluted place, was, by another prophet, feduced from obeying the command he had received, and, by a mira- culous interpofition of divine power, fuffcred death for his tranfgrefilon. In this hiftory there are three principal matters which ftrike moil readers as extra** ordinary. I. That the old prophet who lived at Bethel, and who, from feveral circumftances, appears DISCOURSE VII. T09 appears to have been truly a prophet, fiiould have been defirous to feduce the other from his duty. 2. That the prophet of Judah fhould have fallen under the deception. 3. That, if the latter was indeed deceived, his punifhment ihould have been fo fever© iind exemplary. It will be our mofl convenient method to confider thefe points feparately. I. In the firft place, for the purpofe of explaining the characfler and motives of the old prophet of Bethel, we muft corred: foms general notions with refpeft to the nature of prophetic infpiration. — To the gift of pro- phecy we are apt to annex the notion of per- fect holinefs, and even of infalliblHty. BuC we forget that an Infallible man is a contra- di ** for fo it was charged me by the word of *• the Lord." Something, therefore, more than at f rfl fight appears was involved in this proceeding ; nor can the prophet pro- perly be confidered as an unaffifted man, fail- ing through infirmity, or an innocent man deceived. The next matter that defcrves our atten- tion is the nature and notoriety of the whole tranfa