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SERMONS
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH
OF
THE LATE REV. JAMES SAURIN,
PASTOR OF THE FRENCH CHURCH AT THE HAGUE,
BY ROBERT ROBINSON.
VOLUME IV. ON CHRISTIJN MORALITY.
THE FIFTH EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed by R. Edwards, Crane Court, Fleet Street,
FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW, 1812.
THE
PREFACE
hj^HIS volume is a sketch of christian morality, such as the sermons of Mr Saurin afford. Had the au- thor drawn them up with a particular design of exhi- biting a full view of the subject, he would have assort- ed ahd arranged ideas, which now lie dispersed and in- termixed. However, we trust the arrangement will appear neither improper nor unedifying.
There are two general opinions among divines con- cerning the origin of morality and religion. Some suppose, that all the knowledge which the world ever had of these subjects, was at first revealed, and hath been continued to this day by tradition. Others, on the contrary, think, that v» ithout revelation men may, and actually doi by the mere exercise of their natural powersj discover the being of a God, and the consequent obligations of men. Both classes, however, affirm, that revelation gives force to moral duties, and so u essential to the practice of real virtue.
This is not the place to enter into disputes; we will content ourselves with a few plain remarks on the na- ture and obligations of men, and oii the moral influ- ence Of the gospel ; and, for this purpose, we will di- vide the subject into three parts, and consider first nature ; secondly obligation *, and lastly motive.
]. Nature. There is hardly a word in the English language of m.ore vague and indeterminate meaning than the word nature. In this place I mean by it the native state, properties, and peculiarities of men. If man be a creature consisting of soul and body ; if each
VOL. IV, '^ A hath
VI PREFAGE.
hath properties; pgwers, or faculties, peculiar to itself, obligation to employ these to the ends for which they were intenfled by the Creator, must necessarily follow. Ancient philosophy, therefore, connected together the natural with the moral state of man, and reasoned from the one to' the other., ^Vlthoiit superior infor- mation by revelation from God, there is no other way of determining' what men are, or are not expected to perform.
It would be easy to lose ourselves in metaphysicat speculations concerning the nature, the operations, and the duration of the soul ; and it v/ ould be as easy to lose ourselves, in attempting;' precisely to determine, among an infinite number of feelings, ideas, percep- tions-, aversions, sensations, and passions, where the last poner of body ends, and v/here the first operation of ripirjt begins. Pcrha[)s we are to expect only a gene- ral knowledge of* such subjects. That the happiness of both depends on a certain harmony between thought and action is beyond a doubt ; and that in a life made up of a course of thinking and acting, thinking ought to precede action, is equally clear. To act is to do something ; and every intelligent creature ought to do whatever he does for a reason. In the nature of man, then, avoiding all perplexing refinements, and con- fining our views to plain and useful observation, there are three things considerable : happiness, the end of men's actions; ad io7z^, the means of o!)taining the ond^; and reason, which discovers, selects, and enfor-ces- ••ules of uniting the means witli the end.
2. OBLir.ATroN. We divide this article into two parts, ohUgation, and sense of obligation. We begin with the first. Ey exercising our reason to find out proper means o{ obtaining hcr^jpiness, we collect a sef of ideas concerning the duties of life,, and putting thes^ together, avc call tl>c collection morality. As this collection consists of a great variety of duties, or actions p7-oper to obtain liappiness> we find it conve- nient
PREFACE. Vii
njent to divide them into several classes, and as each class contributes its share towards the j)roduction of the general end, happiness, we consider the whole in the light of obligation ; for every creature is obliged to seek its own happiness, and it is natural to man to do so.
The condition of man in rcgar4 to the Supreme Being, his Creator, is that of absolute dependence : and hence comes the first distiiijution of the duties of life into a class called natural theologij : theologij, because God is the object of our contemplation, and natural theology, because the duties to be done in regard to God are such, and such only as are discoverable by our observing and exercising our reason on the works of nature. By considering ourselves, we find a second class of ideas, which make up what is called moral philosophy i or more properly moral iheology ; and in this we place the rules by which man conducts himself to become virtuous, in order to become happy. Extend- ing our views a little further, and taking in proper notions of the various situations in life, to which men are subject, and the various connections which we ne- cessarily have in the v^^orld, we perceive a set of gene- ral principles just and useful, and all necessary to the happiness of these situations and relations ; and hence comes a third branch of morality, culled genera I j^olicij, or common prudence. The next exertion of thinking and reasoning regards nations, and to this belongs a large class of ideas, all tending to public prosperity and felicity ; national policy is, therefore, a fourth branch of morality, and it includes ail the actions ne- cessary to govern a state, so as to produce civil order and social happiness. To these, by extending our thoughts yet further^ we proceed to add the law of na- ture and the law of nations ; both which go to make up the general doctrine of manners, which we call mora-
M man aim at jiappiness, if he consult reason by A? what,
VIU PREFACE.
v/hat means to acquire it, if he be naturally impelled to perform such actions as are most likely t6 dbtaiii that end, he will perceive that the reason of each duty is the obligation of it. As far, then, as man is govern- ed by reason, so far do th he approve of the bond or obr ligation of performing the duties of life.
Let us -attend to sense o/* obligation. Should it ap- pear on e:\amination, and that it will appear on the ^lightest examination is too evident, that the senses of the body irritate the passions of the heart, and that both, conspiring together against the dominion of reason, become so powerful as to take the lead, reason will be perverted, the nature and fitness of things disordered, improprieties and calamities introduced, and, consequently, the great end, happiness, annihi- lated. In this case, the nature of things would remain what it was, obligation to duties would continue just the same, and there would be no change, except in the order of actions, and in- the loss of that end, happiness, which order would have produced.
This speculation, if we advert to the real state of things, will become a fact fully established in our judgments: True, the first branch 'of morality is na- tural theology^ ; but have mankind in general, in all wges and countries, sought rational happiness in wor- r hipping the One great wSupreme? Whence, then, is idolatry, and whence that neglect of the Father of universal nature, or what is worse, that direct opposi- tion to him ? Morality, we grant, hath always been, as it yet continues to be, beautifully depicted in aca- demical theses ; professors of each branch of literature fiave successively contributed to colour and adorn the subject ; and yet, in real life, neither the law of nature nor that of nations, nor that of private virtue, or public policy, hath been generally obeyed ; but, on the contrary, by crimes of all descriptions, the whole earth hath been filled pith violence^ Gen. vi. 11, IS, Al^s ! wiiat is the life of each individual but a succession . ' >. . of
PREFACE. 13C
bf mistakes and sins ? What the histories of families, nations, and great monarchies, but narrations of injus- tice and woe ? Morality, lovely goddess, was a paint- ing of exquisite art placed in proper light in a public gallery for the inspection and entertainment of con- noisseurs ; but she was cold, and her admirers unani- mated : the objects that fired their passions had not her beauty, but they were alive. In one word, ohliga- Hen to virtue is eternal and immutable ; but sense of obligation is lost by sin.
3. Motive. We will not enter here on that difficult question, the origin of evil. We will not attempt to wade across that boundless ocean of difficulties, so full of shipwrecks. Evil is in the world, and the per- mission of it is certainly consistent with the attributes of God. Our inability to account for it is another thing, and the fact is not affected by it* Experiment hath convinced us, tha-t Revelation, along with a thou- sand other proofs of its divinity, brings the irrefra^^able evidence of motive to obedience ; a heavenly present, and every way suited to the condition of man !
It would be endless to enumerate the motives to obedience, which deck the scriptures as the stars adorn the sky : each hath been an object of considerable magnitude to persons in some ages and situations : but there is one of infinite magnificence, which eciii^ses all the rest, called the sun of righteousness ^ I mean, Je- sus Chris^. In him the meekness of Moses, and the pa- tience of Job, the rectitude of the ten commardments, and the generosity of the gospel, aie all united , and him we will now consider a moment in the light of motive to obedience.
By considering the prophecies which preceded his advent, and by comparing his advent vvith those pro- phecies, we are im.pelled to allow the divinity of his mission. This is one motive, or one class of motives to moral obedience. By observing the miracles which he wrought, we are obliged to exclaim with Nicode-
VOL. IV. A 3 mils,
X PREFACE.
mus, No man can do what thou doest, except God he with him. This is a second class of motives. By attend- ing to his doctrines we obtain a third set of powerful and irresistible motives to obedience. His example affords a fourth, for his life is made up of a set of actions, all manifestly just and proper, each by it^ beauty commending itself to every serious spectator.
This moral excellence, this conformity to Jesus Christ is the only authentic evidence of the truth of our faith, as the apostle Paul teaches us with the ut- most clearness in the thirteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. Faith and practice, in the? christian religion, are inseparably connected ; for as there can be no true morality without taith in the doctrines of Christ, so there can be no true faith with- out christian morality; and it is for this reason chiefly^ that we should be diligent to distinguish the pure doc- trines of relevation from human explications, because a belief of the former produces a holy conformity to the example of Christ ; while an improper attachmenti to the latter leaves us where zeal for the traditions of the fathers left the .Jews. We have treated of this at large in the preface to the third volume, and it is need- less to enlarge here. Grace be with all them that love otq- Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
CONTENTS
^Yw, ^v
CONTENTS
THE FOURTH VOLUME.
SERMON I. ^
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. James ii. 10.
Pa^e 1.5
SERMON II.
The Great Duties of Religion, Matthew xxiii. 23.
Page 39
SERMON III.
The Small Duties of Religion, Matthew, xxiii. 23.
Page 63
SERMON IV.
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. Revelation xxi. 7; 8-
Page 81 SERMON
:^ii CONTENTS*
SERMON ¥•
God's Controversy with Israel. MiCAH vr. 1,2,3.
Page 10^
SERMON VI.
The Harmony of Religion and Civil Polity. Proverbs xiv. 34.
Page 141
SERMON VII.
The Lives of Courtiers. 2 Samuel xix. 32 — 39.
Page US
SERMON VIII.
Christian Conversation.
COLOSIANS iv. 6.
Page 20^
SERMON IX. The Duty of Giving Alms.
LUKEXi. 41.
Page 229
SERMON
CONTENTS. ;jdfi
SERMON X.
Christian Heroism. Proverbs xvi. 32.
Page 26S
SERMON XL
Christian Casuistry. Proverbs, iv. 26^
Pa^ 28^
SERMON XII.
The Necessity of Progressive Reh'gion, 1 Corinthians ix. 26, 27.
Pa^ SOB
SERMON XIII.
The Moral Martyr. Psalm cxix. 4.
Page 337
ALSO,
An Essay on the Conduct of David at the Comt of Achish, king of Gath.
1 Samuel xxL
Page 353
SERMON
x~-
SERMON 1.
The Necessity of Universal Obedience^
James ii. 10.
Whosoever shall keep the whole laWy and yet offend iit one pointy he is guilty of all.
My Brethren,
"VX^ ERE I obliged to give a title to this epistle, from which I have taken my text, to distinguish it from the other books of our sacred canon, I would call it the paradoxes of St James, It should seem, the apostle had no other design in writing than that of surprizing bis readers by unheard-of propositions. In the first chapter he subverts that notion of religion » which is generally received both in the world and the church. To adore the God of heaven and earth, ta receive his revelation, to acknowledge his Messiah, to partake of his sacraments, to burn with zeal for his worship, this is usually called religion. No, says St James, this is not religion ; at most this is only a small part of it : " Religion consists in visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and in keeping himself unspotted from the world," ver. 27. In the second chapter he seems to take pains to efface the grand character of a-christian, and of Christianity itself, and to destroy this fundamental truth of tlie gospel, " that man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," Rom. iii. 28. " No," says he, " man is not justified by faith only ; Abraham our father was justified by works,"
chap.
is The Necessity/ of Universal Ohediencc,
chap. ii. 24, 21. and all christians are justified by works. In another pkce, St James seems to place all religion in some minute and comparatively inconsi- derable articles, or, what comes to much the same, to teach, that the omission of some comparatively small duty renders the most pure and solid piety of no ac- count. Levity of conversation is one of these articles. How different, my brethren ! is the morality of the scriptures from the morality of the world ! We often hear high encomiums of some people in company. Observe that man, say they, what a pattern of piety is he ! The church doors are hardly opened before he l-ushes into his seat with eagerness and transport. In approaching the Lord's table he discovers by every look and gesture a heart all inflamed with divine love. When his shepherds were smitten, and the sheep scat- tered, the most difficult sacrifices became easy to hin^. Country, family, titles, riches, he left all with pleasure for the sake of following the bloody steps of Jesus Christ in his sufferings. He can be reproved for no more than one little inadvertence, that is, he has a levity of conversation. But what says St James df this man, who seems to have a right of precedence in a catalogue of saints ? What does he say of this man, so diligent to attend public worship, so fervent at the Lord's sapper, so zealous for yeligion ? He says, this man has no religion at all ; " If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, this man's religion is vain," chap. i. 26.
But without attending to all the paradoxes of St James, let us attend to this in our text. Here is a principle that seems more likely to produce despair in our hearts than to promote virtue ; a principle which seems to aim at no less than tlie exclusion of the great- est saints on earth from heaven, and to oblige Mose&j Elias, David, Paul, and other such eminent men to exclaim, " Who then can be saved !" iMatt. xix. 25. This principle is, that to sin against one article of the
divine
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. 17
divine laws is to render one's self guilty of a breach of them all. Whosoever shall keep the ivhole law^ and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, , '
That you may the better enter into the spirit of om' text, we have three sorts of reflections to propose to you. By the first we intend to fix the meaning of our apostle's proposition, and to clear it from all obscurity. Our second class of reflections will be applied to en- force the sense that we shall give the text. The last will characterise those sinners who live in this dread- ful state, who, by habitually offending in one point, render themselves guilty of an universal subversion of the whole law of God ; and here we shall direct you how to use the text as a touchstone to discover the truth or falsehood of your faith, the sincerity or hy- pocrisy of your obedience*
I. Let us fix the sense of our apostle's proposition, and for this purpose let us answer two questions, 1 . What kind of sin had St James in view when he said. Whosoever shall keep the ivhole law, and yet offend in one point? 2.Howdid heiaean^that,bj offending i?i one point, the offender was guilty of violating the whole law f
The meaning of the first depends partly on what precedes the text. The apostle had been endeavour- ing to inspire christians with charity ; not with that partial charity, which inclines us to pity and relieve the miseries of a few distressed neighbours, but with that universal love, which induces ail the disciples of Christ to consider one another as brethren, and which, because all are united to God, unites all to one another, and teacheth each to consider all as one compact body, of which love is the bond.
The apostle enters into this subject by this exhorta- tion. My brethren! have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons, ch.ii. 1. These words are rather diflficult : but one of the follov/- ing senses, I think, must be given to them. 1. Instead
VOL. IV. B of
IS The Necessiii/ Of Univerml Ohedienee.
of translating, have not the faith, we may read,j2^(%e 7ici of faith by appearance of persons ; that is to say. Do not judge what faith christians have in Jesus Christ, wliom God liath elevated to the higliest glory, by the rank, which they occupy in civil society, by their attendants?, and equipage, and habits. A man, who makes a very mean and contemptible appearance, a man all in rags is often a better christian than he, whose Christianity, (so to speak.) is all set off with splendour, and grandeur, and fortune.
Or rather, have not faith in the Lord of G lor ij by shew- ing a partial regard for the appearance of persons; that is to say, Do not imagine yourselves believers, w hile you tegarcLthe appearance of persons. Do nOt imagine, that true faith is compatible witli that meanness of soul, v/hich makes people susceptible of very deep im- pressions of esteem at seeing a parade of human gran- deur ; do not suppose, that the soul of a good man must necessarily prostrate itself before pomp, and annihilate itself in the presence of great men; while he turns v/ith disdain from the poor, infinitely greater for their piety than others for their pomp. A christian believing in Jesus Christ glorified, a christian persuaded that Jesus, his head, is elevated to the highest degree of glory, and hoping that he shall be shortly exalted to some degree with liim ; a christian, in whose mind such ideas are formed, ought not to entertain very high notions of earthly things, he ought to esteem that in man, which constitutes his real greatness, that immortality, which is a part of his essence, those hopes of eternal glory, at which he aspires, those efforts, which he is making to- wards bearing the image of his Creator: such qualities deserve esteem, and not the empty advantages of for- tune.
The apostle, having established this general maxin\, applies it to a particular case ; but there are some diffi- culties in his manner of stating the case, as well as in the maxim to which he applies it. If there come iinto
yonr
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. 19
your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel ^ and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weare'h the gay clothing, and say nntohim, Sitthouhere in a good place ; and say to the poor, Standthou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts f What assembly had the apostle in view here ?
Some think, he spoke of an assembly of judges, and byre^/)(?cf, or appearance of persons, a spirit of partiality. They say, these words of St James are synonimou.: to those of God to Jewish judges by Moses, Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt fhou judge thy neighbour. Lev. xix. 1 .5. Ye shall not respect per so-ns in judgment: bid ye shall hear the small as ivell as the great, Deut. i. 16, 17. They confirm this opinion by quot- ing a canon of the Jews, which enacts, that when two persons of unequal rank appear together in the San- hedrim, one shall not be allowed to sit while the other stands ; but both shall either sit together, or stand together, to avoid every shadow of partiality.
But, perhaps, our apostle spoke also of religious as- semblies, and intended to .inform primitive christians, that where the distinctions of princes and subjects, magistrates and people, were not known, there the rich would affect state, aspire to chief places, and gratify their senseless vanity by placing the poor on their footstools, in order to make them feel their in- digence and meanness. However the apostle might mean, whether he spoke of juridical assemblies, or of religious conventions ; of partial judgments, or of im- proper distinctions in the church, it is plain, he in- tended to preclude that veneration, which, in little souls, riches obtain for their possessors, and that dis- dain which poverty excites in such minds for those whom providence hath exposed to it.
Among many reasons, by which he enforces his ex- hortation, that, which immediately precedes the text,
2 h
20 The Necessity of Universal Obedience:
is taken from charity, or benevolence. If ye fulfil tJiis royal km, according to the scripture. Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Then follow the words of the text, for luhosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
It should seem at first, from the connection of the text with the preceding verses, that when St Jame& says, Whosoever shall keej^ the whole law, and yet offend in one poijit, he is guilty of all, he means, by this one point, benevolence. However, 1 cannot tliink the meaning' of St James ought to be thus restricted. I rather suppose, that he took occasion from a particu- lar subject to establish a general maxim, that includes all sins, which come under the same description with that of which he was speaking. On this account, after he has said, Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one porn f, he is guUty of all, he adds, jfor he that said. Do not commit adultery, said also. Do not kill; he adds another exam})Ie beside that of which he had been speaking. Consequently, he intended not only to speak of violation of the precepts of love ; but also of all others, which had the same characters.
But in what light does he place this violation of the precept of love ? He considers it as a sin committed with full consent, preceded by a judgment of the mind,^ accompjinied vvith mature deliberation, and, to a cer- tiiin degree, approved by Mm who commits it. All these ideas are contained in tliesc words. Ye have respect to ■persons, ye are partial in yourselves, ye are judges of evil thoughts, ye have despised the poor. What the apostle affirms of love in particuljir, he affirms of all sins com- mitted with the same dispositions. Every sin com- jnitted with full consent, preceded by a judgment of the niind, accompanied with mature deliberation : eveiy sin that conscience is made to approve during the commissions of it: every such sin is included in this
maxim
The Necessity of Universal Ohedience. 2i
maxim of our apostle, whosoever shall keep the whole latVf and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
In this manner divest the text of one vague notion, to which it may seem to have given occasion. We ac quit the apostle of the charge of preaching a melan- choly,, cruel morality, and we affirm, for the comfort of weak and timorous minds, that w^e ought not to place among the sins here intended, either momentary faults, daily frailties, or involuntary passions.
1 . By daily frailties I mean those imperfections of piety, whicii are inseparable from the conditions of in- habitants of this world, which mix themselves with the virtues of the most eminent saints, and which, even in the highest exercises of the most fervid piety, make them feel that they are men, and that they are sinful men. By daily frailties I mean wanderings in prayer, troublesome intrusions of sensible objects,low exercises of self-love, and many other infirmities, of which you, my dear brethren, have had too many examples in your own lives in time past, and yet have too much experience in the tempers of your hearts every day. Infirmities of this kind do not answer the black descrip- tion which St James gives of the offence mentioned in the text. A good man, who is subject to these frailties, far from approving the sad necessity, that carries him off from his duty, deplores it. In him they are not conclusions from principles, laid down with full con- sent ; they are sad effects of that imperfection, wiiich God had thought proper to leave in our knowledge and holiness, and which will remain as long as we con- tinue to languish life away in this valley of tears. To say all in one word, they are rather an imperfection essential to nature, than a direct violation of the law. 2. We ought not to number 7nomentary faults among the offences, of which it is said, Whosoever committeth one is guilty of a violation of the Avhole law. Where is the regenerate man, Avhere is the saint, where is the saint of the highest order, v^l^o can assure himself* he
shall
22 The Necessity of Universal Obedience.
shall never fall into some sins ? Where is the faith so firm as to promise never to tremble at the sight of racks, stakes, and gibbets ? Where is that christian heroism, vrhich can render a man invulnerable to some fiery darts, with which the enemy of our salvation sometimes assaults us ; and, (what is still more unat- tainable by human firmness) where is that christian heroism which can render a man invulnerable to some darts of voluptuousness, which strike the tenderest parts of nature, and excite those passions which are at the same time the most turbulent and the most agree- able ? A believer falls into such sins ocly in those sad moments in which he is surprised unawares, and in vviiich he loses in a manner the power of reflecting and thinking. If there remain any liberty of judgment amidst the phrenzy, he employs it to recal his reason, which is fleeing ; and to arouse his virtue, that sleeps in spite of all his efforts. All chained as he is by the enemy, he makes efforts, weak indeed, but yet earnest, to disengage himself. The pleasures of sin, even when he most enjoys them, and while he sacrificeth his piety and innocence to them, are embittered by the inward remorse that rises in his regenerate soul. While he delivers himself up to the temptation and the tempter, he complains, 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall de- liver me from the body of this death f Rom.vii.24. When the charm has spent its force, when his fascinated eyes recover their sight, and he sees objects again in their true point of light, then conscience reclaims its rights ; then he detests what he just before admired ; then the cause of his joy becomes the cause of his sorrow and terror^ and he prefers the pain, anguish, and torture o^ repentance, before the most alluring attractives of sin. S. We will venture one step further. We affirm, that gusts of involuntary passions ought not to be in- cluded in the number of sins of v/hich St James saitb. Whosoever ojjendeih in one point, he is guilty of all, God pla^eth us in this world as in a state of trial. We ar^
all
The Xecessilij of Umversal Obedience. 23
all born with some passions, whicli it is our duty to at- tack, and mortify ; but from which we sl>all never be ^ble to free ourselves entirely. The soul of one is united to a body, naturally so modified as to incline him to voluptuousness. Another soul has dis]X)sitions naturally inclining it to avarice,pride,envy, or jealousy , It is in our power to resist these passions; but to have, ,or not to have them, when we come into the world, doth not depend on us. We ought not always to judge of our state by the enemy, whom we have to en- rcounter : but by the vigMance with which we resist him. In spite of some remains of inclination to pride, we may become humble, if we endeavear sincerely and heartily to become so. In spite of natural inclinations to avarice, we may become generous by endeavouring to become so, and so of the rest. Involuntary passions, when we zealously endeavour to restrain them, ought to be considered as exercises of our virtue prescribed by our Creator ; and not as criminal effects of the ob- stinacy of the creature. The sins, into a commission of which they beguile us, ought always to humble us ; indeed they would involve us in eternal misery, were we not recovered by repentance after having fallen into them : but neither they, nor transient offences, nor daily frailties ought to be reckoned among those sins, of ^vhich St James says, he who off'endeth in one pointy is guiltif of all. The sins of which the apostle speaks,are preceded by the judgment of the mind, accompanied with mature deli])eration, and approved by conscience. Thus we have divested the text cf one vague meaning to which it may seem to have given occasion.
But in what sense may it be aiHrmed of any sin, that he who offendeth in one poinijs gidit^ of all? Thenaturg of the subject must answer this second question, anden- able us to reject the false senses, that are given to the proposition of our apostle. It is plain, St James nei- ther meant to establisii an equality of sins, nor an equa- lity of punishments. It is evident;, that as sins are
unequal
24 The Necessity of Universal Obedience,
unequal among men, so justice requires an inequality of punishment. The man who adds murder to ha- tred, is certainly more guilty than he who restrains his hatred, and trembles at a thought of murder. He whose hatred knows no bounds, and who endeavours to asswage it with murder, will certainly be punished more rigorously than the former.
What then was the apostle's meaning ? He probably had two views, a particular and a general view. The particular design might regard the theological system of some Jews, and the general design might regard the moral system of too many christians.
Some Jews, soon after the apostles' time, and very likely in his days'% affirmed, that God gave a great many precepts to men, not that he intended to oblige them to the observance of all, but that they might have an opportunity of obtaining salvation by observing any one of them ; and it was one of their maxims, that he who diligently kept one command, was thereby freed from the necessity of observing the rest. Agreeable to this notion, a famous Rabbif expounds these words in Hosea,, Take away all iniquity, and give good, that is, according to the false notion of our expositor, pardon our sins, and accept our zeal for one precept of thy law. What is still more remark- able, when the Jews choose a precept, they usually choose one that gives the least check to their favourite passions, and one that is least essential to religion, as some ceremonial precept. This, perhaps, is what Jesus Christ reproves in the Pharisees and Scribes of his time, TVo ^in- io you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith ; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other un- done. Matt, xxiii. 23. Perhaps these words of our Sa- viour may I>e parallel to those of St James. The apostle had been recommendinsr love, and at length
^he
* See ^^Tiitby on James ii. 2. t Kimchi o\\ Hos. xiv. 2. Marg.
The Necessitij of Universal Obedience. 25
he tells the Jews, who, in the style of Jesus Christ, omitted mercy ^ that whosoever should keep Hie whole law, and yet offend in this one poi7it, would be guilty of all.
But, as we observed just now, St James did* not in- tend to restrain what he said to love. If he had a par- ticular view to the theological system of some Jews, he had also a general view to the morality of many chris- tians, whose ideas of devotion are too contracted. He informs them, that a virtue incomplete in its parts, can- not be a true virtue. He affirms, that he who resolves in his own mind to sin, and who forces his conscience to approve vice while he commits it, cannot in this manner violate one single article of the law without enervating the whole of it. A man cannot be truly chaste without being humble, nor can he be truly humble without being chaste. For the same reason no man can deliberately violate the law that forbids anger, without violating that which forbids avarice ; nor can any man violate the law which forbids extor- tion, without violating that which forbids impurity. All virtues are naturally united together, and mutually support one another. The establishment of one unjust maxim authorizeth all unjust maxims. This is the meaning of the proposition in our text, Whosoever of- fendeth in one point is guilty of all.
Hitherto v, e have only explained the sense of our text, it rem.ains novy to be proved. The proposition of our apostle is founded on three principal reasons: He, who sins in the manner just now described ; he, whose mind resolves to sin, and who forces his con- science to approve vice, while he commits it, sins against all the precepts of the law, while he seems to sin against only one. 1. Because he subverts, as far as he can, the foundation of the law. 2. Because, although he may not actually violate all the articles of the law, yet he violates them virtually, I mean to say, his prin- ciples lead to an actual violation of all the precepts of the law. 3. Because we may presume, he, who vio-
late$
*26 The Necessity of XJniversal Obedience.
lates the law virtually, will actually violate it, wlieft it suits him to do so. These three reasons establish the truth of our apostle's proposition, and justify tjie sense, that we have given it. The discussion of these three reasons will be the second part of our discourse.
* — ^ II. He who violates one precept of the law in the
manner just now described, violates all ; because, first, he subverts, as far as in him lies, the very foundation of the law. This will clearly appear by a comparison of vice with error, heresy with disobedience. There are two sorts of errors and heresies ; there are some errors which do not subvert the foundation of faith, and there are other errors that do subvert it. If, after I have honestly and diligently endeavoured to understand a passage of scripture proceeding from the mouth of God, I give it a sense different from that which is the true meaning of it ; if I give it this sense, not because I dispute the authority of an infallible God, but be- cause I cannot perceive that it ought to be taken in any other sense than that in Mhich I understand it, I am indeed in an error, but bv falling* into this error I do not subvert the foundation on which my faith is built. I always suppose the authority and infallibility of God, and I am ready to renounce my error as soon as I am convinced that it is contrary to divine revelation. But if, after it has been made to appear with irrefra- gable evidence, that my error is contrary to divine re- velation, and if, moreover, after it has been made to appear that revelation came from God, I persist in my error, then, by sinning against one point I hecovae guilty of all, because, by denying one single proposition of re- velation, I deny that foundation on which all other propositions of revelation are built, that is, the infalli- bility and veracity of that God who speaks in our scriptures. I put in the place of God my reason, my wisdom, my tutor, my minister, whomever or what- ever determines me to prefer my error before that
truth,
The Kecessitij of Universal Obedience* 27
truth, which I am convinced is clearly revealed in a book that came from heaven.
In like manner there are two sorts of vice*, some w^hich do not subvert the foundation of our obedience to the laws of God, and others that do. In the first class are those sins which we have enumerated, daily infirmities, transient faults, and involuntary passions. In the second class ought to be placed those sins of de- liberation and reflection, of which we just now spoke, and which our apostle had in view. These sins strike at the foundation of our obedience to the laws of God.
What is the ground of our obedience to the divine laws ? When God gives us laws, he may be considered under either of three Velations, or under all the three together ; as a sovereign, as a legislator, as a father. Our obedience to God, considered as a sovereign, is founded on his infinite authority over us, and on our obligation to an entire and unreserved submission to him. Our obedience to God as a legislator is founded on his perfect equity. Our obedience to God as a Father is founded on the certain advantages which they who obey his laws derive from them, and on a clear evidence that because he ordains them, they must be essential to our happiness. Now he who sins coolly and deliberately against one single article, saps these three foundations of the law. He is, thereforCa guilty of a violation of the whole law.
He saps the foundation of that obedience which, is due to God considered as a master, if he imagine, he may make any reserve in his obedience ; if he say, I will sub- mit to God, if he command me to be humble, but not if he command me to be chaste ; and so on. He saps the foundation of that obedience which is due to God considered as law giver, if he imagine God is just in giving such and such a law, but not in pre- scribing such and such other laws ; if he suppose God is just when he appoints him to educate and provide /or an only son, but that he ceaseth to do right when
ke
28 The Necessity of Universal Obedience.
lie commands him to sacrifice him, addressing him in this terrifying style, Take nowthif son, and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the monniains which I will iell thee of Gen. xxii. 2. He subverts the foundation of obedience to God as a father, if he suppose that God hath our happiness in view in requiring us to renounce some passions, but that he goes contrary to our interests by requiring us to sacrifice some other passions, which he may suppose can never be sacrir heed without sacrificing at the same time his pleasure and felicity.
He who sins in this manner, attributes to the ob^ jects which induce him to sin, excellencies that can be in none but the Creator. He says. It is not God who is my master, my sovereign : It is the world, it is my company, it is my custom. He says, It is not God who is just : Justice is the property of my pas- sions, my anger, my vengeance. He says, It is not God who is the source of my true happiness : it is my gold, my silver, my palace, my equipage, my Dalilah, my Drusilia. To offend in one point in this sense is to be guilijj of all ; because it subverts the foundation on v/hich our obedience is built. And this reason is emphatically assigned by St James in the verses that follow the text, Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is gmliy of all, for, adds the apostle, He that said. Do not commit adulter ij, said also, Ik) not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
2. The man who offends in the manner that we have described, he who in his mind resolves to sin, and endeavours to force his conscience to approve vice while he commits it, breaks all the precepts of the law, because, whether he do actually ])reak them or not, he breaks them virtually, and intentionally. He violates precepts of generosity, but he does not fall into de- bauchery. Why ? Is it because he respects the divine Jaws y/hich prohibit debauchery ? No, but because,
not
The Necessity of Universal Obedience* 29
not being- alike inclined to both these vices, he enjoys less pleasure in excess than in avarice. Could he tind as much pleasure in violating the laws that prohibit excess, as he finds in violating those which forbid avarice, then, the same principle that impels him now to an incessant, immoderate love of gain, would impel him to drown his reason in wine, and to plunge him- self into all excesses. By violating, then, laws command- ing generosity, he violates, if not actually, yet virtually, laws prohibiting debauchery. What keeps him from violating the laws that forbid clamour and dissipation, is not respect for that God who commands recollec- tion, retreat, and silence : but he affects these, because he has less aversion to retirement and silence, than he has to noise, clamour, and dissipation. Had he as much dislike of the first, as he has of the last, then the same principle that now induces him to be always alone, always either inaccessible or morose, would in- duce him to be always abroad, always avoiding a sight of himself by fleeing from company to com- f)any, from one dissipation to another. As, there- fore, he does not obey the law thai enjoins silence by his perpetual solitude, so he virtually annihilates the law that forbids dissipation ; and here again to offend ill one point is to be giiilty of all.
In fine, he who offends in the manner, that we have explained, he whose mind determines to sin, and vrho endeavours to force his conscience to approve his prac- tice, sins against all the precepts of the law, while he seems to offend only in one point, because there is suf- ficient reason to believe, he will some time or other actually break those laws, which now he breaks only rhtentionally. Here, my brethren, I wish each of you would recollect the mortifying history of his own life, and reflect seriously on those passions which succes- sively took place in you, and which by turns exercise their terrible dominion over all them who are not entipely devoted to imiversal obedience. What pro- ceeds
so The Necessity of Universal Obedience.
ceeds only from a change of circumstances, we readilr take for a reformation of manners ; and we often fancy we have made a great progress in holiness, when we have renounced one vice, although we have only laid aside this one to make room for another that seemed opposite to it, but which was a natural consequence of the first. What elevates you to-day into excesses of ungoverned joy, is your excessive love of pleasure. Now, it is natural to suppose this excessive love of pleasure which elevates you into immoderate joy now that the objects of your pleasure are within your reach, will plunge you into depths of melancholy and despair, when you are deprived of those objects. That which induces you to-day to slumber in carnal security, is your inability to resist the first impressions of certain objects ; but, if you know not how to resist to-day the impressions of such objects as lull you into security, you will not know how to resist to-morrow the impressions of other objects which will drive you to despair ; and so this very principle of non-resistance, if I may so call it, which makes you quiet to-day, will make ypu desperate to-morrow. There is no greater security for our not falling into one vice, than our actvial abstinence from another vice. There is no better evidence that we shall not practise the sins of old men, than our not committing the sins of youth. Prodigality is the vice of y©uth, and not to be profuse in youth is the best security that we shall not in declin- ing life fall into avarice, the vice of oldage^ Mayons principle animate all your actions, a principle of obe- dience to the laws of God ! then what keeps you from haughtiness, will preserve you from meanness ; what saves you from the seduction of pleasure, will preserve you from sinking under pain ; what keeps you from inordinate love to an only sop, while it pleased God to spare him, will keep you from immoderate disquietude^ when God thinks proper to take him away. But a man, who deliberately offends in one point, not only offends
intentionally
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. St
intentionally against all the articles of the law : but, it is highly probable, he will actually violate all articles one after another ; because, when universal esteem for all the laws of God is not laid down as the grand prin- ciple of religious action, the passions are not correct- ed, they are only deranged, one put in the place of another ; and nothing more is necessary to complete actual, universal wickedness, than a change of vices with a change of circumstances.
All this is yet too vague. We have, indeed, endea- voured to explain, and to prove the proposition of our apostJe ; but unless we enter into a more minute de- tail, we shall derive very little advantage from this discourse. Those of our auditors who have most rea- son to number themselves with such as sin deliberate- ly, will put themselves in the opposite class. The most abandoned sinners will call their own crimes either daily frailties, or transient faults, or involuntary pas- sions. We must, if it be possible, take away this pre- text of depravity, and characterise those sins which v/e have named sins of reflection^ deliberation^ and ap- pi'obation ; sins which place him who commits them precisely in the state intended by our apostle ; he of fends in one pointy and his disposition to do so renders him guilty of total and vmiversal disobedience. This is our third part, and the conclusion of this discourse.
III. St James pronounces in our text a sentence of condemnation against three sorts of sinners. 1 . Against such as are engaged in a Avay of life sinful of itself. 2. Against such as cherish a favourite passion. 3. Against persons of unteachable dispositions.
1 . Theij tvho are engaged in a way of life sinful of itself are guilty of a violation of the whole law, while they seem to offend only in one point.
We every day hear merchants and traders ingenuous- ly confess, that their business cannot succeed unless they defraud the government. We will not examine
whether
32 The Necessity of Universal Obedience.
whether their assertion be true ; we will suppose it to be as they say; and we affirm, that a trade which necessari- ly obliges a man to violate a law so express as that of paying tribute to government, is bad of itself. That disposition of mind which induces a man to follow it* ought not to be ranked either with those human frail- ties, transient faults, or involuntary passions, which we have enumerated, and for which evangelical abate- ments are reserved. This is a blow struck at legisla- tive authority. What, then, ought a merchant to do, who is engaged in a commerce which necessarily obli- geth him to violate a law of the state concerning im- post ? He ought to give up this commerce, and to quit a way of living which he knows is iniquitous in itself- If he cannot prevail with himself to make this sacri- fice, all his hopes of being saved are fallacious.
We every day hear military men affirm, that it is impossible to wear a sword with honour, without pro- fessing to be always disposed to revenge, and to violate all laws human and divine which forbid duelling. We do not enquire the truth of the assertion, we suppose it true. W^e do not examine, whether prudence could not in all cases suggest proper means to free men from a tyrannical point of honour ; or whether there really be any cases, in which gentlemen are indispensibly o- bliged, either to quit the army, or to violate the pre- cepts that command us to give up a spirit of resent- Vnent. We only affirm, that a military man, who con-» jitantly and deliberately harbours a design of always a- venging himself in certain cases is in this miserable list of sinners, who, by offending in one point, are guiltif of all. We do not affirm, that he would be in this guilty condition, if he could not promise to resist a disposition to revenge in every future moment of his life ; we only affirm that he is guilty of a violation of the whole law, if he do not sincerely and uprightly resolve to resist this inclination. You cannot be a christian without having a fixed resolution to seal the truths of the gospel with
your
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. S3
your blood, if it please providence to call you to martyr- dom. You cannot, however, promise, that the sight of racks and stakes shall never shake your resolution, nor ever induce you to violate your sincere determination to die for religion, if it should please providence to expose you to death on account of it. It is sufficient for the tranquillity of your conscience, that you have formed a resolution to suffer rather than deny the faith. In like manner, we do not affirm, that a military man is guilty of the offience with which we have charged him, if he cannot engage never to be carried away with an excess of passion inclining him to revenge ; we only say, if he coolly determine always to avenge himself in certain cases, he directly attacks the authority of the lawgiver. He ojfendeth in one point, and he is guiUij of all. If a man cannot profess to bear arms without harbouring a fixed intention of violating all laws human and divine, that prohibit duellings even to those who receive the most cruel affronts, either the profession of arms or the hope of salvation must be given up. No man in the army can assure himself that he is in a state of grace, miless his conscience attests, that he will avoid, with all possible circumspection, every case in which a ty- rannical point of honour renders revenge necessary ; an'd'that, if ever he be, in spite of all his precautions, in such a case, when he must either resign his military employments,- or violate the laws that forbid revenge, he will obey the law, and resign his military honours.
It is too often s^en, that our relation to some offend^ ers inspires us with indulgence for their offences. This kind of temptation is never more difficult to surmount than when we are called to bear a faithful testimony concerning the state of our brethren, who refuse to sa- crifice their fortune and their country to religion and a good conscience. But wiiat relation is so near as to pre-occupy our minds to such a degree as to prevent our considering the life of such a person, as it really is, bad in itself ; or what pretext can be plausible enough to
VOL. IV, C authorise.
S4f The Necessity of Universal Obedietie^,
authorise it? We have sounded in their ears a thousand times these thundering words of the son of God, Who^ soever shall be ashamed of vie and of my words ^ of him shall the Son of man he ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory ^ and in his Father'' s^ and of the holy angels, Luke ix. 26. He that loveth father or mother, son or daughter, and, we may add, he that loveth houses or lands, ease, riches, or honours, more than me, is not worthy of me^ Matth. X/ 37. We have summoned them by the sacred promises and solemn engagements, which some of them have en- tered into at the table of the Lord, while they partook of the significant symbols of the body and blood of the Saviour, to devote themselves to the glory of God, and the edification of his church. We have unveiled their hearts, and shewn them how the artfulness of their in- genious passions exculpated their conduct, by putting specious pretexts in the place of solid reasons. We have reproved them for pretending, that they dare not face the danger of attempting to flee, when the government forbade their quitting the kingdom ; and now liberty is granted, for making that a reason for staying. We have described the numerous advantages of public worship ; we have proved, that the preaching of the gospel is, if I may speak so, the food of christian virtues ; and that, when people have accustomed themselves to live without the public exercises of re- ligion, they insensibly lose that delicacy of conscience, without which they cannot either be good christians, or, what are called in the world, men of honour and probity ; we have demonstrated this assertion by an unexceptionable argument taken from experience ; we have said, Observe that man, who was formerly so very scrupulous of retaining the property of his neigh- bour ; see, he retains it now without any scruple : ob- serve those parents, who were formerly so tender of their children ; see now with what inhumanity they leave them to struggle with want. We have repre- sented to them, that to reside where the spirit of perse-
Gtition
The N^ecessity of Universal Obedience, S5
fcution is only smothered, not extinguished, is to betray religion, by exposing the friends of it to the hazard of being martyred, without having any Assurance of being possessed with a spirit of martyrdom ; and we have en- deavoured to convince them, that he who flatters him- self he shall be able to undergo martyrdom, and lives where he is liable to it, while providence opens a w^ay of escape, is presumptuous in the highest degree, and ex- poseth himself to such misery as the son of Sirach de- nounces, when he says. He thai loveih dange?\ shall per- ish therein^ Ecclus. iii. 26. Not having been abletdmove them by motives taken from their own interest, we have tried to affect them with the interest of their chil* dren. We have told them, that their posterity will live without any religion, that they will have too much knowledge to adhere to superstition, and too little to profess the true religion ; and this sad pro- phecy has been already verified in their families. To all these demonstrations they are insensible ; they wil- fully shut their eyes against the light ; they guard themselves against the force of these exhortations; they are forging new fetters for themselves, which will con- fine them to a place, of which God has said, Come out of her, mi/ people! that ye benot partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, Rev. xviii. 4. They build, they plant, they marry, they give in marriage, and thus they have abused the patience of thirty-five years, in which they have been invited to repent. I ask again, what relation can be so near as to prevail with us to put this kind of life amon^^ the frailties, for which evangelical abatements are reserved.
Let us all, as far as providential circumstances will allow, follow a profession compatible with our duty. Let us do more, let us endeavour so to arrange our af- fairs that our professions may stimulate us to obedience, and that every thing around us may direct our atten- tion to God. Alas ! in spite of all our precautions, sin will too often carry us away ; we shall too often forget
C2
86 The Necessity of Universal Obedience.
our Creator, how loud soever every, voice around wt proclaims his beneficence to us, and his excellencies in himself. But how great will our defection be, if our natural inclinations be strengthened by the eng"age- ments of our condition ! A kind of life wicked of itself is the first sort of sin of which my text says, Whosoever offendeth in one jjoi/it is guilty of all.
2. In the same class v-e put sinners, who cherish a darling passion. Few hearts are so depraved as to be in- clined to all excesses. Few souls are so insensible to the grand interest of their salvation, as to be unw illing to do any thing toward obtaining salvation. But, at the same time, \vhere is the heart so renewed as to have no «^vil disposition ? And how few christians are there, who love their salvation so as to sacrifice all to the obtain- ing of it ? The offender, of whom we speak, pretends tso compound with his lawgiver. Is he inclined to a- varice ? he will say. Lord ! allow me to gratify my love of money, and I am ready to give up my disposition to revenge. Is he inclined to revenge ? Lord ! allow me to be vindictive, and I will sacrifice my avarice. Is he disposed to voluptuousness ? Lord ! sufier me to retain my Drusilla, and my Dalilah, and my vengeance, my ambition, my avarice, and every thing else, I wiH sacrifice to thee.
A favourite passit)n is inconsistent with the chief vir- tue of Christianity, with that, which is the life and soul gf all others, I mean that love of God, which places God supreme in the heart. A jealous God will accept of none of our homage, Vf^hile we refuse hfrn that of our chief love. All the sacrifices that we can ofiTer him to purchase a right to retain a darling sin, are proofs of the empire whidi that sin hath over us, and of our fixed resolution to free ourselves from the law of him, who would be, as he ought to be, the supreme object of our love. Do not fancy, that what we have said concerning involuntary passions is applicable to darling sin, and exculpates a favourite passion. One
man.
The Necessity of Universal Obedience. 31
.man, whose involuntary passions sometimes hurry him away, detests his own disposition ; but the other clie- rishes his. One makes many an arduous attempt to correct his error : the other engag-es to do so ; but h6 makes promises pass for performances, and means to get rid of 4:he Last by professing' the first. One consi- ders the grace that tears the deplorable passion from his heart as a most desirable benefit ; and, even while he falls into his sin, he considers it as the greatest misfortune of his life : the other regards him as a mortal enemy who endeavciin's to prevail v/ith him to renounce a passion, in the gratification of which all his happine&s depends.
Let us ky down the love of God as a foundation of all virtue. Let us lo.ve him chiefly, who is supremely lovely. Let our heai'ts adopt the language of the psalmist, xlccess to God is my supreme good. Whom have I in heaven hid thee, and there is none upon the earth that I desire besides thee, Psal. Ixxiii. 28, 25. Let us consider and avoid, as acts of idolatry, all im- moderately lively and affectionate emotions of love to creatures. Let us entertain only a small degree of attachment to objects, which at most can procure us only a momentary felicity. A favourite passioii. is a second disposition of mind, that renders lis guilty of a violation of the whole law, even while we seem to -violate it only in an inconsiderable part.
3. Finally, Intractable minds are condemned in our text. Docility is a touchstone, by v, hich a doubtful piety may be knowii to be real or apparent. The royal prophet describes in the fiftieth psalm such a rigid observer of the exterior of religioo as we speak of ; a man who has tJie kame of God always in his mouth, and is ever talking of the holiness of his laws ; a man always ready to olfer v> hole hecatombs in sa- crifice ; but who has not patience to hear a represent- ation of his duty, and an exhortation to perform it. The psalmist declares, all this appearance of devotion,
if
38 The Necessity of Universal Obedience,
if unaccompanied with docility, is useless ; yea, more likely to arouse the anger of Gcd than to obtain his favour. Thou wicked wretch ! says he, in the name of God, to this phantom of piety, who imposes on the church by his outward appearance, and who, perhaps, imposeth on himself ; Thou wicked man, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou haiest instruction t ver. 16. He authoriseth us to use the same language to some of you. Why this assiduity at church, why this zeal on solemn festivals, why this fervour at the Lord's table, seeing you are unteachable ; seeing you love none but vague maxuPxS of virtue and holiness ; seeing you will not allow your casuist to enter into some deteils ; seeing every man loses your favour, if he hints your foibles ; seeing your tenderest and most faithful friend would become suspected directly, yea, would seem an impertinent censor, the moment he should discover your faults, and endeavour to make you acknowledge and reform them ?
My brethren, if we love virtue, we love all the means that lead to it, and with peculiar pleasure be- hold them who recommend it. Nothing is more op- posite to that general devotedness to the laws of God which my text prescribes, than a spirit inimical against them who have the courage to controul the passions. " He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination," Prov. xxviii. 9. " Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge," chap, xii. 1 . " The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death," chap. xiii. 14. '* Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness ; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head," Psal. cxli. 5. May God always continue a succession of such righteous men, and may he incline our hearts to profit by their instructions ! To him be honour and glory for ever. Am.en.
' SERMON
SERMON II,
The Great Duties of Religion
Matthew xxiii. 23.
Woe unto youy Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mini , and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weighiier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Tl/'E frequently meet with a sort of people in the world, who some of them neglect the chief vir- tues of religion, and supply the want of them by per- forming the least articles of it ; and others, who per- form the chief duties, and neglect the least. Observe one man, who cherishes a spirit of bitterness, and is all swelled with pride, envy, and revenge ; by what art hath he acquired a reputation of eminent piety ? By grave looks, by an affected simplicity of dress, by an assiduity in the exercises of public worship. See an- other, who is all immersed in worldly affaii's, whose life is all consumed in pleasure, who neglects, and who affects to neglect, both public worship and private de- votion. Ask him how he expects to escape in a well- regulated society that just censure which irregular
actions,
40 ' Great Duties of Eeligion,
actions, and a vvaj^Nof living- inconsistent with chris- tianitv, deserve. He will tell you I am a man of ho- nour, I pay my debts, I am faithful to my engage- ments, I never break my word.
We are going to-day, my brethren, to attack both classes of this inconsistent sort of people ; and to prove, that the practice of small virtues cannot supply the want of the chief; and that the performance of the chief virtues cannot make up for the omission of the least. These points are determined by Jesus Christ in the text. On the one hand, he denounces a woe against the Scribes and Pharisees, who scrupulously extended their obedience to the Mosaical law of tithes to the utmost limits, while they violated the more indispensi- ble precepts of morality. On the other hand, he does not intend to divert the attention of his disciples from the least duties by enforcing the greatest. These ought ye to have done^ and not to leave the other undone. As if he had said. Your principal attention, indeed, should be directed to equity of judgment, to charitable distri- bution of property, and to sincerity of conversation ; but, beside an attention to these, you should diligent- ly discharge the less considerable duty of tithing, and other such obligations. These are two propositions which I will endeavour to explain and establish. They will afford matter for two discourses ; the first on the chief virtues, and the last on the least, or, more strict- ly speaking, the less considerable. Some preliminary remarks, however, are absolutely necessary for our understanding the text.
1. The word that should determine the sense, is equivocal in the. original, and signifies sometimes to ex- act tithes, and at other times to jm^ them. It is used in the first sense in Hebrews, the sons of Levi have a com- mdndment to take tithes of the people; and a little after, he whose descent is not counted from them, received tithes of Abraham, chap. vii. 5, 6. But, in the gospel of St Luke, the word which we haye elsewhere rendered to ' receiv^
Great Duties of Religioiu 4 1
receive tithes, signifies to pay them, I give tithes, saith the })hansee, of all that I possess fChaj). xviii. 12.
Tlie ambiguity of this term hath produced various opinions concerning the meaning of our text. The most hiborious, and the most learned of the ancient expositors, I mean St Jerom, is said to have taken the term in the first sense. According to this hypothesis, Jesus Christ paints the Pharisees here in colours, which have ahiio.st always too well suited the persons to whom governments have intrusted the business of tax-gather- jng. Inhumanity has almost alwaysbeen their character. Ye tithe ??wit, anise, and cuvimin, and ye omit judgment, merci), andfaiih. As if he had said, You tithe incon- siderable herbs, and you do not reflect, that it is incom- patible with principles both of equity and mercy to tithe inconsiderable articles, from which the proprietors derive little or no advantage. It is not right, that these things should be subject to such imposts as go- vernments charge on articles of great consequence.
We embrace the sense of our translators, and take the word to signify here joay tithes. This sense best agrees with the whole text. Ye pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law. These ought ye to have done, and not to leavetheother undone. It agrees better also with the following words. Ye strain at a gnat, and siuallow a camel. This is a pro- yerbial way of speaking, descriptive of that disposition of mind, which inclines men to perform inconsiderable duties with a most scrupulous exactness, and to violate without any scruple the most essential articles of reli- gion. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees would have been less remarkable in an inhumane exaction of tithes, than in a parade of paying them with a rigid nicety. Accordingly, it is a Pharisee who speaks the words just now cited fi'om St Luke, and who reckons scrupulosity among his virtues. God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men a?e. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess, that is to saj, I pay tithes of those
things
4'2 Great Duties of Relig ion .
things which seem to be too inconsiderable to be tithed.
2. Our second remark regards the law of tithes. Tithes were dues payable to God, and thejr consisted of the tenth of the produce of whatever was titheable. The Jews pretended, that the example of Abraham, T\ho paid to God, in the person of Melchisedeck, his minister, a tenth of the spoils which he took from the confederate kings of the plain, ought to have the force of a law with all his descendents. To this mysterious circumstance they refer the origin of tithes. NaturgJ religion seepis to have inculcated among the pagans the necessity of paying this kind of homage to God, We meet with examples among the heathens for time immemorial. With them tithes were considered as a sacred tax. Hence Pisistratus, a tyrant of Athens, said to the Athenians, in order to obtain their consent to jsubmit to his authority. Inquire whether I appropriate tithes to myself, and do not religiously carry them to the temples of the gods. We will not multiply quo- tations. It shall suffice to say, God declared to the Israelities, that the land of Canaan was his, as well as the rest of the world, that they should enjoy the pro- duce of the land ; but should be as strangers and pil- grims, and have no absolute disposal of the lands them- selves. In the quality of sole proprietor he obliged them to pay him homage, and this is the true origin of tithes. All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's, Lev. xxvii. SO. that is, tithe iDelongs to God of right, and cannot be withheld without sacrilege.
There were three sorts of tithes. The first kind was appointed for the support of the Levites, and was wholly devoted to that purpose, except a fifth, which was tJiJken out for the priests. This was called by the Jews the first tithe, the provision for God, because it \\ as dedicated to the maintenance of the ministers of the temple. Bring ^e all the tithes into the store-house, that there 'maij be vieat in mine hoiise, Mai. iii* ]0. Hence
the
Gr-eat Didies of Religion. 43
the Jews thought themselves free from this kind df tithe, when they had no temple.
There was a second sort of tithe. Every head of a family was obliged to carry it himself to the temple at Jerusalem, and to eat it there. If he were prevented by distance of habitation, he was allowed to redeem this tax, that is to say, he was allowed to pay an equivalent. A law to this purpose is in Deuteronomy. " Thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds, and of thy flocks, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee," that is to say, if the tithe would take damage in carrying, then shalt " thou turn it into money, and shalt carry it unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose," chap. xiv. 28, 25.
The third sort of tithes were called the tithes for the poor. These, it was supposed, were paid to God, be- cause his benevolence had, if I may speak agreeably to an expression of Jesus Christ, incorporated them with himself. " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matt. XXV. 40. This tithe was paid every three years. *« At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shall lay it up within thy gates. And the Levite, because he hath no part nor inheritfincc with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat, and be satisfied ; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in ^11 the work of thine hand, which thou doest, " Deut. xiv. 28, 29.
But what principally regards the sense of our text is, that the law had not precisely determined what things were titheable. It had only expressed the mat- ter in general terms. This had given occasion to two opinions among the Jews, that of the scrupulous, and that of the remiss. The remiss atfirmed, that only things of value were titheable. The scrupulous, among
whom
44 Great Duties of Religion.
whom the Pharisees held the first place, extended the law to articles of the least importance. Their rituals ordained, that all eatables were titheable, and in this class they put the inconsiderable herbs mentioned in the text. They are all specified in the Talmud. Jesus Christ declares himself here for the opinion of the Pharisees ; but what he blamed, and what he detested Tv^as, that they dispensed with the great duties of reli- gion, under pretence of performing these, the least ; and this is tlie subject we are going to examine.
I. We will define the great duties of religion.
II. We will unmask those hypocrites, who by ob- serving the small duties of religion, pretend to pur- chase a right of violating the chief articles of it. We will endeavour to develope this kind of devotion, and to shew you the inutility and extravagance of it.
I. What are the chief duties of religion ? or, to re- tain the language of my text, what are the weightier matters of the law ?
In some respects all virtues are equal, because the foundation of our obedience is the same, that is, the majesty of the Supreme Legislator, who prescribed all. A man who should coolly and obstinately violate the least important duties of religion, would be no less guilty than he who should violate the most essen- tial articles of it. His violation of the least ought to be accounted a violation of the greatest, because by sinning in the manner just now mentioned, he would subvert, as far as he could, the ground of all virtues, great and small. St James saith, lohosoever shallkeepthe whole lmi\ and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of alh chap. ii. ]0. and the reason he assigns is, the sameGod hath prescribed all, For he thai said, Do not commit a- dulterij, said also, Do not kill. Now, adds the apostle, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art hecomea transgressor of the law, ver. 11 . that is to say, thou sub- Tcrteat the fomidation of the law, that forbids adultery^ ■
which
Great Duties of Religion. 45
"Hliich thou dost not commit, as well as that which for- bids murder, which thou dost commit. In this respect, then, all virtues and vices are equal. In this view, there is no room for distinction between the more and the less important duties of religion.
But this, which is incontestible in one point of view, is not defensible in another. There are some things in the law more important than others ; be- cause, though they all proceed from the same tri- bunal, yet the majesty of God, the lawgiver, was displayed in a more express and solemn manner in Ordaining some than others, so that he who violates the first kind of virtues^ attacks this majesty in a more direct manner than he who is guilty of violating only the last.
The difficulty lies in exactly determining the rules by which these two classes of virtues have been distin- guished. The time allotted for a sermon renders such a discussion impracticable. It is, if I may so speak, essential to all sermons preached in this pulpit, that they be discussed superficially. We must accommo- date ourselves to custom, and briefly sketch out the present subject.
In order to ascertain what virtues ought to be ar- ranged among the most important, and what among the least, five things must be distinguished. 1. The origin of a virtue. 2. The duration of it. 3. Its ob- ject. 4. Its influence. 5. Its destination. From these distinctions arise five rules.
The first rule regards the origin of a virtue* A virtue arising immediately from primitive law, is mroe important than others, an obligation to whicJj arises from some particular circumstances ; and thos^ which are immediate consequences of tiiis law, are more important than others, which are remotely con- sequential.
The second regards the duration of a virtue. A virtue that runs on to eternity, is more important
than
46 Great Duties of lleligion,
than another, which belongs only to the economy of time.
The third rule regards the object of a virtue. A virtue, that hath a great object, is more important than another which hath an inconsiderable object.
The fourth rule is taken from the influence of a vir^ tue. A virtue connected with other virtues, and moving along with itself a great many others, is more important than another virtue which operates inde- pendently and alone.
The fifth rule regards the end of a virtue. A vir- tue that constitutes the end to which all religion con- ducts us, is more important than other virtues, which at most only promote the means that lead to the end. We shall briefly explain these five rules, and shall leave them to your mature deliberation.
The first rule is taken from the oj^igin of a virtue. One virtue originating immediately in primitive law is more important than another, an obligation to per- form which is founded only on some particular circum^ stances ; and such virtues as are immediate conse- quences of this law, are more important than others that are only remotely consequential.
Primitive law is that class of maxims which derive their authority, not from revealed law only, but from the eternal truths on which they are founded, and from the nature of the intelligent beings to whom 'they are prescribed. Such are these : A created in^ telligence has no right to assume a freedom from the laws of his Creator : The Being who possesseth su- preme perfection, is alone worthy of supreme adora- tion : Whatsoever ye xvould that men shoidd do to you^ do ye even so to them^ Matt. vii. 12 : Talents with which I am entrusted by another, ought riot to be employed to gratify my particular caprice ; but they ought to be so used so as to enable me to give a good account of them to him who entrusted me with them, and directed the use of them. Multiply and enlarge
these
Great Duties of Religion. 4t
these maxims, brethren ; I only give you a clue. Vir- tues of this kind are far more important than others* an obligation to which is founded only on particular circumstances. Virtues of this last kind oblige only as consequences of the primitive law, of which I just now spoke ; and they oblige more or less, as the con- sequences are more or less remote. To address conso- latory conversation to a sufferer obliges only as a conse- quence of this primitive virtue, WJiatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. To comfort an afflicted man by conversing with him, is a consequence more remote from this primitive virtue than to remove iiis affliction by su})plying' his wants. Accordingly, the virtues of this consequential kind cease to oblige, when the circumstances that found the obligation cease. Hence, it sometimes happens, these duties annihilate one another. We must often omit some to discharge others. We must defer, or wholly omit consolatory conversation, in order to pro- cure and administer real supplies. We must omit re- lieving a stranger, in order to fly to relieve a fellow- citizen. We must cease to relieve one to whom we are related only as a fellow-citizen, in order to attend to the relief of another, who is a member with us of the household of faith. Gal. vi. 10. and so on.
2. Virtues anterior to particular circumstances sub- sist after those circumstances ; and my second maxim is only the first in a different point of view. A virtue perpetuated to eteTnity is more important than another which is confined within the limits of time. Now, the virtues that go on to eternity, are the same which oblige prior to all the particular circumstances of time* The two rules therefore unite ; it is one proposed in divers views.
Hear hoVv St Paul reasons to prove that charity is more excellent than all the miraculous gifts which God bestowed on the primitive christians. He enu- ijierates these gifts : God hath set in the church, J\rst
aposths
4S Great Duties of Religion.
apostles^ secondarily prophets i thirdli/ teachers , after thai miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divert sities of tongues, 1 Cor. xii. 28. But, adds he, covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet I sheiu unto you a more excellent way, ver. SI. Then follows his encomium upon Charity. Charity, or love, never faileth : hut 'whether there he prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; ivhether there be knowledge, it shall va?iish aivay, 1 Cor. xiii. 8. Moreover, he places charity not only above all miraculous gifts : but he sets it above all other virtues. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity, ver. 13.
My brethren, what St Paul said of miraculous gifts, and of some virtues, that they fail in comparison with charity, an obligation to which continues for ever, we say of a thousand particular practices, to which, indeed, you are obliged, but which are not to be compared with other great virtues, of the excellence of which we have beeii speaking, and which are weightier matters of the law. All these particular cir- cumstances will cease in another life : but these great virtues, to which we would persuade you to give the preference, will never cease. In heaven we can erect no hospitals, visit no sfck people, wipe off no slander : but we shall be happily united by ties the most agree- able, the most close, and the most indissoluble. In heaven we shall love one another with sentiments the most sincere, the most lively, the most tender ; because we shall participate tlie same God, propose to our- selves the same end, and be foi' ever in the highest bliss. In heaven we shall have no temple : we shall eternally enjoy the presence of God. In heaven we shall not -take hold of each others skirts, Zech. viii. 23. ac- cording to the expression of a prophet, saying, Come^ and let us go 2ip to the mountain of the Lord, Isa. ii. S. but we shall incessantly animate one another to cele- brate the praises of the Author of our existence and
happiness
Great Duties of Religion. 49
liappiness. In heaven we shall riot approach a table to commemorate, by receiving- a little bread and wine, our divine Redeemer, and to hold communion with God ; but we shall be as closely connected to God as creatures can be to the Creator. Those virtues which apj)roach nearest to them that are anterior to time, and to them that continue to eternity, are more im.- portant than others, to which circumstances of time oblige us.
3. Our third rule regards objects of vii'tue. A vir- tue that hath a great object, is more important than those which have small objects. The answer of Jesus Christ to a famous question in his time is well known. It was then warmly disputed, " AVhich is the great com- mandment ?" Some Rabbles said, it Was that which ix\}- \}omied phylacteries ; others affirmed, it was the law of circumcision ; others again contended for that which ap- pointed sacrijices. No, said Jesus Christ, none of these commandments merits the highest place, " the great commandment is. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength." This law admits of no dispensation, no li- mitation, no concurrence.
This law, I say, is hidispensible : it binds alike angels and men, and they are only devils Avho, having preci- pitated themselves by the greatest of all crimes into the greatest of all miseries, are reduced to the dread- ful necessity of hating a God whose perfections incline him to render them miserable.
This law is vnlimiied. Others are confined to a certain sphere ; they cease to be virtues when they are carried to excess, and whatever carries us too far in performing one obligation, retrenches another obliga- tion. Excessive justice runs into barbarity, and leaves no room for the exercise of humanity. Excessive penitence ceases to be repentance, degenerates into despair, and leaves no room for faith in the promises of mercy made to us in the gospel. Excessive faith
VOL. IV. 0 ceases
Bd (jrveat Duties of Aeligion.
ceases to be faith, degenerates into siiperstitioii anci puerile credulity, and leaves no room for the exercise of reason. But who can love God in an extreme ? A passion so noble can never be tooVehement, nor can its flames ever burn with too much ardour.
This law is without concurrence. The great object of our love admits of no rival in the heart. In many cases we ought to sao'ifice one duty, v\4iich has God for its object, to another that has a neighbour for its ob- ject. It would be better to absent one's self from the ex- ternal duties of religion than to neglect a dying pa- rent. Love to Gocl in this case is not in opposition to love for a fellow creature. God himself requires us in such a case to suspend a performance of ritual ser- vice, and to bend all our attention to relieve a dying parent. The love then shewn to a dying parent is a necessary consequence of loving God, of that primitive love from which all other loves proceed. Whenever the love of God and the love of our neighbour are in opposition, so that we cannot perform the last without neglecting the first, wx need not hesitate ; love to God must be preferred before lOve to creatures. The most lawful attachments become criminal, when they dimi- nish, yea when they divide, the regard that we ought to have for God. " No man can serve two masters." "lie that loveth father or mother, or son or daughter more thanme,isnotworthy of me." "Thoushalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great com- mandment," Matt. vi. 24. X. 17. and xxii. SQ, 37.
The objects of some virtues, which regard our neigh- bour, are greater than others of the same class. Cha- rity which respects the life of a neighbour, is greater than that which regards his fortune. Charity that regards his salvation, is greater than that which re=- gards his life ; the objects are greater.
The same may be said of virtues which regard our- selves. The rule is certain. A virtue which hath a
great
Great Duties of Religion, tA
c^reat object is more important than another which hath a small object.
4. Our fourth rule regards the injluence of virtues. Every virtue connected with other virtues, and draw- ing* after it many more, is greater than any single and detached virtue. The influence of virtues proceeds in some cases from the relations of him who performs them, and in other cases from the 7ia/i^?'e of the virtues themselves.
The virtues of a minister of state, and those of a minister of Christ, are of far greater importance in the execution of their offices than the other virtues of the same men which they practise as private persons in the comparative obscurity of their families. It is a very virtuous action in a statesman to provide good tutors for his children ; but it is a far more virtuous ac- tion in him to prefer able professors in an university. The first influence only his family, the last the whole state. The same reasoning holds in the case of a mi- nister of Christ, and of every other person, always proportioning, however, the duty to the relation that each bears in the world.
Sometimes the iufluence of a virtue is essential to the nature of the virtue itself. It is a virtue to bestow on a beggar a sum sufficient to free him from the ne- cessity of begging ; but it is a far more virtuous action to put him in a capacity of supporting himself; for by this mean he is not only freed from the temptations of poverty, but from those of idleness, the parent of all vice and misery^ By this mean, you make a good member of society, a good father of a family, a good christian in the church, and so on.
What has been said on the difference of virtuejf, both in this and in the former rules, may be applied tp the difference of vices. Vicious actions of extensive influence ought to be considered as more odious than others of confined effects. It is certainly a detestable option to utter, in excesses of debauchery, any maxims
2 injurious
52 Great Duties of Religion,
injurious to religion and good manners : but it is in- comparably more detestable, coolly and deliberately to pell, print, publish, extend, and perpetuate these maxims. There is no pretext specious enough to pal- liate the permission of such publications, as there are no colours black enough to describe the audacious au- thors of such books.
No, neither that spirit of toleration, which produces such innumerable blessings where it reigns, nor that freedom of commerce, which, where it is allowed, en- riches nations, and renders them so flourishing and formidable ; no, no pretext can palliate the liberty, or rather the licentiousness that we deplore. The law of God ordained that a blasphemer should be stoned, and this law was executed in all its rigour by tlie Jewish legislature. Have christians more right to blaspheme God than ,Tews had ? Has the christian magistrate a greater right to exercise indulgence towards blasphe- mers than Jewish magistrates liad ?
But if no pretext can be invented to palliate a permis- sion of such publications, who can furnish colours black enough to describe the publishers of them ? Thou mi- serable wretch, who, in order to obtain the empty reputation of an author, and to acquire the false glory of writing with vivacity and beauty, coverest thyself with real infamy, what madness animates thee! Wretqh! who spreadest the poison of thy corruption, not only through thine own circle, but through all the countries where thine infamous productions go ; infecting not only thy contemporaries, but all others who succeed thee ; what punishment proportioned to thy malice can be inflicted on thee ! Miserable wretch ! methinks I distinguish tliee hereafter in the croud of victims, Avhich tiie vengeance of God sacrificeth in helL Methinks I see thee amidst the unworthy captives, whom thy writings subdued to Satan, and I hear them address this frightful language to thee : Thou barbarian ! was it not enough for thee to delight thyself with
error
Great Duties of Religion, 5S
^rror and vice, didst thou aspire at the glory of giving ; us a relish for it ! Was it not enough to exclude thy- self from eternal hajjpiness, must heaven also be shut against us, by thine abominable maxims as well as thy , pernicious example ! Was it not enough to precipitate thyself into these flames, must we be drawn after thee ! Thou wast our betrayer in time, and we will be thy ^ tormentors through all eternity.
Finally, the last rule to distinguish virtues the most important of others of inferior importance, is taken from the end of each. A virtue that constitute^) the end to which all religion conducts us, is more import- ant than other virtues which at most are only means to lead to the end. What is the end and design of all religion? Can there be one among us so great a no- vice in the school of Jesus Christ as to want an an- swer to this question ? Let us hear St Paul. " Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it, and that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish," Eph. V. 25, 26, 27. This is the end of religion. In order to obtain this end, we are dedicated to God in baptism as soon as we are born. In our infancy we are inspired with a piety of prejudice in hope that in time we may imbibe a rational piety. As soon as our minds unfold their powers we are taught to know our Creator. As Ave ripen in years and knowledge, tutors are provided for us, and we are conducted to places of public worship erected to the glory of our Creator ; there being assembled we are invited to celebrate solemn festivals ; there we are taught whence Ave came and v\iiither we go, what we are and what we ought to be, what we should believe, and what we ought to practice : we are led by the exercise of prayer to the source of all that assistance which is necessary to enable us to surmount the obstacles which nature, Example, and habit, in spite of an edu- cation
54< Great Duties of Religion,
cation the most rigid and holy, oppose to our sancti- fication ; there we are made to ratify, by engagements the most solemn and binding, at the table of the Lord, all that had been promised for iis at our bap- tism. Now what are all these practices ? Are they not means to conduct us to the end of religion ? Let us then put every thing in its proper place ; let us va- lue the m.eans only as they lead to the end ; and let us not imagine, Vv hen we have lost sight of the end, that we do any thing to purpose by contirifling to make use of the means.
Here, my brethren, I finish my e^say ; for the rules laid down are sufiicient to enable us to perceive the reasons which induced Jesus Christ to rank the \\v- t\.n:s eniimcr aied,jiidg7nenf,jaitlt, andmercTj^ among the weighiier matters of the laiu. Can we refuse this rank to what Jesus Christ calh jiidg7ne7it ; that is, attentive, impartial, incorruptible justice ; such equity as that V. hich engageth a judge to go through the fatigue of along and painful discussion of an intricate subject, to disregard the appearance of persons, never to sulfer himself to be hllndcd hy gifls^ to determiine a point and decide a cause only by the justice or injustice of it ? Can vve refuse this rank tp mercij, tiiat is, to that be- nevolence which inclines us always to tolerate the to- lerable infirmities of our neighbours, to excuse them when any excuse can be made for them, to conceal and correct them, rather than to envenom and publitdi them; or, to use tlie language of St Paul, can we refuse to place in the highest order of virtues that charity " which fuiieretli long and is kind, w hich vaunteth not itself, which is not putied up, which doth not behave itself un- seemly, seeketh not its ov/n,is not easily provoked, think- cth no evil, rejoicetli not in iniquity, beareth, believeth, liopeth, eudureth all things," 1 Cor. xiii. 4, cvc. My God, what a description i My God, how seldom is this vir- tue practised, how little is it understood, even among christians ! Finally, Can we refuse to place among
the
Great Duiies of Religion, M
t%e weightier matters of the law, what Jesus Christ calls faith, that is, such a rectitude and candour as all the world praise, though few practise, tiie virtue that makes a man sincere in his professions, steady in his friendships, punctual in his contracts, faithful in all his engagements ? Our attempt, our rules may serve to convince you, that these virtues ought to be placed in the highest rank, and that their plac<3s cannot be sup- plied by a punctual payment of tithes, or by any other duties of the same class. This is so clear that it is needless to add any thing more on this article.
11. What we proposed to treat of in the second place ilemands a greater attention. We engaged to unmask 5uch of our hearers as endeavour to acquire by the performance of less important duties, a right to neglect other duties of the highest class and of the utmost importance. And yet I have neither time nor courage to fulfil this engagement. All that the few remaining moments, all that the delicacy, or, if I may venture to use the words of an apostle, all that the itch- vig ears of our times will allov/ me to do, is to set you a task. This is it. Recollect our rules, avaU your- selves of them to enable you to form a just notion of your state ; and to exemplify in a iew articles what we cannot fully investigate, let one avail himself of our rules to enable him to make a just estimate of the de- cency of his outward deportment ; let another judge by these of the value of those sacrifices which he has made for religion ; another of his assiduity in attend- ing public worship ; and another of the encomiums which he makes on the dead, and which h^ hopes his survivors will after his decease make on him.
You are a man of a grave deportment. All the vir- tues seem painted in your countenance, your eyes habi- tually roll tov/ards heaven, the smallest inadvertence offends and provokes you, your mouth never opens but to utter moral sentences ; and yet you are proud
and
56 Great Duties of Aeliglon.
and aftronted at a smile, a look, the least indication of incivility. Every body knows you are always full of your own importance, your reputation, your rank, and what is still worse, your virtue. It should seem you are afraid of defiling" yourself by touching* other men, and always exclaiming by your actions, if not in so many words, " Stand by thyself, come not near me, for I am holier than thou," Isa. Ixv. 5. How little progress soever we have made in the knowledge of the human heart, and in the art of discerning the pretences, under which the most haughty souls conceal their pride, it is easy enough to see that what you esteem above all other things is self. Ah ! woe be to you ! you pay tithe ofiuint, anise, and cummin ; hniyow omit the iveightier matters of the law. Do I impose on you ? What place then does humility occupy in your system of morality ? What value do you set upon humility, that virtue of which Jesus Christ has given you so many excellent descriptions, and so many amiable models ?
You have made great sacrifices for religion. You have left your country and your fortune, your honour and your family, yea, your all, to follow Jesus Christ : yet, were we to judge of your intention by your actions, we should affirm that you followed him only to have a fairer opportunity to insult and betray him. It is notorious that you violate, without remorse, the most essential laws of that religion, for the sake of which you made such noble sacrifices. In this exile, to which you voluntarily condemned yourself for the sake of religion, we see you covetous, envious, re- vengeful, wearing, and glorying to wear, the livery of the world. Ah [ ivoe be to you ! you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin: but omit the iveightier matters of the law. I ask again, do I impose on you ? What place, then, does the practical part of religion occupy in your system ? Is Christianity less proposed to your heart than to your mind ? Is the person from whom it proceeds, less jealous of his precepts than of his doc- trines?
Great Duties of Religion. ' 51
trines ? Satisfied that his disciples sat/ Lord, Loi'd, is he indifTerent whether they perform or omit what lie commands ?
You are assiduous in attending* public worship. You are scrupulously exact in the performance of every part. Our festivals are delicious days to you ; but alas ! devotion sours your temper, and you become insufferable as you grow devout. You make your friends martyrs ; you treat your children like slaves, and your domestics like animals of a species different from your own. You are more like a fury than a man. Your house is a hell, and it seems as if you came into a christian church only to learn of the God, who is worshipped there, the art of becoming a tormentor of mankind. Ah ! " Woe be to you! you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin f but "you omit the weightier matters of the law." I ask again, Do I im- pose on you ? What rank, then, in your system does discretion occupy ? Where is that spirit of prudence, patience, gentleness, and goodness, which the inspired w^riters so often repeat, and so powerfully recommend in tlieir writings ?
You celebrate the praises of your dying friends, and incessantly exclaim, ** Howcomfortably hedied!" If you do not go so far as to place your departed friends, who in your opinion died in such a christian manner, among the number of the gods, you do place them without scruple in the number of the saints. This sort of en- comium is a model of that at which you aspire ; hence you often exclaim, speaking of your gooddepartedfriend, " Let me die his death, and let my last end be like his !'* Numb, xxiii. 10. When you are seized with any ill- ness that threatens your life, you put on all the ex- terior of religion. I see one minister after another sitting at your bed-side. I hear your constant sobs and groans. Here is nothing but weeping and sighing and holy ejaculations ; but I stand listening to hear you utter one other word, that is, restitution, and that I
never
.S8 Great Duties of Religion.
never hear. I never hear you say, as Zaccheus said, " If I have taken any thing from any man by false accu- sation, I restore him fourfold," Luke xix. 8. I never see your coffers disgorge the riches you have obtained by extortion ; you never hear, or never feel the cries " of the labourers, which have reaped down your fields, wiiose hire is of youkept backbyfraud,thecriesof w^hom are entered into the ears of the Lordof Sabaoth," James V. 4. You choose rather to set at defiance all those terrible judgments w^hich.God hath denounced against extortioners than to part from your idol, gain ; you would rather transmit your fortune under a curse to your posterity than restore what you and your ances- tors have extorted. Ah ! ** Wo be to you! you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin ; but yoii omit the weightier matters of the law, judgment, faith, and mercy !"
My brethren, it is a deplorable thing, that when we treat of such an important subject as this, we are obliged to pay more attention to the delicacy of our hearers than to the "weight of the subject. But in the jiame of God, do you yourselves finish the list of those articles which timidity (or, shall I say, caution ?) for- bids me to extend. Go up to the origin of that dis- position which I have been opposing. It must pro- ceed from one of three principles ; it must come from either narrowness of mind, or hypocrisy, or a crimi- nal composition.
Perhaps it may proceed from littleness of mind. We are enslaved by external appearance. We determine ourselves by semblances. In the world more reputa- tion is acquired by the shadow than by the substance of virtue. By habituating ourselves to this kind of imposition, we bring ourselves to believe that God v/ill sutler himself to be imposed on in the same man- ner. '* These things hast thou done," saith he by the mouth of a prophet, •* and thou thoughtcst that I was altoge- ther such a one as thyself," Psal. \,'2l. We insensibly persuade ourselves, that, provided we lift 6ur eyes
to
Great Duties of Religion. 59
to heaven, God will think our hearts are elevated thither ; provided we kneel before the throne of God, he will think our hearts bow with our bodies ; pro- vided we mutter a few prayers, God will accept us as if we formed ideas and performed acts of love. This is littleness of mind.
Sometimes it proceeds from hypocrisy. Jesus Christ reproached the Pharisees with this. The Pharisees were attached to religion no further than as it acquired them reputation in the world. But I will not insist on this article. I freely acknowledge, I had almost said I lament, that hyprocrisy is not the vice of our age. Piety is now so little respected, that w^e need not much suspect people of aiming to acquire reputation by pro- fessing it ; yea, perhaps, it may oftener happen that they w^ho really have some degree of it conceal it in order to escape contempt, than that others w^ho have noiie, affect to possess it in order to acquire public esteem.
Sometimes also this disposition of mind proceeds from a criminal composition. We have the face to compound w itli God. We are wdlling to perform the external part of religion, provided he will dispense with the internal part ; we are ready to offer sacrifices provided he will dispense with obedience ; we are willing to do what costs our depravity nothing, or next to nothing, if he will dispense with what would cost it much.
Let us finish. One maxim, which I intreat you to retain in memory, is the essence of my subject, and the spring that gives force to all the exhortations w^hich I have addressed to you in the latter periods of this discourse. This maxim is, that a christian is obliged by his heavenly calling, not only to practise ail virtues, but to place each in its proper rank ; to give more application to such as merit more application, and to give most of all to such as require most of all.
On this principle, Avhat an idea ought we to form
of
60 Great Duties of Religion.
of that mei'CTj or benevolence, which my text places among the weightier matters of the law? You have heard the value of this in the body of this discourse. Such virtues as have God for their object are more impor- tant than others, which have our neighbour for their object. But God, in order to engage us to benevo- lence, hath taught us to consider beneficence to our neighbours as one of the surest evidences of our love to himself. He unites himself with the poor ; he clothes himself, as it were, with their miseries ; and he tells us, inasmuch as ye do good unto one of the least of these^ ye do it unto me. Matt. xxv. 40. What a sublime idea ! From what a fund of love does such a benevo- lent declaration proceed ! And, at the same time, what a motive to animate us to lienevolcnce.
This virtue, to the practice of which we perpetual- ly exhort you, ought to be extraordinarily exerted, my dear brethren, now that God visits us with a sort of judgment, I mean the excessive rigour of this winter. It is not a judgment upon you, rich men, God loads you with temporal blessings ; but it falls upon you, miserable labourers, whose hands, benumbed with cold, are rendered incapable of working, the only way you have of procuring a morsel of bread for yourselves and your families : upon you, poor old people, struggling at the same time against the infir- mities of old age and the rigours of the season : upon you, innocent victims to hunger and cold, who have no provision except cries and tears, and whom I see more dead than alive around a fire that emits less heat than smoke : upon you, wretched sick people, lodged in a hovel open on all sides to the weather, and destitute of both nourishment and clothing. Is it wrong to call a cause producing stich tragical ef- fects a judgment ? Must I justify the term by rea- sons more convincing ? I am ashamed to allege them. Without pretending to answer for the fact, (it is an affair too mortifying for some of us to investigate,)
we
Great Duties of Religion J 61
we are assured, that some have perished with cold. I do not know wlio is in fault, but I recollect the com- plaint which St Paul addressed to the Corinthians, when incest had been committed in their city. What ! said he, have ye heard of this deed, and have ye not covered yourselves with mourning? 1 Cor. v. 1, 2. What, my dear brethren, in a christian society, do we see such events ; do we behold the poor dyin^^ with cold, without being touched in our inmost souls, with- out inquiring into the cause of such a misfortune, without applying proper means to prevent such things in future?
With this pious design, the dispensers of your bounty will again humbly wait at the door of this church to receive your charitable contributions, in order to enable them to-day plentifully to supply the wants of such as perhaps may die to-day, if they be not relieved. With the same pious views, they have besought the magistrates to grant them an extraordi- nary collection, and next Wednesday they intend to conjure you by those shocking objects, with whicli their own minds are affected, and with which they have thought it their duty to affect ours, to afford such relief as may be necessary to prevent the many €vi^s, with which the remainder of the winter yet threatens us.
If you accuse me of applying too often to you on this subject, I answer, my importunity is your glory. You have affectionately habituated me to see you ac- cessible, and myself successful, when I speak to you on subjects of this kind. I hope I shall always find you the same ; I hope you will not be weary in well doings 2 Thess. ii. 13. I hope the voice of so many wretched petitioners as beseech you by my mouth, will not sound in vain in this christian assembly. Hear it, you happy natives of these provinces, whom God dis- tinguishes by so many favours. Hear it, my dear countrymen, v/hom heaven hath enriched in your exile^
and
62 ' Great Duties of Religion,
and who, after having yourselves been a long time in want of assistance, are now so able to assist others. Hear it, generous strangers, who sometimes mix your devotions with those which we offer to God in this house ; contribute to our charities, and share with lis the blessings which they procure. God grant us all grace to do his will. To the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory for ever. Amen<
SERMON
SERMON III.
The Small Duties of Religion.
Matthew xxiii. 23.
Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint^ anise, and cummin, and have omitted the iveightier inatters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith ': these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
N order to form a just notion of the little duties of religion of which we are about to treat, we must avoid a disposition to fastidious nicety, and an incli- nation to panics, or groundless fears.
Nothing is more opposite to the genius of religion than what I call a fastidious nicety^ a sort of trifling spirit. It is incompatible with the greatness of God. whom we serve, and the excellence of rational crea- tures, to whom religion is proposed. It is inconsist- ent, too, with the importance of those engagements to which the gospel calls us, and with the magnitude of those objects which it proposes to our faith.
What condemns a trifling spirit censures also an in- clination to groundless fears. For example, a, chris- tian seriously prepares himself for the Lord's supper ; when he partakes of it, a wandering thought alarms him, and he is filled with terror, as if he had committed a high crime against God. But can we imagine, that
64f Small Duties of Religion.
God is setting snares for us, while he is giving lis te^ kens of his love ? AVho can presume to approach th^ table of the Lord, I do not say worthily, but possibly, if there were any ground for such panics as these ? Do you think you do honour to God, hy attributing to him a turn for such comparatively insignificant niceties (forgive the expression, I cannot convey my meaning without it), a disposition, I think, which you would hardly suppose in a sensible man ? Can you suppose that God loves you with less wisdom, and less con- descension than you love your children ? Far from us be such odious thoughts ! Remember, " the spirit which ye have received, is not a spirit of bondage to fear ; but a spirit of adoption," Rom. viii. \5. Remember, ye are " not children of the bond woman ; but of the free,'' Gal. iv. 31. " Stand fast then in that inestimable li- berty wherewith Christ hath made you free," chap. v. 1. " Give of such things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you," Luke xi. 41. Be fully persuaded that in a religion of love, love excuses much infirmity, and sets a value on seemingly inconsiderable actions, which appear to have only a very remote connection with the disposition whence they proceed.
In what then, you will ask, consist what we call small or little duties ? What are the less weighty things of the law, which JcvSus Christ says we ought not to leave 2indone, after we have done the more weight if tlmigs f My brethren, the duties of w hich we speak to-day, ought not to be accounted little, except when they are compared with other duties, which are of greater importance ; and, as we said last Lord's-day, l)ecause they are consequences more remote from ori- ginal primitive right. However, though little duties do not proceed so directly and immediately as great duties do, yet do they proceed from the same origin; and though they are not the first links of the chain of christian virtues, yet they are as truly connected with the origin ^s the first.
Choose,
Small Duties of Religion. 65
Choose of the list of moral virtues any one that seems the least important, and I will justify my idea of it. For instance, to be affable and accessible, to give attention to the tiresome tale of a tedipus fellow christian in some difficulty, this is one of the ve?'^ least dudes that we can enjoin you, this is one of the less weighty matters of the latv. Who will pretend to com- pare this with what you ought to do for this man in other cases ? You ought to supply his wants when he is in a sick-bed, to defend his reputation w^hen it is attacked, to support and provide for his family when it falls to decay. This first little duty, however, small as it may appear, proceeds from the same principle of primitive law as the last great duties do. This law is expressed in these words, All things ivhatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them, Matt, vii. 12. Would any one of you be convinced of this ? Put yourself in the place of this man. Suppose a per- son elevated as much above you as you pretend to be above him, would it not mortify you if he either refused to hear you at all, or gave you only a careless negligent audience ? Let each of you, my brethren, enlarge this thought, and by applying it to himself, let him judge whether my proposition be not sufficiently clear.
I carry my proposition further still. I affirm, not only that there is no duty so small in the moral law^ as not to proceed from primitive original right, but that God never prescribed an observance so insignificant in the ceremonial law as not to proceed from the same origin. Thou shall love the Lord thy God icith all thy heart, Deut. vi. 5. this is the first principle of primi- tive law. If we ought to love God with all our hearts, we ought carefully to observe all the means which he hath appointed to cherish this love. Now, these means vary according to the various circumstances in which they to whom the means are prescribed may be. A worship charged with ceremonies Would serve only to extinguish emotions of love, if prescribed to people
VOL. IV. E in
66 Sinall DiUies of Religion.
in some conditions ; yet the same sort of worship wouhf inflame the love of other people in different circum- stances. The Jews were in the last case. Born and brought up in slavery, employed, as they were, in manual occupations, they would have been destitute of all ideas under an economy without ceremonies. Surrounded with idolatrous nations, and naturally in- clined, as they were, to idolatry, it was necessary, in order to prevent their copying such wretched exam- ples, to which they had strong propensities and in- ducements, I say, it was necessary, if I may venture to speak so, not to give them opportunity to breathe, to keep them constantly employed in some external action, every moment of the time devoted to religion. Christians, I allow, are in circumstances altogether different. A mass of ceremonies would serve only to veil the beauty of that God, whom no man had seen at any time before the advent of Christ, and whom the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, hath declared, John i. 18. Whatever contributes to the concealment of the perfections of this God damps that love which a contemplation of them inspires. Yet, as we are full of infirmities on this earth, we want a few signs to produce and cherish in us the love of God. Where is the man who is capable of a devotion all disengaged from sense ? who can fix his eyes immedi- ately on the sun of righteousness, Mai. iv. 2. Where is the man who is capable of such abstract medita- tions and pure emotions as constitute the worship of angels and seraphim ? Alas ! my soul, how^ difficult is recollection to thee, even with all the assistance of a religious ceremonial ! How hard dost thou find it ta maintain a spirit of devotion even in this place, in this concourse of people, with all these voices, and with those ordinances which are appointed for the maintenance of it ! What wouldst thou do, wert thou left to thine own meditations only, to practise a piety altogether spiritual and free from external action ?
Let.
Small Duties of Religion. ^7
Let us finish this article. The least important parts bf ceremonial worship, as well as the least virtues of morality, which we call iittle duties^ or the less weighty matters of the law, proceed from primitive law, by consequences more remote, but as real as those of the most important duties.
What we have been saying of the nature of little duties demonstrates the obligation of them. They all proceed from primitive law. Yovi cannot, therefore, neglect the performance of them without confinmg what ought to be infinite.
But this is too vague. We will treat of the subject more at large, and in order to enable you more fully to perceive your ohligation to liiile duties, 1 will speak of them in four different views, each of which will open a field of reflections.
I. Thev contribute to maintain a tenderness of con- scieuGe.
II. They ai^ sources of re-conversion after great falls*
III. They make up by their frequency what is wanting to their importance,
lY. They have sometimes characters as certain of real love as the great duties have.
Now, my brethren, whatever engages us to the performance of little duties must preserve us from the commission of what the world calls little sins. This is all I have to propose to you at present.
\. An exact performance of little duties maintains ten- derness of conscience. By conscience I mean that instant, and, in some sort, involuntary approbation of our ow^n conduct when we discharge our obligations, and that sentence of condemnation which we cannot help denouncing against ourselves, whenever we are so un- happy as to violate them. In the language of St Paul, it is the work of the law written in our hearts, our thoughts accusing or else excusing one another, Rom. ii. i 8.
2 Conscience,
f78 Small Duties of Beliglon.
Conscience, considered in this point of light, is the same in our souls in regard to salvation as the senses are in our bodies in reg-ard to health and life. The office of our senses is to inform us, by the short method of sensation, of Avhatever may be hurtful or beneficial to our bodies. If when any exterior body approached lis we were always obliged to measure its size, to examine its configuration, to judge by the laws of motion, action, and reaction, whether its approach would be hurtful or beneficial to us, our frail machine would be crushed to atoms before we could finish the discussion. If it were necessary always before we took any nourishment to examine the nature of the aliments before us, to understand the propert^^ies and effects of them, we should die with hunger before we had finished our researches. God hath enabled the senses of our bodies to supply the place of tedious dis- cussions. This beautiful economy is never disconcerted except when our bodies are disordered.
It is exactly the same in regard to conscience, If always when it was necessary to determine the mora- lity of an action, we were obliged to turn over a large class of books, to consult our casiusts, and to examine a whole system of rectitude, what would become of us ? The short way of sentiment supplies the plaee ol all this discussion. A sudden horror, excited by the idea of a crime which we are tempted to commit, a secret joy, excited by the idea of a virtue, which we are going to practice, are, in urgent cases, systems,, books, and casuists to us. When we lose this moral sense, we lose our best guide, and are then exposed to an infalii!)le misery of proceeding from one error to another, from a first pernicious practice to a se- cond, and so in the end to a gulf of final wretched- ness.
Such being the design of conscience, the end for which God hath appointed it, we can never be too diligent to avoid those things which impair it, as, on
the
Small Dviies of Religion. 69
the other hand, we can never apply ourselves too eag'crly to such practices as contribute to improve and perfect it. Now, 1 affirm, that the first of these effects is produced hy allowing ourselves to commit Utile sins, and the second by an exact performance of Utile duties. *
The commission of little sins leads on to the perpe- tration of great crimes ; and we cannot assure our- selves that we should religiously practise great vir- tues, unless we scrupulously discharge other obliga- tions comparatively small. Of the many examples which present themselves to my mind, which shall I select to elucidate this subject ? Where originate Ihe vexations caused by those public robbers, who are the scourge of many a country ? In a neglect of small virtues, in a practising of what are called little sins. At first the man transgressed in a small degree the laws of frugality and modesty. Not content with a convenient situation, he aspired to make a figure. His table became in his eyes too plain, he wished it might be furnished, not as formerly with plenty, but with taste and expensive delicacy. To compass these designs he was obliged to exceed his income. His lawful income not being sufficient, he supplied his pressing necessities by means which at first sight seemed not very blameable. — He borrowed money. After some time his creditor became troublesome, at length formidable ; at first he solicited, at last he threatened. The wretched debtor a while thought he must deliver himself up to his creditor ; at length he saw himself reduced to the necessity either of re- trenching his expences, or of transgressing a little the maxims of severe equity : he determined on the last, and availed himself of the property of others for whom he was in trust, intending, however, to replace it the first opportunity. Such an oppor- tunity never hapj)ened ; and the same motives that induced him to begin this vicious course of action
engages
70 Small Duties of JReligmi:
engages him to persevere in it. Hence comes his ve^ nab'ty, hence his public frauds, hence his base inclina- tion to make sale of both church and state whenever he can find purchasers to come up to his price.
There is a virtue which we cannot fully treat of without danger. To enforce the practice of some virtues is sometimes to excite a disposition to violate it. To describe exactly the dangers v/hich must be avoided by those who would practise the virtue of which I now speak, would be to increase the number of delinquents. But whence, think ye, come the utmost excesses of voluptuousness, and the enormous crimes which its votaries have been capable of per^ petrating in order to cover the scandal of having yielded to it ? Both proceed from a neglect of little duties, and a commission of little sins. I will here borrow the language of the most eloquent and polite writer of his time. " Voluptuousness at first is no- thing but an unintentional curiosity. It proceeds from an affection apparently lawful. A little worldly com- plaisance mixes with it. The mind by little and little turns to its object ; the heart softens and dissolves. Means to please are sought. Inquietude follov/s and presses. Sight kindles desire. Desire engages to see, Certain vague wishes, at first not perceived, form themselves in the soul. Hence criminal familiaritiesj scandalous intrigues, continual agitations, and all the other consequences of a passion, fatal, restless, and unsatisfied, whether it be gratified or not." *
So true is what we have affirmed, that by neglect- ing the least virtues we acquire a habit of neglecting others of the greatest importance. So true is it, that we prepare ourselves to practice the greatest crimes, by practising what are called little sins. We conclude, then, that exactness in performing little duties cherishes tenderness of conscience. This is our first reflection.
II. We
^ Flechier. Panegyr. de St Bernard.
Small Duties of Religion. */ 1
II. We affirm, in the second place, that small duties are sources of re-conversion after great falls. Some pas- sages of scripture have occasioned a difficult case of conscience, which is this : Is the practice of little du- ties altogether useless to those who neglect great ones; and, all things considered, would it not be better for a man who neglects the important obligations, to omit the performance of small duties, than practise the last, while he neglects the first ? This question rises out of these passages. " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me ? saith the Lord. I am full of the jjurnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, wlio hath required this at your hand to tread my courts ? Bring no more vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto me, the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assem- blies, I cannot away with," Isa. i. 11 — 13. " The sacri- fice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." Prov. XV. 8. " I spake not unto your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices; but this thing commanded I them, saying. Obey my voice," Jer. vii. 22, 23. " He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man ; he that sa- crificeth a lamb, as if he had cut off a dog's neck ; he that oflereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol," Isa. Ixvi. 3. " Unto the wicked, saith God, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or thattbou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?" Psal. 1. 16.
These passages, which might be easily multiplied, seem to determine the question that was just now pro- posed, and to establish the opinion of those who affirm, that men ought either to leave ofl' the practice of small duties, if they determine to neglect great obligations, or to perform great obligations if they continue to practise small duties. There are, however, some ce- lebrated casuists, whose morality in some cases may deserve censure, although they are not censured at
Rome,
Small Duties of Religi
ton.
Home, except for what merits applause ; these casuists, I say, have decided the question differently, and I can- not help submitting to their reasons. I have more hope of a man who attends public worship, though he , derive no advantage from it, than of him who hath resolved for ever to absent himself. I have more hope of a man who performs only the most super- ficial parts of the laws of benevolence, than of him who resolves to violate these, and all the rest too. J have more hope of him who suspends the exercise of his passions on]y the day before and the day after his participation of the Lord's supper, than of him who excommunicates himself and his whole family for ever. I have more reason to hope for him who, having made great sacrifices for the doctrines of reli- gion, violates the precepts of it, than for him who both violates the precepts and abjures the doctrines. Not that I affirm, either that it is sufficient to per- form small duties while we persist in a neglect of gieat obligations, or that the performance of the former is not detestable when we perform them carelessly and hypocritically. This, I think, is the key of the pas- sages just now quoted. These small duties are re- mains of spiritual life in such as practise them ; dying remains, I allow, but precious remains, however ; and the state of these people is preferable to the condition of the other persons in question, whom death has enveloped in its dismal shade. Preserve, carefully preserve these precious remains, whatever just grounds of fear of your salvation may accompany them^ Do not extinguish this wick, though it only sinokes. Matt, xii. 20. Perhaps an idea of the sacrifices Which you have made for the doctrines of religion, may incline you at last to submit to the precepts of it. Perhaps self-examination, superficial as it is, preparatory to the Lord's supper, may at some time or other lead you into reflections more deep and serious. Possibly, the sermons which now you attend only to satisfy some
" " transient
Small Jf)uties of Religion. 73
transient emotions of conscience, may in the end arouse your consciences effectually.
ill. Small duties compensate hy their repetition, for what is wanting to their importance. We are not called every day to make great sacrifices to order ; we are seldom required to set up the standard of the cross in barbarous climes, to sound the gospel to the ends of the world, and to accomplish the promises made to Jesus Christ, that he should have " the heathen for his inlieritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession," Psal. ii. 8. Seldom are we called to dare executioners, to triumph va cruel sufferings and death, to confess Christ amidst fires and flames. We are rarely called to the great actions that make heroes ; to die for our neighbours; to sacrifice ourselves for the pu- blic good ; and to devote ourselves for our country.
If we are seldom required to perform great duties, thanks be to God we are seldom tempted to commit great crimes, to deceive a friend, to betray a trust, to reveal a state-secret, to make a sale of justice, to per- plex truth, or to persecute innocence. But in what moment of each day do we not meet with opportunities to commit little sins, and to perform duties of compa- ratively small importance ?
Are vou confined at home ? You have little incon- veniences to suffer, little perverse humours to bear with, little provocations to impatience to resist, little disgusts to endure.
Are you in company ? You have a few captious tempers to manage, idle reports to discountenance, a few pernicious maxims to combat, profane actions to censure ; sometimes you are obliged to resist iniquity boldly, and at other times to affect to tolerate it, in order to obtain an opportunity to oppose it on a future opportunity with greater probability of success.
Do you prosper ? What a source of little duties is prosperity, if we sincerely love virtue ? And what a
source
74 Small Duties of Religion.
source o^ little sins, if we are not always guarded against temptations to vice ? Now a little air of self-sufficiency- inclines to solitude, then a little eagerness to shine im- pels to society. Here a little necessary expence must be incurred, there another expence must be avoided. Here something is due to rank, and must be observed, there rank would be disgraced, and something must be omitted.
Are you in adversity, under misfortunes, or sickness? How many miserable comforters ? How many dis- gustful remedies ? What intolerable wearinesses ? So many articles, so many occasions to perform little du- ties, and to commit little sint5.
Opportunities to commit little sins return every day^ I may almost say, every moment of every day. A little sin is a little poison, slow indeed, but continually insinuating itself into the soul, till by degrees it issues in death. A man who does not watch against little sins, is liable to provoke God as often as an occasion to commit them presents itself. On the contrary, a man who makes conscience of practising little duties as well as great ones, finds every day, and every mo- ment, opportunities of giving God proofs of his love. He hath not only a religion of times and circumstances, which is sometimes justly suspected, but a religion of influence that diffuseth itself into every part of his life. There is not a moment in which he doth not make some progress in his heavenly course. By his atten- tion to evei-y little duty, he discharges the greatest of all duties, that which St Paul prescribes to all chris- tians, " Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," 1 Cor. x. 3 1 . He is an exact imitator of Jesus Christ, " the author and finisher of his faith, who went about doing good," Heb. xii. 2. like him he can say, " I have set the Lord always before me ; because he is at my right hand I shall never be moved," Psal. xvi. 8. Had I not reason to afiirm, that little du- ties compensate, by the frequency of their return, for what is wanting to constitute their importance ?
IV. Our
Sinall Duties of Religion, 75
IV. Our third reflection leads us to a fourth. Little duties have sometimes characters more evident of real love to God, than the most impo?iant duties have. If hypocrisy, if false ideas of religion, sometimes produce little duties, it must be also allowed, that secular motives, interest and vain glory, sometimes give birth to great exploits. Pride, without any mixture of love to order, is sometimes sufficient to engage us to make those great sacrifices of which w^e just now spoke. Some- times nothing but an extreme and refined attachment to virtue can animate us to perform little duties. There is sometimes more genuine benevolence in ac- cepting such tokens of gratitude as a poor man gives for a favour conferred on him than in conferring the favour itself. There is sometimes more humility in receiving the praise from a man whose esteem flatters our vanity a little, than in refusing to hear it. After all, though the love of God differs in many respects from mere worldly esteem, yet there are some resemr blances. We often think ourselves obliged to render considerable services to people for whom we have no great regard ; but it is only for such as we hold in the highest veneration that we feel certain little at- tachments, 'certain little attentions, certain solicitudes, which indeed are called little in usual phrase, but which are strong demonstrations of the tender senti- ments of the soul. It is just the same with divine love. But this is one of those truths of sentiment and expe- rience, which each of you may understand better by consulting the history of his own life, and by ^vatch- ing the motions of his own heart, than by attending to our syllogisms and discussions.
Perhaps you may imagine God cannot, without de- basing his Majesty, -cast his eyes on those insignificant actions which we are recommending to you. But undeceive yourselves. What could be less consider- able than those tivo mites which the poor widow in the gospel cast into the treasury ? Mark xii. 42. Yet
we
76 Small Duties of Religion.
we know what Jesus Christ thought of that action. What service less considerable could be rendered Jesus Christ just before his death, than to pour ointment on his head ? The apostles had indignation within them- selves at this unseasonable ceremony, chap.xiv. 13. he. They were angry with the woman for diverting the attention of Jesus Christ from those great objects with which his whole soul had been filled. But he reproved them. "Why trouble ye the woman?" said he ; she hath performed an action worthy of emulation. " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her." What can be less considerable in itself than a cup of cold water ? Yet Jesus Christ promises to reward even this with eternal life, when it is given from a principle of real piety. We said before, my brethren, and allow us to repeat it again, in a religion of love, whatever proceeds from a principle of love hath an intrinsic value.
I unite now the subjects of both the discourses, which I have addressed to you, on the words of my text, and, by collecting both into one point of view, I ask. What idea ought you to form of a religion which exhibits a morality so pure and complete ? What idea of the preaching of those ministers, who are called to instruct you in it ? What idea of the engage- ments of such disciples as profess to submit to the dis- cipline of it ?•
What idea ought you to form of a religion that prescribes a morality so pure and complete ? The christian religion requires each of us to form, as well as he can, just notions of primitive law : to observe all the consequences, and to place each virtue that pro- ceeds from primitive right, in its just order ; to give the first rank to those virtues which immediately pro- ceed from it, and the second to those which proceed from it mediately and remotely. Christianity re- quires
1?'
Small DuUes of Religion. 77
quires us to regulate our application to each virtue, by the place which each occupies in this scale ; to set no bounds to the loving of that God, whose perfections are infinite ; to entertain only a limited esteem for finite creatures ; to engage our senses in devout exer- cises, but to take care that they are held under go- vernment by our minds ; to sing the praises of the Lord with our voices, but animated with our affec- tions ; in short, to look toward heaven, but to let in- ward fervour produce the emotion, determine the di- rection, and fix the eye.
How amiable would society be, if they who com- pose it were all followers of this religion ! How happy would it be to make treaties, to form alliances, to unite ourselves, by the most affectionate and indis- soluble ties, to men inviolably attached to this reli- gion ! Had not God shaken nature, and subverted kingdoms, or, in the language of a prophet, had he not " shaken the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land," Hag. ii. 6. to establish this religion in the world, yet it ought to be held in the highest esti- mation for its o\^'n intrinsic w orth. How can Ave heJp being filled Avith indignation at those abominable men, who, in spite of all the demonstrations of the divine origin of this religion, place their glory in w^eakening its empire over the heart !
2. But if you form such noble ideas of a religion, the morality of which is so extensive and so pure, AN hat ideas ought you to form of the ^re«cA???^ of those Avho are appointed to instruct you in it ? Which Avay, think you, ought they to bend their force ? What kind of questions ought they to propose in the christian pulpit ? Under Avhat point of vicAv ought they to con- sider the texts, Avhich make the matter of their dis- courses ? Are they required to excite your astonish- ment by flights of imagination, or to gratify your curiosity by a display of their profound erudition ? Does not their office rather require them to employ
all
is Small Duties of Religion.
all the times you allow them to free you from yoiif prejudices, to take off those scales from your eyes, which prevent your perceiving " the things which be- long unto your everlasting peace, Luke xix. 42. and to give you such directions as you may follow, as far as can be in the tumult of the world, whither either your inclinations or your necessities call you.
My brethren, while I was meditating on my text, two methods of discussing it presented themselves to my mind.
Following the first of these plans, I divided my discourse into three parts, according to the three parts, that is, the three different herbs mentioned in the text. Each of these parts I subdivided into three more. First, I examined the force, the signification, the de- rivation of the original term, and I inquired whether the word were rightly rendered vrnit. I quoted various opinions on this subject, for interpreters are very much divided about it. According to the Ethiopic version, Jesus Christ spoke of hijssop ; and according to other versions, some other plant. Secondly, I examined the nature the uses, the properties of the herb, to which I had restored the true name, and here I heaped up a great number of passages from Aristotle, Pliny, Solinus, Salmasius, and many other authors, who have rendered themselves famous by this kind of erudition. Thirdly, having studied 7nint as a critic and as a natu- ralist, I proceeded at length to examine it as a divine. I inquired why God demanded tithe of this herb. Perhaps, thought I, here may be some mystery in this affair. I say perhaps, for I acknowledge myself a mere novice in this science, as in a great many others. However, there may be some mysteries in this offer- ing. I was certain, if imagination supplied the place of reason, and flights of fancy were put instead of facts, it would not he impossible to find mysteries here. If this herb be sweet, said I, it may represent the sweetness of mercy ; if it be bitter, it may signify the
m bitterness
Small Duties of Religion. 7^
bitterness of justice. If Jesus Christ meant 7/^\?.yojD, as some think, it was that very herb of which the famous bunch was made, that was dipped in the blood of sparrows at the purification of lepers. What mysteries ! \\liat I had done with jnint under the first head, I did over again under the second article anise^ and the same over again under the third i>ead cummin. This was my first plan of discussion.
The second method was that which I have chosen. In a former discourse on this text, we endeavoured to- convince you that you were under an indispensible obligation to perform the great duties of religion. In this we have been endeavouring to obtain your regard to the little duties of religion ; to engage you to sub- mit to the laws of God, even in things of the least im- portance ; and thus to give you a complete chain of christian virtues.
My brethren, God forbid that our discourses, which ought always to be animated Avith a spirit of benevo- lence, should at any time degenerate into satire, and that we should enjoy a malicious pleasure in exploding the method of those who entertain ideas different from ours on the best manner of preaching. I grant birth, education, and a course of study, have a great deal of influence over us in this respect. But, in the name of God, do not condemn us for treating you like rational creatures, for addressing to you, as to intelligent beings, the words of an apostle. We " speak as to wise men, judge ye what we say," 1 Cor. x. 15. Judge what are the obligations of the ministers of a religion, the morality of which is so extensive and pure.
3. Finally, What idea ought you to form of the en- gagements of such disciples as profess to give them- selves up to this religion, the morality of which we have been describing ? Where are the christians who have this complete chain of the virtues of Christianity ? Where shall we find christians, who, after they have performed, with all due attention, the great duties,
hold
80 Small Duties of Religl
ion.
hold themselves bound by an inviolable law not W neglect the least ? Alas! we are always complaining of the weight of the yoke of the Lord ! We are perpe- tually exclaiming, like the profane Jews mentioned by Malachi, " Behold what a weariness it is !" chap. i. 13. We dispute the ground with God ! It should seem he hath set too high a price on heaven. We are always ready to curtail his requisitions. What ! say we, can- not he be contented with this ? will he not be satisfied with that ?
Ah ! my dear brethren, let us open our eyes to our interest : let us obey the laws of God without reserve : let us observe alike the most important virtues which he hath prescribed to us, and those which are least im- portant. We ought to do so, not only because he is our master, but because he is our father, because he proposes no other end but that of rendering us happy ; and because so much as we retrench our duties, so much we diminish our happiness. To this God, whose love is always in union with justice, be honour and glory, dominion and majesty, both now and for ever Amen.
SERMON
SERMON IV.
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked
Revelation xxi. 7, 8.
He that overcoineth shall inherit all th'mgs, and I will ^ be his Gody and he shall be my son. But the fearful ^ and the nnbelievitig, and the abominable, and mur- derers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idola- ters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
TT is a subject deserving the most profound reflec- tions, my brethren, that the most irregular being, 1 mean the devil, is at the same time the most miser- able, and that the most holy Being, he who is holy by excellence, is at the same tim€ the most happy, and thus unites in his own essence supreme holiness with sovereign happiness. Satan^ who began his audacious projects in heaven, the habitation of holiness, 2 Chron. XXX. 27. Satan, who rebelled against God amidst the most noble displays of his magnificence, and who is still a murderer and a liar, John viii. 4?4. Satan is in the depth of miserp He was hurled down from a pin- nacle of glory, expelled for ever from the society of Uie blessed, and there is a lake of fire prepared for him and his angels. Matt. xxv. 4 1 . God is the most holy .Being. Indeed, the terms virtue and holiness are very VOL. IV. ^ equivocal,
82 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked,
equivocal when applied to an independent beings whose authority is absolute, who has no law but his own wisdom, no rules of rectitude but his own voli- tions. Yet, order, whatever is sublime in what we mortals call holiness, virtue, justice, eminently dwells in tlie Deity, and forms one grand and glorious object of the admiration and praise of the purest intelligences, who incessantly make it the matter of the songs which they sing to his honour, and who cry day and night one to another, " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. O Lord, thou king of saints, wiio shall not fear thee and glorify thy name ? For thou only art holy ; for all nations shall come and w^orship before thee," Rev. xv. 3, 4. This Being, so holy, so just ; this Being who is the source of holiness, justice, and virtue ; this Being possesses at the same time the highest possible happiness. He is, in the language of scripture, the happy God *, and, as I said before, he unites in his own essence supreme holiness with supreme happiness.
What boundless objects of contemplation would this reflection open to our view, my brethren, were it necessary to pursue it ? Consider it only in one point of light. The destination of these two beings so dif- ferent, is, if I may be permitted to say so, the rule of the destination of all intelligent beings. All things considered, the more we partake of the impurity of Satan, i\\Q more we partake of his misery. It would be absurd to suppose, that in thejime of the restiiidiori, of ail things, Acts iii. 21. which will soon arrive, and justify providence against the innumerable censures passed upon it, it would be absurd to suppose, that if we have appro])riated the irregularities of the impure spirit we should not at that time partake of his misery ; and it would be absurd to suppose, that vv e can partake of the virtues of the holy Being, without participating biy felicity and glory.
Eacli
• * 1 Tim. i. 11. See Vci. I. p. 91. note. Serijii 2. On the Eter=
ililrofGcd, ■ '
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. 8S
Each part of these propositions is contained in the words of my text. He tliat overcometh, he who in this world of obstacles to virtue shall take the holiness of God for his rule, as far as it is allowiible for frail creatures to regulate themselves by an example so perfect and sublime, he that overcometh shall have no bounds set to his happiness, lie shallinherit all thing6\ '^e shall enter into the family of God himself. " I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbdieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ill! liars," of what order soever they be, all those who do " the works of the devil," shall be placed in a con- dition like his, " shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
We invite you to day to meditate on these truths, •and in order to reduce the subject to the size of a single sermon, we will only insist on such articles of the morality of St John as are least known and most disputed. We will distinguish in this system such virtues to be practised, and such vices to be avoided as are most opposite to those prejudices which the world usually forms concerning tlie final doom of mankind.
I. The ^irst prejudice which we intend to attack is this, A life spent in ease and idleness is ?iot incovijxUible with salvatioji, if ii he free from great crimes. Against this we oppose this part of our text, " He that over- cometh shall inherit." In order to inherit, we must overcome. Here vigilance, action, and motion are supposed.
II. The second prejudice is this, A just God will not impute to his creatures sins of infirmity and constitution^ though his creatures' sho'idd he subject to them during the whole course of their lives. Against this we oppose these words of the apostle, " The fearful and whore- mongers shall have their part in the lake which burneth
^wjth fire and brimstone."
9. Ill The
S4> The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
III. The third pi-ejudice is this, Speculative errors cannot he attended with any fatal consequences^ provided we live xiprighthj^ as it is called, and discharge our social duties. Against this we oppose this word, the un- believing. The unbelieving are put into the class of the miserable.
IV. The fourth prejudice is this, Religions are in^., different. The mercij of God extends to those who live in the most erroneous communions. Against this we oppose the word idolaters. Idolaters are considered among the most criminal of mankind.
V. The last prejudice is this, None hut the vulgar ought to he afraid of committing certain crimes. Kings will he judged hij a particular laiv : the greatness of the motive that inclined them to manage some affairs of state will plead their excuse, and secure them from divine vengeance. Against this w^ oppose these words, aho?ninahl-e, poisoners^', and all liars, which three words include almost all those abominations which are called illustrious crimes. However, these abomi- nable, these poisoners, and all these liars, shall have, as well as the fearful, the unbelieving, the unclean, and the idolaters, '•' their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."
I. Let us begin with the first prejudice. A life spent in ease and idleness is not incomj)aiihle with salva- tion, if it he free from great crimes. St John takes away this unjust pretext, by considering salvation as a prize to be obtained by conquest. He who overcometh, im- plies vigilance, activity, and motion. Two considera- tions will place the meaning of our apostle in the clearest light. We take the first from the nature of evangelical virtues, and the second from the nature of those vices which are forbidden in the gospel.
1 . The nature of evangelical virtues demands vigi- lance,
* Poisoners. (pa^LiAKivc-i. Veneficis. Incantatoribus. Qui malis^ magiae artibus utuntur. The French bibles read cmpoisonneur's, poisoners, •
^jThe Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. S3
lance, action, and motion. It is impossible to exercise these virtues under the influence of indolence, idleness, and ease. Let us examine a few of these virtues.
What is the love of God ? It is that disposition of the soul which inclines us to adore his perfections, to admire with the highest joy his glorious attributes, and to desire with the utmost ardour to be closely united to him as to our supreme good ; but this disposition cannot be exercised, it cannot be acquired without vigilance, action, and motion. We must meditate on that sovereign jiower which formed this universe by a single volition, and by a single volition determined its doom. We must meditate that supreme wisdom which regulates all the works of supreme power, com- bining causes with effects, and means with ends, and which by this infinite combination hath always ad- justed, and continues to arrange and direct all the works which we behold, and others without number which lie beyond the utmost stretch of our imagina- tion. We must meditate on that perfect justice which is engraven on all the productions of the Creator, on all the conduct of providence, and remarkably on the consciences of mankind, which continually accuse or excuse th^iY actions, Ilom. ii. 1.5. Conscience is either tortured with remorse or involved in delight, according as we have been attached to virtue, or violated it. We must meditate on that infinite goodness which is ovej- all his works, Psal. cxlv. 9. We must not only consider this palace where God hath lodged man, a palace of delights before the entrance of sin, but which, since that fatal period, is, alas ! nothing but a theatre, and, if I may express myself so, an universal scaffold, on which he exercises the most terrible vengeance, and exhibits his most dreadful executions. We must en- ter, moreover, into the genius of religion ; know the power of that arm which he exerts to deliver us from bondage ; the power of those succours which he af- fords to enable us to triumph over our depravity ; the
excellence
86 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
excellence of revealed mysteries ; the value of the pardon set before us ; the pleasure and peace poured into our souls ; and the magnificence of such objects as the gospel proposes to our hopes. All this requires^^ vigilance, action, and motion. Nothing of this can be acquired under the influence of indolence, idleness, and ease. Nothing of this can be done in the circlesy of pleasure, at gaming tables, or in places of publicr diversion.
What is /t/z?/i ? It is that disposition of our souls "which brings into caj)tivitij everif thought to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor, x. 5. and subjects them all to his de- cisions. In order to this, we must be convinced that God hath not left men to their natural darkness, but hath bestowed on them the light of divine revelation. We must examine this revelation and understand the proofs of its divinity. We must collect into one body the fundamental truths included in it, Wc must re- move or invalidate those glosses which false teachers have applied to perplex the meaning of it. We must understand how to be deaf to every voice except that of eternal truth ; and to say fram the bottom of a soul saturated with the love of this truth, Speak, Lord, for thy servants hear, 1 Sam. iii. 9. All this requires vi- gilance, action, and motion. Nothing of this can be acquired under the influence of indolence, idleness, and ease. Nothing of this can be done in circles of pleasure, at gaming tables, or m places of public di- version.
What is benevolence ? It is that dLsposition of soul which engages us to consider our neighbour as our- selves, and to study his interest as our own. In order to this we must examine both his temporal and spiri- tual wants. If he be in a state of indigence, we must provide for him, either at our expence, or by exciting" in his favour the compassion of others. When he is ignorant we must inform him, when in an error undeceive him, wheiv he strays we must recal him,
when
^he Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked, 8T
when his spirits are overwhelmed, comfort him ; Ave must visit him when he is confined, edify him by our conduct, iand encourage him by our example. All this demands vigilance, action, and motion. Nothing of this can be acquired under the influence of indolence, idleness^ and ease. Nothing of this can be done in circles of pleasure, at gaming tables, or at places of public diversion.
What is repentance ? It is that disposition of our soul, which makes the remembrance of our sins a source of the bitterest grief. This supposes many self-examinations and self-condemnations, much re- morse of conscience, many tears shed into the bosom of God, many hiethods tried to preclude falling again into iins, the remembrance of which is so grievous to us. Above all, this virtue supposes recompences in great number. If we have propagated any maxims injurious to religion, reparation must be made ; for how can we be said to repent of having advanced such maxims, except v/e abjure them, and exert all our influence to remove such fatal effects as they have produced? If we have injured the reputation of a neighbour, recompence must be made ; for how can we repent of having injured the reputation of a neigh- bour, unless we endeavour to establish it, and to re- store as much credit to him as we have taken away ? Repentance also includes restitution of property, '^ if we have taken any thing from any man," Lukexix. 8. All the exercises of this virtue require vigilance, ac- tion, and motion. None of these are acquired under the influence of indolence, idleness, and Ccise. Nore of these are practised in circles of pleasure^ at gaming tables, or at places of public diversion.
2. Even the nature of those vices W' hich-4:he gospel forbids, demonstrate that a life wasted in idleness is incompatible with salvation. He who hath w^ell studied the human heart, and hath carefully exami ed the causes of so many resolutions broken by the grea es;
saints.
88 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
saints, so many promises forgotten, so many vows violated, so many solemn engagements falsified, will acknow ledge, that these disorders seldom proceed from malice, yea, seldom from a want of sincerity and good faith. You often fall into temptations which you mean to resist. Your misfortune is, that you are not sufficiently prepared for resistance. Hoav, for instance^ can we resist temptations to pride,unless we closeevery avenue by w hicb it enters into the heart ; unless we make serious reflections on the meanness of Our origi- nal, the uncertainty of our knowledge, the imperfection of our virtue, the enormity of our crimes, and the va- nity of our riches, titles, dignity, and life ? Again, how can we resist the sophisms of error, if w^e have only a superficial knowledge of religion, if we do not build our faith on foundations immoveable and firm. In fine, how can we resist sensual temptations, unless we endeavour to dethrone our passions, unless we fre- quently and boldly attack and subdue them, assuage their fury, and force them as it were to bow to the dominion of reason ,?
. This prejudice refutes itself. They wlio adopt it furnish us with weapons against themselves. An idle life is compatible with salvation, say you, provided it be free from great crimes. But I say, an idle life cannot be free from great crimes. Indolence is af source of great wickedness, and vigilance and activity are necessary to prevent the exercise of it.
Let us not pass over these reflections lightly, my brethren. The prejudice which we are attacking is very important in its consequences ; it is a fatal pre- judice, sapping the very foundations of christian mo> rality. It is not a particular prejudice, confined with- in a narrow circle ; it is general, even among chris- tians, and spread far and wide. It is not a prejudice secretly revolved in the mind, and covered with a blushing veil ; but it is a bold notorious prejudice, and christians exalt it into a maxim of religion, and a
first
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicfced, 8^
nrst principle of morality. This is the prejudice of that vain wordly woman, who, having' rapidly read a few devotional books, and hastily repeated a lew prayers, which proceeded less from her heart than her lips, spends one part of her life in places of public diversion, and the other in making art supply the place of nature, in disguising' her personal defects, and in trying whether by borrowed ornaments she can ob- tain from the folly of men such incense as she offers to herself, such as she derives from her own immoderate vanity and self-admiration. This is the prejudice of that soldier who, at the end of a campaign, or at the conclusion of a peace, thinks he may employ the rest of his life in relating his adventures, and indemnify himself for his former dangers and fatigues by an idle-* ness which is often a burden to those who are wit- nesses of it, and oftener still to himself, who petrifies in his own tales. This is the prejudice of a great many people, who have nothing else to say to their preachers, to all their casuists, and to all their reli- gious instructors, but, I wrong nobody, I do no harm Shall I venture to say my brethren. Why don't you do a little harm ? I have, I declare, more hope of a man who, in a high fever, becomes so delirious, and apparently so mad, that the strongest persons can hardly hold him, than I have of a lethargic patient, all whose senses are stupified, his spirits sunk, and his natural warmth gone. I have more hope for a sinner, who, in a violent passion, breaks the most sacred laws, and tramples on the most solemn engagements, than I have for a man, indolent, motionless, cold, insensible to all the motives of religion, and to all the stings of conscience.
My brethren, let us not deceive ourselves : there i$ something of consequence to do in every moment of a christian life. There are always in a christian' life temptations to be resisted, and consequently in every moment of a christian life ive must overcome these temp- tations.
90 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked,
tations. All ages require action. In every stage of life we have temptations to surmount, and in every stage of life we must overcome them. We must over^ come the temptations of childhood, the temptations of youth, the temptations of old age. All condition^ jrequire action. We mvist surmount some tempta- tions in all conditions, and in all conditions we must overcome them. We must overcome the temptations of poverty, those of prosperity, those of elevated posts, and those which belong to a state of obscurity, a sort of death, a kind of grave. All professions re- quire action. There are in all professions tempta- tions to be surmounted, and in all professions we must overcome them. The statesman must subdue the temptations of his profession, the soldier must van- quish the temptation of his, the merchant of his, and so of the rest. All situations require action. In all situations there are temptations to be conquered, and in all situations we must overcome them. We must get above the temptations of health, those of sickness, and those of death. He that overcometh shall inherit all things.
I am well aware that to preach this gospel is, in the opinion of some, to teach a severe morality, to mark out a discouraging course, to invite to vmequal combats. This morality, however, will seem severe only to lukewarm christians. This course will ap- pear discouraging only to soft and indolent souls^ These combats will seem unequal only to such as have no true courage, listless and dastardly souls. A real christian will be so inflamed with the love of his God, he will be 'attracted by so many powerful and comfort- aljle motives, above all, he will be animated with a desire so strong to obtain a victory, which infallibly follows the combat, that nothing will appear severe, nothing discouraging, nothing unequal in the course of obtaining it. What dominion over his heart will not that voice obtain, which, proceeding from the
mouth
The Doom of the Righteous cmd the Wicked, 91
mouth of the author and finisher of his faith, addresses him, and says, " he that overcometh shall inherit all thing's," Heb. xii. 2.
Christian soul dost thou complain of the battle-? But in order to conquer you must fight. The glori-- fied saints were once warriors, and are now conquer- ors. Flesh and blood, earth and hell, were their ene- mies. Faith and love, and all other christian virtues, were their armour. The clouds were their triumphal chariots. Angels, thousands of angels, " ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands," Rev. V. 21. who wait continually before Gcd, were their witnesses. The approbation of the Son of God> this rapturous declaration, " Well done, good and faithful servant," Matt. xxv. 23, well done, faithful confessor, thou hast nobly endured the cross ; well done, martyr for morality, thou hast caused concupi- scence to yield to the commandments of God ; these extatical declarations were their crown. Jesus Christ is their rewarder, and joys unspeakable and full of glory, peace of soul, tranqviiility of conscience, river:^ of \)\edi?>\\vQ:, fulness of joij at God's right hand for ever-- more, the citij that hath foundations, Jerusalem which is aljovc, the heavcnlij country/, new heavens and a netv earth, the society of angels, perfect knowledge, refined virtues, ineffable sensations, sacred flames, God him- self ; Lo ! these are the recompence, these their great reward. He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; I will be his God, and ha shall be my son.
n. The second prejudice which we are endeavour- ing to remove is this, A just God cannot mipiite to his creatures sins of infirmitij and constitution, though Aiv crecdures should be subject to them duri?igthe whole course of their lives. Against this Vv-e oppose tliese v/ords of the apostle, the fearful and the ujicleanj^ The mosf.
frequent
* Uo^fiSig. Oirr translation renders it n'lioretrLOfigers—^ihe old French bibles paillards^-^Mr Sanrin more accurately iTnpjtrs — iv ft.
92 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked;
frequent excuse for impurity is constitution. A cer- tain constitutional turn is generally considered as a ground of justification ; and it is eagerly maintained, lest we should be obliged to be holy for want of ex- cuses to sin, and least the deceitful pleasures of sin should be embittered by remorse. Yet the unclean shall have their part in the lake that hurneth wlihjire and brimstone. As to fearfulness, or timidity, what is there in us, that can be more properly called human frailty than this ? Let us hear St John. Whom does lie mean by the fearful? I fear we shall find several classes of these in religion. There are many sorts of the fearful, who shall have their part in the lake which hurneth with fire and brimstone.
For example, a man who hears the name of God blasphemed, religion opposed, good manners attacked, but who hath not the courage to confess Jesus Christy to say, I am a christian, and to manifest his indigna- tion against such odious discourses, such a man is fearfd, he shall have no part in the inheritance of the children of God. A man who sees his neighbour wounded by calumny and slander, but who hath not courage to reprove the slanderer, though in his soul he detests him, such a man is one of the fearful, who shall have no part in the inheritance of the children of God. A magistrate who hath received from God the sword for the protection of oppressed widows and Orphans, but who, terrified with the rank of the op- pressor, sacrifices to him the rights of widows and or- phans, such a man is fearful, he shall have no part in the inheritance of the children of God.
But, though these notions of fearfulftess are just, and though the proposition in our text is true in all these senses, it is clear, I think, by the circumstances in which St John wrote the revelation, by the per- secutions which he foretold, by the exhortations which he addressed to believers to surmount them, and by many other considerations that the holy man
ha3
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. 9S
had particularly, and perhaps only, thht fearfulness in view, which induces some to deny that truth for fear of persecution, of which they were thoroughly per- suaded, Of this sort of fearful ^persons he affirms, •' tliey shall have their part in the lake which burur eth with fire and brimstone."
There is, I acknowledge, an equivocalness in the terms, or rather in the proposition, which may render this article obscure, and those which follow more so. AVhen it is said, that " the fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable, that murderers and poisoners shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," we are not to understand either such as have once committed any of these crimes, or such as have lived some time in the practice of any one of them, but have afterwards repented. Were we to condemn to eternal flames all such persons as these, alas ! who could escape ? Not Moses ; he was sometimes uyibe- lieving. Not St Peter ; he was sometimes fearful. Not David ; he committed murder, was guilty of lying, abomination, and impiiriti/. Not any of you, my brethren ; there is not one of you whose conscience does not reproach him with having done some act of fearfulness, unbelief and impuriii). Heaven forbid, we should have to reproach any of you with forming the act into a habit !
St John speaks then, in this place, of those only who live in a habit of these vices. But, I repeat it again, although this evil habit may originate in hu- man frailty, yet it is certainly that sort of fearfulness which we have been explaining ; it is that fearfulness with which tyrants inspire such as ought to confess the truth. Ask those of our brethren, for whom we utter the deepest sighs, and shed the bitterest tears, what prevents their giving glory to God, by yielding to the exhortations which we have so long addressed to them, and which we daily continue to address to them. They tell you it is hiunan frailty. Ask that head of^
a family
94* The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked,
a family why he doth not flee to some place where he might enjoy such a puhlic worship as he approves, and partake of the sacraments for which he pines. Hu- man frailty makes him fear he cannot live without his dear children. Ask that lady, who is in some sort mistress of her destiny, having neither family nor con-, nection, and being loaded with silver and gold ; ask her why she doth not avail herself of her independence 'to render homage to her religion. Human frailty makes her fear she cannot undergo the fatigue of a voyage, or bear the air of a foreign climate, or share the contempt generally cast on other refugees who do carry along with them reputation, riches, and honours. Ask that apostate, what obliges him to " receive the mark of the image of the beast on his forehead," Rev. xiii. 16. Human frailty makes him fear prisons, dungeons, and gallies. Yet what saith vSt John of this feci? fulness inseparable from human frailty ? He saith, it excludes people from the inheritance of the children of God. The life of a christian is a continual warfare. Tearfulness is the most indefensible dispo- sition in a soldier. Tearfulness in war is one of the vices that nobody dares to avow ; wordly honour either entirely eradicates it, or animates soldiers to sub- due it. Want of courage is equally odious in religion. A timid christian is no more fit to fight under the standard of the lion of the tribe of Judah. Rev, v, 5. than a wordling under that of an earthly hero. The fearful shall hare their jxirt in the lake which hurneth with fire and brimstone.
Alter this, my :;rethren, shall ^ve plead our frailty ? Shall we draw arguments for lukewarmness from what ought to invigorate us? Sliall we cherish our indifference by such passages as these? " Tlie spirit indeed is willing, but theflesh is weak," Matt. xxvi. 4^1. " Theflc*shlusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," Gab V. 1 7. " The Lord knoweth our frame, he rememberpth that we arebutdust!" PsaLciii. 14. Shallwe attemptto
frustrate
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked 95i
frustrate all the kind intentions of the holy Spirit, who makes us feel our frailty only for the sake of engaging us to watch and fortify ourselves against it ? Believe me, the sentence pronounced by St John will never be revoked by such frivolous excuses; but it will be al- ways true that the fearful shall have their 2ja?i in the lake which burneth ivithjire and brimstone.
III. Let us attend to the third prejudice. Specula- tive errors cannot be attended with any fatal consequences^ provided we live uprightly^ as it is called^ and discharge our social duties. Nothing can be more specious than this pretence. Of all tyrannies, that which is exer- cised over the mind is the most opposite to natural right. Fires and gibbets, racks and tortures, may in- deed force ia man to disguise his ideas, but they can never change them. The violence of torments may indeed make hypocrites^ but it never yet made good proselytes.
- We not only affirm that no human power can oblige us to consider a proposition as true which we know to be false, but we add, we ourselves have no such power over our own minds. It doth not depend on us to see, or not to see, a connection between two ideas ; to assent to a truth, or not to assent to it. Evidence forces, demonstration carries us away.
Moreover, although God justly requires us to em- ploy all the portion of genius which he hath given us, in searching after truth, yet his equity will not allow that we should not regard as evident what the genius which he liatH given us makes ap])ear evi- dent ; and that we should not regard as false what the genius which he hath given us makes appear false. If it should happen, then, that a man, having exer- cised all the attention, and all the rectitude of which he is capable, in examining the most important ques- tions of religion, cannot obtain evidence enough to determine his judgment : if what appears evident to
pthers
96 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
others seem doubtful to him ; if what seems demonstra- tive to them appear only probable to him, he cannot be justly condemned for unbelief. Consequently, what we have called a prejudice looks like the very essence of reason and truth ; and this proposition, Speculative errors cannot he attended with any fatal 0071-^ sequeiices, ought to be admitted as a first principle.
My brethren, were it necessary to give our opinion of this article, we should boldly affirm, that the case just now proposed is impossible. We are fully per- suaded that it is not possible for a man who hath a common share of sense, and who employs it all in ex- amining whether there be a God in heaven, or whe- ther the scripture be a divine revelation, to continue in suspense on these important subjects. But our conviction affords us no proof to others. There are some truths which cannot be demonstrated ; and equity requires us to allege in a dispute only what is capable of demonstration. We confine oi^rselves to that class of unbelievers whose infidelity of mind proceeds from depravity of heart ; and we affirm, that they are included in the sentence denounced by our apostle, and deserve to suffier it in all its rigour. Nov(r we have reason to form this judgment of an unbe- liever, unless he observe all the following conditions, which we have never seen associated in any one person of this character.
1. He ought to have studied the great questions of religion with all the application that the capacity of his mind, and the number of his talents could ad- mit. These questions belong to subjects the most in- teresting. To examine them carelessly, to offer them only, if I may venture to speak so, to the surface of his mind, is a full proof of the depravity of his heart.
2. We require an unbeliever to enter upon the discussion of these truths with a determination to sa- crifice to them not only his strongest prejudices, but also his most violent passions and his dearest interests,
If
The Doom ofih e Righteous and the Wicked. 9 /
If tliere be a God in heaven, if the christian religion be divine, all the plans of our love and hatred, sorrow and joy, ought to be regulated by these great truths. Every man who is not conscious of having examined them in such a disposition, and who hath obtained by his examination only doubts and uncertainties, hath reason to fear tiiat the emotions of his senses and the suggestions of his passions have shackled, yea, im- prisoned the faculties of his mind.
3. We require an unbeliever, who, notwithstanding all tlrese conditions, pretends to be convinced that the ideas of believers are imaginary, to shew at least some mortification on account of this affected discovery. Mankind have the highest reason to wish that the hopes excited by religion may be well grounded ; that we may be formed for eternity ; that we may enjoy an endless felicity after death. If these be chimeras, behold man stripped of his most glorious privileges ! A person educated with other christians in the noble hope of immortality, and obtaining afterward proof that this hope is founded only in the fancies of enthu- siasts ; a man rejoicing at this discovery ; a man con- gratulating himself on having lost a treasure so rich ; a person unaffected with the vanishing of such in- estimable advantages ;— such a man, I sayj discovers an enormous depravity of heart.
4. We require an unbeliever to acknowledge, that religion hath at least some probability. A man who can maintain that the system of infidelity is demon- strative, that this proposition. There is no God, is evi-^ dent ; that this other is incontestible. Religion hath not one character of divinitij ; a man who can maintain that a good philosopher ought not to retain in hi:^ Jnind the least doubt or uncertainty on these articles, that for his own part he hath arrived at mathema^ tical demonstration; — such a man, if he be not the most extravagant of mankind, is,- however, one of the most corrupt.
VOL. IV. Or 0. In
•98 T'he Doom of the Rigliteons and the WicJced.
6. In fine, we require an unbeliever, on supposi"' tion that his system were probable, that the plan of religion were only probable, that had his a hundred degrees of probability and our's only one degree, I say, we require this unbeliever to act as if our system was evidently true, and as if his was demonstratively false. If our gystem of faith be true, all is hazarded when the life is directed by a system of infidelity ; whereas nothing is hazarded if the life be regulated by religion, ieven supposing the system of religion groundless. An unbeliever who is not ready to sacri- fice his dearest passions even to a mere probability of the truth of the doctrine of a future life, gives full proof of the depravity of his heart.
Whether there be any one in the world, who, in spite of these dispositions, can persuade himself that religion hath n^ character of truth, we leave to the judgment of God: but as for those who sin against any of the itdes just now mentioned, (and how many reasons have we to conclude that there are numbers of this character !) they are included in the sentence of our apostle, and they deserve to feel its utmost rigour. *' The unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."
IV. Let us advert to the fourth prejudrce. Meli^ gions are i/idiffefent. We will not go through the va- rious sects of Christianity, and decide these litigiou& questions, Which of ;these religions are compatible with salvation? Which of these religions are destruc- tive of it ? We will affirm only with our apostle, that "Idolaters sliall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." We intend particu- larly to wipe oft' that imputation which the church of Home constantly casts on our doctrine. Under pretence that we have never been willing to denounce a sen- tence of eternal damnation against members of the most impure sects, they affirm, that, in our own opi- nion,
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked, 99
hion, people may be saved in their community, and this, they say, is one of the articles of our faith.
This is a sophism which you have often heard at- tributed to a prince, who had united, as far as two such different things could be united, the qualities of a great king with those of a bad christian. Having a long time hesitated between the peaceable possession of an earthly crown, and the stedfast hope of a heavenly crown, his historians tell us, he assembled some doctors of the Roman communion and some of ours. He asked the first, Whether it Avere possible to be saved in Liie Protestant communion ? They answered, No. He then asked the second^ Whether it were possible to be saved in the Roman communion ? They re- plied, They durst not decide the question. On this, the prince reasoned in this manner. " The Roman " catholic doctors assure me there is no salvation " in the Protestant communion. The Protestants " dare jiot affirm that tliere is no salvation in the ** communion of Rome. Prudence, therefore, requires ** me to abandon the Protestant religion, and to em- " brace the Roman ; because, in the opinion of the " Protestants, it is at the most only probable that I " should perish in the church of Rome, whereas, in ** the opinion of the Roman catholics, it is demon- " strative that I should be damned in the Protestant " community." We will not attempt to investigate this point of history, by examining whether these Protestant ministers betrayed our religion by advan- cing a proposition contrary to it, or whether these historians betrayed the truth by altering the answer attributed to our ministers. Whatever we think of this historical fact, we affirm with St John, that " Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with tire and brimstone."
However, v, e ought to make a cautious distinction concerning doctrines, as we do concerning precepts, a distinction between questions of fact and questions of
2 7^ighf»
loo The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
right. There is a question of right in regard to pre- cepts ; as for example — Is a course of life opposite to the precepts of the gospel a damnable state ? To this we reply, Undoubtedly it is. There is also a question of fact, as for example — Shall all those who follow such a course of life suffer all the rigour of damna- tion ? A wise man ought to pause before he answers this question ; because he doth not know whether a man who hath spent one part of his life in a course of vice, may not employ the remaining part in repent- ance, and so pass into a state to which the privileges of repentance are annexed. In like manner, there are questions of fact and questions of right in regard to doctrines. The question of right in regard to the present doctrine is this : Can we be saved in an idola- trous community ? Certamly we cannot. The ques- 'tion of fact is this : Will every member of an idola- trous community be damned ? A wise man ought to suspend his judgment on this question, because he who had spent one part of his life in an idolatrous community, may employ the remaining part in re- penting, and consequently may share the privileges of repentance. Except in this case, according to our principles, " Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." But, accord- ing to our principles, the Roman catholic church is^ guilty of idolatry ; consequently, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome, if they do not forsake that community, are among such as " shall have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone."
If it be necessary to prove, that, according to o\ir principles, the church of Rome is guilty of idolatry, the evidence is easily obtained. Let us form a dis- tinct idea of what, agreeably to scripture, we call idolatry . To regard a simple creature as God su- preme ; to render to a simple creature the worship that is due only to the supreme God, is what we call
idoiatrv.
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. lOi
idolatry. Now, according to our principles, the mem* bers of the church of Rome do render to r creature, to a bit of bread, such vrorship as is due only to the supreme God. By consequence, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome are guilty of idolatry.
They defend themselves by a somewhat specious, but groundless argument. It was employed by a man* who disgraced his name by abandoning the Protestant religion, though, thanks be to God, I hope, I and my family shall always be enabled to continue it in the list of sincere Protestants. His words are these : " Two or three articles, saith he, excited *' strong prejudices in my mind against the church ^* of Rome ; transubstantiation, the adoration of the " holy sacrament, and the infallibility of the church. ^' Of these three articles, that of the adoration of '' the holy sacrament led me to consider the church *' of Rome as idolatrous, and separated me from its " communion. A book which I one day opened " without design, instantly removed this objection. " There I found a distinction between error of place " in worship, and error of object. The catholic wor- ** ships Jesus Christ in the eucharist, an object truly " adorable. There is no error in this respect. If " Jesus Christ be not really present in the eucharist, *' the catholic worships him where he is not ; this ** is a mere error of 7j/acc, and no crime of idolatry." A mere sophism ! By the same argument the Israel- ites may be exculpated for rendering divine honours to the golden calf. We must distinguish error of place from error of object. The Israelite worsliips in the golden calf the true God, an object truly ador- able. " To-morrow is a feast to the Lord, the God, O Israel, wiiich brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," Exod. xxxii. 5, 4. There is no error in this re- spect ; if God be not really present in the golden calf
* Mr Sauriu of Paris-
102 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
the Israelite worships him where he i not, a mere er- ror of place ^ and not the crime of idolatry. But St -Stephen saith expressly that this calf was an idol. " They made a calf, and offered sacrifice unto the idol," Acts vii. 41. By consequence, error of place in worship doth not exculpate men from idolatry As, therefore, according* to our principles, there is an error of place in the worship which Roman catholics render to their host, so also, according to our principles, they are guilty of idolatry.
But are we speaking only according to our own principles ? Have we seen any thing in the wilderness of Sinai which we do not daily see in the Roman com- munion ? Behold, as in the deserts of Sinai, an innu merable multitude, tired of rendering spiritual worship to an invisible God, and demanding ^o^/^" to he made, ivhich shall go before them ! Behold, as in the desert of Sinai, a priest forming, with his own hands, a god to receive supreme adoration ! See, as in the desert, a little matter modified by a mortal man, and placed upon the throne of the God of heaven and earth ! Ob- serve, as in the desert, the Israelites liberally bestow- ing their gold and their jewels, to deck and adorn, if not to construct the idol ! Hark ! as in the desert of Sinai, priests publish profane solemnities, and make proclamation, saying. To-morrow is a feast to the Lord ! Behold, as in the desert, the people rising early on festivals to perform matins ! Hearken ! criminal voices declare, as in Sinai, These are thrj gods, or this is thy god, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. What am I saying ? I hear expressions more shocking still. This is, O shame to Christianity ! O scandal in the eyes of all true christians ! This is^ yea, this bit of bread, on which a priest hath written, Jesus Christ the saviour of mankind, this is thy God. This is the God whom all the angels in heaven adore. This is the God by whom all things were cre^ (Ue4- thai are in heaven, [and that are in earth, visible
an(jt
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. 103
<ind invisible, whether they he thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or poiuers. This is the God who up- holdeth all tilings by the word of his power. This is the God, who in the fulness of time took mortal flesh. This is the God who, for thy salvation, O Israel, was, stretched on the cross. This is he, who m the garden of Gethsemane said, " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," Matt. xxvi. 39. who rose conqueror over death and the grave, who passed into the heavens, and at whose ascension the heavenly in- telligences exclaimed, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, that the Lord of iiosts, the King of glory, may come in," Psal. xxiy. 7, <^x. O Judah, Judah, thou hast justified thi/ sister Samaria, G ye deserts of Sinai, never did ye see any thing equal to what our weeping eyesMiold I Who is on the Lord's side ? Let him come hither. Ye 8ons of Levi, separated to the service of the Lord, consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah .-^-^But \\ hat are we about ? Are we interrupting the soft still voice of the gospel, to utter the thundering commands of mount Sinai ? Shall we command you to-day, as oMoses did formerly the Levites, " put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out, from gate to gate, throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and ey^ry man
his neighboiu\ Ah, Rome ! Were we to adopt this
method, you could not r:eproach us ; you could only complain that we were too ready to learn the lessons you have taught us, and too eager to imitate your bloody example ! Even in such a case we should have one great advantage over you ; our hands would grasp the murdering sword to destroy thee only for the glory of God, whereas thine hath butchered us for •the honour of an idol ! We are not come with fire, and blackness, and darkness, and tempest ; but Zion, though ail mangled by thy cruelty, utters only cool ejvhortations, affectionate remonstrances, and tender
intreaties ;
104 The Doom ojihe Righteous and the Wicked,
intreaties ; she fights only with the ** sword of the Spirit," and the " hammer of the word," Eph. vi. 17. Jer. xxiii. 29. Ah poor people ! How long will you Jive without perceiving the golden candlestick which Jesus Christ hath lighted up in his church ! May God take away that fatal bandage, which hides the truth from thine eyes ! Or, if this favour be refused us, may God enable us to take away from thee such- of our children as thou hast barbarously torn from the breasts of their mothers, in order to make them, like thine own, the children of a harlot-
V. To proceed to the last prejudice. None hut the vulgar ought to he afraid of coinmitting certain crimes. Kings and statesmen will he judged hy a particular law. The greatness of the motive that inclined them to manage some affairs of state will j)l^ad their excuse, and secure them from divine vengednce. What reason would sub- jects have to complain, and, I will venture to add, how insecure would princes and magistrates be, my brethren, if these pretences were well grounded ; if they, who hold our lives and fortunes in their hands, were under no restraint in the abuse of sovereign poAver ; and if, under our oppressions, we could not inwardly appeal to a supreme governor, and say, at least to ourselves, in private, " I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there, and the place 6f righteousne^, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked ; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work," Eccles. iii. 16, 17.
But if this be a claim of tyranny, it is not, however, a privilege derived from religion. It is destroyed by St John in the words of our text, " abominable, and nuird^rers, and poisoners, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- stone. We do not understand that the apostle speaks here only of such eminent persons as govern mankind. ■ '. " ■ There
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. 105
There are liars, murderers, poisoners, and abominable of all ranks and conditions : but it is only in the courts of kings, it is on thrones, it is at the head of armies, and in the persons of such as are usually called heroes in the world, that crimes of this sort are en- nobled : here altars are erected, and these detestable actions elevated into exploits worthy of immortal glory ; they are inserted in our histories, in order to be Irans- initted to the latest posterity.
False protestations, by which a statesman, if I may speak so, obtains leave to lodge in the bosom of au ally, that he may be the better able to stab him to th^ heart ; indeterminate treaties, and frivolous distinc tions betvv ed^ the letter and the spirit of a public in- strument ; these, v> hich we call illustrious lies, these are exploits worthy of immortal glory ! Bloody wars, undertaken less for the good of the state than for the glory of the governors ; cruel expeditions, tragical battles, sieges fool-hardy and desperate in a theory of the military art, but practicable in the eyes of ambi- tion, or rather raving madness; rivers discoloured \vith blood ; heaps of human bodies loading the earth ; these which we call illustrious murders, these are ex- ploits thought worthy of immortal glory ! Dark ma- chinations, in which treason suplies the place of cou- rage, assassination of the right of war, secret poison of public battle ; these are actions truly ahominahle, yet these are thought worthy of immortal glory, provided they be crowned with success, anc! provided a historian can be found to disguise and embellish them ! A his- torian, who can celebrate and adorn such heinous crimes, is, if possible, more ahominahle than his hero who committed them.
Shall we go back to the periods of fable ? Shall we take example from those nations v» hich lived without hope, and without God in the vrorld ? Shall we narrate ancient history ? Shall v/e publish the turpitude of mo-- dern times ? ye horrid crimes ! ye frightful actions! ye ' ' ' perfidious
106 The. Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked.
perfidious outrages ! more fit for the hearts of infernal furies than for the bosoms of mankind, depart into eter- nal silence, and never shew your ghastly features again ! Never were propositions more unwarrantable than these : the vulgar only ought to be afraid of cer- tain crimes. Kings and statesmen will be judged by a particular law. The greatness of the motive that in- clined them to manage some affairs of state, will plead their excuse, and secure them from divine vengeance. Why were so many commands given to princes con- cerning- administration of justice, breaches of peace, and declarations of war ? To what purpose have so many Pharaohs been drowned, Nebuchadnezzars re- duced to the condition of beasts, Flerods devoured by Avorms, and strokes of divine vengeance fallen upon the proudest heads, except to teach us that no creature is so august, no throne so magnificent, no dominion so invincible, as to free a creature from the necessity of obeying his Creator ? What means that law which God formerly gave by the mouth of Moses ? " When thou shalt set a king over thee, he shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away," Deut. xvii. 14, &c. He shall not amass for himself silver and gold. " And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these sta- tutes, to do them ; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left." What mean these thundering words ? *^ Thou profane wicked prince of Israel ! thy day is come, thine iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown ; I will overturn it, and it shall be no more," Ezek. xxi. 25 — 27. In one -^vord; >vhat doth St John mean by the words of mv text?
All
The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked. 107
a
Allliai's and poisoners, murderers and abominable shall have their part in the lake luhich burnefh withjire and brimstone.
It would be difficult, my brethren, for men who ne* ver saw any thing* greater than the courts of princes, a sort of earthly g'ods, to imagine a more pompous and venerable imag'e than that which St John exhibits here to our view. He brings forth the terrible day in which the supreme lawgiver will bring* earthly judges to ac- count for that power with which he intrusted them, and of which most of them have made a very criminal use. There, all their flattering titles will be laid aside, no more Emperors, Monarchs, Arbiters of peace or war ; or rather, there will these titles be repeated to mortify the pride, and to abate the insolence, of every one who abused them. There, pale, trembling*, and afraid will appear those tyrants, those scourges of Al- mighty God, those disturbers of mankind, who once made the earth tremble with a single cast of their eyes. Then will be produced the vexations they have caused, the unjust decrees they have pronounced, the families they have impoverished, the houses, the cities, the kingdoms which they have burnt to ashes. Then will be judged the famous quarrels of Alexander and Da- rius, Cyrus and Croesus, Pyrrhus and FabHcius, Han- nibal and Scipio, Caesar and Pompey, ill decided, in Cato's opinion, by the gods themselves in the battle Pharsalia. And you, you who hold the reins of this republic, you, in regard to whom we often say to this people, " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers ; the powers that be are ordained of God ; whosoever resisteth power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation," Rom. xiii. 1,2. you, our governors and lords, what appearances will you make in that great day, and what sentence will you then receive ? Ah ! if it be possible for you to be so intoxicated with your own grandeur as to forget the majesty of that God,
wh(?
i08 The Doom of the Righteous and the Wicked,
who placed you at the head of this people, and so ne- glect the duties of your station ; if it be possible for the cries of the oppressed to sound in vain in your ears, and bribes to blind your eyes ; if it be possible for you to bestow the rewards due to fidelity and courage upon solicitation and intrigue, to sacrifice the public interest to private views ; if a personal pique dissolve a union essential to the good of the state ; if love of pleasure consume time devoted to the administration of justice; if the tears of Sion in distress be not tenderly wiped away ; if religion and good manners be decrifd, and trampled on with impunity ; if Lord's days and public solemnities be openly profaned ; if, in a word, Chris- tianity be sacrificed to worldly policy, what will your condition be !
God grant this people may always be as happy in the character of their governors as in the gentle con- stitution of their government ! May a visible and bountiful benediction rest upon those, who, " in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, shine as lights in the Avorld !" Phil. ii. 15. Never, never may any be at the head of the state who are unworthy of being members of the church ! God grant we may behold you who are intrusted with the public welfare, models worthy of cur imitation : and by imitating your con- duct in this life may we follow you into the world of glory ! Amen. To God be honour and glory for ever. Amen.
SEK3I0N
SERMON v.*
God's Co?ifroversy with Israel.
MiCAH vi. 1, 2, 3.
Hear ye noiu ivhat the Lord saiih. Arise, contend he* fore the mountains i and Jet the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth : for the Lord hath a contro- versy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. Omy people, what have I done unto thee f and wherein have I wearied thee f testify against me,
npHE wickedness of Sodom was so abominable, when God was about to consume it by fire, that we can' never remark without astonishment his condescension to Abraham, when he gave him leave to plead for that detestable city. Abraham himself was amazed at it. He was afraid of inflaming that anger which he endeavoured to abate. " Oh !" said he, " let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Beliold now, I, wiio am but dust and ashes, have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord," Gen. xviii. SO, 27. Yet God heard him, and answered him, and agreed to spare Sodom, and to pardon an innumerable multitude of guilty persons, on condition a small number of righteous people could be
found
This Sermon was preached on a fast- day, at the openrng of i>i c-ampaign in the year 1 706,
llO God^s Controversy with Israel.
found amoiig" them. Abraham asked, " Peradveiiture there be fifty righteous within the city, wilt thou not spare the place, for the fifty righteous that are therein?" God replied, " If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, I will spare all the place for their sakes." Abraham conti- nued: " Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty? Peradventure there shall be forty, peradventure thirty, peradventure twenty, peradventure ten," Cen. xviii.24, 26, 28, 29, <SvC. God heard Abraham, and suffered him to proceed to the utmost of his compassion, wait- ing, if I may speak so, till his servant gave the signal for the destruction of Sodom. So true is it, that his essence is love, and that mercy and grace are the strongest emanations of his glory ! Exod. xxxiv. 6.
But, my brethren, if we admire the goodness of God, when he suffers only one worm of the earth to reason against his judgments, and to plead the cause of those criminals whose ruin was determined, what emotions, pray, ought the objects set before us in the text to produce in our minds to day ? Behold ! in the words of my text, behold ! God not only permitting the sinner to plead his cause before him, and suspend- ing his sovereign rights, but behold him offering him- self to plead before the sinner, behold him descending from his tribunal, accounting for his conduct, and sub- mitting himself not only to the judgment of one of his creatures,, but proposing to do so to us all. " Hear ye what the Lord saith. Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth ; for the Lord hath a contro- versy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto