l/f- d 
 
 I ALUMNI LIBRARY, 
 
 I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 
 * PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
 Book, 
 
 
CIIlilSTIJjY WEAPON'S NOT CARjXJlL, BUT SPIRITUAL 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 IN THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, 
 
 OCTOBER 13, 1826 • 
 
 AT 
 
 W^t Xnstallatiott 
 
 THE REVEREND JOHN BRECKINRIDGE, 
 
 AS COLTEAGUE WITH THE 
 
 REVEREND JOHN GLENDY, D. D. 
 
 IN THE PASTORAL CHARGE OF THE SAID CHURCH. 
 
 BY SAMUEL MILLER, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND CHURCH GOVERN- 
 MENT, IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON, 
 NEW-JERSEY. 
 
 PRINCETON PRESS. 
 
 PRINTED BY D. A. BORRENSTEIN. 
 
 1S26. 
 
THE SBVRXiEND SEIM'ZOR FASTOB, 
 
 AND THE MEMBERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SECOND PRBSBVTISRIAIf CHURCH, 
 
 IK THE CITY OF BALTIMOREy 
 THE FOLLOWING SERWION, 
 
 rVBLISHED AT THEIIl REaUEST, 
 
 IS, WITH FERVENT WISHES AND PRATERS FOR THEIR 
 TRUEST PROSrERITY, 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 DEDICATED, 13 Y 
 
 THE .1UTH0R. 
 
ciinrsTLiJv jvejpojVs jYot cabj^al, but spiritual 
 
 A SERMON. 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS X. 4. 
 
 FOR THE WEAPON'S OP OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL 
 BUT MIGttTY THROUGH GOD TO THE PULLING DOWN 
 OF STRONG HOLDS. 
 
 As long as man retained his primitive innocence, 
 he loved truth, and was ever ready to give it a cor- 
 dial welcome. But the moment he fell from God 
 and from holiness, truth became painful, and, of 
 course, odious to him. He felt that he could no 
 longer listen to it as a friend, speaking peace; but 
 must henceforth regard it as an enemy, which could 
 deliver no other than a hostile message. Accordins:- 
 ly, when we read (hat the holy and happy tenants 
 oi' Eden had become rebels by eating the interdict- 
 ed fruit, the next thing we rend of is, that, on 
 hearing the voice of the Lord God walking in the 
 garden^ they hid themselves from the presence of the 
 Lord among the trees of the garden. And the Lord 
 called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where artthov? 
 
6 
 
 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I 
 was afraid, and I hid myself. 
 
 From that fatal hour, all cfiorts to impress moral 
 and religious truth on the minds of men, have been, 
 properly speaking, a waufake ; that is, in whatever 
 direction they have been applied, they have never 
 failed to meet with resistance. As all men, by na- 
 ture, hate the truth as it is in Jesus; and as all men, 
 quite as universally, are opposed to thespirit and the 
 demands of gospel obedience ; it follows that all 
 attempts to procure the reception of the one, or to 
 enforce the practice of the other, must be made in 
 the face of hostility : a hostility not, indeed, always 
 equally bitter in its hatred, or gross in its violence ; 
 but suW real hostility, which nothing can appease but 
 a surrender of Jehovah's claims to the inclination of 
 the rebellious creature. Hence, whenever the ban- 
 ner of truth and righteousness is raised in any place, 
 opposition never fails immediately to arise: and 
 however unreasonable its chareicter, or revolting its 
 aspect, in the view of the truly spiritual mind, it 
 usually bears away the multitude, and would always 
 do so, did not Divine power interpose to prevent it. 
 The human heart, left to itself, is ever ready to bid 
 w^clcomc any plajisible llatterer, who will ^'•prophe- 
 cy deceits,'^'' and say, in the language of the first de- 
 ceiver, " Ye shall not surely die.''- 
 
Of the truth of these remarks, we have a striking 
 example in the history of the chiircli of Corinth. 
 The apostle Paid had laboured in the ministry of 
 the Gospel in that city for a considerable time ; and 
 his labours had been crowned with success. Num- 
 bers were added to the professing people of God. 
 Soon after he left them, however, a false teacher 
 came among them, who appears, from various hints 
 dropped by the apostle, to have been a man of ho- 
 nourable birth ; of fine talents ; of polished educa- 
 tion ; and of great skill in all the arts and refinements 
 of Grecian eloquence. He was evidently, also, as 
 such impostors commonly are, a man of lax princi- 
 ples ; ever ready to accommodate his doctrines to 
 the pride, the prejudices, and the corrupt passions 
 of those whom he addressed. This artful deceiver, 
 on the one hand, set himself with peculiar bitterness 
 against the apostle ; found fault with his birth and 
 education : alleged that Jiis bodihj presence was mean, 
 ami Ids speech contcmpUblc ; and insinuated tliat he 
 was really no apostle. On the other hand, he boast- 
 ed much of his own origin, learning, eloquence, 
 and other accomplishments, and endeavoured to 
 persuade the people of Corinth that he was, in eve- 
 ry respect, PauVs superiour. 
 
 Unhappily, the situation of the Corinthian church 
 at this time was peculiarly favourable to the views 
 
B 
 
 of such an impostor. In consequence of the sur- 
 rounding wealth and luxury, and the remarkable 
 exemption from persecution which it had for some 
 time enjoyed ; a large number of its members were 
 deeply tinctured with a worldly spirit. In fact, the 
 church there seems to have been full of professors 
 who were far from having either the knovvledg:e, 
 the steadiness, or the spirituality which became 
 them. No wonder, therefore, that this false teacher 
 found admirers and followers. He raised a consi- 
 derable party ,which gave much trouble to the friends 
 of truth, and which, for a time, threatened the peace, 
 if not the existence of the church in that city. 
 
 The inspired apostle, in th{*-|jassage of which our 
 text makes a part, seems to be directly addressing 
 this false teacher and his adherents, and repelling 
 some of the insinuations which he had made against 
 himself. In reply to the charges, — that he was des- 
 titute of the credentials of an apostle, — and that he 
 had none of those decisive and energetick means of 
 resisting oppo^ers, and supporting his authority, 
 which they supposed a teacher sent from God ought 
 to exhibit ; the apostle declares, — Though rve walk 
 in the flesh, \\\^X is, though we inhabit mortal bodies, 
 and are compassed about with fleshly infirmities ; — 
 yet we do not war after the flesh — or according to 
 the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not 
 
carnal, hui mighty through God to the pulling down 
 of strong holds. 
 
 In the passage of holy scripture before tis,there are 
 two points which demand our particular notice, viz. 
 
 I. The vvKAPONs which the apostle employed, 
 and to which alone he gave his sanction ; and, 
 
 II. The GRFAT EFFICACY of those w capous : ihey 
 were mighty thkough God. 
 
 I. Let us first contemplate the weapons which 
 the apostle speaks of himself as employing. The 
 iveapons of our ivarfare are not carnal. 
 
 The word carnal means fleshly. It is opposed in 
 scripture to spiritual or holy ; and is generally em- 
 ployed by the inspired writers to designate the prin- 
 ciples of our depraved nature. Thus, when it is 
 said, that the carnal mind is enmity against God;* 
 and that to be carnally minded is death ;j — the lan- 
 guage is evidently meant to express the dominion of 
 that corrupt disposition which men bring with them 
 into the world, and on which the sanctifying grace 
 of God has not yet taken effect. Of course, by the 
 phrase, carnal weapons., is meant, such weapons as 
 our corrupt nature forms and furnishes. In other 
 words, it is intended to designate all those rfieans 
 of recommending and propagating religion which 
 the great Author of that religion has not prescribed, 
 
 * Romans viii. 7. t Romans viii. 6. 
 
10 
 
 but which the wisdom of this world has invented. 
 Such weapons have been employed in all ages. 
 Thej are the favourite weapons of carnal men : 
 or rather, they are the only weapons which such 
 men are either qualified or disposed to employ. But 
 they are not confined to carnal men. Even some 
 of those who sincerely love the Saviour, may be, 
 and have been, betrayed into the use of means for 
 promoting his honour, which may well deserve to 
 be styled carnal^ and which, in themselves, are not 
 the less carnal, or the less criminal, because they are 
 employed by good men. In short, every method, 
 of propagating truth, or of recommending duty, ei- 
 ther real or supposed, — which unhallowed princi- 
 ples suggest, or unhallowed motives prompt, or 
 w liich, in one word, is not in conformity with the 
 Word and Spirit of God, may be pronounced a cai' 
 nul weapon^ the use of which our text indirectly, 
 but most solemnly, forbids. 
 
 But it may not be unprofitable to specify, a little 
 more in detail, some of those means which are fre- 
 quently resorted to, for the professed purpose of 
 propagating religion, and which evidently belong to 
 the class proscribed by the apostle in the passage 
 before us. 
 
 And at the head of the list, may be placed peuse- 
 icuiioN, whether ia its more gross and violent, or 
 
11 
 
 in its more miti2;atpcl forms. Bj the former, you 
 will readily un.lerstand to be meant all those cases 
 in which the " secular arm" has interfered to en- 
 force the claims of a particular religious denomina- 
 tion, or of a particular set of opinions, by fire and 
 sword, — by fines and forfeitures, — by racks and 
 chains, and banishment, and all the various penal- 
 ties which oppressive governments, civil and eccle- 
 siastical, have so often, and so grievously inflicted. 
 By the latter are intended all that molestation, abuse, 
 or temporal inconvenience, of whatever kind, which 
 have been heaped upon men on accomit of their re- 
 ligious opinions. The narrative of these inflictions, 
 and of the diabolical fury with which they have, in 
 countless instances, been executed, forms one of the 
 most melancholy chapters in the history of that 
 which calls itself the Church of God. A narrative 
 the more unspeakably revolting, from the fact, that 
 the most shocking atrocities which it displays, were 
 perpetrated in the name, and by the alleged author- 
 ity, of a God of mercy, and from a professed regard 
 to his glory ! Before this enlightened audience 1 need 
 not say, that persecution for conscience sake, in all 
 its forms, is one of the greatest absurdities and abo- 
 minations that ever disgraced the christian world : — 
 that it is contrary to reason, to justice, and to huma- 
 nity, and certainly not less contrary to the word of 
 
12 
 
 God, and to all the radical principles of oqr holy 
 religion. 
 
 To the same interdicted class of weapons, we 
 may refer all civil establishmknj s of religion. 
 Whatever m ly be their form, or the degree of their 
 rigour: whether they are intended to operate by 
 force, by fear, or by allurement : whether we consi- 
 der them as a tax on error, or as a bounty on faith; 
 as a legal provision for instructing the people in what 
 the civil magistrate (who may be an infidel or a 
 heretick) chooses to say is truth ; or as a convenient 
 eno;ine in the hands of government, for reaching and 
 controlling the popular mind: in all cases, they are 
 unhallowed in their principles, and pernicious in 
 their tendency : calculated to generate and encourage 
 hypocrisy ; to corrupt the christian ministry ; to 
 make the care of souls an affair of secular merchan- 
 dise ; and to prostrate the church of God, with all 
 its officers and ordinances, at the feet of worldly po- 
 liticians. 
 
 Again; all human inventions in the worship 
 OF GOD are liable to the same general charge. The 
 object of these, in every age, has been to consult 
 carnal prejudices, and to accommodate carnal feel- 
 ings: of course, they m'e carnal weapons. When, 
 therefore, professing christians began, soon after the 
 apostolick age, to introduce into the church rites 
 
13 
 
 which the Saviour never instituted, for the purpose 
 of assuaging the enmity, or conciliating the affections 
 of Jews and Pagans : when they borrowed, from ei- 
 ther or from both, without scruple, and without the 
 smallest warrant, as they fancied an inducement — 
 the smoking incense; the worshipping toward the 
 East ; the bowings ; the adoration of images ; the 
 purgatorial fire ; the merit of bodily maceration ; 
 the celibacy of the clergy ; the splendid garments ; 
 the holy days ; the exorcisms; the processions, and 
 all the endless array of superstition ; insomuch that, 
 as early as the close of the fourth century, the vene- 
 lahle Augustine complained that, "For one institution 
 of God'sthey had ten of man's, and that the presump- 
 tuous devices of men were more rigourously pressed 
 than the Divine prescriptions ;" — who can doubt that 
 they were chargeable with employing carnal wea- 
 pons? And when christian churches or individuals, 
 at the present day, aim to allure the gay and the 
 worldly, by pomp and splendour of ceremonial, by 
 that studied address to the senses in the public ser- 
 vice of the sanctuary, which the primitive and purest 
 periods of Christianity never knew; who can doubt 
 that they also lay themselves open to the 'same 
 charge? They undertake to be wiser than God; 
 they employ means, which, however well intended, 
 can result in nothing but mischief. The church has 
 
u 
 
 no power to "decree rites and ceremonies." If she- 
 had^ there would be no other bounds to the multipli- 
 cation rf them, than the over varying, and ever 
 teeminoj figments of human vanity or caprice. To 
 claim such a right, is rebellion against her Master. 
 To exercise it, is systematically to introduce supersti- 
 tion and complicated corruption into his sacred fa- 
 mily. 
 
 Further; even Ecclesiastical Confessions 
 AND FoKMULAKiEs may be so perverted as to become 
 carnal weapons. No one is a warmer friend to these 
 summaries of gospel truth, properly understood, and 
 in their proper place, than he who now addresses 
 you. When they are faithfidly dravvn from the 
 word of God ; when they claim no authority but 
 that which is founded on their conformity to that 
 word ; when they are imposed upon no man's con- 
 science ; but are honestly and simply emj)loyed for 
 the purpose of excluding from the visible church 
 those who are really enemies to her radical truth 
 and order ; then reason, scripture, and experience 
 all bear witness in their favour. But when thej 
 are erected into an ultimate rule of faith ; when 
 they claim an inherent authority ; when they are 
 set above the Bible, or on a par with the Bible ; 
 when they are imposed on the consciences of men, 
 as indispensable passports to the honours and cmo- 
 
15 
 
 himpnts of an established church ; and even employ- 
 ed 10 ensnare the minds of unread and inex| erienced 
 youth, as a term of admission to literary privilej2;es ; 
 then, instead of promoting truth, and cherishing 
 pietv, they are hostile to both. Instead of maintaining 
 iJu unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace and love^ 
 they fetter the mind ; they ensnare the conscience; 
 the} engender division and strife; they become in- 
 strumental in corrupting, rather than preserving the 
 simplicity that is in Christ. 
 
 The next weapon, of this unhallowed class, which 
 demands our notice, and which the faithful minister 
 ought to reject, is the introduction of the subtle- 
 TiKS OF PHILOSOPHY iuto the simple doctrine of 
 Christ. The religion of the Bible is one thing: the 
 philosophy of it, is quite another. And although it 
 is not always easy, and perhaps not necessary, or 
 even j^roper, for a student of the Bible, in his closet, 
 to banish from hi^ mind ev« ry inquiry which en- 
 croaches on the latter; yet, in my opinion, it is the 
 former, and the former only, which ought to be pre- 
 sented in preaching the gospel. And whenever the 
 ambassador of Christ, instrad of proclaiming the 
 simple gospel, entertains lis hearrrs, either in whole, 
 or in part, with the refim m' nts of philosophical spec- 
 ulation, with thepresumj tuous eflTorts of carnal rea- 
 soning, he is guilty of substituting something in 
 
16 
 
 place of the gospel : he cheats them with chaff, in- 
 stead of feedhig them with Zion?s provision. 
 
 Again; in close connexion with this, we may re- 
 mark, that THETKIDE AND OSTENTATION OF CNSAJVC- 
 
 TiFiED LEARNING, are ccimal weapons, which have 
 produced countless evils in the church of God. 
 Genuine learning, and even profound learning, when 
 united with vital piety, is an instrument in the pro- 
 pagation of religion, of inestimable value. To des- 
 pise it, is at once to insult our reason, and the al- 
 miglity Author of reason. To decry it, is one of 
 those devices of Satan, by which he ensnares even 
 good men into the service of his kingdom. But 
 while all this may be confidently maintained, 'still 
 nothing is more certain than that perverted learning, 
 unsanctified learning, has been the means of turning 
 millions away from the kingdom of Christ, rather 
 than brinjjing them into it. It has been the means 
 of inflating with pride; of corrupting truth ; of lead- 
 ing ministers and others to rely upon intellectual at- 
 tainments and efforts, rather than upon the Word 
 and Spirit of the living God, to bring men to the 
 knowledge and enjoyment of his glory. 
 
 No less liable to the same charge, is the gene- 
 
 BAL IDOLATRY OF TALENT IN THE CHURCH, and es- 
 pecially all reliance on mere human eloquence as 
 a means of converting men to the belief and love of 
 
17 
 
 the gospel. That God daily honours talents, and 
 sometimes those of the most transeend.int order, by 
 using them for the extension of his kingdnm. it is 
 impossible to doubt. And when they are devoutly 
 regarded as his instruments, and employed in humble 
 reliance on his grace, as that which alone can render 
 ihvm truly usefnl, they are genuine christian wea- 
 pons. But when thev become oIjjcHts of idolatrous 
 worship and dependence, they lose their chrislian 
 character, and degenerate into carnal weapons. 
 And, in this case, there are j)rol)ably none on u hicli 
 the great Head of the church is seen more frecjuent- 
 ]y and more severely to froun. For his ghry He 
 will not give to another. Among these talents, per- 
 haps Eloquence is the most ensnaring, because most 
 rare, and most fascinating. No man who had eitlu r 
 an intellect to [)erceive, or a heart ca|)al)le of emo- 
 tion, ever undervalued genuine eloquence. It is that 
 unallfected, powerful utt(Mance of thought and of 
 feeling, which meets a response in every mind in 
 which thought and feeling find a place. And yet. 
 Eloquence itself, however genuine and perfect, can 
 never change a single heart ; and to rely upon its 
 et'ficacy in persuading any man to l)e reconciled to 
 God, is to rely u|)on a carnal iveapon. Above all, 
 does thisappellation belong to the enijiloyment, in the 
 kingdom of Christ, of those artificial refinements and 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 pomp of rhetorick ; those profane' and vain hahhlings, 
 and oppositions of science falsely so culled; that 
 affectation and parade of orator} , wliieh so often 
 usurp the name of eloquence. My preaching, says 
 the inspired author of onr text, in another place — 
 was not ivith enticing words of man'' s wisdom, hut in 
 demonstration of the spirit and of power. And again 
 — Christ sent me to preach the gospel, not with the 
 icisdom of icords, less the cross of Christ should be 
 made of none effect* 
 
 Nor cnn we, for a moment, hesitate to oive the 
 name o^ carnal iveapons, to the "pious frauds," the re- 
 fined cunning, dissinudation, and stratagem, the car- 
 nal policy, and ail the crafty management, practised 
 on men, for the alleged purpose of promoting their 
 benefit. All these, even when viewed under the most 
 fiivourahle aspect, are liable to the general charge of 
 doing evil that good may come; an abomination in the 
 church of Christ, which hns corrupted and disgraced 
 it from the Ixgiiming; which is not the less abomi- 
 nable, however, hecause it is old ; and of w hich the 
 ins|)ired apostle, in writing to the Romans, speaks 
 in terms of the severest re|)robation.t How often a 
 disingenuous, crooked policy, calling 'w&A^ icisdom ; 
 and a timid, temporizing, uniaithlul course, disguised 
 
 * 1 Coi. ii. 4. i. 17. t Roi"- i'i- ^' 
 
19 
 
 under the name of prudence, have heen adopted, 
 with tetiiporary success, by ecclesiastical men, every 
 stiidc^nt of history, and every observer of daily oc- 
 currences, has noticed and deplored. Yet th.y are 
 really, as remote from true wisdom, as different from 
 genuine christian prudence, as the basest counterfeit 
 is from authorised coin. 
 
 All such weapons, the christian, and more particu- 
 larly the christian minister, if he would partake of 
 the spirit of Paul ; if he would not disn;race that wor- 
 thy name by ivhich he is called^ must abhor and 
 avoid. 
 
 Thus far, my friends, according to the plan of the 
 apostle, I have treated the subject negatively. I have 
 told you what his weapons were not, and have giv- 
 en you a specimen of those which the spirit of our 
 text forbids. The weapons of our warfare, says this 
 enlifjhtened and faithful minister of Jesus, speaking 
 of himself and his brethren — The weapons of our 
 warfare are not carnal. What kind of weapons, 
 then, did they employ ? For the answer to this 
 question, we are not left to conjecture. We find 
 ample instruction respecting it in our context, and 
 in the other apostolick records. 
 
 Some, indeed, suppose that the aposlle refers pri- 
 marily and chiefly, in this passajje, to the exercise of 
 those miraculous poivers, with which he and his 
 
20 
 
 brother apostlos wero rndowrr] ; hy means of which 
 they were eiial)le(l, when they though! proper, to si- 
 lence opposition, and effectual l_y to disphjj that an- 
 thority which their Divine Master had given them 
 for edification and not for destruction. Those vn ho 
 ailopt this opinion, consider the apostle in our text 
 as declarinii;, that the weapons which he wieldi d 
 were not those of feebh fl<'sh ; but such miraculous, 
 supernatural weapons, as liis enemies coidd neither 
 sustain nor resist, when he chose to put them forth. 
 That there may be some reference here to miracu- 
 lous gifts, is, pei haps, not iini)iol)al)le ; but that they 
 i{V(' jirincipallij uiitudetl, we c.\n bv no means admit. 
 1 his appears to hv conchisivcly decided by the strain 
 of the verse immediately following our text. The 
 "weapons emplo}ed were such as were adapted, to 
 cast down imaginations, and every high thing that 
 exalteth itself against the knouledge of God, and to 
 bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of 
 Christ. Now, obviously, the only weapons adapt- 
 ed to produce these spiritual effects, arc spiritual 
 weapons. Miraculous powers, we know, wi-re not 
 always connected with cordial subjection to Christ, 
 even in those who possessed and exercised them ; 
 nor are they 'ever represented in Scripture as the 
 means of effcctinji; true sanctification in others. Spi- 
 ritual weapons alone are God's ordinary means of 
 
21 
 
 producing this blessed effect. Tliese, then, are here 
 chiefly intended by the apostle. Weapons ad- 
 dn^ssed to the intellectual and moral i)art of oiir na- 
 ture. Weapons which make their a|)peal to the 
 reason and the heart of man. Weapons which de- 
 pend for all their efficacy on the spirit and f^race of 
 God ; and which are daily m ide the power of God 
 unto salvation to every one that beUeveth. 
 
 The same apostle who penned our text, in the 
 sixth chapter of his Kpistle to the Ephesians, speaks 
 at lar^e of the christian armour; describing its seve- 
 ral parts, and showing the use of each. In that 
 place it served his purpose to speak chiejiij, though 
 n or exclusively, of t he c h r ist ia n's d k f k n s i v e a k m o u u ; 
 such as the girdle of truth, the breast-plate of right- 
 eousness, the shield of faith, and the helmet of sal- 
 vation; which belong to all believers. But in the 
 passage before us, he had occasion to refer particti- 
 larly to the weapons of cukistian Ministkhs, and 
 more especially to those of the offensive kind; or 
 those which are important, not merely for the pro- 
 tection mu\ defence o( their own j)er.sons ; but also 
 for attacking and vanquishing the enemies of- their 
 Master. Even these weapons, liowever, are not 
 c\KNAL, but SPIRITUAL : not intended to injure,. but 
 to save ; not to inflict violence on the persons of 
 those to whom they arc directed; but to enlighten, 
 
22 
 
 to convince, to sanctify, to comfort, and lead to per- 
 fect and eternal blessedness. Let ns take a ciirso- 
 sory survey of some of these weapons, as we find 
 them enumerated in the inspired volume. 
 
 And the first of these spiritual and potent weapons 
 which I shall mention, is the Woiin of Gon ; the 
 Word of truth and grace contained in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. This holy Word, when applied by the Spi- 
 rit of God, is indeed a powerful weapon. Hence, 
 in the stronj^ language of inspiration it is called the 
 rod of Jthovah^s strength ; and in another place, it 
 is repres^^nted as the sword of the spirit ;* and again, 
 it is said to be quick and powerful, and sharper than 
 any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing 
 asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- 
 row, and to be a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
 of the heart.i Again, The entrance of this word, we 
 are told glveth light; it converteth the soul; it ma- 
 kcth wise the simple ; it rejoiceth the heart ; it en- 
 li^hteneth the eyes; it is able to make us wise unto 
 salvation.X Accordingly, this is the grand weapon 
 on which the primitive ministers of Christ were di- 
 rected to rely, under God, for extending his kingdom. 
 Go ye, said the Master himself, into all the world, 
 
 * Ephesians, vi. 17. f Hebrews, iv. 12. 
 
 I Ps. cxix. 130. Ps. xix. 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
23 
 
 and preach the gospel to every creature, And to this 
 day, he who pre.iches the geiiuine word c>f God ; 
 that is, who preaches the Gospel — the simple, pare 
 Gospel ; without the admixture of carnal reasoninos 
 or vain philosophy; he who does tliis faithfully, 
 fervently, and affectionately; does that which is 
 much more likely to be effectual in extendinj^ the 
 religion of Jesus Christ, in its power, than if he were 
 to erect a thousand splendid temples for the solem- 
 nities of piiblick worship, or to found a thousand 
 sumptuous benefices, for the temporal support of 
 ecclesiasticks. 
 
 Another weapon, by means of which the ambas- 
 sadors of Christ are bound to plead the cause and ex- 
 tend the reign of their Master, is the kight admin- 
 ISTKATION OF TiiK SACKAMKNTs which he has ap])oin- 
 ted. As the church is a body of professing people, 
 called out from the world, and united under Christ, 
 their only King and Head, there seems to be, upon 
 every principle, a call for those badges and seals of 
 the covenant under which they are constituted, by 
 which we find that ft has pleased their infinitely wise 
 Sovereign actually to distinguish them. By means 
 of these, among other thinojs, a visible line of sepa- 
 ration is drawn between the Church and the World. 
 The visibly "precious, "are separated from the "vile."' 
 The " sacramental host" (»f God's people are embo- 
 
24 
 
 died and arrayed, in the sight of the enemy's camp ; 
 and an epitoiiji' of their religion, as it were, a<1dres- 
 sod to the senses of every beholder. These se>ils, 
 therefore, the servants of Christ are eoniinande<l to 
 administer to the end of the world. And hv the en- 
 lightened and discriminating a[)plieatiori of them, 
 they employ, as long experience has proved, a i^en- 
 tle, but most potent weapon, not only for exciting, 
 snstaining, and comforting the friends of their cause ; 
 but also for drawing multitndes from the hostile 
 ranks, and enlisting them under the bamier of the 
 Prince of peace. 
 
 A further weapon, which Christ has l)een pleased 
 to appoint by his authority, and to crow n with his 
 bh'ssing, is THE holy discipline of the chukch. 
 By this is meant that system of regulation and cor- 
 rection, which infinite wisdom has established in his 
 professing family, as one pf .tlie great means of pro- 
 moting its purity and edification. A system which 
 makes no pecuniary exactions; which resort-^ to no 
 se( ular [)enalties; which neither sells nor gives "in- 
 dulgences'' to thesystematick sirtner ; which invades 
 no man's civil or religious rights ; but which, by mo- 
 ra! power alone, that is hy instruction, by entreaty, 
 by admonition, by rebuke, by warning, by suspen- 
 sion, and, in extreme cases, by exclusion from the 
 visible church, — removes offences, vindicates the ho- 
 
25 
 
 iiour of Christ, — causes the wicked to fear, — and 
 promotes the benefit of- the oftVnders themselves. 
 There can be no question, then, that the discipline 
 of the church, when properly understood, and wise- 
 ly conducted, may be made as really the means of 
 convincing and converting sinners, and building up 
 believers, as the faithful preaching of the Gospel. 
 I know, indeed, that worldly men both dread and 
 hate discipline. They are in the constant habit of 
 considering and representing it, as mere " punish- 
 ment ;" as a '• hard and tyrannical exercise of ec- 
 clesiastical authority." But I know, too, that the 
 enlightened christian loves it. lie regards it as one 
 of the means of grace, and as a precious privilege. 
 He knows, that if the church be a "garden," as the 
 scriptures represent it, — " the garden of the Lord" 
 — it must be defended by an inclosure ; or else — to 
 keep up the figure- — every beast of the field would 
 waste it. But a spiritual inclosure without discipline, 
 would be an absurdity in terms, as well as contra- 
 dictory to the Bible. The christian, then, who has 
 learned to contemplate the professing family of Christ 
 with the spirit of a disciple, regards the discipline ot 
 that family with peculiar interest. He is ready to 
 say, even when the case becomes his own, — Let the 
 righteous smite me ; it shall be a kindness: and lei- 
 
 D 
 
. 26 
 
 him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oll.^ Accord- 
 ingly, in the very Epistle from which our text is taken, 
 we have an account of a case of discipline, which the 
 officers of the church of Corinth were commanded 
 to exercise ; which they did exercise; which was 
 blessed to the benefit of him who was the subject of 
 it; and after the beneficial operation of which, he 
 was restored to the fellowship and privileges of the 
 church. 
 
 Another of those weapons with which the ambas- 
 sadors of Christ are to go forth to their warfare, is 
 FERVENT, iMFoaxuNATE PRAYER. Prayer for the 
 pardon and salvation of the enemies of the church. 
 Prayer for the success of all the means of grace. 
 Prayer for the universal spread of the Gospel, Thus 
 the same inspired apostle who penned our text, after 
 elsewhere describing and recommending the whole 
 christian armour, closes all by the exhortation — 
 Praying ahvays, ivith all prayer and supplication, in 
 the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all persever- 
 ance and siipplicationfor all saints. And, surely, if Di- 
 vine aid be constantly necessary, and ought to be un- 
 ceasingly implored, in the ordinary warfare, of which 
 the apostle is here speaking; it cannot be less need- 
 ful in the still more arduous warfare, in which thosr 
 
 •* Psalm, cxli- ',. 
 
27 
 
 whose oflice it is, to wi7i souls to Christ, are dm\y 
 engaged. While, therefore, every other prescribed 
 weapon ought to be used with as much diligence, 
 and indefatigable perseverance, as if all depended on 
 the human agent; the Divine blessing should be 
 continually invoked, with as much earnest importu- 
 nity, as if means were excluded. Every plan should 
 be formed with prayer ; every effort nerved by pray- 
 er;, every address, if I may so express it, inclosed 
 in prayer ; and every service followed by prayer. 
 
 I shall only mention one more of those spiritual 
 weapons, by which the enemies of Christ are over- 
 come, and his religion effectually propagated. I 
 mean holy example. It was long ago enjoined by 
 the Saviour himself — Let your light shine before men, 
 that others, seeing your good works, may glorify your 
 Father in heaven. And often, since that injunction 
 was given, has the bright example of christian meek- 
 ness, purity, humility, and benevolence, been the 
 means of silencing the gainsayer ; of extorting a re- 
 luctant homage from the infidel ; and even of melting 
 into cordial penitence and love the hardest heart. 
 Many a man, who had resisted with apparent ease 
 every other weapon, has been overcome by the pow- 
 er of embodied, living religion, and been constrain- 
 ed to confess with trembling — Truly, this is the fin- 
 ser of God ! A distinguished unbeliever, of the last 
 
28 
 
 century, after spending a few days at the residence 
 of an eminently pious minister, was so deeply im- 
 pressed with his pure, benevolent and heavenly con- 
 versation, that he said — " I must leave this house. 
 If I remain here a day longer, I shall become a 
 christian in spite of myself." 
 
 Such are the principal weapons which it becomes 
 christian ministers to employ, and which w<i may 
 confidently hope the great Head of the church. will 
 bless. For, says the apostle, 
 
 II. They are mighty through God to the pul- 
 ling DOWN OF STRONG HOLDS. This is the se- 
 cond point demanding attention. 
 
 This form of expression plainly implies, that car- 
 nal weapons are not mighty ; that they are not 
 POWERFUL to promote the great ends of overcoming 
 the enemies of the cross, and extending the reign of 
 pure and undefiled religion. And, accordingly, all 
 testimony serves to shew that this is really the case : 
 that for effecting these objectsthey are the most pow- 
 erless imaginable. Racks, gibbets, the magistrate's 
 sword, and " Acts of Uniformit}'," have made hypo- 
 crites by thousands ; but they have never yet made 
 a christian ; and they never will or can make one, 
 as long as the nature of man, and the kingdom of 
 God retain their essential characters. 
 
 Let those who doubt this, recollect for a moment, 
 
21) 
 
 the nature of the strong holds which christi'aii 
 ministers are commissioned to pull down. They 
 are not those of physical hut of moral power. They 
 are those of pride, unhelief, self-righteousness, love 
 of The world, superstition, sensuality, and all that 
 enmity to God, his truth, and his commandments, 
 which every where characterize unsanctified men ; 
 toojether with all those vain pleas by which they are 
 wont to excuse, if not justify themselves in their 
 rebellious course. In these strong holds, the chil- 
 dren of this world are, as it were, intrenched And 
 the success of the "good soldier of Jesus Christ," 
 consists in pulling down their unhallowed fortifica- 
 tions, and constraining them to surrender themselves 
 willing captives to the blessed Redeemer : or, as our 
 context expresses it, in casting down imaginations^ 
 and every high thing that exalt eth itself against the 
 knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
 thought to the obedience of Christ. 
 
 Such being the nature of the conquest to be ef- 
 fected, it is perfectly manifest that carnal weapons 
 are by no means adapted to accomj)lish the end. 
 A free, unconstrained choice is essential tOimoral 
 agency. Om- Creator has made it the duty of every 
 man to engage in his service, as matter of enlight- 
 ened conviction, and deliberate, volimtary, cordial 
 preference. If we were required to give a defmiiioa 
 
30 
 
 of true religion, we should answer — '* It is receiving 
 and obeying the gospel in the love of it." Or, we 
 should say, " It is voluntarily choosing, and heartily 
 following Christ, as our Teacher, Redeemer, and 
 Sovereign." But how can this be wrought in the 
 mind, or enforced, by carnal weapons? Such wea- 
 pons cannot, in the nature of things, reach the ob- 
 ject. Men may, indeed, be constrained to perform 
 certain external acts, by the dread of secular penal- 
 ties, or by the hope of temporal rewards. But is 
 this true religion ? It may be policy, or hypocrisy, 
 or priestcraft, or statecraft; but true religion it can- 
 not be. The idea of compelling men to believe, or 
 oi bribing ox forcing xhem to love, is, surely, in the 
 very first rank of absurdities. 
 
 But further ; the use of carnal weapons, for pro- 
 moting religion, is not only, in its own nature, absurd 
 and preposterous ; but it is also an unhallowed at- 
 tempt to usurp the authority of God. He alone is 
 Lord of the conscience. To attempt, therefore, to 
 tamper with it by secular weapons, or to apply means 
 of external coercion, where the devotion of the 
 heart is the service required, — is a presumptuous in- 
 terference with the Divine prerogative. It is like 
 endeavouring, by pillars of brass or marble, to prop 
 up the heavens. 
 
 Nor is this all; the use o( carnal xocapons, m 
 
31 
 
 moral and spiritual concerns, is not only absurd and 
 impious ; but experience lias shown that they can 
 never answer the end which those who employ them 
 profess to seek. They have invariably proved them- 
 selves to be worse than useless in promoting the 
 cause of genuine Christianity. The moment they 
 began to be used for promoting the spread of the 
 gospel, its lustre began to be dimmed, and its pow- 
 er to decline. Men found that when they em- 
 ])loyed unhallowed means to fdl the house of God, 
 they seldom failed, by those very means, to empty 
 it. 1 grant, indeed, that power, and wealth, and 
 splendid civil establishments, may appear to be ef- 
 fectual, for a time, in building up what many sup- 
 pose to be, and call, Religion. They may multiply 
 and adorn gorgeous edifices for worship ; they may 
 found rich endowments for enabling ecclesiasticks 
 to live in luxury ; they may impart to all the out- 
 ward accommodations and ceremonial of religion, 
 an imposing magnificence; and they may allure 
 multitudes of the affluent and the learned into the 
 church, and many a graceless votary of ambition in- 
 to the sacred ministry. But this is not prompting- 
 real religion. It is, in truth, pursuing a course di- 
 rectly calculated to destroy it. When Christianity, 
 in primitive times, had nothing to depend upon, un- 
 der God, but her moral power, that is, the simplest 
 
32 
 
 moral means ; then, in the midst of persecution, 
 she made a progress, and displayed a power more 
 astonishing to the contemplative heathen, than the 
 most signal miracles of her inspired ministers. They 
 saw the servants of Christ, going forth, without the 
 least aid from the great ones of the earth ; nay, in 
 direct opposition to all the wealth, the power, and 
 the supersthion of the world. They saw them 
 bearing no fleshly weapons ; nothing but the simple 
 gospel of the grace of God, to the Jews a sinmbUng 
 block, and to the Greeks foolishness. Yet they saw 
 this simple weapon triumphant over all that flesh 
 and blood could oppose to it. They saw the reli- 
 gion of Christ makin<i; its way in spite of the allure- 
 ments of sense, the frowns of power, and the fires of 
 martyrdom. They saw it converting the blood- 
 thirsty savage, into a model of clemency and 
 benevolence ; transforming the hardened blasphemer 
 into a devout worshipper, and the bitter persecutor 
 into a zealous apostle of that faith which once he de- 
 stroyed; making the abandoned voluptuary tempe- 
 rate and pure; the fraudulent, just; the avaricious, 
 charitable ; the passionate, meek and placable ; and 
 the proud infidel, an humble suppliant for pardon 
 through that blood which cleanseth from all sin. 
 Then the ivord of the Lord had free course and ivas 
 glorified. Then mnllitudes were added to the 
 
5S 
 
 ehurch of such as were saved. Tfien the churches, 
 blessed with an huinljic, spiritual, Jimi Uevote.l tuiuis- 
 try, and wafking together in the fear of the Lord, 
 and in the consolations of the Holy Ghost, were c-ii- 
 fied and comforted. In short, thkn the church 
 probably held a more exalted station with rejiard to 
 vital piety ; the holy flame of faith, and love, and 
 spiritual obt^dience, rose hi»lier and shone briiihfiiir, 
 than at any period since that time. But whenever 
 carn<d weapo7is be^aa to interpose: — when imperial 
 power and splendour began to take the side of the 
 church ; when emperors began to invite ecclesias- 
 ticks to their courts, and to load them with emolu- 
 ments and honours ; wheii the doctrines and claims 
 of the church began to be enforced by civil penalties; 
 when a pampered priesthood began to exhaust their 
 ingenuity in rendering the publick service a gaudy 
 and dazzling ritual : — from that hour, real religion 
 declined. The fire of love and zeal was extinguish- 
 ed. Ministers, in a great degree, lost their spiritual- 
 ity. The massof the people soon became like their 
 teachers. And the church, instead of continuing to 
 be that holy, spiritual body which she once vvas, 
 became a splendid, rich, corrupt, worldly church, 
 over which, while the gay and ambitious rejoiced, the 
 truly pious were constrained to mourn. 
 And in all cases in which the same simple spirit- 
 
 T. 
 
^ 
 
 ual vvoiipous, wliicii wrought sucli moral miracles 
 in the primitive church, have been faithfully employ- 
 ed, the same blessed results have been invariably, in 
 a greater or less degree, manifested. Yes, brethren, 
 wherever and whenever the same weapons, which 
 in the hands of the primitive ministers of Christ, 
 were so powerful, are honestly and diligently wield- 
 ed^ in the same spirit as by those devoted men ; they, 
 wijl assuredly, be found, as then, mlghUj through God 
 to the pulling down of strong holds. The proudest 
 columns of the enemy, however apparently formida- 
 ble, will melt away before them. I will not, indeed, 
 undertake to define the measure of success, which 
 will attend the ministry of him who faithfully, con- 
 sistently and constantly plies the genuine weapons 
 of the gospel. I cannot assert that success is the 
 natural effect of fidelity ; for I know that without the 
 blessed power of God, it will not follow the very 
 best endeavours. Nor can I venture to pronounce, 
 that success will be, in all cases, in exact proportion 
 to fidelity ; for I recollect that God is a Sovereign. 
 But I have no doubt, at the same time, that all 
 scripture, and all experience warrant us in laying it 
 down, with confidence, as a general principle, that 
 eminent personal holiness and official fidelity in min- 
 sters of the gospel, will usually be found connected 
 ^vith eminent success in wiiming souls to Christ. 
 
35 
 
 It can by no means, indoed, be maintained, that, 
 whenever a revival of religion occurs, and the strong 
 holds of sin and satan are pulled down, it follows of 
 course, that the minister who is instrumental in this 
 work, is himself, certainly, a pious man, and his wea- 
 pons all purely spiritual. A man who is utterly 
 graceless, maybe made, in the dispensations of a so- 
 vereign God, instrumental, in imparting grace to oth- 
 ers. But my position is, that where his sfiirit, his life 
 and his weapons are all, in a good measure, such as 
 they ought to be, he will not fail of being successful. 
 I repeat it, brethren, if a minister of the gospel will, 
 simply, humbly, wisely, steadily, affectionately, and 
 perseveringly, employ those weapons of which the 
 apostle speaks, and, at the same time, honour Cod, 
 by unfeignedly looking to Him alone to make them 
 effectual; I could as soon doubt that Jehovah has 
 made promises to his church, and that He will be 
 faithful to what He has said, as doubt that a revi- 
 val of his work, and a display of his glory, will be 
 in a greater or less degree, the blessed result. 
 
 It appears to me that the whole history of the 
 church confirms this position. In what part of 
 Christendom was there etw an enlightened, spiritu- 
 al, exemplary, faithful ministry at work, without ma- 
 ny visible and precious seals to its fidelity ? Even 
 when apparent exceptions have occurred, have they 
 
86 
 
 ijot proved, on exnniination, to be rather apparent 
 than real ? A preacher, indeed, may declare the 
 truth in its pnrity every time he opens his mouth ; 
 and yet he may do it in so cold, pointless, and un- 
 interesting a manner, that no rational man could 
 expect him to make an impression. Or, he may 
 preach the truth, a,nd do it with inimitable force, 
 fervour and skill ;and, at the same time, out of the 
 pulpit, manifest so little of the christian spirit, and, 
 perhaps even so much of the opposite spirit, as to 
 couutfract all his publick labours. Or, he may be 
 faitldul as a preacher, and exemplary as a man ; and 
 yet be so habitually indolent, as enrirely to neglect 
 the children of his charge, and by no means to fol- 
 low up, by his efforts from house to house^ what he 
 may have begun in the sanctuary. Can it be w on- 
 derful, or is it in the least degree adverse to what 
 seems to be the spirit of our text, that such men have 
 little or no success? It is only where the weapons 
 in question are, all of them, honestly, consistently, 
 and with son>e tolerable degree of dilijience, empl(»y- 
 ed, that vv( have a right to anticipate the plenary 
 blessing. If, in such case, there has ever been a 
 failure of the blessing, it is more than has ever come 
 to my knowledge, or, as I verily believe, to the 
 knowledge of any other man. 
 
 But we are reminded by our text, that this happy 
 
37 
 
 • 
 result, whenever it occurs, is not ©/"man, or 6?/ man; 
 
 bur all of God. Mighty through God, says the 
 Apostle, to the pulling down of strong holds. That is, 
 the loeapons of our warfare do not produce their ef- 
 fect in virtue of their own natural enero;y, or in vir- 
 tue of the wisdom or power of us who wield them ; 
 but they are mighty throujjh that God whose power 
 works hy them. Not by mighty nor by power — that 
 is, hy human mi^ht or power, Ijut by my Spirit, 
 sajth Jehovah.* We have this treasure— i\\e treasure 
 of the gospel — says the apostle — in earthen vessels, 
 that the excellency of the power may be seen to be 
 of God, and not ofus.f Even when the inspired 
 Paul planted, and the eloquent Apollos watered, 
 God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that 
 plantelh any thing, neither he that watereth, but God 
 that giveth the increasf-X 
 
 The foregoing illustration of the spirit of our 
 text, suggests to us a variety of practical inferences, 
 to some of which, allow me, before I close, to sg-» 
 licit your serious attention : and, 
 
 I. The principles laid down seem to me instrue-' 
 live as to the question, what, and how far christians, 
 
 AS CHRISTIANS, HAVE TO DO WITH CiVIL GO- 
 VERNMENT. 
 
 The kingdom of Christ is not of this ivorld. And 
 
 * Zechariah iv. 6. f 2 Cor. iv. 7. t 1 Cor. iii. 7. 
 
38 
 • 
 if all carnal weapons are prohihited in ])romotine, the 
 
 extension, and in conducting the affairs of this king- 
 dom ; then it is evident that the civil majiistrate, as 
 such, has no right to interpose in the affairs of the 
 church, either with his sword or his regulations; that 
 he has no right either to reward or to punish men 
 for their religious o[)inions, in any case or way what- 
 ever. Man is accountable to God alone for his reli- 
 gious creed, and his religious practice. As long as 
 he disturbs not the peace of society, no one has a 
 riaht to call him to an account for either. But, on 
 the other hand, to say, as some have done, that chris- 
 tians have nothing to do with civil government, is to 
 sa}'^, that, in becoming christians, they cease to he 
 men ; and that the Bible contains no instructions 
 or precepts applicable to christians as members of 
 civil societ3^ The church, and the states or king- 
 doms of this world, are entirely separate govern- 
 ments. Neither can ever be subjected to the other, as 
 .such, without mischief But the members of both 
 Leing, in many cases, the same; and the laws of 
 Christ extending to all the relations and duties of 
 men ; it can, in no case, be strictly said, either that 
 christians have nothing to do with politicks, or that 
 the magistrate has nothing to do with religion. 
 Every christian, indeed, ought to recoil, with in- 
 stinctive dread and horror, from every attempt on the 
 
39 
 
 part of civil government to interpose in the afifairs 
 of the church, EVKN ro help her. As members of 
 the church of Christ, we need no other help, we 
 wish no other, than to enjoy an equ^l protection 
 
 WITH OTHERS IN ALL OUK CIVIL RIGHTS. Nay, 
 
 we deprecate the thought of more than this. When 
 more is attempted, there is death in the unhallowed 
 touch ; — not merely to one of the parties, as in the 
 case of Uzzah of old ; but, I had almost said, to 
 both ; and to both it certainly would be, if it were 
 possible even for the gates of hell to prevail against 
 the Church. Truly, we ouj^ht to be jealous of every 
 thin''- which brings civil government into contact 
 with the church. Rather, much rather, let the 
 church have the frowns than the caresses of the 
 world. There is far less evil to be apprehended 
 from the former than from the latter. Yet, while 
 we say this, it is nevertheless true, on the one hand 
 that every civil magistrate ougiit to be a christian, 
 to love the church, and to seek to promote her inte- 
 rests: and, on the other, that every christian ought 
 to be a vigilant and active patriot, loving his coun- 
 try, and endeavouring to secure her welfare continu- 
 ally, by faithfully discharging all the duties of a good 
 citizen. That man ill, indeed, estimates or dis- 
 ch'irses the duty which he owes to .Him who is 
 Head over all things for the Church, who acts upon 
 
40 
 
 the principle, that he has no concern witli the civil 
 government under which he lives ; and who delibe- 
 rately abandons the elective franchise, the hall of 
 legislation, and the court of justice, to the enemies 
 of his Saviour. Instead of this, let him faiihfully 
 attend, according to the call of Providence, on eve- 
 ry civil, as well as ecclesiastical duty; being careful, 
 to whichever of them he addresses himself, to em- 
 ploy no other weapons, — to take no other course, 
 than those which become him as a chkistiaxN. 
 
 2. We may learn from this subject the true ideas 
 that ought to be annexed to what are called the 
 
 RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE ; the KIGHTS OF PlilVATE 
 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 There cannot be a plainer principle than that the 
 rights of conscience are inalienable. No man has a 
 right, if he could, to force my conscience; nor have 
 I a right to force that of any other man. Nay, 
 strictly speaking, the thing is impossible. 1 may co- 
 erce his body ; I may tamper with his conscience ; 
 I may tempt it, and even corrupt it ; but coerce it, I 
 cannot. The very term conscience, implies that in- 
 ternal conviction, which it is physically impossible 
 for one man either to form, or to controul, for ano- 
 ther. But while we admit, nay strenuously main- 
 lain, the sacredness of the rijihts of consr-ience ; is 
 it any violation of those rigiits, for the Church to 
 
41 
 
 exclude any man from her commnnion for heresy or 
 immorality ? Certainly not. There is a striking 
 analogy, in this respect, between religious and civil 
 concerns, which may serve to illustrate the subject. 
 Every man, for example, has an undoubted ri^ht to 
 dispose of his own property as he pleases. That is, 
 no human power has a right to controul him in this 
 matter, as long as he does not invade the peace of 
 society. Yet if he spend his property in degrading 
 licentiousness, and prodigality, every soberminded 
 person will consider him as sinning both against God, 
 and against society. And if he go to a certain 
 length in this course, though the law of the land 
 may not take hold of him. he must not be surprized 
 or complain, if all decent people drop his acquain- 
 tance, and decline receiving him into their families. 
 In vain will he appeal to the publick, and say that 
 this treatment is persecution ; for that he has a per- 
 fect right to regulate his own expenditures as he 
 thinks proper. True ; and his neighbours have the 
 same unquestionable right to bestow their respect 
 and countenance on whom they please, and to with- 
 draw them from whom and when they please. So 
 it is in spiritual concerns. All men, undoubtedly, 
 nave a right to believe what doctrines they choose, 
 and to embrace what form of reliiiion they choose. 
 Qod forbid that this right should ever be called in 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 question ; or ever, for one moment, assailed with 
 carnal weapons. But the church, which is an as- 
 semhlage of individuals, must have the same rij^ht 
 to judge whether she can agree with another indivi- 
 dual in opinion, and walk with him in fellowship, or 
 not. Of course, if any man connected with the 
 church become corrupt, either in principle or prac- 
 tise, he surely. has no reason to complain if the 
 church admonish and entreat him as a brother ; and, 
 if he persist in his unhallowed course, if she with- 
 draw from him, and disown him. For if it be a vi- 
 lation of the rights of conscience, for the church, in 
 such case, to withdraw from him ; then it is an equal 
 violation of the rights of conscience, for an individu^ 
 al to withdraw from a corrupt and apostate churchy 
 with which he has on the best grounds, become dis- 
 gusted, and with which he can no longer worship in 
 comfort. And thus, acting on the principle which 
 some contend for, instead of the rights of conscience 
 being maintained, all real enjoyment of those rights 
 would be banished from the world. No individual, 
 or body of men whatever would have a right to 
 choose their religious principles or connections for 
 themselves ! 
 
 3. The principles involved in our text plainly 
 teach us, that it is wrong to vindicate any doctrine, 
 or any practise, merely on the ground of human au- 
 
43 
 
 THORiTY. f f good men have used carnal tveapons, 
 we may allow them to have been good men ; Itut 
 we must not imitate them, or be governed by their 
 authority, in that which was manifestly contrary to 
 the spirit of the gospel. This is one of the j)rinci- 
 pal ways in which error has obtained currency, and 
 , even the most zealous support, and sometimes from 
 those who verily thought they were thereby doing 
 God service. The inspired Paw/, in writing to the 
 very church to which our text is directed, warns 
 it against referring to human names, when the 
 great principles of duty are in question. To some 
 who had said, I am of Paul, and lofApollus, and I 
 of Cephas, and I of Christ, he makes the solemn ap- 
 peal — Was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye bap- 
 tized in the name of Paul ?—Cali no man master, my 
 friends, one is your master, even Christ. What 
 though Origin was a pious man, and the most emi- 
 iienily learned and ingenious divine of his age ; and 
 what though Augustine was, perha|js, the most il- 
 lustrious name for sound theology, erudition, zeal, 
 spirituality, and usefulnes, in the annals of the 
 church, from the second to the sixteenth century? 
 Yet, w.hen the former gave himself up so unworthily 
 to allegorizing dreams, and philosophical specula- 
 tions ; and when the latter, air)idst all his pre-emi- 
 nent worth, yielded to so many of the popular super- 
 
44 
 
 stitions of the day; we must by no me^ns attempt 
 to justify all that they taught. What though Lu- 
 ther^ Calvin^ and Cranmer were inestimably precio'is 
 men, and wortliy of being held in everlasting re- 
 membrance; the^/'5^, for a |3iety, holy courage, and 
 decision of character, for which the whole christian 
 world ought ever be thankful ; the second^ for a 
 depth of penetration, a soundness of judgment, an 
 extent of learning, and an ardour of zeal for Christ, 
 which the friends of the Redeemer's kingdom are 
 bound to remember, to the end of time, with the 
 deepest veneration; and the third, for a pious devoted- 
 ness and fidelity which should never be alluded 
 to by a dutiful son of the reformed church, with- 
 out some epithet of honour ? Yet when Luther in- 
 dulged in irascible passion, and permitted abnost all 
 his polemical writings to be tarnished w ith oppro- 
 brious language : when Ccdvin^s name and influence 
 were implicated in the burning of a heretick ; and 
 when Cranmer took a still more immediate and ac- 
 tive })art in burning at least four persons for their re- 
 ligious belief; let us not attempt their justification. 
 Their error, indeed, — I speak more particularly of 
 the error of the two latter, — was rather that of the 
 age, than peculiarly of the men ; for the rights of 
 conscience were then understood by none. Still 
 they erred — greatly erred. They used carnal wea- 
 
45 
 
 pons ; and, for tliis are, of course, to be censured, 
 not imitated. Again I say, m_y friends, ue are not 
 to be governed b) human authority. As Protestants, 
 as disciples of Christ, the Biblk is, to us, the only 
 
 INFALLIBLE KULt OF FAITH AND PRACTISE. Thc 
 
 first, and grand question for us to ask, therefore, is, 
 not — whether ''any of the rulers have believed" a 
 certain doctrine, or adopted a certain course ? Not, 
 whether this or that distinguished man, has embra- 
 ced a particular opinion ? Not even, how the Church 
 has decidt-d respecting it ; but — What saith the 
 scripture ? Let the Word of God be our rule ; let 
 it furnish all the iveapons we employ; and we may 
 confidently look for a blessing. 
 
 4. We may learn from this subject, in what con- 
 sists THAT SUCCESS IN HIS OFFICIAL WOKI^, which a 
 
 minister of the gospel ought to desire and seek. 
 Not in merely collecting and attaching to his person, 
 a large and admiring congregation. Not in making 
 his own learning, talents, and accomplishments, the 
 objects of popular ap})lause and idolatry. Not even 
 in filling the church with multitudes of decent pro- 
 fessors. A minister may attain all these, in as high 
 a degree as man ever did ; and yei, in the most im- 
 portant sense, be wholly without success in his min- 
 isterial work. Ihe most precious kind of success j 
 
4e 
 
 that which he ought to desire, and to pray for with- 
 out ceasing, consists in his ministrj being hh'sscd to 
 the conversion of sinners ; in pulling down the strong 
 holds of enmity and disobedience in which they are 
 intrenched; in drawing.them gway from their infa- 
 tuated connection with sin and satan, and all that is 
 corrupting and deji;rading in their subjection to both ; 
 in leading them to a vital union and obedience to 
 the Saviour: in short, in bringing the impenitent to 
 the true knowledge and love of the gospel, and in 
 building up believers in faith and holiness unto sal- 
 vation. This is the success for whi( h a gospel 
 minister should look, and labour, and pray, and no- 
 thins: -^hort of which ounht ever to satisfy him. 
 
 I grant, indeed, that an enlightened and faithful 
 gospel minii^'try, may be, and constantly ts, produc- 
 tive of many subordinate effects, which are of great 
 value in society. It tends to advance the interests 
 of general knowledge in the world. It promotes or- 
 der, polish, and decorum in social intercourse. It 
 makes better members of the society of men on earth, 
 thousands and millions who will never be prepared 
 for the inheritance of the saints in light. But still, 
 the higher effects which 1 have mentioned, are the 
 great and most blessed constituents of success. 
 Where they are never attained, the most important 
 ends of the ministry of reconciliation are never at- 
 
47 
 
 tained. And where this is the case, even the subor- 
 dinate benetits of which I have spoken, generally 
 fail in a corresponding degree. 
 
 5. We learn, from the spirit of our text, what 
 
 MIlNISTEll IS MOST LIKELY lO BE SUCCESSFUL in his 
 
 ministerial work. Not, by any means, as a matter 
 . of course, he who is the most learned divine. Not 
 he who dwells most, in his puhlick or private in- 
 struction, on the j^/ti/o.s'opA?/ of religion. Not, in all 
 cases, the most eloquent preacher. Not he who is 
 most confident of success. Not he who feels most 
 self-complacency in the contemplation and prospect 
 of success. But he is most likely to be suc- 
 cessful in his ministerial work, v\ho himself most 
 cordially loves the gospel ; who enters most deeply 
 into its power and sweetness, as a matter of practi- 
 cal experience ,* who preaches it most simply, intel- 
 ligently, earnestly and affectionately ; who prays 
 most fervently for the manifestation of its saving 
 power; and who exemplifies its benign effects most 
 . uniformly in his own temper and life. That man 
 may hope for a blessing on his ministry. Such a 
 MAN, I will venture to say, never failed of being 
 favoiH'ed with limes of refreshing and revival from 
 the presence of the Lord. In short, if the faithful 
 minister can have, and ovs[ht to have no other influ- 
 once than that which is of a aioral kino ; if mokax: 
 
48 
 
 WEAPONS are the only weapons which lie oun;ht to 
 attempt to wield ; then it is phiin, that he who dis- 
 plays, both in speech and action, the largest portion 
 of moral truths moral beauty^ and moral glory, will 
 be most \\ke\y to exert that happy moral influence, 
 which of all others, is most desirable and precious. 
 This is a kind of exertion, which, when genu- 
 ine, was never lost. And, as long as God is faithful, 
 he who is steadfast, immoveable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord, will find that his labour is 
 not in vain in the Lord. On the other hand, that 
 minister who expects to have a particle of salutary 
 influence in the world, l)eyond his own solid moral 
 worth, and moral influence ; in other words, beyond 
 the degree in which he preaches the Saviour's truth, 
 and manifests the Saviour's loveliness, in his own 
 spirit and practise, will be likely to be most egrc- 
 giously disappointed. There is a power in con- 
 sistent holiness, which belongs to nothing else be- 
 neath the throne of God, 
 
 (i. Our text affords many important sugirestions 
 to the young Servant of Christ, who is about, to-day, 
 to be constituted a Pastor of this church. 
 
 My dear Son, both the language and the spirit of 
 the text admonish you, that your ministerial work, ^ 
 if you be faithful in it, will be foimd a continual 
 WAUFAUE ; a warfare against all that is hostile in the 
 
49 
 
 Iirart of in:ui to tlie pure gospel of Christ ; a war- 
 fare ajiaiiisT piide, and unbel'u'f, and appetito, and 
 passion, and avarice, and selfishness, and all that ex- 
 alteth itself against God and holiness. Whether 
 you have respect to joiir own heart, or the hearts of 
 others, every inch of ground that is gained, from 
 conversion to glorification, is to be gained by fight- 
 ing. Go forth, then, to your work, with the spirit 
 of a" soldier;" expecting to fight ; willing to fight : 
 and confidently anti(tipating the victory. Not, in- 
 deed, anticipating it, as a ct^lebrated young Refi)rQi- 
 er, in the beginning of his course, did ; who felt as 
 if the force of his preaching must bear down all op- 
 position ; but who was afterwards constrained to 
 confi'ss, that " old Adam was too strong for young 
 Melancihon.'''' Let your anticipations be rather 
 founded on the mighty power of C'.d, and on the 
 promise of his grace to those who employ with fide- 
 lity the armour which Himself has furnished. 
 
 But our text Anther admonislies you, in this war- 
 fare, tOBKW^XRK OF THE WEAPONS YOC E.MPLOV. As 
 
 to tlie weapons of persecutioii, of secular penult ij in 
 any form, I bless God that they are equally preclu- 
 ded, by your own disposition, and by the political 
 charters under which it has pleased him mercifully 
 to cast our lot. But think not that these are the 
 only weapons interdicted by your ^Master. Beware 
 
50 
 
 of carnal wisdom, carnal passion, cariial reasoning, 
 carnai j)rndi nee, carnal mana^cmrnt, cansal substi- 
 tutes of an} kind, for those simple, spiritual ^^eapons 
 which Jehovah hath authorized. Never attenijst to 
 pronime relifjidn by any other methods than those 
 which the Word of (rod warrants. Go not forth 
 with S'tuVs armour; but with the si^mple sling and 
 stone with which it becomes thf good soldier of Je- 
 sus Christ to meet those who defy the armies of the 
 living God. The ^reat Head of the church has not 
 authorized }'ou, or any other minister, to lord it 
 over the consciences of^nen, or to hurt a liair of any 
 man's head on account of his relifj;ious belief. The 
 onlv means intrusted to vou are moralmeans. You are 
 calle(!, to hp'-eech men, by the meekness and genile- 
 7iess of Christ, to be reconciled to God ; to instruct 
 tbenj, to persuade them, to entreat them, to pray for 
 them, and to win thcnn by the lustre of your exam- 
 ple. These alone are your weapons Whatever 
 form of opposition you may be called to encounter, 
 never think of employ inji; any other. Employ these, 
 however, with indefatigable diligence. Whether 
 men uill hear, or whether they will forbear, follow 
 them, with your instructions, your entreaties, and 
 your prayers, meekly and patiently, to your latest 
 breath. And even if some, in the bitterness of their 
 hostility, should be prompted to oppose you with 
 
51 
 
 personal violence; (in supposinj^ this possible, I, of 
 course, refer to none in this coiitrre^rjuion) s^y, with 
 the ilhistrious htnithen chief, " Strike, bat hear me I" 
 or Hither, with One greater Jhan my mortal cham- 
 pion — Father^ forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do ! 
 
 While on the subject of the weapons you emi)l()y, 
 allow me again to put you on your guard, in preach- 
 ing the gospel, against substituting the refinements 
 of philosophicil speculation, for the plainness and 
 siiiiplicity of Bil)le truth. The latter is adapted to 
 every capacity; is suited to every age, clime, and 
 state of society ; and is never truly presented, with- 
 out beneficial effects. The former, is often little 
 better than a caricature of the gospel ; and, in many 
 cases, is much tnore fitted to make sceptic ks and in- 
 fidels, than to bring men to sit, as little children, at 
 the feet of Jesus. The historv of religion in our 
 own country, presents m my an instructive lesson 
 on this subject. Learn wisdom from those lessons. 
 If you wish your preaching to be most useful, let it 
 be as much as possible conformed to the apostolic 
 model. If you are bound as to the matter, why not 
 equally as to the manner, to preach the preaching 
 which your Master bids you ? 
 
 And white our text warns von against the use of 
 unhallowed weapons, it reminds you where your re- 
 
62 
 
 liance ought constaiitlj to be placed for success in 
 jour work. Wluu David went. forth to meet the 
 ))roucl Philistine, he said, in reply to his insolent de- 
 fiance, I come to thee in the nuine of the Lord of 
 hosts, the God of the urmies of Israel. Such ought 
 to be the language and the dependence of every min- 
 ister of religion, in going forth to his warfare. 
 There can scarcely be a more unpromising appear- 
 anie than to see him u ho undertakes to fight the 
 battles of the Lord, confident in an arm of flesh, and 
 relying on the potency of his own efforts. Very dif- 
 ferent was the s|)irit of the apostle Paw/. When I am 
 weak, said he, then am I strong. Plainly implying, 
 than when he was most sensible of his own weak- 
 ness, and most completely divcsttd of all reliance oil 
 himself; he enjoyed the firmest confidence in divine 
 aid, and the most comfortable anticipations of ulti- 
 mate victory. 
 
 Thou, therefore, mj/ Son, he strong in the Lord, 
 and in the power of his might. Be of good courage; 
 for the battle is his; and he will never send you a 
 wa faring on your own charges. We shall all look 
 with the deepest interest, to the result of your la- 
 bours in this place. You are about to be connected 
 with one of the most important Congregations on 
 this hill of Zion ; and to be united with a venerable 
 Colleague, whose age and cApiricnce will enable 
 
53 
 
 him to give you many a valuable lesson, and with 
 whom it will be your privilege to labour as a son 
 with a father. Our prayer is, that the Captain of 
 salvation may gird you with strength, and inspire 
 you whh wisdom; and that the ecclesiastical rela- 
 tion Which is this day formed, may be productive 
 of lasting comfort, and an abundant blessing. 
 
 7. Finally ; our text furnislics matter of serious 
 address to the members of this Congregation, who 
 are this day to receive a collegiate pastor. 
 
 You have heard that it becomes ministers to em- 
 ploy no other than spiritual weapons, in their war- 
 fare with human corruption. If so, it becomes those 
 to whom they minister, to be workers together ivith 
 them, and, as far as possible, to alleviate all the bur- 
 dens and dangers of their warfare. If your pastors 
 will be bound to labour and pray without ceasing, 
 for the spiritual welfare of yourselves, and your chil- 
 dren ; can it be necessary to employ arguments to 
 show that you ought to encourage and aid them in 
 the most interesting of all work on this side of Ikni- 
 ven? In addressing you, my respected Friends, I am 
 persuaded that argument is not necessary. As the 
 only weapons they will ever think of employiu"-, 
 will be of a spiritual kind ; so these are precisely 
 those in reference to w hich it will he most in }onr 
 power to l:clp them. You can help them much bv 
 
54 
 
 yielding yours fives to God^ as those who are alive 
 from thedead; much by jour prayers ; njucli 1)\ ear- 
 ly and faitht'iilly training up your children in ihe 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ; much by dili- 
 gemly and consistently maintaining familv reli- 
 gion; much by exhibiting a britrht example ot chris- 
 tian holiness in all your temper and practise. In all 
 these ways, you may hold up their hands, and im- 
 part a joy to their spirits, which none but faithful 
 ministers can adequately feel. 
 
 R< member, too, my dearly beloved brethren, that 
 you also, as well as your ministers, if you are chris- 
 tians, are engag;ed in a warfare^ each one for himself, 
 against sin and satan, and all the powers of error and 
 wickedness. In this warfare, never forget, thai spi- 
 ritual weapons alone can avail you any thing. If 
 you desire to mortify corruption, to resist tempta- 
 tion, to overcome the world, and to grow in grace, 
 rely not upon human inventions or strength to accom- 
 plish the work. Imagine not that spiritual maladies 
 can ever be reached by carnal weapons ; or that real 
 sanctification is ever likely to be promoted by ob- 
 servances which God never appointed. But be un- 
 ceasingly diligent in the use of all those spiritual 
 means, which the great Author of salvation has in- 
 stituted, and xvhich alone we have reason to ex|)(Tt 
 he will bless. Look to Him. Let his word dwell 
 
55 
 
 in you richly, in all wisdom and spiritual understand- 
 ing. Abound in prayer. Make new and daily ap- 
 plication, by faith, to that blood which cleansethfrom 
 all sin. Let the love of Christ constrain you to af- 
 fectionate and holy obedience. Let all his ordi- 
 nances be precious. Put on the ivhole armour of 
 God. Fight the good fight of faith. Quit you like 
 men ; be strong. 
 
 Soon will the solemnities of this day, with all 
 their momentous results, pass in review before a 
 higher tribunal than that which is now assembled in 
 the house of God. Then the Chief Shepherd shall 
 appear, to take an account of his servants, and of 
 those to whom they have ministered. There you 
 and your children must meet these under shepherds, 
 and answer for the use which you shall have made 
 of their labours for your benefit. O, may it be to 
 every one present a meeting replete with joy and 
 with glory ! Amen .' 
 
f.f 
 
 'K