SERMONS BY J. B. MASSILLON, BISHOP OF CLERMONT. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. SELECTED AND TRANSLATED WILLIAM DICK SON; DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HER GRACE ?HE DUTCHESS OF JBUCCLEUGff, EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR J. OGLE, PARLIAMENT-SQUARE. SOLD BY BRASH AND REID, GLASGOW ; VERNOR AND HOO3, BUTTON, MATHEWS, DILLY, AND CHAPMAN, LONDON. TO HER GRACE THE DUrCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH. MADAM, IN confequence of your permitting me to addrefs my Tranflation of the follow- ing Sermons to your GRACE, the general approbation will be fecured to at leafl one part of my Publication. It is not your rank in the world, Ma- dam, elevated as it is, which renders your protection of any part of the amiable MASSILLON'S Works fo eminently pro- per ; it is your rank in the hearts of the good and virtuous, fuch as he was, who will unanimoufly acknowledge the pro- priety of the Dedication. a 2 Were Were I at liberty to mention inftances, within the fphere of my own knowledge, of your GRACE'S humanity and benevo- lence, the pleafure with which I feize this opportunity of exprefilng my veneration for your character, would be little won- dered at; nor would the fmcerity be doubt- ed, with which I fubfcribe myfelf. Madam, Your GRACE'S mofl refpe&ful, And moft obedient fervant, WILLIAM DICKSON. TRANS- TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE TO THE PUBLIC. IT is equally proper for a Tranflator, as for an Author, to give fome explanation (not apo- logy, for furely a generou- Public will require none, when the dhTemination of virtue is evi- dently the purpofe) of the production which he obtrudes upon the public. This Tranflation was at firft undertaken, merely for the recreation, during illnefs, of the Tranflator ; his admiration of Mafliilon's abi- lities, increafing as he went on, he was induced to continue, far beyond his firft intention ; that animation, that unftion, as D'Alembert fays, which flowed from his pen on every fubjec~l, that gentle, yet feeling addrefs to the hearts of his hearers, and to which the mod indifferent could not refufe attention, ftruck him fo for- cibly, that he could not reflect, without furprife, that no tranflation of his works had as yet ap- peared in Englifh. Imprefled with a conviction of their moral tendency, he determined, in con- fequence of the approbation of fome refpedable clergymen, his friends, to publifh a felcclion of fuch as,- unconnected with local or temporary events in France, would, in his opinion, be an a 3 acceptable vf TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. acceptable prefent to Chriftians of every deno- mination. He now offers the prefent volume to the public ; and fo imprelfed is he with a fenfe of their merit, that he is convinced that the weaknefs, or the inaccuracy of the Tranflation, can alone prevent a generous Public from re- ceiving them favourably. In the Tranflation, he has endeavoured, as much as in him lay, to convey the meaning and fentiments of his Original ; in doing of which, he may perhaps be thought fometimes too lite- ral ; but if the meaning be conveyed, furely the error is on the fafeft fide ; for many of our tramTations, may with much more propriety be called paraphrafes than tranflations ; and, (at leait in the Tranflator's opinion), it is much bet- ter to err, in keeping rather too clofely to the text, than, by fludiouily avoiding the appearance of literality, to render the fenfe both obfcure and unintelligible. If the Tranflator be mifta- ken, it is an error which in future may eafily be corrected ; and this being his firft publication, he trufts that a generous Public will not cafhier a fubaltern, becaufe he may not as yet be ca- pable of difcharging the duty of a general of- ficer. The Tranflator takes this opportunity of re- turning his acknowledgments to his friends above mentioned, from whofe advice he has reaped many advantages. LIFE LIFE O F MASSILLON ( Extra 51 ed from the Difcourfe of Monjleur Le Marquis 1)' 'Alembert, on his admiffion into the Royal Academy of Paris.) JAN BAPTISTE MASSILLON was born in Pro- vence in the year 1663. His father was a poor attorney of that inconliderable place. The obfcurity of his birth, which gives fo much luftre to the fplendour of his perfonal merit, mould make a chief feature in his panegyric ; and it may be faid of him, as was faid of that illuf- trious Roman, who owed nothing to his ancef- tors, Videtur ex fe natus : He feemed to have produced himfelf. He entered the Oratory at feventeen : The fu- periors of Maffillon foon faw the fame which he would bring to their congregation. They def- tined him to the pulpit; but, it was from a a 4 principle Viii LIFE OF MASSILLON. principle of obedience alone, that he confented to iecond their views : He was the only one who did not forefee that future celebrity, by which his humility and his modefly were to be reward- ed. The young Mansion did every thing in his power to avoid that fame. He had already, while in the country, by order of his fuperiors, pro- nounced the funeral orations of two Archbifliops. Thefe difcourfes, which were indeed nothing but the attempts of a youth, but of a youth, who ihewed what he would one day be, had the mod brilliant fuccefs. The humble orator, alarmed at his growing reputation, and dreading, as he laid, the dasmon of pride, refolved to efcape him for ever, by fecluding himfelf in the moil obf- cure retreat. He repaired to the Abbey of Sept- fons, where the fame difcipline is obferved as at La Trappe,; and there he took the habit. During his noviciate, the Cardinal de Noailles addrefled to the Abbe of Septfons, whofe virtue he refpedled, a charge which he had juft pub- limed. The Abbe, more religious than eloquent, but preferving ffill at leaft for thofe of his com- munion fome remains of felf-love, wifhed to re- turn an anfwer to the Cardinal, worthy of the charge he had received. This office he entruft- ed to Maffillon, who performed it with as much readinefs as fuccefs. The Cardinal, aftoniihed at receiving from that quarter, a piece fo well written, - r LIFE OF MASSILLON. I* written, was not afraid of wounding the vanity of the Abbe of Septfons, by alking, who was the author of it ; -when, the Abbe's mentioning; Mafiillon, the prelate immediately replied, that fuch talents were not, in the language of Scrip- ture, to remain hid under a bumel He obliged the novice to quit the habit, and refume that of the Oratory. He placed him in the feminary of St Magloire in Paris, exhorting him to cultivate the eloquence of the pulpit, and promifmg to make his fortune, which the young orator con- fined to that of an apoftle, that is, to the mere neceflaries of life, accompanied with the moil exemplary (implicity. His firft Sermons produced the effecl, which his fuperiors, and the Cardinal de Noailles, had forefeen. Scarcely had he Ihewn himfelf in the churches of Paris, than he eclipfed almoft all thofe who had fhone in the fame fphere. He had declared, that he would not preach like them ; not from any prefumptuous fentiment of fuperiority, but from the juft and rational idea he had formed of Chriflian eloquence. He was perfuaded, that if a minifter of the gofpel de- grades himfelf by circulating known truths in vulgar language, he fails, on the other hand, in thinking to reclaim, by profound argumenta- tion, a multitude of hearers, who are by no means able to comprehend him ; that though all who hear him may not have the advantage of X LIFE OF MASSILLON. of education, yet all of them have a heart, at which the preacher fhouldaim ; that in the pul- pit, man fhould be exhibited to himfelf, not to frighten him by the horror of the picture, but to afflict him by its refemblance ; and that if it is fometimes ufeful to terrify and alarm him, it is oftener profitable to draw forth thofe extatic tears, that are more efficacious than thofe of de- fpair. Such was the plan that Maflillon propofed to follow, and which he executed like a man who had conceived it, that is, like a man of genius. Pie excells in that property of ' t an orator, which can alone fupply all the reft; in that eloquence, which goes directly to the foul, which agitates, without convuliing ; which alarm?, without ap- palling ; which penetrates, without rending the heart. He fearches out thofe hidden folds, in which the pafllons lie enveloped ; thefe fecret fophifms, which blind and feduce. To combat and to deftroy thefe fophifms, he has in general only to unfold them : This he does with un unction ib affectionate and fo tender, that he allures us rather than compels ; and even when he mews us the picture of our vices, he interefts and de- lights us the moil. His diction, always fmooth and elegant, and pure, is every where marked with that noble fimplicity, without which, tin re is neither good tafte nor true eloquence ; a iim- plicity, which being united in Maflillon, with the LIFE OF MASSILLON. Xi the fweeteft and moft bewitching harmony, bor- rowed from this latter additional graces ; but what compleats the charm of this enchanting ftyle, is our conviction, that fo many beauties fpring from an exuberant fource, and are pro- duced without effort or pain. It fometimes hap- pens, indeed, that a few inaccuracies efcape him, either in the expreffion, in the term of the phrafe, or in the affecting melody of his ftyle ; fuch inaccuracies, however, may be called hap- py ones, for they completely prevent us from fufpefting the leaft degree of labour in his com- pofition. It was by this happy negligence, that Maffillon gained as many friends as auditors : He knew, that the more an orator is intent up- on gaining admiration, the lefs thofe who hear him are difpofed to grant it : and that this ambi- tion is the rock on which fo many preachers have fplit, who being entrufted, if one may dare thus to exprefs it, with the interefts of the Deity, wifh to mingle with them the infignificant inte- refts of their own vanity. He compared the fin- died eloquence of learned preachers to thofe flowers, which grow fe luxuriantly among ft the corn, that are lovely to the view, but noxious to the corn. Maffillon reaped another advantage from that heart-affecting eloquence, which he made fo happy an-ufe of. As he fpoke the language of all conditions, becaufe he fpoke to the heart, all defcriptions x ij LIFE OF MASSILLON. defcriptions of men flocked to his fermons ; even unbelievers were eager to hear him ; they often found inftruftion, when they expeded only a- mufement, and returned fometimes converted, when they thought they were only beftowing qr with-holding their praife. Maffillon could defcend to the language, which alone they would liften to, that of a philofophy, apparently hu- man, but which, finding every avenue to the heart laid open, allowed the orator to approach without effort and afiiftance ; and made him con- queror, even before he had engaged. His aclion perfectly correfponded with the kind of eloquence he had cultivated. The mo- ment he entered the pulpit, he feemed deeply imprelTed with the great truths he was about to declare ; with eyes caft down, a modefl and col- ledted air, without any violent motions, with few or no geftures, but animating all by an affcding and impreffive voice; he communicated to his hearers the religious fentiment which his exter- nal appearance announced ; he commanded that profound lilence, which is a higher compliment to eloquence, than the moft tumultuous plau- dits. He appeared on that great and dangerous theatre, equally devoid of pride as of f.ar: His firft attempt was uncommonly brilliant, and the exordium of his firft difcour.e is one of the matter- pieces of modern eloquence. Lewis XIV. Was then in the zenith of his power and glory ; he LIFE OF MASSILLON. Xlll he had been victorious in every part cf Europe ; he was adored by his fubje<5b, int xicated with fame, and forfeited with adulation. Maffillon chofe for his text that pafiage of Scripture which fee ned the leafl adapted to fuch a prince, " Blef- *' fed are they who weep ;" and from th it text he conveyed a compliment the more new, and artful, and flattering, as it appeared to be dictat- ed by the gbfpel itfelf, and fuch as an Apoftle might have pai . ' Sire," faid he, addrefling the ing *' if th ; world were to fpeak to your " Majefty from this place, it would not fay, " BlefTed are they who weep. Happy, would " it fay, that prince who has never fought but " to conquer ; who hath filled the univerfe with <* his fame ; who, in the courfe of a long and " profperous' reign, has enjoyed all that men " admire, the fplendour of conqueft, the love of " his people, the efleem of his enemies, the " wifdom of his laws. But, Sire, the gofpel " does not fpeak the language of the world." The audience of Verfailies, accullomed as it was to Bour J al ms and Bof uets, had never wit- nefled an eloquence at once fo delicate and no- ble ; and accordingly, it excited in the congre- gation an involuntary movement of admiration. Our orator was always firm, but always re- fpeftful, while he announced to his fovereign, the will of Him who is the Judge of Kings ; he fulfilled the duty of the miniftry, but he never ex- ceeded XIV 1JFE OF MASSJLLON. ceeded it ; and the Monarch, who perhaps re- tired from his chapel diffatisfied with fome other preachers, never left the fermons of Maflillon, without being diflatisfied with himfelf. This the Prince was honed enough to confefs to Mal- fillon ; the greatcft compliment he could pay him, but a compliment which many others be- fbre and after Maflillon never wifhed to obtain, being more anxious to fend away a hearer en- raptured, than a finner converted. Lewis XIV. died; and the Regent, who ho- noured the talents of Maflillon, and defpifed his enemies, named him to the bifhopric of Cler- mont ; he wanted, moreover, that the Court fliould hear him once more, and engaged him to preach fome Lent fermons before the King, then of the age of nine years. Thefe fermons, compofed in lefs than three months, are known by the name of Petit Carime. Though they are not in the higheft degree fi- niilied, they are a true model of pulpit elo- quence. The great fermons of the fame author may poflefs more pathos and vehemence ; but the eloquence of thefe is more infinuating and delicate, and the charm refulting from them is enhanced by the importance of the fubject, by the inefthnable value of thofe fimple affecting leflbns, which being fitted to penetrate, as agree- ably us forcibly, the heart of the young Monarch, feein calculated Jo procure the luippinefs of mil- lions, LIFE OF MASSILLON. XV lions, by acquainting the Prince with what was expected of him. The fame year in which thefe difcourfes were pronounced, Maffillon was admitted into the French Academy. Maffillon had juft been made a bilhop ; but no place at Court, no buii- nefs, no pretence of any kind, could detain him at a diftance from his flock. He departed for Clermont, whence he never returned, but on account of indifpenfable occafions, and confe- quently very rarely. He gave all his attention to the happy people whom providence had con- fided to his care. He benevolently dedicated to the inftruction of the poor, thofe fame talents, fo much efteemed by the great of this world, and preferred to the loud applaufes of the cour- tier, the limple and earneft attention of an audi- tory, lefs brilliant, but more teachable. Perhaps the moft eloquent of his fermons are the confe- rences he held with his curates. He preached to them the virtues of which he fet an example, difintereftednefs, limplicity, forgetfulnefs of him- felf, the active and prudent earneilnefs of an enlightened conviction, very different from that fanaticifm which proves nothing but the blind- nefs of zeal, and which makes the fincerity of it very doubtful. A wife moderation was in- deed his predominant character. Deeply impreffed with a fenfe of the true du- fies of his ftation, Maflillon fulfilled the princi- pal XVI UFE OF MASSILLON. pal fun&ion of a bifhop, that which attracts love and refpedl from incredulity itielf, the de- lightful exercife of humanity and benevolence. He fent, in the fpace ot two years, twenty thou- fand livres to the Hotel Dieu at Clermont. His whole revenue was at the fervice of the poor. His diocefs retain the remembrance of his b ne- fits, now after thirty years, and his memory is flill honoured by the mod eloquent of all fune- ral orations, the tears of an hundred thoufand people whom his bounty made happy. This funeral oration he enjoy d in his life- time. Whenever he appeared in the ftreets of Clermont, the people proflrated themielves before him, calling him father, and invoking bleflings on his head. Among the immenfe alms which he beftowed, there were fome acts of charity which he carefully concealed, not only to fpare the delicacy of unhappy individuals, who received them, but to relieve whole communi- ties from feelings of inquietude, and the fears which fuch alms might infpire them with. Not only was he liberal of his fortune to the indigent, but he employed for them bcfides, with as much zeal as fuccefs, both his intereft and his pen. Being a witnefs, in his diocefian vifitations, of the mifery under which the inha- bitants of the country groaned, and his revenue not being fufficient to give bread to fuch a mul- titude of indigent creatures, that implored it of him, * LIFE OF MASSILLON. XV11 him, he wrote to the Court in their favour, and, by the energetic and affedting picture which he drew of their neceflities, he obtained either ac- tual contributions for them, or a confiderable abatement of their taxes. I am affured that his letters on this fubjecl are matter-pieces of elo- 'quence and pathos, fuperior even to the moft af- fecting of his fermons ; and what emotions, in- deed, muft not the fpeclacle of human nature, fuffering and oppreffed, have excited in the vir- tuous and compaffionate foul of Maffillon ! He died as Fenelon died, and as every biihop ought, without wealth, and without debt. It was on the 28th September 1742, that the church and eloquence, and humanity, fuffered the irreparable lofs. A circumftance which happened not long ago, calculated to affeft every heart of fenfibili- ty, proves how dear the memory of Maffillon is, not only to the poor whofe tears he had wiped away, but to all who knew him. Some years ago, a traveller palling through Clermont wifhed to fee the country-houfe in which the prelate ufed to fpend the greateft part of the year, and he applied to an old vicar, who, lince the death of the bifhop, had never ventured to return to that, country-houfe, where he who had inhabited it was no longer to be found. He confented, howr ever, to gratify the defire of the traveller, not- withftanding the profound grief he expected to b fuffer, OF MASSILLON. fuffcr, in revifiting a place fo dear to his remem- brance. They accordingly fet out together, and the vicar pointed out every particular place to the flranger. There," faid he, with tears in his eyes, " is the alley in which the excellent prelate ufed to walk with us there is the arbor in which he ufed to fit and read this is the garden he took pleafure -in cultivating with his own hands.' 1 Then they entered the houfe, and when they came to the room where Maffillon died, " this," faid the vicar, " is the place where we loft him :" And as he pronounced thefe words, he fainted. The allies of Titus, or of Marcus Aurelius, might have en- vied fuch a tribute of regard and aflfe&ion. CON- CONTENTS. SERM. I. On Salvation, II. On the Small Number of the Saved, 48 III. The Difgufts accompanying Virtue, 84 IV. The Uncertainty of Righteoufnefs in a State of Lukeivarmnefsi 117 V. The Certainty of the Lofs of Rigbte- oufnefs in a State of Lukewarm- nefs, > 149 VI. On Evil-Speaking, < 189 VII. On the Employment of Time, 231 SE R- sau CONTENTS. SERM. VIII. The Certainty of a Future State, 266 IX. On Death, 302 X. The Death of a Sinner, and that of a Righteous Character, 340 SERMON I. ON SALVATION* JOHN vii. 6. My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. E reproach which is here directed hy JL Jefus Chrift, againft his relations according to the flefh, who preffed him to fhew himfelf to the world, and to go up to Jerufalem, in order to acquire thofe honours which were due to his great talents, may, with propriety, he directed againft the greateft part of this audience. The time which they give to their fortune, to their advancement, to their pleafures, is always ready ; it is always time to labour towards the acquire- ment of wealth and glory, and to fatisfy their paffions : That is the time of man : But the time of Jefus Chrift, that is to fay, the time of B working IO SZ R M N I. working out their falvation, is never ready ; they delay, they put it off; they always exped its arrival, and it never arrives. The flighteft worldly interefts agitate them, and make them undertake every thing : for what is the world itfelf, whofe deceitful ways they fol- low, but an eternal agitation, where the paflions fet every thing in motion ; where tranquillity is the only pleafure unknown , where cares are honourable ; where thofe who are at reft, think themfelves unhappy ; where all is toil and af- flidion of fpirit ; in a word, where all are in motion, and all are deceived ? Surely, my bre- thren, when we fee men fo occupied, fo intereft- ed, fo patient in their purfuits, we would fup- pofe them labouring for everlafting ages, and for riches which ought to fecure their happinefs : How can we comprehend, that fo much toil and agitation has nothing in view but a fortune, whofe duration fcarcely equals that of the la- bours which have gained it ; and that a life fo rapid, is fpent with fo much fatigue, in the fearch of wealth which muft perim along with it! Neverthelefs, a miflake, which the flighteft in- veftigation is fufticient to expofe, is become the error of by far the majority. In vain does reli- gion call us to more neceilary and more import- ant cares ; in vain it announces to us, that to la- bour for what muft pafs away, is only amafling, at a great expcnce, heaps of fand, which tumble upon ON SALVATION. II upon our heads, as faft as we raife them up ; that the higheft pitch of elevation to which we can attain here below, is always that which verges upon our death, and is the gate of eternity \ and that nothing is worthy of man, but what will endure as long as man. The cares of the paf- fions are always weighty and important : The fteps alone which we take for heaven, are weak and languid : Salvation alone, we conlider as an amuferaent : We toil for frivolous riches, as if we laboured for eternal pofieffions : we labour for eternal pofleffions, as if we toiled for frivolous ric'hes. Yes, my brethren, our cares for this world are always animated ; obftacles, fatigues, difappoint- ments, nothing can repulfe us : Our cares for this world are always prudent ; dangers, fnares, perplexities, competitions, nothing can make us miftake our aim : whereas, our cares for falvation bear a very different character ; nothing can be more languid, or lefs interefting to us, although obftacles and difgufts there, are fo much to be dreaded ; nothing can be more inconfiderate ; although the multiplicity of ways, and the num- ber of rocks for us ro fplit upon, render miftakes in it fo familiar and common. We mult labour, therefore, towards its accom- plifhment, with fervour and prudence ; with fervour, in order not to be repulfed ; with pru- dence, in order not to be miftaken. B 2 PART 12 SI R M ON I. PART I. Undoubtedly nothing in this life ought to intereft us more than the care of our eternal falvation ; befides, that this is the grand affair upon which our ALL depends, we even have not, properly fpeaking, any other upon the earth ; and the infinite and diverfe occupations attach- ed to our places, to our rank, to our lituations in life, ought to be only different modes of labour- ing towards our falvation. Neverthelefs, this care fo glorious, to which every thing we do, and whatever we are, relate, is of all others the mod defpifed ; this chief care, which mould be at the head of all our other purfuits, gives place to them all in the detail of our adlions ; this care fo amiable, and to which the promifes of faith, and the confolations of grace, attach fo many comforts, is of all others become for us, the moft difgufting, and the moft melancholy. And, behold, my brethren, from whence fprings this want of fervour in the buli- nefs of our eternal falvation ; we purfue it with- out efteem, without preference, and without in- clination. Let us inveftigate and illuftrate thefe ideas. It is a very deplorable error, that mankind has attached the moft pompous names to all the en- terprifes of the paffions ; and that the cares for our falvation have not, in the opinions of men, been capable of meriting the fame honour, and the fame efteem. Military toils are regarded by us as the path of reputation and glory ; the in- trigues ON SALVATION. 13 trigues and the commotions which contribute to our advancement in the world, are looked upon as the fecrets of a profound wifdom ; fchemes and negotiations which arm mankind againft each other, and which frequently make the am- bition of an individual the fource of public ca- lamities, pafs for extent of genius, and fuperiori- ty of talents ; the art of railing from an obfcure patrimony, a monftrous and overgrown fortune, at the expence often of juftice and probity, is the fcience of bufinefs, and individual good-ma- nagement. In a word, the world has found out the fecret of fetting off by honourable titles, all the different cares which are connected with the things of this earth : The actions of faith alone, which mall endure eternally ; which mail form the biftory of the age to come, and mail be en- graven during all eternity upon the immortal columns of the heavenly Jerufalem, are account- ed idle and obfcure occupations ; the lot of weak and limited fouls, and have nothing which exalt them in the eyes of men. Such, my bre- thren, is the firft caufe of our indifference to- wards the bufinefs of our falvation: We do not fufficiently efteem that holy undertaking, to la- bour at it with fervour. Now, I do not think it neceflary to flop here, and combat an illufion, which fo flagrantly vio- lates right reafon. For what is it that can ren- der a work glorious to the perfon who under- takes it ? Is it the duration and the immortality B 3 which 14 SER M O N I. which it promifes in the memory of men ? Alas ! all the monuments of pride will perifh with the world which has reared them up j whatever we do for the earth, will experience the lame deftiny which it will one day undergo : Victo- ries and conquefts, the mod fplendid enterprifes, and all the hiftory of the finners \vhofe names adorn the prefent age, will be effaced from the remembrance of men ; the works of the juft alone, will be immortal, and, written for ever in the book of life, will furvive the entire ruin of the univerfe. Is it the recompenfe which is held out to us for it ? But whoever is unable to ren- der us happy, is confequently unable to recom- penfe us ; and there is no other who has that power but God himfelf. Is it the dignity of the oc- cupations to which they e.ngage you? But the mod honourable cares of the world are merely games, on which our error and abfurdity have bellowed ierious and pompous names : Here, on the contra- ry, every thing is great ; we love the Author of our exiftence alone ; we adore the Sovereign of the univerfe ; we ferve an Almighty Mailer -, we covet only eternal riches ; we form projects for heaven alone ; we labour for an immortal crown. What is there upon the earth, then, more glo- rious, or more worthy or man, than the cares of eternity ? Profperities are honourable anxieties ; fplendid employments an illuftrious fervitude ; reputation is frequently a public error j titles arid ON SALVATION. 't and dignities are rarely the fruit of virtue, and, at the moft, ferve only to adorn our tombs, and embellifh our afhes ; great talents, if faith does not regulate their ufe, are only great tempta- tions ; deep knowledge, a wind which inflates and corrupts, if faith does not correct its venom ; all thefe are only grand, by the ufe which may be made of them towards falvation : Virtue alone is eftimable for itfelf. Neverthelefs, if our competitors are" more fuc- cefsful, and more elevated than we in the World, we view their fituation with envious eyes ; and their aggrandifement, in humbling our pride, re^ animates the fervour of our defigns, and gives new life to our expectations ; but, it happens fometimes, that the accomplices of our plea- fures, changed fuddenly into new riieri, nobly break all the Ihameful bonds of the paffions, and, borne upon the wings of grace, enter in our fight, into the path of falvation, whilft they leave us behind them, to wander ftill unfortunately, at the pleafure of our illicit defires. We view with a tranquil eye the prodigy of their change ; and their lot far from exciting our envy, and a- waking in us any weak defires of falvation, only induces us, perhaps, to think on replacing the void which their retreat has made in the world ; of elevating ourfelves to thofe dangerous offices from which they have juft defcended through motives of religion and faith : What mall I fay ? We become, perhaps, the cenfurers of their vir- B 4 tues : 1$ S E R M O N X. tues: We feck elfcwhere than in the infinite treafures of grace, the fecret motives of their change ; to the work of God we give views en- tirely worldly ; and our deplorable cenfures be- come the moft dangerous trials of their repen- tance. It is thus, O my God ! that Thou fhed- eft avenging darknefs over iniquitous paffions ! Whence comes this ? We want efteem for the holy undertaking of falvation : This is the firft caufe of our indifference. In thefecond place, We labour in it with in- dolence, becaufe we do not make a principal ob- ject of its attainment, and becaufe we never give a preference to it over our other purfuits. In ef- fect, my brethren, we all wim to be faved ; the moft deplorable linners do not renounce this hope ; we even wim, that amongft our actions, there may always be found fome which relate to our falvation ; for none deceive themfelves fo far as to believe, that they mall be entitled to the glory of the holy, without having ever made a fingle exertion towards rendering themfelves worthy of jt ; but the point in which we com- monly deceive ourfelves is, the rank which we give to thefe works, amidft the other occupations which divide our life. The trifles, the attentions which we lavifh fo profufely in our intercourfe with fociety, the functions of a charge, domeftic arrange- ments, paffions and pleafures, their times and their ON SALVATION. 1J their moments marked in our days ? Where do we place the work of falvation? What rank do we give to this fpecial care, above our other cares ? Do we even make a bufinefs of it ? And, to enter into the particulars of your conduct, What do you perform for eternity which you do not for the world an hundred fold ? You fometimes employ a fmall portion of your wealth in religious charities ; but what are thefe when compared to the fums which you facrifice every day to your pleafures, to your paflions, and to your caprices ? In the morning you, perhaps, raife up your mind to the Lord in prayer ; but does not the world, in a moment, refume its place in your heart, and is not the remainder of the day devoted to it ? You regularly attend, perhaps, in order to fulfil the external duties of religion ; but, without entering into the motives which frequently carry you there, this indivi- dual exercife of religion, Is it not compenfated by devoting the remainder of the day to indo- lent and worldly purfuits? You fometimes cor- rect your inclinations ; you perhaps bear with an injury ; you undertake the difcharge of fome pious obligation ; but thefe are individual and jnfulated exertions, out of the common trad, and which are never followed by any regular confequences ; you will be unable to produce, before the Lord, a fmgle inftance of thefe in your favour, without the enemy having it at fame time in his power to reckon a thoufand agaiqft j8 SERMON I. againft you ; falvation occupies your intervals alone ; the world has, as I may fay, the founda- tion and the .principal : The moments- are for God, our entire life is for ourfelves. I know, my brethren, that with regard to this, you feel fenfibly the injuftice and the dan- ger of your own conduct. You confefs, that the agitations of the world, of bulinefs, and of plea- fures, almoil entirely occupy you, and that a very little time, indeed, remains for you to reflecl: up- on falvation : But, in order to tranquilize your- felves, you fay, that foine future day, when you fhall be more at eafe ; when affairs of a certain nature fhall be terminated ; when particular em- barrafiments mall be at an end ; and, in a word, when certain circumilances fhall no longer exift, you will then think ferioufly upon your falvation, and the bufmefs of eternity fhall then become your principal occupation : But, alas ! your deception is this, that you regard falvation as incompa- tible with the occupations attached to the fta- tion in which Providence has placed you. For, cannot you employ that ftation as the means of your fandification ? Can you not exercife in it all the Chriftian virtues ? Penitence, fhould thefe occupations be painful and diftrefling ; clemen- cy, pity, juftice, if they cftablifh you in autho- rity over your fellow- creatures ? Submiffion to the will of heaven, if the fuccefs does not corre- fpond fometimes with your expectations ? A ge- nerous forgivennefs of injuries, if you fufier op- preflion ON SALVATION. 19 preffion or calumny in that ftation : Confidence in God alone, if in it you experience the inju- ftice or the inconftancy of your matters ? Do not many individuals of your rank and ftation, in the fame predicament as you find yourfelves, lead a pure and Chriftian life ? You know well, that God is to be found everywhere ; for, in thofe happy moments when you have fometimes been touched with grace, is it not true, that every thing recalled you to God? That even the dan- gers of your ftation became the vehicles of in- ftruction, and means of cure for you; that the world difgufted you, even with the world ; that you found continually and everywhere, the fe- cret of offering up a thoufand invifible facrifices to the Almighty, and of making your moft hur- ried and tumultuous occupations the fources of holy reflections, or of praifeworthy and faluta- ry examples ? Why do you not cultivate thefe imprefiions of grace and falvation ? It is not your fituation in life, it is your infidelity and weaknefs, which have extinguifhed them in your heart. Jofeph was charged with the management of a great kingdom ; he alone fupported the whole weight of the government ; neverthelefs, did he forget the Lord, who had broken afunder his chains, andjuftified his innocence? Or, in or- der to ferve the God of his fathers ; did he de- lay till a fiicceflbr mould come and reftore that tranquillity to him which his new dignities had neceflarily 2O S I R M O K I. neceflarily deprived him of? On the contrary, he knew how to render ferviceable towards the confolation of his Brethren, and the happinefs of the people of God, a profperity which he ac- knowledged to be held only from his Almighty hand. That officer of the Queen of Ethiopia, who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apoftles, had the fole government of her immenfe riches ; every particular with regard to tributes and fub- lidies, and the adminiftration of all the public revenues, were entrufted to his fidelity ; now, this abyfs of cares and embarraffments did not deprive him of leifure to feek, in the prophecies of Ifaiah, the falvation he expected, and the words of eternal life. Place yourfelves in the moft agitated ftations, you will find examples of upright fouls, who in them have wrought their fandlification : The Court may become the a- fylum of virtue, as well as the cloifter ; places and employments may be the aids, as well as the rocks of piety ; and when, in order to return to to God, we delay till a change of ftation mall take place, it is a fure mark that we do not as yet wifh to change our heart. Befides, when we fay that falvation ought to be your fole em- ployment, we do not pretend that you mould renounce all other purfuits ; for you would then depart from the order of God ; we only wifh you to conned them with your falvation ; that piety may fanftify your occupations ; that fajth may regulate them j that religion may ani- mate ON SALVATION. 21 mate them ; that the fear of the Lord may mo- derate them : In a word, that falvation may be as the centre to which they all .tend. For, to wait till you fhall be in a more tranquil lituation, and freer from worldly perplexities, is not only an illufion which Satan employs to delay your repentance, but it is alfo an outrage upon the religion of Jefus Chrift ; you thereby juftify the reproaches formerly made againft it, by the enemies of the Chriftians ; it would feem that you look upon it as incompatible with the duties of Prince, courtier, public character, and father of a family ; like them, you feem to believe, that the gofpel propofes only maxims unfortu- nate and inimical to fociety ; and that, were it believed, and ftridtly obferved, it would be ne- ceflary to quit all ; to exclude ourfelves from the world ; to renounce all public concerns ; to break all the ties of duty, of humanity, of authority, which unite us to the reft of mankind ; and to live as if we were alone upon the earth ; in place of which, it is the gofpel alone which makes us ful- fil all thefe duties as they ought to be fulfilled ; it is the religion of Jefus Chrift which can alone form pious princes, incorruptible magiftrates, mild and gentle mafters, and faithful fubjects, and maintain, in a juft harmony, that variety of ftations and conditions, upon which depend the peace and tranquillity of the people, and the fafety of empires. But, 2i S E R M O N 1. But, in order to imprefs more fenfibly upon you the illufion of this pretext, when you mall be free from embarraifment, and difengaged from thofe external cares which at prefent de- tach your thoughts from falvation, will your heart be free from paflions ? Will thofe iniqui- tous and invilible bonds which now (lop you, be broken afunder? V, r ill you be reftored to your- felves ? Will you be more humble, more patient, more moderate, more virtuous, more mortified ? Alas ! It is not external agitations which check you, it is the diforder within ; it is the tumultuous ardour of the paflions ; it is not from the cares of fortune, and the embarraflments of events and bu- finefs, fays a holy father, that confufion and trouble proceed ; it is from the irregular defires of the foul ; a heart in which God reigns is tranquil everywhere. Your cares for the world are only incompatible with falvation, becaufe the affec- tions which attach you to it are criminal. It is not your ftations, but your inclinations which become rocks of deftrudion to you ; now, from thefe inclinations you will never be able, to free yourfelves with the fame- facility as from your cares and embarralTinents ; they will afterwards be even more lively, more unconquerable than ever : Befides this fund of weaknefs which they draw from your corruption, they will have that force and ftrength acquired by habit through time and years. You think, that in attaining reft every thing will be accomplifhed ; and you will ON SALVATION, !j will feel, that your paffions, more lively in proportion as they no longer find external re- fources to employ them, will turn all their vio- lence againft yourfelves ; and you will then be furprifed to find in your own hearts, the fame obftacles which at prefent you believe to be only in what furrounds you. This leprofy, if I may venture to fpeak in this manner, is not attached to your clothes, to your places, to the walls of your palaces, fo that, by quitting them you may rid yourfelves of it ; it has gained root in your flem ; it is not by renouncing your cares, there- fore, that you muft labour towards curing your- felves ; it is by purifying yourfelves that you muil fandtify your cares : Every thing is pure to thofe who are pure ; otherwife your wound will follow you, even into the leiiure of your fo- litude ; like that king of Judea mentioned in the Book of Kings, who in vain abdicated his throne, delivered up all the infignia as well as the cares of royalty, into the hands of his fon, and withdrew himfelf into the heart of his pa- lace ; he carried with him the leprofy with which the Lord had ftruck him, and beheld that fhameful difeafe purfue him even into his re- treat. External cares find neither their innocency nor their malignity, but in our own hearts ; and it is ourfelves alone who render the occupations of the world dangerous, as it is ourfelves alone who render thofe of heaven infipid and difguit- ing. 2 And, 24 SERMON I. And, behold, my brethren, the lait reafon why we {hew fo little fervour and animation in the affair of our eternal falvation ; it is becaufe we fulfil the duties necefiary to accomplifh it, with- out pleafure, and, as it were, againft our will. The flighted obligations of piety appear hard to us , whatever we do for heaven tires us, ex- haufts us, difpleafes us : Prayer confines our minds too much ; retirement wearies us ; holy reading, from the firft, fatigues the attention ; the intercoufe of the upright is languid, and has nothing fprightly or amufing in it ; in a word, we find fomething, I know not what, of melan- choly in virtue, which occafions us to fulfil its obligations only as hateful debts, which we al- ways difcharge with a bad grace, and never till we fee ourfelves forced to it. But, in ihejirjl place, my brethren, you are unjuft in attributing to virtue what fprings from your own corruption ; it is not piety which is difagreeable, it is your heart which is diforder- ed ; it is not the cup of the Lord which is to be accufed of bitternefs, fays a holy father, it is your own tafte which is vitiated. Every thing is bitter to a difeafed palate : Correct your dif- pofitions, and the yoke will appear light to you ; reftore to your heart that tafte of which fin has deprived it, and you will experience how plea- fing the Lord is: Hate the world, and you will comprehend how much virtue is amiable : In a word, Jefus Chrift once become the cbjed of i your ON SALVATION, 2$ your love, you will then feel the truth of every thing I fay, Do the upright experience thofe difgufts for pious works which you feel? Interrogate them : Demand if they confider your condition as the happieft : They will anfwer, that in their opi- nion you appear worthy of companion; that they ai*e feelingly touched for your errors ; to fee you fuSering every thing for a world which ei- ther defpifes you, wearies you, or cannot render you happy ; to fee you frequently running after pleafures more infipid to you, than even the vir- tue from which you fly : They will tell you, that they would not change their pretended me- lancholy for all the felicities of the earth. Pray- er conlbles them; retirement fupports them; holy reading animates them; works of piety fhed a holy unction through their foul ; and their happieft days, are thofe which they pafs with the Lord. It is the heart which decides our pleafures. While you continue to love die world, you will find virtue infupportable. In thefccond place, If you wifh to know why the yoke of Jefus Chrift is fo hard, and fo bur- denfome to you ; it is becaufe you carry it too feldom : You give only a few rapid moments to rhe care of your falvation : Certain days which you confecrate to piety : Certain religious works of which you fometimcs acquit yourfelves ; and in accomplifhing their immediate difcharge, yoa experience only the difguils attending the firft C efforts; 26 8 E R M O N I. efforts ; you do not leave to grace, the time nc- cefiary to lighten the weight ; and you antici- pate the comforts and the confolations, which it never fails to fhed upon the fequel. Thofe my- fterious animals which the Philiftines made choice of to carry the ark of the Lord beyond their frontiers, emblematic of unbelieving fouls little accuftomed to bear the yoke of Jefus Chrilt, bellowed, fays the fcripture, and feemed to groan under the grandeur of that llicred weight : In place of which, the children of Levi, a natural image of the upright, accuftomed to that holy miniftry, made the air refound with fongs of mirth and thankfgivings, while carrying it with majefty, even over the burning fands of the de r lert. The law is not a burden to the upright foul accuftomed to obferve it : It is the worldly foul alone, little familiarized to the holy rules, who groans under a weight fo pleafing. When Jefus Chrift declares that his yoke is light and eafy, he commands us, at the fame time, to. bear jt every day, the unctjon is attached to the ha- bit and ufage of it : The arms of Saul were heavy to David, only becaufe he was not accuftom- ed to them. We muft familiarize ourfelves with virtue, in order to be acquainted with its holy attractions ; the pleafures of finners are only fu 7 perikially agreeable: The firft moments alone are plcafant ; defcend deeper, and you no long- er find but gall and bitternels ; and the deeper you go, the more will you find the void, the \\farineis, t)TT SALVATION. 27 'vrearinefs, and the fatiety which -are infeparable from fin : Virtue, on the .contrary, is a hidden manna; in order to tafte all its fweetnefa, it is necefiary to dig for it; but the more you ad- vance, the more do its confutations abound ; in proportion as the paJQTions are calmed, the path becomes eafy ; and the more will yom applaud yourfelves for having broken afunder chains which weighed you dow.n, and which you no Jonger bore biat with reluctance and a ferret for- a*ow. Thus, while you confine yourfelves to fimpJ-e e flays in virtue, you will tafte only the repug- nances and the bitternefs of it; and, as you wiU not poiTefs the fidelity of the upright, you oajj have no right, coufequpntly, to expect their coa- folations, In a word, You perform the duties of piety without inclination, not only becaufe you do them too feldom, but becaufe you only, as I mar jfay, half perform them. You pray, but it is without recollection. ; you abftain, perhaps, from Injuring your e&emy^ but it is without loving him as your -brother ; yon .approach the holy myfle-ries ; but without bringing there that fer- vour which alone can enable you to find in them thofe ineffable comforts which they communU cate to tlie religious foul: You fometimes fepa- rate yourfelves from the world ; but you carry not with you into retirement the filence of the fenfes and of the paflions, without which it is only a melancholy fatigue. In a word, You C 2 28 5 E R M O N I. only half carry the yoke. Now, Jefus Chriil is not divided : That Simon of Gyrene, who bore only a part of the crofs, was overcome by it, and the foldiers were under the neceffity of ufing violence to force him to continue this melancho- ly office to the Saviour of the world. The ful- nefs alone of the law is confolatory ; in propor- tion as you retrench from it, it becomes heavy and irkfome ; the more you wilh to foften it, the more it weighs you down ; on the contrary, by fometimes adding extraneous rigours, you feel the load diminifhed, as if you had applied addi- tional foftnefs : Whence comes this ? It is, that the imperfect obfervance of the law takes its fource from a heart which the paffiqns ftill mare; now, according to the word of Jefus Chrift, a henrt divided, and which nourifhes two loves, mufl be a kingdom and a theatre full of trouble and defolation. Would you wifh a natural image of it, drawn from the holy fcriptures? Rebecca, on the point of her delivery of Jacob and Efau, fuffered the moft cruel anguifh : The two children ftruggled within her ; and, as if worn out by her tortures, me entreated of the Lord, either death or de- liverance : Be not furprifed, faid a voice from heaven to her, if your fufferings are extreme, and that it cofts you fo much to become a mo- ther ; the reafon is, you carry two nations in your womb. Such is your hiftory, my dear hearers ; you are furprifed that it cofts you fo much to acc6mplifh a pious work ; to brin forth OK SAtVATION. 29 forth Jefus Chrift ; the new man in your heart : Alas ! The reafon is, that you ftill preferve there two loves, which are irreconcileable, Jacob and Efau, the love of the world, and the love of Jefus Chrift : It is becaufe you carry within you two nations, as I may fay, who make continual war againft each other. If the love of Jetus Chrift alone pofiefled your heart, all there would be calm and peaceable ; but you ftill nourilh ini- quitous paffions in it : You ftill love the world, the pleafures and diftinclions of fortune : You cannot endure thofe who eclipfe you : Your heart is full of jealoulies, of animouties, of frivo- lous delires, of criminal attachments ; and from thence it comes, that your facrifices, like thofe of Cain, being always imperfecl, like his, are al- ways gloomy and difagreeable. Serve then the Lord with all your heart, and you will ferve him with joy : Give yourfelf up to him without referve, without retaining the fmalleft right over you paffions : Obferve the righteoufneiTes of the law, in all their fullnefs, and they will fried holy pleafures through your heart : For, thus fays the prophet, " The ft#- " tutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the " heart." Think not that the tears of peni- tence are always bitter and gloomy : The mourning is only external ; when fincere, they have a thoufand fecret recompences : The up- right foul refembles the facred buih ; nothing itrikes your view but prickles and thorns ; *but C 3 you 3 eame and prove whether or not we render faHe teftimonies t Ms mercies ; if we utlracl: the finner by falfe hopes, and if his gift* are not ftill more abiirid-in-t than our prom Lies, You have long tried the world : you have found k deftitute of fidelity ; it flattered you with hopes of accomplifhing every thing ; pleafures^ konours, imaginary liappinefs ; it has deceivt-d jou i you are unhappy in it ; you have never ]>' C-'J ON SALVATION. 3! bedn able to attain a lituation anfwerable to your wifhes or expectations ; come and fee if your God will be more faithful to you ; if only bit- ternefs and difgufts are to be found in his fer- vice ; if he promifes more than he bellows ; if he is an ungrateful, changeable, or whimfical mafter ; if his yoke is a cruel fervitude, or a fvveet liberty : If the duties which he exacts from us, are the punifhment of his (laves, or the eonfolation of his children J , and if he deceives thole who ferve him. My God ! How little wouldil thou be worthy of our hearts, wert thou not more amiable, more faithful, and more worthy of being ferved, than this miferable world ! But, in order to ferve him as he willies to be ferved, we mull efteem the glory and the happi- nefs of his fervice ; we mull prefer this happi- nefs to all others, and labour in it with lincerity, without referve, and with a ripe and watchful circumfpeclion ; for, if it is a common fault- to want fervour in the bufinefs of our eternal falva- tion, and to become difgufted with it ; it is like- wife a much more general one to fail of pru- dence, and to miftake qur path towards it. 04 32 SE R M O N I. PART II. An enterprife where the dangers are daily, and miftakes common ; where amongft fo many different routs which appear fafe, there is, however, only one true and unerring, and the fuccefs of which muft, neverthelefs, decide our eternal deftiny : An enterprife of this nature furely requires uncommon exertions ; and never had we occafion, in the conduct of any other, for fo much circumfpeclion and prudence. Now that fuch is the enterprife of falvation, it would be needlefs to wafte time in proving here, and equally fo for you to doubt ; the only object of importance, then, to eftablifh, is, the rules and the marks of this prudence, which is to guide us in fo dangerous and fo eflential an affair. The firft rule is, Not to determine ourfelves by chance amongft that multiplicity of ways which mankind purfue , carefully to examine all, in- dependent of ufages and cuftoms which may au- thorife them ; in the affair of our falvation, to give nothing to opinion or example : The fe- cond is, When we have finally determined, to leave nothing to the uncertainty of events, and always to prefer fafety to danger. Such are the common rules of prudence adopt- ed by the children of the age, in the purfuit of their pretenfions and their temporal expecta- tions : Eternal falvation is the only affair in which they are neglected.; In the firft place, No. perfon examines if his ways are fure ; nor does he ever require any other pkdge of his faictv, ON SALVATION. 33 fkfety, than the crowd which he fees marching before him. Secondly, In the doubts which fpring up during our proceedings, the party the moft dangerous to falvation, having always felf- love in its favour, is always preferred : Two im- portant and common errors in the affair of eter- nal falvation, which it is necefiary to combat here. The firft rule, is, not to determine by chance, and in the affair of eternity to give no- thing to opinion or example. Indeed, the upright is every where reprefented to us in the holy wri- tings, as a judicious and prudent man ; who cal- culates, who compares, who examines, who dif- criminates ; who tries whatever may be the moft proper ; who does not lightly believe every fan- cy , who carries before him the torch of the law, that his fteps may be enlightened, and that he may not be in danger of miftaking his way. The linner, on the contrary, is there held out as a foolifh man, who marches by chance, and who, in the moft dangerous pafles, advances forward with confidence, as if he was travelling in the ftreighteft and moft certain path. Now, my brethren, fuch is the fituation of al- mofi all men in the affair of falvation. In every other matter, prudent, attentive, diffident, a&ive to difcover any errors concealed under the com- mon prejudices ; it -is in falvation alone, that no- thing can equal our credulity and imprudence. Yes, my brethren, We tell you every day, that the life of the world, which is to fay, that lifq 34 $ E R M N I. life of amufement, of inutility, <$f vanity, of fhovv, of effeminacy, exempt even from great crimes ; that this life, I fay, is not a chriilian one, and confequently is a life of reprobation and infidelity : It is the dodrine of that reli- gion in which you are born ; and lince your in- fancy you have been nourilhed in thefe holy truths. The world, on the contrary, affirms this to be the only life, which perfons of a cer- tain rank can lead ; that not to conform them- felves to it, would betray a barbarity of manners-, in which there would be more iingularity and meannefs, than reafon or virtue. I even confent that it may ftill be conlidered as dubious, whether the world or we have reaion on our fide ; and that this grand difpute may not yet be decided ; nevertheleis, as a horrible al- ternative depends upon it, and that any milhikc here is the worft of all evils, it appears that pru- dence requires us to clear it up at leaft, before we take the final ftep. It rs furcly natural to hefitate between two contending parties, parti- cularly where our falvation is the fubjec~t of dif- pute : Now, I aik you, Entering into the world, and adopting its manners, its maxims, and its cu- ftoms, as you have adopted them, have you begun by examining whether it had reafon on its lide, and if we were wrong and falfe deceivers? The world wiflies you to afpire to the favours of for- tune, and to negledl neither cares, exertions, mean- nefles, nor artifices to procure them ; you tbl - low t>N SALVATI01T. J5 low thefe plans , but have you examined if the gofpel does not contradict and forbid them ? The world boafts of luxury, of magnificence, of the delicacies of the table ; and in matters of ex- pence, it deems nothing exceffive but what may tend to derange the circumflances : Have you informed yourfelves, whether the law of God does not prefcribe a more holy ufe of the riches which we hold only from him ? The world au- t.horifes. continual pleafures ; gaming, theatres, and treats with ridicule whoever dare venture even to doubt their innocence: Have you found this deciiion in the forrowful and crucifying maxims of Jefus Chrift ? The world approves of certain fufpicious and odious ways of encrealing the patrimony of our fathers, and places no other bounds to ou-r de lires than thofe of the laws, which punifli vio- lence and manifeft inj.uftice : Can you affiire us, that the rules of the confcience do not obferve more narrowly, and with regard to thefe mat- ters, do not enter into difcufiions, which the world is totally unacquainted with ? The world has declared, that a gentle, effeminate^ and idle life, is an innocent life ; and that virtue is not fo rigid and auftere a* we wim to make it j be- fore giving credit to this merely upon its affer- tion, have you confuked whether the doclrine brought us by Jefus Chrift from heaven, .fub- fcribed to' the noveltv, and to the danger of thefe maxims ? What, 36 SE R MO N I. What, my brethren ! In the affair of your eternity, without examination or attention, yod adopt common prejudices, merely becaufe they are eftablifhed ? You blindly follow thofe who march before you, without examining where the path leads to which they keep ? You even deign not to enquire at yourfelves whether or not you are deceived ? You are fatisfied in know- ing that you are not the only perfons miflaken ? What ! In the bufinefs which muft decide your eternal deftiny, you do not even make ufe of your reafon ? You demand no other pledge of your fafety, than the general error ? You have no doubt or fufpicion ? You think it unnecefiary to inform yourfelves ? You have no miftruft ? AH is good, and in your opinion as it ought to be ? You who are fo nice, fo difficult, fo mif- truftful, fo full of precaution when your worldly interefts are in queftion ; in this grand affair a- lone, you conduct yourfelves by inftinct, by fancy, by foreign impreflions ? You decide upon nothing, but, indolently, allow yourfelves to be dragged away by the multitude, and the tor- rent of example ? You who, in every other matter, would blufh to think like the croud ; you who picque yourfelves upon fuperiority of genius, and upon leaving to the common people, and to weak minds, all vulgar prejudices ; you who carry to a ridiculous extreme, perhaps, your mode of thinking on every other point, up- on falvation alone, you think with the croud. and ON SALVATION. 37 and it appears that reafon is denied to you, on this grand intereft alone. What, my brethren ! When you are afked, in the fteps which you take to enfure fuccefs to your worldly expectations, the reafons which have induced you to prefer one party to another, you advance fuch folid and prudent motives ; you juftify your choice by profpects fo certain and decifive ; you appear to have fo maturely confidered them, before adopt- ing their execution ; and when we demand of you whence it comes, that in the affair of your eternal falvation you prefer the abufes, the cu- ftoms, the maxims of the world, to the examples of the faints who certainly did not live like you ; and to the rules of the gofpel, which condemn all thofe who live as you do ; you have nothing to anfwer, but that you are not fingular, and that you muft live like the reft of the world. Great God ! to what purpofe are great abilities in the conduct of projects which will periih with us ! We have reafons and arguments in fupport of vanity, and we are children with regard to the truth ; we picque ourfelves on our wifdom in the affairs of the world ; and, alas ! in the bufi- nefs of our eternal falvation, we think it no dif- grace to be ignorant and foolifh. You will tell us, perhaps, that you are neither wifer, nor more able than all the others who live like you , that you cannot enter into dif- cuffions which are beyond your reach j that were 3$ S "R M O N I. were we to be believed, it wouid be neceflary to cavil at, and difpute every thing ; and that piety does not confift in refining to fuch an extreme. JBut I aik you, Is fo much fubtilty required to know that the world is a deceitful guide ? That its maxims are rejected in the fchool of Jefus Chrift ; and that its cuftoms can never fubvert the law of God ? Is not this the moft limple and the moil common rule of the gofpel, and the firft truth in the plan of falvation ? To know our duty, it requires only to walk in fimplicity of heart. Subtilties are only neceflary in order to diflemble with ourfelves, and to conned, if poflible, the paflions with the holy rules ; there it is that the humaq mind has occafion for all its induftry, for the talk is difficult : Such is ex- actly your cafe, you who pretend, that to recal culloms to the law is a ridiculous refinement : To know our duty, it only requires a conference with ourfelves. While Saul continued faithful, he had no occafion to confult the forcerefs with regard to what he mould do : The law of God fnfficiently inflructed him : It was only after his guilt, that in order to calm the inquietudes of a troubled confcience, and to connect his cri- miual weaknefles with the law of God, he be- thought himfelf of feeking, in the anfwcrs of a deceitful oracle, fome authority favourable to his paflions. Love the truth, and you will ibon acquire a knowledge of it : A clear confcience is the belt of all inftructors. 2 Not ON SALVATION. 39 Not that I wifh to blame thofe fincere re- fearches which an honeft and timid foul makes to enlighten and inflruct itfelf ; I wifh only to fay, that the majority of doubts with regard to our duties, in thofe hearts delivered up like you to the world, fprings from a ruling principle of cupidity, which, on the one fide, would wifh not to interfere with its infamous paffions ; and, on the other, have the authority of the law, to pro- teft it from the remorfes which attend a mani- feft tranfgreffion. For, befides, if you feek the Lord in fincerity, and your lights are infufficient, there are ftill prophets in Ifrael ; confult in pro- per time thofe who preferve the form of the law, and of the holy doctrine ; and who teach the way of God in truth : Do not propofe your doubts with thole colourings and foftenings which always fix the deciiion in your favour: Do riot apply in order to be deceived, but to be inftructed : Seek not favourable, but fure and enlightened guides ; do not content yourfelves even with the teftimony of men : Confult the Lord frequently, and through different channels. The voice of heaven is uniform, becaufe the voice of truth, of which it is the interpreter, is the fame. If the teftimonies do not accord, pre- fer always what places you fartheft from dan- ger ; always miftruil the opinion which pleafes, and which already had the fuffrage of your felf- love. It rarely happens, that the deciiions of our inclinations are found the fame with thofe of the holy 4 to 42 S E R M O N I, to decide, and upon which, with equal appear- ances of truth, you might determine for the hap- pinefs or the mifery of your everlaft ing lot, in the fame manner as upon thole imliilerent queftions which God has yielded up to the con- troverfies of men : You ought to undertake every thing, and to employ every exertion to place appearances at leaft, in your favour, and to find out a litnation where prejudices would be on your fide : And here, where every thing con- cludes againfi you ; where the law is unfavour- able ; where you have nothing in your favour but fome fallacious appearances cf rcafon, upon which you would not hazard the fmalleft of your temporal interelts ; and with manners which to this period have faved none, and in which you only ftrengthen and comfort your- felves by the example of thofe who periih with you : You are tranquil in this path : You admit of, and acknowledge the wifdom pf thofe who have ctyofen a more certain one ; you fay that they are praife-worthy ; that they are happy who can aflume fuch a command over them- felves ; that it is much fafer to live as they do ; you fay this, and you think it needlefs to imi- tate, or follow their example ? Madman ! cries the Apoftle, What delufion is it which blinds thee ? and wherefore doft thou not obey that truth which thou knoweft ? Ah ! my brethren, in a choice which interefls our glory, our advancement, our temporal interefts, are we capable of fuch im- prudence ON SALVATION. 43 prudence ? Of all the various ways which pre- fent themfelves to ambition, do we leave thofe where every appearance feems favourable to our fuccefs, and make choice of fuch as lead to no- thing ; where fortune is tardy and doubtful ; and which have hitherto been only productive of misfortune ? Of falvation alone, therefore, we make a kind of fpeculation, if I may venture to fpeak in this manner ; that is to fay, an under- taking without arrangement, without precaution, which we abandon to the uncertainty of events, and of which the fuccefs can alone be expected from chance, and not from our exertions. In a word, as my laft refle&ion, allow me to afk, Why you fearch for, and allege to us fo many fpecious reafons, as a juftification to yourfelves, of the manners in which you live ? Either you wim to be faved, or you are determined to be loft. Do you wim to be faved ? Choofe then the moil proper means of attaining what you afpire to. Quit thofe doubtful paths, by which none have hitherto been conducted to it ; confine yourfelves to that which Jefus Chrift has point- ed out to us, and which alone can fafely lead us to it ; do not apply yourfelves to leflen in your own fight the dangers of your iituation, and to view them in the moft favourable light, in order to dread them lefs ; rather magnify the danger to your mind : We cannot dread too much, what we cannot fhun too much : And falvation is the only concern where precaution can never be ex- D 2 ceflive, 44 SE R M O N I. ceflive, becaufe a miftake in it is without reme- dy. See if thofe who once followed the fame deceitful paths in which you tread, and who em- ployed the fame reaibns that you make ufe of, for their juftification, have confined themfelves to them from the moment that grace had opera- ted in their hearts, ferious and fincere defires of falvation : They regarded the dangers in which you live, as incompatible with their defign ; they fought more folid and certain paths ; they made the holy fafety of retirement, fuccecd to the inutility and the dangers of fociety ; the habit of prayer, to the diffipation of gaming and a- mufements ; the guard of the fenfes, to the in- decency of drefs, and the danger of public fpec- tacles ; Chriftian mortification, to the foftnefs of an effeminate and fenfual life ; the gofpel to the world ; they comprehended that it would be abfurd to wilh their falvation through the fame means by which others are loft. But, if you are determined to perim ; alas ! Why will you flill preierve meafures with religion ? Why will you always feek to place fome fpecious rea- fons on your fide ; to conciliate your manners with the gofpel ; and to preferve, as I may fay, appearances ft ill with Jefus Chrift ? Why are you onlv half iinners, and ftill leave to your grofleft paflions the ufelefs check of the law ? Caft off the remains of that yoke which is irk- fome to you ; and which, in leflening your plea- ftjres, leflens not your puniftiment. Why do you Otf SALVATION* 45 you accomplifh your perdition with fo much conftraint ? In place of thofe fcruples, which permit you only doubtful gains, and deny you ftill certain low, and manifeftly wicked profits, but which place you in the number of thofe re- probates who Ihal] never pofTefs the kingdom of God ; overleap thefe bounds, and no longer place any limits to your guilt, but thofe of your cupidity : In place of thofe loofe and worldly manners, which will equally prove your ruin, refufe nothing to your paffions, and, like the beafts of the earth, yield to the gratification of every defire. Yes, finners, perifh with all the fruits of iniquity, feeing you will equally reap tears and eternal punimment. But, no, my dear hearer, we only give you thefe counfels of defpair, in order to infpire you with a juft horror at them ; it is a tender arti- fice of zeal, which only afiumes the appearance of exhorting you to deftrudlion, that you may not confent yourfelves ; alas ! follow rather thofe remains of light, which ftill point out the truth to you at a diftance ; it is not without reafon that the Lord has hitherto preferved within you thefe feeds of falyation, ard has not permitted all, even to the principles, to be blotted out : It is a claim which he ftill preferves to your heart ; Take care only that you found not up- on this, the vain hope of a future converfion : We are not permitted to hope, till we have be- D 3 gun 46 S E R M O N I. gun to labour. Begin, then, the grand work of your eternal falvation, for which, alone, the Al- mighty has placed you upon the earth ; and on which you have never as yet beftowed even a thought. Efteem fo important a care ; prefer it to all others ; find your only pleafures in ap- plying to it ; examine the fureft and raoft pro- per means to fucceed, and fix upon them, what- ever they coft, from the moment you have found them out. Such is the prudence of the gofpel, fo often recommended by Jefus Chrift ; beyond that, all is vanity and error : You may poifefs a fuperior mind, capable of every exertion ; and rare and mining talents ; if you err with regard to your eternal falvation, you are a child. Solomon, fo efteemed in the eaft for his wifdom, is a madman, whofe folly we can now with difficulty compre- hend : All worldly reafon is but a mockery, a dazzling of the fenfes, if it miftakes the deciiive point of eternity : There is nothing important in life but this fingle object ; all the reft is a dream, in which any miftake is of little confe- quence. Trufl not yourfelves, therefore, to the multitude, which is the party of thofe who err : Take not as guides, men who can never be your fureties ; leave nothing to chance, or to the uncer- tainty of events ; it is the height of folly where- eternity is concerned ; remember that there is an infinity of paths, which appear right to men, yet nevertheleis condua to death : That alm<>il ON SALVATtOM". 4? all who perifh, do it in the belief that they are in the way of falvation ; and that all reprobates, at the laft day, when they ihall hear their fentence pronounced, will be furprifed, fays the gofpel, at their condemnation ; becaufe they all ex- pe&ed the inheritance of the juft. It is thus, that after having waited for it in this life, ac- cording to the rules of faith, you will for enjoy it in heaven. Now, to God, &d S E R- SERMON II. SERMON II. ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. LUKE iv. 27. And many Lepers were in Ifrael in the time of Elifetts the Prophet : and none of them was cleanfcd, fatting Naaman the Syrian. EVERY day, my brethren, you continue to, demand of us, if the road to heaven is really fo difficult, and the number of the faved is indeed fo fmall as we fay. To a queftion, fo often propofed, and (till oftener refolved, our Saviour anfwers you at prefent, that there were many widows in Ifrael affli&ed with famine ; but the widow of Sarepta was alone found worthy the fuccour of the Prophet Elias : That the number of lepers was great in Ifrael in the time of the Prophet Elifeus; and that Naaman was the only one cured by the man of God. I Were ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 49 Were I here, my brethren, for the purpofe of alarming, rather than infirudliing you, I needed only to recapitulate what in the holy writings we find dreadful, with regard to this great truth ; and running over the hiftory of the juft, from age to age, to mew you, that in all times the num- ber of the faved has been very fmall. The fa- mily of Noah alone faved from the general flood : Abraham, chofen from amongft men, to be the fole depofitory of the covenant with God : Jo- flma and Caleb, the only two of fix bundled thoufand Hebrews, who faw the land of promife : Job, the only upright man in the land of Uz : Lot, in Sodom. To reprefentations fo alarming, would have fucceeded the fayings of the Pro- phets. In Ifaiah, you would fee the cleft as rare as the grapes, which are found after the vintage, and have efcaped the fearch of the gatherer; as rare as the blades which remain by chance in the field, and have efcaped the fcythe of the mower. The Evangelift would ftill have added new traits to the terrors of thefe images. I might have fpoken to you of two roads ; of which one is narrow, rugged, and the path of a very fmall number ; the other broad, open, and ftrewed with flowers ; and almoft the general path of men. That every where, in the holy writings, the multitude is always fpoken of, as forming the party of the reprobate ; while the faved, com- pared with the reft of mankind, form only a fmall flock, fcarcely perceptible to the light. I would have 5O S I R M O N II. have left you in fears with regard to your falva- tion ; always cruel to thofe who have not re- nounced faith, and every hope of being amongft the faved. But what would it ferve, to limit the fruits of this inftruc"lion, to the fingle point of proving, how few perfons are faved ? Ahis ! I would make the danger known, without in- ftrufting you how to avoid it: I would mew you, with the Prophet, the fword of the wrath of God, fufpended over your heads, without af- lifting you to efcape the threatened blow : I would alarm the confcience, without inftrucl- ing the finner. My intention is therefore to-day, in our mo- rals and manner of life, to fearch for the caufe of this number being fo fmall. As every one flatters himfelf he will not be excluded, it is of importance to examine if his confidence be well founded. I wifh not, in marking to you the caufes which render falvation fo rare, to make you generally conclude, that few will be faved ; but to bring you to afk of yourfelves, if living as you live, you can hope to be fo. Who am I ? What is it I do for heaven : and what can be my hopes in eternity ? I propofe no other order, in a matter of fuch importance. What are the caufes which render falvation fo rare ? I mean to point out three principal ones, which is the only arrangement of this difcourfe. Art and far-fought reafonings would here be ill- i timed. ON THE SMALL NUMBER. OF THE SAVED. 51 timed. O attend, therefore, be whom you may ! No fubjecl: can be more worthy your attention, lince it goes to inform you, what may be the hopes of your eternal deftiny. PART I. Few are faved; becaufe in that num- ber we can only comprehend two defcriptions of perfons ; either thofe who have been fo happy as to preferve their innocence pure and unde- filed ; or thofe, who after having loft, have re- gained it by penitence : Firft caufe. There are only thefe two ways of falvation ; and heaven is only open to the innocent or the penitent. Now of which party are you? Are you innocent? Are you penitent ? Nothing unclean mail enter the kingdom of God. We muft confequently carry there, either an innocence unfullied, or an innocence regain- ed. Now, to die innocent, is a grace to which few fouls can afpire ; and to live penitent, is a mercy, which the relaxed ftate of our morals renders equally rare. Who indeed will pretend, to falvation, by the claim of innocence ? Where are the pure fouls in whom lin has never dwelt ; and who have preferved to the end the facred treafure of grace confided to them by baptifm, and which our Saviour will re demand at the aw- ful day of puniihrnent ? In thofe happy days, when the, whole church was ftill but an aflcmbly of faints, it was very uncommon to fijid an inftauce of a believer, who-, after 52 S E R M O N II. after having received the gifts of the Holy Spi- rit, and acknowledged Jefus Chrift in the facra- ment, which regenerates us, fell back to his for- mer irregularities of life. Ananias and Saphira were the only prevaricators in the church of Je- rufalem ; that of Corinth, had only one incef- tuous finner. Church penitence was then a re- medy almoft unknown ; and fcarcely was there found among thefe true Ifraelites one {ingle le- per, whom they were obliged to drive from the holy altar, and feparate from communion with his brethren. But fince that time, the number of the upright diminifhes, in proportion us that of believers increafes. It would appear, that the world, pretending now to have become almoft generally Chriftian, has brought with it into the Church its corruptions and its. maxims. Alas ! we all go aftray, almoft from the breaft of our mothers ! The firft ufe which we make of our heart is a crime ; our firft defires are paffions ; and our reafon only expands and increafes on the wrecks of our innocence. The earth, fays a Pro- phet, is infeded by the corruption of thofe who inhabit it : All have violated the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the alliance which iliould have endured for ever : All commit lin ; and fcarcely is there one to be found, who does the work of the Lord. Injuftice, calumny; ly- ing, treachery, adultery, and the blackeft crimes, have deluged the earth. The brother lays fnares for his brother ; the father is divided from his . '' children ; ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 53 children ; the hufband from his wife : There is no tie which a vile intereft does not diffblve : Good faith and probity are no longer virtues but among the fimple people ; animofities are end- lefs ; reconciliations feints ; and never is a for- mer enemy regarded as a brother : They tear, they devour each other. Aflemblies are no longer but for the purpofe of public and general cen- fure. The purefl virtue is no longer a protection from the malignity of tongues. Gaming is be- come either a trade, a fraud, or a fury. Re- pafts, thofe innocent ties of fociety, degenerate into excefles, of which we dare not fpeak. Our age witnefles horrors, with which our forefathers were unacquainted. Behold then already one path of falvation fhut to the generality of men. All have erred. Be whom you may, who liften to me at prefent, the time has been, when fin reigned over you : Age may perhaps have calm- ed your pafiions ; but what was your youth ? Long and habitual infirmities may perhaps have difgufted you with the world ; but what ufe did you formerly make of the vigour of health ? A fudden infpiration of grace may have turned your heart ; but do you not molt fervently in- treat, that every moment prior to that infpira- tion may be effaced from the remembrance of the Lord ! But with what am I taking up my time ? We are all finners, O my God ! And thou knoweft our hearts : What we know of our. errors, is per- haps 54 S S R M O H II. haps in thy fight the moft pardonable ; and we all aliuw, that by innocence, we have no claim to fulvation. There remains, therefore, only one reiource, which is penitence. After our Ihip- wreck, fay the faints, it is the happy plank, which alone can conduct us into port ; there is DO other mean of falvation for us. Be whom you may, prince or fubjecT:, great or low, peni- tence alone can fave you. Now permit me to afk, where are the penitent? You will find more, fays a holy father, who have never fallen, than who, after their fall, have raifed themfclvcs by true repentance : This is a terrible faying ; but do not let us carry things too far ; the truth is fufficiently dreadful, without adding new terrors to it by vain declamation. Let us only examine, if the majority of us have a right through penitence to fulvation. What is a penitent ? According to Tertullian, a penitent is a believer, who feels every moment the unhappinefs which he formerly had, to for- get and lofe his God ; who has his guilt incef- fantly before his eyes ; who finds every where the traces and remembrance of it. A penitent is a man, entrufted by God, with judgment againil himfelf ; who refufes himfelf the moft innocent pleafures, becaufe he had for- merly indulged in the moft criminal ; who puts up with the moft necefl*ary ones with pain ; who now regards his body as an enemy, whom it is neceffary to conquer; as an unclean veflel which muft ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 55 muft be purified ; as an unfaithful debtor, of whom it is proper to exad to the laft farthing ; a penitent regards himfelf as a criminal con- demned to death, becaufe he no longer is wor- thy of life. In the lofs of riches or health, he fees only a privation of favours that he had for- merly abufed ; in the humiliations which happen to him, but the pains of his guilt; in the agonies with which he is racked, but the commence- ment of thofe punimments he has juftly merit- ed ; fuch is a penitent. But I again afk you, where amongft us are penitents of this defcrip- tion ? Now look around you. I do not tell you to judge your brethren, but to examine what are the manners and morals of thofe who furround you ; nor do I fpeak of thofe open and avowed finners, who have thrown off even the appear- ance of virtue, I fpeak only of thofe who like yourfelves live like the generality ; and whofe a&ions prefent nothing to the public view, par- ticularly fhameful or depraved. They are fin- ners ; and they admit of it : You are not inno- cent ; and you confefs it yourfelves. Now, are they penitent ; or are you ? Age, avocations, more ferious employments, may perhaps have checked the fallies of youth : Even the bitter- nefs which the Almighty has made attendant on our paffions ; the deceits, the treacheries of the world ; an injured fortune, with a ruined ponftitutiori, may have cooled the ardour, and confined the irregular defires ojf your heart: Crimes 56 SERM O.N II. Crimes may have difgufled you even with crimes ; forpaffions gradually extinguifh themfelves. Time, and the natural inconftancy of the heart, will bring thefe about ; yet neverthelefs, though de- tached from fin by incapability, you are no near- er your God. According to the world, you are become more prudent, more regular, more what it calls men of probity ; more exac~i in fulfilling your public or private duties ; but you are not penitent. You have ceafed from your difor- ders ; but you have not expiated them : You are not converted : This great ftroke ; this grand change of the heart, which regenerates man, has not yet been felt by you. Neverthelefs this fitu- ation, fo truly, dangerous, does not alarm you : Sins, which have never been warned away by lincere repentance, and confequently never obli- terated from the book of life, appear in your eyes as no longer exifting ; and you will tran- quilly leave this world in a date of impenitence, fo much the more dangerous, as you will die, without being fenlible of your danger. What I fay here, is not merely a rafli expreflion, or an emotion of zeal : Nothing is more real, or more exadly true : It is the fituation of almoft all men, even the wifeft and moft efteemed by the world. The morality of the younger flages in life is always lax, if not licentious. Age, difguft, and eftablifhments for life, fix the heart, and with- draw it from debauchery : but where are thofe who ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 57 who are converted ? Where are thofe who ex- piate their crimes by tears of forrow, and true repentance ? Where are thofe, who having begun a$ linners, end as penitents ? Shew me, in your manner of living, the fmalleft trace of penitence. Are your grafpings at wealth and power ; your anxieties to attain the favour of the great, (and by thefe means an increafe of employments and influence), are thefe proofs of it ? Would you wifh to reckon even your crimes as virtues ? That the fufferings of your ambition, pride, and avarice, mould difcharge you from an obligation which they themfelves have impofed ? You are penitent to the world ; but are you fo to Jefus Chrift ? The infirmities with which God af- flidls you ; the enemies he raifes up againft you ; the difgraces and lofles with which he tries you ; do you receive them all as you ought, with humble fubmimon to his will; and far from finding in them occafions of penitence, do you not turn them into the objects of new crimes ? It is the duty of an innocent foul, to receive with fubmimon the chaftifements of the Al- mighty; to difcharge, with courage, the pain- ful duties of the ftation allotted to him ; and to be faithful to the laws of the gofpel ; but do fmners ; owe nothing beyond this ? And yet they pretend to falvation ; but upon what claim ? To fay that you are innocent before God, your own confcience will bear teftimony againft you. To endeavour to perfuade yourfelves that you E are *8 SERMON II. are penitent, you dare not ; and you would con- demn yourfelves through your own mouths. Upon what then doft thou depend, O man ! who thus liveft fo tranquil ? And what renders it ftilf more dreadful is,, that adling in this manner, you only follow the torrent : Your morals are the morals of almoft all men. You may, perhaps, be acquainted with fome ftill more guilty, (for I fuppofe you to have ftill remaining fome fentiments of reli- gion, and regard for your falvation); but do you know any real penitents ? I am afraid we mult fearch the deferts and folitudes for them. You can fcarcely particularife among perfons of rank and ufage of the world, a fmall number, whole morals and mode of life, more auftere and more guarded than die generality, attract the attention, and very likely the cenfure of the pu- blic : All the reft walk in the fame path. I fee clearly that every one comforts himfelf by the example of his neighbour : That in that point, children fucceed to the falfe fecurity of their fathers ; that none live innocent ; that none die penitent : I fee it ; and I cry, O God ! If thou haft not deceived us ; if all thou haft told us with regard to the road to eternal Jife, fhall be fulfilled to a point ; if the number of thofe who muft perifh, ihall not influence THEE to abate from the feverity of thy laws, what will become of that immenfe multitude of crea- tures which every hour difappcars from the face of ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED; 59 of the earth ? Where are our friends, our rela- tions who have gone before us ; and what is their lot in the eternal regions of death ? What fhall we ourfelves be one day ? When formerly a Prophet complained to the Lord, that all Ifrael had forfaken his protedion ; He replied, that feven thoufand ftill remained, who had not bowed the knee to Baal : Behold the number of pure and faithful fouls which a whole kingdom then contained. But couldeft thou ftill, O my God ! comfort the anguilh of thy fervants to- day by the fame afiurance ? I know that thine eye difcerns ftill fome upright amongft its ; that the priefthood has ftill its Phineas' ; the. ma- giftracy its Samuels; the fword its Jofhuas ; the Court its Daniels, its Efthers, and its Da- vids ; for the world only exifts for thy chofen ; and all would perifh were the number accom- pliihed : But thofe happy remains of the chil- dren of Ifrael who mail inherit falvation, what are they, compared to the grains of fand in the fea ; I mean to that number of imners who com- bat for their own deftrudion ? You come after this, n y brethren, to enquire if it be true, that few flail be faved. Thou haft faid it, O my God ! and confequently it is a truth which wilj endure for ever. But, even. admitting that the Almighty had not fpoken thus, I would wifh, in the fecond place, To review, for an inftant, what paffes among men : The laws by which they are governed : E * The 60 SERMON II. The maxims by which the multitude is regu- lated : This is the fccond caufe, of the paucity of the faved ; and, properly fpeaking, is only a developement of the firft : The force of habit and cuftoms. PART II. Few people are faved, becaufe the maxims mod univerfally received in all countries, and upon which depend, in general, the morals of thr multitude, are incompatible with falvation. The rules laid down, approved, and authorifcd by the world, with regard to the application of wealth, the love of glory, Chriftian moderation, an . the duties of offices and conditions, are dia- metrically oppofite to thofe of the Evangel i Us ; and confequently can lead only to death. I lhall not, at prefent, enter into a detail too ex- tended for :i difcourfe, and too little ferious, per- haps, for Chriftians. I need not tell you, that it is an eftablifhed cuftom in the world, to allow the liberty of pro- portioning expences to rank and wealth ; and provided it is a patrimony we inherit from our anceftors, we may diftinguiih ourfelves by the ufe of it, without reftraint to our luxury, or without regard in our profufion, to any thing but our pride and caprice. But Chriftian moderation has its rules : We are. not the abfolute mailers of our riches ; nor are we entitled to abufe what the Almighty has. beftowed upon us for better purpofes : Above all, while thoufands of unfortunate wretches languiih. ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 6l Sanguifh in poverty, whatever we make ufe of beyond the wants and neceflary expences of our ftation, is an inhumanity to, and a theft from, the poor. Thefe are refinements of devotion, fay they ; and in matters of experice and pro- fuiion nothing is exceflive or blameable, accord- mg to the world, but what may tend to derange the fortune. I need not tell you, that it is an approved cuftom, to decide our lots, and to re- gulate our choice of profeffions or filiations in life, by the order of our birth, or theinte efts of fortune. But, O my God ! does the mmiftry of thy gofpel derive its fource from the worldly confiderations of a carnal birth? We cannot eftablifh all, fays the world, and it would be melancholy to fee perfons of rank and birth in avocations unworthy of their dignity. If born to a name diftinguifhed in the world, you mutt get forward by dint of intrigue, meanneis, and expence : Make fortune your idol. That am- bition, however much condemned by the laws -of the gofpel, is only a fentiment worthy your -name and birth. You are of a f ex and rank which introduce you to the gaities of the world : You cannot but do as others do : You muft frequent all the pu- blic places, where thofe of your age and rank flemble; enter into the fame pleafures ; pa fs your days in the fame frivolities; and expofe 'ourfeUso the fame dangers ; thefe are there- E 3 ceived 62 S E R M O N II. ceived maxims ; and you are not made to re- form them : Such is the doctrine of the world. Now, permit me to afk you here ; Who con- firms you in thefe ways ? By what rule are they juftified to your mind ? Who authorifes you in this diflipation, which is neither agreeable to the title you have received by baptifm, nor per- haps to thofe you hold from your anceftors ? "Who authorifes thofe public pleafures, which you only think innocent, becaufe your foul, al- ready too familiarized with fin, feels no longer the dangerous impreflions or tendency of them ? Who authorifesyou to lead an effeminate and fen- fual life, without virtue, fufferance, or any religi- ous exerciie ? To live like a ftranger in the midft of your own family, difdaining to inform your- felf with regard to the morals of thofe depen- dent upon you ! Through an affected ftate, to be ignorant whether they believe in the fame God ; whether they fulfil the duties of the religion you profefs ? Who authorifes you in maxims fo little Chriftian ? Is it the gofpel of Jefus Chrift ? Is it the doctrine of the Apoflles and faints: For furely fome rule is neceflary to aflure us that we are in . fafety : What is yours ? Cuftom : That is the only reply you can make. We fee none around Us, but what conduft themfelves in the fame way and by trie fame rule. Entering into the world, we find the manners already eftablifhed : Our fathers lived thus, and from them we copy pur cuftoms : The wifeft conform to them : An individual ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 63 individual cannot be wifer than the whole world, and muft not pretend to make himfelf fingular, by acting contrary to the general voice. Such, my brethren, are your only comforters againft all the terrors of religion : None a6t up to the law. The public example is the only. guarantee of our morals. We never reflect, that, as the Holy Spirit fays, the laws of the people are vain : That our Saviour has left us rules, in which neither times, ages, nor cuftoms, can ever .authorife the fmalleft change : That the heavens and the earth mall pafs away ; that cuftoms and manners mail change ; but that the Divine laws will everlaftingly be the fame. We content ourfelves with looking around us : We do not reflect, that what at prefent we call <:uftom, would, in former times, before the mo- rals of Chriftians became degenerated, have been regarded as monftrous lingularities , and, if cor- ruption has gained fince that period, thefe vices, though they have loft their lingularity, have not loft their guilt. We. do not refled, that we mail be judged by the gofpel, and not by cuftom ; by the examples of the holy, and not by mens opi- nions ; that the habits, which are only eftablifh- ed among believers by the relaxation of faith, are abufes we are to lament, not examples we are to follow : That in changing the manners, they have not changed our duties : That the -common and general example which authorifes .them, only proves that virtue is rare, but not E 4 tha,t &j. SER.MON II. that profligacy is permitted : In a word, that piety and a real Chriftian life are too unpalatable to our depraved nature, ever to be praclifed by the majority of men. Come now and fay, that you only do as others do : It is exactly by that you condemn yourfelves. What ! the moil terrible certainty of your condemnation, (hall become the only motive for your confidence 1 Which, according to the Scriptures, is the road that con- duds to death ? Is it not that which the majori- ty purfucs ? Which is the party of the repro- bate ? Is it not the multitude ? You do nothing but what others do ; But thus, in the time of Noah, perifhed all who were buried under the waters of the Deluge : All who, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, proftrated themfelves before the golden calf: All who, in the time of Elijah, bowed the knee to Baal : All who, in the time of Eleazar, abandoned the law of their fathers. You only do what others do ; but that is exact- ly what the Scriptures forbid : Do not, fay they, conform yourfelves to this corrupted age : Now, the corrupted age means not the fmall number of juft, whom you endeavour not to imitate ; it means the multitude whom you follow. You only do what others do : You will confequently experience the fame lot. Now, " Mifery to " thee, (cried formerly St Auguftin), fatal tor- '* rent of human cuilbms ; wilt thou never fu- << fpend thy courfe ? To the end wilt thou drag " in ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 6$ " in the children of Adam to thine immenfe and " terrible abyfs ?" In place of faying to ourfelves, " What are " my hopes ? In the church of Jefus Chrift there " are two roads ; one broad and open, by which " almoil the whole world pafles, and which leads " to death ; the other narrow, where few indeed " enter, and which conduds to life eternal ; In " which of thefe am I ? Are my morals the " ufual ones of perfons of my rank, age, and " lituation in life ? Am I with the great num- " ber ? Then I am not in the right path : I am " loiing myfelf : The great number in every fta- " tion is not the party of the faved." Far from reafoning in this manner, we fay to ourfelves, " I am not in a worfe ftate than others ; thofe " of my rank and age live as I do : Why mould " I not live like them ?" Why, my dear hearer ? For that very reafon : The general mode of li- ving cannot be that of a Chriftian life : In all ages, the holy have been remarkable and iingu- lar men : Their manners were always different from thofe of the world ; and they have only been faints, becaufe their lives had no limilarity to thofe of the reft of mankind. In the time of Efdras, in fpite of the defence againft it, the cuftom prevailed of intermarrying with ftranger women : This abufe became general : The priefts and the people no longer made any fcruple of it : But what did this holy reftorer of the law ; or did he follow the example of his brethren ? Did 66 SERMON n. Did he believe, that guilt, in becoming gene- ral, became more legitimate ? No. He recall- ed the people to a fenfe of the abufe : He took the book of the law in his hand, and explain- ing it to the affrighted people, corrected the cuf- tom by the truth. Follow, from age to age, the hiftory of the juft ; and fee if Lot conformed himfelf to the habits of Sodom, or if nothing diftinguifhed him from the other inhabitants : If Abraham lived like the reft of his age : If Job refembled the other princes of his nation : If Either conducted herfelf in the court of A- hafuerus like the other women of that Prince : Jf many widows in Ifrael refembled Judith : If, among the children of the captivity, it is not faid of Tobias alone, that he copied not the con- duct of his brethren ; and that he even fled from the danger of their commerce and fociety. See, if in thofe happy ages, when Chriftians were all faints, they did not mine like ftars in the midft of the corrupted nations ; and if they ferved not as a fpectacle to angels and men, by the fingu- larity of their lives and manners : If the Pagans did not reproach them for their retirement, and fhunning of all public theatres, places, and plea- fures : If they did not complain that the Chrif- tians affected to diftinguifh themfelves in every thing from their fellow-citizens ; to form a fepa- rate people in the midft of the people ; to have their particular laws and cuftoms ; and if a man .from their fide embraced the party of the Chrif- tians, N THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 67 tians, they did not coniider him as for ever loft to their pleafures, affemblies, and cuftoms : In a word, fee, if in all ages, the faints whofe lives and adlions have been tranfmitted down to us, have refembled the reft of mankind. You will perhaps tell us, that all thefe are fingularities and exceptions, rather than rules which the world is obliged to follow : They are exceptions, it is true ; but the reafon is, that the general rule is to throw away falvation ; that a religious and pious foul in the midft of the world, is always a lingularity approaching to a miracle. The whole world, you fay, is not obliged to fol- low thefe examples ; but is not piety the gene- ral duty of all ? To be faved, muft we not be holy ? Muft heaven, with difficulty and fuffer- ance, be gained by fome ; while with eafe by others ? Have you any other gofpel to follow ; other duties to fulfil ; other promifes to hope for, than thofe of the Holy Bible ? Ah ! Since there was another way more eafy to arrive at falvation, wherefore, ye pious Chriftians, who at this moment enjoy in heaven, that kingdom, gained with toil, and at the expence of your blood, did ye leave us examples fo dangerous and ufelefs ? Wherefore have ye opened for us a road, rug- ged, difagreeable, and calculated to reprefs our ardour, feeing there was another you could have pointed out, more eafy, and more likely to at- us, by facilitating our progrefs ? Great God ! how 63 S R M O N II. how little does mankind confult reafon in the point of eternal falvation ! Will you confole yourfelves after this with the multitude, as if the greatnefs of the number could render the guilt unpunifhed, and the Almighty durft not condemn all thofe who live like you ? But what are all creatures in the light of God ? Did the multitude of the guilty prevent him from deftroying all flefh at the Deluge : From making fire from heaven delcend upon the five iniqui- tous cities ? From burying in the waters of the Red Sea, Pharaoh and all his army ? From ftri- king with death all who murmured in the de- fert? Ah! The kings of the earth may have re- gard to the number of the guilty , becaufe the punifhment becomes impoffible, or at leafl dan- gerous, when the fault is become general. But God, who wipes tke impious, fays Job, from off the face of the earth, as one wipes the duft from off q,garment ; God, in whofc iight all people and nations are as if they were not, numbers not the guilty : He has regard only to the crimes ; and all that the weak and miferable finner can expect from his unhappy accomplices, is to have them as companions in his mifery. So few are faved ; becaufe the maxims moft univerfally adopted, are maxims of fin : So few are faved, becaufe the maxims and duties moft uniA'erfally un- known, or rejected, are thofe moft indifpenfablc to falvation. Laft reflection, which is indeed no- thing ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 6c| thing more than the proof, and the explanation of the former ones. What are the engagements of the holy voca- tion to which we have all been called? The-fo- lemn promifes of baptifm. What have we pro- mifed at baptifm ? To renounce the world, the devil, and the flefh : Thefe are our vows : This is the fituation of the Chriftian : Thefe are the efiential conditions of our covenant with God, by which eternal life has been promifed to us. Thefe truths appear familiar, and deftined for the common people ; but it is a miftake : Nothing can be more fublime ; and alas ! no- thing is more generally unknown : It is at the courts of kings, and to the princes of the earth r that without cealing we ought to announce them. Alas ! They are well inftruded in all the affairs of the world, while the firft principles of Chrif- tian morality are frequently more unknown to them than to humble and fimple hearts. At your baptifm, you have then renounced the world. It is a promife you have made to God, before the holy altar ; the Church has been the guarantee and depoiitory of it ; and you have only been admitted into the number of belie- vers, and marked with the undefeafible feal of falvation, upon the faith that you have fworn to the Lord, to love neither the world, nor what the world loves. Had you then anfwered what you now repeat every day, that you find not the world fo black and pernicious as we fay ; that I after JTQ SER MON II. after all it may innocently be loved; and that we only decry it fo much, becaufe we do not know it ; and iince you are to live in the world, you wifh to live like thofe who are in it : Had you anfwered thus, the Church would not have received you into its bofom ; would not have connected you with the hope of Chriflians, nor joined you in communion with thofe who have overcome the world : She would have advifed you to go and live with thofe infidels who know not our Saviour. For this reafon it was, that, in former ages, thofe of the Catechumen, who could not prevail upon themfelves to renounce the world and its pleafures, put off their bap- tifm till death ; and durft not approach the holy altar, to contract by the facrament, which rege- nerates us, engagements of which they knew the importance and fanclity ; and to fulfil which, they felt themfelves ftill unqualified. You are therefore required, by the moft facred of all vows, to hate the world ; that is to fay, not to con- form yourfelves to it : If you love it, if you follow its pleafures and cuftoms, you are not only, as St John fays, the enemy of God, but you likewife re- nounce the faith given inbaptifm : You abjure the gofpel of Jefus Chrift : You are an apoftate from religion, and trample under foot the moft fa- cred and irrevocable vows that man can make. Now, what is this world which you ought to hate ? I have only to anfwer, 'that it is the one you love : You will never miflake it by this mark : 0N THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 71 mark : This world is a fociety of finners ; whofe defires, fears, hopes, cares, projeds, joys, and chagrins, no longer turn but upon the, fuccefies or misfortunes of this life. This world is an af- femblage of people, who look upon the earth as their country ; the time to come as an exile- ment ; the promifes of faith as a dream ; and death as the greateft of all misfortunes. This World is a temporal kingdom, where our Saviour is unknown ; where thofe acquainted with his name glorify him not as their Lord ; hate his maxima; defpife his followers ; and negled or infult him in his facraments and worfhip. In a word, to give a proper, idea at once of this world, it is the great number ; behold the world, which you ought to mun, hate, and combat againft by your example. Now is this your fituation with regard to the world? "Are its pleafures a fatigue to you ; do its excefles afflid you ; do you regret the length of your pilgrimage here ? Are not its laws your laws ? Its maxims your maxims ? What it con- demns, do- you not condemn ? Do not you ap- prove what it approves ? And mould it happen, that you alone were left upon the earth, may we not fay, that the corrupted world would be re- vived in you ; and that you would leave an ex- ad model of it to your pofterity ? When I fay you, I mean and I addrefs myfelf to almoft all men. Where 72 S E R M O N II. Where are thofe who fincerely renounce the pleafures, habits, maxims, and hopes of this world? We find many who complain of it ; and accufe it of injuftice, ingratitude, and caprice ; who fpeak warmly of its abufes and errors ; but in decrying, they continue to love, to follow it ; they cannot bring themfelves to do without it ; in complaining of its injuftice, they are only piqued at it, they are not undeceived ; they feel its hard treatment, but they are unacquainted with its dangers ; they cenfure, but where are thofe who hate it ? And now, my brethren, you may judge, if many can have a claim to fal- vation. In the fecond place, you have renounced the flefh at your baptifm ; that is 'to fuy, you are engaged not to live according to the fenfual ap- petites ; to regard even indolence and effemina- cy as crimes ; not to flatter the corrupted deli res of the flefh ; but to chaftife, crufh, and crucify it. This is not an acquired perfection ; it is a vow ; it is the firft of all duties ; the character of a true Chriftian, and infeparable from faith. In a word, you have anathematized Satan and all his works: And what are his works? That which compofes almoft the thread and end of your life ; pomp, pleafure, luxury, and diflipation : Lying, of which he is the father; pride, of which he is the model ; jealoufy and contention, of which he is the artifan : But I afk you, where are thofe who have not withdrawn the anathema \/'- they ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 7^ they had pronounced againft Satan ? Now con- fequently, (to mention it as we go along), behold many of the queftions anfwered. You continually demand of us, if theatres and other public places of amufement, be innocent recreations for Chriftians. In return, I have on- ly one queition to afk you. Are they the works of Satan, or of Jefus Chrifi ? For there can be no medium in religion. I mean not to fay, but what many recreations and amufements may be termed indifferent: But the molt indifferent plea- fures which religion allows, and which the weak- nefs of our nature renders even neceflary, belong in one fenfe to Jefus Chrifl, by the facility with which they ought to enable us to apply our- {elves to more holy and more ferious duties. Every thing we do ; every thing we rejoice or weep at, ought to be of fuch a nature, as to have a connection with Jefus Chrift, and to be done for his glory. Now, upon this principle, the molt inconteftible, and moft univerfally al- lowed in Chriftian morality, you have only to decide whether you can conned: the glory of Jefus Chrift with the pleafures of a theatre. Can our Saviour have any part in fuch a fpecies of recreation? And before you enter them, can you, with confidence, declare to him, that in fo do- ing, you only propofe his glory, and to enjoy the fatisfaction of pleafing him ? What ! The theatres, fuch as they are at prefent, ftill more criminal, by the public licentiotifnefs of thofe F unfortunate 74 SERMON II. unfortunate creatures who mount them, than by the impure and pafiionate fcenes they repre- fent: The theatres are the works of Jefus Chrift ! Jefus Chrift would animate a mouth, from whence are to proceed founds, lafcivious, and intended to corrupt the heart ? But thefe blaf- phemies ftrike me with horror. Jefus Chrift would prefide in aifemblies of fin, where every thing we hear weakens his doctrines ; where the poifon enters into the foul by all the fenfes ; where every art is employed to infpire, awaken, and juftify the paffions he condemns ? Now, fays Tertullian, if they are not the works of Jefus Chrift, they muft be the works of Satan : Every Chriftian ought, therefore, to abitain from them : When lie partakes of them, he violates the vows of baptifin : However innocent he may flutter himfelf to be, in bringing from thefe places an untainted heart, it is fullied by being there ; iince by his prefence alone he has participated in the works of Satan, which he had renounced at baptifm, and violated the mod facred pro- mifes he had made to Jefus Chrift and to hi; Church. Thefe, my brethren, as I have already tol< you, are not merely advices, and pious arts they are the moft efiential of our obligations : But alas! who fulfils them? who even knows them ? Ah ! my brethren, did you know ho\ far the title you bear, of Chriftian, engages you ; could you comprehend the fanctity of your flate 5 ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 75 tf ate ; the hatred of the world, of yourfelf, and of every thing, which is not of God, that it or- dains you ; that life, according to the Gofpel, that continual watching, that guard over the paffions : in a word, that conformity with Jefus Chrift crucified, which it exafts of you : could you comprehend it; could you remember, that as you ought to love God with all your heart, and all your ftrength, a fmgle defire that has not connexion with him defiles you, you would appear a monfter in your own fight. How ! would you fay to yourfelf, duties ib holy, and morals fo prophane ! A vigilance fo continual and a life fo carelefs and diffipated ! A love of God fo pure, fo complete, fo univerfal, and a heart the continual prey of a thoufaad impulfes ither foreign or criminal : If thus it is, who, O my God ! will be entitled to falvation ? Few indeed, I am afraid, my dear hearer : at leaft it will not be you, (unlefs a change takes place), nor thofe who refemble you : it will not be the multitude. Who mall be faved ? thofe who work their falvation with fear and trem- bling; who live in the midft of the world but not like the world. Who mall be faved ?' that ihnftian woman, who flmt up in the circle* of her domefhc duties, rears up fcer children in ith, and in piety; divides her heart only be- twixt her Saviour and her hufband ; is adorned witn delicacy and modefty ; fi ts not down in the airemblies of vanity; makes not a law of F2 the }6 SERMON II. ridiculous cuftoms of the world, but regulates thefe cuftoms by the law of God : and makes virtue appear more amiable, by her rank and example. Who mail be faved ? That believer, who, in the relaxation of modern times, imi- tates the manners of the firft Chriftians ; whofe Hands are clean, and his heart pure ; watchful ; " who hath not lift up his foul to vanity ," but who, in the midft of the dangers of the great world, continually applies himfelf to purify it : Juft, who fwears not deceitfully againft his neigh- bour, nor is indebted to fraudulent ways for the innocent aggrandifemeut of his fortune : Gene- rous, who with benefits repays the enemy who fought his ruin : Sincere, who facrifices not the truth to a vile intereft, and knows not the part of rendering himfelf agreeable, by betray- ing his confcience". Charitable, who makes his houfe and intereft the refuge of his fellow-crea- tures, and himfelf the confolation of the afflict- ed ; regards his wealth as the property of the poor ; humble in affliction, chriftian under in- juries, and penitent, even in profperity. Who will merit falvation ? You, ray dear hearer, if you will follow thefe examples ; for fuch are the fouls to be faved. Now thefe afiuredly ds not form the greateft number : while you con- tinue, therefore, to live like the multitude, it is a point of belief, that you cannot pretend to fal- vation. Tliele, ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. Jj Thefe, my Brethren, are truths which ftiould make us tremble ; nor are they thofe vague ones which are told to all men, and which none ap- ply to themfelves : Perhaps there is not in this affembly, an individual, who may not fay of himfelf, " I live like the great number ; like " thofe of my rank, age, and fituation : I am " loft, mould I die in this path." Now can any thing be more capable of alarming a foul, in whom fome remains of care for his falvation ftill exift ? It is the multitude, neverthelefs, who tremble not. There is only a fmall number of juft, which operates apart, its falvation, with fear and trembling : All the reft are tranquil. Af- ter having lived with the multitude, they flatter themfelves they mall be particularifed at death ; every one augurs favourably for himfelf, and chimerically thinks he mail be an exception. On this account, it is, my brethren, that I con- fine myfelf to you, who at prefent are aflembled here ; I include not the reft of men ; but con- fider you as alone exifting on the earth. The idea, which occupies and frightens me, is this, I figure to myfelf the prefent, as your laft hour,' and the end of the world : That the heavens are going to open above your heads : Our Savi- our in all his glory, to appear in the midft of this temple ; and that you are only aflembled here to wait his coming, like trembling crimi- nals, on whom the fentence is to be pronounced, either of life eternal, or of everlafting death : For yg SE R M K II. it is vain to flatter yourfelves, that you fhall die* more innocent than you are at this hour : All thofe defires of change with which you are a- mufed, will continue to amufe you till death ar- rives j the experience of all ages proves it ; the only difference you have to expect, will moft likely be only a larger balance againfl you than what you would have to anfwer for at prefent : And from what would be your deftiny, were you to be judged this moment, you may almofl de- cide upon what will take place at your depar- ture from life. Now I afk you, (and connect- ing my own lot with yours, I afk it with dread), were Jefus Chrift to appear in this temple, in the midft of this afiembly, to judge us, to make the dreadful feparation betwixt the goats and flieep, do you believe that the greatefl number of us would be placed at his right hand ? Do you believe that the number would at kaft be equal ? Do you believe there would even be found ten upright and faithful fervants of the LorJ, when formerly five cities could not fur- nifh fo many? I afk you. You know not : and I know it not. Thou alone, O my God ! know- eft who belong to thee. But if we know not who belong to him, at leaft we know that finners do not. Now, who are the juft and faithful, aflembled here at pre- ient ? Titles and dignities avail nothing : You are ftripped of all thefe in the prefence of youi Saviour : Who are they ? Many finners, wl wi UN THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 79 wifli not to be converted ; many more who wifli, but always put it off; many others, who are on- ly converted in appearance, and again fall back to their former courfes : In a word, a great num- ber, who natter themfelves they have no occa* lion for converfion : This is the party of the re- probate. Ah ! my brethren, cut off from this alTembly thefe four claries of tinners, for they will be cut off at the great day : And now ap- pear, ye juft : Where are ye ? O God ! where are thy chofcn ? And what a portion remains to thy mare ! My brethren, our ruin is almoft certain ; yet we think not of it. When even in this terrible feparation, which will one day take place, there mould be only one fmner in this affembly, on the fide of the reprobate ; and that a voice from heaven mould affure us of it, without particu- larifing him : Who of us would not tremble, leaft he mould be the unfortunate and devoted wretch ? Who of us would not immediately apply to his confcience, to examine if his crimes merited not this punifliment? Who of us, feized with dread, would not demand of our Saviour, as the Apoftles formerly did, and fay, " Lord, " is it I ?" And mould a fmall refpite be allow- ed to our prayers, who of us would not ufe eve- ry effort, by tears, fupplications, and fincere re- pentance, to avert the misfortune? Are we in our fenfes, my dear hearers ? Perhaps, among all who liften to me, ten juft would not be found ; F 4 perhaps gd S R. M O N II. perhaps fewer : What do I know, O my God ! I dare not with a fixed eye regard the depths of thy judgments and thy juftice. More than one: perhaps would not be found amongft us all. And this d nge affefts you not, my dear hearer ? You perfuade yourfelf, that in this great num- ber who fliall perifti, you will be the happy in- dividual ; you, who have le& reafon ,,e haps than any other to believe it ; you, upon whom alone the fentence of death fliould fall, were on- ly one of all who hear me, to fuffer? Great God I How little are the terrors of thy law known to the world \ In all ages, the juft have ihudder- ed with dread, in reflecting on the feverity and extent of thy judgments upon the deftinies of men: Alas! What do they prepare for the chil- dren of Adam 1 But what are we to conclude from thefe grand truths ? That all muft defpair of falvation ? God forbid : The impious alone, to quiet his own feelings in his debaucheries, endeavours to p r- fuade himfelf, that all men mail perilh as well as he. This idea ought not to be the fruit of the pre- fent difcourfe. It is meant to undeceive you with regard to the general error, that any one may do whatever otheis do ; to conv nee you, that in order to merit falvation, you muft dif- tinguifh yourfelves from the reft ; in the midft of the world, lead a life to the glory of God, and refemble not the multitude. When ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. g* Wh.-i the Jews were led in captivity frooi Judea to Babylon, a little before they quitted their own country, the Prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord had forbid to leav-. Jerufalem, fpoke thus to them : " Children of Ifrael, when you " fhali arrive at Babylon, you will behold the inhabitants of that country, who carry upon u their moulders gods of filver and gold : All " the people will proftrate themfelves, and adore 44 them. But you, far from allowing yourfelves " by thefe exampl s, to be led to impiety, fay to " yourfelves in fecret, It is thou, O Lord ! . . horn " we ought to adore." Let me now finifh, by addreffing to you the fame words : At your departure from this temple, you go to enter into another Babylon : You go to fee idols of gold and filver, before which all men pro- ftrate themfelves: You go to regain the vain objects of human paffions, wealth, glory, and pleafure, which are the gods of this world, and which almoft all men adore : You will fee thofe abufes, which all the world permits ; thofe er- rors, which cuftom authorifes ; and thofe de- baucheries, which an infamous fafhion has al- moft conftituted as laws. Then, my dear hear- er, if you wifh to be of the fmall number of true Ifraelites, fay in the fecrecy of your heart, It is thou alone, O my God ! whom we ought to adore. I wifh not to have connection with a people, which knows thee not : I will have no 82 S E R M O N II. no other law than thy holy law : the gods, which this foolifh multitude adores, are not gods ; they are the work of the hands of men ; they will perifh with them : Thou alone, O my God ! art immortal ; and thou alone deferveft to be ado- red. The cufloms of Babylon have no connec 1 tion with the holy laws of Jerufalem : I will continue to worfhip thee with that Imall number of the children of Abraham, which ftill in the midft of an infidel nation compofes thy people : With them, I will turn all my deiires towards the Holy Sion : The iingularity of my manners will be regarded as a weaknefs ; but blefled weak- nefs, O my God ! which will give me ftrength to refift the torrent of cuftoms, and the feduc- tion of example : Thou wilt be my God in the midft of Babylon, as thou wilt one day be in Je- rufalem. Ah ! The time of the captivity will at laft expire : Thou wilt call to thy remembrance, A- braham and David : Thou wilt deliver thy peo- ple : Thou wilt tranfport us to the holy city : Then wilt thou alone reign over Ifrael, and over the nations which at prefent know thee not. All being deftroyed ; all the empires and fceptres of the earth ; all the monuments of human pride annihilated ; and thou alone remaining eternal, we then mall know, that thou art the Lord of hofts, and the only. God to be adored. Behold the fruit which you ought to reap from this difcourfe j live apart ; think without ceafing, ON THE SMAtL NUMBER OF THE SAVED. 83 ceafmg, that the great number work their own deftru&ion : Regard, as nothing, all cuftoms of the earth, unlefs authorifed by the law of God : and remember, that holy men have in all ages been always looked upon as fingular. It is thus, that after diftinguifhing yourfelves from the iinful on earth, you will be glorioufly feparated from them in eternity, Now to God the Father, &c. SER- SERMON III. SERMON III. THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIR- TUE. JOHN x. 31. Then the Jews toot up Jlonet again % to Jlone him* BEHOLD then, my brethren, the marks of gratitude which Jefus Chrift receives from men ; behold the confolations which Heaven prepares for him in the painful exercife of his miniftry. There he is treated as a Samaritan, and poflfefied by the devil : Here they take up ft ones to ftone him. It is thus that the Son of God has pafied all the time of his mortal life, continually expofed to the moft obftinate con- tradiction, finding only hearts infenfible to his kindnefies, and rebellious to the truths which he announced THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. 8f our miferfes; where every thing prefents new dangers to us ; where we live furrounded by rocks ; where we are a prey to a thoufand ene- mies; where every ftep indangers our deftruflion : where all our days are marked by fome new in- fidelity; where, delivered up to ourfelves, and without the afliftance of heaven, we do no- thing but evil ; where we fpread the corruption of our heart over the fmall portion, even of good, which grace enables us to accomplifh ; it is un- reafonable, I fay, to feek felicity and human confolations in a refidence fo melancholy and duagreeable to the children of God. The days f our mourning and fadnefs are in this world thole of peace and joy will come afterwards it, by abandoning God, we could acquire real happmefs, our inconftancy would feem at leaft >haveanexcufe; but as I have already faid, the world has its difgufts as well as virtue by changmg our mailer, we only change our pu- niament; in defying our paffions, we only diverOfy our fon-ows. The world has more f mi . 1'ngafpeas, I confefs, than virtue ; but every- where the reality is only trouble and vexation of fpmt; and fince cares are inevitable in this [fe,and we muft encounter difgufts either on the part of the world or of virtue, can we ba- G 2 lance p 2 SERMON III. lance for a moment ? Is it not preferable to fuf- fer meritorioufly than to fuffer in vain ; and be able to place our fufferings only amongft the number of our crimes ? Firft truth : Difgufts are inevitable in this life. REFLECT. II. But I fay, in the fecond place, that thofe of piety are not fo bitter as we repre- fent them to ourfelves. For, my brethren, although we agree that the kingdom of God fuffers violence ; that Je- fus Chrift is come, in order to make feparations and retrenchments which coft much to our na- ture ; that the period of the prefent life is the time of the birth of th e new man, and always followed by pain and forrows ; and that in or- der to reconcile us to God, we muft begin by waging a cruel war againft ourfelves ; yet it does not follow, that the lot of a foul, who ferves the Lord, is to be pitied, and that the difgufts which accompany virtue are fo bitter as the world reprefents. Virtue has only the prejudi- ces of the fenfes, and of the pafllons againft it ; it has nothing melancholy but the firft glance ; and its bitternefs is not fuch, as to render it a condition which we ought to fly from as infup- portable and wretched. For, in the firft place, we are fheltered in it from the difgufts of the world and the pafllons ; and were virtue to poflefs only the fingle advantage of placing us fafe from the tempefts of the pafllons ; from DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. 93 from phrenfies, jealoufies, fafpicions, and bitter- nefs of heart ; from the void of a worldly life ; when, by turning to God, we fhould gain only our freedom from the yoke of the world our being placed above the reach of its hopes ; of its revolutions, troubles, and eternal changes ; the becoming maflers of our own hearts, and being dependent on none but ourfelves ; our ha- ving none but God to account with ; our no longer fatiguing ourfelves in vain, by running after phantoms, which continually elude our grafp alas ! The lot of a juft foul would al- ways be worthy of envy ; whatever might be the bitter circumftances accompanying virtue, they would ftill be a thoufand times more fup~ portable than the pleafures of the world ; and to mourn with the people of God, would be infi- nitely preferable to participating in the infi- pid and childim pleafures of the children of the age. Secondly, If virtue does not proteft us from the afflictions and difgraces inevitable upon this earth, it at leaft foftens their afperity j it makes our heart fubmiffive to God ; it makes us kifs the hand which is raifed up againft us ; it difco- vers in the blows with which the Lord afflids us, either a cure for our paffions, or the juft punifh! ment of our crimes. And were virtue to have on- fy the privilege of diminiming our griefs, by di- iimifhing our attachments ; of rendering us lefs ling to our loiles, by gradually detaching us G 3 from ON ill. from all the objects which we may one day lofe > of preparing our foul for affliction, by keeping it continually fubmiflive to God ; were virtue to pofiefs this confolation alone ; alas ! ought we to lament and complain of any bitternefs which attends it ? What more can be defired in this miferable life, where almoft all our days are dif- tinguifaed by new afflictions and adverlities ; where every thing efcapes our grafp ; where our- relations, friends, and protectors, are every mo- ment matched from us, and continually falling around us ; where our fortune has no fettlement, but changes its appearance every day ; ahis ! what more can be defired than a fituation which confoles us on thefe events -, fupports us in thefe ftorms ; calms us in thefe agitations ; and which, in the eternal changes which take place here below, leaves us at leaft always the fame ? Thirdly, Thofe reluctances and difgufts which revolt us fo ftrongly againfl virtue, in reality conlift only in repreffing the pafiions which ren- der us unhappy, and are the fource of all our pains ; they are remedies a little grievous to be fure, but they ferve to cure evils which are in- finitely more fo ; it is a conftraint which fa- tigues us, but which, in fatiguing, delivers us- from a flavery which weighed us down ; it is a bitternefs which mortifies the paffions, but which in mortifying, weakens and calms them ; it is a fword which pierces the heart to the quick , but which makes the corrupted and defiled mat- ter fiisGtJSf S ACCOtaF'ANYitfG VIRttJE. 3 ter to flow out from it ; in fo much, that in the very moment of the wound's greateft agony, We experience the comfort and certainty of a cure : Thefe are maxims which revolt our na- ture and inclinations ; but which, in revolting, recal them to order and rule. Thus, the bit- ternefs and the thorns of virtue have always at leaft a prefent utility, which recompenfes their harfhnefs ; in difgufting, they purify us ; in prob- ing, they cure us ; in paining, they calm us. Thefe are not like the difgufts of the world, of which nothing remains to us, but the bitternefs of thofe fatigues, of thofe conftraints which our paflions impofe on us ; and whofe only fruit is, that of augmenting our miferies, by fortifying our iniquitous paflions : thefe are not the world- ly violences which lead to nothing ; are of no value ; and frequently ferve only to render us hateful to thofe whom we would wifh to pleafe ; Which remove to a greater diftance from us, the favours we wifh to merit by them ; which al- ways leave us our hatreds, our delires, our unea- finefles, and our pains : Thefe are violences which advance the work of our fandification, Which by degrees deftroy within us the work of fin ; which perfect, which adorn us ; which add every day a new fplendour to our foul, a new folidity to our virtues, a new force to our faith, a new facility to our approaches towards falvation, a new firmnefs to our good delires, and G 4 which $6 SERMON III. which bear along with them the fruit that re- wards and confoles us. 1 do not add, that the fource of our difgufls is in ourfelves rather than in virtue ; that it is our paflions which give birth to our repugnances ; that virtue has nothing in itfelf but what is ami- able; that were our hearts not depraved through love for the flefh, we would find nothing f \veet and confoling but the pleafures of innocence ; that we are born for virtue and righteoufnefs ; that thefe ought to be our firft inclinations, as they are our firfl diftin&ion ; and if we find different difpofitions within us, at leaft we have not vir- tue, but only ourfelves to blame. I could add, that perhaps it is the peculiar character of our heart, which fpreads for us fo much bitternefs through the detail of a Chriftian life ; that be- ing born perhaps with more lively paflions, and a heart more fenfible to the world and to plea- fure, virtue appears more melancholy and in- fupportable to us ; that not finding in the fer- vice of God the fame attraction which we have found in that of the world, our heart, accuflom- ed to lively and animated pleafures, is no longer capable of reconciling itfelf to the expected drea- rinefs of a Chriftian life ; that the endlefs diflipa- tion in which we have lived, renders the unifor- mity of duties more irkfome to us; the agitation of parties and pleafures, retirement more difguft- ing; our total fubmiflion to the paflions, prayer more painful ; the frivolous maxims with which our THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. 97 our minds are occupied, the truths of faith more inlipid, and more unknown ; that our mind be- ing filled with only vain things ; with fabolous reading, if nothing worfe ; with chimerical ad- ventures, and theatrical phantoms, is no longer capable of relifhing any thing folid ; that never having accuflomed ourfelves to any thing fe- rious, it is rare that the ferioufnefs of piety does not difguft us, and that we find God to our tafte, if I dare fpeak in this manner, we who have ne- ver relilhed any thing but the world and its vain hopes. This being the cafe, what happinefs when we bring back to virtue, a heart yet incor- rupted by the world ! What happinefs to enter into the fervice of God, with happy inclinations, and fome remains of our original innocence 1 When we begin early to know the Lord ; when we return to him in that firft feafon of our life, when the world has not yet made fuch profound and defperate impreffions ; when the paffions ftill in their growth, bend eafily towards good, and make virtue, as it were, a natural inclina- tion to us! What happinefs when we have been able to put an early check upon our heart ; when we have accuftomed it to bear the yoke of the Lord ; and when we have arrefted, almoft in their infancy, paffions, which render us miferable in our guilt, and which likewife occaiion all the bit- ternefs of our virtues ! How many unealinefles, how many pangs does it prevent ! How many confolations does it prepare ! How many com- forts p8 SERMON til'. forts fpread through the reft of life ! and what a difference for the eafe and tranquillity of our future years, betwixt days whofe primitive ones have been pure, and thofe which, infected in their fource, have felt flow from thence a fatal bitternefs which has blafted all their joys, and fpread itfelf through all the remainder of their career ! It is ourfelves alone, fays a holy Fa- ther, who render virtue difagreeable ; and we are wrong to complain of an evil, in which we have fuch a fhare ourfelves, or to attribute faults to virtue, which are our own handy- work. But granting thefe reflections to have even lefs folidity ; were it even true, that we are not the firft and original caufe of our difgufts at vir- tue ; it is at leaft inconteftible, that the longer we defer our return to God, the more invincible do we render that diftafte which feparates us from him ; that the more we fhrink and draw back, the more do we fortify that repugnance within us to virtue ; that if the Chriftian life offers at prefent only melancholy and tedious du- ties, they will appear more infupportable in pro- portion as we grow old in the Ways of the world, and in the tafle for its iniquitous pleafures. Could the delay of our converiion fweetcn the bitter and painful portion of virtue ; by holding out a little longer againft grace, could we obtain a more fa- vourable compofition, as I may fay, and as an arti- cle of it,"ftipulate, that piety mould afterwards be prefented THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. $9 prefented to us with more charms and graces, and with conditions more agreeable and flattering : alas ! whatever riiks we may run by deferring it, the hopes of foftening our pains and fufferings might ferve in fome meafure to excufe our de- lays. But delay only prepares new forrows for us ; the more we accuftom our heart to the world, the more do we fender it unfit for virtue : It is no longer, fays the Prophet, but a polluted vale, to which the paflions we have allowed to fettle in it, have communicated a tafte and fmell of death, which generally laft the remainder of life. Thus, my brethren, when after a long courfe of crimes, and deeply- rooted paflions, we muft return to God, what obftacles do not thefe frightful difpofitions prefent ! What infeniibility towards good do we not find within ourfelves ! Thofe hearts, which the world has always en- grofled, and who afterwards wifh to confecrate to God the remains of a life entirely mundane ; what a buckler of brafs, fays the Prophet, do they not oppofe to grace ! What hardnefs of heart to the holy confolations of virtue ! They may find it juil ; but it is impoflible, they fay, to find it amiable : They may return to God ; but they enjoy him no more : They may nourifli themfelves with the truth ; but it is no more for them but the bread of tribulation and bit- ternefs : They may feek the kingdom of God, and the treafure of the gofpel ; but it is like un- fortunate flaves, condemned to fearch for gold in TOO S Z R M O N III. in the bowels of the earth, and wafte their ftrength againft the oppoling rocks : They may draw for water from the wells of Jacob ; but they can only reap the toil ; they can never partake of thofs comforts and confolations which bear peace and refrefhment to the foul : They wifh to draw near to God, yet every thing feparates them from him ; they wiih to fly from the world, yet where- ever they go, there they carry it with them in their heart : They feek the fociety of virtuous peo- ple, yet in their company they find a wearinefs, and a melancholy ftitfnefs, which aifgufts them with piety iifelf: They apply themfelves to holy books ; andalas ! it is only a tirefome and fatiguing decency which fupports their patience. Jt appears, that in virtue, they aft a borrowed character, ib little does it become them, and fo much does their part conilrain and tire them : and although, in reality, they feek falvation, yet there appears a fomething fo foreign and conftrained in their efforts, that we believe they only afTume the fem- blance of it ; and that feeling themfelves not born for virtue, they wifh at lead to give them- felves the appearances of it. Difgufts and wearinefies mould not, therefore, drive us from virtue ; fmce, in proportion as we retire from it, they become every day more vio- lent and infupportable. But candidly, my breth - ren, is it for us to reproach to God, that we weary in his fervice ? Ah ! Did our flaves and domef- tics make us the fame reproach , had they to la- ment THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. IOI ment the wearinefs they experience in our ferr vice, they would certainly be entitled to com- plain of it : Our eternal humours, from which they fuffer fo much ; our fancies and caprices, to which they muft accommodate themfelves ; our hours and moments, to which they muft fub- jecl themfelves ; our pleafures and taftes, to which they muft facrifice their reft and liberty ; our indolence, which alone cofts them fo much ; makes them endure fo much wearinefs ; pafs fo many melancholy moments, without our even deigning to obferve it ; they undoubtedly would be entitled to complain of their cruel iituation and fufferings. Neverthelefs, mould they venture to fay, that they weary in our fervice ; that they reap not the fmalleft fatisfaction from it ; that they feel no inclination for us, and that every fervice they perform, is difgufting to a degree fcarce- ly fupportable : Alas ! We would regard them as fools ; we would find them too happy in ha- ving to fupport our humours and caprices ; we would think them fufficiently honoured, by be- ing permitted to be near us ; and fully recom- penfed for all their fatigues. Ah, my breth- ren ! And God, does he not fufficiently recom- penfe thofe who ferve him, that they mould fup- port any little difgufts or wearinefles which may be found in his fervice ? Are we not ftill too hap - py, by his acceptance of our fervices, in fpite of the repugnances which render them cold and 2 'languid? 102 SERMON III. languid ? Does he not fufficiently load us with bleilings, to be entitled to exaft our fuffe- rance of a few flight forrows for his fake? Does he not promife us ftill more, fufficiently pre- cious to fweeten the trifling difguils attached to the fulfilment of his ordinances ? Muft not he find it ftrange, that vile creatures, who hold all from him, who exift only through him, and who expect all from him, fliould complain of diflike to his fervice ? That worms of the earth, whofe only.boaft is the honour of belonging to him, dare complain of feeling no inclination for him, and that it is both melancholy and weari- fome to ferve or to be faithful to him ? Is he then a mafter like us ; fanciful, intolerant, indolent, entirely occupied with himfelf, and who feeks only to render himfelf happy, at the expence of the peace and comfort of thole who ferve him ? Unjufl that we are ! We dare offer reproaches to the Almighty, which we would regard as out- rages upon ourfelves, from the mouths of our Haves ! Second Truth : The difgufts which accompa- ny virtue are not fo bitter as we reprefent them to ourfelves. REFLECT. III. But even were they fo, I have faid, in the third place, that they would ftill be infinitely lefs than thofe of the world : And it is here, my brethren, that the teftimony of the THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. lO^ world itfelf, and the felf-experience of worldly fouls, anfwer every purpofe of a proof. For if you continue in the ways of the world, and of the paffions, what is your whole life but a continual wearinefs, where, by diverfifying your pleafures, you only diverfify your difgufts and unealinef- fes ? What is it but an eternal void, where you are a burden to yourfelf ? What is it but a pom- pous circulation of duties, attentions, ceremo- nies, amufements, and trifles, which inceflantly revolving, poflefs one (ingle advantage, that of unpleafantly filling up moments which hang hea- vy upon you, and which you know not other- wife to employ ? What is your life but a flux and reflux of defires, hatreds, chagrins, jealou- lies, and hopes, which poifon all your pleafures, and are the caufe that, furrounded by every thing which ought to enfure your happinefs, you cannot fucceed in being contented with your- felves ? What comparifon is there betwixt the phren- lies of the paffions, the chagrin of a linking ne- glect, the fenlibility of a bad office, and the flight forrows of virtue ? What comparifon be~ twixt the unlimited fubjeclions to ambition ; the fatigues and toils of pretenlions and expeclan- cies ; the pains to enfure fuccefs ; the exertions and fubmiffions neceflary to pleafe ; the cares, uneafinefles, and agitations, in order to exalt ourfelves ; and the flight violences which aflure fcp us the kingdom of heaven ? What compari- 104 SERMON III. fon betwixt the frightful remorfes of the con- fcience, that internal worm, which incefiantly gnaws us ; that fadnefs of guilt, which under- mines and brings us low indeed ; that weight of iniquity, which overwhelms us ; that inter- nal fword, which pierces us to the quick ; which we know not how to draw forth, and carry with us wherever we go ; and the amiable forrow of the penitence which operates falvation ? My God, can we complain of thee, after knowing the world ? Can thy yoke appear grievous, after quitting that of the paflions ? And the thorns of thy crofs, are they not flowers, when compared to thofe which the ways of iniquity and the world have fown? Thus every day we hear the worfhippers of the world decry the world they ferve ; complain with the utmoft difTatisfaclion of their lot ; utter the keeneft invedlives againft its injuftice and a- bufes ; cenfure, condemn, and dcfpife it; but find me if you can any truly pious fouls, who fend forth invedlives againft virtue ; who con- demn or defpife it ; and who deteft their lot of being embarked in a voyage, fo full of chagrin and bitternefs. The world itfelf continually cnvies the deftiny of the virtuous, and acknow- ledges that none are happy but the upright ; but find me a truly pious foul, who envies the def- tiny of the world ; who publiflies, that none are happy but its partiians ; who admires the wif- dom of their choice, and regards his own condi- tion THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. -105 dition as the moft miferable and the moft fool- ifh : What (hall I fay ? We have frequently feen finners, who, through defpair and difguft at the world, have fled to oppofite extremes ; lofe reft, health, reafon, and life ; fall into Hates of hor- ror, and the blackeft melancholy, and no longer regard- life but as the greateft torment. But where are the righteous, whom the difgufts which ac- company virtue have thrown into fuch dreadml extremities ? They fometimes complain of their forrows ; but they ftill prefer them to the plea- fures of the paffions : Virtue, it is true, may fometimes appear melancholy and unpleafing to them; but with all her fadnefs, they love her much more than guilt : They would -wifli a few more fenfible fupports and confolations from the Father of Mercies ; but they deteft thofe of the world : They fuffer ; but the fame hand which proves, fupports them ; and they are not tempt- ed beyond their ftrength : They feel what you call the weight of the yoke of Jefus Chrift ; but in recalling the load of iniquity, under which they had fo long groaned, they find their prefent lot happy, and the companion calms and com- forts them. In effedt, my brethren, in the firft place, the violences which we do to ourfelves, are much more agreeable than thofe which come from without, and happen in fpite of us. Now the violences of virtue, are at leail voluntary : Tfoefe are crofles which we choofe from reafon, and im- fl pofe J06 SERMON III. pofe upon ourfelves from duty : They are often bitter, but we are confoled by the reflection of having chofen them. But the difgufts of the world are forced c ofles, which come without our being confulted : It is a hateful yoke, which is impofed on us againft our will : We wifli it not ; we deteft it ; yet neverthelefs we muft drink all the bitternefs of the cup. In vir* tue, we only fuffer, becaufe it is our inclina- tion to fuffer : In the world, we fuffer fo much the more, in proportion as we wifh it lefs, and as our inclinations are inimical to our fuf- ferings. Secondly, The difgufts accompanying virtue are a burden only to indolence and lazinefs ; thefe are repugnancies, bitter only to the fenfes : But the difgufts of the world ; ah ! they pierce to the quick; they mortify all the paflions; they humble pride ; pull down vanity ; light up en- vy ; mortify ambition, and none of our feelings efcape the influence of their fadnefs and bitter- nefs. Thirdly, Thofe of virtue are fenfible only in their firft operation : The firft efforts coft us much ; the fequel foftens and tranquilifes them ; the paflions, which are generally the cccafion of -any difguil at virtue, have this in particular, that the more we reprefs them, the more tradable they become ; the violences we do to them, gra- dually calm the heart, and leave us lefs to fuf- fbr from thofe to come i but the difgufts of the THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUJt. 107 world are always new ; as they always find in us the fame pafiions, they always leave us the fame bitterneffes ; thofe which have gone be- fore, only render thofe that follow more infup- portable. In a word, the difgufts of the world inflame our pafiions, and confequently increafe our fuf- ferings ; thofe of virtue reprefs them, and by thefe means gradually eftablim peace and tranquillity in our foul. Fourthly, The difgufts of the world happen to thofe who moft faithfully ferve it : It does not treat them better, becaufe they are more de- voted to its party, and more zealous for its abu- fes ; on the contrary, the hearts moft ardent for the world, are almoft always thofe who experi- ence the largeft ihare of its mortifications ; be- caufe they feel more fenfibly its neglecl and in- juftice : Their ardour for it, is the fource of all their uneafinefies. But with God, we have on- ly our coldnefs to dread ; for the difgufts which may accompany virtue, in general, have only re- laxation and idlenefs for principle ; the more our ardour for the Lord increafes, the more do our difgufts diminifti ; the more our zeal in- flames, the more do our repugnances weaken ; the more we ferve him xvith fidelity, the more charms and confolations do we find in his fer- vice : It is by relaxing, that we render our du- ties difagreeable ; it is by leflening our fervour, that we add a new weight to our yoke ; and if H2 jjn 108 SERMON III. in fpite of our fidelity, the difgufts continue, they are then trials, and not punifhments ; it is not that confolations afe refufed, it is a new occafion of merit which is prepared for us'; it is not an irrita- ted God, who fhuts his heart to us ; it is a mer- ciful God, who purifies our own ; it is not a dif- contented mailer, who fufpends his favours ; it is a jealous Lord, who wilhes to prove our love ; our homages are not rejected ; our fubmiffions and fervices are only anticipated ; it is not meant to re- pulfe, but to afiuretous the price of our fuffer- ings, by rejecting every thing which might ftill mingle the man with God; ourfelves with grace; human fupports with the gifts of Heaven ; and the riches of faith with the confolations of felf- love. Behold, my brethren, the laft truth, with which I fhall terminate this difcourfe : Not on- ly the difgufts accompanying virtue, are not fo bitter as thole of the world, but they like wife poflefs refources which thofe of the world have not. REFLECT. IV. I fay refources: alas! my breth- ren, we find none but in virtue. The world wounds the heart ; but it furnifhes no remedies : It has its chagrins, but nothing to comfort them : It is full of difgufts and bitternefs, but we find no refources in it. But in virtue, there is no forrow which has not its confolation ; and ?f in it we find repugnances and difgufts, we fin4 THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. IOp find likewife a thoufand refources which foothe them. In the firft place, Peace of heart, and the tef- timony of the confcience. What luxury, to be at peace with ourfelves ; no longer to carry within us that importunate and corroding worm, which purfued us every where ; no longer to be racked by eternal remorfes, which poifoned every comfort of life : In a word, to be delivered from iniquity ! The fenfes may ftill fufter from the forrows of virtue, but the heart at leafl is tran- quil. Secondly, The certainty that our fufierings are not loft ; that our forrows become a new me- rit for us ; that our repugnances, in preparing for us new facrifices, fecure an additional claim to the promifes of faith ; that were virtue to coft us lefs, it would likewife bear an inferior price in the fight of God ; and that he only ren- ders the road ib difficult, in order to render our crown more brilliant and glorious. Thirdly, Submiffion to the orders of God, who has his reafons for refusing to us the vifible confolations of virtue ; whofe wifdom confults our intereft more than our paflions ; and who has preferred bringing us to himfelf by a lefs agree- able road, becaufe it is a more fecure one. Fourthly, The favours with which he accom- panies our forrows ; which fuftain our faith at the fame time that our violences lower felf-love ; which fortify our heart in truth, at the fume time H 3 that 1IO SERMON III. that our fenfes are difgufted with it ; which make our mind prompt and fervent, although the flefli is weak and feeble ; in fo much, that he renders our virtue fo much the more folid, as to us it feems melancholy and painful. Fifthly, The external fuccours of piety, which are fo many new refources in our faintings and thirit ; the holy myfteries, wh re Jefus Chrift, himfelf the comforter of faithful fouls, comes to confole our heart ; the truths of the divine wri- tings, which promife nothing in this world to the upright but tribulation and tears ; calm our fears, by informing us, that our pleafures are to come ', and that the fufferings which difcourage us, far from making us diftruft our virtue, ought to render our hope more animated and certain : In a word, the hiftory of the faints, who have undergone the fame difgufts and trials ; confe- quently, we have fo much the lefs reafon to com- plain, as characters fo infinitely more pious than we have experienced the fame lot ; that fuch has almoft always been the conduct of God to- wards his fervants ; and that if any thing in this life can prove his love towards us, it is that of his leading us by the fame path that he did the faints, und treating us in this world in the fame manner us he did the upright. Sixthly, The tranquillity of the life, and the uniformity of the duties, which have fucceeded to the phrenfies of the pallions, and the tumult of a worldly life ; which have provided for us much f HE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING* VIRTUE. 1 1 1 much more happy and peaceful days than thofe we had ever patted in the midft of diffipation ; and which, though they ftill leave us fomething to fuffer, yet occafion us to enjoy a more tranquil and fupportable lot. Laftiy, Faith, which brings eternity nearer to us ; which difcovers to us the infignificancy of worldly affairs ; that we approach the happy term ; that the prefent life is but a rapid inilant ; and confequently, that our fufferings cannot en- dure long, but that this fleeting moment of tri- bulation affures to us a glorious and immortal futurity, which will endure as long as God him- felf. What refources for a faithful heart ! What difproportion betwixt the fufferings of virtue and thofe of guilt ! It is in order to make us feel the difference that God often permits the world to poflefs us for a time ; that in youth we deli- ver ourfelves up to the fway of the j.affions ; on purpofe, that when he afterwards recals us to himfelf, we may know by experience how much more eafy is his yoke than that of the world : I will permit, fays he in the Scriptures, that my people ferve the nations of the earth for fome time ; that they allow themfelves to be feduced by their prophane fuperftitions, in order that they may know the difference betwixt my fervice and the fervice of the kings of the earth ; and that they may feel how much more eafy is my yoke than the fervitude of men. H 4 Happy 112 SERMON III. Happy the fouls, who, in order to be unde- ceived, have had no occafion for this experi- ence, and who have not fo dearly bought the knowledge of this world's vanity, and the me- lancholy lot of iniquitous paffions. Alas ! fince at laft we muft be undeceived, and muft aban- don and defpife it ; fince the day will come, when we (hall find it frivolous, difgufting, and infupportable ; when of all its foolifh joys, there fhall no longer remain to us, but the cruel re- morfe of having yielded to them ; the confufion of having followed them ; the obftacles to good which they will have left in our heart; why not anticipate and prevent fuch melancholy regrets ? Why not do to day, what we ourfelves allow muft one day be done ? Why wait till the world has made fuch deep wounds in our heart, to run afterwards to remedies, which cannot re-efta- blifh us without greater pain, and coiling us doubly dear ? We complain of fome flight dif- gufts which accompany virtue ; but alas ! the firft believers, who, to the maxims of the gofpel, facrificed their riches, reputation, and life ; who run to the fcaffolds to confefs Jelus Chrift ; who pafled their days in chains, in prifons, in ihame and in iufferance, and to whom it coft fo much to ferve Jefus Chrift ; did they complain of the bit- ternefs of his fervice ? Did they reproach him with rendering unhappy thofe who ferved him ? Ah 1 they glorified themfelves in their tribula- tion THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. 11$ tion ; they preferred lhame and difgrace with Jefus Chrift to all the vain pleafures of Egypt ; they reckoned as nothing, wheels, fires, and eve- ry inftrument of torture, in the hopes of a blef- fed immortality, which would amply recom- penfe their preient fufferings : In the midft of torments, they chanted hymns ; and regarded as a gain, the lofs of all, for the interefts of their mailer. What a life, in the eyes of the flefh, is that of thefe unfortunate men, prefcribed, per- fecuted, driven from their country, having only dens and caverns for their habitation, regarded every where as the horror of the univerfe ; be- come execrable to their friends, their fellow-ci- tizens, and their relations ! They efteemed them- felves happy in belonging to Jefus Chriit ; in their opinion, they could not too dearly purchafe the glory of being his difciples, and the confc- lation of pretending to his promifes : And we, my brethren, in the midft of too many of the conveniences of life ; furrounded by too much abundance, profperity, and worldly glory ; find- ing, perhaps for our misfortune, in the applau- fes of the world, which cannot prevent itfelf from efteeming worth, the recompenfe of virtue ; in the midll of our relations, our children, and our friends; we complain, that it cofls us too much to ferve Jefus Chrift ; we murmur againft the flight bitterneis we experience in virtue ; we almoft periuade ourieives, that God requires too much * !./af 114 SERMON III. of his creatures : Ah ! when the comparifon fhall one day be made betwixt thefe little difgufts which we exaggerate fo much ; and the crofles, the wheels, the fires, and all the tortures of the martyrs ; the aufterities of the anchorites ; the fafts, the tears, and fufferings of fo many holy penitents ; alas ! we fhall then blufli to find our- felves almoft fingle before Jefus Chrift ; we, who have fuffered nothing for him ; to whom his kingdom has coft nothing ; and who individual- ly bearing before his tribunal more iniquities than a number of faints together, cannot, how- ever, in aflembling all our works of piety, com- pare them united to a fingle inftance of their ex- ertions. Let us ceafe, therefore, to complain of God, fince he has fo many realbns to complain of us ; let us ferve him as he wifhes to be ferved by us; if he foftens our yoke, let us blefs his goodnefs, which prepares thefe confolations for our weak- nefs y if he makes us feel the whole extent of its weight, let us ftill efteem ourfelves happy, that he deigns at that price to accept of our works arid homage : With equal gratitude, let us receive from his hand confolation or afflic- tion, fince every thing which proceeds from him alike conduces us to him : Let us learn, to be as the Apoftle, in want or abundance, provided we belong to Jefus Chrift ; the efiential part is not, to ferve him \vlth pleafure, it is to ferve him with fidelity. In reality, my breth- ren, THE DISGUSTS ACCOMPANYING VIRTUE. 11^ ren, in fpit& of all the difguils or repugnances which may accompany virtue, there is no real or true pleafure but in ferving God ; there is no folid confolation to be reaped, but by attaching ourfelves to him. No, faid the Sage, it is ftill better to feed upon the bread of wormwood and gall, with the fear of the Lord, than to live in the midft of pleafures and profane joys, under the lafh of his wrath and indignation. Alas ! of what pleafure can we be capable, when we are the enemies of God ? What pleafure can we tafte, when we bear in our heart only the anguilh and bitternefs of guilt ? No, fays the Sage once more, The fear of God can alone charm our wearinefles ; foften our moments of melancholy ; foothe our endlefs anguifhes ; and enable us to find a certain degree of fweetnefs, even in the evils incident to our nature. It is that which renders retirement fweet, and ena- bles us to enjoy repofe, far from the world and its amufements : It is that which makes days pafs quickly, and occupies in peace and tran-. quillity every moment ; and though apparently it allows us more leifure than a worldly life, yet it leaves a much fmaller portion to wea- rinefs. Great God I What honour does not the world unintentionally pay to thy fervice ! What an affedting eulogium on the deftiny of the up- right is the lot of finners ! Hmv well, my God, thou Il6 SERMON III. thou knoweft to extort glory and praite from even thy enemies ! and how little excufe thou leaveft to thofe fouls who depart from thy paths, iince in order to draw them to virtue, thou ma- keft a refource to them even of their crimes; and employeft their wants to recal them to thy eter- nal mercies. Now to God, &c. SER- STAfE OF LUKEWARMNESS. SERMON IV. THE UNCERTAINTY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN A STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. LUKE iv, 38. And be rofe out of the Synagogue, and entered into Si- mon's bouje .- and Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever ; and they befougbt him for her. "TV7OTHING more naturally reprefents the fitu- JL ^1 ation of a languid and lukewarm foul, than the ftate of infirmity in which the gofpel here defcribes Peter's mother-in-law to have been. It may be faid, that coldnefs and indolence in the ways of God, though otherwife accompanied with a life free from enormities, is a kind of fecret and dangerous fever, which gradually un- dermines the powers of the foul, changes all its good difpofitions, weakens its faculties, infenfi- bly corrupts its inward parts, alters its propenf - lies. 118 SERMON IV. ties, fpreads an univerfal bitternefs through all its duties, difgufts it with every thing proper, with all holy and neceffary nourifhment ; and finifhes at laft, by a total extinction, and an ine- vitable death. This languour of the foul, in the path of ful- vation, is fo much the more dangerous, as it is lefs obferved. Our exemption from open irregularity gives us confidence ; the external regularity of con- duct, which attracts from men thole praifes due only to virtue, flatters us ; and the fecret comparifon we make of our morals with the excefles of thofe avowed finners, whom the world and their paflions govern, unites to blind us : We regard our fituation as a ftate, lefs per- fect indeed, but always certain of falvation; feeing our confcience can only reproach us with indolence and negligence in the difcharge of our duties ; too lenient a correction of our appetites ; felf-love, and fome flight infidelities, which do not bring death to the foul. Neverthelefs, fince the holy writings reprefent the adulterous and the lukewarm foul as equally rejected by God ; and as they pronounce the fame anathema againfl thofe , who defpife the works of the Lord, and thofe who perform them with negligence, this ftate of coldnefs and languor in the ways of God, muft neceflarily be very fufpicious with re- gard to falvation, both from the prefent difpo- fitions which it gives to the foul j and from thofe, STATE OF LUKIJWARMNESS. Up thofe to which, fooner or latter, it never fails to lead it. I fay, in the firft place, from the prefent dif- politions it gives to the foul ; namely, a fund of indolence, felf-love, difguft at virtue, infidelity, and deliberate difregard to every thing they be- lieve not abfolutely effential in their duties : Dif- politions, that form a ftate, very doubtful of falvation. Secondly, From thofe, to which, fooner or latter, lukewarmnefs conduces us ; namely, a forgetfulnefs of God, and an open and fhame- ful departure from every thing facred. From thefe I wilh to eftablifh two capital truths in this matter, which expofe the danger of a lukewarm and infidel life ; and which, from their importance, will furnifh us with fubjecl: for two difcourfes. The firft, that it is very doubtful, whether in this habitual ftate of coldnefs and langour, the lukewarm foul (as it believes), pre- ferves the righteoufnefs and fandtifying grace up- on which it grounds its fecurity. The fecond, That were it even lefs doubtful, whether it had preferved or loft before God, the fanctifying grace ; at any rate, it is certain of being unable long to preferve it. The uncertainty of righteoufnefs in a ftate of lukewarmnefs. This firft truth will be the fub- of the prefent Difcourfe, The 120 SERMON IV. The certainty of a departure from righteouf- nefs in that ftate, is the fecond truth, upon which, in the following one, I fhall endeavour to inftrucl yon. ..iiii ; ' . .. j PART I. " If we fay that we have no fin, we " deceive ourfelves, and the truth is not in us," fays an Apoftle. The pureft virtue below is ne- ver free, therefore, from ftain. Man, full of darknefs and paffions, fmce the entrance of fin into the world, cannot always be fo attentive to regularity, but that he mud fometimes be decei- ved, and err ; nor fo imprefied with invifible good, but he will allow himfelf to be fometimes caught by worldly and oftenfible riches ; becaufe their imprefiions on the mind are lively and quick, and they always find in our hearts difpofi- tions too favourable to their dangerous ieduc- tions. The fidelity which the law of God exacts from juft fouls, excludes not, therefore, a thou- fand imperfedions, infeparable from our nature, and from which the moft guarded and watch- ful piety cannot defend itfelf ; but of thefe, there are two defcriptions : The firft, which happen through our weaknefs, are lefs infidelities than furpriies, where the weight of corruption pre- ponderates over the inclination or choice ; and which the Lord, fays St Auguftine, permits to remain in the moft faithful fouls, in order to nourifh their humility ; excite their lamenta- tipns ; STATE OF LUKEWARMNZSS. 121 tions ; reanimate their defires ; their difgufts at their prefent exilement, and their longings for its termination : The fecond clafs are thofe which pleafe us ; which we juftify to ourfelves ; which it appears impoffible for us to renounce ; which we look upon as necefiary fweeteners of virtue ; in which we fee nothing criminal, becaufe we perceive not the guilt ; which form a part of the deliberate and general fyflem of our morals and conduct, and conftitute that flate of indolence and coldnefs in the ways of God, which is the caufe of condemnation to fo many, born other- wife, perhaps, with principles of virtue ; detef- tation of iniquity ; a fund of religion, and fear of God ; and happy difpofitions for fal- vation. Now, I fay, that this flate of relaxation and infidelity; this tranquil and continued negli- gence of ever^ thing which perhaps appears not eiTential in our duties ; this effeminate indul- gence of all our defires, fo long as they offer not actual guilt to our fight : In a word, this life, altogether according to our animal nature, our humours, temperaments, and felf-love, fo com- mon with thofe who make a public profeffion of piety; fo fafe in appearance; fo glorious even in the eyes of men ; and to which the general error attaches the names of virtue and regula- rity : I fay, that this is a ftate extremely doubt- ful, to attain falvation ; that it derives its fource from an irregular heart, where the Holy Spirit no 122 SERMON IV. no longer reigns ; and that all the rules of faith induce us to think, that a foul of this defcrip- tion is already, without being fenfible of it, fallen from righteoufnefs and grace : In the firft place, Becaufe the defire of perfection eflential to Chrif- tian piety, is extinguifhed in his heart. Second- ly, Becaufe the rules of faith, almoft always ve- ry uncertain in the diftinction of guilt from ve- nial errors, with regard to other linners, are in- finitely more fo with refpect to the unfaithful and lukewarm heart. Thirdly, Becaufe of all the external marks of a living and habitual cha- rity, there is not in it the fmalleft appearance of one. Let us inveftigate thefe truths ; for they are indeed worthy of your attention. Every Chriftian foul is obliged to bend every effort towards the perfection of his ftate. I fay obliged : for although the degree of perfection be not comprifed in the precept, to endeavour at, to labour for perfection is neverthelefs a com- mandment, and a duty eflential to every believer. Be ye perfect, fays our Saviour, becaufe the heavenly Father whom ye ferve is perfect. I can perceive but one eflential point, faid St Paul, viz. to forget whatever 1 have done to this pe- riod ; (and what, my brethren, was he to for- get ? his endlefs labours, continual fufferings, and apoftoitc courfes ; fo many nations convert- ed to faith , fo many illuftrious churches found- ed ; fo many revelations and prodigivs :) and ioceflkatly advancing to direct my views to the attainment STATZ OF LUKEWARMNESS. 12 ^ attainment of what I have yet to perform. The defire of perfection ; the continued efforts to at- tain it ; the holy inquietudes in confequence of the innumerable obftacles which check our pro- grefs, do not therefore comprife only a fimple advice, and a pradice referved for the cloifter and the defert alone, they form the eflential Hate of a Chriftian, and the life according to faith on this earth. For the life, according to faith, which the juft man leads, is only an uninterrupted defire that the kingdom of God may be accomplifhed m our hearts; a holy eagernefs, to form a per, & refemblance in us to Jefus Chrift, and to mcreafe even to the plenitude of the new man ; a continual lamentation, excited by the internal fenfibility of our own miferies, and by the load of corruption which opprefTes th.e foul, and makes it to bear fo many marks ftffl of the worldly man ; a daily ftruggle betwixt the law of the Spirit, - which continually wifhes to raife us above our fenfual appetites, and the dominion of the flefh, which inceflantly draws us back towards our- Telves : Such is the Hate of faith, and of Chrif- tian piety. Whoever you be, great, or of hum- ble rank, prince or fubjed, courtier or reclufe, behold the perfection to which you are called - behold the ground-work, and the fpirit of your vocation. The aufterities of an Anchorite ; the filence and folitude of the defert ; the poverty >f the cloifter, are not demanded of you ; bat you are required to labour inceflantly towards the * 2 reprelfion 124 SERMON IV. repreflion of thofe internal defires, which oppofe themfelves to the law of God ; to mortify thofe rebellious inclinations, which fo unwillingly fub- mit to order and duty ; in a word, to advance as much as poffible your perfect conformity with Jefus Chrift : Behold the degree of perfection to which Chriftian grace calls you, and the ef- fential duty of a juft foul. Now, from the moment you give way to eve- ry inclination, provided it extends not to the abfolute infraction of the precept ; from the moment you confine yourfelves to the efientials of the law ; that you eftablifh a kind of fyftem of coldnefs and negligence ; that you fay to your- felves, " We are unable to fupport a more ex- " act, or more exemplary life ;" from that mo- ment you renounce the defire of perfection : You no longer proj>ofe to yourfelves an uncea- fmg advancement towards that point of piety and holinefs to which the Almighty calls you, and towards which his grace never ceaies to im- pel you in fecret : You no longer grieve over thofe miferies and weaknefles, fo inimical to your progrefs : You no longer wifh the kingdom of God to be eftablifhed in your hearts: You aban- don, therefore, from that moment, the great \vork of righteoufnefs, at which you are commanded to labour : You negledl the care of your foul : You enter not into the defigns of grace. On the contrary, you check its holy impreflions : You are no longer Chriftian ; that is to lay, that this STATE OF LtlKEWARMNESS. 125 this difpofition alone, this formal intention of li- miting yourfelves to the effentials, and of re- garding all the reft as laudable excefies, and works of fupererogation, is a ftate of fin and death, fince it is an avowed contempt of that great commandment, which requires us to be perfect ; that is to fay, to labour towards beco- ming fo. Neverthelefs, when we come to inftrucl: you with regard to Chriftian perfection, you look upon it as to be found only in cloifters and foli- tude">, and fcarcely will you deign to give the fmalleft attention to our inftructions. You de- ceive yourfelves, my brethren : The individuals who adopt retirement, certainly employ aufte- rities, faftings, and watchings, as means to fuc- ceed in that mortification of the paffions, to which we are all equally invited : They engage themfelves to a perfection of means, which I confefs our ftate will not admit of; but the per- fection of the end, to which thefe means con- duel, viz,, the command and regulation of the affections, proper contempt of the world, de- tachment from ourfelves, fubmiffion of the fen- fes and the flefh to the Spirit, and renovation of the heart, are the perfection of all ftates, the engagement of all Chriftians, and the covenant of our baptifm. To renounce this perfection, therefore, by limiting ourfelves from choice, or in confequence of our rank in the world, to an effeminate, fenfual, and worldly life, exempt I 3 only 126 SERMON IV. only from ftriking enormities, is to renounce the Chriftian calling, and change the grace of faith, which has made us members of Jefus Chrjft, in- to a fhameful and unworthy indolence. Firil reafon : But were this ftatc even not fo dubious for falvation, with refpect to the defire of that per- fection eflential to a Chriftian life, and which is extinguifhed in a lukewarm and unfaithful foul, it would become fo by the imbecility which it occafions, and in which it places itfelf, of diftin- guifhing in its conduct the infidelities which may extend to guilt, from thofe which may be germed limple errors. For though it is true, that all fins are not fins which bring death, as St John obferves, and that Chriitian morality ac- knowledges errors, which only grieve the Holy Spirit within us ; and others which extinguifh it altogether in the foul ; neverthelefs the rules which it furnifhes to diftinguifh thefe, can nei- ther be always certain nor general at the mo- ment they are applied : Some circumftances re- lative to ourfelves continually change their na- ture. I fpeak not here of thofe manifefl and ab- iblute tranfgreflions of the precepts marked in the law, which leave no hefitation refpccting the enormity of the offence : I fpeak of a tliou-. fand doubtful and daily tranfgreflions ; of ha- tred, jealoufy, evil-fpeaking, fenfuality, vanity, jdlenefs, duplicity, negligence in the practice of our duties, and ambition ; in all which, it is ex- tremely STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 127 tremely difficult to define how far the precept may be violated : Now, I fay, that it is by the difpofition alone of the heart, that the meafure and guilt of thefe faults can be decided ; that the rules there are always uncertain and change- able ; and that frequently what is only weak- nefs or furprife in the juft, is guilt and corrup- tion not only in the iinner, but likewife in the lukewarm and unfaithful foul : This is proven by the following examples taken from the Holy writings. Saul, in difobedience to the order of the Lord, fpared the king of the Amalekites, and the moft precious fpoils of that infidel prince. The crime does not appear confiderable ; but as it proceed- ed from a fund of pride, of relaxation in the ways of God, and a vain complaifance in his victory ; this action is the commencement of his repro- bation, and the Spirit of God withdraws itfelf from him. Jofhua, on the contrary, too credu- lous, fpares the Gibeonites, whom the Lord had commanded him to exterminate : He went not before the ark to confult him previous to his al- liance with thefe impoftors. But this infidelity being an act of precipitancy and furprife, rather than a difobedience ; and proceeding from a heart ftill faithful, religious, and fubmiffive to God, it appears flight in his eyes, and the par- don alrnoft immediately follows the crime. Now if this principle be incontrovertible, upon what do you depend, when you regard your daily and 1 4 habitual 128 SERMON IV. habitual infidelities as flight ? Are you acquaint- ed with all the corruption of your heart, from which they proceed ? God knows it, who is the fearcher and judge ; and his eyes are very dif- ferent from thofe of men. But if it be permit- ted to judge before the time, fay, if this fund of indolence and infidelity which is in you ; of voluntary perfeverance in a ft ate difplealing to God ; of deliberate contempt for all the duties which you confider as not eiTential ; of attention and care, as I may fay, to labour only for the Lord when he opens before you the gates of punim- ment and deftrudion : Say, if all thefe can con- ftitute in his fight a ftate worthy of a Chriltian heart ; and if faults, which proceed from fo cor- rupted a principle, can in reality be flight, or worthy of indulgence ? Paul, my brethren, that miraculous man, to whom the fecrets of heaven had been revealed ; Paul, who no longer lived for himfelf, but in whom Jeius Chriit alone lived ; Paul, who ear- neftly longed every moment for the diflblution of his earthly body, that he might be clothed with immortality : This Apoftle, always ready to iUt rifice his life for his mafter, and a willing vidim to faith ; this elected inftrument of our Lord an, i Saviour, whofe confcience could re- proach him u th nothing; knew not, however, whether he merited the love or hatred of his Lord ? whether he rtill poflefled in his heart, or Jiad forfeited the invilible treafure pf charity ; and STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. I2p and in thefe melancholy doubts, the teftimony of hi3 confcience was infufficient to calm his dread and uncertainty. David, that king fo pe- nitent, whofe delights were centered in the con- ftant meditation of the law of God, and whom the Holy Spirit calls a king after God's own heart ; David trembles, however, left the ini- quity of his crimes be not fufficiently known ; to him ; left the corruption of his heart conceals not from him their enormity. He figures to him- felf unknown gulfs in his confcience, which caufe him to Ihed torrents of tears ; to proftrate himfelf before the Majefty and Holinefs of his God, and fupplicate his affiftance towards his purification from fecret infidelities, by making him fenfible of them. And you, who watch not, nor fearch your hearts ; you, who devoted to lukewarm and fenfual habits, with deliberate coolnefs, allow yourfelves every day a thoufand infidelities, upon the iniquity of which, you are utterly ignorant what judgment the Almighty may form : You, who every moment experience thofe fufpicious ebulitions of paffion, where, in fpite of all your felf-indulgence, you find it fo difficult to prove, that the will has not accom- panied the gratification ; and that you have not overftept that critical and dangerous line, which diftinguifhes actual guilt from involuntary error : You, in whom almoft every action is fufpicious ; who every moment may be demanding at your own heart, " Have I not gone too far ?" who, in 2 your 130 SERMON IV. your own confcience, feel movements and re- grets, which you will never quiet : You, who in fpite of fo many juft fubjecls of dread, believe the ftate of your confcience to be perfectly known to you ; that the decifions of your own felf-love, with regard to your infidelities, are the decifions of the Almighty ; and that the Lord whom you fervc with fo much coldnefs and negligence, does not yield you up to your own blindnefs, and pu- nilh your crimes, by making you miftake them : You can poflibly believe that you ftill preferve your righteouihefs, and the grace of fanctifica- tion, and can quiet yourfelves upon your vi- fible and habitual guilt, by a pretended invifible exercife of righteoufnefs, of which you can pro- duce neither mark or proof? O man ! How little art thou acquainted with the illufions of the human heart, and the ter- rible judgments of God upon thofe fouls which referable thee ! Thou fayeft to thyfelf , I am rich, I am loaded with the good things of this world ; (with this, our Saviour formerly re- proached a cold and unbelieving foul) : And thou perceiveft not, continued he, (for blindnefs and prefumption are the diftingui filing character of coldnefs), that in my light, thou art poor, miferable, blind, and loft to every thing. It is the deftiny, therefore, of a lukewarm and un- faithful foul, to live in error and illufion ; to be- lieve Jiimfelf juft, and acceptable to God ; while alas I STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 13! alas ! before him, he is loft, without knowing it,, to both grace and righteoufnefs. And one reflection, which I beg you to make here, is, that the confidence of fuch fouls, is fo much the more illufive and ill-founded, as there exifts not a foul, lefc capable of judging of his own heart, than the lukewarm and unfaithful one. For the avowed finner cannot conceal his crimes from himfelf ; and he is fenfible, that he muft affuredly be dead to the Lord : The juft man, although ignorant whether he merits the love or hatred of his m after, enjoys neverthelefs a confcience free from reproach ; but the cold and unfaithful foul is involved in a ftate of con- tinual and inexplicable myftery to itfelf. For this lukewarmnefs in the ways of God, enfeeb- ling in us the lights of faith, and ftrengthening our paffions, increafes our darknefs : Every in- fidelity is like an additional cloud, overfpreading the mind and heart, which darkens to our fight the truths of falvation : In this manner, the heart is gradually enveloped ; the confcience becomes embarrafled ; the lights of the mind are weaken- ed : You are no longer that fpiritual Chriftian, capable of a proper judgment. Infenfibly you adopt maxims in fecret, which, as you think, diminifh your guilt : the blindnefs increafes in the fame proportion as the lukewarmnefs. The more you admit of this relaxation, in a more altered light do your duties and rules ap- pear : What formerly Appeared eflential, no long- er 132 SLERMON IV. er appears but a vain fcruple : The omi (lions, which, in the period of fervour for duty and re- ligion, would have excited in you the w.,rmeft compunctions, are now no longer regarded even as faults : The principles, the judgment, the lights of the mind, are all changed. Now in this fituation, who has told you, that in the judgment which you form on the nature of your infidelities, and your daily departure from virtue, you do not deceive yourfelves ? W ho has told you, that the errors which you think fo flight, are in reality fo ; and that the diflant boundaries which you prefcribe to guilt, and within which every thing to you appears venial, are really the limits of the law ? Alas ! the moil enlightened guides know not how to diftinguifh clearly in a cold and unbelieving confcience. Thefe are what I may call the evils of that lan- guor in which we know nothing ; where the wifeft of us can fay nothing with certainty ; and of which the fecret caufe is always an enigma. You are fenfible yourfelves, that in this ftate of relaxation, you experience in your hearts cer- tain dou*bts and embarafiments, which you can never fufficiently clear up . That in your con- fciences there always remains fomething fecret and inexplicable, which you never wim to fearch into, or above half expofe. Thefe are not ex- aggerations ; it is the real ftate and bottom of your foul which you feel a referve to lay open : You are fenfible, that even when proftrating yourfelves before STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 133 before the Almighty, the confeffion of your guilt never entirely correfponds with the molt intimate difpofitions of your heart ; that it never paints your internal fituation fuch as in reality it is ; and, in a word, that there always exifts in your heart fomething more criminal, than what in any ftatement of it you can bring yourfelves to avow. And, indeed, how can you be certain, that in thofe continual felf-gratifications ; in that effeminacy of manners which compofes your life ; in that attention to every thing which may flatter the fenfes, or remove difquiet from you ; to facrifice to indolence and lazinefs, all which appears not eflential in your duties ; how can you be certain, I fay, that your felf-love is not arrived at that fatal point, which ferves to give it dominion over your heart, and for ever banifh from it Chriftian charity ? Who is able to inform you, in thefe frequent and voluntary infidelities, where, comforted by their pretend- ed inlignificancy, you oppofe the internal grace which endeavours to turn you from them ; you continually act contrary to your own reafon and judgment ; whether this internal contempt of the voice of God ; this formal and daily abufe of your own lights and grace from God be not an outrage upon the divine goodnefs ; a criminal contempt of his gifts ; a wickednefs in your de- viations from virtue, which leaves no excufe ; and a deliberate preference to your paliions and yourielves over Jefus Chrift, which can alone proceed 134 SERMON IV. proceed from a heart where the love of all or- der and righteoufnefs is extinguifhed ? Who can tell you, if in thefe recollections where your lift- lefs mind has a thoufand times dwelt upon ob- jecls or events dangerous to modefty, your indo- lence in combating them has not been criminal ; and if the efforts which you afterwards made, were not an artifice of felf-love, in order to dif- guife their criminality, and quiet you on the in- dulgence you had already yielded to your crimes ? Who would dare to determine, if, ia thefe fecret antipathies and animofities, which you give yourfelves but little trouble to reftrain, (and that always more for the fake of appearan- ces than through piety), you have never exceed- ed that flippery line, beyond which dwell ha- tred, and death to the foul ! If, in that excefs of feniibility, which in general accompanies all your afflictions, infirmities, lofles, and difgra- ces, thofe which you call feelings, attached and inevitable to nature, are not irregulari- ties of the heart, and a revolt againft the de- crees of Providence ? If, in all thofe attentions, and eagernefles with which we fee you occupied, to manage either the interefts of your worldly affairs, or the prefervation of a vain beauty, there is not either as much forwardnefs as may amount to the crime of illegal ambition, or com- plaifance for yourfelf, and deiire of pleafing, as may fully your heart with the guilt of fenfuali- ty ? Great God ! who haft well difcerned, as thy STATE OF LUKE WARM NESS. 135 thy fervant Job formerly remarked, the fatal li- mits which feparate life from death, and light from darknefs, in the heart , thefe are the gulfs and abyfles over which mankind, little inftrucl- ed in them, muft tremble ; and of which Thou referveft the manifeflation till the terrible day of thy vengeance (hall arrive. Second reafon, drawn from the uncertainty of the rules, which leaves the ftate of a lukewarm foul very fufpicious, and even renders it incapable of knowing itfelf. But a final reafon, which to me appears ftill more decifive, and more dreadful to the lukewarm foul, is there not being an appearance from which we can prefume, that it ftill preferves the fan- tifying grace ; on the contrary, every thing in- duces us to fuppofe it forfeited ; that is to fay, that of all the fymptoms of an habitual and li- ving charity, there is not a veftige of one in it. For, my brethren, the firft character of chan- ty is to fill us with that fpirit of adoption in children, which leads us to love God as our heavenly Father, to love his law, and the juftice of his commandments ; and to dread the for- feiture of his love, more than all the evils with which he threatens us. Now, the attention alone with which a luke- warm foul examines whether an offence be ve- riial, or extends further ; of difputing with God every article he may refufe him, without actual guilt ; of ftudying the law, only for the pur- pofe of knowing to what degree it may be vio . lated. j 136 SERMON IV. lated ; of uncealingly preferring the interefts of his own cupidity to thofe of grace ; and always juftifying thofe things which flatter the pafiions, in oppofition to the rules which check or forbid them ; this attention, I fay, can only proceed from a heart deftitute of faith and charity ; from a heart in which the Spirit of God, that fpirit of love and kindnefs, apparently no longer reigns. For no children but the prodigal, are capable of quibbling in this manner with their father and protedtor ; of exerciling to the utmoft length of feverity any claims they may have, and of feiz- ing all they may think themfelves entitled to. Now, in order to give this reflection all its weight : That difpofition, which deliberately allows itfelf every infidelity, wfucbi' will not, it believes, be followed by eternal punlfhment, is the difpofition of a flave and hireling ; that is to fay, that could they promife themfelves the fame impunity and indulgence from the Al- mighty, for the tranfgreffion of the eflential points of the law, they would violate them with the fame indifference as they violate the leaft ; for, were cruel and avowed revenge, calumny of the blackeft nature, and criminal attachments, to be attended in futurity with no worfe con- fequences than flight and momentary refent- ments, accidental and carelefs evil-fpeaking, or too much felf-love, they would feel no more horror in the commiflion of the former, than the laft mentioned crimes ; that is to fay, that when faithful ^ v STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 137 faithful to the commandments, it is not from a love of righteoufnefs, but the dread of that pu- nimment, which would attend their infraction ; it is not to order and to the law that they fubmit themfelves, it is to their chaflifements ; it is not the Lord they have in view, it is themfelves : For while his glory alone is interefted, and no ferious confequences may be expected to follow our infi- delities, from their apparent ilightnefs, we are not afraid of difpleaiing him ; we even juilify to ourfelves in fecret thefe kind of tranfgremons, by faying, that notwithstanding they offend, and are difpleafing to the Lord, yet they bring not death, nor eternal punimment to the foul : We are not affected by what regards only him ; his glory goes for nothing in the diftinction we make be- twixt actions allowed or forbidden ; our intereft alone regulates our fidelity ; and nothing can warm our coldnefs, but the dread of everlafting punimment. We are even delighted at the im- punity of thofe trivial tranfgreffions ; of being able to gratify our inclinations, without any greater misfortune attending, than the difplea- fure of the Almighty : We love this wretched liberty, which feems to leave us the right of be- ing unpunifhed, though unfaithful : We are the apologifts of it ; we carry it even further, than in reality it goes : We wifh all to be venial ; ga- ming, drefs, fenfual pleafures, paffion, animoli- ties, public fpectacles, what ihail I fay? we .K would 138 SERMON IV. would wifh this freedom to be univerfal ; that nothing which gratifies our appetites fhould be punifhed ; that the Almighty were neither juft, nor the avenger of iniquity ; and that we might yield ourfelves up to the gratification of every pafiion, and violate the fandity of his law, with- out any dread of the feverity of his juftice. Pro- vided a lukewarm foul will defcend to an exami- nation of itfelf, it will feel, that this is truly the principle of its heart, and its real difpo- lition. Now, I afk you, is this the fituation of a foul in which the fandifying charity and grace is ftill preferved ; that is to fay, a foul which loves its Maker more than the world, more than all cre- ated beings, more than all pleafures or riches, more than itfelf? Of a foul which can feel no joy but in his poflTefiion ; which dreads only his lofs ; and knows no misfortune but that of his difplea- fure ? Does the charity you flatter yourfelves ftill to preferve, feek, in this manner, its proper interefl? Does it regard, as nothing, the difplea^ fure of him it loves, provided its infidelities re- main unpunifhed ? Does it think of difputing, like you, every day, to what degree it may fafe- ly offend him, in order to take its meafures ac- cordingly, and then allow itfelf every tranf- gremon, to which impunity is attached : Does il fee nothing amiable in its God, or capable attaching the heart, but his chaftifements ? Wen STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. J 39 he not even an Almighty and an avenging God, would it be lefs affeded by his infinite mercies, his truth, holinefs, wifdom, fatherly tendernefs, and protedion ? Ah ! lukewarm and infidel foul, Thou loveft him no longer : Thou loveft, thou liveft only for thyfelf. The fmall remains of fidelity, which ftill keep thee from fin, are no- thing but a fund of floth, timidity, and felf-love. Thou wifheft to live in peace with thyfelf: Thou dreaded the embarraffments of a paffion, and the remorfe of a fullied confcience ; iniqui- ty is become a fatigue, and that alone difpleafes thee with it : Thou loveft thine own eafe ; and that is thy fole religion : Indolence is the only barrier which ftops thee, and all thy virtue is limited to thyfelf. Affuredly, thou wouldeft wifh to know, whether this infidelity be a venial tranf- greffion, or if it extends further. Thou acknow- ledged, that it difpleafes God, (for that point admits of no doubt), yet is that not fufficient to turn thee from it ? Thou wouldeft wifh to know, whether it fo far difpleafes him, as to pro- voke his everlafting wrath ? Ah ! Thou feefl very well, that this inveftigation tends to no- thing by thyfelf; that thy difpofition leads thee to think guilt nothing, as an offence and a difplea- fure to God ; a powerful reafon, however, why it Ihould be deteftable to thee : That thou no longer ferveft the Lord in truth and in charity ; that thy pretended virtue is only a natural timidity, which K ^ dare J4O SERMON IV. dare not expofe itfelf to the terrible threaten- ings of the law ; that thou art nothing but a vile and wretched flave, to reftrain whom, it is ne- ceiTary to keep fcourges continually in thy fight : that thou refemblefl that unfaithful fervant, who fecreted his talent, becaufe he knew that his mailer was fevere ; and, but for that reafon, would have wafted it in dillipation ; and that in the preparation of the heart, to which alone the Almighty looketh, thou hateft his law : Thou lo- vcft every thing it forbids : Thou art no longer in charity : Thou art a child of death and per- dition. The fecond character of charity is to be ti- morous, and to magnify to ourfelves our fmal- left deviations ; not that charity deceives or conceals from us the truth ; but difingaging the foul from the fenfes, it purifies our view of faith, and renders it more quick-fighted in ipi ritual af- fairs ; and befides, whatever is in the imalleft degree difpleafing to the only object of our love, appears ferious and confiderable to the foul which loves. Thus charity is always humble, timid, and diftruftful of itfelf; unceafingly agitated by its pious perplexities, which leave it in fufpenfe refpecting its real ftate ; always alarmed by ihofe delicacies of grace, which make it trem- ble at every action ; which make a kind of mar- tyrdom of love, from the uncertainty in which they leave it ; and by which, however, it is pu- rified. STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 14! rifled. Thefe are not the vain and puerile fcru- ples, which we blame in weak minds : They are thofe pious fears of charity and of grace, in- feparable from every faithful and religious foul : It works its falvation with fear and trembling ; and even frequently regards as crimes, actions, which are often virtues in the light of God; and which at moft, can only be regarded as iimple weaknefles. Thefe are the holy perplexities of charity ; which derive their fource even from the lights of faith. This path has, in all ages, been the path of the juft. Yet neverthelefs it is that pretended charity, of which in the midft of a vicious life, and of all your infidelities, you believe yourfelves flill poflefied, that makes them appear flight to you : It is that charity itfelf, which you fuppofe not to have loft, that comforts and encourages you ; that diminilhes your faults in your own light, and fixes you in a ft ate of peace and fe- curity : In a word, that not only banifhes from your heart all thofe pious alarms, infeparable from real piety, but makes you regard them as weak- nefles, and even the excefles of piety. Now tell me, I beg of you, is not that an inconfiftency ? Does charity contradict itfelf in that manner ? Or can you place much dependence on a love, which fo nearly refembles hatred ? K 3 142 SERMON IV. The laft character of charity, is to be a&ive and diligent in the ways of God. We find how much the Apoflle dwells on its activity and fe- cundity in the heart of a Chriftian : It operates wherever it is ; it cannot, fay the faints, be idle : It is a celeftial fire, whkh no power can hinder from fhewing itfelf, and from acting : It may fometimes indeed be overwhelmed, and greatly weakened, by the multitude of our weaknefles, but, while not entirely extinguifhed, there al- ways proceed from it, as I may fay, fome fparks of iighs, wifhes, lamentations, efforts, and deeds. The Holy Sacrament re-animates it ; prayer aroufes it , pious reading, affliction, dilgrace, bodily infirmity, all re-kindle it, when not utterly extinguifhed. It is mentioned in the fecond book of the Maccabees, that the fa- cred fire, which the Jews had concealed du- ring their captivity, was found at their return apparently extinct. But as the furface alone was obfcured, and the facred fire ftill internally pre- ierved all its virtue, fcarcely was it expofed to the rays of the fun, when they faw it inftanta- neoufly rekindle, and prefent to their fight a brightnefs altogether new, and an activity alto- gether aflonifhing. Behold, my brethren, a faithful reprefentation of the coldnefs of a truly juft foul ; and which likewife would be your cafe, had the multitude ef your infidelities done no more than cover and relax, STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 143 relax, as I may fay, without extinguifhing the facred fire of charity within you : Behold, I fay, what ought to be your fituation, when you ap- proach the Holy Sacrament, or liften to the word of God. When Jefus Chrift, the Sun of Right- eoufnefs, darts upon you fome rays of his grace and light, and infpires you with holy defires, your heart ought then to be feen rekindled, and your fervour renewed : You then Bought to ap- pear all fire and animation in the practice of your duty, and aftonifh even the moil confident witneffes of your former life, by the renovation of your morals and zeal. Alas ! nothing, however, reanimates you. Even the holy Sacrament leaves you all your coldnefs : The words of the gofpel which you liften to, fall upon your heart, like corn upon a fterile land, where it immediately dies : The fentiments of falvation, which grace operates within you, are never followed with any effect, in the melioration of your morals ; you con- tinually drag on in the fame indolence and lan- guor ; you depart from the holy altar equally cold, equally infenfible, as you approached it: We fee not in you thofe renewals of zeal, piety, and fervour, fo common in juft fouls, and of which the motives are to be found in their devi- ations from duty. What you were yefterday, you are to-day : The fame infidelities, the fame weak- nefies : You advance not a fmgle flep in the road K 4 to 144 SERMON IV. to falvation ; all the fire of heaven could fcarce- ly rekindle in the bottom of your heart this pretended charity, upon which you depend fo much. Ah! my dear hearer, how much I dread that it is extinct, and that you are dead in the fight of the Lord ! I wifh not to antici- pate the fecret judgments of God upon the con- fciences ; but I mud tell you, that your ftate is very far from being fafe ; I even tell you, that if we are to judge by the rules of faith, you are in difgrace with, and hated of the Lord : I tell you likewife, that a coldnefs fo durable and conftant, cannot fubfift with a principle of heavenly and eternal life, which always, from time to time at leaft, betrays external movements and figns, raifes, animates itfelf, and takes wing, as if to difengage itfelf from the fhackles which weigh it down ; and that a charity fo mute, fo indo- lent, and fo conflantly infenfible, exiils no more. But the great danger of this ftate, ,my bre- thren, is, that a lukewarm foul is fo *with( ut fcruple : It feels that it might carry its fen .ir and fidelity to a much greater length, but it looks upon that zeal, and that exactitude, as a perfection, and a grace, refeived only for certain fouls, arid not as a general duty ; in this manner they fix themielves in that degree of colunefs in.o which they aiy f iikn ; they have not made, nor icarcely attempted, the imalleft progr .s STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 145 progrefs in virtue, fmce the firft ardours of con- verfion. It would appear, that having exhaufted all their fervour againft the criminal paffions with which they had at firft to combat, they imagine, that nothing now remains, but to enjoy in peace the fruits of their victory ; a thoufand damages which Hill remain from their firft fhipwreck, they think no more of repairing : So far from endeavouring to reprefs a thoufand weaknefies, and corrupted inclinations, left them by their firft irregularities, they love and cherifh them. The Holy Sacrament no longer reanimates or in- vigorates their faith ; it only amufes it. Con- verfion is no longer the end they propofe ; they believe it already done : And, alas ! their con- feifions even to the Almighty, are more for the purpofe of amuiing and lulling their con- fciences, than the effects of piety, and real con- trition. We impofe greatly upon ourfelves, my bre- thren, with regard to' our confciences reproach- ing us with nothing criminal ; for we fee not, that it is even that tranquillity which conftitutes the danger, and perhaps the guilt likewife of it. We believe ourfelves in fecurity in our ftate, be- caufe it perhaps offers to our fight more inno- cence and regularity, than that of diforderly fouls and indeed, we wiili not to conceive how a life purely natui al, fhould not be a life of grace and of faith ; or that a ftate of habitual idle- neft 146 S R M O N IV. nefs and fenfual gratification, fliould be a ftate of fin and death, in a Chriftian life. Thus, my dear hearer, you whom this dif- courfe regards, reanimate yourfelf without ceafing in the fpirit of your vocation ; according to the advice of the Apoftle, raife yourfelf every day by prayer, by mortification of the fenfes, by vi- gilance over your pailions, and by a continual re- trofpedlion to, and investigation of your own heart ; that firft grace, which operates to draw you from the errors and wanderings of the world, and make you enter into the paths of God. Depend upon it, that piety has nothing fure or confoling but fidelity ; that in relaxing from it, you only augment your troubles, becaufe you multiply your bonds ; that in retrenching from your duty, zeal, fervour, and exactitude, you likewife retrench all its fweets and pleafures ; that in depriving your ftate of fidelity, you de- prive it of fecurity ; and that in limiting your- felf, limply to fhun iniquity, you lofe the moil precious fruits of virtue. And after all, fince you have already facrificed the efiential, why will you ftill attach yourfelves to the frivolous parts ? After having accompliihed the mod laborious and painful exertions towards falvation, muft you perifh for not finiming the flighteft and mod eafy ? When Naaman, little convinced, becaufe the prophet, for the cure of his leprofy, had only ordered him to bathe in the STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 147 the waters of the Jordan, retired full of con- tempt for the man of God, and believing it im- poflible that his recovery could be accomplifh- ed by fo limple a remedy, the people who ac- companied him made him fenfible of his error, by faying to him, " But, mafter, had the pro- " phet bid thee do fome great thing, wouldelt " thou not have done it ? how much rather *' then, when he faith to thee, warn and be " clean ?" And now, my brethren, attend to what I have to fay, while 1 finilh this difcourfe. You have abandoned the world, and the idols which you formerly worfhipped in it : You are come from afar into the. paths of God : You have had fo many paffions to overcome, and obftacles to fur- mount ; fo many things to facrifice, and difficult exertions to make ; there remains only one ftep more to accomplim, which is a faithful and con- ftant vigilance over yourfelves. If a facrifice of the criminal paffions were not already made, and you were required to do it, you would not, I believe, heiitate a moment ; coil what it might, you would make it : And, in the meanwhile, when limple purifications are only demanded of you ; nay, when you are required, as I may fay, almoft the fame things which you do, but only to be praclifed with more fervour, fidelity, faith, and vigilance, are you excufable in declining them ? Why will you render ufelefs all your former efforts, by the refufal of a thing fo eafy ? Why 148 SERMON IV. Why fhotild you have renounced the world, and all its criminal pleafures, only to find in piety the fame rock, which by flying from fin you thought to have efcaped ? And would it not be lamentable, if, after having facrificed to God the principal parts, you fhould lofe yourfelves, by wifhing ftill to difpute with him a thoufand little facrifices, much lefs painful to the heart and to nature ? Finifh then in us, O my God ! that which thy grace has already begun ; triumph over our languors, and our weaknefies, fince thou haft al- ready triumphed over our crimes ; give us a heart fervent and faithful, fince thou haft al- ready deprived us of a criminal and corrupted one; infpire us with that willing fubmiflion which the juft poflefs, fince thou has extinguifh- ed in us that pride and obftinacy which occa- fion fo many finners : Leave not, O my God ! thy work unfinifhed ; and fince thou haft al- ready made us enter into the holy career of fal- vation, render us worthy of the holy crown pro- mifed to thofe who mail have legally fought for it. Now to God, &c. Amen. SER- STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS, 149 SERMON V. THE CERTAINTY OF THE LOSS OF RIGHTEOUS- NESS IN A STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. LUKE iv. 38. And be rofe out of the Synagogue, and entered into Si- mon's houfe ; and Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever ; and they bef ought him for her. SINCE Simon thought the prefence of our Saviour neceffary for the cure of his mo- ther-in-law, it would appear, my brethren, that the evil was preffing, and threatened an ap- proaching death ; the ufual remedies muft have been found ineffectual, and nothing but a mira- cle could operate her cure, and draw her from the gates of death : Neverthelefs, the Scriptures mention her being attacked by only a common fe- ver. On every other occalion, we never find that they 'I5O SERMON V. they had recourfe to our Saviour, but to raifc people from the grave, to cure paralytics, reflore fight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, from their birth : In a word, to cure difeafes, incu- rable by any other, than the Sovereign Mafter of Life and Death : In this inftance, he is called upon, to reftore health to a perfon attacked by a fimple fever. Whence comes it, that the Almighty Power is employed on fo flight an occaiion ? It is, that this fever being a natural image of lukewarm - nefs in the ways of God, the Holy Spirit has wifhed to make us underftand by it, that this dif- eafe, apparently fo flight, and of which they dread not the danger ; this lukcwarmnefs, fo common in piety, is a difeafc, which inevitably deftroys the foul, and that a miracle is necefiary to refcue it from death. Yes, my brethren, of all the maxims of Chrif- tian morality, there is none upon which expe- rience allows us lefs to deceive ourfelves, than the one which allures us, that contempt for the fmalleft points of our duty infenfibly leads us to a tranfgreflion of the moft efiential ; and that negligence in the ways of God is never far from a total lofs of righteoufnefs. He who defpifes the fmaller obje&s of religion, fays the Holy Spirit, will gradually fall ; he \vho defpifes them, that is to fay, who deliberately violates them ; who lays down, as it were, a plan of this con- duel , for, if through weaknefs or furprife you fail STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 15! fail in them fometimes, it is the common deili- ny of the juft, and this difcourfe would no long- er regard you ; but to defpife them in the fenfe already mentioned, which can happen only with lukewarm and unfaithful fouls, is a path which muft terminate in the lofs of righteoufnefs. In the firft place, becaufe the fpecial grace necefia- ry towards perfeverance in virtue is no longer granted. Secondly, Becaufe the paffions are ftrengthened which lead us on to vice. Third- ly, Becaufe all the external fuccours of piety be- come ufelefs. Let us inveftigate thefe three reflections : They contain important inftructions in the detail of a Chriftian life : Ufeful, not only to thofe who make profeffion of a public and avowed piety, but likewife to thofe who make all virtue to confift in that regularity of conduct, and pro- priety of behaviour, which even the world re- quires. PART I. It is a truth of falvation, fays a ho- ly Father, that the innocence of even the moll upright has occaiion for the continual affiflance of grace. Man, delivered up to fin, by the wickednefs of his nature, no longer finds in him- felf but principles of error, and fources of cor- ruption : Righteoufnefs and truth, originally born with us, are now become as ftrangers ; all our inclinations, revolted againft God and his law, in fpite of ourfelves, drag us on towards 2 illicit 152 SERMON V. illicit objects ; in fo much, that to return to the law, and fubmit our heart to order, it is necefla- ry to refift, without cealing, the imprefiions of the fenfes ; to break our warmeft inclinations, and to harden ourfelves continually againft our- felves. There is no duty but what now cofts us fomething ; no precept in the law, but com- bats fome of our paflions ; no ftep in the paths of God againft which our heart does not re- volt. To this load of corruption, which renders du- ty fo difficult and irkfome, and iniquity fo na- tural, add the fnares which furround us, the ex- amples which entice us, the objects which ef- feminate us, the occafions which furprife us, the compliances which weaken us, the afflictions which difcourage us, the properties which cor- rupt us, the lituations which blind us, and the contradictions which we experience ; every thing around us is indeed only one continued tempta- tion. I fpeak not of the miferies which are" na- tural to us ; or the particular oppofition to or- der and righteoufnefs, which our paft morals, and our firft paflions have left in our hearts : That love for the world and its pleafures ; that diflike to virtue and its maxims ; that empire of the fenfes, fortified by a voluptuous life ; that invincible indolence, to which every thing is a burden, and to which, whatever is a burden, be- tomes almoil impoilible j that pride, which kno', STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 153 knows neither how to bend or break ; that in- conftancy of heart, incapable of end or uniformi- ty, which prefently tires of itfelf ; which cannot fubmit to rule, becaufe that is always the lame; which wifhes, and wifhes not ; pants in a mo- ment from the loweft ft ate of Rejection, to a vain and childifh joy, and leaves fcarcely the in- terval of a moment betwixt the fincereft refo- lution, and the infidelity which violates it. Now, in a fituation fo miferable, what, O my God ! can the moft juft accomplifn, delivered up to his own weaknefs, and all the fnares which furround him ; bearing in his heart the fource of all his errors, and in his mind the principles of every illufion ? The grace of Jefus Chrift, there- fore, can alone deliver him from fo many mi- feries ; enlighten him in the midft of fo much darknefs ; fupport him under fo many difficul- ties ; reftrain him from following the dictates of fo many rapid defires, and ftrengthen him againfl fo many attacks. If left a moment to himfelf, he inevitably flumbles, and is loft : If an Al- mighty hand ceafes an inftant to retain him, he is carried down by the ftream : Our conliftency in virtue, is therefore a continual grace and mi- racle ; all our fteps in the ways of God are new motions of the Holy Spirit ; that is to lay, of that invifible guide, which impels and leads us on. All our pious actions are gifts of divine mercy ; lince every proper ufe of our liberty comes from him, and he crowns his gift- in re- L compenling 154 SERMON V. compenfing our merits : All the moments of our Chriftian life are like a new creation, therefore, jn faith, and in piety ; that is to fay, (this fpi- ritual creation does not fuppofe a non-exiftence in the juft, but a principle of grace, and a liber- ty which co-operates with it), that as, in the or- der of nature, we mould again return to our non-entity, if the Creator ceafed an inftant to preferve the being he has given us ; in the life of grace, we would again fall into fin and death, did the Redeemer ceafe a fingle moment to con- tinue, by new fuccours, the gift of righteoufnefs and holinefs, with which he hath embellifhed our foul : Such is the weaknefs of man, and fuch is his continual dependence on the grace of Jefus Chrift. The fidelity of the juft foul is, there- fore, the fruit of continual aids of grace ; but it is likewife the principle : It is grace alone which can operate the fidelity of the juft ; and it is the fidelity alone of the juft, which merits the prcfervation and increafe of grace in the heart. For, my brethren, the ways of God towards us being full of equity and wifdom, there muft necefiarily be fomc order in the diftribution of his gifts and grace : The Lord muft communi- cate himfelf more abundantly to the foul, which faithfully prepares its heart for his ways ; he muft beftow more continual marks of his pro- tedion and mercy on the upright heart, which gives him conftant proof of love and fidelity ; cmd the fervant who improves his talent, mull necefiarily STATE OF LUKEWARMNJESS. 155 ecefTarily be recompenfed in proportion to the profit he has known how to reap from it : It is juft, on the contrary, that a lukewarm and un- faithful heart, who ferves his God with negli- gence and difguft, mould find the Almighty cold and difgulled towards him : The mifery infeparable from coldnefs, is, therefore, the pri- vation of the grace of protection. If you be- come cold, the Almighty becomes fo towards you ; if you limit yourfelf with regard to him, to thofe eflential duties, which you cannot refufe him without guilt, he confines himfelf with re- gard to you, to thofe general fuccours, which will not fupport you far : He retires from you, in proportion as you retire from him ; and the meafure of fidelity with which you ferve him, is the meafure of protection you may expecl: to receive. Nothing can be more equitable than this con- duct ; for you enter into judgment with your God. You negledl every opportunity where you might give him proofs of your fidelity : You dif- pute every thing with him, of which you think you could avoid the payment : You carefully watch, left you do anything for him, beyond what duty requires. It appears, you fay to him, what lie formerly faid to the unfaithful fervant : Take that thine is ; and go thy way. You reckon with God, as I may fay : All your attention is enga- ged in prefcribing limits to the right he has over your heart ; and 'all his attention likewife, if I L 2 may 156 SERMON V. may be permitted to fpeak in this manner, is to put bounds to his mercies to your foul, and to pay your indifference with the fame : Love is the price of love alone ; and if you do not fuf- ficiently feel all the terror and extent of this truth, allow me to explain to you its confequen- ccs. The firft is, that this Hate of lukewarmnefs and infidelity removing the foul from the grace of protection, leaves him, as I may fay, empty of God, and in the hands, as it were, of his own weaknefs : He may undoubtedly, with the com- mon fuccours left him, flill preferve the fidelity he owes to God : He has always enough to fup- port him in well-doing ; but his lukewarmnefs deprives him of the ability to apply them to any purpoie ; that is to fay, that he is ftill aided by thofe fuccours, which may enable him to go on ; but no longer by thofe with which he may infallibly perfevere ; there is no peril, there- fore, in this fituation, but makes a dangerous imprefiion upon him, and leads him to the brink of ruin. I grant, that a happy natural difpofition, fome remains of modefty, and fear of God, a confci- ence flill afraid of guilt, and a reputation to pre- ferve, may for fome time defend him againft himfelf ; but as thefe refources, drawn moftly from nature, cannot extend far ; as the fenfual obje&s, in the midft of which he lives, make every day new wounds in his heart, and grace lefc STATE OF LUK.EWARMNESS. 1$*] lefs abundant, repairs not the lofs, alas ! his ftrength exhaufts every moment, faith relaxes, and truth is obfcured ; the more he advances, the worfe he becomes : Such fouls feel perfect- ly, that they no longer retire from the world and its dangers, equally innocent, as formerly ; that they carry their weaknefies and compliance much farther ; that they encroach upon limits which they formerly refpecled ; that loofe converfations find them more indulgent, evil fpeaking more fa- vourable, pleafure lefs guarded, and the world more anxious for it ; that they bring into it, a heart already half-gained ; that they are fenfible of their lofles, but feel nothing to repair them ; in a word, that God is almoft withdrawn from them ; and there is no longer any barrier, but their own weaknefs, betwixt guilt and them. Be- hold the fituation in which you are ; and from that, judge of the one in which you will foon be. I know that this Mate of relaxation and infide- lity troubles and difturbs you ; that you fay eve- ry day, that nothing can beftow greater happi- nefs, than a detachment from every thing world- ly ; and that you envy the deftiny of thofe Chrif- tians, who give themfelves up to God without referve, and no longer keep any terms with the world. But you are deceived ; it is not the faith, or the fervour of thefe faithful Chriftians, you envy ; you only covet their lot ; that hap- pinefs and peace, which they enjoy, in the fer- L 3 vice J5$ SERMON V. vice of their Maker, and which you are inca- pable of partaking j you only envy them that in- feniibility, and happy indifference to which they have attained, for the world and every thing it efleems ; your love for which occafiom all your troubles, remorfes, nd fecret anguifh ; but you envy them not the facrifices they were under the neceffity of making, to arrive at their prefent ftate of peace and tranquility : You envy them not the trials they have undergone, in order to merit the precious gift of a lively and fervent faith : You envy the happinefs of their ftate ; but you would not wilh it to coft you the illu- fion and fenfuality of your own. The fecond confequence \ draw from the re- fufal of the grace of protection to the lukewarm Chriftian, is, that the yoke of our Saviour, to him, becomes burdenfome, hard, and infupport- able. For, my brethren, by the irregularity of our nature, having lof\ all tafte for righteoufnefs and truth, which, in a ftate of innocence, forrq- ed the happinefs of man, we no longer have any feeling or deiire, but for objects which gratify the fenfes and pafllons. The duties of the law of God, which recal us from the fenfes to the ipirit, and make us facrifice the prefent impref- lions of pleafure to the hope of future promifes : Thefe duties, I fay, prefently fatigue our weak- nefs, becaufe they are continual efforts we make againft ourfelves. It requires, the undion of grace, therefore, to foften the yoke ; it is necef- far> STATE OF LJJKEWARMNESS. 1 59 fary that grace fpread fecret confolations over its bitternefs, and change the fadnefs of du- ty into a holy and fenfible joy. Now the lukewarm foul, deprived of this unction > feels only the weight of the yoke, without the con- folations which foften it : Jn this manner, all the duties of piety and religion become infipid to you ; works of falvation become wearifome ; your confcience, reftlefs and embarraffed, by your relaxations and infidelities, of which you cannot juftify the innocence, no longer al- lows you to enjoy either peace or joy in the fervice of .God. You feel all the weight of the duties to which fome remains of faith, and love of eafe, hinder you from being unfaith- ful ; but you feel not the fecret teftimony of a clear confcience, which foothes and fupports the fervent Chriftian : You fhun, perhaps, certain occalions of pleafure, where innocence is fure of being fhipwrecked, but you only experience in the retreat which divides you from them, a wea- rifomenefs, and a more lively defire for the fame pleafures, from which you have forced yourfelf to refrain. You pray, but prayer is no longer but a fatigue : You frequent the fociety of virtuous perfons, but their company becomes fo irklbme, as almoft to difguft you with virtue itfelf : The flighteft violence you do upon your inclinations for the fake of heaven, colts you fuch efforts, that the pleafures and amufements of the world muft be applied to, to refrefh and invigorate L 4 you t6o SERMON V. you after this Fatigue ; the fmalleft mortifica- tion exhaufts your body ; cafts uneafinefs and chagrin through your temper, and only confoles you, by an immediate determination, to aban- don its pra&ice. You live unhappy, and with- out confolation, becaufe you deprive yourfelf of a world you love, and fubftitute in its place du- ties which you love not : Your whole life is but a melancholy fatigue, and a perpetual difguft with yourfelf: You refemble the Ifraelites in the defert ; difgufted, on the one part, with the man- na upon which the Lord had ordered them to fub- fift ; and on the other, not daring to return to the food of the Egyptians, which they flill loved, and which the dread alone of the Almighty's anger induced them to deny themfelves. Now this flate of violence cannot endure ; we foon tire of any remains of virtue, which do not quiet the heart, comfort the reafon, and even flatter our felf-love : We foon throw off the remains of a yoke, which weighs us down ; and which we no longer carry through love, but for decency's fake. It is fo melancholy to be nothing at all, as I may fay : Neither juft nor worldly ; attach- ed neither to the world nor to Jefus Chrift ; en- joying neither the pleafures of the fenfes, nor thofe of grace ; that it is impoffible'this weari- fome fituation of indifference and neutrality can be durable. The heart, and particularly thofe of a certain defcription, requires an avowed ob- jedl to occupy and intereft it : If not God, it will STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS* l6l will foon be the world : A heart, lively, eager, always in extremes, and fuch as the generality of men poffefs, cannot be fixed, but by the feel- ings ; and to be continually difgufted with vir- tue, mows a heart already prepared to 'yield to the attractions of vice. I know, in the firft place, That there are lazy and indolent fouls, who feem to keep themfelves in this ftate of equilibration and infenfibility ; who offer nothing decided, either for the world or virtue ; who appear equally diflant, by their difpofitiofis, either from the ardours of a faithful piety, or the excelTes of profane guilt ; who, in the midft of the pleafu.res of the world, preferve a fund of retention and regularity, which proves the exiflence of fome remains of virtue ; and in the midft of their religious duties, a fund of care- leffnefs and laxity, which ftill breathes the air and maxims of the world. Thefe are indolent and tranquil hearts, animated in nothing ; in whom indolence almoft fupplies the place of vir- tue ; and who, notwithftanding they never ar- rive at that degree of piety, which the faithful accomplim, never proceed to thofe lengths in iniquity, which criminal and abandoned fouls do. I know it, my brethren, but I likewife know, that this. indolence of heart defends us only from crimes which would coft us trouble ; makes us avoid only thofe pleafures which we would be obliged to purchafe, at the expence of our tran- quillity, and which the love of eafe alone pre- vents l62 SERMON V. vents us from enjoying. It leaves us virtuous only in the eyes of men, who confound the indo- lence which dreads embarraflment with the pie- ty which flies from vice ; but it does not defend us againft ourfelves ; againil a thoufand illicit delires ; a thoufand criminal compliances ; a thoufand paflions, more fecret, and lefs painful, becaufe fhut up in the heart ; from jealoufies, which devour us ; ambition, which domineers over us ; pride, which corrupts us ; a de- lire of pleafure, which engrofles us ; an excefs of felf-love, which is the principle of all our conduct, and infedls all our actions ; that is to fay, that this indolence delivers up our heart to all its weaknefles ; at the fame time, that it ferves as a check againft the more ftriking and tumul- tuous paflions, and that, what appears only in- dolence in the eyes of men, is always before God a fecret ignominy and corruption. I know, in the fecohd place, that this love of piety, and this unction which foftens the prac- tice of religious duties, is a gift frequently refu- fed even to holy and faithful Chriftians. But there are three eflential differences betwixt the faithful foul, to whom the Lord denies the fen- fible confolations of piety ; and the lukewarm and worldly one, whom the weight of the yoke opprefles, and who is incapable of enjoying the things of God. The firft is, That a faithful Chriftian, in fpite of his repugnancies, preferving a firm and folid faith, STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 163 faith, finds his ftate, and the exemption from guilt in which he lives, lince touched by God, a thoufand times more happy, than that in which he lived when delivered up to his paf- fions ; and penetrated with horror at his former excefies, he would not change his lot, or re-in- gage himfelf in his former vices, for all the plea- fures of the earth : In place of which, the luke- warm and unfaithful heart, difgufted with virtue, envioufly regards the pleafures, and vain happi- nefs of the world ; and his difgufts being only the confequence and fufferings of his weaknefs, and the lukewarmnefs of his faith, to plunge in- to fin, begins to appear as the only refource left him, from wearinefs and the gloominefs of piety.. The fecond difference is, That the faithful Chriftian, in the midft of his difgufts and hard- mips, at leafl bears a confcience which reproach- es him not with guilt : He at lead is fupported, by the teftimony of his own heart, and by a cer- tain degree of internal peace, which, though nei- ther warm, nor very fenfible, fails not, however, to eftablifh within us, a calm which we never ex- perienced in the paths of error ; on the contrary, the lukewarm and unfaithful foul, allowing him- felf, again ft the teftimony of his own confci- ence, a thoufand daily tranfgeffions, of which he knows not the wickednefs, bears always an uneafy and fufpicious confcience ; and being no longer fuftained by love for his duties, nor the 3 peace 164 S E R M O N V, peace and teftimony of his confcience, this ftate of agitation and wearinefs foon terminates in the miferable peace of fin. The laft reafon is, That the difgufts of the faithful Chriftian being only trials, to which, for his purification, God expofes him, he fup- plies, in a thoufand ways, the fenfible confola- tions of virtue which he refufes him ; he repla- ces them by a more powerful protection ; by a merciful attention to remove every danger which might feduce him ; and by more abundant fuc- cours of grace ; for the Almighty wiflies neither to lofe nor difcourage him ; he wifhes only to prove him ; and make him expiate by the af- flidlions and hardfhips of virtue, the unjuft plea- fures of fin : But the difgufts of an infidel foul are not trials, they are punimments : It is not a merciful God who fufpends the confolations of grace, without fufpending grace itfelf : It is not a tender father, who fupplies by the folidity of his tendernefs, and by effectual affiftances, the apparent rigours he is under the neceffity of ufing : It is a fevere judge, who only begins to deprive the criminal of a thoufand indulgences, becaufe the fentence of death is prepared for him. The hardfhips of virtue find a thoufand refources in virtue itfelf ; thole of lukewarm- nefs, can find them only in the deceitful plea- fures of vice. Such, my brethren, is the inevitable lot of lukewarmnefs in the ways of God ; the mifery of STATE OF UKEWARMNESS. 165 of lofing righteoufnefs. Will you tell us, after this, that you wifh to pradtife only a degree of virtue which may continue ; that thefe great exertions of zeal cannot be fupported ; that it is much better not to begin fo high, and by thefe means to accomplifh the end ; and that they ne- ver go far, who exhault themfelves at the begin- ning of their journey ? I know that every excefs, even in piety, comes not from the Spirit of God, which is a fpirit of wifdom and difcretion ; that the zeal which overturns the order of our ftate and duties, is not the piety which comes from above, but an illufion born in ourfelves ; that indifcretion is a fource of falfe virtues ; and that we often give to vanity what we think is given to truth. But I tell you from God, that to perfevere in his ways, we muft give ourfelves up to him without referve : That in order to fupport the fidelity due to the efiential parts of our duty, we muft unceafingly endeavour to weaken the paffions which oppofe it ; and that keeping terms with thefe paffions, under the pretext of not going too far, is to dig for ourfelves a grave. I tell you, that it is only the faithful and fervent Chriftians, who, not contented with fhunning lin, fhun alfo every thing which can lead to it; that it is thefe alone who perfevere, who fuftain themfelves, who honour piety by a fupported, equal and uniform conduct ; and, on the con- trary, it is lukewarm and relaxed fouls, who have l66 S R M O N V. have begun their penitence, by limiting their piety, and accommodating it to the pleasures and maxims of the world ; it is thefe fouls who draw back, who belie themfelves, and who dif- honour piety, by their inconftancy and inequa- lity of conduct ; by a life, fometimes blended with virtue and retirement, and at others de- voted to the world and weaknefs : And I ap- peal to yourfelves, my brethren, if, when you fee in the world a perfon relax from his firfl fervour, gradually mingle himfelf in the pleafures and focieties he had lately fo fcrupuloufly and feverely denied himfelf; in- fenfibly abate his love of retirement, his mo- defty, circumfpedion, prayers, and exactitude to fulfil his religious duties, you fay not to yourfelves, that he is not far from returning to what he formerly was ? Are not thefe re- laxations regarded by you as a prelude to his ruin ; and that virtue is nearly extind:, when once you fee it weakened ? Do you even require fo much to roufe your cenfures, and malicious prefages againit piety ? Unjuil that you are, you condemn a cold and unfaithful virtue, while you condemn us for requiring of you a virtue faith- ful and fervent ! You pretend, that in order to continue, you muft begin with moderation, while you prophecy that a total departure from virtue is not far diftant, when once it begins to be fol- lowed with coolncfs and negligence ! From STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 167 From a relaxation alone, therefore, we are to dread a return to our former courfes, and a de- parture from virtue : It is not by giving our- felves up without referve to God, that we be- come difgufted with piety, and are forfaken by him : The way to come gloriouily off in battle, is not by Sparing, but overcoming the enemy : There is no dread, therefore, of doing too much, left we mould be unable to fupport it ; on the contrary, to merit the grace neceflary to our fupport, we ought, from the firft, to leave nothing undone. What illufion, my brethren ! We dread zeal, as dangerous to perfeverance ; and it is zeal alone which can obtain it : We fix ourfelves in a lukewarm and commodious life, as the only one which can fubfift ; and it is the only one which proves falfe : We fhun fidelity, as the rock of piety ; and piety without fidelity is never far from fhipwreck. It is thus that lukewarmnefs removes from the infidel foul the grace of protection ; of which the abfence depriving our faith of all its itrength, and the yoke of Jefus Chrift of all its confola- tions, leaves us in a Hate of fuch imbecility, that to be loft, innocence requires only to be attack- ed. But if the lofs of righteoufnefs is inevit- able, on the part of grace which is withdrawn, it is ftill more fo, on account of the paffions which are fortified within us. PART l6S SERMON V. PART II. What renders vigilance fo necefiaiy to Chriftian piety, is, that all the paffions which oppofc themfelves in us to the law of God, only die, as I may fay, with us. We undoubtedly are able to weaken them, by the affiftance of grace, and a fervent and lively faith ; but the roots always continue in the heart ; we always carry within us the principles of the fame er- rors our tears have effaced. Guilt may be ex- tinguiflied in our hearts ; but fin, as the Apoftle fays, that is to fay, the corrupted inclinations which have formed our guilt, inhabits and lives there flill : And that fund of corruption which removed us fo far from God, is ftill left us in our penitence, to ferve as a continual exercife to virtue ; to render us, by the continual occafions of combat it raifes up for us, more worthy of an eternal crown ; to humble our pride ; to keep us in remembrance that the duration of our prefent life is a time of war and danger ; and, by a deftiny inevitable to our nature, that there is only one ftep between relaxation and guilt. It is true, that the grace of Jems Chrift is given us to reprefs thefe corrupted inclinations which furvive our converfion ; but in a ftate of lukewarmnefs, as I have already faid, grace of- fering us only common fuccours, and the grace of protection, of which we are become unwor- thy, being either more rare, or entirely fufpen- ded, it is evident that the paffions muil acquire new STATE OF LUK.EWARMNESS. 169 new flrength. But I fay, that not only the paf- iions are ftrengthened, in a lukewarm and infi- del life, becaufe the grace of protection which checked them is more rare, but likewife by the ftate itfelf of relaxation and coldnefs ; for that life being only a continued indulgence of all the pafiions ; a fimple eafinefs in granting, to a cer- tain degree, every thing which flatters the ap- petites ; a watchfulnefs, even of felf-love, to re- move whatever might reprefs, or reflrain them ; and a perpetual ufage of all things capable of inflaming them ; it is evident, that by thefe means they muft daily acquire new force. In a word, my brethren, we are not to ima- gine, that in pulhing our indulgence for our paffions, only to certain lengths permitted, we ap- peafe them, as I may iky, that we allow fufficient to fatisfy them, and not enough to ftain our foul, or carry trouble and remcrie through our con- fcience ; or fancy that we can ever attain a cer- tain degree of equilibration betwixt virtue and fin, where, on the one fide, our paffions are fa- tisfied by the indulgence allowed them ; and on the other, our confcience is tranquil, by the ab fence of guilt, which we ihun. For fuch is the plan adopted by the lukewarm foul : Fa- vourable to his indolence, becaufe he equally famines every thing, either in virtue or in fin, which can difturb him : To the paffions, he re- fufes whatever might trouble his confcience ; and to virtue, whatever might be difagreeable M to jyO SERMON V. to, or mortify his felf-love : But this Hate of equilibrium is a perfect chimera. The paffions know no limits or bounds in guilt ; how, therefore, could they pofiibly be reftrained to thofe of the lukewarm foul ? Even the utmoft excefs cannot reftrain or fix them ; how then could fimple indulgences do it ? The more you grant, the more you deprive yourfelf of the power to refufe them any thing. The true fe- cret of appearing, is not by favouring them to a certain degree ; it is by oppoiing them in every thing ; every indulgence only renders them more fierce and unmanageable ; it is a lit- tle water thrown upon a great fire, which, far from extinguifhing, increafes its fury: Every thing which flatters the paffions, renders them more keen, and diminimes the probability of being able to conquer them. Now, fuch is the ftate of a lukewarm and un- faithful foul. It allows itfelf every animofity which extends not to avowed revenge; it juftifies every pleafure, in which guilt is not palpable ; it delivers itfelf up without referve to every worldly defire and gratification, by which no in- dividual, it fuppofes, is injured ; every omifiion, which feems to turn on the arbitrary duties, or but flightly interefts the efiential ones, it makes no fcruple of; every action of felf-love, which leads not directly to guilt, it regards as nothing; all that nicety, with regard to rank and perfonaj fame, STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. IJl fame, which is compatible with that modera- tion even the world requires, it regards as a merit. Now, what happens in confequence of this ? Liften and you mall know -, and I beg you will attend to the following reflections. In the firft place : All the inclinations within us, which oppofe themfelves to order and duty, being continually ftrengthened, order and duty at laft find in us unfurmountable difficulties ; in fo much, that to accomplifh them on any efien- tial occafion, or when required by the law of God, is like remounting againft the ftream of a rapid flood, where the current drags us down, in fpite of every effort to the contrary ; or like a furious and unmanageable horfe, which it is neceffary to flop fhort on the brink of a preci- pice. Thus your infenfibility and pride, are nourifhed to fuch a degree of ftrength, that you abandon your heart to all their impreffions : Thus your care and anxiety, have fo fortified in your heart, the defire of worldly praife, that on any important occafion, where it would be ne- ceflary to facrifice the vanity of its fuffrages to duty, and expofe yourfelf, for the good of your foul, to its cenfure and derifion, you will always prefer the interefts of vanity to thofe of truth, and the opinions of men will be much more powerful than the fear of God. Thus thofe anxieties with regard to fortune and advance- ment, have rendered ambition fo completely fo- M 2 vereign IJ2 SERMON V. vereign of your heart, that in any delicate con- juncture, where the deftruclion of a rival would be necelTary towards your own elevation, you will never hefitate, but will facrifice your confcience to your fortune ; and be unjuft towards your bro- ther, lead you fail towards yourfelf. Thus, in a word, to avoid a long detail, thofe fufpicious attachments, loofe converfations, ridiculous com- pliances, and defires of pleafing, too much atten- ded to, have filled you with difpofitions fo near- ly allied to "guilt and debauchery, that you aro no longer capable of refi fiance againil any of their attacks ; the corruption prepared, by the whole train of your pail actions, will be lighted up in an inftant : Your weaknefs will overcome your reflection : Your heart will go againft glo- ry, duty, and yourfelf. We cannot long conti- nue faithful, when we find in ourfelves fo many difpofitions to be otherwife. Thus you will yourfelf be furprifed at your own weaknefs : You will alk at yourfelf, What are become of all thofe difpofitions of modefty and virtue, which formerly infpired you with fuch horror at fin? You no longer will know yourfelf: But this ftate of guilt will gradually appear lefs frightful to you : The heart foon juftifies to itfelf, whatever pleafes it : Whatever is agreeable to us, does not long alarm us ; and to the mifery of a departure from virtue, you will add the mifery of ignorance and fccurity. Such STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. t^j Such is the inevitable lot of a lukewarm and un- faithful life : Paffions which we have too much indulged ; " Young lions," fays a prophet, " which have been nourifhed without prfecau- " tion, at length grow up, and devour the care- " lefs hand, which has even affifted to ftrengthen " and render them formidable :" The pafiions arrived to a certain point, gain a complete afcen- dancy : In vain you then try to regain yourfelf : The time is paft ; you have foftered the pro- fane fire in your heart ; it muft at laft break out ; you have nourifhed the venom within you ; it muft now fpread and gain upon you ; and the time is paft for any application to me- dicine ; you mould have taken it in time ; at the commencement the difeafe was not irreme- diable ; you have allowed it to ftrengthen ; you have irritated it by every thing which could in- flame, and render it incurable ; it muft now be conqueror, and you the victim of your own in- difcretion and indulgence. Do you not likewife fay, my brethren, that you have the beft intentions in the world ; that you wifh you could aft much better than you do ; and though you have the fincereft delires for falvation, yet a thoufand conjunctures happen in life, where we forget all our good intentions, and muft be faints to refift their impreffions ? This is exactly what we tell you j that in fpite of all your pretended good intentions, if you do not M 3 fly, 174 SERMON fly, ftruggle, watch, pray, and continually take the command over yourfelf, a thoufand occafions will occur, where you will no longer be mafter of your own weaknefs : This is what we tell you, that nothing but a mortified and watchful life can place us beyond the reach of temptation and danger : That it is ridiculous to fuppofe we mail continue faithful, in thofe moments when violently attacked, when we bear a heart weak- ened, wavering, and already on the verge of falling ; that none but the houfe built upon a tock can refift the winds and the tempeft ; and, in a word, that we muft be holy, and firmly eftabliflied in virtue, to live free from guilt. And when I fay that we muft be holy : Alas I my brethren, the mod faithful and fervent. Chriftians, with every inclination mortified as far as the frailty of our nature will permit ; imaginations purified by prayer, and minds nou- rifhed in virtue, and meditation on the law of God, frequently find themfelves in fuch terrible fituations, that their hearts fink within them ; their imaginations become troubled and deran- ged ; they fee themfelves in thofe melancholy agitations, where they float for a long time be- twixt vidlory and death - ? and, like a vefiel ftrug- gling againft the waves, in the midft of an en- raged ocean, they can only look for fafety from the Almighty Commander of winds and tem- pefts. And you, with a heart already half-fedu- ced, STATE FO LUKEWARMNESS. lyg ted, with inclinations at leaft bordering upon guilt, would wifh your weaknefs to be proof againfl all attacks, and the mod powerful temp- tations to find you always tranquil and inaccef- lible ? You would wifh, with your lukewarm, fenfual, and worldly morals, that on thefe occa- iions your foul mould be gifted with that ftrength and faith which even the molt tender and watch- ful piety fometimes cannot give ? You would wifh paffions flattered, nourifhed, and ftrength- ened, to remain, tractable, quiet, and cold, in the prefence of objects mofl capable of lighting them up ? Thofe which after years of auflerities, and a life devoted to prayer and watching, awake fometimes in a moment, far even from danger, and, by melancholy examples, make the mofl upright feel, that we never mould be off our guard, and that the highefl point of virtue is fometimes the inflant which precedes a depar- ture from, and total lofs of it. Such is our lot, my brethren, to be quick-fighted only towards the dangers which regard our fortune, or our life, and not even to know thofe which threaten our falvation. But let us undeceive ourfelves : To fhun guilt, fomething more is required than the lukewarmnefs and indolence of virtue ; and vigilance is the only mean left us by our Saviour to preferve our innocence. Firft reflection. A fecond reflection to be made on this truth is, That the paffions, daily flrengthening in a lukewarm and infidel life, not only duty finds in M 4 us 176 SERMON V. us unfurmountable repugnancies, but guilt liktf- wife, as I may fay, polifhes itfelf ; and at laft we feel no more repugnance to it, than to the fim- pleft fault. Indeed, by thefe daily infidelities infeparable from lukewarmnefs, the heart, as if by infenlible fteps, at laft arrives at thofe dan- gerous limits, which, by a fingle line, feparate life from death, guilt from innocence, and makes the final ftep, almoft without perceiving it ; on- ly a little way remaining for him to go, and ha- ving no occafion for any new exertion to accom- plifli it, he does not believe he has exceeded his former bounds. He had repleniflied himielf with difpofitions, fo nearly bordering on guilt, that he has brought forth iniquity without pain, repug- nance, vitible movement, or even perceiving it himfelf: Similar to a dying perfon, whom the languors of a long and painful malady have fo extenuated, and fo nearly approached to' his end,, that the departing figh refembles thofe which have preceded it ; cofts him no greater effort than the others, and even leaves the fpe&ators uncertain, whether his laft moment is come, or if he ftill breathes : And this is what renders the ftate of a lukewarm and infidel foul ftill more dangerous, that they are commouly dead to grace, without knowing it themfelves : They become enemies to God, while they ftill live with him as with a friend : They are ftill in the commerce of holy things, when they have loft STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 177 loft the grace, which entitles us to approach them. Thus, let thofe fouls whom this Difcourfe re- gards, no longer deceive themfelves, becaufe they believe to have hitherto avoided a grofs departure from virtue : Their ftate before God, is undoubtedly only more dangerous : Perhaps the mod formidable danger of lukewarmnefs, is, that already dead in the light of God, they live in their opinion, without any vifible or marked guilt ; that they compofe themfelves tranquilly in death, depending on an appearance of life which comforts them ; that to the danger of their lituation, they add a falfe peace, which confirms them in this path of illufion and dark- nefs ; it is in a word, that the Lord, by terrible and fecret judgments, ftrikes them with blind- nefs, and punimes the corruption of their heart, by permitting them to be ignorant of it. A grofs fall from virtue, if I may venture to fay fo, would to them be a mark of the goodnefs and mercy of God : They would then at leail open their eyes : Naked and manifeft guilt would then carry trouble and uneafinefs through their, confcience : The difeaie at laft difcovered, would perhaps induce them to have recourfe to the re- medy ; in place of which, this life, apparently regular, compofes and calms them ; renders ufe- lefs the example of fervent Chriftians ; perfuades them that this great fervour is unnecelTary ; that it jyg SERMON V. it is much more the effect of temperament thiu'i of grace ; that it is an emotion of zeal, rather than a duty ; and makes them liften to, as vain exaggerations, all that we fay, with regard to a lukewarm and infidel life. Second reflec- tion. In a word, the laft reflection to be made on this great truth, is, that fuch is the nature of our heart, always to remain much below what it at firft propofed. A thousand times we have formed pious refutations ; we have projected to carry to a certain point, the detail of our duties and conduct ; but the execution has always much diminished from the ardour of our projects ; and has refted at a degree much below the one to which we wilhed to raife ourfelves : Thus, the lukewarm Chriftian, propofing to himfelf no higher point of virtue, than to fliun guilt ; look- ing precifely to precept, that is to fay, to that rigorous and precife point of the law, immedi- ately below which is prevarication and death : He infallibly refts below, and never reaches that eflential point, which he had propofed to him- felf: It is, therefore, an incontcftible maxim, that we muft undertake much, to execute little \ and look very high, to attain at lead the middle. Now, this maxim, fo fure with regard even to the moft juft, is much more fo with refpect to the lukewarm and infidel foul : For coldnefs, more ftrongly binding all his ties, and augment- ing STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. 179 ing the weight of his corruption and mifery, it is principally him, who ought to take this grand flight, in order to attain at leaft the loweft de- gree ; and in his counfels with himfelf, propofe perfection, if he wilhes to reft, even at the ob- fervance of precept : Above all, it is to him that we may truly fay, that by fettling in his mind, only to fhun guilt, loaded as he is with the weight of his coldnefs and infidelities, he will always alight at a place very diftant from the one he ex- pected to reach ; and the line of guilt being im- mediately below this commodious andfenfual vir- tue, the very fame efforts he made, as he thought to fhun it, will only ferve to conduct him to it. Thefe are reafons, drawn entirely from the weak- nefs the ftrengthened paffions leave to the luke- warm and infidel foul ; and which inevitably lead it to ruin. The only reafon, however, you allege to us, for perfevering in this dangerous ftate, is, that you are weak, and totally unable to fupport a more retired, limited, mortified, and perfect man- ner of life : But furely, it is becaufe you are weak, that is to fay, full of difguft for virtue, of love for the world, and of fubjection to your appetites, that a retired and mortified life be- comes indifpenfable : It is becaufe you are weak, that with more caution, you ought to fhun every danger ; take a greater command over yourfelf j pray, watch, refufe yourfelf every improper gra- tification l8o SERMON V. tification, and attain even to holy exceffes of zeal and fervour, in order to accomplifti a bar- rier againft your weaknefs. You are weak ? And becaufe you are weak, you think you are entit- led to expofe yourfelf more than another ; to dread danger lefs ; with more tranquillity and indifference, to neglect the neceffary remedies ; to allow more to your appetites ; to preferve a ilronger attachment to the world, and every thing which can corrupt the heart ? What illu- fion ! You make your weaknefs then the title of your fecurity ? In the neceffities you have to watch and pray, you find then the privilege of difpenfing with them ! And lince, when is it, that the fick are authorifed to allow themfelves greater excefles, and make ufe of lefs precaution, than thofe who enjoy a perfect health ? Privation has always been the way of the weak and in- firm ; and to allege your weaknefs as a right of difpenfation from a more fervent and Chriftian life, is like enumerating your complaints, in or- der to perfuade us that you have no occafion for medicine. Second reafon, drawn from the paf- fions, which are ftrengthened in a flate of luke- warmnefs, and which proves, that this ftate al- ways ends in a departure from virtue, and the lofs of righteoufnefs. To all thefe reafons, I mould add a third, drawn from the external fuccours of religion, ne- ceffary to the fupport of piety ; and which be- come ufelefs to the lukewarm and infidel foul. The STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS, iSl The Holy Sacrament not only becomes of no utility, but even dangerous to him ; either by the coldnefs with which he approaches it, or by the vain confidence with which it infpires him ; it is no longer a refource for him ; it has loft its effect, like medicines too frequently made ufe of ; it amufes his languor, but cannot cure him : It is like the food of the ftrong and heal- thy, which fo far from re-eftablifhing, completes the ruin of the weak ftomach : It is 'the breath of the Holy Spirit, which, unable to re-illumi- nate the ftill fmoaking fpark, entirely extinguifh- es it ; that is to fay, that the grace of the Holy Sacrament, received in a lukewarm and infidel heart, no longer operating there an increafe of life and ftrength, never fails, fooner or later, to operate the death and condemnation attached to the abufe of thefe divine remedies. Prayer, that channel of grace, that nourilh- ment to a faithful heart ; that fweetener of pie- ty ; that refuge againft all attacks of the enemy ; that cry of an affected foul, which renders the Lord fo attentive to his neceflities : Prayer, without which the Almighty no longer makes himfelf felt within us ; without which we no longer know our father ; we no longer render thanks to our benefactor, nor appeafe our judge ; we expofe no longer our wounds to our phyfi- cian : We live without God in the world : Prayer, in a word, fo neceffary to the moft efta- blifhed virtue, to the lukewarm foul, is no long- er l8l SERMON V. er but the wearifome occupation of a diftracted mind ; of a heart dry, and lhared betwixt a thoufand foreign affections. He no longer ex- periences that love, thofe confolations, which are the fruit of a fervent and faithful life : He no longer, as if with a new light, fees the holy truths, which confirm the foul in its contempt for the world, and love for the things of hea- ven ; and which, after its departure hence, make it regard with new difguft, every thing which foolifli man admires : He leaves it, no longer filled with that lively faith which reckons as nothing, all the obftacles and dil'gufts of vir- tue, and with a holy zeal, devours all its forrows : He no longer feels after it, more love for his du- ty, and horror at the world ; more determina- tion to fly from its dangers ; more light to know its nothingnefs and mifery, and ftrength to hate and ftruggle with himlelf ; more terror for the judgments of God, and compunction for his own weakneffes : He leaves it, only more fatigued than before, with virtue ; more filled with the phantoms of the world, which in the moment when at the feet of the Almighty, have, it ap- pears, agitated more brilkly his imagination, blafted and flained by all thofe images ; more happy, by being quit of a burdenforne duty, where he has experienced nothing fo agreeable, as the pleafure of finding it over ; more eager, by amufements and infidelities, to fupply this moment of wearinefs and pain ^ in a word, more diftant STATE OF LUKEWARMNZSS. 183 diftant from God, whom he has irritated by the infidelity and irreverence of his prayer. Such, my brethren, is the fruit which he reaps from it. In a word, all the external duties of reli- gion, which fupport and roufe piety, are no longer to the lukewarm Chriftian, but dead and inanimate cuftoms, where his heart is not ; where there is more of habit, than of love or fpirit of piety ; and where the only difpolition he brings is the wearinefs and languor, of al- ways doing the fame thing. Thus, my brethren, the grace of this foul, being continually attacked and weakened, either by the practices of the world, which it allows itfelf, or by thofe of piety, which it abufes ; ei- ther by fenfual objects which nourifh its cor- ruption, or by thofe of religion, which increafe its difgufls ; either by the pleaiures which en- ervate it, or by the duties which fatigue it ; all uniting to make it bend towards ruin, and no- thing fupporting it : Alas ! what fate can it promife itfelf ! Can the lamp without oil, long continue to give light ? The tree which no longer draws nourifhment from the earth, can it fail to wither, and be devoted to the fire ? Now, fuch is the fituation of the lukewarm Chriftian ; entirely delivered up to himfelf, no- thing fupports him; furrounded by wearinefs and difgufts, . nothing re-animates him ; full of weaknefs and of languor, nothing protects him ; every confolation of the juft foul, is to him an increafe 1?4 SERMON V. increafe of languor ; every thing which gives fupport to a faithful Chriftian, difgufts and over- powers him ; whatever renders the yoke more eafy to others, makes his more burdenfomc ; and the fuccours of piety are no longer but his fatigues, or his crimes. Now, in this (late, O my God ! almofl abandoned by thy grace, tired of thy yoke, difgufled with himfelf, as well as with virtue, weakened by difeafes and their re- medies, flaggering at every Hep, a breath over- turns him ; he himfelf leans towards his fall, without any additional or foreign impremon ; and to fee him fall, there is no necefiity for his being attacked. Thefe are the reafons, which prove the cer- tainty of the lofs of righteoufnefs in a lukewarm and infidel life. But are fo many proofs nc- ceffary, my dear hearer, when your own mif- fortunes have fo fadly inflruded you ? Re- member from whence you are fallen, as the Koly Spirit of God formerly faid to a lukewarm and infidel foul: Remount to the fource of the diforders under which you ftill bend : You will find it in the negligence and infidelity of which we fpeak. A birth of pafiion too feebly rejedt- ed, an occafion of danger too much frequented, practices of piety too frequently omitted or de- fpifed, convenience too fenfually fought after, defires of pleafing too much liilened to, danger- ous writings too little avoided ; the fource is al- mofl imperceptible : The torrent of iniquity pro- ceeding- STATE or LUKEWARMNESS. 185 seeding from it, has completely inundated the capacity of your foul : It was only a fpark which has lighted up this great conflagration ; it was a morfel of leaven, which, in the end, has fer- mented, and corrupted the whole mafs. You never believed it poffible, that you could be, what at prefent you are : Whatever was faid to you on this fubjec~l, you heard as exaggerations of zeal and fpirituality : You would then have come forward of your own accord, in order to clear yourfelf of certain fteps, for which you now feel not the fmalleft remorfe : Remember from whence you are fallen : Confider the depth of the abyfs into which you are plunged : It is relaxation and flight infidelities, which by degrees have con- ducted you to it. Once more, remember it ; and fee, if that can be denominated a fure or du- rable ftate, which has brought you to the pre- cipice. Such is the ufual artifice of Satan : He never at firft propofes guilt ; that would frighten away his prey, and remove it beyond the reach of his furprifes : Too well he knows the road for enter- ing the heart ; he knows that he mull gradually confirm the timid confcience againft the horror of guilt, and propofe nothing at firft but honeft pur- pofes, and certain limits in pleafure : It is not boldly like the lion he at firft attacks ; it is wari- ly like the ferpent : He does not lead you ftraight to the gulf; he conducts you there by wind- N ing l86 SERMON V. ing paths. No, my brethren, crimes are never the firft efTays of the heart. David was impru- dent and flothful, before he became an adulterer : Solomon had allowed himfelf to be feduced and enervated by the delights and magnificence of royalty, before he publicly appeared in the midft of lewd women : Judas had given up his heart to money, before he put a price upon his mafter : Peter was prefumptuous, before he renounced the truth. Vice has its progrefs, as well as virtue : As the day, fays the Prophet, inftrudts the day, thus the night gives melancholy leflbns to the night ; and there is not far betwixt a ftate, which fufpends all the grace of protection, fortifies all the paffions, renders ufelefs all the fuccours of piety, and a ftate where it is entirely extinct. What then, my dear hearer, can confirm or comfort you, in this life of negligence and infi- delity ? Is it that exemption from guilt you have hitherto preferved ? But I have fhewn you, that it is either guilt itfelf, or that it will not fail, foon to lead you to it : Is it the love of eafe ? But in that, you enjoy neither the pleafurcs of the world, nor the confolations of virtue : Is it the afiurance that the Almighty requires no more of you? But how can the lukewarm and unfaith- ful foul fatisfy or pleafe him, when from his mouth he rejects him ? Is it the irregularity in which the generality of men live, and who carry it to an excefs which you avoid ? But their fate is perhaps STATE OF LUKEWARMNESS. !$7 perhaps lefs to be mourned, and lefs defperate than your own : They at leafi know their ma- lady, while you regard your own as a ftate of perfect health. Is it the dread of being unable to fupport a more mortified* watchful, and Chrif- tian life ? But lince you have hitherto been able to fupport fome remains of virtue and innocence, without the comforts and confolations of grace, and in fpiteof the wearineffes and difgufts which your lukewarmnefs has fpread through all your duties, what will it be when the Spirit of God, iliall foften your yoke, and when a more fervent and faithful life, mail have reftored to you all the grace-and confolations, of which your lukewarm- nefs has deprived you ? Piety -is never fad, or in- fupportable, but when it is cold and unfaithful. Rife then, fays a prophet, wicked .and flothful foul : break the fatal charm, which lulls, and chains thee to thine indolence. The Lord whom thou believefl to ferve, becaufe thou doft not openly affront him, is not the God of the wick- -cd, but of the faithful ; he is not the re warder of idknefs and floth, but of tears, watchings, and combats : He eftabldfheth not in his abodes, and in his everlafting city, the ufelefs, but the vigilant and laborious fervant : And his kingdom, fays the Apoftle, is not of flefh and blood, that -is to fay, of an unworthy effeminacy, and a life devoted ' to the appetites, but the ftrength and virtue of God j namely, a continued vigi- N 2 lance; l88 SERMON V, lance ; a generous facrifice of all our inclina- tions ; a conftant contempt of all things which pafs away ; and a tender and ardent defire for thofe invifible bleffings which fade not, nor ever pafs away : Which may God, in his infinite mer- cy, grant to all aflembled here. Amen. SER- N EVIL-SPEAKING. 189 SERMON VL ON EVIL-SPEAKING. JOHN ii, 24. ut jefus did not commit himfelf unto them ; becaufe lye knew all men. THESE were the fame Pharifees, who a little before had been decrying to the people, the actions of Jefus Chrift, and endeavouring to poifon the purity and fanctity of his words, who now make a fhew of believing in him, and claf- fing themfelves amongft his difciples. And fuch is the character of the evil-fpeaker ; under the mark of efteem, and the flattering expreffions of friendmip, to conceal the gall and bitternefs of flancter. N 3 Now, fpO SERMON VFr Now, although this be perhaps the only which no ckcumftance can palliate, it is the one tve are moft ingenious in concealing from our- feltes, and to which piety and the world at pre- fent Ihow the greateft indulgence. Not, that the character of a flanderer is not equally odious to men, as y according to 1 the expreffion of the Holy Spirit, it is abominable in the light of God ; but in that number, they comprife only particular de- famers of a blacker and more avowed maligni- ty, who deal their blows indifcriminately, and without art ; and who, with fufficient malice to eenfure, are deftitut'e of the wit neceflary to pleafe : Now, the defamers of that defcription are more rare ; and had we only them to addrefs ourfelves to, it would be fufficient at prefent to point out, how much unworthy of reafon arid re- ligion this vice is, to infpire with a juft d'etefta- tion of it, tl-ofe who feel themfelves guilty. But there is another defcription of flanderers, who condemn the vice, yet allow themfelves the practice of it ; who, without regard, defame their brethren, yet applaud themfelves for circumfpec- tion and moderation ; wha carry the fting to the heart ; but, becaufe it is more brilliant and pier- cing, perceive not the wound it has made. Now, defamers of this character are every where to be found ; the world is filled with them ; even the holy afylums are not free ; this vice is the bond of union to the aflemblies of finners ; it often- ON viL-spEAfcltfG. igi often finds its way even into the fociety of the juft ; and we may fafely fay, that all have err- ed from the ftrait road ; and there is not one, who has preferved his tongue pure, and his lips undefined. It is proper, then, my brethren, to expofe at prefent the illufion of the pretexts, made ufe of every day in the world, in juftification of this vice ; and to attack it in the circumftances, where you believe it moft innocent ; for were I to defcribe it to you, in general, with all its meannefs, cruelty, and irreparability, you would no longer apply it to yourfelves ; and far from infpiring you with horror at it, I mould be ac- ceflary towards your perfuafion, that you are free from its guilt. Now, what are the pretexts, which, in your eyes, foften, or juftify the vice of evil-fpeaking ? In the firft place, It is the lightnefs of the faults you cenfure : We perfuade ourfelves, that as it is not a matter of culpability, there cannot like- wife be much harm in cenfuring it. zdly, It is the public notoriety, by which thofe to whom we fpeak, being already informed of what is re- prehenfible in our brother, no lofs of reputation can be the confequence of our difcourfes. Laft- ly, Zeal for truth, and the glory of God, which does not permit us to be filent on thofe diforders which dishonour him. Now, to thefe three pre* texts, let us oppofe three incontrovertible truths. N 4 / "' To Ip2 SERMON VI. To the pretext of the lightnefs of the faults ; that the more the faults which you cenfure are light, the more is the (lander unjuft : Fir ft Truth. To the pretext of the public notoriety ; that the more the faults of our brethren are known, the more cruel is the flander which cenfures them : Second Truth. To the pretext of zeal ; that the fame charity, which, in piety, makes us hate finners, makes us likewife cover up the multitude of their faults : Laft Truth, PART I. The tongue, fays the Apoftle James, is a devouring fire, a world of iniquity, an un- ruly evil, full of deadly poifon. And behold, what I would have applied to the tongue of the evil-fpeaker, had I undertaken to give you a juft and natural idea of all the enormity of this vice : I would have faid, that the tongue of the ilanderer is a devouring fire, which tarniihes whatever it touches ; which exercifes its fury oa the good grain, equally as on the chaff ; on the profane, as on the facred ; which, wherever it pafles, leaves only defolation and ruin ; digs even into the bowels of the earth, and fixes itfelf on things the moft hidden ; turns into vile afhes, what, only a moment before, had appeared to us fo precious and brilliant , ads with more violence and danger than ever, in the time when it was apparently fmothered up, and almoft ex- tinct y which blackens, what it cannot confume ; and ON EVTL-SFEAKING. lOJJ and fometimes fparkles and delights, before it . deftroys. I would have told you, that evil- fpeaking is an aflemblage of iniquity ; a fecret pride, which difcovers to us the mote in our brother's eye, but hides the beam which is in our own ; a mean envy, which hurt at the ta- lents or profperity of others, makes them the fubjeft of its cenfures, and ftudies to dim the fplendour of whatever outlhines itfelf ; a dif- guifed hatred, which Iheds in its fpeeches, the hidden venom of the heart ; an unworthy du- plicity, which praifes to the face, and tears in pieces behind the back ; a fliameful levity, which has no command over itfelf, or words, and often facrifices both fortune and comfort, to the im- prudence of an amufing converfation ; a delibe- rate barbarity, which goes to pierce your abfent brother ; a fcandal, where you become a fub- jecl: of manie and fin to thofe who liften to you ; an injuftice, where you ravifh from your bro- ther, what is deareft to him. I would have faid, that flander is a reftlefs evil ; which difturbs fo- ciety ; fpreads dhTention through cities and coun- tries ; difunites the ftridleil friendfhips ; is the fource of hatred and revenge ; fills, wherever it enters, with difturbances and confufion ; and r every where, is an enemy to peace; comfort, and Chriftian good breeding. Lailly, I would have added, that .it is an evil full of deadly poifon ; whatever flows from it is infefted, and poifons whatever 1^4 SERMON VI. whatever it approaches ; that even its praiies are impoifoned ; its applaufes, malicious ; its fi- lence, criminal ; its geftures, motions and looks, have all their venom, and fpread it each in their way. Behold, what in this difcourfe, it would have been my duty, more at large, to have expofed to your view, had I not propofed only to paint to you, the vilenefs of the vice, which I am now going to combat ; but as I have already faid, thefe are only general invectives, which none apply to themfelves. The more odious the vice is reprefented, the lefs do you perceive yourielves concerned in it ; und though you ac- knowledge the principle, you make no ufe of it, in the regulation of your manners ; becaufe, in thefe general paintings, we always find fea- tures which reiemble us not. I wifh, therefore, to confine myfelf at prefent, to the fingle object of making you feel all the injuftice of that de- fcription of ilander, which you think the molt innocent , and leaft you mould not feel your- ielves connected with what I mall fay, I mall at- tack it, only in the pretexts which you continual- ly employ in its justification. Now the firft pretext, which authorifes in the world almoft all the defamations, and is the caufe that our converfations are now continual cen- fures upon our brethren, is the pretended infig- nificancy of the vices we expofe to view. We would ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 193 would not wifh to tarnifh a man of character, or ruin his fortune, by difhonouring him in the world ; to (lain the principles of a woman's con- duct, by entering into the eflential points of it ; that would be too infamous and mean : But up- on a thoufand faults, which lead our judgment to believe them capable of all the reft ; to- in- fpire the minds of thofe who liften to us with a thoufand fufpicions, which point out what we dare not fay ; to make fatirical remarks, which difcover a myftery, where no perfon before had perceived the leaft intention of concealment ; by poifonous interpretations, to give an air of ri- dicule to manners which had hitherto efcaped obfervation ; to let every thing, on certain points, be clearly underftood, while protefting, that they are incapable themfelves of cunning or deceit, is what the world makes little fcruple of; and though the motives, the circumftances, and the effects of thefe difcourfes, be highly criminal, Vet gaiety and livelinefs excufe their malignity, to thofe who liften to us, and even conceal from ourfelves their atrocity. I fay, in the firft place, the motives. I know that it is above all by the innocency of the in- tention, that they pretend to juftify themfelves ; that you continually fay, that your deiign is not to tarnifh the reputation of your brother, but innocently to divert yourfelves with faults which do not difhonour him in the eyes of the world. You, Ip6 SERMON VI. You, my dear hearer, to divert yourfelf with his faults ! But what is that cruel pleafure, which carries forrow and bitternefs to the heart of your brother? Where is the innocency of an amufement, whofe fource fprings from vices, which ought to infpire you with compaflion and grief? If Jefus Chrift forbid us in the gofpel, to invigorate the languors of converfation by idle words, mail it be more permitted to you, to enliven it by derifions and cenfures ? If the law curfe him, who uncovers the nakednefs of his relations, mall you, who add raillery and infult to the difcovery, be more protected from that malediction ? If whoever call his brother fool, be worthy, according to Jefus Chrift, of eternal fire ; mall he who renders him the contempt and laughing-flock of a profane aflembly, ef- cape the fame punifliment ? You, to amufe your- felf with his faults ? But does charity delight in evil ? Is that rejoicing in the Lord, as command- ed by the Apoftle ? If you love your brother as yourfelf, can you delight in what afflidls him ? Ah ! The church formerly held in horror the exhibitions of gladiators, and denied that be- lievers, brought up in the tendernefs and benig- nity of Jefus Chrift, could innocently feaft their eyes with the blood and death of thefe unfortu- nate (laves, or form an harmlefs recreation of fo inhuman a pleafure. But you renew more de- teftable mows, to enliven your languor : You bring ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 197 bring upon the ftage, not infamous wretches de- voted to death, but members of Jefus Chrift, your brethren ; and there you entertain the fpec- tators, with wounds, which you inflict on per- fons rendered facred by baptifm. Is it then neceflary that your brother mould fuffer, to amufe you ? Can you find no delight in your converfations, unlefs his blood, as I may fay, is furniflied towards your iniquitous plea- fures ? Edify each other, fays St Paul, by words of peace and charity ; relate the wonders of God towards the juft, the hiftory of his mercies to finners ; recal the virtues of thofe, who with the lign of faith have preceded us ; make an agreeable relaxation to yourfelves, in reciting the pious examples of your brethren with whom you live ; with a religious joy, fpeak of the vic- tories of faith ; of the agrandifement of the kingdom of Jefus Chrift ; of the eftablifhment of truth, and the extinction of error ; of the fa- vours which Jefus Chrift beftows on his church, by railing up in it faithful paftors, enlightened members, and religious princes ; animate your- felves to virtue, by contemplating the little foli- dity of the world, the emptinefs of pleafures, and the unhap^inefs of finners, who yield them- felves up to their unruly paffions. Are thefe grand objects not worthy the delight of Chrif- tians ? It was thus, however, that the firft belie- vers rejoiced in the Lord, and from the fweets of IpS SERMON VI. of their converfations, formed one of the moil holy confolations to their temporal calamities. It is the heart, rny brethren, which decides up- on our pleafures : A corrupted heart feels no delight, but in what recals to him the image of his vices : Innocent delights, are only fuitabLe to virtue. In effect, you excufe the malignity of your cenfures, by the innocency of your intentions. But fathom the fecrct of your heart : Whence comes it, that your farcafms are always pointed to fuch an individual, and that you never amufe yourfelf with more wit, or more agreeably, than in recalling his faults ? May it not proceed from a fecret jealoufy ? Do not his talents, fortune, credit, ftation, or character, hurt you more than his faults ? Would you find him fo fit a fubjecl for cenfure, had he fewer of thofe qualities which exalt him above you ? Would you expe- rience fuch pLeafure in expoiing his foibles, did not the world find qualities in him both valuable and praife- worthy ? Would Saul have'fo often repeated with fuch pleafure, that David was on- ly the fon of Jefle, had he not confidered him as a rival, more -deferving than himfelf of the empire ? Whence comes it, that the faults of ail others find you more indulgent ? That elfewhere you excufe every thing, but here every circum- ftance comes empoifoned from your mouth ? Go to the fource, and examine, if it is not fume fe- ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 199 cret root of bitternefs in your heart ? And can you pretend to juftify, by the innocency of the intention, difcourfes which flow from fo corrup- ted a principle ? You maintain that it is neither from hatred nor jealoufy againft your brother : I wifh to believe it ; but in your farcafms may there not be motives, perhaps ftill more fhame- ful and mean ? Is it not your wifh, to render yourfelf agreeable, by turning your brother into an objecl: of contempt and ridicule ? Do you not facrifice his character to your fortune ? Courts are always fo filled with thefe adulatory, and fordidly interefted fatires, on each other ! The great are to be pitied, whenever they yield themfelves up to unwarrantable averfions. Vices are foon found out, even in that virtue itfelf which difpleafes them. But after all, you do not feel yourfelves guil- ty, you fay, of all thefe vile motives ; and that it is merely through indifcretion, and levity of fpeech, if it fometimes happen that you defame your brethren. But is it by that you can fup- pofe yourfelves more innocent ? Levity and in- difcretion ; that vice, fo unworthy of the gra- vity of a Chriftian, fo diflant from the feriouf- nefs and folidity of faith, and fo often condem- ned in the gofpel, can it juftify another vice ? What matters it to the brother whom you ftab, whether it be done through indifcretion or ma- lice ? Does an arrow, unwittingly drawn, make a 200 SERMON VI. a lefs dangerous, or flighter wound, than if fent on purpofe ? Is the deadly blow, which you give to your brother, more flight, becaufe it was lan- ced through imprudence and levity ? And what fignifies the innocency of the intention, when the action is a crime ? But befides, Is there no criminality in indifcretion, with regard to the reputation of your brethren ? In any cafe what- ever, can more circumfpeclion and prudence be required ? Are not all the duties of Chriflianity comprifed in that of charity ? Does not all re- ligion, as I may fay, confift in that : And to be incapable of attention and care, in a point fo highly eflential, is it not confidering, as it were, all the reft as a fport ? Ah ! it is here he ought to put a guard of circumfpeclion on his tongue, weigh every word, put them together in his heart, fays the fage Ecclefiafticus, and let them ripen in his mouth. Do any of thefe inconfi- derate fpeeches ever efcape you, againft your- felf ? Do you ever fail in attention to what in- terefts your honour or glory ? What indefati- gable cares ! What exertions and induftry, to make them profper ! To what lengths we lee you go, to increafe your intereft, or improve your fortune ! If it ever happen, that you take blame to yourfelf, it is always under circum- ilances which tend to your praife : You cenfure in yourfelf, only faults which do you honour ; and in confefling your vices, you wiih only to recapitulate ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 201 recapitulate your virtues : Self-love connects every thing with yourfelf. Love your brother as you love yourfelf, and every thing will recal you to him ; you will be incapable of indifcretion, where his intereft is concerned, and will no longer need our inftruclions, in refpedl to what you owe to his character and glory. But if thefe flanders which you call trivial, be criminal in their motives, they are not lefs fo in their circumftances. In the firft place, I mould make you obferve, that the world, familiarifed with guilt, and accuf- tomed to fee the moft heinous vices, now become the vices of the multitude, is no longer mocked at them ; denominates light, defamations which turn upon the moft criminal and Ihameful weak- neffes : Sufpicions of infidelity, in the facred bond of marriage, are no longer a marked dif- credit, or an eflential ftain ; they are fources of derilion and pleafantry : To accufe a courtier of infmcerity and double-dealing, is no attack up- on his honour, it is only cafting a ridicule on the proteftations of fincerity, with which he a- mufes us : To fpread the fufpicion of hypocrify, in the lincereft piety, is not an infult to God through his faints, it is a language of derifion, which cuftom has rendered common : In a word, excepting thofe crimes punifhable by the public authority, and which are attended with the lofs of credit and property, all others feem trivial, O and 3O2 SERMON VI. and become the ordinary fubjeft of converfation, and of the public cenfure. But let us not purfue this reflection farther. I wifh to allow that your brother's faults are light : The more they are light, the more are you un- juft in heightening them : The more he merits indulgence on your part, the more are we to pre- fume in you, a malignity of obfervation, from which nothing can efcape ; a natural hardnefs of heart, which can excufe nothing. Were the faults of your brother important, you would fpare him, you fay ; you would find him entit- led to your indulgence : Politenefs and religion Avould make your filence a duty : What ! be- caufe his weaknefles are only trivial, you find him lefs worthy of your regard ? The very cir- cumftance which ought to make him refpeft- able, authorifes you in making him the butt of your farcafms ? Are you not, fays the Apoftle, become a judge of iniquitous thoughts ? And your eye, is it then wicked, only becaufe your brother is good ? Befides, the faults which you cenfure are light ; but would they appear fo to you, were you to be reproached with them ? When certain difcourfes, held in your abfence, have reached your ears, and which, in fact, at- tacked effentially, neither your honour nor pro- bity, but only acquainted the public with fome of your weaknefles, what have been your fenfa- {ions? My God! Then it was, that you magni- fied N EVIL-SPEAKING. 203 Hed every thing : that every circumflance ap- peared important to you ; that, not fatisfied with exaggerating the malice of the words, you raked up the fecret of the intention, and hoped to find motives ftill more odious than the difcourfes. In vain are you told, that thefe are not reproaches, which eflentially intereft you, and at the word cannot difgrace you : You think yourfelves in- fulted ; you mention them with bitter com- plaints ; you blaze out, and are no longer maf- ters of your refentment ; and whilft all the world blames the excefs of your fenfibility, you alone obfttnately periift in the belief of its be- ing a ferious affair, and that your honour is in- terefted in it. Make ufe then, of this rule in the faults which you publifh of your brother : Apply the offence to yourfelves ; every thing is light, which is againft him ; but with regard to what touches you, the fmallefl circumftance ap- pears important to your pride, and worthy of all your refentment. Laftly, The vices which you cenfure are light ,- but do you add nothing of your own to them ? Do you faithfully exhibit them as they are ? In their relation, do you never mingle the malignity of your own conjectures ? Do you not place them in a point of view, different from their natural ftate ? Do you not embellifh your tale ? And in order to make the hero of your ri- dicule agreeable, do you not fafhion him to the O2 wifh 204 SERMON VI. wifh of the company, and not fuch as in reality he is ? Do you never accompany your fpeeches with certain geftures, which allow all to be un- derftood ; with certain expreffions, which open the minds of your hearers to a thoufand fufpi- cions, equally ram, as difhonourable? Even with a certain lilence, \\ hich permits more to be ima- gined, than any thing you could have pofiibly laid? For, how difficult it is lo confine ourfelves to the bounds of truth, when we are no longer \vithin thoie of charity 1 The more what we cenfure is light, the more is calumny to be dreaded ; we mutt embeiiim to attradl atten- tion ; and we become calumniators, where we did not fuppofe ourfelves even cenfurers. Behold the circumliances which regard you ; but if, on their account, the {landers which you think light, be highly criminal, will they be lefs fo with refpcct to the individuals whom they attack ? In the firjl place, it is a perffcn, perhaps of a fex, to whom, efpccially on certain points, the (lighteft flains are important ; to whom it is difhonour to be publicly fpoken of; to whoi raillery becomes an infult, and every iufpici< an accufation ; in a word, a perfon, whom not praiie becomes an outrage, and a difgrace t( their ilation : Thus St Paul would have tvei woman to be adorned with baflifulnefs and m( that is to fay, he would wifh thofe vir- tue ON EVIL- SPEAKING* ' 2C5 tues to be as confpicuous in them, as the orna- ments with which they are covered ; and the higheil eulogy which the Holy Spirit makes on Judith, after fpeaking of her beauty, youth, and great wealth, is, that in all Ifrael, not a perfon was to be found who had afperfed her conduct ; and that her reputation correfponded with her virtue, 2r//r, Your cenfures are perhaps pointed to- wards your fuperiors ; or againft thofe whom providence has eftablifhed above you, and to whom the law of God commands you to render that refpect and fubmiffion to which they are entitled. For the pride which hates inferiority, always recompenfes itielf, by finding cut weak- nefles and foibles, in thofe to whom it is under the neceffity of yielding obedience ; the more they are exalted, the more they are expofed to our cenfures : Malignity is even more quick- fighted in regard to their errors ; nothing, in their aclions, is pardoned ; the very perfons mod loaded with their kindnefles, or moil honoured by their familiarity, are frequently thofe, who mod openly publifh their imperfections and vices ; and beildes violating the facred duty of refpect, they like wife render thcmfelves guilty of the mean and faameful crime of ingratitude. 3///V, It is a perfon, perhaps confeerated to God, and eft'ablifhed in the church^ whom you ccnfure ; v, ho, engaged by the mc"lity of hia O 3 vocation, 206 SERMON VI. vocation, to more exemplary, pure, and irre- proachable manners, finds himfelf ftained and difhonoured by cenfures, which would not affect the reputation of perfons of the world. Thus the Lord, in the fcriptures, curfeth thofe who fhall even meddle with his anointed. Neverthelefs, the traits of flander are never more animated, more brilliant, or more applauded in the world, than when directed againft the minifters of his holy altar ; the world, fo indulgent to itfelf, feems to have preferved its feverity only on their account ; and for them, it has eyes more cenfo- rious, and a tongue more empoifoned, than for the reft of men. It is true, O my God, that our converfation amongft the people is not always holy, and free from reproach ; that we frequent- ly adopt the manners, luxury, indolence, idle- nefs, and pleafures of the world, againft which we ought to ftruggle ; that we hold out to be- lievers, more examples of pride and negligence, than of virtue ; that we are more jealous of pre- eminence, than of the duties of our calling ; and that it is difficult for the world to honour a cha- racter, which we ourfelves difgrace. But as I have often faid, my brethren, our infidelities ought rather to be the fubject of your tears, than of your pleafantry and eenfures : God ge- nerally punifhes the diforders of the people, by the corruption of the priefts ; and the moft dreadful fcourge with which he ftrikes king- doms ON EVIL- SPEAKING. 2C>7 doms and empires, is that of not railing up in them venerable paftors, and zealous minifters, who may ftem the torrent of dillipation ; it is that of permitting faith and religion to become weakened, even amongft thofe who are its de- fenders and depolitaries ; that the light, which was meant to inftrucl you, fhould be changed into darknefs ; that the co-operators in your fal- vation, mould affift, by their example, towards your deftruclion ; that even from the fanctuary, from whence ought to proceed only the good fa- vour of Jefus Chrift, there mould iffue a fmell of death and fcandal ; and, in a word, that abo- minations mould find their way even into the holy place. But what alteration does the relax- ation of our manners, make in the fanclity of the vocation which confecrates us ? Are the fa- cred vafes, which ferve on the altar, though compofed of a mean metal, lefs worthy of your refpect? And even granting the minifter may merit your contempt, would you be lefs facrili- gious, in not refpecling his mininry ? What mall I fay ? Your detractions and cen- fures, are perhaps directed againft peribns, who make a public profeffion of piety, and whofe vir- tue your hearers formerly refpected. You then perfuade them, that they had been too credu- lous ; you authorife them to believe, that few worthy, and intrinfically good characters, are to be found on the earth ; that all thofe held out 04 as 268 SERMON VI. as fuch, when narrowly examined, are like the reft of men : You confirm the prejudices of the world againft virtue, and give frefh credit to thofe difcourfes, fo ufual, and fo injurious to re- ligion, with regard to the piety of the fervants of Jefus Chrift. Now, do all thefe appear fo very light to you ? Ah, my brethren ! The juft on this earth are like the holy ark, in the midil of which the Lord dwells, and any contempt or infult to which, he moft rigoroufly avenges : They may ftagger in their road, like the ark of Ifrael, while condu cling in triumph to Jerufalem ; for the pureft and moft mining virtue, has its fpots and eclipfes ; and even the moft folid, can- not always equally fupport itfelf ; but the Lord is incenfed, when ram and impure hands, like thofe of Uzzah, mail yenture to put them right ; and fcarcely have they touched them, when they are fmote by his wrath : He takes to him- felf the flighted infults with which they difho- nour his fervants, and he cannot endure that virtue, which has found admirers, even amongfl tyrants, and the moft barbarous nations, mould frequently among believers, find only cenfurcs and derifions. Thus the little children of Ifrael, were devoured on the fpot, for having mocked the irnall number of hairs of the man of God ; nevertheless thefe were only the puerile indil- cretions, fo pardonable at their age. Fire fn,m cn, fell upon th^ oihctr of the impious Aha- y.iah. ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 2Oll6 SIRMON VI. which you cenfure, add additional ridicule to your confufion and difgrace ? Ah ! It is only to artifices and arrangements, which the juftice of God may difconcert and lay open in an inflant, that you are indebted for this phantom of repu- tation, on which you pride yourfelves fo much : You perhaps border on the moment, which mail reveal your fhame ; and far from blufhing in fe- cret and in filence, when faults, like your own, are made known, you fpeak of, and relate them with pleafure ; and you furnifh the public with traits, which, one day, it will employ againft yourfelf : It is the threat and prediction of our Saviour. All they that take the fword, mail pe- rim with the fword : You pierce your brother with the fword of the tongue ; with the fame weapon, (hall you be pierced in your turn ; and though you were even exempted from the vices you fo boldly cenfure in others, the juft God will deliver you up to it. Difgrace is the common punimment of pride. Peter, on the evening of the Lord's Supper, ne- ver ceafed to exaggerate the guilt of the difciple, by whom his mailer was to be betrayed : He was the moil anxious of them all to know his name, and the moil forward to exprefs his deteftation of his perfidy ; and immediately after, he falls himftlf into the infiJeli'y which he had fo lately blamed with luc h pride and confidence. Nothing draws down upon us the wrath and curfe of God, fo ON ETIL-SPEAKING; 21? fo much as the malicious pleafure with which we magnify the faults of our brethren ; and his mercy is incenfed, that thefe affli&ing examples, which he permits, for the fole purpofe of recal- ling us to our own weakneffes, and awakening our vigilance, fhould flatter our pride, and excite only our derifions and cenfures. You depart, then, from the rules of Chrif- tian humility, when you permit yourfelves to cenfure the faults, however public, of your brother : but you likewife eflentially wound thofe of charity : For charity never faileth, fays the Apoftle. Now, if the vices of your brother be known to thofe who liften to you, to what purpofe, then, do you repeat them afrefh ? What indeed can be your intention ? To blame his con- duel: ? But, is his fhame not already fufficient ? Would you wifh to overwhelm an unfortunate wretch, and give the laft flab to a man, already pierced with a thoufand mortal blows ? His guilt has already been exaggerated by fo many dark and malicious hearts, who have fpread it in co- lours fufficient to blacken it for ever : Is he not fufficiently punifhed ? He is now worthy of your pity, rather than of your cenfures. What then could be your intention ? To condole with him for his misfortune ? But to open afrem his wounds, is a ftrange way of condoling with an unfortunate brother. Is true companion thus cruel ? What is it then ? To juftify your pro- P phecies ; 2l8 SERMON VI. phecies, and former fufpicions, on his conduct ? To tell us, that you had always believed, that fooner or later it would come to that : But you come then, to triumph over his misfortune ? To applaud yourfelf for his difgrace ? To claim an honour to yourfelf for the malignity of your judgment ? Alas ! What glory can it be to a Chriftian, to have fufpected his brother ; to have believed him guilty, before he was known as fuch ; to have rafhly forefeen his difgraces yet to come ; we, who ought not to fee them, even when they have taken, place ? Ah ! You can pro- phecy fo juftly, on the deftiny of others : Be a prophet in your own country, and anticipate the misfortunes which threaten you : Why do you not prophecy thus for yourfelf, that unlefs you fly from fuch an opportunity, and fuch a danger, you will perifh in it ? That unlefs you diflblve fuch a connection, the public, which al- ready murmurs, will at laft break out, and then you mall find it too late to repair the fcandal ? That unlefs you quit thefe exceffes, into which the paffions of youth, and a bad education, have thrown you, your affairs and fortune will be ruined beyond refource ? It is on thefe points that you ought to exercife your art of conjec- ture. What madnefs, while furrounded one's- felf With precipices, to be occupied, in contem- plating from afar thofe that threaten our breth- ren ! Bcfwks, ON VIL-SPEAklNG. Befides, the more your brother's difgraces are public, the more affefted ought you to be with the fcandal, which they necefiarily occafion to the Church ; with the advantage which the wick- ed and the free-thinkers will draw from them, to blafpheme the name of the Lord, to harden themfelves in impiety, and to perfuade them- felves, that thefe are weakneffes common to all men, and that they are moil virtuous, who belt know how to conceal them : The mote ought you to be afflicled, at the occafion which thefe public examples of irregularity give to weak fouls, to fall into the fame diforders ; the more does charity oblige you to grieve over them : the more ought you to wifh, that the remem- brance of thefe faults mould perim : that the day, and the places of their revealment, mould be effaced from the memory of men : and laft- ly, the more ought you, by your filence, to en- deavour to fupprefs them. But the whole world fpeaks of them, you fay ; your filence will not prevent the public conventions ; confequently, you may make remarks in your turn. The in- ference is barbarous: Becaufe you are unable to repair the difgrace, are you permitted to aug- ment it ? Becaufe you cannot fave your brother from fhame, mail you affift to overwhelm him with confufion and infamy? Becaufe, almoft every one cafts a ftone at him, mall it be lefs cruel in you, to throw one in your turn, and to unite P 2 W ith 220 SERMON Vr. with thofe who bruife, and beat him in pieces < Setting religion afide, how beautiful it is, to de- clare for the unfortunate ? How much real dig- nity and greatnefs of foul, in flickering under our protection, thofe abandoned by the world ! And even admitting the rules, of charity were not to make it a duty to us, the feelings alone, of glory and humanity, mould in this cafe be fufficient. 3dly, You not only violate the holy rules of charity ; but you are alfo a breaker of thofe of juftice. For, the faults of your brother are pub- lic ; let it be fo ; but plare yourfelf hi the fome irtuation, would you exacl: from him lefs defe- rence, or lefs humanity, were your difgrace to be no longer a myftery ? Would you agree, that the public example gave to your brother a right againit you, which you arrogate to yourfelf a- gainft him ? Would you accept, on his part, in juftification of his malignity, an excufe, which would render him Hill more odious, mean, and cruel? Befides, how do you know whether the au- thor of all thefe reports be not an rmpoftor ? So many falfe reports are circulated in the world ; and the malice of men renders them fo credu- lous on the faults of others ! How do you know, but thefe' calumnies have been circulated by an enemy, a rival, or fome envious perfon, in order to ruin him, who has thwarted his paflions or his fortune ? Are fuch inftances rare ? Whctlvr it ON EVIL-SPEAKING. '2,21 it "be not fome heedlefs perfon who has given oc- cafion to all thefe difeourfes, by an indifcreet ^xpreffion, uttered without thought, and laid hold of through malice ? Are fuch miftakes im- poflible ? Whether it be not a mere conjecture, originally circulated as fuch, and afterwards given as a truth ? Are fuch alterations uncommon, in public rumours ? What could have a greater appearance of fealibility, to the children of the captivity, than the alleged mifconduct of Sufan- na. The judges' of the people of God, vene- rable through their age and dignity, depofed againft her ; the people exclaimed againft her as an adulterefs ; they looked upon her as the difgrace of Ifrael ; neverthelefs, it was her mo- defty alone which drew upon her thefe infults ; and had not a Daniel been found in her time, who had the courage to doubt a general report, the blood of that innocent woman muft have ilained the whole people. And, without depart- ing from our gofpel ; were not the facrilegious reports, which held out Jefus as an impoftor and Samaritan, become the public difeourfes of all Judea? The Priefts and Pharifees, people, to whom the dignity of their ftation, and the regu- larity of their manners, attracted the refpect and confidence of the people, ftrengthened them by their authority : Neverthelefs, would you excufe fuch amongfl the Jews, as on reports fo com- mon, fpoke of the Saviour of the world, as a P 3 feducer 221 SERMON VI. feducer who impofed on the credulity of the people ? You expofe yourfelf, then, to the guilt of having calumniated your brother ; however circulated the rumours againft him may be, his crime, of which you have not been a witnefs, is always dubious to you : and you do him an h> juftice, when you propagate as true, what you have only heard from public reports, often falfe, and always ram. But I go further : when your brother's dif- grace, mould even be certain, and the malignity of reports mould have added nothing to its cri- minality ; how can .you know, that the very fhame of feeing it fo public may not have re- called him to himfelf ; and that a lincere repen- tance, and tears of compunction, may not have already effaced, and expiated it before God ? Years are not always required for grace to tri- :umph over a rebellious heart : there are victo- ries which it leaves not to time ; and a public difgrace often turns out the moment of mercy, which decides upon the converfion of the finner. Now, if your brother is in a ftate of repentance, are you not unjuft and cruel to revive faults which hi f s penitence has effaced, and which the Lord hath ceafed to remember ? Do you recoiled the finful woman in the gofpel ? Her irregula- rities were notorious, feeing me had been known through the whole city as a proftitute : ne- yerthelefs, when the Pharifee reproached her , k with ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 223 with her lins, her tears and love had effaced them, at the feet of our Saviour ; the goodnefs of God had remitted her errors, yet the malig- nity of men, was unable to obliterate them. Laftly, Your brother's difgrace was public ; that is to fay, it was confufedly known, that his conduct was not free from reproach, and you come to particularife the circumftances, to pro- claim his deeds, to explain the motives, and to lay open the whole myflery ; to confirm what they but imperfectly knew ; to tell them of what they knew not at all ; and to applaud yourfelf, for appearing better inftructed in your brother's misfortune, than thofe who liften to you : Some degree of character, though waver- ing, yet remained to him ; he dill preferved, at leaft, fome remains of honour, a fpark of life, and you completely extinguiih it. ' I do not add, that thefe public reports perhaps originated from people of no character ; perfons of neither repu- tation nor confequence to convince ; hitherto none durft yield credit to rumours fo poorly fupported ; but you, who by your rank, birth, and dignities, have acquired an influence over the minds, remove every fhadow of doubt or un- certainty : Your name alone, will now ferve as a proof againft the innocency of your brother ; and in future it will be cited in juftification of the general reports. Now,, can any thing be harder, or more unjuft, both on account of the P 4 injury 12+ S E R M O N VI. injury you do to him, and of the fervice you fail to perform ? Your filence on his fault might alone perhaps have ftopt the public defamation ; and you would have been cited to clear his in- nocence, as you now are to blacken it : And v. hat more refpeclable ufe could you have made of your rank and influence ? The more you are exalted in the world, the more ought you to be religious, and circumfpedt on the reputation of your brethren ; the more ought a noble decency to render you referved on their errors : The dif- courfes of the vulgar are foon forgot ; they ex- pire in coming into the world ; but the words of the great never fall in vain ; and the public is always a faithful echo, either to the praifes they beftow, or to the cenfures they allow thcmfelvcs to utter. My God ! thou teacheft us, by con- cealing thyfelf the fins of men, to conceal them on our part ; to reveal our faults, thou waiteil with a merciful patience, the day \vhen the fe- crets of our hearts fhall be manifefted : And \ve, by a rafli malignity, anticipate the time of thy vengeance ; we who are fo interefied, that the fecrccies of our hearts, and the myftery of the conferences, mould not as yet be laid open to thee. Thus, you particularly, my brethren, whom rank and birth exalt above others, be not fatis- fied with putting a check upon your tongue ; according to the advice of the Holy Spirit, pre- fent ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 225 fent a melancholy and fevere countenance, a ii- lence of difapprobation and indignation, to every defamatory difcourfe ; for the crime is exactly equal, between the malignity of the fpeaker, and the fatisfaclion of thofe who liften to them. Let us furround our ears with thorns, that they may not be acceflible to poifonous infinuations ; that is to fay, let us not only fhut them againll thefe words of blood and gall, but let us return them on their author in a manner equally bitter and mortifying. Were flander to find fewer ap- provers, the kingdom of Jefus Chrift would foon be purged of that fcandal : Slander is pleafing ; and a vice which pleafes foon becomes a defir- able talent : We animate flander by our ap- plaufes ; and as there is no perfon but wifhes tp - be applauded, there are few likewife who do not ftudy it, and endeavour to make a merit of flan- dering with fkill. But what is furprifing is, that piety itfelf fre- quently ferves as a pretext to that vice, which faps the very foundations of piety, and which iincere piety detefls. This ought to be the laft part of this difcourfe ; but I mall fay only a iingle word upon it. Yes, my brethren, flander frequently finds in piety itfelf, wherewithal to colour itfelf : It decks itfelf out in the appear- ance of zeal : Hatred to vice feems to authorife the cenfure of finners : Thofe who make a pro- feflion of virtue, often believe that they are ho- nouring 426 fZRMON VI. nouring God, and rendering glory to him, when they dilhonour, and exclaim againft thofe wfco offend him ; as though the privilege of piety, whofe foul is charity, were to difpenfe us even from charity. It is not that I wifh here to juf- tify the difcourfes of the world, and to furnim it with new traits againft the zeal of the upright ; but, at the fame time, I ought not to dhTemble, that the liberty which they alTume, of cenfuring the conduct of their brethren, is one of the molt common abufes of piety. Now, my dear hearer, you whom this dif- courfe regards, lift en to, and never forget the rules which the gofpel prefcribes to true zeal. iftly, Remember, that the zeal which makes us lament over the fcandals that difhonour the church, is contented with lamenting them before God ; with praying him not to forget his former mercies ; to caft his propitious re- gards upon the people ; to eftablifh his reign in all hearts ; and to recal finners from their er- roneous ways. Behold, the holy manner of x la- menting over the difgraces of your brethren ; mention them frequently to the Lord, but for- get them in the prefence of men. 'idly. Remember, that piety gives you no right of empire or authority over your brethren : That if you be not eftablifhed over them, and refponfible for their conduct, whether they fall, pr remain ftedfaft, is the concern of the Lord, ON EVIL-SPEAKING. 22^ and not your's ; confequently, that your conti- nual and public lamentations, over their irregu- larities, proceed from a principle of pride, ma- lignity, levity, and intolerancy ; that the church has its paftors to fuperintend the flock ; that the ark has its minifters to fuftain it, without need- ing the interference of any foreign or impru- dent fuccours ; and laftly, that by thefe means, far from correcting your brethren, you dilho- nour piety ; you juftify the difcourfes of the wicked againft the juft ; and you authorife them in faying, as formerly in the Book of Wifdom, Why profefleth the righteous, to have a right to fill the ftreets, and the public places, with their clamours and upbraidings againft our con- duct ; and holdeth it out as a point of virtue, to defame us in the minds of our brethren ? 3^/7, Remember, that the zeal regulated by wifdom, feeks the falvation, and not the defama- tion of the brother it wifhes to edify ; that it loves not to injure ; that in order to render it- felf ufeful, it ftudies to render itfelf amiable ; that it is more affected with the misfortune and, lofs of its brother, than irritated againft, or fcan- dalifed by his errors ; that, far from going to publifh them to others, it would wifh to be en-> abled to conceal them from itfelf; and that the zeal which cenfures them, far from lefiening the fvil, ferves only to augment the fcandal. 22$ SERMON VI. 4tbfy, Remember, that the, cenforious zeal which you difplay, is ufelefs to your brother, feeing he witneffes it not ; that, far from being of fervice, it is even hurtful to his converfion, to which you raife up obftacles, by irritating him againft your cenfures, fliould he happen to be informed of them ; that it is injurious to his reputation, which you wound ; and laftly, to thofe that lilten to you, who refpecling your pre- tended virtue, never entertain a doubt that they can err, while following your fteps ; and no longer place (lander among the number of vices. Zeal is humble, and has eyes for nothing but its own wants ; it is fimple, and much more difpo- fed to be credulous with regard to good than evil ; it is merciful, and is always indulgent to the faults of others, in the fame proportion as it is fevere to its own weaknefies ; it is gentle and timorous, and prefers to have failed in fufficient- ly blaming vice, to raflily expofing itfelf to go too far in cenfuring the finner. Thus, my brethren, you who returned from the errors of the world, now ferve the Lord, al- low me to conclude, with addrefllng to you the fame words, formerly fpoken by a holy father, to tiie fervants of Jefus Chrift, who through an i ml i tercet zeal, made no fcruple of tearing in nieces the characters of their brethren. A tongue which has confeiTed Jefus Chrift ; " which has renounced, the errors and fplendours " of 6N VIL-SPEAKINCJ. 12$ " of the world ; which every day blelfes the' " God of peace, at the foot of the altar ; and is " often confecrated, by participation of the holy " myfteries, mould no longer be intolerant, dan- " gerous, and full of gall and bitternefs againft " its brethren. It is difgracing religion, after " having offered up pure prayers and thankfgiv- " ings to the Lord, in the afiembly of believers, " to go and fpit out the venemous traits of the " ferpent, againft thofe whom the unity of faith, " charity, the facrament, and even their very " errors, fhould render more endeared and more " refpedable to you." By the wifdom and moderation of our dif- eourfes, let us deprive the enemies of virtue, of every occafion to blafpheme againft it ; let us correct our brethren, by the fanclity of our ex- ample, rather than by the keennefs of our cen- fures ; let us recal them, by living better than they, and not by fpeaking againft them ; let us render virtue refpectable by its fweetnefs, rather than by its feverity ; let us draw finners towards us by compafFionating, rather than cenfuring their faults ; in order that our virtue may be eonfpicuous to them, only through our charity and indulgence, and that our tender care to co- ver and ecufe their faults^ may induce them to accufe and condemn themfelves with more feve- rity, when they perceive the difference of our conduct : By thefe means, we lhall regain our brethren ; S K. M O N VI. brethren ; we fhall honour piety ; we fhall over* throw impiety and freethinking ; we ftiall de<- prive the world of all occafion for thofe dif- courfes, fo common, and fo injurious to real vir- tue : And, after having ufed mercy towards our brethren, we mail with more confidence go to prefent ourfelves before the Father of mercies, and the God of all confolation, to alk mercy for ourfelves. SER- ON THE EMPLOYMENT OP TIME. SERMON VIL ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. JOHN vii. 33. Yet a little while am I with you> and then 1 go unto that fent me. AN improper ufe of time, is the fource of all the diforders which reign amongft men* Some pafs their whole life in idlenefs and floth, equally ufelefs to the world, their country, and themfelves : Others, in the tumult of bulinefs and worldly affairs. Some appear to exift, only for the purpofe of indulging an unworthy indo- lence, and efcaping, by a diverfity of pleafures, from the wearinefs which every where purfues them, in proportion as they fly from it : Others in a continual fearch, amidft the cares of the . world, 2-3^ SERMON VII. world, for occupations which may deliver thcrt* from themfelves. It appears, that time is a com- mon enemy, againft which all men have agreed to confpire : Their whole life is one continued and deplorable anxiety, to rid themfelves of it. The happieft are thofe, who beft fucceed, in not feeling the weight of its duration ; and the principal fatisfaclion they reap, either from frivolous pleafurcs, or ferious occupations, is the abridgment of days and moments, and delive- rance from them, almoft without a perception of their being palTed. . Time, that precious depofit confided to us by the Lord, is therefore become a burden which fatigues and opprefles us : We dread, as the greateft of evils, its deprivation for ever ; and we almoft equally dread the obligation, to fup- port its wearinefs and duration. It is a treafure which we would wifh to retain for ever ; yet which we cannot fuflfer to remain in our poflef- fion. . This time, however, of which we make fo lit- tle eftimation, is the only mean of our eternal falvation. We lofe it without regret, which is a crime ; we employ it only for worldly pur- pofes, which is a madnefs. Let us employ the time which God allows us, becaufe it is fliort : Let us employ it only in labouring for our fal- vation, becaufe it is only given us, that we may be faved : That is to fay, let us be fenfible of the ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 233 the value of time, and let us lofe it not ; let us know the ufe of it, and employ it only for the purpofe it was given : By thefe means, we fhall avoid both the dangers of a flothful, and the in- conveniences of an hurried life. This is the fub- jecl of the prefent Difcourfe. PART I. Three circumftances, in general, de- cide upon the value of things among men : The great advantages which may accrue to us from them : The fhort fpace we have to enjoy them : And, laftly, every hope deftroyed of ever regain- ing them, if once loft. Now, behold, my bre- thren, the principal motives which ought to ren- der time precious and eftimable, to every wife man : In the firft place, it is the price of eternity: In the fecond place, it is fhort ; and we cannot make too much hafte to reap the benefit of it : And laftly, it is irreparable ; for, once loft, it can never be regained. It is the price of eternity : Yes, my brethren, man, condemned to death by the fin of his birth, ought to receive life, only to lofe it, even from the moment he has re- ceived it. The blood alone of Jefus Chrift has effaced this fentence of death and punifhment, pronounced againft all mankind, in the perfon of the firft finner : We live, though the offspring of a father condemned to death, and inheritors ourfelves of his punimment, becaufe the Redeem- er died for us: The death of Jefus Chrift is, Q^ therefore, 234 SERMON VII. therefore, the fource, and the only claim of right 1 we have to life ; our days, our moments, are the firll bleflings, which have flowed to us from his crofs ; and the tim, which we fo vainly lofe, is the price, howeve , of hi:- blood, the fruit of his death, and the merit of his facrifice. Not only as children of Adam, we deferve no longer to live ; but even all the crimes we have added to thofe of our birth, are become new fentences of death againil us. So many times as we have violated the law of the Author of Life, fo many times, from that moment, ought we to have loft it. Every iinner is, therefore, a child of death and anger ; and every time the mercy of God has fufpended, after each of our crimes, the fen- tence of condemnation and death, it is a new life, as it were, his goodnefs has granted, in or- der to allow us time to repair the criminal ufe we had hitherto made of our own. I even fpeak not of the difeafes, accidents, and numberlefs dangers, which fo often have menaced our life; which fo often we have feen to terminate that of our friends and neareft connec- tions ; and from which, his goodnefs has aluays delivered us. The life which we eujoy, is like a perpetual miracle, therefore, of his divine mer- cy : The time which is left to us, is the confe- quence of an infinity of tender mercies and grace, which compofe the thread and the train, as it ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 235 it were, of our life : Every moment we breathe, is like a new gift we receive from God ; and to walte that time, and thefe moments, in a deplo- rable inutility, is to infult that Infinite Goodnefs, which has granted them to us ; to diffipate an ineftimable grace, which is not our due ; and to deliver up to chance the price of our eternity. Behold, my brethren, the firft guilt attached to the lofs of time : It is a precious treafure left to us, though we no longer have any right to it ; which is given to us, for the purpoie alone of purchafing the kingdom of heaven ; and which we diffipate, as a thing the moft vile and con- temptible, and of which we know not any ufe to make. In the world, we would regard that man as a fool, who, heir to a great fortune^ mould allow it to be wafted, through want of care and atten- tion ; and mould make no ufe of it, either to raife himfelf to places and dignities, which might draw him from obfcurity, or in order to confirm to himfelf, a folid eftablimment, which might place him in future beyond the reach of any re* verfe. But, my brethren, time is that precious trea- fure, which we have inherited from our birth, and which the Almighty leaves to us through, pure compaffion : It is in our pofleffion, and it de- pends upon ourfelves to make a proper ufe of it. It is not in ordar f_p exalt oijrfelves to frivolous Q^a dignities 236 SERMON VII. dignities here below, or to worldly grandeurs : Alas ! whatever pafies away, is too vile to be the price of time, which is itfelf the price of eterni- ty : It is in order to be placed in the heavens ubove, at the fide of Jefus Chrifl : It is in order to feparate us from the crowd of the children of Adam, above all the Caefars and Kings of the earth, in that immortal fociety of the happy, who fhall all be kings, and whole reign mall have no bounds, but thofe of eternity. What madnefs, then, to make no ufe of a treafure fo ineftimable : In frivolous amufements, to wafte that time, which may be the price of eternal folvation ; and to allow the hopes of our immortality, to be diffipated in fmoke ! Yes, my brethren, there is not a day, an hour, a moment, but which, properly employed, may merit us heaven. A fingle day loft, ought, therefore, to leave to us remorfes, a thoufand times more lively jind poignant, than the failure of the greateft wrldly profpe&s ; yet, neverthelefs, this time is a buFden to us : Our whole life is only one con- tinued- fcience to lofe it ; and in fpite of all our anxieties to wafte it, there always, however, re- mains more than we know how to employ ; and yet,, the thing upon the earth we have the fmal- left value for, is our time : Our adls of kindnefs, we referve for our friends : Our bounties, for our dependents : Our riches, for our children and relations : Our p.raifes, for thofe who appear worthy ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 237 worthy of them : Our time, we give to all the world: We expofe it, as I may fay^ a prey to all mankind: They even do us a pleafure in de- livering us from it : It is a weight, as it were, which we fupport in the midft of the world, while incefTantly in fearch of fome one who may cafe us of its burden. In this manner, time, that gift of God, that moll precious bleflin-g of his cle- mency, and which ought to be the price of our eternity, occafions all our embarraflments, all our wearinefles, and becomes the moft oppreffive burden of our life. But a fecond reafon, which makes us feel, ftill more fenfibly, our abfurdity in fetting fo little value upon the time the Almighty leaves to us, is, that not only it is the price of our eter- nity, but likewife, it is fhort, and we cannot haften too much to employ it to advantage. For, my brethren, had we even a long feries of ages to exift upon the earth, that fpace would, in truth, be ftill too fhort to be employed in me- riting everlafting. happinefs ; yet its duration would at lead enable us to retrieve thofe acci- dental lofies. The days and moments loft, would at leaft form only a point, fcarcely perceptible, in that long feries of ages we mould have to pafs here below. But, alas ! Our whole life is itfelf but an imperceptible point : The longeft endures fo little : Our days and our years are Ihut up in ich narrow limits, that we fee not what we can 0.3 -have 238 SERMON VII. have flill to lofe, in a fpace fo fhort and rapid. We are only, as I may fay, a moment upon the earth ; like thofe fiery exhalations, which, in the obfcurity of night, are feen wandering in the air, we only appear, to vanim jn a moment, and be replunged, for ever, into our original and ever- laiting darknefs : The exhibition we make to the world is but a flafh, which is extmguifhed al- moft in the fame moment it exifts : We fay it ourfelves every day. Alas ! How can we take days and hours of reft, from a life, which is it- felf but a moment ? And befides, if you retrench from that moment, all you are under the necef- fity of allowing to the indifpenfable neceflities of the body, to the duties of your ftation, to un- expected events, and the inevitable eomplaifan- ces due to fociety, what remains for yourfelf, for God, and for eternity ? And are we not worthy of pity ; we, who know not how to employ the little which remains to us, and who fly to the affiftance of a thoufand artifices to abridge its du- ration ? To the little time, my brethren, xve have to live upon the earth, add the number of paft crimes, which we have to expiate in this fliort interval. How many iniquities arc collected up- on our heads, fince our firft years ; Alas ! Ten lives, like ours, would fcavcely fuffice to expiate a part of them : The time would ftill be too fliort , and it would be neceflary to call upon the *>N THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 239 tire goodnefs of God, to prolong the duration of our penance. Great God ! What portion can re- main to me for pleafures and indolence, in a life To Ihort and fo criminal as mine ? What place, then, can frivolous fports and amufements find in an interval fo rapid ; and which altogether would not fuffice to expiate a fingle one of my crimes ? Ah ! my brethren, do we even think upon it ? A criminal condemned to death, and to whom a lingle day is only allowed to endeavour towards obtaining his pardon, would he find hours and moments ftill to trifle away ? Would he complain of the length of the time, which the humanity and goodnefs of his judge had awarded him ? Would he be embarralTed how to ufe it ? Would he fearch for frivolous amufements to affift him to pafs thofe precious moments, which were left him to merit his pardon and deliverance ? Would he not endeavour to profit by an interval fo de- cifive with regard to his deftiny ? Would he not replace, by the anxiety, vivacity, and conti- nuance of his exertions, what might be wanting from the brevity of the time allowed to him ? Fools that we are ! our fentence is pronounced ; our guilt renders our condemnation certain : We are left a fingle day to mun the evil, and to change the rigour of our eternal decree : And this- only day, this rapid day, we indolently pafs in occu- pations vain, flothful, and puerile. This 249 SERMON VH. This precious day is a burden to us, wearies us ; we feek to abridge it ; fcarcely can we find amufements iufficient to fill the void ; the even- ing arrives, without our having made any other ufe of the day left to u?, than that of rendering ourfelves ftill more worthy of the condemnation we had already merited. And befides, my bre- thren, how do we know, that the abuie of the day, left to us by the Almighty's goodnefs, will not o- blige his juftice to abridge, and to cut of a portion of it ? How many unexpected accidents may ar- reft us in a courfe fo limited, and crop, in their faireft blofibms, the hopes of a longer life ! How jnany fudden and aftonifhing deaths do we fee ; and generally the juft punilhment of the un- worthy ufe they had made of life ! What age has ever witnefied more of thefe melancholy ex- amples ? Formerly thefe accidents were rare and iingular ; at prefent, they are events which hap- pen every day. Whether it be, that our crimes have drawn down upon us this punilhment ; whether it be, that excefles unknown to our fore- fathers lead us to them ; but at prefent they are the deaths moft common and frequent. Num- ber, if you can, thofe of your relations, friends, and connections, whom a fudden death has fur- prifed without preparation, repentance, or a mo- ment allowed them to reflect upon themfelves, upon that God whom they have offended, and upon thofe crimes which, far from deteiling, they ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 24! they never had leifure fufficiently to be acquaint- ed with. Will you tell us after this, that there are ma- ny fpare moments in the day : That we muft contrive to amufe ourfelves fome way or other? There are many fpare moments in the day ? But your guilt confifts in leaving them in that frightful void : The days of the upright are al- ways full. Spare moments in the day : But* are your duties always fulfilled ? Are your houfes regulated, your children inftrucled, the afflicted relieved, the poor viiited, the works of piety ac- complilhed? Time is fhort : Your obligations fo infinite ; and you can Hill find fo many fpare moments in the day ? My God ! How many holy characters have in folitude complained, that their days pafied too rapidly away j have borrowed from the night, what the brevity of the day had taken from their labours and zeal ; have lamented, even in the calm and leifure of their folitude, that fuificient time remained not for them to publiih thy praifes, and eternal mercies : And we, charged with a multiplicity of cares ; we, in the midft of the folicitudes and the engagements of the age, which abforb almoft all our days and our moments ; we, re- fponfible to our relations, to g\ir children, to our friends, to our inferiors, to our fuperiors, to our ftations, to our country, for fuch an infinity of duties j we ftill find a void in our life ; and the little 2^2 S E R M O K VII. little which remains to us, we think too long to be employed in ferving and blefling thy holy name ? But we are happy, you lay, when we know how to amufe ourfelves, and innocently to pafs away the time. But how do you know that your courfe is not already run ; and that you do not perhaps touch the fatal moment which commences your eternity ? Does your time be- long to you, to be difpofed of as you pleafe ? Time itfelf panes away fo foon ; and are fo ma- ny amufements necefiary to affifl it in paffing ftill more rapidly ? But, is time given to you for nothing ferious, great, and eternal ; nothing worthy of the ele- vation and deftiny of man ? And the Chriftian and inheritor of heaven, is he upon the earth, only to amufe himfelf ? But are there not, you fay, many innocent re- creations in life ? I grant there are many : But recreations fuppofe pains and cares, which \ c preceded them ; while your whole life is one continued recreation. Recreations are permit- ted to thofe who, after fulfilling their duties, are under the neceflity of according fome mo- ments of relaxation to the weaknefs of human nature : But you, if you have occafion for re- laxation, it is from the continuance of your pleafures, and even what you call your recrea- tions : It is from the rage of inordinate gaming, of ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 243 of which the duration and earneft attention ne- cefiary, befides the lofs of time, render you in- capable, on quitting it, of application to any other duty of your flation. What recreation can you find in a lawleis and boundlefs paffion, which occupies almoft your whole life ; ruins your health ; deranges your fortune, and ren- ders you the continual fport of a miferable chance ? And is it not with fuch characters that we find neither order, rule, or difcipline ? All ferious duties forgotten ; diforderly fervants ; children miferably educated ; affairs declining ; and public fcorn and contempt attached to their names, and their unfortunate pofterity ? The paflion of gaming is almoft never unaccompa- nied ; and to thofe of one fex efpecially, is al- ways the fource, or the occafion of all the others : Thefe are 'the recreations you believe innocent, and neceflary to fill up the empty moments of the day. Ah ! my brethren, how many of the repro- bate, in the midft of their anguiih and punilh- ments, entreat from the mercy of God, only one of thofe moments, which we know not how to employ ; and could their requeft be granted, what ufe would they not make of that precious moment ? How many tears of compunction and penitence ! How many prayers and fupplica- tions, to foften the Father of Mercies, and to en- 4uce his paternal feelings to reftore to them his "44 SERMON VIJ, affec"lion ! This only moment is neverthelcfs re-r fufed : Time, they are told, exifts no more for them ; and you find yourfelves embarrafled with the little you are left ? God will judge you, my brethren ; and on the bed of death, and in that terrible hour which mall furprife you, in vain fliall you demand a little more time : In vain mail you promife to God, a more Chriftian ufe of what you will endeavour to obtain : His juf- tice, without pity, will cut the thread of your days : And that time, which now opprefles and embaraffes you, mail then be denied. But in what our blindnefs here is ftill more confpicuous, is, that not only the time which we lofe with fo much indifference and infenfi- bility, is fhort and precious, but likewife irre- parable ; for once loft, it is for ever gone, with- out refource. I fay irreparable : For, in the firft place, riches, honours, reputation, and favour, though once loft, may again be retrieved. We may even re- place each of thefe lofles, by other acquirements, which will repay us with ufury : But the mo- ments loft in inutility, are fo many means of fal- vation, which we never again can poflefs, but which are for ever cut off from the number, which God, in his companion, had allotted to us. Indeed, in a fpace fo fhort as we have to live, there cannot be a doubt, but that the Almighty had his particular defigns, with regard to each of our N THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 2,45 our days and moments ; that he hath marked the life we ought to have made of them ; the con- nection they were to have with our eternal fal- vation ; and that to each of them he hath attach- ed affiftances of grace, in order to confummate the work of our fanftification. Now, thefe days and moments being loft, the grace attached to them muft be equally fo : The moments of God are finifhed, and return no more : The courfe of his mercies is regulated : We believed they were only ufeiefs moments we had loft ; and with them we have loft ineftimable fuccours of grace ; which we find deducted from thofe the goodnefs of God had deftined for us. In the fecond place, Irreparable, becaufe every day, every moment, ought to advance us a ftep nearer heaven : Now, the days and mo r ments loft leaving us in arrear, and the duration of our courfe being alfo determined, the end ar- rives when we are yet at a diftance ; when there is no longer time to fupply the remainder of the career ; or, at leaft, to regain the loft moments, and reach the goal, we muft double our fpeed : In one day, fill up the courfe of many years ; make the rnoft heroic exertions ; and haften in a degree, even beyond our ftrength : Proceed to excefies of holinefs, which are miracles of grace, and of which the generality of men are incapable ; and confummate, in a fmall ioter- va|, 246 SERMON VII. val, what ought to be the labour of a whole life. In the lafl place, Irreparable, with refpecl to the works of penance and reparation, of which, in a certain period of life, we are ca- pable, but are no longer fo, when we wait the infirmities of a more advanced age. For, after all, it is in vain to fay then, that God expecls not impoffibilities ; that there is a penance for every age ; and that religion does not wifli us to haften our days, under the pretext of expiat- ing our crimes : It is you who have placed yourfelves in this ftate of impofiibility : Your fins diminim not your obligations : Guilt muft be punifhed, in order to be effaced. The Al- mighty had allowed you both time and ftrength, to fatisfy this immutable and eternal law : This time you have wafted in accumulating new debts : This ftrength you have exhaufted, ei- ther by new excefies, or at leaft, without ma- king any ufe of it, to further the defigns of God refpecling you : The Almighty muft therefore do, what you have never done yourfelves, and punifti, after your death, the crimes you have never been inclined to expiate during your life. This is to fay, in order to concentrate all thefe refleclions, that with every moment of our life, it is as with our death : We die only once ; and from thence we conclude, that we muft die in u proper N THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 247 proper ftate, becaufe there is no longer a poffi- bility of returning, to repair, by a fecond death. the evil of the firft : In like manner, we onh once exift, fuch and fuch moments : We can- not return upon our fteps, and, by commencing a new road, repair the errors and faults of our firft path : In like manner, every moment of our life which we facrifice, becomes a point fix- ed for our eternity ; that moment loft, mail change no more : It mall eternally be the fame ; it will be recalled to us, fuch as we had pafled it, and will be marked with that ineffaceable ftamp. How miferable, then, is our blindnefs, my brethren ; we, whofe life is only one con- tinued attention to lofe the time which returns no more, and, with fo rapid a courfe, flies to precipitate itfelf into the abyfs of eternity ! Great God I Thou who art the fovereign dif- penfer of times and moments : Thou, in whofe hands are our days and our years, with what eyes muft thou behold us lofmg and diffipat- ing the moments, of which thou alone know- eft the duration ; of which, in irrevocable cha- racters, thou haft marked the courfe and the meafure moments, which thou draweft from the treafure of thine eternal mercies, to allow us time for penitence : Moments, which every day, thy juftice prefles thee to abridge, as a punimment for their abufe ; moments, which, every day before our eyes, thou refufeft to fo many 248 SERMON VII. many fmners, lefs culpable than we, whom 3 terrible death furprifes, and drags into the gulf of thine eternal vengeance : Moments, in a word, which we mail not perhaps long enjoy ; and of which thou foon intended to terminate the melancholy career ! Great God, Behold the greateft, and the beft part of my life, already pad, and wholly loft : In all my days, there has not hitherto been a fingle ferious one : A fmgle day for thee, for my falvation, and for eterni- ty : My whole life is but a vapour, which leaves nothing real or folid in the hand of him who re- cals it. Shall I, to the end, drag on my days in this melancholy inutility ; in this wearinefs which purfues me, in the midft of my pleafures, and the efforts which unavailingly I make to a- void it ? Shall the laft hour furprife me, loaded with the void of my whole years ? And in all my courfe, fliall there be nothing ferious or imr portant, but the laft moment, which will termi- nate it for ever, and decide my everlafting de- ftiny ? Great God ! what a life, for a foul de- ftined to ferve Thee, called to the immortal fo- ciety of thy Son, and thy faints, enriched with thy gifts, and in confequence of them, capable of works worthy of eternity ! What a life, is that life, which, in reality, is nothing, has no- thing in view, and fills up a time which is 1 de- cifive of its eternal deftiny, in doing nothing. and <>N THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. and reckoning as well paffed, thofe days and hours which imperceptibly flip away ! But if inutility be oppofite to the price of time, irregularity and multiplicity of occupations are not lefs fo, to the proper order of time, and to the Chriftian ufe we ought to make of it. You have juft feen the dangers of a flothful, and I will now lay before you the inconveniencies of a hurried life. PART II. To every thing we have hitherto faid, my brethren, the majority of thofe who liften to me, have no doubt fecretly oppofed, that their life is any thing but flothful and ufe- lefs j that fcarcely can they fuffice, for the du- ties, good offices, and endlefs engagements of their ftations ; that they Jive in an eternal vicif- fitude of occupations and butinefs, which ab- forbs their whole life ; and that they think them- felves happy, when they can accomplifh a mo- ment for themfelves, and enjoy at leifure, the fituation of their fortune denies to them. Now this, my brethren, is a new way of abufing time, Hill more dangerous than even inu- tility and indolence. In effeft the Chriftian ufe of time, is not merely the filling up of all its mo- ments ; it is that of filling them up in order, and according to the will of the Lord, who gives them to us : The life of faith, is a life of regularity and wifdom: Fancy, paffion, pride, and cupidity, are R falfe ItjCJ S R M OK Vlt. falfe principles of condudl, fince they themfelves are only a derangement of the mind and heart > and that order and reafon ought to be our only guides. Neverthelefs the life of the majority of men, is a life always occupied, and always ufelefs ; always laborious, and always void : Their paf- fions give birth to all their motions : Thefe are the great fprings which agitate men ; make them run here and there like madmen ; and leave them not a fingle moment's tranquillity ; and in fill- ing up all their moments, they feek not to fulfil their duties, but to deliver themfelves up to their reftlefihefs, and to fatisfy their iniquitous defires. But in what doth this order confift, which ought to regulate the meafure of our occupa- tions, and to fandtify the ufe of our time ? It con- lifts, in the firft place, in limiting ourfelves to the occupations attached to our ftations : In not feeking places and fituations which may multiply them ; and in not reckoning among our duties, the cares and embarralTments, which anxiety, or our paffions, alone generate within us. Secondly, However agitated may be our fituations, amidft all our occupations, to regard as the moft efiential, and the moft privileged, thofe we owe to our falvation. I fay, in the firft place, not to reckon amongfl the occupations which fandlify the ufe of our time, ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 251 time, thofe which reftleflhefs, or the paffions a- lone generate. Reftleflhefs : Yes, my brethren, we all wifh to avoid ourfelves : To the generality of men, nothing is more melancholy and difagreeable, than to find themfelves alone, and obliged to re- view their own hearts. As vain paffions carry us away; as many criminal attachments ftain us; and as many thoufands illicit defires occupy every moment of our heart; in entering into ourfelves, we find only an anfwer of death, a frightful void, cruel remorfes, dark thoughts, and melancholy reflections. We fearch, therefore, in the va- riety of occupations, and continual diftraftions, an oblivion of ourfelves : We dread leifure as the fignal of wearinefs ; and we expeft to find in the confufion arid multiplicity of external cares, that happy intoxication, which enables us to go on without perceiving it, and makes us no longer to feel the weight of ourfelves. But alas ! we deceive ourfelves : Wearinefs is never found but in irregularity, and in a life of confufion, where every thing is out of its place : It is in living by hazard, that we are a burden to ourfelves ; that we continually fearch after new occupations, and that difguft foon ob- liges us to repent that we ever fought for them ; that we inceflantly change our fituation, in or- der to fly from ourfelves; and that wherever we go, we carry ourfelves : In a word, that our R 2 whole 52 SERMON VII* whole life is but a diverfified art, to fhun rinefs, and a miferable talent to find it. Where - ever order is not, wearinefs muft neceflarily be found : and far from a life of irregularity and confulion being a remedy, on the contrary, it is the moft fruitful fource, and univerfal caufe of it. The juft fouls who live in regularity ; they who- yield nothing to caprice and temper ; whofe every occupation is exactly where it ought to be ; whofe moments are filled up, according to their deftination, and to the will of the Lord who directs them, find in order, a perfect: reme- dy againft, and protection from wearinefs. That wife uniformity in the practice of duties, which appear fo gloomy in the eyes of the world, is the fource of their joy, and of that happy equality of temper, which nothing can derange : Never cmbarrafled with the prefent time, which dated duties occupy: Never in pain with regard to the future, for which new duties are arranged : Ne- ver delivered up to themfelves, by the change of occupations, which fucceed each other: Their days appear as moments, becaufe every moment is in its place : Time hangs not upon them, be- caufe it always has its diftindtion and ufe : and in the arrangement of an uniform and occupied life, they find that peace, and that joy, which the reft of men in vain fearch for in the confu- iion of a continual agitation. Reftleflhefjs, ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 2$3 Reftlefihefs, by multiplying our occupations, leaves us, therefore, a prey to wearinefs and difguft ; nor yet does it fanctify the ufe of our time : For if the moments, not regulated by the order of God, are moments loft, however occupied they may otherwife be ; if the life of man ought to be a life of wifdom and regula- rity, where every occupation has . its allotted place ; what can be more oppofite to fuch a life than this inconfiftency, thefe eternal fluctuations in which refilefihefs makes us pafs our time ? But the paffions which keep us in perpetual mo- tion, do not form for us more legitimate em- ployments. Yes, my brethren, I know that it is only in *a certain age of life, that we appear occupied with frivolity and pleafures ; more ferious cares, and more folid avocations fucceed to the indo- lence, and to the vain amufements of our younger years ; and after wafting our youth in floth and in pleafures, we appropriate our maturity, to our country, to fortune, and to ourfelves ; but ftill with refpecT: to heaven we continue the fame. I confefs that we owe our fervices 'to our coun- try, to our Sovereign, and to the national cares ; that amongft the number of duties prefcribed to us by religion, it places that of zeal for our So- vereign, and for the intereft and glory of our country ; and that religion alone can form faith- ful fubjeds, and citizens ever ready to facrificc their all for the general good. But religion wifhes R 3 not 254 SERMON VII. not that pride and ambition fhould rafhly plunge us in public affairs ; and that we fhould anxioufly endeavour by all poflible means, by intrigue and felicitations, to attain places, where, owing every thing to others, not a moment is left for our- felves : Religion wifhes us to dread thefe tu- multuous fituations \ to give ourfelves up to them with regret and trembling, when the order of God, and the authority of our mailers, call us to them ; and were the choice left to us, always to prefer the fafety and leifure of a private ftation, to the dangers and eclat of dignities and places. Alas ! We have a fliort time to exift upon the earth, and the falvation, or eternal condemnation which awaits us, is fo near, that every other care ought to be melancholy and burdenfome to us ; and every thing which diverts our attention from that grand object, for which we are allow- ed only a fmall portion of days, ought to appear as the heavieft misfortune. This is not a maxim of pure fpirituality ; it is the firft maxim, and the foundation of Chriftianity. Neverthelefs, ambition, pride, and all our paf- fions, unite to render a private life infupportable to us. What in life we dread mod, is a lot and a ftation which leave us to ourfelves, and do not cftablifh us upon others. We confult neither the order of God, nor the views of religion, nor the dangers of a too agitated fituation, nor the happinefs which faith points out in a private and tranquil ftation, where we have nothing but ourfelves ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 255 ourfelves to anfwer for, and frequently not even our talents ; we confult only our paflions, and that infatiable defire of railing ourfelves above our brethren ; we wiih to figure upon the ftage of life, and become great perfonages ; and upon a ftage, alas ! which to-morrow {hall difappear, and leave us nothing real, but the puerile trou- ble, and pain of having acted upon it. Even the more thefe ftations appear furrounded with tumult and embarraffment, the more do they appear worthy of our purfuit : We wifh to be in every thing : That leifure fo dear to a reli- gious foul, to us appears fhameful and mean : Every thing which divides us betwixt the public and ourfelves : Every thing which gives to others an abfolute right over our time : Every thing which plunges us into that abyfs of cares and agitations, which credit, favour, and confidera- tion drag after them, affects, attracts, and tran- fports us. Thus, the majority of men inconfi- derately create to themfelves a tumultuous and agitated life, which the Almighty never requir- ed of them ; and eagerly feek for cares, where they cannot be in fafety, unlefs the order of God had prepared them for us. Indeed, we fometimes hear them complaining of the endlefs agitations infeparable from their places ; iighing for reft, and envying the lot of a tranquil and private ftation ; repeating, that it ihould indeed be time to live for themfelves, R 4 after 2$6 SERMON VII. after having fo long lived for others. But thefe are merely words of courfe : They feem to groan under the weight of affairs ; but with much more uneafinefs and grief, would they fupport the weight of leifure and of a private condition : They employ one part of their life, in ftrug- gling againft each other for the tumult of places and employments, and the other they employ in lamenting the misfortune of having obtained them. It is a language of vanity : They would wifh to appear fuperior to their fortune ; and they are not fo, to the fmalleft reverfe, or the flighted fymptom of coldnefs which threatens them. Behold how our paflions create occupa- tions and embarramnents, which God required not : an4 deprive us of a time, whofe value we fhall be ignorant of, till we reach that laft mo- ment, when time finifhes, and eternity begins. Yet ftill my brethren, in the midft of the end- lefs occupations attached to your flations, were you to regard as the mod privileged, thofe con- nected with your falvation, you would in fome meafure at lead, repair the diffipation of that portion of your life, which the world and the cares of this earth entirely occupy. But it is ftill in this point that our blindnefs is deplor- able : We cannot find time for our eternal fal- vation. That which we beftovv on fortune, the duties of a charge, the good offices expected from our Ration, the care of the body, and at- tentions ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 257 tentions to drefs , that which we give to friend- fhip, fociety, recreation, and cuftom, all appear eflential and indifpenfable : We even dare not encroach upon, or limit thefe : We carry them beyond the bounds of even reafon and neceffi- ty ; and as life is too fhort, and our days too rapid, to fuffice for all, whatever we retrench, is from the cares of our falvation : In the mul- tiplicity of our occupations, we are fure to fa- crifice thofe which we ought to beftow on eter- nity. Yes, my brethren, in place of retrenching from our amufements ; from the duties which ambition multiplies-; from the ceremonies which idlenefs alone has eftabliflied ; from the cares and attentions we beftow on a vain drcfs, which cuftom and effeminacy have rendered endlefs : In place of retrenching from thefe, at leaft fome little time every day, fcarcely do they leave us fome accidental remains, which by chance have efcaped from the world and pleafure : Some ra- pid moments, the world wifhes not ; with which we are perhaps embarrafled ; and which we know not how to difpofe of otherwife. So long as the world chufes to engage us ; fo long as it continues to offer pleafures, duties, tri- fles, and complaifances, we yield ourfelves up to it with delight. When all is over, and we no longer know how to fill up our vacant hours, we then confecrate to fome languid practices of religion, thofe outcaft moments, which weari- nefs, 258 SERMON VII. nefs, or a deficiency of pleafures, leaves us : Properly fpeaking, they are moments of recre- ation, which we beftow upon ourfelves rather than upon God : An interval, we place between the world and us, in order to return to it with more relifli ; and breathe a little from the fa- tigue, the difguft, and the fatiety, which are the neceflary confequences of a life devoted to the world and pleafures, which, prolonged beyond a certain meafure, are immediately followed by wearinefs and lafiitude. Such is the ufe, which even perfons, who deck themfelves out with a reputation for virtue, make of their time. Their whole life is one continued and criminal preference, given to the world, for- tune, ceremony, and pleafures, above the bufi- nefs of their falvation : All is filled up by what they give to their maflers, friends, places, and appetites, and nothing remains for God and for eternity. It would appear, that time is given to us, in the firfl place, for the world, ambition, and earthly cares ; and mould any portion of it happen afterwards to remain, that we are entit- led to praife, when we beftow it on our falva- tion. Great God ! For what purpofe doft thou leave us on the earth, but to render ourfelves worthy of thine eternal pofleffion ? Every thing we do for the world, lhall perifli with it j whatfoever we do for thee, fhall be immortal. All our cares ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 259 and attentions here, are in general for matters, ungrateful, unjuft, difficult to pleafe, weak, and incapable of rendering us happy : The duties we render to thee, are given to a Lord and Ma- iler, faithful, jult, compaffionate, almighty, and who alone can recompenfe thofe who ferve him : The cares of the earth, however brilliant, are fo- reign to us ; they are unworthy of us ; it is not for them we are created ; we ought only to de- vote ourfelves to them as they pafs, in order to fatisfy the traniitory ties they exacl: from us, and which connect us with mankind : The cares of eternity alone are \vorthy of the nobility of our hopes, and fill all the grandeur and dignity of our deftiny. Without the cares of falvation, thofe of this earth are profane and fullied ; they are no longer but vain, fruitlefs, and almoft al- ways criminal agitations : The cares of falvation alone confecrate and fan&ify them ; give to them reality, elevation, the price and the merit which they wanted. All other cares wound, trouble, harden, and render us miferable ; but the duties we render to thee, leave us a real and heartfelt joy : They ftrengthen, calm, and confole us ; and even foften the anguim and bitternefs of the others. In a word, we owe ourfelves to thee, O my God ! before matters, inferiors, friends, or connections. Thou alone haft the firft right over our hearts and reafon, which are the gifts of thy liberal hand \ it is for thee, therefore, that in the 26O SERMON VII. the firft place we ought to make ufe of them ; and we are Chriftians, before we are princes, fubjects, public characters, or any thing elfe on the earth. You will perhaps tell us, my brethren, that in fulfilling the painful and endlefs duties attached to your ftation, you believe that you ferve God, accomplim your meafure of righteoufnefs, and labour toward your falvation. I grant it : But we muft fulfil thefe duties, according to the views of the Lord, from motives of faith, and in the true fpirit of religion and piety. God rec- kons only what we do for him : Of all our pains, fatigues, fubmiffions, and facrifices, he accepts only thofe which are offered to his glory, and not to our own ; and our days are only full in his fight, when they are full for eternity. All actions, which have nothing for their object but the world ; a fame limited to this earth ; a pe- rifhable fortune ; fome praifes they may attract to us from men ; or fome degree of grandeur and reputation, to which they may raife us here below, are nothing in his prefence ; or, at leaft, are only puerile amufements, unworthy of the majefty of his regards. Thus, my brethren, how different are the judgments of God from thofe of the world ! In the world, we call beautiful that fplendid life, in which great actions are numbered, victories gained, difficult negociations concluded, under- takings ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 26l takings fuccefsfully conduded, iiluftrious em- ployments fupported with reputation, eminent dignities acquired by important fervices, and ex- ercifed with glory ; a life which paffes into hi- ftory, fills the public monuments, and of which the remembrance mail be preferred till the lateft posterity : Such, according to the world, is a beautiful life. But if, in all this, theyjhave fought more their own, than the glory of God ; if they have had nothing more in view than to erect to themfelves a periftiable edifice of grandeur on the earth, in vain mall they have furnifhed a fplendid career to the eyes of men ; in the fight of God, it is a life loft : In vain mail hiftory re- cord us ; we mall be effaced from the book of life, and from the eternal hiftories; in vain mail our actions be the admiration of ages to come ; they mall not be written on the immortal co- lumns of the Heavenly Temple. In vain mall we have acted a dignified part upon the ftage of all earthly ages ; in the eternal ages we mail be as thofe who never were : In vain fhall our title* and dignities be preferved upon the marble and brafs ; as the fingers of men have written them, they mail perifh with them ; and what the fin- ger of God mail have written, will alone endure as long as himfelf. In vain mall our life be pro- pofed as a model to the ambition of our defcen- dants ; its reality exifting only in the pafiions of men, from the moment they mall ceafe to have pafliony, l6i SE R M tf Vit. paflions, and the objedls which inflame theiri (hall be annihilated, this life fhall be nothing, and fhall be replunged into non- entity, with the world which admired it. For candidly, my brethren, can you really wifh, that in that awful and terrible day, when righteoufnefs itfelf fhall be judged, the Almigh- ty mould give you credit for all the pains, cares, and difgufts you have experienced and devour- ed, in order to raife yourfelves in the world ? That he mould regard, as well employed, the time you have facrificed to the world, fortune, glory, and the elevation of your name and race, as if you were upon the earth only for your- felves ? That he mould place among the num- ber of your works of falvation, thofe which have only had for principle ambition, pride, envy, and felf-intereft ; and that he mould reckon your vices amongft your virtues. And what will you be able to fay to him, on the bed of death, when he fhall enter into judg- ment with you, and demand an account of the time, which he had only granted you, to be em- ployed in glorifying and ferving him ? Will you fay to him : Lord, I have gained many victories ; I have uiefully and glorioufly ferved my prince and country ; I have eftablifhed to myfelf a great name amongft men ? alas ! you have never been able to gain a viclory over yourfelf : You have ufefully ferved the kings of the earth, end you ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME* 16*3 you have negle&ed, with contempt, the fervice of the King of kings. You have eftablifhed to yourfelf a great name amongft men ; and your name is unknown amongft the chofen of God : Time loft for eternity. Will you fay to him : I have conducted the moft difficult negotiations, I have concluded the moft important treaties ; I have managed the interefts and fortunes of prin- ces ; I have been in the fecrets, and in the coun- cils of Kings ? alas ! you have concluded trea- ties and alliances with men, and you have a thoufand times violated the holy covenant you have entered into with God : You have mana- ged the interefts of princes, and you have neve f known how to manage the interefts of your fal- vation : You have entered into the fecrets of kings, and you have ever been ignorant of the fecrets of the kingdom of heaven : Time loft for" eternity. Will you fay to him : My whole life has been only an inceflant toil, and a painful and continued occupation ? alas ! you have always toiled, and you have never been able to do any thing to fave your foul : Time loft for eternity. Will you fay to him : I have eftablifhed my children in the world : I have exalted my rela- tions ; I have been ufeful to my friends ; I have augmented the patrimony of my anceftors ? alas ! you have bequeathed great eftablifhments to your children, and you have not left them the fear of the Lord, by bringing them up, and cftabliihing them in faith and in piety : You have 264 SERMON VI. have augmented the patrimony of your ancef- tors, and you have diffipated the gifts of grace, and the patrimony of Jefus Chrift : Time loft for eternity. Will you fay to him : I have made the moft profound ftudies ; I have enriched the public with ufeful and curious works ; I have perfected the fciences by new difcoveries ; I improved my great talents, and rendered them ufeful to mankind ? alas ! The great talent con- fided to you, was that of faith and grace, of which you have made no ufe : You have ren- dered yourfelf learned in the fciences of men, and you have always been ignorant in the fci- ence of the Holy : Time loft for eternity. In a word, will you tell him : I have pafled my life in fulfilling the duties, and good offices of my ftation : I have gained friends ; I have render- ed myfelf ufeful and agreeable to my matters ? alas ! You have had friends to boaft of on the earth, and you have acquired none to yourfelf in heaven : You have made every exertion to pleafe men, and you have done nothing to pleafe the Almighty : Time loft for eternity. No, my brethren, what a frightful void, the greateft part of men, who had governed ftates and empires, who appeared to regulate the whole univerfe, and had filled in it the moft diftin- guifhed places ; who were the fubjecls of every converfation, and of the defires and hopes of men j who engrofled almoft alone, the whole attentions ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF TIME. 265 attentions of the earth; what a frightful void, will they, on the bed of death, find their whole life to be ? Whilft the days of the pious and re- tired foul, regarded by them as obfcure and in- dolent, lhall appear full, complete, occupied, marked each by fome viclory of faith, and wor- thy of being celebrated by the eternal fongs. Meditate, my brethren, on thefe holy truths : Time is fhort ; it is irreparable : It is the price of your eternal felicity: It is given to you, on- ly in order to render you worthy of that felici- ty : Calculate, therefore, what portion of it you fliould beftovv on the world, pleafures, fortune, and on your falvation. My brethren, fays the Apoftle, time is fhort : Let us therefore ufe the world, as not abufmg it; let us poffefs our riches, places, dignities and titles, as though we poffeffed them not ; let us enjoy the favour of our fuperiors, and the efleem of men, as though we enjoyed them not ; they are only fhadovvs, which vanifli, and leave us for ever ; and let us only reckon upon as real, in our whole life, the moments which we have employed for heaven. SER- 266 SERMON VIII. SERMON VIIL THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. MATT. xxv. 46. And tljefe JJjall go away into evcrlajling puritJJjmcnt : but the righteous into fife eternal. BEHOLD, to what at laft Hi all be brought the dcfires, hopes, couniels, and enterprifes of men : Behold, upon what at lalt fliall fplit, the vain reflections of fages and freethinkers ; the doubts and eternal uncertainties of unbelievers ; the vaft projects of conquerors ; the monuments of human glory ; the cares of ambition ; the dif- tinclion of talents ; the difquietudes of fortune j the profperity of empires, and all the infigni- ficant THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 267 ficant revolutions of the earth. Such fhall be the awful conclufion, which will unravel the myfte- nes of Providence, on the diverfe lots of the children of Adam, and juflify its conduct in the government of the univerfe. This life is, there- fore, but a rapid inflant, and the commencement of an eternal futurity. Torments, without end, or the delights of an immortal felicity, fhall be our lot, as well as that of all men. Neverthelefs, the view of this grand object, which formerly had been able to ftartle the fe- rocity of tyrants ; to fhake the fortitude of philo- fophers ; to difturb the effeminacy and voluptu- oufnefs of Caefars ; to foften the moft barbarous nations ; to form fo many martyrs ; to people the deferts, and to bring the whole univerfe fubmiffive ! to the yok e O f the crofs . Thig ima ^ fo ^^_ fying, is now almoft deftined to alarm the timi- idity of merely the common people : Thefe grand !' objects are become like vulgar paintings, which I we dare no longer expofe to the falfe delicacy of the great, and connoiffeurs of the world ; and the only fruit we generally reap from this fort of idiicourfes, is to make it be inquired, perhaps, lafte.r quitting them, whether every thing lhall stake place, as we have faid. ^ For, my brethren, we live in times in which the J r aith of many has been wrecked ; in which a wretched philofophy, like a mortal venom, fpreads > n fecret, and undertakes to juftify abominations 82 and SERMON VIII. and vices, againft the belief of future punifli- ment and rewards. This evil has pafled from the palaces of the great, even to the people, and every where the piety of the juft is infulted by the difcourfes of irreligion, and the maxims of free-thinking. And certainly, I am not furprifed that diflb- lute men ihould doubt of a future ftate, and en- deavour to combat, or to weaken a truth, fo ca- pable of difturbing their criminal fenfualities. It is horrible to look forward to everlafting mi- fery. The world has no pleafure, which can endure a thought fo mocking ; confequently, it has always endeavoured to efface it from the heart and mind of man. It well knows, that the belief of a future flatc, is a troublefome check on the human paffions, and that it will never fucceed in making tranquil and refolute libertines, without having firft made unbelie- vers. Let us deprive, then, the corruption of the human heart of fo wretched and weak a fupport : Let us prove to diflblute fouls, that they mail furvive their debaucheries ; that all dies not with the body ; that this life mall finifli their crimes, but not their mifery ; and more com- pletely to confound impiety, let us attack it in the vain pretexts on which it depends. iftlfl THE CERTAtNTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 269 iftly, Who knows, fay the impious, that all dies not with us ? Is that other life, of which we are told, quite certain ? Who has ever returned, to inform us of it ? 2d!y, Is it worthy of the majefty of God, fay they again, to demean himfelf, by any attention to what pafles among men ? What matters it to him, that worms of the earth, like us, murder, deceive, and tear each other, live in luxury or in temperance ? Is it not prefumptuous in man, to fuppofe, that an Almighty God is occupied with him ? Laftly, What likelihood, add they, that God, having made man fuch as he is, will punifh as crimes, inherent inclinations to pleafure, which Nature has given us. Behold the philofophy of the voluptuary : The uncertainty of a future ftate ; The majefty of God, which a vile crea- ture cannot offend ; and the weaknefs of man, which, being born with him, he would be unjuft, of it, to conftitute a crime. Let us then prove, in the firft place, againfl the uncertainty of the impious, that the truth of a future ftate is juftified by the pureft lights of reafon: Secondly, againft the unworthy idea, grounded upon the greatnefs of God, that this truth is juftified by his wifdom and glory : Laft^ ly, againft the pretext, drawn from the weak- nefs of man, that it is juftified, even by the tef- S 3 timony 27O SERMON VIII. timon-y of his own conference. The certainty of a future ftate : The neceffity of a future ilate : The inward acknowledgment of a future ftate : Behold the fubject, and arrangement of my dil- courfe. O God ! Attend not to the infults, which the blaiphemies of impiety offer to thy glory ; re- gard only, and fee, of what reafon is capable, when thy light is withdrawn. In the wicked- nefs of the human mind, behold, all the feve- rity of thy juftice, when it abandons it, that the more I expofe the foolifh blafphemiesof the im- pious foul, the more may he become in thy light, an object worthy of thy pity, and of the treafures of thine infinite mercy. PART I. It furely is melancholy to have to juftif/ before believers, the mod confolatory truth of faith '. to come, to prove to men, to whom Jefus Chrift has been declared, that their being is not a wild aflemblage, and the wretch- ed offspring of chance : that a wife, and an Al- mighty artificer, has preiided at our formation and birth ; that a fpark of immortality animates our clay j that a portion of us fhall furvive our- felves ; and that, on quitting this earthly man- lion, our foul fhall return to the bofom of God, from whence it came, and go to inhabit the eter- nal region of the living, where to each one fhall be rendered according to his works. It THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 2? I It was with this truth that Paul began to announce faith, before the Athenian judges. We are the immortal race of God, faid he to that af- fembly of fages, and he has appointed a day to judge the univerfe. By that, the Apoftles fpread the firlt principles of the doctrine of falvation, through infidel and corrupted nations. But we, who come after the revolution of ages, when the plenitude of nations has entered into the Church, when the whole univerfe has profefled to believe, when all the myfteries have been cleared up, all the prophecies accomplifhed, Jefus Chrill glorified, the path of heaven laid open; we, who appear in thefe latter times, when the day of the Lord is fo much nearer than when our fathers believed ; Alas ! what ought our miniftry to be, unlefs to difpofe be- lievers for that grand hope, and to inflrucl: them to hold themfelves in readinefs, to appear before Jefus Chrift, who will quickly come ; far from having ftill to combat thefe mocking and foolifh maxims, which the firft preaching of the gofpel had effaced from the univerfe. The pretended uncertainty of a future ftate, is, then, the grand foundation of the fecurity of unbe- lievers. We know nothing, fay they, of that other world, of which you tell us fo much. None of the dead have ever returned to inform us ; per- haps, there is nothing beyond the grave : Let us enjoy, therefore, the prefent, and leave to chance ' S 4 272 S Z R MO N VIII. a futurity, which either exiils not, or is meant to be concealed from our knowledge. Now, 1 fay, that this uncertainty is fufpicious in the principle which produces it, foolifh in the proofs on which it depends, and frightful in its confequences. Refufc me not here your atten- tion. Sufpicious in the principle which produces it. For, how has this uncertainty of a future itate been formed in the mind of the unbeliever ? It requires only to trace the origin of an opinion, to know whether the inter/efts of truth, or the paifions, have eftablilhed it on the earth. At his birth, the impious man bore the prin- ciples of natural religion, common to all men : He found written in his heart, a law, which forbade violence, injuftice, treachery, and every adtion to another, which he would not have done to himfelf : Education fortified thefe fentiments of nature : He was taught to know a God ; to love and to fear him : Virtue was (hewn to him in the rules ; it was rendered amiable to him in the examples j and though, within himfelf, he felt inclinations, in oppolition to duty, yet, when he yielded to their fedudlions, his heart fecrctly efpoufed the cauie of virtue againil his own weak- nefs. Thus did the impious man, at iirft, live on the earth : With the reft of makind, he adored a Supreme Being'; refpeded his laws ; dreaded his THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 273 his chaftifements ; and expected his promifes. Whence comes it, then, that he no longer ac- knowledges a God ; that crimes appear to him as human policies ; hell, a vulgar prejudice ; a fu- ture ftate, a chimera ; and the foul, a fpark, which is extinguished with the body ? By what exer- tion has he attained to the knowledge of things fo new, and fo furprifing ? By what means has he fucceeded, to rid himfelf of thefe ancient prejudices, fo rooted among men, fo conliftent with the feelings of his heart, and the lights of reafon ? Has he fearched into, and maturely ex- amined them ? Has he adopted every folid pre- caution, which an affair, the moft important of life, requires? Has he withdrawn himfelf from the commerce of men, in folitude, to allow 7 lei- fure for reflection and ftudy ? Has he puri- fied his heart, left the puffions may have milled him ? What anxious attentions, and fo- licitude, to inveftigate the truth, are required, to reject the firft feelings which the foul has imbibed ! Liften, my brethren, and adore the juftice of God, on thefe corrupted hearts, whom he deli- vers up to the vanity of their own judgment. In proportion as his manners became diffblute, the rules have appeared fufpicious ; in pro- portion as he became debafed, he has endea- voured to perfuade himfelf, that man is like the beail. He is become impious, only by fhutting up 2^4 SERMON VIII. up every avenue which might lead him to the! truth ; by no longer regarding religion as an important concern ; by fearching into it, only for the purpofe of difhonouring it, by blafphe- mies and facrilegious witticifms ; he is become impious, only by feeking to fteel himfelf againft the cries of his own confcience, and delivering himfelf up to the moft infamous gratifications. It is by that path, that he has attained to the wonderful and fublime fcience of unbelief : It is to thefe grand efforts, that he owes the difcovery of a truth, of which the reft of men, before him, had either been ignorant, or deteiled. Behold the fource of unbelief ; the corruption of the heart. Yes, my brethren, find me, if you can, men wife, temperate, pure, regular, and lo- vers of truth, who believe not a God, who look forward to no future ftate, who look upon adul- teries, abominations, and incefts, as the inclina- tions and innocent paftimes of nature. If the world has feen impious characters, who bore the femblance of wifdom and temperance, it was either that they better concealed their irregula- rities, in order to give more credit to their im- piety, or the fatiety of pleafures, which had brought them to that feigned temperance : De- bauchery had been the original fource of their ii religion ; their hearts were corrupted, before their faith was wrecked ', they had an intcrcfl to believe that all dies with the body, before they THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 2y5 they fucceeded in perfuading themfelves of it ; and a long indulgence of luxury, had fully dif- gufted them with guilt, but had not rendered virtue more amiable to them. What confolation for us, who believe, that we muft firft renounce probity, modefty, manners, and all the feelings of humanity, before \ve can renounce faith, and to be no longer Chriftian, muft firft ceafe to be man ! Behold then, the uncertainty of the impious, already fufpicious in its principle ; but, fecond- ly, it is foolifh in the proofs on which it de- pends. For furely, very decifive and convincing proofs muft be required to make us efpoufe the caufe of unbelief, and to render us tranquil, on what we are told of an eternal ftate to come. It is not natural, that man would hazard an intereft fo ferious as that of eternity, on light and frivo- lous proofs ; ftill lefs fo, that he would thereon abandon the general opinion, the belief of his fathers, the religion of all ages, the agreement of all nations, and the prejudices of his educa- tion, had he not, as it were, been forced to it, by the evidence of the . truth. Unlefs abfolutely convinced that all dies with the body, nothing can bear a companion with the madnefs and fol- ly of the unbeliever. Now, is he completely convinced ? What are the grand reafons which have determined him to adopt this vile caufe ? We 276 SERMON VIII. We know not, fays he, what happens in that other world of which you tell us ; the good die equally as the wicked ; man as the beaft ; and no one returns, to fay which was in the error. Prefs him a little further, and you will be fhock- ed to fee the weaknefs of unbelief; vague dif- courfes, hackneyed fufpicions, everlafting uncer- tainties, and chimerical fuppolitions, on which nobody in their fenfes, would wim to rifk the happinefs, or difquiet of a fingle day, and upon which he, however, hazards an eternity. Behold the infurmountable proofs which the freethinker oppofes to the belief of the uni- verie ; behold that evidence, which, in his mind, prevails over all that is moft clear, and mofl efta- blilhed on the earth. We know nothing of what pafles in that other world of which you tell us. O man ! open here thine eyes. A fingle doubt is fufficient to render thee impious, and all the proofs of religion are too weak to make thee a believer. Thy mind hefitates to believe in a fu- ture ftate, and, in the mean time, thou liveft as though there were none. The only foundation thou haft, for thine opinion, is thine uncertain- ty, and thou reproachell to us, that faith is a vulgar credulity ! But I afk, On which fide here is credulity ? Is it on that of the freethinker, or the believer? The latter believes in a future ftate, on the au- thority of the divine writings, that is to fay, the book, THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 277 book, without contradiction, which mod deferves belief; on the depofition of holy men, that is to fay, juft, pure, and miraculous characters, who have fhed their blood to render glory to the truth, and to that doctrine, of which the con- verfion of the univerfe has rendered a teflimony, that to the end of ages, mail rife up againft the impious ; on the accomplishment of the prophe- cies, that is to fay, the only character of truth, which the impoftor cannot imitate ; on the tra- dition of all ages, that is to fay, on facts, which, fince the creation of the world, have appeared certain, to all the greateft characters, the moil acknowledged juft men, the wifeft and moft ci- vilifed nations, the univerfe could ever boaft of ; in a word, on proofs at lead probable. The free- thinker denies a futurity on a fimple doubt, a mere fufpicion. Who knows it, fays he ; who has returned from it ? He has no argument, ei- ther folid or decifive, to overturn the truth of a future ftate. For let him avow it, and then will we fubmit. He only miftrufts that there be any thing after this life, and upon that he believes that all dies with him. Now I demand, which here is the credulous ? Is it he, who, in fupport of his belief, has what- ever is probable among men, and moft calculat- ed to make imprefiion on reafon ; or him who is refolved to deny a future ftate, on the weaknefs of a limple doubt ? Neverthelefs, the freethinker imagines 278 SERMON VIII. imagines that he exerts his reafon more than the believer ; he looks down upon us, as weak and credulous men ; and he confiders himfelf as a fuperior genius, exalted above all vulgar preju- dices, and whom reafon alone, and not the pub- lic opinion, determines. O God ! How terrible art thou, when thou deliverer! up a Tinner to his own infatuation ; and how well thou knoweft to draw glory to thyfelf, even from the efforts which thine enemies make to oppofe it. But I go ftill further. When, even in the doubt, formed by the unbeliever, of a future ftate, the arguments fhould be equal, and the trifling uncertainties, which render him incre- dulous, mould balance the folid and evident truths which promife immortality to us ; I fay, that, even in an equality of proofs, he at lead ought to wifh, that the opinion of faith, with re- gard to the nature of our foul, were true ; an opinion which is fo honourable to man ; which tells him, that his origin is celeftial, arid his hopes eternal ; he ought to wifh, that the doc- trine of impiety were falfe ; a doftrine fo me- lancholy, fo humiliating to man ; which con- founds him with the beaft ; which makes him live only for the body ; gives him neither pur- pofe, deftination, nor hope ; and limits his lot to a fmall number of rapid, reftlefs, and forrowful days, which he pafles on the earth : All things equal, a reafon born with any degree of eleva- tion, THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 279 tion, would prefer being deceived by what is honourable to itfelf, rather than adopt a fide fo difgraceful to its being. What a foul, then, muft the unbeliever have received from nature, to prefer, in fo great an inequality of proofs, the belief, that he is created only for this earth, and favourably to regard himfelf, as a vile affemblage of dirt, and the companion of the ox and bull ! What do I fay ? What a monfler in the univerfe muft be the unbeliever, who miftrufts the gene- ral belief, only becaufe it is too glorious for his nature ; and believes, that the vanity of men has alone introduced it on the earth, and has per- fuaded them that they are immortal. But no, my brethren ! Thefe men of flelh and blood, with reafon, reject the honour which re- ligion does to their nature, and perfuade them- felves, that their foul is merely of earth, and that all dies with the body. Senfual, diflblute, and effeminate men, who have no other check than a brutal inftincl: ; no other rule, than the vehemence of their delires ; no other occupation, than to awaken, by new artifices, the cupidity already fatiated ; men of that character can have little difficulty to believe, that no principle of fpiritual life exifts within them ; that the body is their only being ; and, as they imitate the manner's of beafts, they are pardonable in at- tributing to themfelves the fame nature. But let them not judge of all men by themfelves ; there 280 SERMON VIII. there are (till on the earth, chafte, pure, and temperate fouls ; let them not afcribe to nature, the mameful tendencies of their own mind ; let them not degrade humanity in general, becaufe they have unworthily debafed themfelves ; let them feek out among men, fuch as themfelves ; and finding that they are almoft fingle in the univerfe, they mall then fee that they are rather monfters, than the ordinary productions of na- ture. Befides, not only is the freethinker foolifh, becaufe, that even in an equality of proofs, his heart and glory fhould decide him in favour of faith, but likewife his own intereft : For, as I have already faid, What does he rifle by believ- ing ? What difagreeable confequence will follow his miftake ? He will live with honour, probity, and innocence ; he will be mild, affable, juft, iinccre, religious, a generous friend, a faithful hufband, and an equitable mafter ; he will mo- derate his pailions, which would otherwife have occafioned all the misfortunes of his life ; he will abftain from pleafures and excefles, which would have prepared for him a painful and pre- mature old age, or a deranged fortune ; he will enjoy the character of a virtuous man, and the cfteem of mankind : Behold what he rifks. When all mould even finifh with this life, that. iurely is ftill the way to pafs it with happinefs and tranquillity ; fuch is the only inconveniency I THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 28 1 I can find. If no eternal recompenfe iliall fol- low, what will he have loft by expecling it ? He has loft iome fenfual and momentary gratifica- tions which would foon have either fatigued him by the difguft which always follows their enjoy- ment, or tyrannifed over him, by the new de- fires they light up ; He has loft the wretched fatisfa&ion of being, for the inftant he appeared on the earth, cruel, unnatural, voluptuous, with- out faith, morals, or conftancy, perhaps defpifed and difgraced in the midft of his own people. I can fee no other misfortune ; he finks back to his original non-exiftence, and his error has no other coniequence. But if there is a future ftate ; mould he de- ceive himielf in rejecting faith, what does he not rifk ? Tht2;lois of eternal riches ; the poflefiion of thy glory, O my God ! which would for ever have rendered him happy. But even that is on- ly the commencement of his mifery ; he goes tQ experience punifhment without end or meafure, an eternity of horror and wrath. Now, compare thefe two dcftinies ; What party here will the freethinker adopt ? Will he rifk the fhort du- ration of his days, or a whole eternity ? Will he hold by the prefent, which muft finifh to-mor- row, and iii which he even cannot be happy ? Will he tremble at a futurity, which has no other limits than eternity, and can never finifli but with God himfelf ! Where is the prudent T man, 282 SERMON VIII. man, who, in an uncertainty even equal, durft nere balance ? And what name mail we give to the unbeliever, who, with nothing in his favour but frivolous doubts, while on the fide of truth, beholding the authority, example, prefcription, proof, and voice of all ages, the entire world, iingly adopts the wretched caufe of unbelief; dies tranquil, as though he were no longer to have exiftence ; leaves his eternal defliny in the hands of chance, and cureleisly prepares to en- counter fo awful a fccne. O God ! Is this a man conducted by cool rcafon ; or, is it a madman, who looks forward to no rcfource but defpair ? The uncertainty of the freethinker is therefore foolifh, in the proofs on which he depends. But laftly, it is ftill more dreadful i its con- fequences. And here, my brethren, rfll'ow me to lay afide the deep reafonings of erudition and dodtrine ; I wifh to fpeak only to the confcience of the unbeliever, and to confine myfelf to the proofs which his own feelings acknowledge. Now, if all (hall finifli with us, if man have no- thing to expecT: after this life, and that here is our country, our origin, and the only happinels we can promife ourfelves, why are we not hap- py ? If only created for the pleafures of the fenfes, why are they unable to fatisfy us ; and why do they always leave a fund of wearinefs and forrow in the heart? If man have nothing iu- perior to the beaft, why, like it, do not his clay, ilov/ THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 283 flow on without care, uneafinefs, difguft, or for- row, in fenfual and carnal enjoyments ? If man have no other felicity to expect, than merely a temporal happinefs, why is he unable to find it on the earth ? Whence comes it, that riches ierve only to render him uneafy ; that honours fatigue him ; that pleafures exhauft him ; that the fciences, far from fatisfying, confound and irritate his curiofity ; that reputation conftrains and embarraiTes him ; that all thefe, united, can- not fill the immenfity of his heart, and Hill leave him fomething to wifh for ? All other be- ings, contented with their lot, appear happy in their way, in the fituation the Author of Nature has placed them ; the ftars, tranquil in the fir- mament, quit not their flation to illuminate another world ; the earth, regular in its move- ments, fhoots not upwards to occupy their place; the animals crawl in the fields, without envying the lot of man, who inhabits cities and fump- tuous palaces ; the birds carol in the air, with- out troubling themfelves, whether there be hap- pier creatures in the earth than themfelves ; all are happy, as I may fay ; every thing in nature is in its place : Man alone is uneafy and difcon- terited ; man alone is a prey to his defires, allows himfelf to be torn by fears, finds his punifhment in his hopes, and becomes gloomy and unhappy in the midft even of his pleafures : Man alone can meet with nothing here to fix his heart. T 3 Whence 284 SERMON VIII. Whence comes this, O man ? Muft it not be, that here thou art not in thy place ; that them art made for heaven ; that thy heart is greater than the world ; that the earth is not thy coun- try ; and that whatever is not God, is nothing to thee ? Anfwer, if thou can, or rather quef- tion thy heart, and thou wilt believe. 2<://)', If all die with the body, who has been able to pcriuade all men, of every age, and of every country, that their foul was immortal ? From whence has this ft range idea of immortality de- fcended to the human race ? How could an opi- nion, fo diftant from the nature of man, were lie born only for the functions of the fenfes, have pervaded the earth ; For if man, like the beaft, be created only for the prefcnt, nothing ought to be more incompreheniible to him, than even the idea of immortality. Could machines of clay, whofe only object mould be a fenfual hap- pinefs, have ever been able to form, or to find in themfelves, an opinion fo exalted, an idea fo fu- blime ? Neverthelefs, this opinion, fo extraordi- nary, is become that of all men ; this opinion, fo oppolite even to the fenfes, fince man, like the bcalt, dies wholly, in our light, is eftabliihed on the earth ; this opinion, which ought not to have even found an inventor in the univerfe, has been received with an univerfal docility of be- lief, amongft all nations ; the moil favage, as the moil cultivated , the mod polifhed, as the moft brutal ; THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 285 brutal ; the mod incredulous, as the moft fub- miffive to faith. For, go back to the beginning of ages, exa- mine all nations, read the hiftory of kingdoms and empires, liften to thofe who return from the moft diftant iiles ; the immortality of the foul has always been, and Hill is, the belief of every people on the face of the earth. The knowledge of one God may have been oblite- rated ; his glory, power, and immenfity, may have been effaced, as I, may fay, from the hearts and minds of men ; obflinate and favage nations may ftill live without worlhip, religion, or God, in this world ; but they all look forward to a future ftate ; nothing has ever been able to era- dicate the opinion of the immortality of the foul ; they all figure to themfelves a region, which our fouls mall inhabit after death ; and in forgetting God, they have never difcarded the idea of that provilion for themlelves. Now, whence comes it, that men fo different in their difpofitions, worfhip, country, opinions, interefts, and even figure, that fcarcely do they feem of the fame fpecies with each other, una- nimoufly agree, however, on this point, and ex- pecl immortality .? There is no colluiion here ; for how is it poffible to afiemble together men of all countries and ages ? It is not a prejudice of education ; for manners, habits, and worfliip, which are generally the confequences of preju- T 3 dices, 2S6 SERMON VIII. dices, are not the fame among all nations ; the* opinion of immortality is common to all. It is not a feel ; for befides that it is the univerfal religion of the world, that tenet has had neither head nor protector : Men have adopted it thcm- felves, or rather nature has taught them to know it, without the afiiitance of teachers ; and iince the beginning of things, it alone has patted from father to fon, and has been always received as an indifputable truth. O thou ! who believeft thy- felf to be only a mafs of clay, quit the world. where thou findeft thyfelf fmgle in belief ; go, and in other regions fearch for men of another fpecics, and fimilar to the bead ; or rather, he- ft ruck with horror, to find thyfelf fmgle, as it were, in the univerfe, in revolt againft nature, and difavowing thine own heart, and acknow- ledge, in an opinion common to all men, the ge- neral imprefiion of the Author, who has formed them all. Lajlly, and with this proof I conclude : The univerfal fellowfhip of men, the laws which unite one to the other, the moil facred and in- violable duties of civil life, are all founded only on the certainty of a future ftate. Thus, if alt die with the body, the univerfe muft adopt other laws, manners, and habits, and a total change mull take place in every thing. If all die with the body, the maxims of equity, friend- Ihip, honour, good faith, and gratitude, are only popular f tiE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 18? popular errors ; fince we owe nothing to men, who are nothing to us$ to whom no general bond of wormip and hope unites us, who will to-mor- row fink back to their original non entity, and who are already no more. If all die with us, the tender names of child, parent, father, friend, and hufband, are merely theatrical appellations, and a mockery ; fince friendlhip, even that fpring- ing from virtue, is no longer a lafling tie ; fince our fathers, who preceded us, are no more ; fince our children mall not fucceed us ; for the non- entity in which we muft one day be has no con- fequence ; fince the facred fociety of marriage is only a brutal union, from which, by a flrange and fortuitous concurrence, proceed beings who refemble us, but who have nothing in common with us but their non-entity. What more mall I add ? If all dies with us, domeftic annals, and the train of our anceftors, are only a collection of chimeras ; fince we have no forefathers, and mail have no defcendants, anxieties for a name and pofterity are therefore ridiculous ; the honours we render to the me- mory of illuftrious men, a childifh error, fince it is abfurd to honour what has no exiftence ; the facred refpedt we pay to the habitations of the dead, a vulgar illufion ; the alhes of our fathers and friends, a vile duft which we mould caft to the winds, as belonging to no perfon ; the laft wifhes of the dying, fo facred amongft even the T4 moil 288 SERMON VIII. moft barbarous nations, the lad found of a ma- chine which crumbles in pieces ; and, to com- prife all in a word, if all die with us, the laws are then a foolifli iubjeclion ; kings and rulers phantoms, whom the imbecility of the people has exalted ; juflice, an ufurpation on the liberties of men ; the law of marriage, a vain fcruplc ; modefly, a prejudice ; honour and probity, chi- meras ; incefts, parricides, and the blackeft vil- lanies, paftimes of nature, and names which the policy of legiilators has invented. Behold, to what the fublime philofophy of the freethinker amounts ; behold, that force of argu- ment, that rcafon, and that wifdom, which they are continually vaunting to us. Agree to their maxims, and the entire univerfe links back to a, frightful chaos; all is overturned on the earth ; all ideas of virtue and vice are reverled, and the moft inviolable laws of fociety vaniih ; the iu- ftitution of morals perimes ; the government of ftates and empires is without direction ; all har- mony in the body-politic, falls. The human fpecies is only an airemblage of fools, barbarians, voluptuaries, madmen, and villains, who own no law but force ; no other check than their paf- fions, and the terror of authority ; no other bond than impiety and independence ; and no other God than themfelves. Behold the world of the freethinker ; and if this hideous plan of a republic pleafes yon, conftitute, if you can, a fociety kE CEkTAIHTY Otf A tfuf UR STATZi 289 iocietv of thcfe monfters. The only thing which remains for us to fay, is, that you are fully qua- lified to occupy a place in it. How worthy then, of man, to look forward to an eternal deftiny ; to regulate his manners by the law ; and to live, as having one day to render account of his actions before Him, who mall weigh us all in the balance ! The uncertainty of the believer is then fuf- picious in its principle, foolifh in its proofs, and horrible in its confequences. But after having iliewn you, that nothing can be more repugnant to found reafon, than the doubt which he enter- tains of a future flate, let us completely confound his pretexts, and prove, that nothing is more op- pofite to the idea of a wife God, and to the opi j nion of his own confcience* PART II. It is no doubt aftonifhing, that thtf freethinker mould feek, even in the greatnefs of God, a Ihelter to his crimes ; and that, findinp; nothing within himfelf to juftify the horrors of his foul, he can expect to find, in the awful Ma- jefty of the Supreme Being, an indulgence, which he cannot find even in the corruption of his own heart. Indeed, fays the unbeliever, Is it worthy the greatnefs. of God, to pay attention to what paiTcs among men ; to calculate their virtues or vices ; to itudy even their thoughts, and their trifling and 2pO SERMON Till. and endlefs deftres ? Men, worms of the earth,- who fmk into nothing before the Majefty of his looks, are they worthy his attentive infpedlion ? And, is it not degrading a God, whom we are taught to believe fo great, to give to him an em- ployment, by which even man would be difno- noured ? But, before I make you fenfible of the whole abfurdity of this blafphemy, I beg you will ob- ferve, that it is the freethinker himfelf who thus degrades the Majefty of God, and brings him to a level with man. For, has the Almighty occa- iion narrowly to obferve men, in order to know every thought and deed ? Are cares and atten- tions neceflary for Him, to fee what pafles on the earth ? Is it not in Him, that w r e are, that we live, that we ac~l ? And can we fhun his looks, or can he even avert them from our crimes? What folly, then, in the freethinker, to fuppofe, that it requires care and oblervation from the Divinity, if he willies to remark what palles on the earth ! His only employment is to know and enjoy him- felf. This reflection admitted : I arifwer, in the firft place, If it become the greatnefs of God to leave good and evil without punimment or re- ward, it is then equally indifferent, whether we be juft, fincere, friendly and charitable, or cruel, deceitful, perfidious and unnatural : God confe- quently does not love virtue, modefty, rectitude, religion, THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 3Cff religion, more than debauchery, perjury, impiety ^ and villainy; fince the juft and the impious, the pure and the impure, mall experience the fame lot, and an eternal annihilation equally awaits them all in the grave. What do I fay ? God even feems to declare in favour of the impious here againft the juft. He exalts him like the cedar of Lebanon 5 loads him with riches and honours ; gratifies his delires # and affifts his projects ; for the impious are in ge- neral the profperous on the earth. On the con- trary, He ieems to neglect the upright man ; He humbles, afflifts, and delivers him up to the" falfity and power of his enemies ; for difgrace and affliction are the common portion of the good below. What a monfter of a Supreme Be- ing, if all muft finifh with man, and if neither miferies nor rewards, except thofe in this life, be to be expected ! Is He, then, the protector of adulteries, profanations, and the moft mocking crimes ; the perfecutor of innocence, modefty, piety, and all the pureft virtues ? Are his favours the price of guilt, and his punilhments the re- compenfe of virtue ? What a God of darknefs, imbecility, confufion, and iniquity, does the free- thinker form to himfelf ! What, my brethren ! It would become His greatnefs to leave the world he has created, in a general confufion ; to fee the wicked almpft al- ways prevail over the upright ; the innocent crnfhed 292 SERMON VIII. crufhed by the ufurpcr ; the father, the victim of an ambitious and unnatural fon : From the height of his greatnefs, God \Vould amufe him- fclf with thefe horrible tranfactions, without any intereft in their commifiion? Becaufe He is great, he mould be either weak, unjuft, or cruel ? Be- caufe men are insignificant, they fliould have the privilege of being diflblute without guilt, or vir- tuous without merit ? O God ! If fuch be the character of thy Su- preme Being : If it be Thee whom we adore, under fuch (hocking ideas, I know Thee no more, then, as my heavenly Father, my protector, the confoler of my fufferings, the lupport of my weaknefs, and the rewarder of my fidelity ? Thou art then only an indolent and capricious tyrant, who facrificeft all men to thy vain pride, and haft drawn them from [nothing, only to ferve a c - the fport of thy leifure or caprice ! For, laftly, If there be no future itate, what defign, worthy of his wifdom, could God have propofcd, in creating man ? What, in forming them, He had no other view, than in forming the beaft ? Man, that being fo noble, who is ca- pable of fuch fublime thoughts, fuch vaft de- fires, and fuch grand fentiments ; fufceptible of love, truth, and juitice: Man, of all creatures, alone v/orthy of a great deflination, that of knowing and loving the Author of his being ; that man mould be made only for the earth, to pals THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 293 pafs a fraall portion of days, like the beaft, in trifling employments, or fenfual gratifications ; he mould fulfil his purpofe, by acting fo rifiblc and fo pitiable a part ; and afterwards, mould link back to non-entity > without any other ufe having been made of that vaft mind, and ele- vated heart, which the Author of his being had given him ? O God ! where would here be thy wifdom, to have made fo grand a w r ork, for the duration only of a moment ; to have exhibited men upon the earth, only as the playful efiays of thy power ; or to amufe thy leifure, by a variety of (hews ! The Deity of the freethinker, is not grand, therefore, but becaufe he is more unjuft, capricious, and defpicable than men? Pur- fue thefe reflections, and fupport, if you can, all the extravagance of their folly. How worthy, then, of God, my brethren, to watch over the univerfe ; to conduct man, whom he has created, by the laws of juftice, truth, cha- rity, and innocence ; to make virtue and reafon the bond of union, and the foundation of hu- man fociety ! How worthy of God, to love in his creatures, thofe virtues which render himfelf amiable ; to hate the vices, which disfigure in them his image ; not to confound for ever, the juft with the impious; to render happy, with himfelf, thole fouls, who have lived only for him ; and to deliver up to their own mifery, thofe ^94 SERMON VIII. thofe who believed they had found a happinefs independent of him ! Behold the God of the Chriftians ; behold, that wife, juft, and Holy Deity, whom we adore ; and the advantage we have over the free- thinker is, that ours is the God of an innocent and pure heart ; the God, whom all creatures mani- feft to us ; whom all ages have invoked ; whom the fages, even of Paganifm, have acknow- ledged ; and of whom, nature has deeply en- graven the idea on the very foundation of our being ! But, fince God is fo juft, ought he to puniili as crinieb, inclinations for pleaiure, born with us ; nay, which he alone has given us ? Lalt blafphemy of impiety, and hill part of this Dii- courle : I fliall abridge it, and conclude. But, in the tiril place, Be whom you may, M'ho hold this abiurd language, if you pretend to juftify all your aclions, by the inclinations which induce you to them ; if, whatever we wifh, be- come legitimate ; if our deiires ought to be the only regulation of our duties ; on that prin- ciple, you have only to regard with an envious eye, the fortune of your brother, to acquire a right to defpoil him of it ; his yife, with a cor- rupted heart, to be authorifed to violate the fanc- tity of the nuptial bed, in oppoiition to the moft iV.cred rights of fociety and .nature. You lum only THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 295 only to fufpect, or diflike an opponent, to be- come entitled to deftroy him ; to bear, with im- patience, the authority of a father, or the feve- rity of a matter ; to imbrue your hands in their blood : In a word, you have only to bear with- in you the impreflions of every vice, to be per- mitted the gratification of all ; and as each finds the fatal feeds in himfelf, none would be ex- empted from this horrible privilege. It is necef- fary, therefore, that man conduit himfelf by other laws than his inclinations, and another rule than his defires. Even the Pagan ages acknowledged the ne- ceffity of a philofophy, that is to fay, of a light fuperior to the fenfes, which regulated their prac- tice, and m#de reafon a check to the human paf- iions. Nature alone led them to this truth ; and taught them, that blind inftincl; ought not to be the fole guide of the actions of men : This in- ilincT:, therefore, either is not the original inlti- tution of nature, or it muft be a corruption of it ; lince all the laws, ever framed on the earth, have avowedly been made to reftrain it ; that all thofe, who, in every age, have born the cha- racter of wife and virtuous, have rej acted its im- preffions ; that, nmongil all nations, thofe infa- mous individuals, who yielded themfelves up, without referve or lhame, to brutal fenfuality, have been always confidered as monfters, and the difgrace SERMON VIII. difgra,ce of humanity : and the maxim oncq efta- blifhed, that our inclinations and delires cannot be confidered as crimes, ibciety can no longer exift ; men inuft feparate to be in fafety, muft bu- ry themielves in the forefts, and live Iblitary like the beaits. Befides, let us render juft ice to men, or rather to the Author, who has formed us. If we find within us inclinations to vice and voluptuouf- nefs, do we not alfo find fentimerits of virtue, modefty, and innocence. If the Jaw of the mem- bers drag us towards the pleafures of the fenfes, do we not alfq bear, written in our hearts, ano- ther law, which recaps us to chaftity and tempe- rance : Now, betwixt thefe two tendencies, why does the freethinker decide, that tbc inclination which impels us towards the fenfes is mod con- formable to the nature of man ? Is it, from being the molt violent ? But, its violence alone h a proof of its diforder ; and whatever comes from nature ought to be more moderate. Is it, from being the ftrongefl ? But there are juft and be- lieving fouls, in whom it is always fubject to. rcafoh. Is it, from being more agreeable ? But a Hire proof, that this pleafure is not made to ren- der man happy, is, that difguft immediately fol- lows it ; and likewife, that to the good, virtue has a thoufand times more charms than vice. Luftly, is it, from being more worthy of man ? You dare not fay fo, fmce it is through it that he THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE* Ip? he confounds himfelf with the beaft. Why then .do you decide in favour of the fenfes, againft reafon; and infift, that it is more conformable to man, to live like the beaft, than to be a reafon- able being ? LaftJy, were all men corrupted ; and, like the animals not gifted with reafon^ did they blindly yield themfelves up to their brutal inftincl, and to the empire of the fenfes and pafiions ; you then, perhaps, might have reafon to fay, that thefe are inclinations infeparable from nature, and, in example, find a fort of excufe for your excefles. But look around _ you : Do you no longer find any upright characters on the earth ? There is no queftion here of thofe vain difcourfes you fo frequently hold againft piety, and of which you feel yourfelves the injuftice : Speak candid- ly, and render glory to the truth. Are there no longer chafte, faithful, and righteous fouls, who live in the fear of the Lord, and in the ob- fervance of his holy law ? Whence comes it, then, that you have not the fame empire over your paflions enjoyed by thefe juft men ? Have they not inherited from Nature the fame inclinations ? Do the objects of the paf- fions not awaken, in their hearts, the fame fenfa- tions as in yours ? Do they not bear within them the fources of the fame troubles ? What have the juft, fuperior to you, but that command U over 298 SERMON VIII. over themfelves, and fidelity, of which you are deftitute ? O man ! Thou imputed to God a weaknefs, which is the work of thine own diforders ! Thou accufeft the Author of nature of the irregulari- ties of thy will ; it is not enough to offend him, thou wifheft to make him refponfible for thy deeds ; and pretendeft, that the fruit of thy crimes becomes the title of thine innocence ! With what chimeras is a corrupted heart not ca- pable of feeding its delufion, in order to juftify to itfelf the mame and infamy of its vices 1 God is then juft, my brethren, when he pu- nifheth the tranfgreffions of his law. And let not the freethinker here fay to himfelf, that the re- compenfe of the juft mail then be refurredlion to eternal life ; and the punilhment of the linner, the everlafting annihilation of his foul ', for be- hold the luft refource of impiety. But, what punimment would it be to the free- thinker to exift no more ? He wiihes that anni- hilation ; he looks forward to it, as his fweeteft hope : Amidft his pleafures, he lives tranquil, only in that expectation. What ! The juft God would punifh a finner, by according him a def- tiny to the fummit of his wiflies. Ah ! It is not thus that God punifheth. For, what would the freethinker find fo mocking in a return to non- entity ? Would it be, in the deprivation of his God ? But he loves him not ', he knows him not ; THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. not ; he defires no communication with him : for his only God is himfelf. Would it be, to ex- ift no more ? But what could be more defirable to a ratmfter, who knows, that, beyond the term of his crimes, he cannot live but in fufferance, and in the expiation of the horrors of an infa- mous life ? Would it be, by having for ever loft the worldly pleafures he enjoyed, and the dif- ferent objects of his pailions ? But when he exifts no more, the love of thjefe muft equally be ex- tinguifhed. A more defirable fate cannot there- fore be pointed out to the freethinker. It in- deed would be the happy conclufion of all his exceffes, horrors, and blafphemies. No, my brethren ! The hopes of the free- thinker, but not his crimes, (hall perifh : - his torments mail be as eternal as his debaucheries would have been, had he been mafterof his own deftiny. He would willingly have eternized hirn- felf on the earth, in the practice of every fen- fual vice. Death has bounded his crimes, but has not limited his criminal defires. The juft and upright Judge, who fathoms the heart, will therefore proportion the punifhment to the guilt. vv ' What are we to conclude from this Difcourfe ? That the freethinker is to be pitied, for ground- ing the only confolation of his future deftiny on the uncertainty of the truths of the gofpel : That he is to be pitied, becaufe his only tran- U 2 quillity 3OO SERMON VIII'. quillity muft be, in living without faith, wor- Ihip, confidence, or God : Becaufe, the only hope he can indulge, is, that the gofpel is a fable ; the belief of all ages, a childifh credulity ; the uni- verfal opinion of men, a popular error ; the firft principles of nature and reafon, prejudices of education ; the blood of fo many martyrs, whom the hopes of a future ftate fupported under all their fufferings and tortures, a mere tale, con- certed to deceive mankind ; the converfion of the world, a human enterprife ; and the accom- plimment of the prophecies, a mere flroke of chance. In a word, that every thing, the bell eftabliihed, and the mod confident with truth and reafon in the world, muft all be falfe, to ac- complilh the only happinefs he can promife him- felf, and to fave him from eternal mifery. O man ! I will point out to thee a much fu- rer way to render thyfelf tranquil, and to en- joy the fweets of internal peace. Dread that futurity thou forceft thyfelf to dilbelieve. Qiief- tion us no more, what they do in that other world, of which we tell thee ; but afk thyfelf, without ceafing, what thou art doing in this ; quiet thy conscience, by the innocency of thy life,' and not by the impiety of thy unbelief : Give repofe to thy heart, by calling upon God, and not by doubting that he pays attention to thee : The peace of the unbeliever is difpair. Seek, then, thy happinefs, not by freeing thyfelf from the yoke THE CERTAINTY OF A FUTURE STATE. 30! yoke of faith, but by tafting how fweet and a- greeable it is. Follow the maxims it prefcribes to thee, and thy reafon will no longer refufe fubmiflion to the myfteries it commands thee to believe. A future ftate will ceafe to appear incredible to thee from the moment thou cea- feft to live like thofe who centre all their hap- pinefs in the fleeting moments of this life. Thea, far from dreading a futurity, thy wilhes will anticipate it. Thou wilt figh for the arrival of that happy day, when the Son of Man, the Fa- ther of all future ages, mall come to punilh the unbelieving, and to conduct thee to his king- dom, along with thofe who have lived on the earth, in the expectation and hope of a blefled immortality. That you, my brethren, may be partakers of this eternal felicity, is my fervent prayer. Amen. U 3 SER- 302 SERMON IX. SERMON IX- ON DEATH. LUKE vii. 12. JVoov wlfn be came nigh to tie gate ff tie city, there was a ded man carried out, tie only fon of In mother, and Jbe was a widow. WAS death ever accompanied with more affecling circumftances ? It is an only fon, fole fucceflbr to the name, titles, and fortune of his anceftors, whom death fnatches from an afflicted mother and widow ; he is ravifhed from her in the flower of age, and almoft at his entry into life ; at a period when happily paft the dan- gers of infancy, and attained to that firft degree of ilrength and reafon, which commences man, he ON DEATH. 303 he feemed leaft expofed to the Ihafts of death, and at laft allowed maternal tendernefs to breathe from the fears which accompany the uncertain progrefs of education. The citizens run in crowds, to mingle their tears with thofe of the difconfolate mother ; they affiduoufly feek to lef- fen her grief, by the confolation of thofe vague and common-place difcourfes, to which profound forrow little attends ; with her they furround the mournful bier ; and they deck the obfequies with their mourning and prefence ; the train of this funeral pomp, to them, is a mow ; but is it an inftruction ? They are ftruck and affected, but are they from it lefs attached to life ? And will not the remembrance of this death perifh, in their minds, with the noife and decorations of the funeral ! To fimilar examples, we every day bring the fame difpofitions. The feelings which an un- expected death awakens in our hearts, are the feelings of a day, as though death itfelf ought to be the concern of a day. We exhaufl ourfel,ves in vain reflections on the inconftancy of human things ; but the object which ftruck us, once out of fight, the heart become tranquil, finds itfelf the fame. Our projects, our cares, our attachments to the world, are not lefs lively, than if we were labouring for eternal ages ; and at our departure from a melancholy fpectacle, where we have fome- times feen birth, youth, titles, and fame, wither U 4 in 304 SERMON IX. in a moment, and for ever buried in the grave, we return to the world more occupied with, and more eager than ever, after all thofe vain objects, of which we fo lately had feen with our eyes, and almoft felt with our hands, the infignificancy and meannefs. Let us at prefent examine the reafons of fo deplorable a miftake. Whence comes it, that men reflect fo little upon death ; and that the thoughts of it make fuch tranfitory impref- {ions ? It is this : The uncertainty of death amufes us, and removes from our mind its re- membrance : The certainty of death appals, and forces us to turn our eyes from the gloomy pic- ture : The uncertainty of it, lulls and encou- rages us ; whatever is awful and certain, with regard to it, makes us dread the thoughts of it. Now, I wifh at prefent to combat the dangerous fecurity of the firft, and the improper dread of the others. Death is uncertain : You are there- fore imprudent not to be occupied with the thoughts of it, but to allow it to furprife you : Death is certain : You then are foolifti to dread the thoughts of it, and it ought never to be out of your light : Think upon death, becaufe you know not the hour it will arrive : Think upon death, becaufe it muft arrive. This is the fub- jeok of eternity, or which may follow him into the prcfcncc of God : Then it is, though too late, that he begins to hold a language to himtelf, which we have frequent opportunities of hear- ing : " I have lived, then, only for vanity : Why " have I not ferved my God, as 1 have fcrved " my mailers ? Alu^ ! Were fo many anxieties,, " and fo much trouble, neceflary to accomplifh " my own deilrudlion ? Why, at lead, did I " not receive my confolation in this world ? I " fliould have enjoyed the prefent, that fleet- " ing moment which paffes away from me ; and " I fliould not then have loll all. But my lire " has beei> always rilled with anxieties, fubjec- " tions,- THE DEATH OF A SINNER, &C. 34^ " tions, fatigues, and reftraints ; and all thefe in '* order to prepare for me ever lading nrifery. " What madnefs, to have fuffered mote towards " my own ruin, than was required to have ac- " compliflied my falvation ; arid to have regard - " ed the life of the upright, as a melancholy and " an unfupportab!e one ; feeirg they have done " nothing fo difficult for Godj that I have not ** performed an hundred- fold for the world, " which is nothing, and from which 1 have cott- " fequently nothing to expect." Yes, my brethren, it is in that laft moment that your whole li'e will prefent itfelf to your view ; but in very different colours from thofe in which it appears to you to-day. At prefent you c6unt upon fervices performed for the ilate ; places which you hax r e filhd; actions in which you have di'Unguifhed yourfelves J -"wounds, which ftill bear teftimony to your valour the number of your campaigns ; the fplendbtrr df your orders ; all thefe appear objects of impor- tance and reality to you* The public app&a<- ies which accompany them ; 'the Rewards with which they are followed ; the fame which pub-- iilhes them ; the diftindions attached to them ; all thefe only recal your paft days to ^ou, as days full, occupied, marked each by fome memorable action, and by events worthy of being for evet preferved to pofterity. You even diftinguifh yourfelves, in your own minds, from thofe iiido- X 2 lent 34& 3 Z K M O N X. lent characters of your own rank, who have led an obfcure, idle, and ufelefs life, and dilhonour- ed their names, by that (lothful effeminacy, which has kept them always grovelling in the duft. But on the bed of death, in that laft mo- ment, when the world flies off, and eternity ap- proaches, your eyes will be opened ; the fcene will be changed ; the illuiion, which at prefent magnifies thefe objects, will be diffipated. You will fee things as they really are ; and that which formerly appeared fo grand, fo illuilrious, as it was done only for the fake of the world, of glo- ry, of fortune, will no longer appear of the leafl importance to you. You will no longer find any thing real in your life, but what you ihall have done for God ; nothing praifeworthy, but works of faith and of piety ; nothing great, but what will merit eternity ; and a fingle drop of cold water in the name of Jefus Chrifl, a fingle tear Ihed in his prcfence, and the flighted mortification fuffered for his lake, will all appear more precious, more eftimable to you, than all the wonders which the world admires, and Avhich (hall perifh with it. Not that the dying (inner finds only cares and anxieties thrown away in his pail life, he finds the remembrance likewife of his pleafures ; but this very remembrance depreffes and overwhelms him : Pleafures, which have exifted only for a momen* : THE DEATH OF A SINNER, &C. 349 moment : He now perceives that he has facrificed his foul, and his eternal welfare, to a fugitive moment of pafiion and voluptuoufnefs. Alas ! life had appeared too long to him, to be entire- ly confecrated to God : He was afraid to adopt too early the fide of virtue, left he mould be unable to fupport its duration, its wearinefs, and its confequences. He looked forward to the years he had ftill to run, as to an immenfe fpace, through which he muft travel under the weight of the Crofs, and feparated from the world, in the practice of Chriftian works: This idea alone had always fufpended his good intentions ; and in order to return to God, he waited the laft ftage of life, as the one in which perfeverance is moft certain. What a furprife in this laft hour, to find, that what had to him appeared fo long, has in reality been but an inftant ; that his in- fancy and old age fo nearly touch each other, that they only form, as I may fay, one day ; and that, from his mother's breaft, he has made but one ftep towards the grave. Nor is this the bittereft paflg which he experiences in the re- membrance of his pleafures : they have vanifh- ed like a dream ; but he, who formerly claim- ed an honour to himfelf from their gratification, is now covered with confufion and lhame at their recollection : So many fhameful excefles ; fuch weaknefs and debauchery : He, who piqued himfelf upon reafon, elevation of mind, and Z 3 haughtinefs 35^ E R M N X. haughtinefs towards man ; O my God ! he then. finds iiiiiilelf the weakeft, the mofl defpicable of linners ! Apparently, perhaps, a life of pru- dence, yet funk in all the infamy of the fenfes, and the puerility of the pafiions ! A life of glo- ry in ;hc eyes of men ; but, in the fight of God, the molt fhameful, the moft deferring of con- tempt and difgrace I A life, which fuccefs, per- haps, na