ried out to the fupreme love of God, and delight in him, or, in other words, brought to the fupreme love of, and delight in, perfect goodnefs and immaculate holiness. When this is the cafe, the finner is renewed, he again bears the image of God which he had loft, he is again fitted for the presence of God, from which he had been expelled. But if he has wrong notions of God, if he takes him to be effentially different from what he really is, he ferves not the true God at all, he bears not his image, he delights not in his fellowship, he is unfit for his prefence. If religion confifts in a divine nature, fuch a perfon does not poffefs it, unless there are more Gods than one. There may, indeed, be an alteration in him, he may have transferred his allegiance, and changed his mafter, for idols are many, but he is not brought unto God; and, fo long as God is immutable, his happiness is impoffible.

I can recollect nothing that is worth notice as an objection against this, but that our knowledge of God, at any rate, is extremely imperfect and defective. It is fo to be fure, while we are in this world; nay, probably, it will be fo to all eternity: for" who can by fearching find "out God? Who can find out the Almighty unto perfec"tion? It is high as heaven, what can we do? deeper "than hell, what can we know? The measure thereof is "longer than the earth, and broader than the fea."* But there is a great difference between the imperfection of our knowledge of God, and forming conceptions of him that are fundamentally wrong. There is a great difference between having weak and inadequate ideas of the truth, and believing or acting upon the oppofite falfhood. Unlefs this is admitted, we fhall never see the unspeakable advantage which the Jews enjoyed over the Gentiles, "because to them were committed the oracles of God;" nor indeed fhall we see the worth and beauty of the ancient difpenfation in general. It was one uniform difplay of this great and important truth, which is delivered with fo much majesty by God himfelf: "I am the Lord, that is "my name, and my glory will I not give to another, nei

• Job xi. 7, 8, 9.

"ther my praise to graven images." Neither is this at all relaxed under the New Teftament. The importance of "holding the truth as it is in Jefus"-of" holding fast "the form of found words"-and "keeping the truth," is often declared, as well as that "no lie is of the truth." And no wonder that in this pure and spiritual conftitution, it should be neceffary to have clear and diftinct views of him who is "the Father of fpirits.".

Thus I hope it appears, that, in order to a faving change, there must be a discovery of the real nature of the one only, the living and true God. Before we proceed further, let me obferve that hence may be seen, in the cleareft light, the danger both of ignorance, and error.

1. Of ignorance. It is plain that those who are grossly ignorant muft be unrenewed. Those who do not know God, cannot poffibly love him. Do you not now fee the meaning and weight of the ftrong language of fcripture, where we are told the heathen nations were "fitting in "darkness, and in the region and fhadow of death?" What force fhould this give to the prayers fo often offered up, both in public and in private, that the "name" of God may be "hallowed" and his kingdom come? How much fhould it add to the zeal and diligence, especially of thofe who are appointed to watch for the fouls of others? What concern fhould it give them, left any under their immediate infpection" fhould perifh for lack of knowledge." It is indeed furprising to think, what grofs ignorance prevails at prefent among many, notwithflanding the excellent opportunities of inftruction which they have in their offer. Nay, even among thofe who are inftructed in feveral branches of human science, it is aftonifhing to think what ignorance there is of every thing that relates to religion.

If accident or curiofity has brought this difcourfe into the hands of any fuch, let me intreat their attention for a little. I beseech you to think upon, and tremble at your ftate. You may have fome fort of a nominal belief of an unfeen, unintelligible being, called God, while you know neither "what you speak, nor whereof you affirm." You may perhaps have heard, or rather in our happy native country you cannot but have heard of Chrift Jefus, the Son

of God, ftiled often the Saviour of finners; but you "know "neither the Father nor the Son." You know not God as Creator, nor, by consequence, your obligations and duty to him, or your apoftacy and departure from both. You know not what fin is, and therefore, you cannot know a Saviour. If ever you come to true religion at all, light will break in upon you in your darkness, you will no more be able to forget God, he will follow you into your fecret chambers, he will come home upon you, and affault you, as it were, with the reality of his prefence, with the fanctity and purity of his nature, and the terrible majefty of his power. O how great is the effect of a real difcovery of the divine glory, whether in the word, or by the providence of God; to a faint or to a finner. Hear how Job expreffes himself, "I have heard of thee by the hearing "of the ear, but now mine eye feeth thee, wherefore I ab"hor myself, and repent in duft and afhes."* We have the fame thing well defcribed by the prophet Isaiah, as the effect of divine power in defolating judgments. "Enter "into the rock, and hide thee in the duft, for the fear of "the Lord, and for the glory of his majefty. The lofty "looks of man fhall be humbled, and the haughtiness of

men fhall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be "exalted in that day. And they fhall go into the holes "of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of "the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ari

feth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall "caft his idols of filver, and his idols of gold, which they "made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and "to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the "tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the "glory of his majefty, when he arifeth to shake terribly "the earth." So foon as it pleases God to open your eyes upon himself, with whom you have to do, it will humble you in the duft, it will difcover your danger, it will make redemption precious to you, and the name of a Saviour unspeakably dear.

* Job xlii. 5, 6. VOL. I.

↑ Ifaiah ii. 10, 11, 19, 20, 21,

Bb

2. The fame thing fhews the danger of error, as well as ignorance. Among many loose and pernicious principles, which are zealously spread, and blindly embraced in this age, one of the most prevailing and dangerous is, the innocence of error. O, fay fome, every man is "to enquire freely, and each will embrace what appears "to him to be the truth. It is no matter what a man be"lieves, if his life be good. Even he who mistakes, may "be as acceptable to God as his oppofite, if he is equally "fincere." Now there is no doubt, that liberty to enquire freely, is an ineftimable bleffing, and impartiality in religious enquiries an indifpenfable duty. But the above maxim becomes falfe and dangerous by being carried an exceffive length; and it is carried to this excess by the favor of two fuppofitions, which are falfe and groundless. The maxim is applied frequently to juftify an open and virulent oppofition to the most important truths of the gofpel; nay, fometimes, even a denial of all religion, natural and revealed. To be able to apply it thus, it is necefsary to suppose that falfe opinions will have as good an influence upon the heart as true. If this is the case, the boasted privilege of free enquiry is not worth having, and all the labor beftowed on the fearch of truth is entirely thrown away. Another fuppofition contained in the above maxim is, that a perfon may be as fincere in embracing grofs falfhoods, as in adhering to the truth. If this be true, our Creator hath not given us the means to dif tinguish the one from the other, which is the highest impeachment both of his wisdom and goodness.

Such perfons do not confider, that a corrupt inclination in the heart brings a bias on the judgment, and that when men do not "like to retain God in their knowledge," he frequently in his righteous judgment, gives them up to a reprobate mind. Nay, when they reject his truth from an inward hatred of its purity, he is faid to fend them "ftrong delufions," as in the following paffage: "Be"cause they received not the love of the truth, that they "might be faved, for this caufe God fhall fend them ftrong delufion, that they should believe a lie, that they "all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had

"pleasure in unrighteousness."* But the nature of rege

neration will ferve, in a peculiar manner, to fhew the danger of error. If men form wrong notions of God, if they love and worship, and refemble a falfe god, they cannot be renewed, they are not like, and therefore unfit for the prefence of, the true. Be not deceived, he cannot deny himself, and therefore "there is no fellowship of righte"oufnefs with unrighteousness, no communion of light "with darkness, no concord of Chrift with Belial."+

I must here, to prevent mistakes, obferve that this ought, by no means, to be extended to differences of fmaller moment, under which I rank all those which regard only the externals of religion. I am fully convinced, that many of very different parties and denominations are building upon the one " foundation laid in Zion" for a finner's hope, and that their distance and alienation from one another in affection, is very much to be regretted. Many will not meet together on earth for the worship of God, who fhall have one temple above, where all the faithful," from the eaft, and from the weft, from the north, "and from the fouth, fhall fit down with Abraham, and "Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of their" eternal" Fa"ther." But after all, I must needs alfo believe, that it is poffible to make fhipwreck of the faith. This appears plainly from the following, as well as many other paffages of fcripture: "But there were falfe prophets alfo among the people, even as there fhall be falfe teachers among "you, who privily fhall bring in damnable herefies, even "denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon "themselves swift deftruction." If any take up false notions of God, or expect fanctification and eternal life in any other way than he hath pointed out in his word, though they may now build their hope on a fond imagination that he is fuch an one as themfelves, they fhall at laft meet with a dreadful difappointment in this awful fentence," Depart from me, I know ye not, ye workers of iniquity."

* 2 Theff. ii. 10, 11, 12. † 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.2 Pet. ii. 1.