in sin to his own destructive residence; as it is written, "And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke, and brimstone," Rev. ix. 17.

I am now to treat of the second branch of this. head, namely, that we may treat a false prophet with irony.

This was the manner in which grave Elijah treated the four hundred false prophets of Baal. He wanted them to prove the existence of their god, and the power of their faith, by an answer to their prayers; as it is written, "And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud." The prophets wanted more fervour in their devotion, and a little more lip labour. Cry aloud," saith he, "for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked," 1 Kings xviii. 27.

In like manner did the Saviour treat the Jewish blind guides in his days, who were always cavilling at him, and opposing his ministry. He sent them to seek friendship and shelter in Mammon, the god of wealth; figuratively the devil, the god of this world. For they despised and rejected the Saviour, who came to reconcile God and man, and so to bring about a glorious friendship by his death. And, as they refused reconciliation by him, he sends them to seek it elsewhere. "And I say

unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

Thirdly, We may lay our hands on the hole of this asp, and defy his power.

Putting our hand on the cockatrice den signifies, that we should bear a faithful witness against the deceitful heart of a false prophet; for all false doctrines spring out of the heart. "They prophesy unto you a false vision,” Jer. xiv. 14. "They speak a vision of their own heart," Jer. xxiii. 16.

The heart of a Christian is the palace of the Holy Ghost; but the heart of a false prophet is the den of the cockatrice. The real Christian has the law of truth and the law of kindness on his tongue; but the false prophet hath the poison of asps under his lips; therefore we must put our hands on the den, that is, we must bear witness against them; as it is written, "If there be found among you, within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, -and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and behold it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which hath committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or woman. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people," Deut. xvii. 2-7.

Thus we are to lay our hands, and to bear wit

ness, against any setter up of new gods, and against who try to eclipse the glory of the Ancient of Days; as it is written, "If thy brother, the son

any

of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thy own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye pity him; neither shalt thou spare; neither shalt thou conceal him: thy hand shall be first upon him, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage," Deut. xiii. 6-10. In short, we are to lay our hands, and to bear our testimony, against this asp, wherever he whether it be in a preappears, late or in a curate; and that is as much as we are able to do.

It is not in our power to destroy this asp, or his works; that is the work of our great Lord and Master. Nor are we to venture at the hole of the asp in our own strength, or in our own name. Satan, that waged war in heaven, defies all human power. If we remember that awful battle, we shall not dare to engage without the grace of God; and, though we know that he will torment and deceive mankind when we have done our best, yet we are to lay our hands on him, and bear a faithful witness against him, and that is all; as it

written, "Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more," Job xli. 8.

I come now to the fourth branch of this head of discourse, which is, that we may stop up the hole of the asp if we can.

The hole of the asp I have proved to be a false teacher's mouth; and it is from this hole that Satan has sent all the errors that are now in the world; all the poor sinners that have gone down to the grave with a lie in their hands, have been destroyed from this hole of the asp; therefore we may warrantably stop the hole up if we can. When we hear men say that they are perfect and clean from all indwelling sin, and that there is such a state of perfection to be attained in this life, we may tell them that they speak lies; for, "if we say we have not sinned, we make him [God] a liar;" and, "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," 1 John i. 8. When we hear men open their mouths at this rate we must bring scripture proof, and stop up the hole. "But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped," Psalm lxiii. 11.

When we hear preachers speaking against the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, and contending for their own legal obedience as a sufficient righteousness to justify them before God, we must not allow it, but exclaim against such impious boasting of their wretched merit; because the Saviour will not allow even his apostles, upon

whom his grace was so abundant, to boast; no, not even of the fruits of their faith. "When ye

shall have done all those things, say, we are unprofitable servants," Luke xvii. 10. From hence we may conclude that all men, who boast of their merit, are under the law; and we must bring forth the law in its spiritual meaning, and shew its spiritual demands; as it is written, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God," Rom. iii. 19.

Whenever, or wherever, this asp opens a hole, we must labour to stop it up; we must not be idle when the asp is busy; we shall often find men of corrupt minds creeping into houses, leading captive silly women; telling them that religion lies in a plain cap, or in a long narrow bonnet, and delivering lectures against a snuffbox, and nursing their pride by setting them up as class leaders; instead of preaching up the sovereign grace and Spirit of God. Christ calls such preachers flycatchers; they strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Many silly women are led away by these errors; "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth," 2 Tim. iii. 7.

The main drift of false teachers is to overthrow the faith of young beginners, setting them to despise orthodox preachers, and the glorious doctrine of election and predestination; and, when they are hardened in errors, they despise and ridicule