The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Richard Hurd, Volume 6 (of 8), by Richard Hurd This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: The Works of Richard Hurd, Volume 6 (of 8) Author: Richard Hurd Release Date: April 12, 2017 [EBook #54541] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF RICHARD HURD, VOL 6 *** Produced by Charlene Taylor, Bryan Ness, wayne Hammond and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Note: This project uses utf-8 encoded characters. If some characters are not readable, check your settings of your browser to ensure you have a default font installed that can display utf-8 characters. i THE WORKS OF RICHARD HURD, D.D. LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER. VOL. VI. Printed by J. Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London. ii iii THE WORKS OF RICHARD HURD, D.D. LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTER. IN EIGHT VOLUMES. VOL. VI. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, STRAND. 1811. iv v THEOLOGICAL WORKS. VOL. II. vi vii SERMONS PREACHED AT LINCOLN’S-INN, BETWEEN THE YEARS 1765 AND 1776: WITH A LARGER DISCOURSE, ON CHRIST’S DRIVING THE MERCHANTS OUT OF THE TEMPLE; IN WHICH THE NATURE AND END OF THAT FAMOUS TRANSACTION IS EXPLAINED. SATIS ME VIXISSE ARBITRABOR, ET OFFICIUM HOMINIS IMPLESSE, SI LABOR MEUS ALIQUOS HOMINES, AB ERRORIBUS LIBERATOS, AD ITER CŒLESTE DIREXERIT. Lactantius. viii ix TO THE MASTERS OF THE BENCH OF THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF LINCOLN’S INN, THE FOLLOWING SERMONS, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THEIR MANY AND GREAT FAVOURS, ARE BY THE AUTHOR MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. x xi CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME. SERMON I. Preached Feb. 3, 1771. MAT. xiii. 51, 52. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. 1 SERMON II. Preached Nov. 8, 1767. 1 COR. x. 15. I speak as to wise men: judge ye what I say. 23 SERMON III. Preached May 17, 1767. ROM. ii. 14, 15. When the Gentiles, which have not the Law, DO by Nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the Law, are a Law unto themselves: which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts, their CONSCIENCE also bearing witness, and their thoughts in the mean while ACCUSING or else EXCUSING one another. 37 SERMON IV. Preached May 24, 1767. GAL. iii. 19. Wherefore then serveth the Law? 52 SERMON V. Preached May 1, 1768. HEB. ii. 3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great Salvation? 67 SERMON VI. Preached Nov. 16, 1766. JOHN xiv. 8. Philip saith to him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 83 SERMON VII. Preached in the year 1771. JAMES iv. 1. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 101 SERMON VIII. Preached April 29, 1770. 1 TIM. i. 5. The end of the Commandment is Charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 116 SERMON IX. Preached Nov. 9, 1766. ROM. xii. 10. —In honour preferring one another. 130 SERMON X. Preached May 6, 1770. JOHN xiii. 8. —Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, thou host no part with me. 143 SERMON XI. Preached June 20, 1773. MARK ix. 49. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 160 SERMON XII. Preached Feb. 9, 1766. GAL. vi. 3. If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 174 xii xiii SERMON XIII. Preached May 16, 1773. 2 COR. x. 12. We dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves, with some that commend themselves: But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 187 SERMON XIV. Preached April 27, 1766. St. MARK iv. 24. Take heed what ye hear. Or, as the equivalent phrase is in St. Luke, viii. 18. Take heed HOW ye hear. 201 SERMON XV. Preached Nov. 24, 1765. ROM. xvi. 19. I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. 215 SERMON XVI. Preached Dec. 1, 1765. ROM. xvi. 19. I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. 230 SERMON XVII. Preached Nov. 22, 1772. JOHN v. 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh of God only? 245 SERMON XVIII. Preached April 23, 1769. JOHN ix. 41. Jesus saith to them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth. 260 SERMON XIX. Preached May 12, 1771. 1 COR. viii. 1. Knowledge puffeth up; but Charity edifieth. 276 SERMON XX. Preached Nov. 19, 1769. ACTS OF THE APOSTLES xxvi. 9. I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 290 SERMON XXI. Preached May 10, 1767. St. LUKE vi. 26. Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you. 304 SERMON XXII. Preached Feb. 6, 1774. St. JOHN viii. 11. Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn thee; Go, and sin no more. 319 SERMON XXIII. Preached March 1, 1772. St. MATTHEW xi. 29. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 333 SERMON XXIV. Preached April 30, 1769. LUKE xvi. 14. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all those things: and they derided him. 350 SERMON XXV. Preached June 25, 1775. ECCLESIASTES v. 10. He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver. 366 SERMON XXVI. Preached Feb. 21, 1773. 1 COR. vi. 20. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 378 xiv xv xvi SERMON XXVII. Preached March 13, 1774. JOB xiii. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. 393 SERMON XXVIII. Preached May 28, 1769. ECCLESIASTES vii. 21, 22. Take no heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee. For oftentimes, also, thine own heart knoweth, that thou thyself, likewise, hast cursed others. 407 1 I SERMON I. PREACHED FEBRUARY 3, 1771. St. Matth. xiii. 51, 52. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. F there be any difficulty in these words, it will be removed by considering the manners of that time, in which Jesus lived, and the ideas of those persons, to whom he addressed himself. The Israelites were a plain, frugal people; abundantly supplied with all things needful to the convenient support of life, but very sparingly with such as come under the notion of ornaments or superfluities. They drew their means of subsistence chiefly from pasturage, agriculture, and other rural occupations. Gold and Silver was scarce among the ancient Jews; and the less necessary to them, as they had little traffic among themselves, and still less with their pagan neighbours; the wisdom of their Law having purposely restrained, and, upon the matter, prohibited, all the gainful ways of commerce. Now, to a people, thus circumstanced, unfurnished, in a good degree, with arts and manufactures, and but slenderly provided with the means of exchange for the commodities they produce; management, thrift, and what we call good husbandry, must have been a capital virtue. Householders were especially concerned to hoard up, and keep by them, in readiness, all such things as might be requisite either to cloath or feed their respective families. And therefore, as they were continually making fresh additions to their stock, so they carefully preserved what things they had, provided they were of a nature to be preserved, although time and use had impaired the grace, or diminished the value, of them. Thus, they had things new and old laid up in their store-house, or treasury (for these provisions were indeed their treasure), which, as the text says, they could bring forth, on any emergency that called for them. And to this Jewish Householder, thus furnished and prepared for all occasions, our Lord compares the scribe, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, in other words, the minister, or preacher of the Gospel. Every such scribe was to be suitably provided with what might be serviceable to those committed to his charge: And the Text delivers it, as a general inference from the example of Christ himself (who, from a variety of topics, some new, some old, had been instructing his disciples in this chapter), that WE, the teachers of his religion, should likewise have in store a variety of knowledge for the supply of his church, and that we should not be backward or sparing, as we see occasion, in the use of it. Therefore, says he, that is, for this end1 that your respective charges may be well and perfectly instructed by you, as you have been by me, every scribe, which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. It is true, if this instruction of our Lord and Master had concerned only the preachers of the word, I might have found a fitter place and occasion for a discourse upon it. But the case is much otherwise; and it concerns all the faithful to understand what the duty of those is, who are intrusted to dispense the word of life, lest they take offence at the ministry, without cause, and so deprive themselves of the fruit which they might otherwise reap from it. Let me therefore lay before you some plain considerations on the aphorism in the text; and submit it to yourselves how far they may deserve the notice of all Christians. It would be ridiculous, no doubt, to torture a meer figure of speech; and to pursue a metaphor through all the minute applications, which an ordinary imagination might find or invent for it. But I shall not be suspected of trifling in this sort, when I only conclude, from the comparison of a Christian Scribe to the Jewish Householder; I. That all the treasures of knowledge, which the minister of the Gospel may have laid up in his mind, are destined, not to the purposes of vanity, but to the use of his charge; for such must have been the intention of a reasonable Householder, in the stock of provisions he had so carefully collected: II. That such use must be estimated from the apparent wants of those, to whom this knowledge is dispensed; for so the frugal householder expends his provisions on those who evidently stand in need of them: And III. Lastly, That among these wants, some, at certain conjunctures, may be more general, or more pressing, than ordinary; and then his first care must be to relieve these, though other real, and perhaps considerable wants, be, for the present, neglected by him: just, again, as the discreet householder is anxious to provide against an uncommon distress that befalls his whole family, or the greater part of it, or that threatens the immediate destruction of those whom it befalls, though he suspend his care, for a season, of particular, or less momentous distresses. In these THREE respects, then, I propose to illustrate and enforce the comparison of the Text, without any apprehension of being thought to do violence to it. 2 3 4 5 6 I. The knowledge of a well-instructed Scribe must be directed to the edification of his charge, and not at all to the gratification of his own vanity. This conclusion results immediately from the subject of the comparison. For the Christian Scribe is not compared to a prince, who is allowed, and even expected, to consult his own state and magnificence; or, to one of those popular magistrates in ancient times, whose office it was to exhibit splendid shews, and furnish expensive entertainments, to their fellow-citizens: but to a plain Jewish householder, who had nothing to regard beyond the necessary, or, at most, decent accommodation of his family. And the comparison is aptly made, as we shall see if we consider, either the end of a preacher’s office, or the decorum of his character. His OFFICE obliges him to intend the most essential interests of mankind, the reformation of their lives, and the salvation of their souls. And when the object of his care is so important, what wonder if all inferior considerations fall before it? Besides, the Christian preacher has a commission to discharge, a divine message to deliver. And in such a case, men look not for ingenuity, but fidelity. An ancient, or a modern sophist may make what excursions he thinks fit into the wide fields of science; and may entertain us with his learning, or his wit, as he finds himself able. He may, I say, do this; for he has only to recommend himself to our esteem, and to acquire a little popular reputation. But WE have a dispensation committed to us, a form of sound words, from which we must not depart, a doctrine, which we are to deliver with uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity2. We please not men, but God; or if men, to their good, only, to edification3. The DECORUM of our character requires, too, that we be superior to all the arts of vanity and ostentation. Even in secular professions, it is expected that this rule of propriety be observed. A Physician would be ridiculous, that was more curious in penning a prescription, than in weighing the matter of it: and the Advocate would be little esteemed, that should be more solicitous to display himself, than to serve his client. How much more then may it be expected from a preacher of righteousness, that HE should forget his own personal importance amid the high concerns of his profession! And such was indeed the conduct of our best guides, in the ministry. The ancient Fathers were, many of them, richly furnished with all the endowments, that might be required to set themselves off to the utmost advantage. Yet we find them, in their homilies and discourses to the people, inattentive to every thing but their main end; delivering themselves, with an energy indeed, but a plainness and even negligence of expression4, that tempts frivolous readers, sometimes, to make a doubt of their real, and, from other monuments of their skill and pains, unquestioned abilities. And, in this contempt of secular fame, they did but copy the example of St. Paul himself, the great Apostle of the Gentiles; who, though distinguished by the sublimest parts, though profound in his knowledge of the Law, and not unacquainted with Gentile learning, affected no display either of his natural or acquired talents, but, as he tells us himself (and his writings attest the truth of his declaration), determined to know nothing, among the faithful, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified5. Not that what abilities we have, are always to lie concealed. There are occasions, no doubt, when they may properly, that is, usefully, be exerted. But the minister of the Gospel does not go in quest of such occasions: he only adapts himself to them, when they come in his way; and then pursues them no farther than the end, he has in view, the edification of others, not his own credit, demands from him. By this rule, the preachers of the word are to conduct themselves. By the same rule, it will, therefore, be but just to estimate their charitable labours; and, when we see nothing to admire in them, to conclude, That this plainness of character may not be always owing to incapacity, but sometimes, at least, to discretion and the higher regards of duty. And this candour, as liable as it is to misinterpretation, will not be thought excessive, if you reflect, that, as, in general, they are bound to consult the good of their charge, and to deliver nothing to their auditors, but what they foresee, or presume at least, will be useful to them: So II. In the next place, The degree of that utility must be regarded by the prudent dispenser of God’s word, and can only be estimated by the apparent wants of those, to whom his instructions are addressed. It is an especial part of the householder’s prudence to take care, that his treasure be laid out on those, who have most need of it. He has enough to do, perhaps, to satisfy the more pressing demands of his domestics; and the rules of a good œconomy require that he regard those, before their humourous inclinations, or even their more tolerable necessities. To speak in Jewish ideas, He, that wants a coat, to defend himself from the injuries of the weather, must be supplied with that necessary garment, though he go without a cloak; or, when a piece of bread is called for, it must be administered to the hungry, though others be made to wait for their delicacies of milk and honey; or, a lamb from the fold may be served up at an ordinary feast, while the fatted calf is reserved for some more solemn occasion. Just thus it is in the dispensation of the word. We apply ourselves, first and principally, to relieve the more importunate demands of our hearers; and, not being able, at the same time, to provide for all, we prefer the case of those who are 7 8 9 10 11 starving for the want of necessary instruction, to that of others who are in a condition to subsist on what hath already been imparted to them. Hence it is, that we are most frequent in pressing the fundamental truths of the Gospel: as well knowing, that very many have yet to learn, or at least to digest, the first principles of their religion; and that few, in comparison, are either prepared, or enough disposed, to go on to perfection. There are those, perhaps, who expect us to clear up some nice point of casuistry, or to lay open to them the grounds and reasons of some obnoxious article in the Christian Creed: in a word, they would take it kindly of us, if, dropping the common topics, which have been long and much worn in the service of religion, we provided some fresh ones, for their entertainment; and instead of the stale fragments, which are always at hand, and lie open to all the family, we served up to them something of better taste from the inner rooms of our store-house, where our choicest viands are laid up. All this is extremely well: and in due season, so far as is fitting, the charitable dispenser of God’s word will not be wanting to their expectations; for he has gathered nothing, however rare or exquisite, in the course of his household industry, of which he does not wish them to partake. But, for the present, he finds this indulgence to be out of place: he sees, that the plainest duties of life, and the most unquestioned articles of the faith, are, first of all, to be inculcated: he perceives, that numbers want to be put in mind of old practical truths; and perhaps he understands, that even those, who are the most forward to call out for novelties in speculation, do not make this demand with the best grace. He could amuse them, it may be, with a curious theological Lecture: but what if their sense of divine things be dead? what if they want to have their minds stimulated by the admonitions, and their consciences alarmed with the terrors, of the Gospel? The question is not put at hazard. For so, the Roman Governor was impatient to hear St. Paul concerning the faith in Christ; when yet the Apostle chose to reason with him of righteousness, temperance, and judgement to come: plain moral topics, such as had often been discussed before him in the schools of philosophy, but were now resumed to good purpose; for in the end, we are told, Felix trembled. Even, in the case of those, who may be decent in their lives, who are enough instructed in what is called morality, nay, and would take it ill to be thought wanting in a competent share of religious knowledge, a discourse on the elements of the faith may not be, altogether, unseasonable. For there are, of these, who exclude Religion, from their scheme of morality; or Christianity, from their scheme of religion; or who, professing Christianity, scarce know what Redemption means: who are yet to learn with what awful, yet filial piety, they are to look up to God the Father; who reflect not, what transcendant honour is due from them to God the Son; and who have scarce, perhaps, heared, or have little regarded, whether there be any Holy Ghost. If any such attend our assemblies, think not much that we are ready to impart to them the plainest, the commonest, because the most necessary, instruction: and, though we would consult the wants of all, you are not to be surprized, or disgusted, if we run to the relief of those first, who want our assistance most; and, like the good householder, bestow our old things on the needy and indigent, before we expend our new on the curious and delicate; who might, we will say, be better accommodated with them, but are not, in the mean time, destitute of what is needful to their spiritual life. But III. This care is more especially required of the Christian Scribe, when his charge is exposed, in certain conjunctures, to new and extraordinary wants, which, if not relieved in the instant, may grow to be ruinous, and absolutely fatal: then, above all, he is to consider, not what instruction is most acceptable to his hearers, but what their critical situation demands. For, here again, the example of the watchful and beneficent householder, is our direction. The season may be uncommonly severe and inclement: or, a dangerous, perhaps a contagious disease, afflicts his family; and then the warmest, although the coarsest, clothing must be sought out for the naked; and not the most palatable, but the most wholesome food, must be administered to the sick. Disasters, like these, sometimes befall the household of Christ. A cold atheistic spirit prevails, and chills the vital principles of all virtue, as well as religion: or a pestilent heresy spreads its venom through the church, and turns the medicine of life itself, the salutary instruction of God’s word, unless prepared and applied by skilful hands, into a deadly poison. Then it is that the well-appointed Scribe emulates the generous care and pains of the good householder; and whatever he has in store, of ancient or modern collection, whether of philosophy or criticism, whether of eloquent persuasion or sound logic, all must be brought forth, to warm the piety, or to purify the faith, of his hearers. We, of this nation, have not been so happy as to want examples of such distresses. 1. The fanatical sects, that sprung up in abundance amid the confusions of the last century, had so corrupted the word of God by their impure glosses on the Gospel-doctrine of Grace, that the age became immoral on principle, and, under the name of Saints, engendered a hateful brood of profligate Antinomians; that is, a sort of Christians, if they may be so called, who turned the grace of God into licentiousness, and, to magnify his goodness, very conscientiously transgressed his Laws. In a word, they taught, that the elect were above ordinances, and might be saved without, nay 12 13 14 15 16 17 in defiance of, the moral Law. This horrid divinity struck so directly at the root of all true religion, that it could not but alarm the zeal of good men. Accordingly, about the time of the Restoration, and for some years after it, a number of eminent Divines (and ONE especially, well known, and deservedly honoured, in this place6) bent all their nerves to expose and confound so pernicious a heresy: and with so invincible a force of plain and perspicuous reasoning, as brought most men to their senses, and effectually silenced, or disgraced, the rest. They opened the grounds and obligations of morality so plainly, and set the Gospel scheme of salvation through faith, working by charity, in so full and striking a light, that injured Virtue recovered her ancient honours, and yet was taught to acknowledge a just dependance on saving Faith. Such was the triumph of enlightened reason and well-interpreted Scripture over Antinomianism: while yet many perverse, and more mistaken, hearers of those days, were ready to revile their teachers, for dwelling so much and so long on these old topics, and would have gladly received other, and more novel instructions, at their hands. 2. But now the licence of that age, which followed the Restoration, was gone over, on the sudden, into other extravagances, equally ruinous to the souls of men. It had been made too clear to be denied, that moral righteousness is of indispensable obligation, so long as there is a God to serve, or common sense is allowed to have any hand in explaining his laws. To get rid then of so inconvenient a restraint, as genuine morality; many daring spirits of that time, rushed into Atheism; while the more timid, took refuge in Popery. For, to disown a moral Governour, or to admit that any observances of superstition can release men from the duty of obeying him, equally serves the purpose of those, who resolve to be as wicked as they dare, or as little virtuous as they can. These new evils, each of which, in its turn, the court itself had countenanced, or introduced, called for fresh remedies; and it was not long before they were administered, with effect. The same eminent persons, who had vindicated moral virtue, now supported the cause of piety, and of protestantism, with equal success. They overturned all the prophaneness, and all the philosophy of Atheism, from its foundations: and, with resistless argument, baffled the presumption, and beat down the sophistry, of the church of Rome. Yet these matchless servants of truth were charged by some, with indiscretion in bringing to light all the horrors of atheistic impiety, though in order to expose them; and with preposterous zeal, in directing all their efforts against Popery, though it wore, at that time, so malignant an aspect on all our dearest interests. They were not, however, diverted by these clamours from pursuing their honest purposes: and we owe it to them, in a great measure, that these two systems of iniquity, I mean, Atheism, and Popery, are no longer in repute among us. 3. Still, the state of the times may be altered, without being much improved. For, though few will avow direct Atheism, and not many, I hope, are proselyted to Popery, yet the number of those is not small, who are but Protestants, in name; and scarce Deists, in reality. Many profess, or secretly entertain, a disbelief of all revealed Religion; and many more take unwarrantable liberties with the Christian faith, though they pretend to respect it. At the same time, as extremes beget each other, there are those who seem relapsing into the old exploded fanaticism of the last age; from a false zeal, it may be, to counteract the ill impression of those other licentious principles. Thus is the unbalanced mind of man always shifting from one excess into another; and rarely knows to sustain itself in that just mean, which pure religion and right reason demand. Wonder not therefore, that our cares are still suited to the exigencies of our hearers; and that we labour to supply them with that provision of sacred truth, which they most want; that we strive to excite in them awful ideas of God’s moral government; are instant in season and out of season to assert the utility, the importance, the necessity of divine revelation; and are anxious to maintain the prerogatives of Christian faith, yet without depreciating the moral Law, or infringing the rights of natural reason: that we admonish you to think soberly, to inquire modestly, and to believe what the word of God expressly teaches, though ye do not, and can not, many times, comprehend the height and depth of divine wisdom: that we remember, in short, what is required of Stewards, who are appointed to dispense the treasures of Christian knowledge, and to superintend the household of God. I have now gone through the several topics, which our Lord’s parable of the Householder seemed naturally to suggest to me: not so much with a view to make our own apology (for if we do not our duty, we deserve, and if we do, we want, none) as to set before you a just idea of our office and ministry, that so ye may judge rightly and equitably of us, for your own sakes. For it is not indifferent to the household, what opinion is entertained of the Householder. Many will not suffer him to relieve their wants, or perhaps acknowledge they have any wants to be relieved, if they do not conceive with some respect of his discretion, at least, and good-will. And though, in the discharge of our duty to all, we may seem to neglect many, and may even dissatisfy, nay offend some; yet, on reflexion, you will see that we are not wanting to our trust—if we always endeavour to dispense salutary doctrines—if, especially, we dispense such as the apparent and urgent necessities of men call for—and, above all, if we be ready to dispense all our treasures, new and old, when the more alarming distresses of the Christian church require, on occasion, our best attention and liberality. 18 19 20 21 22 To conclude: We respect your good opinion; nay, perhaps, are too solicitous to obtain it. But we would, or we should, in the first place, please him, who hath called us to serve, and expects us to be faithful, in all his house7. For we presume to be something more than Orators, or Philosophers, plausible and artificial discoursers, who have nothing in view but their own credit, and are eloquent or ingenious, that is, vain, by profession. We have a character to sustain of greater dignity, but less ostentation. For WE preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus our Lord; and ourselves, your servants for Jesus sake8. 23 T SERMON II. PREACHED NOVEMBER 8, 1767. 1 Cor. x. 15. I speak as to wise men: judge ye what I say. HOUGH St. Paul said this to the Corinthians, on a particular occasion, in reference to a single argument he was then prosecuting, and possibly not without an intended sarcasm on those whom he here qualifies with the name of Wise men, yet the words themselves express the Apostle’s own constant practice; and what is more, they express the general spirit and genius of that Religion, which he was commissioned to teach. For the Christian Religion, divine as it is in its origin, sublime in its precepts, and profound in its mysteries, yet condescends to apply itself to the rational faculties of mankind; and, secure in its own native truth and evidence, challenges the wise and learned to judge of its pretentions. So that we may regard the declaration of the text, as a standing precept to the Ministers of the word, to speak as to wise men; and to the hearers of it, to use their best faculties, in judging of what they say. These then shall be the two parts of my discourse upon it. Each will suggest some important reflexions to the persons respectively concerned; to US, who preach the word, and to YOU, who hear it. I. The Religion of Jesus was designed for the instruction of all sorts and degrees of men. Nay, it is even alledged as one mark of its divinity by Jesus himself, that not only the rich and wise, but the poor and simple, have the Gospel preached unto them9. And from the different reception of it, at first, by these two sets of men, we may perhaps see which of them deserved it most. But be this as it will, the Christian Religion was destined for the use of all mankind. Its saving truths are to be made known to all: yet with some difference in the mode of teaching them, according to the capacities of those to whom they are addressed. To plain and illiterate men, who have no prejudices to counteract the virtue of God’s word, and no pride of reason or science to question its authority, the true and proper way is, no doubt, to represent the great truths of the Gospel, simply and clearly, accompanied with its more general and obvious proofs, and enforced upon them with all the earnestness of exhortation. These proofs, and this exhortation, carry such light and force in them, as may be reasonably expected to have an effect upon all men: yet to the WISE, who are prompted by their curiosity, to habits of inquiry, to ask a reason of the hope that is in us10, and who are qualified by their parts and studies to judge of such reason, we are instructed to address a more elaborate answer, or apology. The question then will be, On what principles such Apology must be formed? A question the more important, because the apologies of all times have been too generally constructed on false and pernicious principles; on such as cannot support, but rather tend to weaken and disgrace, the very cause they would defend. Such were the apologies, many times, of the ancient Christians, who would incorporate with the divine religion of Jesus the vain doctrines of the Gentile philosophy: and such have been too often the more modern apologies, which debase the word of God, and corrupt it, with the dreams of our presumptuous metaphysics. Our Religion has suffered much in both these ways: not, that reason or philosophy of any kind, truly so called, can dis- serve the cause of a divine Religion; but that we reason and philosophize falsely, or perversely; that is, we apply falshood to truth; or, we misapply truth itself, in subjecting the incomprehensible mysteries of our faith to the scrutiny and minute discussion of our best reason. From these miscarriages, we are admonished what to avoid: the example of the Apostle Paul, who spake as to wise men, may instruct us in the right way of prosecuting the defence of the Gospel. From him, then, we learn to frame our answers and apologies to inquisitive men, on the great established truths of natural and revealed Religion; to assert the expediency of divine Revelation, from the acknowledged weakness and corruption of human nature, and from the moral attributes of the Deity; to illustrate the œconomy of God’s dispensations to mankind by arguments taken from that œconomy itself: to reason with reverence11 on the nature of those dispensations, to shew what their general scope and purpose is, how perfect an agreement there is between them, and how divinely they are made to depend on each other. In doing this, we shall find room for the exercise of our best and most approved reason: we shall look far ourselves, (and be able to let others) into the harmony of the divine councils, as they are set before us in the inspired volumes: and, though we may not penetrate all the depths and obscurities of those councils, yet, as in contemplating the WORKS of God, which we know but in part, we can demonstrate his eternal power and Godhead, so, in studying his WORD, we shall see enough of his unsearchable wisdom and goodness, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish, and to satisfy the inquiries of wise, men. 24 25 26 27 28