self justly exposed to condemnation for his disobedience to the divine government, will esteem this gospel a faithful saying and worthy of all accep tation. Hence the Savior says, "Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto And he who hateth me, hateth my Father

me."

also."

How happy is the pious man! He believes there is one God-a Being of infinite power, unerring wisdom, unbounded goodness and unfailing mercy. He believes, that this God has sent a Savior into the world, by his doctrines to instruct, and by his death to redeem ignorant and guilty men. He believes, that through this Savior God will hear the prayers of the humble, forgive the sins of the penitent, help the infirmities of the saints, and reward the services of the faithful. He believes that God has prepared an eternal state of felicity for them who love him, that the afflictions of the present time are means of preparing him for that state, and that death will be his passage to it. He believes that God is his friend, and that under God's gracious care, he shall be guided in the path of righteousness, supported in trouble, succored in temptation, defended in danger, comforted in death, and brought safe to glory. What has such a man to fear? What can harm him? What can separate him from the love of God? Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: Rejoice ever more; for he is your God; and he will never forsake you. Fear not, for he is your shield, and your exceeding great reward. "Though the figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; though the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; though the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stall; yet you may rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of your salvation.”

SERMON II.

Enmity to the Gospel the true Cause of Unbelief.

JOHN xv. 22, 23, 24.

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: But now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

THESE words, though first spoken to the unbelieving Jews, will apply with equal force to all, who reject the gospel of Christ, after they have had a fair opportunity to learn its nature and design, and to examine the evidences of its truth and divinity. We are therefore as deeply concerned in them, and as solemnly warned by them, as were the Jews in our Savior's day.

They teach us, that, in respect of guilt, there is a great difference between those who have never known Christ, and those who have both known and rejected him-that in those who have known him, the true cause of unbelief is a hatred of him—that they who hate and reject him and his gospel, are in their hearts enemies to all religion. They hate his Father, as well as him.

1. The first observation to which our attention is called, is the distinction, which our Savior makes

between those who have never heard of his gospel, and those who have known and rejected it. The former have no sin; the latter have no cloak for their sin.

There are many nations, who have no knowledge of the gospel, and who, perhaps, have not so much as heard of it. Of these it may be said, in the sense in which our Lord uses the expression, "They have not had sin." They are not chargeable with unbelief. This is the sin here intended. The Jews, though Christ had not spoken to them, would not have been absolutely innocent. From the ancient oracles of God they had so grossly departed, that they were condemned as a wicked and perverse generation. Neither were the heathens, in an unqualified sense, without sin; for though they had not the written law, yet they were a law to themselves, and shewed the works of the law written on their hearts. Their violations of this law involved them in guilt; for they knew the judgment of God, that they who did such things were worthy of death. The scripture asserts that "Jews and Gentiles are all under in-that all have sinned and comes short of the glory of God-and that all the world are guilty before him." It can therefore be only the sin of disbelieving and rejecting the gospel, which is intended in

our text.

"To

It is agreeable to the sense of mankind, and to the declarations of the gospel, that every man will be treated according to the advantages which he has had, and the use which he has made of them. whom much is given, of him much will be required." "There is no respect of persons with God; for as many as have sinned without law, shall perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, in that day when God shall judge the secrets of men according to the gospel." VOL. IV.

C

Whether any of those who know not the gospel will ever obtain salvation, some have doubted. But Christain benevolence inclines us to hope, they are not absolutely and universally doomed to destruction. Before any written revelation was given, there were some, who, by the secret aids afforded them, made such an improvement of their natural advantages and traditionary communications as to attain to an acceptable piety. The atonement of the Redeemer is sufficient to expiate the sins of the world. God can, by special discoveries, supply the want of external means. The same grace, which applies the benefits of the atonement to infants, who have not a capacity for actual faith, can apply these benefits to adults, who have not the ordinary means of faith. "In every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him.” "Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world ;" or of all nations, whether Jews or Gentiles. We cannot then absolutely conclude, that none among the unenlightened nations of the earth are admitted to a share in the great salvation purchased by the Redeemer.

But whatever may be their final condition, it is certain, they will not be condemned for rejecting a gospel, which was never brought to them, nor for want of faith in a Savior of whom they never heard. They who among them perish, "will perish without law." Their guilt will arise from, and their condemnation will be grounded upon the violation of those moral obligations, which by the light of nature and the dictates of conscience, they had, or might have known. The Judge of all the earth will do right. His judgment will be according to truth. In his presence every mouth will be stopped. None vill have cause to complain, that his ways are unequal.

But this is a case which little concerns us. Whatever hopes we may entertain concerning those, who have never known the gospel, our Savior plainly signifies, that for those who have known, and yet have finally rejected it, there remains no hope.They have no cloak for their sin." Their sin is great and inexcusable, because the gospel which they reject is infinitely important; and the evidence against which they reject it, is clear and decisive.

1. The gospel, in its nature and design, is infinitely important.

It comes to us in the name of God, and declares itself to be a revelation from him. As such it demands our attention and obedience. The things, in which it instructs us, are of the most serious concern. That we are intelligent beings, we know from our own consciousness; and that we are soon to be removed from this world, we are taught by daily observation. Whether death will terminate our existence, or bring us to a new manner of existence in another world, is a question, in which every serious mind will wish to be satisfied. By the gospel, life and immortality are brought to light. A future existence, a righteous judgment and an equitable distribution of rewards and punishments, are doctrines which it teaches with convincing perspicuity, and on which it dwells with an affecting sơlemnity.

If there is a state of happiness, and a state of misery, which await different characters, it infinitely concerns us to know, how we may obtain the one, and escape the other. Here the gospel comes in to our relief. It instructs us, that, as God is rich in mercy to pardon offenders, so he exercises his mercy toward them through a sacrifice offered by his own son to expiate the guilt of sin-that the terms, on which pardon will be granted, are repentance to