heartily reconciled to God themselves, and do not sincerely approve of his terms of pardon and reconciliation to sinners; they will betray their trust, and take the part of sinners in their controversy with their Maker, and justify their disaffection and rebellion against him. They will pervert the gospel they preach, or, as the apostle says, they will preach another gospel. We may trace most of the religious errors and delusions in the Christian world, up to the unfaithfulness of insincere ministers of the gospel. No men have it more in their power to devise and propagate great and fatal errors than they have; and no men have actually devised and propagated greater errors than they have devised and propagated. The false prophets under the Old Testament, and the false prophets under the New Testament, were the principal propagators of the most absurd and fatal errors in their days. And where can we now find greater errorists, than those among the professed and unfaithful ambassadors of Christ? Some say, that sinners are not disaffected to God. Some say, though they are disaffected to God, yet they ought not to be reconciled to him. Some say, that they cannot be reconciled to him upon the impracticable terms of the gospel. Some say, all will be saved, whether they comply with any terms, or not. Such are the errorists among professed preachers of the gospel, at the present day, who betray the cause of Him whom they pretend has put them into the ministry of reconciliation. Was it ever more important than it is now, for those who undertake to preach the gospel of the grace of God, to be themselves reconciled to him, and take his part in the solemn controversy between him and his disaffected subjects? They cannot feel indifferent in respect to the result of this great controversy, in which God and all his intelligent creatures will be for ever deeply interested. And Christ will not feel indifferent towards the conduct of his professed ambassadors. For he has said, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."

4. If those whom God employs to propose the terms of pardon and reconciliation to his disaffected subjects, are faithful to their trust, and strictly follow his instructions, they may expect to meet with the displeasure and opposition of those who reject the message of grace. The terms of reconciliation, which God proposes to sinners, are extremely disagreeable to their selfish and rebellious feelings; and for that reason, their disaffection to him turns into disaffection and opposition to his faithful ambassadors; who are supposed to be attached to his cause and interests, and hostile to theirs. And this hostility they have often expressed. The sinners in Zion often hated and openly opposed the faithful prophets in Israel. Christ, who was his

Father's ambassador, gave great offence to multitudes, who heard him preach the gospel, and faithfully deliver the messages of sovereign grace. And Paul, the ambassador of Christ, found by painful experience that he could not, with all his prudence, preach the gospel so as to please Christ, and at the same time so as to please men. He asks the Galatians, "Do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be a servant of Christ." It is the proper business of an ambassador, who is appointed to negotiate a treaty of peace between two contending parties, to bring the controversy to a crisis; and as soon as he has fairly stated the ultimatum of his commission, mutual reconciliation immediately commences, or open war is proclaimed. Just so, it is the design of the faithful ambassadors of Christ, to deliver the terms of reconciliation, which God has proposed in the gospel, so plainly, so fully, and so impressively, as to bring the controversy between him and his disaffected subjects to a crisis, and produce either peace or war. Those ministers who preach the gospel plainly, fully, and faithfully, do not usually leave their people as they find them, from Sabbath to Sabbath. They either conciliate, or alienate the affections of their hearers towards their offended and injured Sovereign. They either gladly receive the word of reconciliation, or heartily oppose and reject it. And those who reject the terms of reconciliation, are always displeased with themselves, and generally displeased with those who urge and beseech them to accept such grating and humiliating terms. But though the faithful ambassadors. of Christ may expect to meet with more or less opposition from the enemies of the cross, yet they may console themselves with the assurance of meeting with his gracious and final approbation. This was a source of joy and triumph to Paul and his fellow laborers in the gospel. "Now thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish."

5. If ministers of the gospel are sacred ambassadors who are divinely appointed to propose the terms of pardoning mercy to their people; then they ought to take heed how they hear and how they treat them. Men are never placed in a more serious and critical situation in this world, than while they are hearing the ambassadors of Christ praying and beseeching them to become reconciled to God, upon the most gracious and condescending terms. They ought to feel, and in their hearts to say to the ambassador of Christ who is sent to preach to them, as Cornelius said to Peter: "Now are we all here present before 32

VOL. I.

God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." The word of reconciliation, which the ambassadors of Christ deliver, is the word of God and not the word of men, and is to be received as his word, and not as theirs. But they are not to be despised because they are men; and they cannot be despised, without despising God. "He that despiseth," says the apostle, "despiseth not man but God." An earthly prince always resents any disrespect shown to his ambassador, as shown to himself; and Christ has told the world, that he will resent disrespect shown to his ambassadors, as shown to himself. He said to his apostles for their encouragement, when he sent them forth to preach the gospel, " He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that depiseth me, despiseth him that sent me."

SERMON XVIII.

THE ESSENTIAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN SAINTS AND

SINNERS.

INSTALLATION OF REV. THOMAS WILLIAMS, ATTLEBORO', SEPTEMBER 9, 1824.

AND if thou shalt take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth.-JEREMIAH, XV. 19.

THOUGH God formed, sanctified, and ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet unto the nations, yet he met with so much opposition, reproach and strife, that he lamented his hard and unhappy lot. "Wo is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth." Notwithstanding this bitter lamentation, God would not release him from his high and sacred office; but told him he had much more for him to do and suffer in delivering his messages to his degenerate people, whom he was about to send into a strange land, where he must share with them in their national calamities. This led him to cry pathetically for divine compassion. "O Lord, remember me, and visit me,—take me not away in thy long suffering; know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart-I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced. I sat alone, because of thy hand." To this pertinent and pious petition God gives a gracious answer. "Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return," (that is to me) "then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. And I

will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord." These gracious promises were made to Jeremiah on the condition that he would take forth the precious from the vile, in delivering the messages of God to his people; that is, if he would, in delivering divine messages, distinguish the righteous from the wicked. From this we may justly conclude, That ministers should, in their preaching, keep up the essential distinction between saints and sinners.

I shall first show that there is an essential distinction between them; and then show why ministers should, in their preaching, keep up this distinction.

I. I am to show that there is an essential distinction between saints and sinners. They do, indeed, in some respects resemble one another. They are alike in their natural powers and faculties. They are alike in their speculative knowledge and mental improvements. They are alike in their civil concerns and pursuits. And they are often alike in their religious tenets and denominations. In these and various other respects, saints differ no more from sinners, than sinners differ from one another, or than saints themselves differ from each other. But notwithstanding all these points of similarity between saints and sinners, they essentially differ in one important respect, and that is, in respect to their hearts. The hearts of saints are benevolent, but the hearts of sinners are selfish. There is therefore a mutual contrariety between the hearts of saints and the hearts of sinners, which forms an essential distinction between them. Now to make it appear that there is really such an essential distinction between saints and sinners, I would observe,

1. That the inspired writers divide all mankind into two, and but two classes, and distinguish them by very different and opposite appellations.

They call the saints the precious, but sinners the vile. They call saints the godly, but sinners the ungodly. They call saints the children of God, but sinners the children of the wicked one. They call saints the elect, but sinners the reprobate. They call saints vessels of mercy, but sinners vessels of wrath. These and many other names of distinction run through both the Old and New Testament. They are used a vast many times in the Psalms and in the Proverbs, in the Gospels and in the Epistles, and in almost every page of the Bible. They are used not to distinguish one saint from another, nor to distinguish one sinner from another, but to distinguish all saints from all sinners. If they had been used to mark the mere