the time, in which this conversion takes place in any man, shall be known to him. Of course, this time is not by the Scriptures made an object of our inquiry, nor is it at all concerned with our faith or practice. It is remarkable, that St. Paul, the time of whose conversion is at least as particularly declared as that of any other person mentioned in the Scriptures, never appeals to his knowledge of this time as the foundation of his confidence, hope, or comfort, but to entirely other evidence, particularly his faithfulness and zeal in the service of God. Yet how many, who call themselves Christians, insist that every convert must, of course, know the time when he became such, and demand an account of this time as the principal and indispensable evidence of his conversion. And how often, and how unscripturally, is this made the theme of public and private religious inquiry?

That some men will be finally condemned, and that all these will be then possessed of the character of final impenitence and unbelief, are doctrines every where revealed in the Gospel. But it is no where revealed to any person, that he will be finally impenitent, and finally condemned. This fact is therefore, to every man, a secret thing, and belongs to God only, and never to man. That he may be impenitent in the end, and therefore condemned, every man unpossessed of the faith of assurance ought to believe; and that, if impenitent, he will be condemned. But, that he will be impenitent, no man is warranted to believe, because it is not revealed, and because he is not warranted to distrust, or limit the mercy of God. Hence no man is bound, or can be bound, to resign himself to final misery, or to be willing to perish. We are required to be resigned to the will of God: but nothing is to us the will of God, except that which he makes known to be his will. The final condemnation of no man living has been made known to him by God. This, therefore, can be to him no part of the will of God. Of course, resignation to future misery, if it exist, is resignation to mere misery, and in no sense resignation to the will of God. But resignation to mere misery is in no degree virtuous, but foolish and mad beyond description.

Universally, whatever is secret or unrevealed, is to us no

thing, and to be wholly unregarded. It is nothing as an object of belief, or a rule of conduct. It can furnish no proof of any doctrine, and no objection against it. The proof of every doctrine must be found in something which we know, and all solid objections against it must be derived from its inconsistency with something which we know. Nothing which is unknown, can ever affect what is known; nothing unrevealed, that which is revealed. Our true wisdom, therefore, our real duty, our rational hopes of salvation, must be all found in that which is revealed, and in a cordial conformity to it, in our habits, our affections, and our lives.

VOL. I.

SERMON II.

GOD TO BE BELIEVED RATHER THAN MAN.

ROMANS iii. 4.

"Let God be true, but every man a liar.”

THIS chapter is justly considered as a dialogue between Saint Paul and a Jew, raising up a series of objections to the doctrines which had been taught in the preceding chapter. These doctrines the objector supposes to be inconsistent with the tenor of the Abrahamic covenant, and the adoption of the Jewish nation as the peculiar people of God. In the verse preceding the text the objector asks, whether the unbelief, attributed to that nation by the apostle, will not destroy the faithfulness of God? Saint Paul replies, " By no means. Let "God be acknowledged to have spoken the truth, although eve❝ry man should be found a liar ;" as every man will in fact be found, who denies the truth of God, or asserts what is opposed to that truth. In other words, let God be acknowledged to have spoken truth on every occasion, although, in this acknowledgment, we should be obliged to confess that every man livving is a liar; particularly, although every man, who opposes the truth of God, either in his belief or his declarations, should be found,―as, in the end, he certainly will be found,—to have believed and declared falsely.

It cannot be denied, that the dispensation, to which the Jew opposes the objection in the verse preceding the text, was of a mysterious nature; involving, as the most enlightened members of that nation would naturally judge, difficulties profound and perplexing. No Jew could easily conceive, how a descendant of Abraham could, consistently with the covenant made

with that Patriarch, fail of being interested in the blessings of the promised Messiah. But the mysteriousness of this dispensation did not prevent a single doctrine, which it included or inferred, from being true, nor create the least imputation on the Divine veracity.

The doctrines objected to, were doctrines of revelation taught by St. Paul, under the immediate inspiration of the Spirit of God. The answer of the Apostle is commensurate with the objection; and, from the manner in which both are presented to us, is plainly and certainly applicable to every objection made against any doctrine contained in the Scriptures. Whenever a doctrine found in them is questioned or impeached, it is always a sufficient answer that such doctrine is declared by God. Whatever he has said is to be admitted by us, because it is impossible that he should deceive, or be deceived. Our own decisions, on the contrary, when employed about religious subjects, are always liable to error, from the imperfection of our understanding, and the strength of our biasses. Our understanding, in its best exercises, discerns obscurely, and comprehends imperfectly, the nature of very many religious subjects; and our biasses, often strong, and almost always delusive, lead us to examine and to conclude with a partiality which is only hostile to truth. While, therefore, the veracity of God contains the highest of all evidence, the fallibility and deceitfulness of the human mind furnish every man with the amplest reason to distrust the decisions of both himself and his fellow-men.

In general language, the doctrine, taught by St. Paul in the text, is this:

:

Wherever we find the declarations of God on one side, and human opinions on the other, we are universally bound to receive the former and disregard the latter.

The Apostle, when delivering this doctrine, was conversing with a Jew, a man who had a divine revelation in his hands, and professed to believe it. To such a man only could the doctrine, with propriety, be addressed at all. Nothing can be more preposterous than to call upon a person to believe what his Maker has spoken, who does not admit that he has spoken

at all. But to those who possess the Scriptures, and believe them to be the Word of God, the declaration in the text is universally applicable with irresistible force. Whatever else may be false, all that God has declared is true; and it is to be received implicitly, by whatever human opinions, or arguments, be opposed.

it

may

It is not sufficient that we receive such doctrines as we can explain. The doctrines, opposed by the Jew in the context, were all mysterious, and this was his primary objection against them; but St. Paul answers him, "Let God be true, but every man a liar.” Acknowledge his truth, by giving implicit credit to his declarations; and in this very acknowledgment, confess your own opinions, which oppose these declarations, to be false. To believe a Scriptural doctrine which we can explain, is not to confide in the veracity of God, but in our own explanation. This is not the evidence on which he originally requires us to believe. He demands that we give credit to his veracity; and that absolutely, without reserve or qualification. If this be not done by us our faith is radically defective. Should a friend of ours, known to be an honest man, declare to us a fact, of which he professed that he had perfect knowledge, and we should refuse to believe his declaration until we had been able to explain all the circumstances to our own satisfaction, our friend would justly complain that we had no confidence in his veracity.

It is no uncommon thing to allege the mysteriousness of several doctrines in the Scriptures, as a reason for not believing them. No allegation can be more erroneous or groundless. In the works of God, both of creation and providence, by which we are continually surrounded, we are presented every day, hour, and moment, with innumerable mysteries. All these we admit without hesitation; and to question them would be regarded as the extreme stupidity of scepticism. All these are works of God. The Scriptures are the work of the same God; and an account either of the works which he has already wrought, or of those which he will hereafter accomplish. If the works themselves are so extensively mysterious, the account given of them must, in order to be true, be mysterious