which he has made.

The manifestation of all attributes,

though capable of being made in declarations, is principally discerned in actions. Excellence therefore is discovered, chiefly by doing what is great and wise and good.

so evident as to need no illustration.

All this is

God, when he intended to disclose his perfections to the universe, intended therefore to exhibit them, chiefly, by an endless course of action, in which wisdom, greatness, and goodness should be supremely and most clearly discovered. The highest blessedness, he has told us, and therefore the greatest glory, is found in communicating good, and not in gaining it; in giving, and not in receiving. To this decision Reason necessarily subjoins her own Amen. The great design of God in all things is, therefore, to do good boundlessly and for ever, and in this conduct to disclose himself as the boundless and eternal good.

It must of necessary consequence be supremely pleasing to him, that his intelligent creatures voluntarily unite with him in loving and promoting this divine purpose, while all opposition to it must be supremely displeasing. How important then must it be to us, that we cheerfully coincide with his perfect pleasure in this great end, and devote to the advancement of it all our faculties? Should we resist his designs, so excellent, so dear to him; how unworthy in itself, and how provoking to him, must be the conduct. What terrible consequences must spring from the exertion of such power and knowledge, exerted to manifest his anger against those who thus disobey his will, and oppose his designs! What must they not feel! What ought they not to fear!

On the contrary, what an universe of good, immense and endless, may he be expected to provide for those who voluntarily unite with him in this glorious design, and cheerfully perform his pleasure. Such good he can make, and give, and repeat for ever, with a wish and with a word. To make and give it is his delight and glory. It will therefore be done. In this wonderful work how divinely great and good does God appear ! How deserving of all admiration, love, homage, obedience, and praise. How amazing the wonders which he has done. How much more amazing the transcendant purpose for which they were done! Who would not fear, who would not bless, who would not adore, that glorious and fearful name,' JEHOVAH

OUR GOD; the Being self-existent, eternal, and immense; and without beginning, limits, or end; united with eternal and immeasurable wisdom and power; from whom are derived all worlds, and all their inhabitants; on whom all depend; and by whom all are preserved, governed, and blessed, and conducted with supreme wisdom and goodness to an end. immortal and divine. 6 Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.'

SERMON II.

ATHEISTICAL OBJECTIONS

AND

SCHEMES OF DOCTRINE CONSIDERED.

THE FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD. PSALM xiv. 1.

IN the preceding Discourse, I endeavoured to prove the existence of God, by arguments which have appeared to men of great distinction for learning and wisdom, to be not only satisfactory but unanswerable. Plain men also, though comprehending them imperfectly, have admitted both the force of the arguments themselves, and the point which they are intended to establish, without a question, and almost without an exception. Yet it cannot be denied that there have been Atheists, speculative as well as practical. A few of them may have existed in the uneducated classes of mankind, but almost all have been found among those, who, professedly at least, have been more or less learned.

But to whatever class these persons may belong, and whatever pretensions they may make to knowledge and wisdom, they are in the text universally characterized by folly. The fool, says David, hath said, there is no God. In other words, every man, who says this, is a fool; and the assertion is the result of his folly only.

It is remarkable, that this assertion is declared to be made in the heart of the fool; that is, to flow from his wishes, and not from his understanding. For the words, there is, in the

translation, there is nothing in the original. Hence it has been supposed by some commentators, that the passage ought to be rendered, let there be no God. Whether this rendering be admitted or not, there can be no doubt, that the chief reason why the assertion is adopted at all, is the indisposition of the heart to acknowledge the existence of the Creator.

That we easily believe, what we wish to believe, is a truth so obvious as to have passed into a proverb. He who hates the control, disrelishes the character, and dreads the inspection, judgment, and retribution of his Maker, and intends to persevere in a course of sin, will find no refuge from anxiety and alarm, and no source of quiet in sinning so comfortable, or in his view so safe, as the belief that there is no God. It is not strange, therefore, that this belief has been cherished by such beings as mankind are; and particularly, by such beings as Atheists have universally been.

Still, this conduct cannot be denied to be folly of a very gross kind. As our belief can make no difference in the fact; as if God exists, he will continue to exist; as our danger from his anger against our sins is exactly the same whether we believe it or not; as our quiet in sin will in this case only cheat us into ruin; and as the little consolation which we find in the indulgence of this belief, will only enhance our wretchedness by adding to it the anguish of disappointment; no sober man will hesitate to pronounce this conduct foolish in the extreme. To him who walks over the edge of a precipice, what benefit can it be to shut his eyes? What greater stupidity can there be, than to shut our eyes, when this conduct will prove the certain means of conveying us to this scene of absolute destruction?

Atheists have however determined to encounter this hazard, and boldly resolved that there is no God. Against the doctrine of the Divine existence they have raised up several objections, which they declare to be satisfactory, at least to themselves. These they have also formed into a scheme, and presented it to the public with a face of bold assurance. Even this has not satisfied them. They have triumphed in the most open manner, in the supposed ingenuity of their efforts; and, in the boasted strength of their arguments, have ridiculed the arguments of their antagonists; and have treated the doctrines not only of Christianity, but even of Theism, with contempt

It is the design of this Discourse to examine the objections of these men, and the principal doctrines with which they have been connected.

The first of these objections, which I shall mention, is, that Creation is so great a work, as to make it seem impossible, even for God to accomplish it.

This was the great difficulty in the mind of Aristotle. This singular man, in the early parts of his life, found his thoughts so much perplexed with this consideration, that he for a time gave up the doctrine of Creation, and determined that the Universe, as to its substance at least, had existed from eter- · nity. I cannot help remarking here the difference between him and the modern opposers of the divinity of Christ. Arians and Socinians have very generally insisted, that Creation is so easy a work, as to afford no proof of divine agency; and declared, that, even if Christ did in fact create all things, this fact does not infer his divinity. To Aristotle it appeared too difficult a work, even for God himself to perform.

He

To this objection we are furnished with a conclusive answer. God does actually, and daily, create the human soul, in innumerable instances; and the creation of the soul evidently demands all the power necessary to the creation of matter. who can give existence to the soul, can plainly give existence to any thing. As I propose, in the progress of these Discourses, to discuss at large the immateriality of the soul, I shall at present take it for granted.

This objection is also completely overthrown by the fact, that God upholds, moves, and governs the universe. Had Aristotle known the doctrines of the Copernican Astronomy, and beheld God moving, with entire and unabated ease, the systems of worlds which compose the universe, his capacious mind would, I think, have been irresistibly led to admit, that the hand which moves them, could with the same ease have created them. Indeed this great man appears, in the later parts of his life, not to have placed any serious reliance on this objection.

Secondly: It is objected, that the state of the world is such as to forbid the belief, that it is the work of a God.

The world,' say the objectors, is full of imperfection, and