SERMON II.

PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH, vi. 16.

THUS SAITH THE LORD, STAND YE IN THE WAYS AND SEE, AND ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS, WHERE IS THE GOOD WAY, AND WALK THEREIN, AND YE SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. BUT THEY SAID, WE WILL NOT WALK THEREIN.

In retracing the history of the Church of God in all past ages, we find, that, immediately on the first establishment of the Israelites as an independent nation, there was, at the same time, instituted by the express appointment of the Almighty, a national religious Establishment, which, under their judges and kings, and amidst all the changes of their national fortunes, continued for nearly 1500 years, till the Jews became a dependent and scattered people. Under the Christian dispensation, all the different Churches were continually tending towards an Establishment, and as soon as the ruling Powers were converted to the faith, Christianity became the Established Religion of the State; and the system, in its great outlines the same, has continued to the present day. It may well appear a strange proposition to those, who have been accustomed to

look with deference on the practice of ancient times, and to venerate the old ways, especially on matters of religion; that the system, which alone was sanctioned by divine appointment among the Jews, and adopted and continued in all the Churches of Christ, approved by the ancient Fathers, and retained by the Holy Reformers, should be pronounced by certain religious communities in modern times, as unscriptural and unlawful-as an intolerable evil, whose "end is most devoutly to be wished by every lover of God and man ;"* and whose destruction is to be attempted by agitation and clamour, and by a strange and unnatural combination of those, who profess themselves the true followers of Christ and his Apostles, with all those who, either avowedly or practically, are the enemies of religion itself. We may reasonably require a strong body of evidence to convince us, that all the Churches of Christ, from the earliest ages in which Christianity became the professed religion of a State, have utterly mistaken the principles of the Word of God; that they have, from the first, adopted a system inconsistent with the letter and the spirit of the Scriptures, and pernicious to the best interests of religion. On this momentous subject we look not for new discoveries, as on subjects of philosophy

and science; and shall be slow in believing, that it was reserved for the boasted wisdom of certain modern divines to find out, that the wise, and learned, and pious men of all former ages, had sanctioned and supported an erroneous, unscriptural, and injurious system; and that Christian States, in securing to all their subjects the means of regular religious worship and of sound religious knowledge, and, at the same time, a constant supply of duly qualified Ministers, have acted in opposition to the Word of God. Having endeavoured, in the last discourse, to shew that religious establishments are sanctioned by the practice and testimony of ancient times, I shall endeavour to shew,

2ndly. THAT SUCH INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT

UNSCRIPTURAL-THAT THEIR PRINCIPLE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD S WORD AND THEIR MAINTENANCE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, SANCTIONED BY HOLY SCRIPTURE.

It cannot be matter of dispute, that our Saviour in his various discourses, and the Apostles in their different Epistles to the Churches which they had founded, appear not to have given any commands, and left no recorded directions, about National Establishments of religion. From the silence of the New Testament, an objector conceives that he is furnished with an unanswerable argument. But let us, for a moment, consider the condition of the Christian Church at its first commencement and

during its early progress. Great and extraordinary as those effects were, which were produced through the preaching and miracles of the Apostles, it was evidently not the purpose of the Almighty, that the religion of Christ should proceed with irresistible force and uninterrupted success. With reference to the means used, and the obstacles opposed to its progress, its success was undoubtedly great and astonishing; yet, compared with the great mass of a heathen population, and often exposed to the violent persecutions of heathen kings and rulers, the Christian Societies, for a long period, formed a small and despised party. It was nearly the end of the second century, before they considered themselves as forming the majority in most of the cities in the Roman Empire.* No Christian Rulers were in existence till the beginning of the fourth century. Was it then likely, that our Saviour and his Apostles would specify, and enlarge upon, the obligations, duties, and responsibilities of Christian kings and governors, in the then existing circumstances of the Church, and under a jealous, hostile, and persecuting government? We know, that it was always the policy of Christ (if I may use the expression) carefully to avoid giving unnecessary occasion of offence to the Roman government. Was it then likely,

Paley's Evid. part ii. chap. 9.

that either himself, or his Apostles, would rouse the indignation, and call into more active exercise the enmity, of that government, by laying down rules and injunctions for Christian rulers, which, during many succeeding generations, would be utterly useless for supporting his cause; and yet would immediately indicate, that Christian teachers and their converts were looking forward to the possession of supreme power, to be exerted in the overthrow of the prevailing heathen religion? We find in the New Testament no express command, no specific direction to Christian rulers, from which they might distinctly, and at once, ascertain, that it would be their duty, in the exercise of that power with which they were invested, to suppress and abolish, within their dominions, the public celebration of the gross impurities, and abominable rites of idolatrous heathen worship. Yet I conceive, that few Christians would deny, that such would be their bounden duty.* How then shall we infer, from the silence of the New Testament in reference to the positive duties of governors, that they are not solemnly bound by the spirit of the religion which they profess, to make suitable provision for the due celebration of divine worship, and the extensive diffusion of Christian knowledge? But,

*See Note F.