ther at present) the one is the truth, the other is a liar, and the father of lies. The like difference is found in the children of this world, and the children of the kingdom of God; that is, between the wicked world, who are under the power of Satan, and the Holy Church, which is the flock of Christ, and takes him for its pattern. It cannot be otherwise; the spirit of the head must be diffused through the members: and you will see it to be true: first, with respect to the Holy Church of Christ; whose disciples are taught to relieve one another in their wants, and save one another in their distress; rejoicing and suffering together, as the members of the same body; and doing good unto all men. His ministers are shepherds; his followers, from the first ages of Christianity, were accounted and treated as sheep for the slaughter, and were patient and unresisting. They exhort and encourage one another to good works, and being united together under a bond of peace, their charity covereth a multitude of sins; that is, it hideth and concealeth the many failings of their brethren for the love of Christ, instead of aggravating their offences, and judging them unmercifully. They are children of light, who derive the light of wisdom from the word of God; and walk openly and honestly, as as in the day. In their conversation, they are true and faithful, and give you a direct answer, without disguise or subterfuge. Such ought to be the members of the holy Church of Christ; this is the character intended for them, though many fall short of it, and some totally depart from it. But the visible church membership of men, does not depend upon their manners and opinions; nor indeed. upon any thing they can do for themselves; because it is the gift of God, by his ministers; so that a man in a holy church may be an unholy man for the kingdom of heaven, or church of Christ, is like a net cast into the sea, which gathers of every kind both bad and good; and an effectual separation is never made between them, till the angels drag this net to the shore, to gather the good into vessels, and cast the bad away. If we bear this case in mind, it will deliver us from a great deal of perplexity. It is truly a sorrowful fact, that the children of God, in too many instances, depart from their proper character: but the character proper to the world is, in all respects, like that of Satan, wicked and miserable. As the Devil is the prince of this world, his children set their affections upon it; and it is the enjoy it at any rate. the main purpose of their lives to obtain and For this they sell their souls, and if they get the world in exchange, they think they are gainers by the bargain. As he is the prince of darkness, so do they fall into ignorance, and blindness of heart, and love darkness rather than light, that their deeds may not be reproved. They hate the word of God, as owls and bats hate the day-light; and dispute fiercely for their errors, lest information. and conviction should bring them to repent ance. As the Devil is a destroyer, so do the children of this world destroy one another. Their wise politics produce war and desolation; their error and delusion of mind stir them up to the persecution of the servants of God: and wherever we see oppression, and cruelty, and persecution, there we see the spirit of the Devil, the father of persecution, who, by violence, will terrify and compe), where he cannot persuade. As he is a serpent, so his children are a generation of vipers, double-tongued, and deceitful; smooth and flattering on some occasions, but waiting to give a deadly bite when they are offended and provoked. Their way is crooked and uncertain, like the path of a ser pent. pent. An honest man, whose path is direct and plain, can never tell what to make of them, because they pretend to be going one way, while they are going another; and they often gain their end by it; as the twistings of the serpent carry him to the point he aims at. As Lucifer fell from Heaven for rebellion, all his children are impatient under authority; and in this capacity they are called sons of Belial; which means, that they can bear no superior. Patience, and obedience, and submission, are essential to the Christian character. Christ himself is our pattern, who allowed that the power of Pilate, so unjustly exercised, was given him from above, and submitted to his sentence, when he could have struck him dead upon his bench. But resistance is the Devil's doctrine, and the world's practice. The Gospel teaches us, that the things which are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in the sight of God, and here we see it verified; nothing is more detestable to the God of peace, than the sin of rebellion; and nothing is more magnified and applauded by the children of this world; who have set what they call the power of the people, above the power of God Almighty. He ordains government, and kings are his ministers; but the people people are told, that they have power to overthrow his ordinance, and judge his vice-ge rents. As the Devil is a tempter, his children act under him in that capacity: most wicked men have a strange desire to make all others as wicked as themselves. The world is full of seducers, who tempt men to false principles, and immorality of life. Some get their livelihood by the corruption of other people; and most infidels and heretics are so diligent in spreading their opinions, that if the friends of truth were equally zealous, the world would not be able to stand against them. As the Devil is the grand accuser, so doth the world delight itself in evil-speaking. Railing and slandering is their great amusement. Evil words are not pointed against evil things. The world delights to asperse those, who are unlike to themselves. There never was a good man, nor ever will be, who was not evil spoken of, and depreciated in the judgment of the public; and the rule is so universal, that our Saviour saith to all Christians, Woe be unto you, when all men speak well of you. False prophets were well spoken of by the people; and there must be something false and spurious, some |