that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

What has recently been done for the furtherance of the Gospel, has not been effected, while the nations were flourishing and tranquil. If therefore the earth is to be visited with new desolations, we need not apprehend, that the great interest which is so dear to Christians, will be abandoned: The walls of Jerusalem shall be built in troublous times. Therefore will we not fear though the earth should be removed, and though the mountains should be carried into the midst of the sea.Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God; the holy place of the tabernacle of the most High.

SERMON X.

CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING THE

GREAT SALVATION.

HEBREWS 2:2, 3. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation: which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them, that heard Him.

KNOWN unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world. He is incapable of disappointment; nor does he ever adopt any new measure by way of experiment. He never enters on the execution of any purpose, which he had not formed, before the universe began. Though to our view, his government has a different aspect at different periods, it is really uniform. The parts, though various, are so connected and proportioned as to constitute a system, in all respects, worthy of the Being from whom it proceeds. That which happens in any age, has relation to what precedes, and to what follows. The Mosaic dispensation had respect, on the one side, to the fall of man; on the other, to the coming of Jesus Christ. It was not designed to be perfect in quality, nor eternal in duration: The law made nothing perfect; but was a shadow of good things to

come.

The apostle institutes in the context, a comparison between the religion of Moses and that of Christ. "The word, spoken by angels," was the law, as given at Mount Sinai. If it be asked, why the law is said to have been given by angels, I answer, that many of these celestial spirits, there is reason to believe, were present, as witnesses and ministers to that great transaction. This seems to be intimated by the Psalmist: The

chariots of God are twenty thousand; even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai. By the martyr Stephen it is expressly declared, that the Jewish people "received the law by the disposition of angels ;" and by St. Paul, that "the law was ordained by angels in the hands of a Mediator." In what manner their aid was given, we know not; but that they were present, and in some way auxiliary to the great event, is made sufficiently clear by the passages cited.

If this word, thus given, was firm, saith the inspired writer; if the commands of Moses could not be broken with impunity; and if those who violated them were, in a very strict and exemplary manner, punished; how shall we escape, if we neglect a religion, introduced by God's own Son, and propagated by the miraculous interposition of the Holy Ghost?

Similar to the text is another passage in the same epistle: If he that despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses, of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing?

It is evident, that the apostle meant to infer, not only that God will be punctual in executing the threatenings of the gospel, because he was so in executing those of the law; but likewise, that the doom of sinners, who reject Christianity will be more severe than was theirs, who rejected the religion of Moses, in proportion as Christianity has superior excellence.

I shall endeavor to show briefly; 1. That God signally manifested his displeasure against those who were disobedient under the ancient dispensation. 2. Consider some particulars, in which appears, that the new dispensation is greatly superior; And, 3. Enforce the inference, which the apostle makes, viz: Thatto those who reject this religion there is no possibility of escape.

it

1. It appears that God signally manifested his displeasure against those who were disobedient, under the ancient dispensation. By the Levitical law, violation of the Sabbath was made a capital crime: Every one that defileth the Sabbath, shall

surely be put to death; and when a man was found, gathering sticks on the Sabbath, this was immediately executed : All the congregation, saith God, shall stone him with stones. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

When Achan had concealed some of the devoted spoils of Jericho, though he confessed the deed and its criminality, no favor was shown him. He suffered a public execution; and on this condition "the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger." When Moses came down from the mount, and perceived that the Israelites were celebrating idolatrous games before the golden calf, he assembled the sons of Levi, and commanded them to inflict immediate death on those, concerned in the wickedness: Put every man his sword on his side, and go in and out from gate to gate, throughout the camp, and slay every man his neighbor, and every man his brother. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people, that day, about three thousand men. More instances might easily be adduced, to show how severely individuals were punished for contempt of the Mosaic law, and how truly it was said, that they "who despised that law, died without mercy."

If this were true of individuals it was more obviously so of the nation.

From the beginning, a great variety of evils had been threatened the Jews, to deter them from apostasy and rebellion. Whenever idolatry and vice became general, the displeasure of God was displayed, either in prophetic denunciations, or by the infliction of national judgments: and if incorrigibly obdurate, it was threatened, that they should be extirpated from the land of their inheritance, and dispersed over all the earth. This threatening was in due time fulfilled with a degree of exactness, which to the present day, is a matter of notice and astonishment to the whole world. From the manner in which God treated his chosen people, it is evident, that to him can be attributed neither remissness, nor want of veracity. Though long suffer

ing, he was not slack concerning his promise. The obstinacy of the Jews did at length exhaust the forbearance of the Father of mercies. After he had, during the course of many ages, frequently admonished and chastised them, he suffered them to be enslaved, their civil and ecclesiastical government to be dissolved, their city and holy temple to be consumed, their land to be given to strangers, and themselves to be removed into all quarters of the globe. They have become "a proverb, a hissing, and a by-word," and God hath given them" a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind."

Thus we perceive, that "the word spoken by angels, was stedfast," that the threatenings, contained in the Jewish law were not ineffectual ;-but that "transgressions and disobedience received a just recompense of reward."

It may be fairly concluded, that the same God, who with so much strictness, punished disobedience under one dispensation, will not, under another, suffer delinquents to escape with impunity.

But this is not all. Between the two dispensations there is great difference. The latter is far more excellent. The particulars of this difference are now in the second place, to be considered. These, it is suggested in the text, are the manner of its being communicated, and the nature of the blessings promised.

God was equally the author of both religions. In that respect there was no difference. But one was introduced by angels, and the other by the Son of God; a circumstance, which is, with much propriety, mentioned, to show what superior regard the Supreme Being entertained for the Christian dispensation; a circumstance, which may be very clearly illustrated by reference to one of our Saviour's parables. The owner of the vineyard is there represented, as letting it out to husbandmen. At the usual season for several years, he sent servants to receive his portion of the fruits. These servants were abused. Presuming that there were some limits to their audacity, he at last commissioned his son. Now this last measure is mentioned, as