against the church and the kingdom of Christ, with the same boldness as the saints, in the primitive times, asserted the doctrines of the gospel against the heathen powers and the kingdom of Satan. But boldness without truth will never make a Christian confessor and if a man injures himself for the love of error, he is not a martyr but a suicide.

They who are acquainted with the world, and the present state of religion and literature, must have observed, that heresy, schism, and the new philosophy of the Deists, with their numerous adherents, form a mixt multitude, which are always hovering about the Christian camp, and never fail to corrupt it.

They are now boasting of their success, and threaten to overwhelm this church in a very short time with a deluge of Unitarianism, that is, of Mahometan infidelity *.

The destruction of three and twenty thousand was occasioned by the Israelites associating with the people of Midian, who invited them to the feasts of their idols; in consequence of which, they fell into shameless fornication after the manner of the Heathens. And as there were wicked Midianites ahd Moabites in the neighbourhood of the camp, so is there a wicked world always near at hand, ready to invite and seduce the servants of God by its ensnaring customs. and diversions. To mix with the world on all occasions, and not to be corrupted by its ways, is almost as unlikely, as that the Hebrews should go to an idolfeast with the Midianites, and not to be the worse for it. What is the natural tendency of many, and even the design of some public diversions tolerated among Christians, but to corrupt youth and give opportunities

* See Priestley's Sermon on Free Enquiry.

to vice? How are most of the scenes of public diversion crouded with the daughters of Midian, who are well aware, that what is there to be seen and heard will seldom fail to encourage the vicious, and betray some of the innocent into their snares! wherever any public meetings have this tendency to corrupt the manners, we may call them by what names we please, but they are as Moab and Midian, if they are the enemies of Christian virtue.

Balak, the king of the Moabites, hated the camp of Israel, and bribed Balaam, a prophet, to curse them. Just thus doth the world hate the church, and is never happier than when it can hire the ministers of the church to turn against it and betray its interests. But it can no more succeed by all its curses than the wicked Balak could: it must seduce Christians to sin, and then it prevails; not by its own power, but by tempting the church to provoke the anger of God. When Balaam found that he could prevail nothing by his sacrifices and enchantments, then he gave counsel to Balak to corrupt the people of the camp with fornication; and that soon answered the purpose.

But now we are to learn another lesson, from the example of those who are said to have tempted Christ with their impatience under the ways of his provideuce. When the people expected to see an end of their journeyings, it pleased God still to lead them round about; but being weary of this unsettled life, we are told that the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way*: and, to punish their impatience on this occasion, fiery serpents were sent to destroy them. But when Moses prayed for them, he

Numbers xxi. 4.

was directed to place a serpent on a pole*, and when they who were bitten looked up to it, they were saved from death. Our Saviour hath applied this to the lifting up of himself upon the cross, where the serpent that hath the power of death, was to be vanquished; that they who are wounded by sin, and in danger of eternal death, may look up to him and live. What was the offence of the people? It was impatience. What was their punishment? they were delivered to the power of the destroyer. What was the remedy? They were directed to look up to a figure of the cross. And where should the impatient now look up, but to Jesus the author and finisher of their faith; that great example of patient suffering, who for their sakes endured the cross, and despised the shame of it. If we are tempted to be weary and faint in our minds, when the Providence of God is leading us by some tedious and disagreeable way against our will, then we are to look up to this pattern of patience, and to consider, how he took the painful way of the cross, and submitted his own will to the will of God. With this example before us, let us ask ourselves whether we have any thing to complain of; we who ought to have been there instead of him! In his death we see the victory that overcometh the world. For the joy that was set before him, he waited till the great work of our salvation was finished: and we are to wait in like manner, till all the designs of Providence are accomplished in us; for we can inherit the promises on no other condition: he that endureth unto the end, the same shall be... saved.

* In the heathen Mythology, a serpent, twisted about a stick, is the emblem of health, and the ensign of Esculapius.

But salvation, such as God hath promised, is not an object to all men. Some have no opinion of it; as there were those amongst the people in the wilderness, who thought scorn of that pleasant land to which they were going. When the spies who were sent to view the land of Canaan made their report of it, and brought back with them some of its fruits, they differed very much in their accounts. They who proved faithful and told the truth, said it was an exceeding good land, flowing with milk and honey; and that they were well able, with God on their side, to take possession of it, and overcome the inhabitants, whose defence was departed from them. Others brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched; they described it as a land which ate up, that is, starved its inhabitants; and that these were men of a gigantic stature, to whom ordinary men were but as grasshoppers. This latter report found too much credit: and the congregation was so discouraged and terrified by it, that they lift up their voices and wept and they murmured against Moses and Aaron for bringing them into these insuperable difficulties, even determined to make them another captain and and go back. This is the act of unbelief for which they were doomed to fall in the wilderness, without being permitted to see that land which they would take no pains to win.

Such is the case of those fearful minds and faint hearts, which 'say there is a lion in the way, and magnify all the difficulties of the Christian warfare. The heavenly land, as they conceive of it, and as they hear from people like themselves, is not a place that would make them happy. Besides there are such temptations in the way as no man can resist. Vice is strong, and nature is weak. The gospel prescribes

a way of life that would starve people, and take away all their comfort. Therefore when all things are considered, nothing is to be done, but to give up the cause, and go back to the opinions and ways of the

children of this world.

If I may give you my own sentiment, I do not suppose there is a sin upon earth more hateful to God, than this of undervaluing his promises, distrusting his protection, and making unjust representations either of his religion itself, or of the rewards of it; as if his service were hard, or the end of it not worth attaining. This I can tell you, that such people are often made more miserable, and suffer worse agitations of mind from disappointments in the way of their own chusing, than the most abstracted saint ever suffered from the practice of self-denial in the way of godliness. For we may lay it down as a certain rule, that they who have not faith to see the value of the other world, have not the wit to use this properly and no man need wish his worst enemy more wretched than the abuse of this world will make him. But, on the contrary, what words can describe the blessedness of him, who depending on the promises of God, conquers the difficulties of life, and hath hope in his death! such an hope as is signified by the divine Psalmist, in words much to our present purpose—I should utterly have fainted, but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. As if he had said, "I believe the report concerning that good land, to "the possession of which we are journeying; I know "the value of it, and that the Lord himself is my "defence by the way; and so my heart hath not "failed me: therefore I give the same advice to all; "wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall "strengthen thine heart: he who led Joshua to vic