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every mode of faith, and every variety of interpretation; and the moral responsibility of man-for the errors of his creed, as well as for the delinquencies of his conduct-would cease to be an imperative principle of duty. I am fully convinced, that no persons would be more earnest in deprecating these conclusions than some to whom I have alluded; and it is because I am conscious of the influence of their names, arising from the influence of their characters and virtues, that I have ventured to make these remarks. The period appears to me to be now arrived, when that great theological controversy which involved the necessity of the Reformation, must again be agitated; and I think we should be peculiarly careful how we afford a plea to the Romanist to continue in any one erroneous doctrine, by the too-incautious admissions of the Protest

ant.

In this important warfare, the Reformers must be our guides. They have fought in the field into which we are only about to enter. They have explored every position, and examined every strong hold: and the rich trophies which they have won attest the skill of the combatants, and the vigour and ability of the attack. Let us then gird on the same armour, by means of which a Cranmer, a Jewell, a Latimer, and a Ridley, were enabled to maintain the battle of the Lord; if we wish to extend the bounds of that inheritance which they transmitted to us, the narrow limits of which attest the languor of our zeal, and the supineness of the generations that have gone before us. We can add nothing that is new, without impairing the energy of that which is old. But by adhering to But by adhering to their arguments, their persevering zeal, and their righteous cause, we may anticipate, with the Divine blessing, not, indeed, the entire overthrow of Catholic error and superstition; (for this will probably be effected by other means; for I consider, that the sacred Scriptures

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 331.

evidently lead us to suppose that a series of Divine judgments will be poured on Papal Rome, as the chastisement for her sins: see Rev. xv. 9, 10; and xvi. 19;) but still God may graciously employ our instrumentality, to give effect to that solemn and warning voice, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

CRITO.

FAMILY SERMONS.- -No. CCLVII*.

Deut. iv. 24.-For the Lord thy

God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

THERE is a quality in the moral character of our Creator, which he is pleased to represent under the name of jealousy. In the Second Commandment, both at its first delivery on Mount Sinai, and at its repetition in the Book of Deuteronomy, God says of himself, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." The same phrase occurs afterwards, where Joshua says, in his charge to the people of Israel, when speaking of their natural unfitness for the service of God, "Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is an holy God, he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins."

The quality which is intimated by this word, seems one so peculiarly appropriate to the relation which exists between God and his people, and so peculiarly fitted to express the real nature of his character, that it is used, like holiness, as the very title by which he should be addressed; as the name by which he should be known among his creatures.

In one part of Scripture, accordingly, we read of the Lord "whose name is holy;" and in another, we find the Almighty speaking of him-self under the other title of jealousy, and saying to the Israelites, "Thou

* See Review department. 3 H

shalt worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God."

Jealousy in man means a suspicion of want of love on the part of those from whom it is due. It is the resentment of disappointed affection. It belongs to those who love, and who feel that they have a right to be loved in return; and it is directed towards those who ought, and who are bound to love. The assertion, that such a quality as this belongs to God as one of the attributes of his moral character, involves a number of deep and awful considerations ;-considerations calculated to give an interesting and important view of his nature, as they seem to include his love, as well as his holiness and justice, in one complex idea; and to form, from the union of these qualities in one attribute of jealousy, an affecting, as well as a tremendous picture of his feelings towards us.

For, first, the existence of jealousy in God, implies the previous existence of love.

If he had not loved us himself, he would have been indifferent to our dispositions towards him. If he had not felt that love was due from us to him, as a return for love already felt and exercised towards us, he would not have resented its being withheld, nor made use of this phrase as declaratory of his affections. In agreement with this idea, we find that jealousy in God is never spoken of except with a reference to those whom, in one sense or other, he has called and chosen as his own; whose love therefore he has a right to claim as due to himself, in virtue of some covenant relation; and whose love he has excited by some previous exercise of favour and benevolence. Any wandering of the affections; any deviation from the truth of allegiance, however slight it may seem to the eye of indifference, carries wounds and provocation to that of jealousy, and we may therefore say, that such behaviour as this, when

existing in the people of God, is calculated to excite in him a feeling of displeasure, analogous to that which infidelity and unrequited affection excite in the heart of man.

This attribute is peculiar to the true God; to Jehovah. There have been other gods, and other lords, the fictions of corrupted hearts, or the suggestions of evil spirits; but jealousy was never ascribed to them by any of their votaries. The great original character of God is the exclusive possession of Deity; his sole, undivided nature. "I am the Lord, that is my name," is his language by the prophet; "and my glory will I not give unto another, neither my praise to graven images." But while the true God, in the fulness of his own nature, rejects every possible approximation as an insult, and claims, in the unity of his being, undivided allegiance and affection from all his creatures, it is not so with those imaginary deities which have been invented by men. And what was then true with regard to them, is equally true with regard to the idols and idolaters of the world at present. They have no jealousy of one another. They are only jealous of God, and exhibit no feelings of the sort except when he is the object of attraction. The drunkard will endure the evil passions, the violence, the profaneness of his neighbour; he will view them with calmness, and will speak of them with indifference, and will associate cheerfully with those whose views differ from his own, if they are but equally averse from God. The worldly-minded man feels little disturbance, little alarm at any form of immorality in his family or neighbourhood, which does not trespass on his security; but all his prejudices start up at the least appearance of godliness in his household or connexions.

In the same manner also, as in those days, the simple purity of the Jewish religion drew down on them the charge of an austere and malignant superstition from their heathen

neighbours; the uncompromising faithful firmness of the people of God at present strikes the world as an unnecessary rigour and reserve. Men, who themselves are indifferent to all religious truths, and careless as to the consequences of their actions, are destitute of that quick and lively perception of evil, which love, and love alone, can give. They therefore see no cause for that watchfulness against sin, for that fear of falling short, for that dread of being separated from God, which impart to the life of the true Christian all its peculiar character. On that account they naturally ridicule a care which seems to them superfluous; they wonder at the existence of fears which they have never felt; and stigmatize the caution of a Christian by the name of bigotry. Be it so. Let it be bigotry in the opinion of the world; but, if jealousy of holiness, if an uncompromising faithfulness to Divine truth, if a dread of sin be bigotry; it is a quality which the children of God may well submit to bear, for it is the quality of their heavenly Father.

Again; the natural objects of jealousy are the affections or the heart. Justice seems adequate to maintain those relations which exist among men, and which are of a less delicate and spiritual cast. Justice may regulate the conduct of a king towards his subjects, of a master towards his servants. Justice may weigh and measure the equivalent between those who buy and those who sell; it may be the spirit which presides over commerce or society; but it is not the spirit which presides over love, or is qualified to vindicate the wrongs of wounded feeling. Some finer instrument than the heavy scale of justice is wanted to estimate those offences which are done against affection. The slights, and coldness, and wanderings which inflict anguish unspeakable on the heart, cannot be put into a balance, and have the extent of their criminality noted by weight. How then

can we imagine that justice is the only attribute with which those are concerned, whose duty it is to love God with all their heart; and who are directed to worship him in spirit and in truth, if they would worship him acceptably at all?

Hence it is not merely actual sin that we are taught to deprecate in ourselves, or in others, but it is the love of other things than God. A just God might be thought likely to punish us for our acts of disobedience and transgression, for the evil we have done, or the good we have neglected; but how many other things must be objects of displeasure to "Him whose name is jealous?" Have we gone, for instance, to seek pleasure in the company of his enemies? Have we sought our pleasure in ways which are not his? Have we looked for comfort, and peace, and enjoyment in other objects than in his favour? Have we been betrayed into forgetfulness of his love in the hour of trial? Have we felt coldly in his service? Whatever our own opinions may have been on such subjects, and whatever may be the system of the world, we cannot deny, and we cannot doubt, that these, and all such wanderings of the heart, must be provocations to a jealous God. For let us ask our own hearts, whether an affectionate parent could see his child become attached to another family, and be indifferent to his choice? Could he see him allured from his natural home by the amusements and comforts of another, and not be hurt by this sort of alienation? Or could a husband see his wife grow indifferent to the guide of her youth, find that she meets his kindness with coldness, and reserves all her tenderness for another, and remain satisfied?

Assuredly, therefore, as God is a jealous God, he must be jealous of our hearts, of our affections. If he sees us looking to other sources of comfort besides those which he offers; if he sees us seeking our

support from other ways than those which he sanctions with his bless ing; if he sees us encouraging and cherishing a taste for amusements which are at variance with his will, he must be jealous of this perversion of our affections. If he sees us cold in his service, while we are warm and earnest in other pursuits; if he sees us dead and indifferent to the consolation of his promises, while we are cheered and intoxicated by the notice we receive from men, he may well be jealous of the preference shewn to them. If he sees us hesitating as to the expediency of giving ourselves up to his service, doubting his sufficiency to provide for our wants and to support our spirits, he may surely be jealous of this want of confidence in him that we betray. If he sees us pleasing ourselves in the society of those who are his enemies, lending ourselves to their views, mixing freely in their society, he may well be jealous of the sincerity of those professions which we make at other times.

From considering the attribute of jealousy in God, we may well appreciate the danger of what is commonly called the world. The world sees the justice of God, and fears it, or at least knows that it is to be feared, and therefore it is cautious of advising any thing which may seem to contradict or to provoke it. And men who are living wholly under the influence of a worldly mind, may still regulate their lives with such attention to the mere letter of the law, that they may be ready to say with the young ruler in the Gospel, "All these things have I kept from my youth up" while they are in their hearts as averse from the spiritual life of the Gospel, and as unfit for the service of Christ as he was. For the world, looking only to the justice of God, and forgetting his jealousy, teaches us to regard it as a matter of indifference, where our hearts and affections are fixed, so that outward obedience is preserved. But if the

Lord our God be "a consuming fire, even a jealous God," whatare the terrors even of his justice-if we may presume to speak of the Divine attributes thus disjoinedcompared with those of his jealousy? Justice comes slowly and maturely; it may be pleaded with; it may be retarded or mollified : but jealousy is like fire. It comes to act, to consume, to revenge; and little has the world gained for its votaries by teaching them to try not to offend the justice of God, while it leads and encourages them daily to provoke his jealousy.

Let us close this subject with considering the degree in which we ourselves may be in danger of experiencing its exercise.

If jealousy, which arises from love, is to be in proportion to that love which it proceeds from; what jealousy can be compared to that with which God is jealous towards his people? In our dealings with our fellow-creatures, we naturally estimate this feeling, from the relations which exist, or from the affections which have already been exercised; and the closer the connexion, or the greater the kindness which has been bestowed, the more lively is the jealousy which watches the return of regard or of gratitude. But no love was ever felt by man like that which has been shewn to us in the person and ministry of our Lord; and no benefits were ever conferred which bear any competition with those which are offered to us all in the Gospel. "Greater love hath no man than this," said our Lord, in reference to his own mediation, "that a man lay down his life for his friends." "God commendeth his love towards us,' says the Apostle, "in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And we are conscious that language fails us, as inadequate to the subject, whenever we begin to dilate on the mercy and love included in the work of redemption.

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should be indifferent to the manner in which his love is received; nor is it possible that such a degree of love should exist without a proportionate anxiety and watchfulness as to the return by which it is met. It would rather be natural to infer, that no other service than that of love could be endured; that the most correct obedience would be rejected, if it were merely an obedience of fear, or an obedience of form; and that the jealousy of such affection would turn away with pain and disgust from the listless pretence at devotion which was not felt, or the unsteady allegiance of a divided heart.

Let us also bear in mind, who are the specific objects of his jealousy, and to whom these truths are most immediately applicable. It is not the nations that have not known God. It is not those who are now living in heathen ignorance, or savage ferocity; but it is those who call themselves his people. Yes, we who acknowledge his name, who profess his service, who rejoice in his promises; we, who talk of his love as our dependence, and name him as our Father; we, in the confidence of our privileges, in the fulness of our knowledge, in the hopes and consolations of our connexion with him; we are the specific objects of this keen, this active quality, compared with which even justice may be said to be cold and languid. That covenant relation in which we stand, which is the source of so many comforts, and which is indeed the ground of all our hopes, includes a connexion with God which bears on every part of it the stamp

of love. But with the blessings, it has also the sensibilities of affection; and that same Gospel which makes us heirs of the love of God in Jesus Christ, exposes us likewise to the jealousy of our heavenly Father. In persons so related, coldness, indifference, and disaffection, cannot be endured. The wanderings of our hearts and affections, our want of trust in his providence, and our leaning upon worldly things for support; our fondness for sensual objects, and our fear of man; all these include offences against the love of God, which must make us objects of his jealousy. And it well becomes us to consider, that that very hope in which we stand, those privileges in which we rejoice, have brought with them calls of another kind, and have raised us within the region of a purer, more devoted sort of service, by bringing us nearer to God.

But let us not shrink from a distinction which forms, in fact, the blessedness, the glory of our state. The service of God still is perfect freedom. The love of God has no terrors for a faithful and devoted spirit. Let the disloyal and ungrateful tremble at hearing of the jealousy which watches over their departures; but what is jealousy to those whose hearts are clear, and whose affections are decided? "Perfect love casteth out fear;" and the jealousy of God, instead of being the cause of fear to the true believer, is the assurance of his hope, as it is the token of the love of God towards his people.

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