GOD'S APPROBATION OF OUR LABOURS NECESSARY

TO THE HOPE OF SUCCESS.

SERMON VII.

[Preached at the Annual Meeting of the Bedford Union, May 6, 1801.]

NUMB, XIV. 8.

If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us.

You recollect, my brethren, that, when the children of Israel were going up to possess the land which the Lord their God had promised them, they were directed to send spies before them, who should search out the land, and report whether it was good or bad, and whether the inhabitants were strong or weak, few or many. The greater part of these spies proved unfaithful. They brought an evil report of the good land; depreciating its value, magnifying the difficulties of obtaining it, and thus spreading despondency over the hearts of the people. The effect was, that instead of persevering in the undertaking, they were for returning to Egypt.

There were two out of the number, however, who were of another spirit, and whose report was different from that of their companions. The land, said they, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land, which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them :

fear them not. These worthies stood alone in their testimony, and the people had well nigh stoned them for it; but the Lord honoured them for, of all the generations which came out of Egypt, they only inherited the promise:

Considering the object of the present meeting, you will probably suppose that my thoughts have been employed in drawing a parallel between the undertaking of Israel to subdue the Canaanites, and take possession of their land in the name of Jehovah; and our undertakings to subdue to the obedience of Christ the hearts of his enemies, both at home and abroad, and, in this manner, take possession of the world for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is true, they have and, in discoursing upon the subject, I shall first attempt to justify the application by tracing the analogy between the two cases, and then consider the proviso on which we are given to expect success.

:

I. I shall attempt to justify the application of the subject, by tracing THE ANALOGY BETWEEN THE UNDERTAKing of Israel, AND THE EFFORTS OF CHRISTIANS TO DISSEMINATE THE GOSPEL.

It is allowed, that the imagination, unaccompanied with judgment, will often find resemblances which the sacred writers would have disavowed, as beneath them; and far be it from me to imitate so puerile and unwarrantable a method of treating the oracles of God but it appears, to me, that the gift of the holy land to Abraham and his posterity was really designed to prefigure the gift of all nations to the Messiah for his inheritance, and that thus it is represented in the scriptures. It is said, in the 72d Psalm, He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. This promise, I suppose, had immediate reference to the kingdom of Solomon, and signified, that, during his reign, the whole extent of country included in the original promise to Abraham should be actually possessed: but, in a more remote sense, it refers to a greater son of David than Solomon. This is manifest from several passages in the psalm, which are inapplicable to any one but the Messiah. It is his kingdom only which sha continue as long as the sun and the moon endure, throughout all generations: Him shall all nations serve, and to him shall all king's bow down ; men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call

him blessed. Now, considering the promise before-mentioned in this light, it signifies that, like as Israel, during the reign of Solomon, inherited the utmost extent of country promised to them, so the church, during the reign of the Messiah, should possess the utmost extent of country promised to him, which is the whole world, or the uttermost parts of the earth. In the joyful prospect of these times, the Psalm concludes: Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things: and blessed be his glorious name for ever, AND LET THE WHOLE EARTH BE FILLED WITH HIS GLORY, AMEN, AND AMEN!

The taking possession of Canaan, and the setting up of the true worship of God in it, not only prefigured the kingdom of the Messiah, but were preparatory to it-the foundation of the gospel structure. The carnal Jews, at the coming of our Saviour, it is true, did not enter into these views; and even his own disciples were much in the dark; but the ancient Israelites understood and felt them. God be merciful unto us, said they, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us—Wherefore? That they might be a holy and happy people? Doubtless this was a part of their desire; but not the whole. They prayed to be blessed, that they might be blessings to the world; that God's way might be known, through them, upon earth, and his saving health among all nations; that the people might praise him, yea, that all the people might praise him, and all the ends of the earth fear before him. Canaan was a country situated in the centre of the world, and, therefore, adapted to be the spot on which Jehovah should set up his standard for the subjugation of the world to himself. From hence, the little leaven should diffuse its influence through the earth, till the whole were leavened. Such appears to have been the design of God, in bestowing it upon the posterity of Abraham, and such are the effects which have been actually, though gradually, produced. Out of Zion has gone forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

There are several points of dissimilarity, I allow, between the undertaking of the Israelites and that of christians to disseminate the gospel; but, whatever differences there are, they are altogether in our favour. They went forth armed with the temporal VOL. VII.

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sword; we with the sword of the Spirit: their commission was to destroy men's lives; ours to save their souls; cities, and fields, and vineyards, and olive-yards, were their reward; our hope, and joy, and crown, are sinners rescued from destruction, standing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming, Finally; The people whom they encountered were appointed by the Lord of the universe to utter destruction, as the just demerit of their crimes; and, though some submitted and were spared, yet the invaders were not given to hope, or directed to wait, for a change of this kind in the body of the people; but were commanded to drive them out, and take their place. It is not so with us: we live under a dispensation of mercy go where we will, we have glad tidings of great joy to communicate. They, having no hopes of the people, might have said, We seek not you, but yours: but our hopes terminate on the people; we, therefore, can say, We seek not yours, but you.

There are several important points, however, in which the undertakings are similar. The following have occurred to me, as the most remarkable :

1. The ultimate object of the one was to overturn the kingdom of Satan, and to establish the knowledge and worship of the true God; and the same is true of the other. The world, at that time, not a nation exempted, was under the dominion of Satan, enveloped in idolatry, and the abominations which always accompany it; so that, if God had not selected a people for himself, and, after having taught them to fear and obey him, given them a possession among the nations, he had had no people nor name nor worship upon the face of the earth. And what is the state of mankind at present? Not altogether so deplorable: but, whatever difference there may be, it is owing to that divine revelation which God communicated to Israel, and, by them, to the Gentile nations. In Heathen countries, the god of this world reigns uncontrolled. The children of men, from generation to generation, are led captive by bim at his will. Much the same may be said of those countries which are overspread by Mahometanism. Nor is it materially otherwise where the corruptions of Popery maintain their sway. And even in our own country, where the scriptures are read in the

native language, there are but few who pay any serious attention to them. Is it not evident, to an impartial spectator, that the great body of the people are practical Atheists, living without hope, and without God in the world? The number of worshippers, including even the laxest and most inattentive, in all our cities, and, I fear、 in most of our towns and villages, is few, when compared with those who attend upon no worship at all. In the earlier times of the Reformation, whatever defects might exist with respect to church-government and discipline, the doctrine of salvation by thecross of Christ was much more generally preached and believed than at present. Since the great principles of evangelical truth (alike clearly stated in the Articles of the Established Church and in the catechisms and confessions of Dissenters) have been relinquished, and a species of heathen morality substituted in their place, the nation has been almost heathenized. If the Lord hadnót left us a seed of faithful men, some in the Establishment and some out of it, whose object it has been to propagate the common salvation, and to inculcate the holy practice which becomes it, surely we had, ere now, been as Sodom. Or if, like a certain great nation near home, we had revoked the laws in favour of religious liberty, and massacred, silenced, or banished the faithful witnesses of Christ, surely, like them, we had been lost in the gulf of Infidelity.

2. In invading the country of the Canaanites, Israel went forth by divine authority; and the same authority attends our invasion of the empire of sin and Satan. Nothing short of an express com. mandment could have justified a people in destroying or subjugating another people, whatever might be their moral character: but the Creator of the world had an indisputable right to dispose of any part of it, and to punish transgressors in what manner he pleased. And, though the gospel is far from being injurious to the temporal interests of mankind, yet the opposition to it has been as fierce and as decided, as if it had been aimed to rob them of every thing necessary to their happiness. The servants of Christ have been taught to expect opposition, and all the evils which a world lying in wickedness, and hating to have their repose disturbed, can inflict upon them. And though, by the kind hand of God,