Christ." The same great doctrines of the gospel, which the apostles preached with most success, have been preached with most success, by faithful ministers ever since. And it appears, by universal observation, that those who seldom preach sentimentally and generally preach practically, are rarely very successful. It is by preaching the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, which are most offensive to the natural heart, that the most powerful and saving effects are produced. Those therefore, who feel the vast importance of the peculiar doctrines of the gospel are not afraid to profess and preach them fully and plainly, though the world may call them error, delusion, or heresy. They believe, that no other doctrines can be preached, which will make men wise unto salvation. They are willing to have it known, that they believe no other doctrines and mean to preach no others.

me."

4. Those, who believe and love the gospel, are not afraid openly to profess and plainly preach their relig ious sentiments, because it belongs to their official character, to watch and guard their people against all false and dangerous errors and delusions. God said to the prophet Ezekiel, "O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from Paul said to the Elders of Ephesus, "Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." And to Titus he said, "A bishop must hold fast the faithful word, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.--For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things that they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." He likewise expressly said to the Ephe

sians, that "Christ gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." All true ministers of the gospel feel themselves thus divinely authorized and required to avow their religious sentiments and preach them plainly, that by sound doctrine they may exhort, convince and stop the mouths of all gainsayers. They are, by office, spiritual watchmen ; and it is their proper business to watch and guard their people against all their spiritual enemies. They ought to stand in the front, in fighting the good fight of faith. It belongs to them to detect, to refute and to condemn those, who lie in wait to deceive and to destroy. If they unfurl their colors and make it appear to their enemies, that as they are set for the defence of the gospel, so they mean to defend it, they will be more apt to retreat than to attack them. Does not universal observation show, that all sectarians are more disposed to attack those ministers, who conceal their religious sentiments than those, who openly avow them and plainly preach them? For this and the other reasons, that have been mentioned, the true ministers of Christ have no ground to fear avowing their religious sentiments and preaching them plainly. Though some of their people should fear to stand with them, and should forsake them; yet they may have ground to expect, the Lord will stand with them and strengthen them against all opposition, that the gospel may have free course and run and be glorified.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If the true ministers of the gospel preach their sentiments openly and boldly; then it is natural to

suppose, that false teachers will use every artifice to conceal their sentiments. Accordingly, we find that the inspired writers represent them, as seducers, deceivers, evil workers, who lie in wait to deceive, and employ every artifice to captivate the hearts rather than to enlighten the understandings, and convince the consciences of their hearers. The apostle Paul abundantly exhorts Christians to view false teachers as such odious characters; and to guard themselves against all their arts of deception. In his epistle to the Romans, he says, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them, who cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they, that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple." He says to Timothy, "This know, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. The time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrines; but after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist and make full proof of thy ministry." And he says to the Hebrews, "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines." Peter says to Christians in general, "There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them; and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." The apostle John says, " Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive

him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed, is a partaker of his evil deeds." All false teachers imbibe the spirit of the first and great deceiver and never fail to discover a peculiar skill in the arts of deception. They learn to conceal their sentiments, by good words, fair speeches and ambiguous expressions. They learn how to improve the most favourable seasons of pouring their false instructions into the minds of the ignorant, unlearned and unsuspecting, by familiar conversation and more public discourses. They act upon the principle, that the end sanctifies the means; so that they allow themselves to employ any means of deception and seduction, which they think will be the most successful. This is exactly the representation of false teachers, which is given in the texts I have cited. And this representation is fully confirmed by stubborn and well known facts. Dr. Chauncy concealed his false doctrine of universal salvation, from every body, but his intimate friends, for more than forty years; and he never published them in America, but only in England, just before he left the world. Dr. Huntington concealed his scheme of universal salvation a long time and never suffered it to be published, till after his death. When Mr. Murray, the Universalist, first came to America, he preached occasionly in some of the largest and best congregations in New England, before he avowed his corrupt sentiments. There have been Unitarians, in this State, of various forms, degrees, or shades of difference, above fifty years; but they generally concealed their sentiments, till very lately they have been reluctantly compelled to avow them. The Methodists are notorious for concealing their sentiments and using the arts of deception to corrupt and proselyte. The Baptists, though generally more correct in their doctrinal opinions, are too prone to use good words and fair speeches to bring others over to their peculiar way of thinking on the subject of baptism. Though sectarians may boast of the success they gain, by their arts of concealment and de

ception; yet they have no right to boast of their integrity. Those and those only, who avow their religious sentiments, as the primitive preachers of the gospel did, have the claim of integrity, which none can justly deny them. Transparency is a beautiful trait in any human character. False teachers themselves would appear to much better advantage, if they would renounce all their arts of deception, and unfair, not to say unchristian modes of dividing and corrupting religious soci

eties.

2. We learn from what has been said, why the true doctrines of the gospel have been so generally called heresy. We have seen, that they were called so in the days of the apostles by Jews and Gentiles; and they are now generally called so, over the heathen and christian world. But they cannot be called so, by any of mankind, because they know them to be false, or can prove them to be false, or can feel them to be false and contrary to the dictates of their own conscience. They have been known to be true and proved to be true and felt to be true by all the godly men in the world, nearly six thousand years. Why then have the great majority of mankind called them error, delusion and heresy? There is but one reason; and that is obvious. It is because they have hated light and loved darkness, or hated truth and loved error. To this cause our Savior ascribed it. He said to his hearers, that men loved darkness rather than light and that they believed him not, because he told them the truth. All natural men, who are men of the world, love any religious error better than any religious truth. They love false teachers, who give a false character of God, a false character of Christ and a false character of themselves, better than those teachers, who exhibit the true character of God, the true character of Christ and a true character of their own hearts. Accordingly, the apostle John, after describing false teachers, says, "They are of the world; therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them." All, who believe and love and teach false doctrines, are self-condemned; their reason and