Page images
PDF
EPUB

SERMON XXIII.

NEUTRALITY IN RELIGION EXPOSED.

MAT. vi. 24.

No man can ferve two mafters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and defpife the other. Ye cannot ferve God and

mammon.

THERE is fomething in the Scripture fuited to every taste except a finful one. The Bible indeed is fo pure, fo holy in its Author, its principles, and its defign, that it is the easiest thing in the world to account for infidelity and error; they are the natural oppofition of men of corrupt minds. But with regard to others, every peculiar turn of mind may be indulged, and the fame end may be secured by various means. Some are fond of history; and here we have narrations placing before us striking characters and occurrences. Some love a series of proof and a process of argumentation; and here we have frequent specimens of close reasoning. Some take pleasure in imagery and comparisons; and here we have a plenitude of parables and metaphors. And fome are charm

ed with proverbs and aphorifms; and here we find detached sentences, which by their brevity are easily remembered, and by their fignificancy furnish materials for the mind to unfold and apply. And of all these, perhaps no one is more important and interesting than the paffage which I have read. "No man

"can ferve two masters: for either he will hate the "one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot ferve God " and mammon.'

66

[ocr errors]

One word only requires explanation. What is mammon? It is commonly fuppofed to mean only riches; but as the Bishop of London has obferved in his Lecture upon this Chapter, the original feems more extenfive, and leads us to confider it as comprehending every thing capable of engaging the affections, and of gaining the confidence of men of worldly minds. It is a Syriac word importing treasure, gain. Whatever therefore is gain to you, is mammon, whether it be wealth, or power, or fame, or fenfual pleasure. Whatever you idolize, whatever you place in the room of God, whatever leads you to oppofe his nature and his will concerning your duty and your happiness, according to the defign of our Saviour, falls under this denomination. Subtilty of interpretation is always, and minutenefs of decifion is generally to be avoided in expounding the Scripture; words are used in a popular sense; and they would. become less useful, if they were rendered lefs general. The force of an impreffion which would otherwise have been made, has often been diminished by means of thofe exceptions, qualifications, reftrictions, dif

tinctions, which have fo much abounded in commentaries and fermons, and through which the Spirit of the Sacred Writings is fuffered to evaporate. This being premised, we proceed to call your ferious attention to three things. I

I. NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS; YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON. This is clearly expreffed.

II. ONE OF THESE YOU WILL UNAVOIDABLY SERVE. This is fully implied.

III. YOU OUGHT TO SERVE GOD. This is fairly inferred. Confider what I fay, and the Lord give you understanding in all things. Amen.

.

I. "Write the vifion, and make it plain upon ta«bles, that he may run that readeth it." This order the infpired penmen have obeyed. They have made things clear in proportion as they are momentous; and fuch is the perfpicuity with which many of the principles of religion are laid down' in the Scripture, that we should deem it impoffible for them ever to be mifunderstood, did we not know how eafy it is to per plex a rule by which we dislike to walk, and remember what a power there is in the paffions to pervert the dictates of the understanding, and to baffle the admonitions of confcience. For inftance. What can be more fully, more unambiguously expreffed than the determination before us? No man can ferve "two masters: for either he will hate the one, and "love the other; or elfe he will hold to the one, and

སྙི

re

despise the other: ye cannot ferve God and mam"mon." Nevertheless there are many who contrive to elude the force of this maxim, or who seem refolved to make a fucceffion of awful experiments to try the certainty of it. The number of this mixed temporizing race of Christians is constantly encreasing; and while they are bringing deftruction upon their own fouls, they are injuring the cause of the Gospel, and counteracting the labors of faithful minifters ten-fold more than those who make no pretenfions to religion. They have a name to live, while they are dead." They wear "the form of godlinefs," while they "de• ny the power thereof." They are equally remote from the exceffes of the profane and the fervours of the pious. They refufe to the paffions what would disturb confcience, and to confcience what would difturb the paffions. Endeavouring to reconcile an earthly and a heavenly life together, they waver between truth and error, conviction and appetite, duty and inclination; and divide their affections and fervices between God and the world. Some moments they give to devotion; they pray, they unite with the holy affemblies, they fometimes approach the table of the Lord. When this is done they have another master to ferve; they leave the houfe of God, and occupy places of diffipation; they relifh the follies and comply with the manners of a finful age; and as the eye follows their career, you fee them dropping one distinction after another till they are undiftinguishingly blended with the crowd.

Nor are these perfons wanting in excufes to palliate, if not to justify their practice. They allege that it Нн к

renders religion lefs objectionable; that it keeps up an intercourse which renders them ufeful; that-but I difdain to enumeraae fuch pleas of worldly-mindednefs-they will not abide the day of trial; they are all as tow before the flame; the declaration of our Lord and Saviour confumes them. For obferve, my brethren, upon what he lays the stress of his reafoning, It is the IMPOSSIBILITY of the cafe. He does not fay, You fhall not, You must not, You ought not, but you CANNOT. "No man CAN ferve two masters, Ye 66 CANNOT ferve God and mammon."

There are however four cafes in which you may serve two masters; but these exceptions will only render the general rule the more remarkable, and will also help us to understand it. For, first, you may ferve two masters fucceffively. There are fome who have lived in various families; and they have ferved the gentle and the froward, the evil and the good. Christians once ferved divers lufts and pleasures, and now they ferve God; but they did not ferve both at the fame time; this was impracticable, " Being then "made free from fin, ye became the fervants of righ"teousness. For when ye were the fervants of fin, "ye were free from righteousness." Secondly, you may ferve two masters by ferving one of them in reality, and the other in pretence. But while you truly love the world, will God be fatisfied with appearances and profeffions? Is he deceived? Can any difguife conceal you from his eye? Will he not abhor you the more for your hypocrify? And will not fuch a courfe of diffimulation be a life of meannefs, embarrafment, and mifery; in which you will offer violence to nature,

« PreviousContinue »