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were revealed to them.-Instead of per- serm. plexing themselves about what is obscure, let them rest on the clear and authentic discoveries that have been given of the divine goodness. Let them rest on those great and signal facts that prove it; particularly on that illustrious fact, the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. He that spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, will assuredly not always conceal himself from those who serve him. Though what he does they know not now, the time approaches when they shall know hereafter. Till that time come, let them believe and trust; let them hope and adore. From this conclusion let them never depart, that to fear God and keep his commandments is in every situation the truest wisdom; that if there be government in the universe at all, the virtuous and the worthy are loved and protected by Heaven; that in due season they shall reap, if they faint not; for the care of them is with the Lord, and their reward with the Most High.

SERMON X.

On the SLAVERY of VICE.

SERM.

X.

2 PETER, ii. 19.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

BONDAGE

ONDAGE and subjection are disagreeable sounds to the ear, disagreeable ideas to the mind. The advocates of vice, taking advantage of those natural impressions, have in every age employed them for discrediting religion. They represent it as the bondage and confinement of the free-born soul of man; as a state of perpetual constraint, formed by a system

of

of severe rules, which designing men have SERM. contrived to impose as fetters on the mul-X. titude. On the other hand, they paint a licentious course to themselves, and hold it out to the world as the gay and pleasurable enjoyment of life; where, having surmounted the prejudices of education, and the timorous scruples of conscience, men can think and act at pleasure, and give full scope to every wish of the heart. But what if those pretended sons of freedom be themselves held in miserable subjection, and their boasts of liberty be no more than the swelling words of vanity? The Apostle asserts in the text that, while they promise liberty, to others, they are the servants, or slaves of corruption, overcome and brought into bondage by it.

This

assertion of the Apostle I purpose to illustrate. I shall endeavour to make it appear, that no true liberty can arise from vice; that bad men undergo the worst servitude; and that no one is free, but he who is virtuous and good.

It is necessary to begin with removing false ideas of liberty, and showing in what

it

X.

SERM. it truly consists. We are not to imagine, that to be free imports our being set loose from restraint or rule of every kind. No man, in any condition of life, is at liberty to act always as he pleases, and to gratify every wish he forms. The nature of the human state necessarily imposes on all men various restraints. The laws of society allow no one to indulge himself in pursuits or pleasures that are injurious to his neighbour. Even our own nature limits our pleasures within certain bounds. All our desires cannot be gratified together. They frequently interfere, and require him who would indulge one favourite passion, to deny himself in another. Distinctions, therefore, must be made, preferences be given, and some general regulation of conduct be observed, by every one who consults his own welfare. If there be any regulation which ensures us of safety and happiness, to be disengaged from the observance of that regulation is no article of liberty; at least of such liberty as a wise man would wish to enjoy. It is in effect to be turned loose to our own ruin. It is such a liberty as a blind man enjoys, of wandering

X.

wandering at random, and striking into SERM. every devious path, without a guide to direct his steps, and save him from destruction.

That unbounded licentiousness, therefore, which sinners prefer to every regulation of conduct, is altogether different from true freedom. It is in moral behaviour the same as anarchy is in a state, where law and order are extinct Anarchy, surely, is no less incompatible with true liberty, than absolute despotism; and of the two it is hard to say which is the least eligible, or the most miserable state. Liberty by no means supposes the absence of all government. It only supposes that the government under which we are placed is wise; and that the restraints to which we voluntarily submit ourselves have been contrived for the general interest.

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To be free, therefore, imports, in general, our being placed in such circumstances, that, within the bounds of justice and good order, we can act according to our own deliberate choice, and take such measures for our conduct, as we have reason to believe are conductive to our we fare; with

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