"therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may con sume them. And with Aaron the Lord was

so wroth, that he would have destroyed him; "but Moses interceded for Aaron; and he took "the calf which Aaron had made, and burned "it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and "strewed it upon the water, and made the chil"dren of Israel drink of it.-And Moses stood

in the gate of the camp, and said, who is on "the Lord's side?-Let him come unto me;"and all the sons of Levi gathered themselves

unto him; and he said unto them, thus saith "the Lord God of Israel, put every man his "sword by his side, and go in and out, from

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gate to gate, throughout the camp, and slay 66 every man his brother, and every man his "companion, and every man his neighbour.— "And the children of Levi did according to the "word of Moses and there fell of the people "that day, about three thousand men.-And "the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath "sinned against me, him will I blot out of my ૬ "book. Therefore, now go, lead the people

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into the place, of which I have spoken unto "thee:-behold my angel shall go before thee:"nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will "visit their sin upon them. So the Lord sent "plagues among the people on account of the calf, which they had made Aaron make."Relationship, friendship, neighbourhood, were not to be considered, when the majesty of

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heaven was insulted, by the introduction of idolatry into his household:-the sword and the pestilence destroyed the enemies of God:and, nothing, but the humble entreaties and earnest solicitations of Moses, could have preserved Aaron himself from destruction, because he listened to the impious proposals of stupid, senseless, infatuated ignorance.-With the record in our hands, of such fatal consequences arising out of indulging the vicious inclinations of idolatrous persons, we ought to be very cau¬ tious how we make concessions to people in any respect of a similar character.-There is no occasion to open the gate of the vineyard, to the determined enemies of those, who are cultivating it; they will do all they can, to steal in privately; or, they will come by night and climb over the wall, and plunder it, or sow tares in it, and do an irreparable injury to it, only unless the owners of it keep a strict watch, and prevent their evil designs. And surely, this deserves not to be called the guard of intolerance and persecution, but of caution and security. If Aaron had been properly circumspect, and had checked the rising inclination in the minds of the people, for the false worship and the golden calves, they had seen so much of in the land of their slavery, his character would not have suffered-the displeasure of God would not have fallen upon him-and the lives of a great number of his countrymen would have been spared.-Allusion is not made to the

apostacy at the foot of Horeb, as if idolaters were now to be treated by us, in the same manner, they were then treated by the command of God.-Mankind are not at present, nor have we any reason to suppose, they will ever again be placed in similar circumstances.-The Almighty was himself, as the prophet Samuel emphatically styled him, the king of Israel, at that time; and reigning in such a manner, that all the people had daily proof of his superintending power and goodness, in his miraculously preserving them from the hands of their enemies, and from the painful effects of drought and famine.—They had likewise been long accustomed to a manifestation of his immediate presence, by the appearance" of the pillar of "cloud at the door of the tabernacle"; and knew that the commands which Moses issued, were dictated by their supreme governor and director. If they had not been perfectly convinced of this, they would never have obeyed him; especially, when his orders affected the lives of thousands of their nearest friends and relatives. If they had discovered any thing like dishonesty in him ;—if they had not been certain, that he could, with a pure heart and clean hands have said to them, "whose ox have "I taken ?-or whom have I defrauded?— "whom have I oppressed, or of whose hand "have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes "therewith?"—if they had suspected him of ambitious and tyrannical designs, they would

have conspired against, and slain him; for, in the rebellious house of Israel, there were always men as jealous, suspicious, and vindictive, as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.-The commands of their king, were, therefore submitted to, on this occasion, without opposition :-they had been guilty of a capital offence, and the punishment of it, was from God.-Kings, Princes, and magistrates, who profess to live according to the laws of Christ, are as much bound to observe his plain precepts and injunctions against false worship, and those who obstinately, and against their better knowledge persist in it, as Moses was to obey the commands, and execute the laws which he had received from heaven, against idolaters and idolatry.—For, under whose authority did the christian lawgiver issue his precepts?—The same gracious and powerful being, that spoke by Moses, spoke also by Christ-Now, it is allowed by all, that Christ altered none of the moral laws of God:and it would be an absurdity to suppose, that he abrogated the decrees of his Almighty father against the vices and corruptions of the false systems of religion, he was sent to overthrow, and which, his doctrine went directly to destroy.— In teaching the people, to worship God in spirit and in truth, he virtually confirmed those decrees; and shewed them the danger of any other kind of religious service; and in condemning the apostacy of "the man of sin," by the mouth of his beloved apostle, and in

commanding his followers to shun and avoid it, or to "come out of it," if they had unfortunately been seduced into it unawares, that they might not be partakers of the sins belonging to it, nor receive the plagues that would fall upon it, he has testified his indignation against, and abhorrence of it, and taught us how we ought to conduct ourselves towards the infatuated members of it. There is no decree of heaven, there is no language in the old testament against idolatry, stronger than the commands, and the words of Christ against the idolatrous apostacy of Rome, already in part recited, and to be found in the writings of St. John. Are then, Christian Princes to pay any attention to these things, or, are they to disregard every thing said in the Scriptures upon this subject, and like the timid Aaron, to indulge the wishes of idolaters, and favour a cause, which God has condemned ?-Are they to open their aims and receive within them, the friends and lovers of that apostacy, which they are ordered to use their utmost endeavours to destroy? No. This would be rebellion against Christ, the head of our religion:—and, it would be a very high offence against God, "to go beyond his word," and approve what he condemns, and "bless what he has cursed."

"Living without God," and legislating without any regard to him, are equally dangerous to an individual, and to a nation;—and, therefore, are equally to be deprecated.—Israel fell,