tation. The most usual cause of the irresolution of sinners is, that they do not cautiously avoid the situations, where their virtue is in danger. Our passions, when the objects of them are out of sight, are not so apt to be inflamed. Let us banish ourselves from them; which we can do, if we please. If we choose, we can abstain from the society of the wicked, and from almost every other temptation, by which we may be seduced.

Human life is a state of warfare; but it is a state of warfare to them only, who are rendered irresolute by the long practice of vice: It is a state of peace to them, who are experienced in the way of salvation. Should it however be as difficult, as it is sometimes represented, to attain to innocency, are not the rewards, with which God has promised to crown it, sufficient to counterbalance the difficulty? Should a life of virtue be a life of pain, at the worst, it can last only a few years; and it will be succeeded by immortal happiness. Let this motive animate us to persevere; let it render us resolute and courageous: Our race is short; but the prize is eternal. In fine, my beloved brethren, let us be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.

2d S. in Lent.

SERMON XV.

THE EXTENT OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM.

PSALM ii. 8.

I WILL GIVE THEE THE HEATHEN FOR THINE INHERITANCE, AND THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH FOR THY POSSESSION.

OUR Saviour, Jesus Christ, appeared among men, that he might establish a kingdom of righteousness and peace, which should last as long as the world lasts, and become more extensive, than any other that had ever been erected on earth. We have reason therefore to rejoice and give thanks to God at the commencement of his happy reign; for on this day he is declared to be Son of God with power, according to the holy spirit, by his resurrection from the dead.

There are a few Christians, who maintain, that the Psalm, from which I have taken the text, was composed by David for his son Solomon, and that it exclusively applies to that celebrated monarch. They explain it by a reference to the promises, which were made by God to the posterity of Abra

ham, and in which it was foretold, that the Israelites should subdue the heathen, and extend their dominion from the Red sea to the Mediterranean, and from the deserts of Arabia to the river Euphrates. These promises, they add, were not fully accompished, till the reign of Solomon; but of him we read in the first book of Kings, that he reigned over all kingdoms, from the river (meaning the Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt.

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As the second Psalm however is several times quoted in the New Testament, and applied to Jesus Christ, and as it has been understood by Jewish interpreters to be a prophecy of the Messiah, the text is by Christians in general referred to another, and more glorious son of David than Solomon, to a son, who appeared after the lapse of ten centuries. To his person and character, it is alleged, the language of the Psalmist is more strictly applicable. Of him may with truth be said, that the heathen are given to him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. There are in the sacred Scriptures many plain passages, which in their primitive meaning foretell that the kingdom of Christ will be extended over a large portion of the earth. To this head may be referred many predictions of the ancient prophets. In the New Testament the clearest intimations are given, that the kingdom of Christ will in time become very exten

sive. This appears to be the just interpretation of several parables of the gospel; and we are expressly assured by our Saviour, that even before the destruction of Jerusalem, the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world; by which he probably intended the whole extent of the Roman empire.

By these and other predictions a general expectation has been excited in the breasts of Christians, that the kingdom of the Messiah will continue to spread, and will become more and more extensive, till at last it will comprehend every part of the habitable earth. The extent of Christ's kingdom is the subject of the present discourse. I will, first, show, in a few words, what progress has hitherto been made in establishing this kingdom; and, secondly, what accessions it may be expected to receive in future ages.

I. It appears from ecclesiastical history, and from ancient heathen testimony, that, as our Saviour had predicted, the gospel, before the close of the first century, was preached in every country, where the Roman power prevailed. It thence by degrees extended its influence among many of the surrounding independent nations. In the fourth century, it gained a complete triumph over paganism, and became the established religion of the state. As the Roman empire declined, it subdued the barbarous

nations which broke that colossal power: so that, before the end of the sixth century, it flourished on all the shores of the Mediterranean, had reached Ethiopia, had penetrated deeply into Asia, and into the middle regions of Europe.

In the following century, the kingdom of Christ was abridged by Mahomet and his followers; but whilst it lost ground in Asia and Africa it continued to make progress in Poland, Russia, and Scandinavia; so that in the thirteenth century it was the established religion of every part of Europe, except the countries, which had submitted to the Mahometan arms. Thus were the kingdoms of this world, according to the prediction of St. John, and probably in the sense in which he understood it, made the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.

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At the revival of learning, and in consequence the spirit of enterprise which it introduced, countries before unknown were laid open to the knowledge of the Europeans. The love of power and the love of gain carried men into the remotest parts of the earth; but whilst their hearts festered with ambition and avarice, they boasted that they were erecting the kingdom of Christ. Attempts were made to christianize the newly discovered nations; and the gospel was preached on the shores of Africa, in India and China, and in many of the regions of America. But its triumphs no longer resembled the conquests of the primitive ages: for it was for