you by faith, and not by fight; foon you will walk by fight, and not by faith. What you know not now, you will know hereafter. You will then find yourselves infinitely more happy by the divine difpofition of all your concerns, than could have been, had you always enjoyed your own wishes. When from the top of the holy hill of Zion, you shall look down upon the winding path of Providence, by which you afcended, you will praise Him for the means as well as for the end, admire his wisdom as well as his kindness, and fay, "He hath done all things well." Some of your friends and relations are gone before you. In his light they fee light; to them the whole mystery is now explained. Bleffed fpirits, how we envy you! We fee Him through a glass darkly; and half our time cannot spy Him at all; you fee Him face to face; you know even as you are known. Well, christians, they are waiting "to receive us into ever"lafting habitations;" we fhall foon join them; we fhall foon unite in their acknowledgments and adorations, and this will be our eternal theme: "Marvel"lous are thy works, Lord God almighty! just and "right are all thy ways, O thou King of Saints.". SERMON IX. THE SECURE ALARMED. AMOS vi. 1. Woe to them that are at eafe in Zion. My Brethren, there is something very agreeable and defirable in EASE. Even external eafe is valuable; and we are ready to pronounce the man happy, whose connections and affairs are all profperous and peaceful. But what is external eafe without bodily? Pain will produce anguish, which neither riches, nor palaces can relieve. An aching head, a jarring tooth, will deftroy all the fenfations of pleasure arifing from worldly things. Enter the house of affliction; obferve thy neighbour; "he is chaftened "with pain alfo upon his bed, and the multitude of his "bones with strong pain; so that his life abhorreth "bread, and his foul dainty meat: his flesh is confu"med away that it cannot be feen, and his bones that were not seen stick out; yea, his foul draweth near "unto the grave, and his life to the deftroyers." Perhaps fome of you have been in a fimilar condition; your "foul hath it still in remembrance;" you faid, "I am made to poffefs months of vanity, and wearifome Y "nights are appointed to me: when I lie down I fay, "when shall I arife, and the night be gone? I am ful} "of toffings to and fro unto the dawning of the day; 66 my bed does not comfort me, nor my couch ease my "complaint." O how delicious is health after fickness, and ease after pain! But what is bodily eafe without mental?"The fpirit of a man may fuftain his infirmi"ty, but a wounded fpirit who can bear?" Can a man be happy while corroded with care, fretted with envy, burning with malice, perplexed with doubts, tormented with fears? Think of a man who carries lodged within him a troubled confcience; "he eats afhes like bread, " and mingles his drink with weeping;""his life hangs "in fufpenfe before him, and he has none affurance "of his life;" "he trembles at the fhaking of a leaf;" "terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest steal"eth him away in the night;" "he is fcared with "dreams, and terrified with visions." O what can be fo precious as peace of mind; a calm within! And yet ftrange as the declaration may appear, this tranquillity is too common; and to difturb it, is the defign of this discourse; a defign, not only justified by inspired example, and demanded by ministerial fidelity, but required even by love to your fouls. For though it may wear the appearance of harshness, it is in reality the kindest expreflion of friendship; it is the severity of one who rushes forth, and breaks in upon your pleasing reverie, when you approach the brink of a dreadful precipice; it is the feverity of one, who fhould knock loudly, and interrupt your repofe, when he perceived your house becoming the prey of devouring flames, and faw you had fcarcely time to escape, for your peace is a falfe peace; it is the friendship of Joab concealing his murderous dagger; it is the flumber of Samfon in the lap of Delilah, foftly depriving him of his locks; it is a fleep obtained by opium; it is the lofs of feeling, the prefage of death; it is the calm of the dead fea, the confequence and the evidence of a curfe. Thus we have obferved, that before a fall of exceeding heavy rain, the wind has been unusually ftill. Thus hiftorians inform us, that before an earthquake, the air is uncommonly ferene. Whether therefore you will hear, or whether you will forbear, I found the alarm, and give you warning from God"Woe to them that are at eafe in Zion." But it will be proper to afcertain precifely the characters whofe delufion we wish to destroy. Who deferves this charge? Who is obnoxious to this curfe? Some are ઃઃ at ease in Zion" from SELFISH INSENSIBILITY; fome from INFIDEL PRESUMPTION; fome from VAIN CONFIDENCE; fome from PRACTICAL INDIFFERENCE. I.. Some are at eafe in Zion" from SELFISH INSENSIBILITY. Such there were in the days of Amos. “They lie," fays the prophet, " on beds of ivory, and "ftretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the "lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst "of the ftall; they chant to the found of the viol, and "invent to themselves inftruments of mufick like Da"vid; they drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves "with the chief ointments; BUT ARE NOT GRIEVED FOR THE AFFLICTION OF JOSEPH.' In fimilar language Isaiah upbraids the Jews. "In that day did the "Lord God of Hofts call to weeping, and to mourn“ing, and to baldness, and to girding with fackcloth: "and behold joy and gladnefs, flaying oxen, and kill. 66 ing fheep, eating flefh, and drinking wine: let us eat "and drink, for to-morrow we fhall die." How criminal this appeared in the eyes of Jehovah, may be inferred from the threatening; "And it was revealed "in mine ears by the Lord of Hofts, furely this iniquity fhall not be purged from you till ye die, faith "the Lord God of Hofts." In this reprefentation we discover fomething peculiarly applicable to many in our day. The judgments of God have been abroad in the earth, nor has our own nation escaped their influence. We have paffed through a period fingularly awful and trying. In no common degree have we been called upon to become ferious, humble, and fufceptible of instruction and impreffion. What inftruction have we received? What impreffion has been made upon our minds? What amufements have we relinquished? What correspondence of feeling with the dealings of God have we discovered? What fympathy in the neceffities and woes of half-fed perishing multitudes have we expreffed? What tears have we fhed over the funeral of three millions of our fellowcreatures, and a hundred thousand of our fellow-countrymen, all torn from their beloved connections, all hurried into an eternal state! Whatever occurs, these human brutes graze on.. "They regard not the work "of the Lord, neither confider the operation of his "hands." The cares of the world engross them; the pleasures of the world amuse them; the miseries of mankind are nothing to them. Like members fever |