same crown; they that are loyal, hearty subjects to the one, will necessarily be enemies to the other. It always happens so, nor indeed can it be otherwise.

As that which is a man's god, is the object of his highest love; so that God, who chiefly opposes him in it, must be the object of his greatest hatred.

The gods which a natural man worships, instead of the God that made him, are himself and the world. He has withdrawn his esteem and honor from God, and proudly exalts himself as Satan did: He was not willing to be in such subjection; and therefore rebelled, and set up himself for God. So a natural man in the proud and high thoughts he has of himself, sets up himself upon God's throne. And he gives his heart to the world, worldly riches, and worldly pleasures, and worldly honors; they have the possession of that regard which is due to Cod. The apostle sums up all the idolatry of wicked men in their love of the world. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John i. 15, 16. And the Apostle James observes, that a man must necessarily be the enemy of the true God, if he be a friend of the world. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God." James iv.

All the sin that men commit, is what they do in the service of their idols: There is no one act of sin, but what is an act of service to some false god. And therefore wherein soever God opposes sin in them, he is opposite to their worship of their idols; on which account they are enemies to God.

God opposes them in their service of their idols in the following respects.

1. He manifests his utter abhorrence of their worship of their idols. Their idols are what they love above all things; they would by no means part with them. This wickedness is sweet unto them, Job xx. 12. If you, take them away what have they more? If they lose their idols, they lose their

all. To rend away their idols from them would be more grievet, to them, than to rend body and soul asunder; it is like rending their heart in twain. They love their idolatry; but God does not approve of it, but exceedingly hates it; he hates it implacably, and will by no means be reconciled to it; and therefore they hate him. God declares an infinite hatred of every act of sin which they do; or every act that they do in the service of their false gods. He approves of it in no pari, but hates it all. He declares himself to be an holy God, and a jealous God; a God that is very jealous of his own honor; and that greatly abhors the giving that honor to another.

2. He utterly forbids their cleaving to those idols, and all the service that they do to them. He not only shows that he dislikes it, but he utterly forbids it; and demands that they should worship him, and serve him only, and give their hearts wholly to him, without tolerating any competitor. He allows them to serve their idols in no degree; but requires them to cast them away utterly, and pay no more worship to them at any time. He requires a final parting with their idols. Not only that they should refrain from them for a while, but cast them away forever, and never gratify their idolatrous respect to them any more. This is so exceeding contrary to them, and what they are so averse to, and so obstinate in their refusal of, that they are enemies to God for it. They cannot endure God's commands, because they forbid all that which their hearts are so engaged in. And as they hate God's command's, so they hate him whose commands they are.

3. He threatens them with everlasting damnation for their service of their idols. He threatens them for their past idolatry. He threatens them with his eternal wrath, for their having departed from him, and their having chosen to themselves other gods. He threatens them for that disposition they have in their hearts to cleave to other gods: He threatens the least degrees of that respect which they have in their hearts to their idols. He manifests that he will not tolerate any regard to them, but has fixed eternal death, as the wages of every degree of it. And he will not release them from their guilt; he holds them to their obligations; he will not acquit

them at all; and he will accept of no atonement that they can make. He will not forgive them, whatever they do religion; whatever pains they take; whatever tears they shed. He will accept of no money or price that they have to offer.

And he threatens every future act of their idolatry. He not only forbids them ever to be guilty of the least act, but forbids them on pain of eternal damnation. So strictly does God prohibit them from the service of their idols, that are so dear to them, that are their all, and which they would on no account part with. He threatens them with everlasting wrath for all exercises of inordinate love of worldly profit; for all manifestations of inordinate regard to worldly pleasures, or worldly honors. He threatens them with everlasting torments for their selfexaltation. He requires them to deny themselves, and renounce themselves, and to abase themselves at his feet, on pain of bearing his wrath to all eternity.

The strictness of God's law is a principal cause of man's enmity against God. If God were a God that did not so much hate sin; if he were one who would allow them in the gratification of their lusts, in some degree: And his threatenings were not so awful against all indulgence of their lust; if his threatenings were not so absolute; if his displeasure could be appeased by a few tears, and a little reformation, or the like; they would not be so great enemies, nor hate him so much as they do now. But God shows himself to be an implacable enemy to their idols, to every degree of their service of them; and has threatened everlasting wrath, infinite calamity for all that they do in the service of their lusts; and holds them bound under his wrath therefor. And this makes them irreconcilable enemies to him.

For this reason the Scribes and Pharisees were such bitter enemies to Christ, because he showed himself to be such an enemy to their pride, and conceit of their own wisdom, and their selfrighteousness, and inordinate affection of their own honor, which was their God. Natural men are enemies to God, because he is so opposite to them in that in which they place their all. If you go to take away that which is very dear to a man, nothing will provoke him more.

God is infi

nitely opposite to that in which natural men place all their delight, and all their happiness, viz. their gods. He is an enemy to that which natural men value as their greatest honor and highest dignity; and which they trust wholly to, that which is all their dependence, viz. their own righteousness.

And

Hence natural men are greater enemies to God than they are to any other being. Some of their fellow creatures may stand very much in their way with regard to some things they set their hearts upon; but God opposes them with respect to all their idols, and those gods which are their all. then God's opposition to their idols, which are above all things dear to them, is infinitely great. None of our fellow creatures ever oppose us in any of our in'erests so much as God opposes wicked men in their idolatry; for God has an infinite opposition against it. His infinite opposition is manifested by his threatening an infinite punishment, viz, his dreadful wrath to all eternity, misery without end. Hence we need not wonder that natural men are enemies to God.

Having thus shown, in some measure, why natural men are God's enemies, I proceed to the last thing proposed.

IV. To consider and make answer to some objections, that some may be ready to make against this.

Natural men do not generally conceive themselves to be so bad: They have not this notion of themselves, that they are enemies to God. And therefore when they hear such doctrine as this taught them, they stand ready to make objections.

Object. 1. Some natural men mây be ready to say, I do not know that I feel any such enmity in my heart against God as is spoken of. I am not sensible that I am such a dreadful enemy, so as to hate God, and to have a mortal enmity against him; and to have a disposition, if I could, to kill him. I feel no such thing in myself, and why should I think that I have such a thing in me? If I have such enmity, why do not I feel it? If I am a mortal enemy, why should I not know it better than any body else? How can others see what is in my heart better than I myself? If I hate one of my fellow creatures, and have a spirit against him, I can feel it inwardly working. To such an objection I would,

Ana. 1. If you do but observe yourself, and search your own heart, unless you are strangely blinded, you may be sensible of these things wherein enmity does fundamentally consist. As particularly, you may be sensible that you have at least had a low and contemptible estcem of God; and that you in your esteem set the trifles and vanities of this world far above him; so as to esteem the enjoyment of these things far before the enjoyment of God, and to value these things better than his love. And you may be sensible that you despise the authority of God, and value his commands and his honor but very little. Or if by some means you have blinded yourself now, so as to think you do regard them now, doubtless you can look back and see that you have not regarded them. You may be sensible that you have had a disrelish and aversion towards God; an opposition to thinking of God, or to have any thing to do with him; so that it would have been a very uncomfortable task to have been confined to it for any time; and that when the vanities of the world, at the same time, have been very pleasing to you; and you have been all swallowed up in them, while you have been averse to the things of religion.

If you look into your heart, it is there plain to be seen, that there in an enmity in your will, that your will is contrary to God's will; for you have been opposing the will of God all your life long. These things are plain in natural men; it is nothing but some great delusion that can hide them from you. And these things are the foundation of all enmity; if these things be in you, all the rest that we have spoken of will follow of course.

2. One reason why you have not more sensibly felt the exercises of malice against God is, that your enmity is now exercised partly in your unbelief of God's being; and this prevents its appearing in other ways, that otherwise it would. Man has naturally a principle of Atheism in him; an indisposition to realize God's being, and a disposition to doubt of it. The being of God does not ordinarily seem real to natural men. All the discoveries that there are of God's being, in his works, will not overcome the principle of Atheism that is