Read Ebook: Twenty-four Discourses On Some of the Important and Interesting Truths Duties and Institutions of the Gospel and the General Excellency of the Christian Religion; Calculated for the People of God of Every Communion Particularly for the Benefit of Pious Fa by Perkins Nathan

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That man has no principle within himself, by whatever name it may be called, which is adequate to all the purposes of his salvation, or a sufficient guide in matters of faith and practice.

The subject continued.

The ways in which the holy scriptures are perverted by unlearned and unstable men.

Stated prayer a duty binding on all men.

The duty of public worship, and its beneficial tendency.

The subject continued.

The subject concluded.

The Ordinance of the Lord's Supper, not a human invention, but a divine institution.

Baptism by water not a piece of superstition, but appointed by Jesus Christ.

The subject continued and finished.

It is the will of the author of Christianity that, in the New Testament dispensation, there should be particular Gospel Churches.

The right way to understand the inspired writings.

The Gospel to be supported by those who enjoy it.

The Apostles, infallible guides in Religion, being commissioned, and immediately qualified, and inspired by the Redeemer.

The first day of the week proved to be holy time, and set apart by Christ, to be a weekly Sabbath to the end of the world.

The subject continued and concluded.

The parable of the Tares.

No immediate inspiration or miraculous teachings of the divine spirit, since the canon of scripture was closed or since the apostolic age.

Sinless perfection unattainable in this life.

The general excellency of the Christian Religion.

The subject continued.

The subject continued.

The subject concluded.

That man has no principle within himself, by whatever name it may be called, which is adequate to all the purposes of his Salvation, or a sufficient guide in matters of faith and practice.

EPHESIANS ii. 12.

What is intended, in the subsequent discourse, is to prove that the world of mankind, merely by their own reason and wisdom, cannot attain to a saving knowledge of God: or that man has no principle within himself, antecedent to divine grace operating on the heart, which is adequate to all the purposes of his salvation, by whatever name it may be called.--

That we may do justice, as far as we are able, to this great and important subject, we will attempt to show--

We proceed--as was proposed--

That man has no principle within himself, by whatever name it may be called, which is adequate to all the purposes of his salvation, or a sufficient guide in matters of faith and practice.

EPHESIANS ii. 12.

The true character and state of mankind before savingly interested in the gospel are not generally acknowledged, or believed, in the world, to this day. Many thousand years have they had, to find out their own state and Character in respect to their Maker and things of a moral and religious nature; and they are now, as much as ever, divided in opinion, and are as far from an union of sentiment, on so important, and one would imagine, plain a point. An impartial inspection into the human heart and extensive view of the history of the world and moral things, we should conceive, would bring them all to one and the same conclusion, and to an exact uniformity of opinion concerning the state and character of mankind.

Whether man be fallen or not, is now, in reality, the dispute. Such as reject with scorn, all idea of a revealed Religion as an impossibility in its own nature, affirm that the light of reason is entirely sufficient for all the purposes of discovering to us, the whole of our duty as rational creatures and to ensure infallibly our happiness here and hereafter; if there be an hereafter. These say that we are now just as we always were: that man never fell or apostatized from his Maker; of course, that he is under no worse circumstances, nor labours under any evils, under which he did not labour when he came forth from the hands of creative wisdom, goodness, and power. And, therefore, that he has an INWARD LIGHT sufficient for all the purposes of his salvation--a sufficient guide in all things of a moral and religious nature. The consequence is, that a divine revelation is wholly unnecessary. If wholly unnecessary, we may be certain, that a wise and good Being, who perfectly knows all things, would not vouchsafe to give one.--For he does nothing in vain.--

The first of these has already been discussed.--And we entered, in the preceding discourse, upon the second--and illustrated the insufficiency of the mere light of reason.--1st. In regard to the essential glories and excellencies of the divine nature and character--and 2nd. in regard to the right way of worshipping and serving God.

All mankind are, therefore, in themselves, without hope and without God in the world. Under all the pressures of adversity, or dismal pains and calamities of life, separate from revealed Religion, there is no relief for them. All would be darkness,--mystery--and despair. They could not conjecture for what the world was made--for what it is preserved--why there were made rational creatures--What design is aimed at, in the government of the world--or what the real and true character of the Maker of it is--or what will be the end of the whole.

Conscience is God's monitor, reprover or counsellor within the soul. In many important cases, it dictates what ought to be done, and what ought not to be done in regards to our behaviour towards our fellow men, and towards ourselves as connected in society. It shows us plainly what moral ties, in a multitude of instances, which cannot now be enumerated, bind us. When we do wrong, it punishes us by severe remonstrances and upbraidings. When we do well, it testifies in our behalf, and administers rich consolation by self-approving reflections. It, consequently, serves as a natural law to all men. It is the Deity's law written or imprinted on all minds. From its present severe reproofs for vicious, and pleasing joys, for virtuous and upright conduct, we may gather, fairly, that there will be a future reckoning--a day of judgment--a world to come--a place to remunerate the just, and to inflict punishments on the incorrigible. At least, we may conclude all this to be highly probable. Conscience, then, points us to a future state as a probability. Accordingly the most, though not all of heathen nations and tribes have had some faint and confused idea of another life after death. Some wavering belief of it. They conjectured that there might be, or would be a future existence. The rational and sober livers among them hoped there would be another life. But no nation, not favoured with revealed light, ever entertained any tolerably consistent or rational notions of it, either of the rewards to be conferred upon the good, or the evils to be endured by the wicked.--With their Poets and Orators all was fable and fiction. They described, with much ornament of language, their ELYSIAN FIELDS--and represented, in a terrifying manner, their FURIES.--

The right way to know what reason can do, in things moral and religious, is to see what it actually hath done, in past ages, among the most learned and polished nations. They had great men--learned men--philosophers--poets--statesmen--and orators: especially the Romans and Greeks. They were opulent, and had many schools of wise men. These cultivated science, and spared no pains in their researches, to discover truth. They did all that reason could do, when learning is most liberally encouraged and happily flourishes, as to a discovery of a future world--and what rewards await the virtuous, and what punishments will be the portion of the wicked. After all, their notions were ridiculous, childish, self-repugnant, and contradictory.

What remains is to add a few reflections by way of improvement.

The ways in which the holy Scriptures are perverted by unlearned and unstable men.

The holy scriptures, though by divine grace able to make us wise unto salvation, are almost wholly disused by multitudes, who nevertheless would wish to be thought friends to the religion and morals which are taught in them. They even lie by, in many houses covered with dust, as if of no consequence in the direction of human life, and unworthy of a careful attention or serious perusal. Their purity, their beauty, their sublimity, which some of the best and greatest characters that ever adorned human nature, have not only admired, but extolled, are overlooked, either through a want of discernment to acknowledge, or of taste to relish their merit.--Some read them only from custom or for amusement.--Others read them merely to cavil at, reproach, and pervert them. Others, again, search them, not to be guided by the light which they shall exhibit, but to support or confirm the opinions, which they have previously imbibed, and are resolved not to relinquish. Hence not only different, but contradictory principles are pretended to be drawn from them.

Like all other things of importance and worth, they are liable to be abused and misapplied. It is however no valid, nor, indeed, plausible objection against their divinity, or usefulness, that they are capable of being misconstrued and misunderstood. If it please the majesty of heaven and earth to speak to man, at all concerning his duty and happiness as a moral agent, he must speak to him in man's language. But all human language is imperfect, capable of being perverted and wrongly construed--of course, the holy scriptures are so. In truth, every thing done by man is imperfect. He lives in an imperfect world. His language, when most refined, is imperfect.--It would therefore, bespeak a high degree of folly and inconsideration either to disesteem, or to think meanly of the holy scriptures, because they have been misimproved and profaned. And, it is equally disgraceful to reason and repugnant to philosophy to look upon them as fabulous, or to imagine that no certain and fixed system of doctrines is contained in them, merely because different sects of Christians have understood them differently, and drawn from them, not only different, but contradictory tenets.

The serious mind will most sincerely regret, what cannot be acknowledged, that they have been so often and so grossly perverted. The candid and honest will not be prejudiced against them, or neglect, most diligently to attend to them, though they have been so much misapplied and misunderstood.

To guard, therefore, against the danger and commonness of wresting and perverting the word of God to our destruction is a subject highly important and interesting in itself; at all times proper; but at this day, it is apprehended, to be peculiarly seasonable. It is a subject seldom discussed, but if properly managed may be eminently useful to all christian families and individuals. It may be made very subservient to advance the cause of rational religion, and to prevent the mind from what is visionary and fanciful in matters of infinite concern.

Stated prayer a duty binding on all men.

ACTS ii. 21.

In the sequel, we will consider the condition, upon which Salvation is offered to us, in the text: or show that stated prayer is a duty binding on all men.

As the conclusion of the whole, we cannot but be highly delighted with the easiness of the terms of salvation. They are as easy as they could be consistent with the law, character and attributes of the Supreme Being; as they could be, and be compatible with his holiness and sovereign mercy.--Herein, the wisdom and the goodness of the Maker of all things shine with a conspicuous Lustre. He always acts, indeed, with the highest wisdom, and with perfect benevolence. He requires of us only what is reasonable to be required. And the reasonableness of the Christian system is among the most satisfactory and powerful evidence of its truth and divinity.--It is divine in its nature--pure in its laws--rich in its promises--plain in its duties--pleasing in its hopes--sublime in its prospects--supporting in its consolations--grand in its offers--and in its rewards, glorious beyond all that can be imagined in the perfect state.--We are to call upon the name of the Lord, in a right and pious manner, and be saved.--And to this duty of calling upon the name of the Lord we are bound by the strongest of all ties--by our creation--by our preservation--by our redemption--by all the favours of Providence--by our dependence on God--by his glories--by his goodness--by his omniscience--by his omnipresence--by his faithfulness--by our own interest--by our innumerable wants, for soul and body, for time and Eternity. And may we be saved, if we will do it, in that manner, in which we ought?--Certainly we may. And could we desire mercy upon any lower condition?--If we murmur and complain of this, we discover the basest and vilest temper: and deserve everlasting exclusion from the blissful presence of a holy and gracious God. We must be speechless, if condemned FOREVER.

The duty of public worship, and its beneficial tendency.

MATTHEW iv. 10.

It is becoming fashionable not only to disesteem, but to speak lightly of the worship of the supreme Being, the fountain of all existence and blessedness. It is to be deeply regretted, that, by many his name is profaned, his sabbaths disregarded, his ordinances neglected, and all worship of him habitually omitted. Nay, it is even with one class of people, whose number is not inconsiderable, growing into a maxim, or kind of aphorism, that all Religion consists in doing right between man and man, in promoting the temporal welfare, the order, and best civil good of society. This is openly affirmed by men who pretend to clearness of thought, eminence of abilities, and extensive reading; and echoed by their admirers and imitators. They earnestly contend that Moral Virtue, or doing good to man is the most acceptable offering to the divine Being, and not only the most acceptable, but the only rational and acceptable worship, which can be performed by us to our Maker, Preserver and Benefactor. Having gone this length, they are compelled to take one step more, and to assert that all other Worship, or what have usually been called exercises and acts of Piety, are of no worth, are mere superstition and folly, fit only for the vulgar, or to amuse the uninformed and unenlightened. They forget not, at the same time, to remind us, that this superstition, as they term it, is nursed by an interested and mercenary Priesthood. But the fact is, that a system of Religion, which leaves out the duties we owe to God, is an essentially defective system: and no man of reflection and discernment, who is not a disbeliever in the divine Excellence and revealed religion, can adopt it. For men of thought and good capacities to deny or object against the duties, due from us to the FIRST CAUSE OF ALL THINGS, is quite unaccountable, provided they, at the same time, pretend to give credit to any religion at all. But what is still more strange is, that any who pretend to love and fear God, should yet deny all stated worship of him, whether public, social or secret, and refuse to engage in any duties of devotion, until moved or impelled thereto by some supposed inward impression. This, all must see who exercise their reason, is in effect to deny, and virtually to renounce all divine worship.--And whatever such may profess or declare, so it is, has been, and always will be judged, by all rational men.

In the progress of these discourses, what is intended is to evince the duty. And then illustrate the beneficial tendency of public worship.

But how far doth this great moral law of worship extend? How much doth it include? All who have common sense cannot but know that the right way of interpreting an absolute and unconditional law is to apply it to all that, to which it is, or can be applicable. According to this rule of interpreting, the law now under consideration reaches to all men, of all ages and nations. It binds all rational creatures, in the whole universe of the almighty, angel and men, one as much as, and as fully as another, without one exception or limitation. Wherever any rational creature or moral agent can be found, in heaven, on earth, or in any part of universal nature, there this law extends, and binds him eternally and unchangeably.

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