244 PREFACE. and our day. I amwell aware that my conduct and manner of argument, on thissubject, will be represented as very uncharitable : Perhaps, I shall be told, that I assume the awful province of God, that 1 enter into the hearts of men, andpass ajudgmentconcerning their sincerity, while I scarce suppose it pos- siblefor a manto be truly sincere, in seeking the truth, and yet to live and die an infidel, where the gospel issurrounded with its proper light and evidences. I must confess it is à sensible grieftome, when I am constrained, by the - word of God, to say any thing terrible andsevere againstmy fellow- creatures, my partners in flesh and blood. I would hate and avoid all the characters of a censorious and uncharitable spirit. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of love, and while I preach it for the salvation of men, I would never mix my own wrathwith it, nor would I willingly lie under the shadow of such an imputa- tion. But whenthe great and blessed God, who has made this gospel, and who searches the hearts of men, has pronounced his wrath and damnationso often against thosewhobelieve not in leis Son, it is he himself who does in effect declare, that they are not sincere in their searchesafter the truth: For I am persuaded he would never proclaim such vengeance from heaven against any sinceresoul, that with humble diligence and faithfulness inquires, ,. What he must do to please his Maker?' The blessed God who lias ordained the gospel of his Son Jesus, to be the means of the salvation ofmen to the end of the world, has certainly fur- nished it with sufficient evidence, for the propagation of it, through the suc- cessive generations Of men, among all that are humble andwilling enquirers aftertruth. The God of natureknows wellhow much light is necessary, both inthe eye, andon theobject, to convey the sight of it to those who are willing to see: The same all-wise God well knows also what capacity inthe mind is requisite, and what degree of evidence is necessary to attend any revealed truth, in order to its being received by the honest and 'sincere soul : And his equity and goodness would never lravesuffered such a heavy curse to be de- nounced against unbelievers, if he had not foreseen, that nothing but some corrupt and guilty prejudicescould withhold men from receiving the truth of the gospel, where it is accompanied with its necessary testimonials. It is not I, therefore, but it is the word of God that declares the unbelievers of his gospel to beinsincere, while he pronounces such a curse uponthem. The holy and gracious lips of our blessed Jesus, who knew the hypocrisy and insincerity of the Jews, in his day, did often pronounce a sentence of death and destruction upon them ; and, when he left the world, he repeated this condemnationupon all infidels, where his gospel should come with its proper evidence, He that believeth not shall be aanened; Mark xvi. 16. The great apostle of the gentiles lias assured us, that they who believe not have suffered the god of this world, that is, the devil, to blind their minds ; 2 Cor. iv. 4. and helms confirmed the awful sentence, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, or accursed, till the Lord come ; I Cor. xvi. 22. Now, since these solemn denunciations of divine vengeance are fre- quently repeated in our bible, and make a part of that book wherein our reli- gion lies, sincewe are bound to declare all the counsel of God, for the salva- tion of men, and knowing these terrors of the Lord, we cannot but set them before the faces of those, who are in danger of being drawn away from their stedfastness in the faith ; that if they should at last perish in their own unbe- lief, theymay not lay the blameupon the ministers ofthe gospel, andplead that theyhadno warning of this condemnation. It is, therefore, no instance of anuncharitable conduct, to point out to careless wanderers, that pit of fire and destruction into which they are hastening, unless they turn their feet to ano- ther path: It has been always counted an act of charity and love, to pluck the wandering traveller, from a fatal precipice, or affright him from approach - ing the brink ofit, by displaying all the dreadful mischiefs, and the certain death that will attend his fall.
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