600 AN HUMBLE ATTEMPT, &C. mined to know nothing among them, in comparison of the doc- trine of Christ and him crucified. These were the weapons of his warfare which were mighty through God, to the pulling down of the strong holds of sin and Satan in the hearts of men, and brought every thought into captivity to the, obedience of Christ. It was by the ministration of this gospel, that the forni- cators were made chaste and holy, and idolaters became worship- pers of the God of heaven ; that thieves learnt honest labour, and the covetous were taught to seek treasures in heaven ; the drunkards grew out of love with their cups, and renounced all intemperance; the revilers governed their tongues and spoke well of their neighbours, and the cruel extortioners and op- pressors learned to practise compassion and charity : 'l'hese vilest of sinners, these children of hell,. were made heirs of the kingdom of heaven, being washed, being sanctified, being justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, &c. Had you all the refined science of Plato or Socrates, all the skill in morals that ever was attained by Zeno, Seneca or Epic- tetus ; were you furnished with all the flowing oratory of Cicero, or the thunder of Demosthenes; were all these talents and ex- cellencies united in one man, and you were the person so richly endowed, and could you employ them all in every sermon you preach, yet you could have no reasonable hope to convert and save one soul in Great Britain, where the gospel is published, while you lay aside the glorious gospel of Christ, and leave it entirely out of your discourses. Let meproceed yet further and say, had you the fullest acquaintance that ever man acquired -with* 11 the principles and duties of natural religion, both in its regard to God and to your fellow- creatures, had you the skill and tongue of an angel to range all these in their fairest order, to place_ them in their fullest light, and to pro- nounce and represent the whole law of God with such force and splendour to a British auditory, as was done to the Israelites at mount Sinai, you might perhaps lay the consciences of men un- der deep conviction, for by the law is the knowledgeof sin: But 1 am fully persuaded you would never reconcile one soul to God, you would never change the heart of one sinner, nor bring him into the favour of God, nor fit him for the joys of heaven, without this blessed gospel which is committed to your hands. The great and glorious God is jealous of his own authority, and of the honour of his Son Jesus: nor will he condescend to bless anyother methods for obtainingso divine an end, that what he himselfhas prescribed ; nor will his hely Spirit, whose office is to,alorify Christ, stoop to concur with any other sort of means tor the sn irg. of sinners, where the name and offices of his Son,
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