5.3 True Saints: Religion of public opinion
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise
of God. (John 12:48)
These words were spoken of certain individuals who
refused to
confess that Jesus was the Christ, because he was
extremely
unpopular with the scribes and pharisees, and principal
people of
Jerusalem.
There is a plain distinction between self-love, or the
simple desire of
happiness, and selfishness. Self-love, the desire of
happiness and
dread of misery, is constitutional; it is a part of our
frame as God made
us, and as he intended us to be; and its indulgence
within the limits of
the law of God, is not sinful. Whenever it is indulged
contrary to the
law of God, it becomes sinful. When the desire of
happiness or the
dread of misery becomes the controlling principle, and
we prefer our
own gratification to some other greater interest, it
becomes
selfishness. When, to avoid pain or procure happiness,
we sacrifice
other greater interests, we violate the great law of
disinterested
benevolence, it is no longer self-love, acting within
lawful bounds, but
selfishness.
In my last Friday evening lecture, I described a class
of professors of
religion, who are moved to perform religious exercises
by hope and
fear. They are moved sometimes by self-love, and
sometimes by
selfishness. Their supreme object is not to glorify
God, but to secure
their own salvation. You will recollect that this
class, and the class I
had described before as the real friends of God and
man, agree in
many things, and if you look only at the things in
which they agree, you
cannot distinguish between them. It is only by a close
observation of
those things in which they differ, that you can see
that the main design
of the latter class is not to glorify God, but to
secure their own
salvation. In that way we can see their supreme object
developed, and
see that when they do the same things, outwardly, which
those do
whose supreme object is to glorify God, they do them
from entirely
different motives, and consequently the acts themselves
are, in the
sight of God, of an entirely different character.
III. Tonight, I design to point out the characteristics
of the third class
of professing Christians, who "love the praise of
men more than the
praise of God."
I would not be understood to imply that a mere regard
for reputation
has led this class to profess religion. Religion has
always been too
unpopular with the great mass of mankind to render it a
general thing
to become professing Christians from a mere regard to
reputation. But
I mean, that where it is not generally unpopular to
become a professor
of religion, and will not diminish popularity, but will
increase it with
many, a complex motive operates the hope of securing
happiness
in a future world, and that it may increase reputation
here. And thus
many are led to profess religion, when after all, on a
close
examination, it will be seen that the leading object,
which is prized
beyond anything else, is the good opinion of their
fellow men. Sooner
than forfeit this utterly, they would not profess
religion. Their
profession turns on this. And although they do profess
to be sincere
Christians, you may see by their conduct, on close
examination, that
they will do nothing that will forfeit this good
opinion of men. They will
not encounter the odium that they must, if they were to
give
themselves up to root sin out of the world.
Observe, that impenitent sinners are always influenced
by one of two
things, in all that they do that appears like religion.
Either they do them
out of regard to mere natural principles as compassion
or self-love
principles that are constitutional in them or from
selfishness.
They are done either out of regard to their own
reputation or
happiness, or the gratification of some natural
principle in them, that
has no moral character; and not from the love of God in
them. They
love "the praise of men more than the praise of
God."
I will now mention several things by which you may
detect the true
character of the class of persons of whom I have been
speaking; who
make the praise of men their idol, notwithstanding they
profess to love
God supremely. And they are things by which you can
detect your own
true characters, if there are any present who properly
belong to this
class.
1. They do what the apostle Paul says certain persons
did in his day,
and for that reason they remained ignorant of the true
doctrine; they
"measure themselves by themselves, and compare
themselves among
themselves."
There are a vast many individuals, who, instead of
making Jesus
Christ their standard of comparison, and the Bible
their rule of life,
manifestly aim at no such thing. They show that they
never seriously
dreamed of making the bible their standard. The great
question with
whom is, whether they do about as many things in
religion, and are
about as pious as other people, or as the churches
around them. Their
object is to maintain a respectable profession of
religion. Instead of
seriously inquiring for themselves, what the Bible
really requires, and
asking how Jesus Christ would act in such and such
cases, they are
looking simply at the common run of professing
Christians, and are
satisfied with doing what is commendable in their
estimation. They
prove to a demonstration, that their object is not so
much to do what
the Bible lays down as duty, as to do what the great
mass of
professing Christians do to do what is respectable,
rather than what
is right.
2. This class of persons do not trouble themselves
about elevating the
standard of piety around them.
They are not troubled at the fact, that the general
standard of piety is
so low in the church, that it is impossible to bring
the great mass of
sinners to repentance. They think the standard at the
present time is
high enough. Whatever be the standard at the time it
satisfies them.
While the real friends of God and man are complaining
of the church,
because the standard of piety is so low, and trying to
wake up the
church to elevate the tone of religion, it all seems to
this class of
persons like censoriousness, and a meddlesome, uneasy
disposition,
and as denoting a bad spirit in them. Just as when
Jesus Christ
denounced the scribes and pharisees, and leading
professors of his
day, they said, "He hath a devil." "Why,
he is denouncing sour doctors
of divinity, and all our best men, and even dares to
call the scribes and
pharisees hypocrites, and he tells us that except our
righteousness
shall exceed theirs, we can in no case enter the
kingdom of heaven.
What a bad spirit he has."
A large part of the church at the present day have the
same spirit, and
every effort to open the eyes of the church and to make
Christians see
that they live so low, so worldly, so much like
hypocrites, that it is
impossible the work of the Lord should go on, only
excites ill will and
occasions reproach. "O," they say, "what
a bad spirit he shows, so
censorious, and so unkind, surely that is anything but
the meek, and
kind, and loving spirit of the Son of God." They
forget how Jesus Christ
poured out his anathemas, enough to make the hills of
Judea shake,
against those that had the reputation of being the most
pious people
in that day. Just as if Jesus Christ never said
anything severe to
anybody, but just fawned over them, and soothed them
into his
kingdom. Who does not know that it was the hypocritical
spirit
exhibited by professors of religion, that roused his
soul and moved his
indignation, and called forth his burning torrents of
denunciation.
He was always complaining of the very people who were
set up as
patterns of piety, and called them hypocrites, and
thundered over their
heads the terrible words, "How can ye escape the
damnation of hell!"
It is not wonderful, when so many love the praise of
men more than
the praise of God, that there should be excitement when
the truth is
told. They are very well satisfied with the standard of
piety as it is, and
think that while the people are doing so much for
Sabbath schools,
and missions, and tracts, that is doing pretty well,
and they wonder
what the man would have. Alas! alas! for their
blindness! They do not
seem to know that with all this the lives of the
generality of professing
Christians are almost as different from the standard of
Jesus Christ as
light is from darkness.
3. They make a distinction between those requirements
of God that
are strongly enforced by public sentiment and those
that are not thus
guarded.
They are very scrupulous in observing such requirements
as public
sentiment distinctly favors, while they easily set at
naught those which
public sentiment does not enforce. You have
illustrations of this on
every side. I might mention the temperance reformation.
How many
there are who yield to public sentiment in this matter
what they never
would yield to God or man. At first they waited to see
how it would
turn. They resisted giving up ardent spirits. But when
that became
popular, and they found they could do very well with
other alcoholic
stimulants, they gave it up. But they are determined to
yield no farther
than public sentiment drives them. They show that it is
not their object,
in joining the temperance society, to carry out the
reform, so as to slay
the monster Intemperance; but their object is to
maintain a good
character. They love "the praise of men more than
the praise of God."
See how many individuals there are, who keep the
Sabbath, not
because they love God, but because it is respectable.
This is manifest,
because they keep it while they are among their
acquaintances, or
where they are known. But when they get where they are
not known,
or where it will not be a public disgrace, you will
find them traveling on
the Sabbath.
All those sins that are reprobated by public opinion
this class of
persons abstain from, but they do other things just as
bad which are
not thus frowned on. They do those duties which are
enforced by
public opinion, but not those that are less enforced.
They will not stay
away from public worship on the Sabbath, because they
could not
maintain any reputation for religion at all if they
did. But they neglect
things that are just as peremptorily enjoined in the
word of God.
Where an individual habitually disobeys any command of
God,
knowing it to be such, it is just as certain as his
soul lives, that the
obedience he appears to render, is not from a regard to
God's
authority, or love to God, but from other motives. He
does not, in fact,
obey any command of God. The Apostle has settled this
question.
"Whosoever," says he, "shall keep the
whole law, and offend in one
point, is guilty of all;" that is, does not truly
keep any one precept of the
law. Obedience to God's commands implies an obedient
state of heart,
and therefore nothing is obedience that does not imply
a supreme
regard to the authority of God.
Now, if a man's heart be right, then whatever God
enjoins he regards
as of more importance than anything else. And if a man
regard any
thing else of superior weight to God's authority, that
is his idol.
Whatever we supremely regard that is our god; whether
it be
reputation, or comfort, or riches, or honor, or
whatever it is that we
regard supremely, that is the god of our hearts.
Whatever a man's
reason may be for habitually neglecting anything which
he knows to
be the command of God, or that he sees to be required
to promote the
kingdom of Christ, there is demonstration absolute that
he regards that
as supreme.
There is nothing acceptable to God in any of his
services. Rest
assured, all his religion is the religion of public
sentiment. If he
neglects any thing required by the law of God, because
he can pass
along in neglect, and public sentiment does not enjoin
it; or if he does
other things inconsistent with the law of God, merely
because public
opinion does require it, it is a simple matter of fact,
that it is public
sentiment to which he yields obedience, in all his
conduct, and not a
regard to the glory of God.
How is it with you beloved? Do you habitually neglect
any requirement
of God, because it is not sustained and enforced by
public sentiment?
If you are a professor of religion, it is to be
presumed you do not
neglect any requirement that is strongly urged by
public sentiment.
But, how is it with others? Do you not habitually
neglect some duties?
Do you not live in some practices reputable among men,
that you
know to be contrary to the law of God? If you do, it is
demonstration
absolute that you regard the opinions of men more than
the judgment
of God. Write down your name, hypocrite.
4. This class of professors are apt to indulge in some
sins when they
are away from home, that they would not commit at home.
Many a man who is temperate at home, when he gets to a
distance,
will toss off his glass of brandy and water at the
table, or step up to the
bar of a steam-boat and call for liquor without shame;
or if they are in
Europe, they will go to the theater. When I was in the
Mediterranean,
at Messina, a gentlemen asked me if I would go to the
theater with
him. "What! I go to the theater? A minister go to
the theater?" "Why,"
said he, "you are away from home, and no one would
know it." "But
would not God know it?" It was plain that he
thought, although I was
a minister, I could go to the theater when I was away
from home. No
matter if God knew it, so long as men did not know it.
And how should
he get that idea, but by seeing ministers who would do
just such
things?
5. Another development of the character of these
individuals is, that
they indulge themselves in secret sin.
I am now speaking of something, by which you may know
yourselves.
If you allow yourselves in any sins secretly, when you
can get along
without having any human being know it, know that God
sees it, and
that he has already written down your name, hypocrite.
You are more
afraid of disgrace in the eye of mortals, than of
disgrace in the eye of
God. If you loved God supremely, it would be a small
thing to you that
any and every body else knew your sins, in comparison
with having
them known to God. If tempted to any such thing, you
would exclaim,
"What! shall I commit sin under the eye of
God?"
6. They indulge in secret omissions of duty, which they
would not dare
to have known to others.
They may not practice any secret sins, or indulge in
those secret
pollutions that are spoken of, but they neglect those
duties, that if they
were known to neglect, it would so called disreputable
to their
Christian character. Such as secret prayer for
instance. They will go
to the communion yes, to the communion! and appear to
be very
pious on the Sabbath, and yet, as to private piety,
they know nothing
of it. Their closet for prayer is unknown to God or
man. It is easy to
see that reputation is their idol. They dread to lose
their reputation
more than to offend God.
How is it with you? Is it a fact, that you habitually
omit those secret
duties, and are more careful to perform your public
duties than private
ones? Then what is your character?
Do you need to be told? "They loved the praise of
men more than the
praise of God."
7. The conscience of this class of persons seems to be
formed on
other principles than those of the gospel.
They seem to have a conscience in those things that are
popular, and
no conscience at all on those things that are not
required by public
sentiment. You may preach to them ever so plainly,
their duty, and
prove it ever so clearly, and even make them confess
that it is their
duty, and yet so long as public sentiment does not
require it, and it is
not a matter of reputation, they will continue on in
the same way as
before. Show them a "Thus saith the Lord,"
and make them see that
their course is palpably inconsistent with Christian
perfection, and
contrary to the interests of the kingdom of Christ, and
yet they will not
alter. They make it manifest that it is not the
requirement of God they
regard, but the requirement of public opinion. They
love the praise of
men more than the praise of God.
8. This class of persons generally dread, very much,
the thought of
being considered fanatical.
They are ignorant, practically, of a first principle in
religion, that all the
world is wrong! That the public sentiment of the world
is all against
God, and that every one who intends to serve God must
in the first
instance set his face against the public sentiment of
the world. They
are to take it for granted, that in a world of rebels,
public sentiment is
as certainly wrong as that there is a controversy with
God. They have
never had their eyes open to this fundamental truth,
that the world is
wrong, and that God's ways are directly over against
their ways.
Consequently, it is true, and always has been true,
that "all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution." They shall be called
fanatical, superstitious, ultras, and the like. They
always have been,
and they always will be, as long as the world is wrong.
But this class of persons will never go further than is
consistent with
the opinions of worldly men. They say they must do this
and that in
order to have influence over such men. Right over
against this is the
course of the true friends of God and man. Their
leading aim is to
reverse the order of the world, and turn the world
upside down, to
bring all men to obey God, and all the opinions of men
to conform to
the word of God, and all the usages and institutions of
the world to
accord with the spirit of the gospel.
9. They are very intent on making friends on both
sides.
They take the middle course always. They avoid the
reputation of
being righteous over-much, on the one hand, and on the
other hand,
of being has or irreligious. It has been so for
centuries, that a person
could maintain a reputable profession of religion,
without ever being
called fanatical. And the standard is still so without
ever being called
fanatical. And the standard is still so low, that
probably the great mass
of the Protestant churches are trying to occupy this
middle ground.
They mean to have friends on both sides. They are not
set down as
reprobates on the one hand, nor as fanatics or bigots
on the other.
They are "fashionable Christians!" They may
be called fashionable
Christians for two reasons. One is, that their style of
religion is popular
and fashionable; and the other is, that they generally
follow worldly
fashions. Their aim in religion is not to do anything
that will disgust the
world. No matter what God requires, they are determined
to be so
prudent as not to bring on them the censures of the
world, nor offend
the enemies of God. They have manifestly more regard to
men than
to God. And if they are ever so circumstance that they
must do that
which will displease their friends and neighbors, or
offend God, they
will offend God. If public sentiment clashes with the
commands of
God, they will yield to public sentiment.
10. They will do more to gain the applause of men than
to gain the
applause of God.
This is evident from the fact, that they will yield
obedience only to
those requirements of God which are sustained by public
opinion.
Although they will not exercise self-denial to gain the
applause of God,
yet they will exercise great self-denial to gain the
applause of men.
The men that gave up ardent spirits, because public
sentiment
rendered it necessary, will give up wine also, whenever
a public
sentiment sufficiently powerful shall demand it; and
not till then.
11. They are more anxious to know what are the opinions
of men
about them, than to know what is God's opinion of them.
If one of this class is a minister, and preaches a
sermon, he is more
anxious to know what the people thought of it, than to
know what God
thought of it. And if he make anything like a failure,
the disgrace of it
with men cuts him ten times more than the thought that
he has
dishonored God, or hindered the salvation of souls.
Just so with an
elder, or a member of the church, of this class. If he
pray in a meeting,
or exhort, he is more concerned to know what is thought
of it, than to
know how God is pleased.
If such a one has some secret sin found out, he is
vastly more
distressed about it because he is disgraced than
because God is
dishonored. Or if he fall into open sin, when he comes
to be met with
it, he cares as much again about the disgrace as about
the sin of it.
They are more anxious about their appearance in the
eyes of the
world, than in the eyes of God. Females of this
character are vastly
more anxious, when they go to church, how the body
shall appear in
the eyes of men, than how the heart shall appear in the
eyes of God.
Such a one will be all the week engaged in getting
everything in order,
so as to make her person appear to advantage, and
perhaps will not
spend half an hour in her closet, to prepare her heart
to appear before
God in his courts. Every body can see, at a glance,
what this religion
is, the moment it is held up to view. Nobody is at a
loss to say what
that man's or that woman's name is it is hypocrite.
They will go into
the house of God with their hearts dark as midnight,
while every thing
in their external appearance is comely and decent. They
must appear
well in the eyes of men, no matter how that part is on
which God fixes
his eye. The heart may be dark, and disordered, and
polluted, and
they care not, so long as the eye of man detects no
blemish.
12. They refuse to confess their sins in the manner
which the law of
God requires, lest they should lose their reputation
among men.
If they are ever required to make confession of more
than they think
consistent with their reputation, they are more anxious
as to how it will
affect their character, than to know whether God is
satisfied.
Search your hearts, you that have made confessions, and
see which
most affects your minds, the question what God thought
of it, or what
men thought of it. Have you refused to confess what you
knew God
required, because it would hurt your reputation among
men? Will not
God judge your hearts? Only be honest now, and let it
be answered.
13. They will yield to custom what they know to be
injurious to the
cause of religion, and to the welfare of mankind.
A striking instance of this is found in the manner of
keeping new year's
day. Who does not know that the customary manner of
keeping new
year's day, setting out their wine and their rich cake
and costly
entertainments, and spending the day as they do, is a
waste of money,
hurtful to health, and injurious to their own souls and
to the interests
of religion?
And yet they do it. Shall we be told that persons who
will do this when
they know it is injurious, supremely love God? I care
not who attempts
to defend such a custom, it is wrong, and every
Christian must know
it to be so. And those who persist in it when they know
better,
demonstrate that a supreme regard to God is not their
rule of life.
14. They will do things of doubtful character, or
things the lawfulness
of which they strongly doubt, in obedience to public
sentiment.
You will recollect that on the evening of the first day
of the year I took
up this subject, and showed that those who do things of
doubtful
character, of the lawfulness of which they are not
satisfied, are
condemned for it in the sight of God.
15. They are often "ashamed" to do their
duty, and so much ashamed
that they will not do it.
Now when a person is so much ashamed to do what God
requires as
not to do it, it is plain that his own reputation is
his idol. How many do
you find who are ashamed to acknowledge Jesus Christ,
ashamed to
reprove sin in high places or low places, and ashamed
to speak out
when religion is assailed! If they supremely regarded
God, could they
ever be ashamed of doing their duty? Suppose a man's
wife were
calumniated, would he be ashamed to defend his wife? By
no means.
If his children were abused, would he be ashamed to
take their part?
Not if he loved them; it would not be shame that would
deter him from
defending his wife or children. If a man was friendly
to the
administration of the government of his country, and
heard it
calumniated, would he be ashamed to defend it? He might
not think it
expedient to speak, for other reasons; but if he was a
true friend to the
government, he would not be "ashamed" to
speak in its behalf,
anywhere.
Now such persons as I am speaking of, will not take
decided ground
when they are among the enemies of truth, where they
would be
subject to reproach for doing it. They are very bold
for the truth when
among its friends, and will make a great display of
their courage. But
when put to the trial, they will sell the Lord Jesus
Christ, or deny him
before his enemies, and put him to open shame, rather
than rebuke
wickedness, or speak out in his cause among his
enemies.
16. They are opposed to all encroachments on their
self-indulgence,
by advancing light on practical subjects.
They are much disturbed by every new proposal that
draws on their
purses, or breaks in upon their habitual
self-indulgence. And you may
talk as much, and preach as much in favor of it as you
please, there
is only one way to reach this kind of people, and that
is by creating a
new public sentiment. When you have brought over, by
the power of
benevolence and of conscience, a sufficient number in
the community
to create a public sentiment in its favor, then they
will adopt your new
proposals, and not before.
17. They are always distressed at what they call the
"ultraism" of the
day.
They are much afraid the ultraism of the present day
will destroy the
church. They say we are carrying things too far, and we
shall produce
a reaction. Take, for instance, the Temperance
Reformation. The true
friends of temperance now know, that alcohol is the
same thing,
wherever it is found, and that to save the world and
banish
intemperance, it is necessary to banish alcohol in all
its forms. The
pinch of the Temperance Reformation has never yet been
decided.
The mass of the community have never been called to any
self-denial
in the cause. The place where it will pinch is, when it
comes to the
question, whether men will exercise self-denial, to
crush the evil.
If they may continue to drink wine and beer, it is no
self-denial; to give
up ardent spirits. It is only changing the form in
which alcohol is taken,
and they can drink as freely as before.
Many friends of the cause, when they saw what
multitudes were
rushing into it, were ready to shout a triumph. But the
real question is
not yet tried. And multitudes will never yield, until
the friends of God
and man can form a public sentiment so strong as to
crush the
character of every man who will not give it up. You
will find many
doctors of divinity and pillars of the church, who are
able to drink their
wine, that will stand their ground, and no command of
God, no
requirement of benevolence, no desire to save souls, no
pity for
bleeding humanity, will move such persons, until you
can form a public
sentiment so powerful as to force them to it, on
penalty of loss of
reputation. For they love the praise of men.
And it is a query now in my mind, a matter of solemn
and anxious
doubt, whether in the present low state of piety and
decline of revivals
of religion in the church, a public sentiment can be
formed, so powerful
as to do this. If not, we shall be driven back. The
Temperance
Reformation, like a dam of sand, will be swept away,
the floodgates
will be opened again, and the world will go reeling
down to hell. And
yet thousands of professors of religion, who want to
enjoy public
respect and at the same time enjoy themselves in their
own way, are
crying out as if they were in distress at the ultraism
of the times!
18. They are often opposed to men, and measures, and
things, while
they are unpopular and subject to reproach; and when
they become
popular, fall in with them.
Let an individual go through the churches in any
section, and wake
them up to a revival of religion, and while he is
little known, these
persons are not backward to speak against him. But let
him go on, and
gain influence, and they will fall in and commend him
and profess to
be his warmest friends. It was just so with Jesus
Christ. Before his
death, he had a certain degree of popularity.
Multitudes would follow
him, as he went through the streets, and cry
"Hosanna, Hosanna!" But
observe, they never would follow him an atom farther
than his
popularity followed him. As soon as he was arrested as
a criminal,
they all turned round and began to cry, "Crucify
him, crucify him!"
This class of persons, as they set with the tide one
way, when a man
is reproached, so they will set with the tide the other
way when he
comes to be honored. There is only one exception. And
that is, when
they have become so far committed to the opposition,
that they cannot
come round without disgrace. And then they will be
silent, until another
opportunity comes up for letting out the burning fires
that are rankling
within them.
Very often a revival in a church, when it first begins,
is opposed by
certain members of the church. They do not like to have
such things
carried on, they are afraid there is too much animal
excitement, and
the like. But the work goes on; and by-and-by they seem
to fall in and
go with the multitude. At length the revival is over,
and the church
grows cold again, and before long you will find this
class of persons
renewing their opposition to the work, and as the
church declines they
press their opposition, and perhaps, in the end, induce
the church
itself to take ground against the very revival which
they had so much
enjoyed. This is the very way in which individuals have
acted in regard
to revivals in this country. There are many such cases.
They were
awed by public sentiment and made to bow down to the
revival, while
it was in its power, but by-and-by, as the revival
declines, they begin
to let out the opposition that is in their hearts, and
which was
suppressed for a time because the revival was popular.
It has been just so in regard to the cause of missions,
in a degree, and
if anything should turn up, unfavorable to missions, so
as to break the
present power of public sentiment in their favor, you
would find plenty
of these fair weather supporters turning to the
opposition.
19. If any measure is proposed to promote religion they
are very
sensitive and scrupulous not to have anything done that
is unpopular.
If they live in a city, they ask what will the other
churches think of such
a measure? And if it is likely to bring reproach on
their church or their
minister, in view of the ungodly, or in view of the
other churches, they
are distressed about it. No matter how much good it
will do, or how
many souls it will save, they do not want to have
anything done to
injure the respectability of their church.
20. This class of persons never aim at forming a public
sentiment in
favor of perfect godliness.
The true friends of God and man are always aiming at
forming public
sentiment, and correcting public sentiment, on all
points where it is
wrong. They are set, with all their hearts, to search
out all the evils in
the world, and to reform the world, and drive out
iniquity from the
earth. The other class are always following public
sentiment as it is,
and feeling after the course of the tide, to go that
way, shrinking back
from everything that goes in the face of public
sentiment. And they are
ready to brand as imprudent, or rash, any man or
anything, that goes
to stem the tide of public sentiment and turn it the
other way.
REMARKS.
It is easy for persons to take credit for their
sins, and make
themselves believe certain things are acts of piety,
which are in fact
only acts of hypocrisy.
They do the things that outwardly pertain to piety, and
they give
themselves credit for being pious, when their motives
are all corrupt
and hollow, and not one of them drawn from a supreme
regard to
God's authority. This is manifest from the fact that
they do nothing
except where God's requirements are backed up by public
sentiment.
Unless you aim to do all your duty, and yield obedience
in every thing,
the piety for which you claim credit is mere hypocrisy,
and is in fact sin
against God.
There is a great deal more apparent piety in the
church than there
is real piety.
There are many things which sinners suppose are good
but which are
abominable in the sight of God.
But for the love of reputation and the fear of
disgrace, how many
there are in the church, who would break out into open
apostasy.
How many are there here, who know you would break Out
into open
vice, were it not for the restraints of public
sentiment, the fear of
disgrace, and the desire to gain the credit of virtue?
Where a person
is virtuous from a regard to the authority of God,
whether public
sentiment favor it or frown upon it, that is true
piety. If otherwise, they
have their reward. They do it for the sake of gaining
credit in the eyes
of men, and they gain it. But if they expect any favor
at the hand of
God, they will assuredly be disappointed. The only
reward which he
will bestow upon such selfish hypocrites is, that they
may be damned.
And now I wish to know how many of you will determine
to do your
duty, and all your duty, according to the will of God,
let public
sentiment be as it may? Who of you will agree to take
the Bible for
your rule, Jesus Christ for your pattern, and do what
is right, in all
cases, whatever man may say or think? Every one that is
not willing
to take this ground must regard himself as a stranger
to the grace of
God. He is by no means in a state of justification.
If he is not resolved upon doing what he knows to be
right, let public
sentiment be as it may, it in proof positive that he
loves the praise of
men more than the praise of God.
And let me say to the impenitent sinners present.
You
see what it is to
be a Christian. It is to be governed by the authority
of God in all things, and not by public sentiment, to live not by
hopes and fears,
but by supreme consecration of yourself unto God. You
see that if you
mean to be religious, you must count the cost. I will
not flatter you. I
will never try to coax you to become religious, by
keeping back the
truth. If you mean to be Christians, you must give
yourselves wholly up
to Christ. You cannot float along to heaven on the
waves of public
sentiment. I will not deceive you on this point.
Do you ask, sinner, what is to become of all these
professors of
religion, who are conformed to the world, and who love
the praise of
men more than the praise of God? I answer They will go
to hell,
with you, and with all other hypocrites. Just as
certain as that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God.
Wherefore, come out from among them, my people, and be
ye
separate, and I will receive you saith the Lord, I will
be a Father to you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters.
And now, who
will do it? In
the church and among sinners, who will do it? Who? Who
is on the
Lord's side? Who is willing to say, "We will no
longer go with the
multitude to do evil, but are determined to do the will
of God, in all
things whatsoever, and let the world think or say of us
as it may."
As
many of you as are now willing to do this, will signify
it by rising in your
places before the congregation, and will then kneel
down, while prayer
is offered, that God would accept and seal your solemn
covenant to
obey God henceforth in every thing, through evil report
and through
good report.
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