i ; ;f: r;i »v;j/») (Preached at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, 1735: at Savannah, in Georgia, June, 1736: at Dr. Cutter's church, in Boston, Oct. 17 1736.y . «» And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, then follow him : but if Baal,follow him. 1 Kings, xviii. '21. An exclamation this, in which Christians are no less concerned than those Jews to whom it was immediately spoken : for do we not, most of us, halt between two opinions ? do we not endeavour to do service to two masters ? and is it not the frequent practice of the generality of Christians to compound between God and the world ? to contrive how to serve God, without renouncing the service of the world, the flesh, and the devil? Do we not see many, who make loud professions of their zeal for religion, still anxious for the good things of this Mfe? In

short, may we not truly say that while we all pretend to be true worshippers of God, we do every one in particular, at some seasons, set up his idols in his heart, and divide his religious Worship between that and his God ? To you therefore is this Scripture given, and every one is still concerned in this expostulation of the prophet, How long will ye halt between two opinions ? " If the Lord be God, then follow him ; but if Baal, then follow him." In discoursing on these words, I shall, First, show who they are that come under this censure of halting between two opinions ; Secondly, consider the folly and danger of it; Thirdly, conclude with an earnest exhorta tion to an entire devotion of ourselves to God. I am first to show who they are that come under this censure. And here, I doubt, upon a serious and impartial examination of ourselves, we shall most of us stand self-condemned, and when we inquire who they are, our conscience will reply to each, Thou art the man. For judge, I pray you, and judge as in the presence of God ; are ye in heart and mind solely de voted to him ? have you no other design in all

your undertakings but to perform the will of your Father who is in heaven, and finish the work he hath given you to do? Who among us can stand so severe a test, or whom will not conscience condemn upon so strict a trial ? Who is there that may be termed holy in the sense of this word, as it implies a total renun ciation of the world, the flesh, and the devil ; and an entire and absolute surrender of himself to God ? alas ! who can lay his hand upon his heart and say, " that no private views, no secret ends, mix with his devotion!" that God. has not only some place in our thoughts, but the whole of our souls and minds at his dis posal, and reigns alone in the hearts he has formed. There are many rivals who will dis pute with him his right to absolute and entire dominion : the world, with her pomps and vanities, pleasures and delights, entertainments and diversions, has monopolized a large share of our affections ; sensuality also ruleth with an almost uncontrolled sway ; nor is the evil spirit of darkness without share of power and influence over us. Now while any of these have dominion,

while we set our hearts upon the flesh and its gratifications, or fix our affections on things of the world, or indulge hatred, ambition, malice, and revenge, it must be owned that, if God has any place in our thoughts, his empire is disputed, his claim to our obedience questioned, his supreme authority neglected : we are not his devoted servants, since we give our service to other masters ; nor can we be called his faithful soldiers since we are likewise enlisted under the banners of his enemy. Thus then may they be said to halt between two opinions, who are divided between God and the world, who suffer the Creator and the creature to share their affections, and who allow only a portion of their heart and mind, to the service of their heavenly Benefactor. Where the grace of God has so far influenced the conscience as to en gage the man to consider these things, and yet the cares of this world, the lusts of the flesh, and temptations of the devil, retain their share of influence over him, this man may be said to halt between two opinions Such is the case of him who, without a sur render of his whole heart, professes himself to

Ill be a Christian. He will tell you that he regards religion to be of the utmost importance. He may be constant in the external duties of reli gion, in the outward forms of worship, frequent the service of the church, observe the fasts, attend the sacraments ; and yet with all this seeming zeal it may be found, that the world has made a deeper impression on him than religion, and he takes yet more pains to pro cure an estate on earth, than to lay up for himself a treasure in heaven : otherwise how should it be possible that we should see the same man conscientious in church, and knavish in his counting-house ? how could we account for public observances of pious rites, and over reaching frauds in private transactions, of this halting Christian. Of these two discordant principles, obedience to the letter of the law, and neglect of the spirit of it, from which arises the inconsistency of his practice ? He halteth between two opinions, and is therefore sometimes found praising God, and at others paying homage to mammon. And thus it must always be with all who are divided be tween God and the world. We are told it was

because the cares of this world, and the desire of riches, were not rooted out of the heart of those that heard the Gospel, but permitted to grow up with the good seed of the word, that this seed brought forth no fruit to perfection. Indeed this part of the parable seems to have an immediate reference to the case in question, and particularly adverts to those who halt be tween two opinions ; he that received the seed in stony places is the same that heareth the word, and " with joy received it ;" and yet if the cares of the world and desire of riches (those spiritual thorns and briars) are suffered to re main, they will choak the good seed, as our blessed Lord informs us they do. There are other descriptions of persons whom the text describes as halting between two opi nions ; these are men who will renounce their vices, with the exception of one darling sin ; now this is a plain instance of double-mindedness and insincerity. While we acknowledge the evil of sin in general, and yet retain that one sin which easily besets us, the heart is not wholly with God, it is hypocritical in his sight ; and a more dangerous state than any other ;

for it leads us to deceive ourselves to the last ; and because, like Herod upon hearing John the Baptist, we may do many things gladly, observe religious ordinances, and external wor ship, we have no fear of our salvation till it is awfully lost for ever. The sum of the matter is this : all are con cerned in the expostulation of my text, and stand condemned by its censure, who are not wholly devoted to God ; who have not absolutely and entirely dedicated themselves to his service ; who have not renounced the world, the flesh, and the devil ; who have not with all their faculties withdrawn themselves from the consideration ofevery thing but God and divine things, in the rule he has given in his Gospel, to enable them the more perfectly to perform his duty and service, to an obedience which they acknowledge to be his due, and which their hearts bear witness is a reasonable service. All these may be said to halt between two opi nions who preserve any the least respect to any creature which belongs alone to God. Whosoever loves any thing, fears any thing, hopes any thing, without reference to Him,

hath set up his idol in his heart ; he is divided in himself, and therefore cannot love, fear, and serve God. It is on this account that St. Paul calls the covetous man an idolator, because he allows his desire of gain to share his affections and his thoughts, which God and religion ought wholly to engross. And as the covetous man, so also is the sensualist, the passionate, the proud, the ambitious ; each of them have some end in their actions besides God : in short, any one who pretends to be a Christian, and admits any motive in his pursuits but God and his holy will, halts between two opinions ; he may with his lips confess the Lord to be God, yet pays him not the homage and obe dience due to him alone. The folly and danger of which state comes under the second general head : now the danger will appear from the following considerations: First, that it is a state which the Almighty hath no where promised to reward ; and, Secondly, it is a state which he hath threat ened with the severest punishments. First, Heaven is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ ; and therefore not to be attained

but on such terms as he has appointed : now where has he promised to reward such a half piety as we have described ? Has he any where bound himself to accept it ? A sacrifice without a heart ! hath he ever capitulated with us to receive any service which falls short of all that lies in our power ? a power imparted by his divine grace to perform. Hath he purchased the dominion over us by the Son of his love upon condition that the empire should be di vided between him and his creatures ? No, the promises are made to those alone who not only seek, but strive to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is a holy violence preached in the Gospel as essentially necessary to introduce us into the peaceable possession of the kingdom of God ; and it is this which distinguishes every real Christian, and proves him to be a disciple of Christ : after the utmost care and diligence we are but unprofitable servants, nor are our most strenuous endeavours the cause of our salvation, which is the meritorious death of our blessed Saviour; but they are the. con ditions of it which he himself has laid down ; or, in other words, faith which works by love,

even the love of God with all our hearts ; and though, through the corruption of our nature, we have all reason to be abased and deeply humbled before God, yet are we to aim at per fection ; and whosoever wilfully stops short of any grace he may attain, stops short of the mercy of God ; for though he has promised to pardon for our Redeemer's sake all those sins which by the frailty of our natures we have committed, yet will he never pardon those commissions of sin, and omissions of duty,' which we wilfully live in, and continue to live in, through a vain persuasion that it is not re quired of us to follow the strict rules of the Gospel ; rules which would never have been enjoined, if God had not promised to give us grace sufficient (if we implored it) to walk in all his ordinances blameless. We say then, that a state of voluntary imperfection, a halfcourse between God and the world, is a state which God hath in no place of Scripture pro mised to reward, nor yet to accept : but there is another . argument for the danger xf it, namely, the severe punishment denounced against it. Many and obvious are the texts

wherein the Almighty hath threatened the pains of hell to all those who will not obey his, will;. and how this may be fulfilled without this entire surrender of ourselves to his service is more than Revelation has made known to us. We are therein taught to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, and to do him service with all our soul and with all our strength ; and this, under pain of being utterly excluded from his presence if we fail in the performance of it. We are expressly told in St. Luke, xiv. 33, that whosoever he be that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be the disciple of Christ. Now what can possibly be more plain than these words, the sense of which evidently is that, unless we renounce every thing in this world so far as that our affections may be placed solely on God, we cannot be his disciples. And if we be not his, what will become of our hope of salvation by Jesus Christ? Certainly the being excluded from the name of his disciple is an exclusion from heaven, which he died to purchase for us. But whoever desires to see the awful condemnation which awaiteth this

state more fully represented, let him hear what the Spirit of God saith to the angel of the church of Laodicea (Rev. iii. 15, 6): know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor cold ; so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Tremendous doom of the luke warm and indifferent in religion! see we not here that the lukewarm Christian (if we will call him such) is debased even below him who professes no religion f " I wish thou wert either hot or cold :" so saith the Spirit; showing that coldness, or an absolute neglect of religion was a more desirable state than lukewarmness or indifference : add to all which, the tremen dous doom which attends it, " because thou art neither hot nor cold," I will cast thee from me, and withdraw my grace from every one who maketh no better use of it than do the lukewarm and indifferent. The folly of living in such a state, of dividing our hearts between God and the world, may be easily collected from the danger of it. The service of God is the most honourable, easy, and profitable, that we can be occupied in ; , it

must therefore be the greatest folly to quit this service, and engage with a cruel master on the severest terms : yet so does every man who seeks to compound between God and mam mon, to divide his service between religion and the world ; for no man can serve two mas ters; we must of necessity renounce the service of one. St. James declares, " the friendship of the world is enmity with God : whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Here we perceive there is no such thing as a divided love : the love of the world is absolutely inconsistent with the love of God ; so that if we afford the world or any thing in it a share of our affections, but as he has commanded for his sake, in such proportion do we become the enemies of God. And can there be a greater instance of folly ? to lose his favour, in whose favour is life eter nal, and the glorious reward annexed to our fidelity, for a small proportion of this world's good ? Be wiser : follow the prophet's advice. If the Lord be God, serve him and him only ; but if not, serve whomsoever you do serve

heartily, that ye may at least have the reward of your services, for the man who is religious by halves, that dares not wholly renounce the service of God, and yet will not entirely devote himself to his Divine Master, has taken the ready way to divest himself both of the pleasure of religion and of the world ; he has just enough religion to embitter his delights, to poison all his enjoyments ; nay, suffers all the pains, and oftentimes more than the truly pious man en dures even under martyrdom, and at the same time loses all the satisfaction which ever ac companies genuine piety. I proceed thirdly, and lastly, to conclude with an earnest exhortation to an entire devo tion of ourselves to God. Ye have seen, brethren, the true nature of the guilt of halting between two opinions, which consists in dividing our affections be tween God and the things he has made, and placing only such a part of love upon our Creator, as we can spai-e from his creatures. Ye have likewise been shown the folly and danger of such a state, which God has no where' promised to reward, nay/ has denounced his

vengeance upon it. Now surely this will be abundantly sufficient, if you believe it, to per suade you totally to renounce the world, and to set your affections on things above: ye have seen that no less a degree of religion than this wilj profit you ; that whoever wilfully falls short of this falls short of the mercy of God : be strong therefore and quit yourselves like men, be bold, to assert your liberty, to vindicate the dignity of your redeemed nature, to shake off the bondage of corruption, and to demean yourselves as be comes the children of God, and inheritors of, the kingdom of heaven. Our gracious God, he assured, is infinitely worthy of our highest love, abundantly deserving of our best services he hath created and preserved us, and therefore, has a claim to all we are, and all we can dpy in return for such inestimable benefits. Nay, he, has redeemed us from sin, and delivered up from the bondage of corruption ; and therefore we can never repay the least of his blegsjngs Bqt his mercy is pleased to accept such service as we are able to perform, in consideration o" our weakness, and the poor corrupted state, of pur nature, and . since we have ijothingce-

turn, he graciously receives the mean oblation of ourselves, provided we present it with our whole heart. And this surely no man will sup pose too great a sacrifice for all the mighty obligations that have been conferred upon him; for while we serve God, we increase the per fection of our being, and partake of His honour and glory who dwelleth in the highest heavens. To be admitted to worship Him before whom the angels veil their faces is indeed the highest honour wherewith any creature can be blessed ; and to devote ourselves to his service is only to be secured of our title to this dignity and pre-eminence, which the King of heaven and earth vouchsafes to the heirs of immortality. There may be other imaginary pleasures and honours ; but in reality there is no other hap piness, honour, or glory, but in the service of God. All the felicity of this world can afford us at best but a suspension of misery, a vain shadow, and a vain hope! What can riches effect but preserve us from the evil of want ? we can enjoy no more than we want, and a very little is sufficient to supply us with that; all beyond is superfluity which brings neither

permanent satisfaction nor lasting advantage. And who for such a reward as this would for feit those exalted pleasures which flow so plenteously from the service of God ? Pleasures' they are which fade not in the enjoyment,which pall not on the senses, nor destroy the taste by repetition, but increase to all eternity, which ex tend our faculties, create new capabilities, and perfect our nature. Such a scene of delight is his life who lives wholly devoted to God, who suffers not the world to intermingle with his affections, whose heart is fixed above it, and whote soul is freed from all cares but that of serving and pleasing his Creator. O glorious task ! blissful employment ! It is the felicity of angels ! a foretaste of the joys of heaven ! a forestalling the blessedness of eternity ! Cast away therefore all obstructions of this love of God ; divest yourselves of every base desire ; halt no more between two opinions ; but, since ye own the Lord to be God, beseech him to give you grace to follow him and him alone ; to serve him truly and faithfully with all your strength, to love him with all your heart and mind, to worship him in your body and in your spirit, to be made perfect in the love and fear of God, that so your happiness may be per fected in the enjoyment of his heavenly king dom throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Sunday, September 21, 1735,