SERMON

XXIII.

NEUTRALITY IN RELIGION EXPOSED.

MAT. vi. 24.

No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot ferve God and mammon.

THERE is fomething in the Scripture

fuited to every taste except a finful one. The Bible indeed is so pure, so holy in its Author, its principles, and its design, that it is the easiest thing in the world to account for infidelity and error; they are the natural oppofition of men of corrupt minds. But with regard to others, every peculiar turn of mind may be indulged, and the fame end may be secured by various means. Some are fond of history; and here we have narrations placing before us striking characters and occurrences. Some love a feries of proof and a process of argumentation; and here we have frequent specimens of close reasoning. Some take pleasure in imagery and comparisons; and here we have a plenitude of parables and metaphors. And fome are charm

ed with proverbs and aphorifms; and here we find detached sentences, which by their brevity are easily remembered, and by their significancy furnish materials for the mind to unfold and apply. And of all these, perhaps no one is more important and interest ing than the passage which I have read. "No man "can ferve two masters: for either he will hate the "one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the " one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God " and mammon."

One word only requires explanation. What is mammon? It is commonly supposed to mean only riches; but as the Bishop of London has observed in his Lecture upon this Chapter, the original feems more extensive, and leads us to confider it as comprehending every thing capable of engaging the affections, and of gaining the confidence of men of worldly minds. It is a Syriac word importing treasure, gain. Whatever therefore is gain to you, is mammon, whether it be wealth, or power, or fame, or fensual pleasure. Whatever you idolize, whatever you place in the room of God, whatever leads you to oppose his nature and his will concerning your duty and your happiness, according to the design of our Saviour, falls under this denomination. Subtilty of interpretation is always, and minuteness of decifion is generally to be avoided in expounding the Scripture; words are used in a popular sensfe; and they would. become less useful, if they were rendered less general. The force of an impression which would otherwise have been made, has often been diminished by means of those exceptions, qualifications, restrictions, dif

tinctions, which have so much abounded in commentaries and fermons, and through which the Spirit of the Sacred Writings is fuffered to evaporate. This being premised, we proceed to call your ferious attention to three things.

I. NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS; YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON. This is clearly expreffed.

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II. ONE OF THESE YOU WILL UNAVOIDABLY SERVE. This is fully implied.

III. YOU OUGHT TO SERVE GOD. This is fairly inferred. Confider what I fay, and the Lord give you understanding in all things. Amen.

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I. "Write the vision, and make it plain upon ta «bles, that he may run that readeth it." This order the inspired penmen have obeyed. They have made things clear in proportion as they are momentous; and fuch is the perfpicuity with which many of the principles of religion are laid down in the Scripture, that we should deem it impossible for them ever to be mifunderstood, did we not know how easy it is to per plex a rule by which we dislike to walk, and remember what a power there is in the passions to pervert the dictates of the understanding, and to baffle the admonitions of confcience. For instance. What can be more fully, more unambiguously expressed than the determination before us? "No man can serve "two masters: for either he will hate the one, and " love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and " despise the other: ye cannot serve God and mam" mon." Nevertheless there are many who contrive to elude the force of this maxim, or who seem refolved to make a fuccession of awful experiments to try the certainty of it. The number of this mixed temporizing race of Christians is constantly encreasing; and while they are bringing destruction upon their own fouls, they are injuring the cause of the Gospel, and counteracting the labors of faithful ministers ten-fold more than those who make no pretenfions to religion. "They have a name to live, while they are dead." They wear "the form of godliness," while they "de

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ny the power thereof." They are equally remote from the excesses of the profane and the fervours of the pious. They refuse to the passions what would disturb confcience, and to confcience what would difturb the passions. Endeavouring to reconcile an earthly and a heavenly life together, they waver between truth and error, conviction and appetite, duty and inclination; and divide their affections and fervices between God and the world. Some moments they give to devotion; they pray, they unite with the holy afsemblies, they sometimes approach the table of the Lord. When this is done they have another mafter to serve; they leave the house of God, and occupy places of diffipation; they relish the follies and comply with the manners of a finful age; and as the eye follows their career, you fee them dropping one distinction after another till they are undistinguishingly blended with the crowd.

Nor are these persons wanting in excuses to palliate, if not to justify their practice. They allege that it

renders religion less objectionable; that it keeps up an intercourse which renders them useful; that-but I difdain to enumeraae fuch pleas of worldly-mindednefs-they will not abide the day of trial; they are all as tow before the flame; the declaration of our Lord and Saviour confumes them. For observe, my brethren, upon what he lays the stress of his reasoning, It is the IMPOSSIBILITY of the cafe. He does not say, You shall not, You must not, You ought not, but you CANNOTт. "No man CAN serve two masters, Ye "CANNOT serve God and mammon."

There are however four cases in which you may serve two masters; but these exceptions will only render the general rule the more remarkable, and will also help us to understand it. For, first, you may serve two masters fuccessively. There are some who have lived in various families; and they have served the gentle and the froward, the evil and the good. Christians once served divers lufts and pleasures, and now they serve God; but they did not ferve both at the fame time; this was impracticable, " Being then " made free from fin, ye became the servants of righ"teousness. For when ye were the servants of fin, " ye were free from righteousness." Secondly, you may serve two mastersby ferving one of them in reality, and the other in pretence. But while you truly love the world, will God be fatisfied with appearances and profeffions? Is he deceived? Can any disguise conceal you from his eye? Will he not abhor you the more for your hypocrify? And will not fuch a course of diffimulation be a life of meanness, embarrasment, and mifery; in which you will offer violence to nature,