men deny in words the interposition of Heaven ; yet, in their hearts, they so far disbelieve it, that they act w^ithout any reference to it, and live, practically at least, as " atheists in the world'."]
Let me, however, proceed to shew you,
II. The folly of it- Foolish in the extreme is this disregard of God.
For,
1 . It will not alter the state of things —
[We may deny the agency, or even the existence, of God: but he will exist, and act too, in despite of us. We cannot reverse the order of created things : how, then, can we affect the Creator himself? He will sit on his throne, not- withstanding us ; and will mark our conduct, and record it in the book of his remembrance ; and call us into judgment for it, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Now, if by denying these things we could change the course of them, then there were some reason for our conduct : but when we can alter nothing, but only deceive our own souls, it is little short of madness to continue in unbelief. In truth, we should call it madness if any man were to pursue such conduct in reference to earthly things. Suppose a man were to deny the tendency of bodies to gravitate towards the centre of the earth, and the power of fire to burn ; and, in support of his sentiments, were to leap down a precipice, or thrust his hand into the fire ; should we be at any loss how to designate that conduct? Yet would it not be a whit more infatuated than to go on in sin, on the presumption that God does not mark, or will not judge, the actions of men. In this case, precisely as in the other, we only rush on to our perdition.]
2. It will not alter the issue of things —
[We may declaim on the injustice of God, in consigning men to everlasting misery for the sins of time; or we may deny that there is any such place as hell. But it shall surely be the abode of the wicked, whether we will believe it or not. To judgment we shall be called : by our works we shall be judged : God's sentence shall be according to truth ; nor shall we be able to withstand it. All that we do by our present unbelief is only to insure that very doom which now we presume to question. Then shall we find, that there is a Lord over us ; and that we can neither elude nor withstand his power. If now we admit the truth of these things, we may avert the misery with which we are threatened, and secure the happiness which is offered to us : but if we persevere in an atheistical
i Eph. ii. 12. The Greek.