measures. Their language, in effect, was this : ' A great miracle has been wrought indeed ; but we will not have it mentioned. The doctrine which it was intended to confirm, appears to be from God ; but we will not have it mentioned. The tendency of the doctrine, as far as we can judge from the miracle, is most salutary and beneficial ; but we will not have it mentioned. The preachers of that doctrine profess to have received a commission from God himself; but we will not suffer them to execute it. They tell us that they open to men the only possible way of salvation ; but we care not for the salvation of men, nor will we suffer any further attempts to promote it. They tell us, that it is at the peril of their own souls to decline the office assigned them ; but what care we about their souls ? they shall not execute their office, though they, and the whole world, should perish through their neglect. They tell us they must obey God ; but we care not for God : they shall obey us, and not God ; and if they do not regard us more than God, we will make them feel the weight of our heaviest displeasure.']
But unreasonable as this was, it shews, as in a glass, the precise manner in which the enemies of religion act at this day —
[The truth and excellence of Christianity are universally acknowledged, together with the obligation of all persons to obey it : yet no sooner does any one begin to obey it from the heart, than his friends and relatives endeavour to check his progress. In vain does he bring his sentiments to the test of Scripture; or urge the commands of God, and the awful judg- ments that will await him if unfaithful to his God : authority, as in the case before us, usurps the place of reason, and the will of man is put in opposition to the will of God. Unrea- sonable and impious as this is, it is the practice of parents, of masters, of all that are in authority, as far as the laws of the
land, or the liberal spirit of the times, will admit and
wherever religion most flourishes, there will this conduct most openly prevail b.]
This however, for the most part, serves only to call forth, II. The power of religion —
Beautifully was it exemplified on the occasion before us. Behold the Apostles ;
1. How firm their conduct ! —
11 The terms " unreasonable and wicked " arc still applicable to the generality of unbelievers. 2 Thess. iii. 2.