have sought out many inventions. The great mass of mankind have, for near six thousand years, been employing all their ingenuity and learning in devising and propagating new and false schemes of religion, by which they have involved the world in general, in the grossest errours and moral darkness. The light of divine truth has always shone in the midst of the darkness of human errour. And we all know, that darkness renders light more visible, and light renders darkness more visible. Just so, the darkness of errour renders the light of truth more visible, and the light of truth renders the darkness of errour more visible. The world that lies in moral darkness do not know that they lie in moral darkness, until the light of the glorious gospel shines among them. And those who have always enjoyed the light of the gospel, would not know, that the rest of the world are involved in gross and fatal moral darkness, did not the light of the gospel discover their deluded and perishing condition. Here then we see one important reason, why God has not caused the gospel to spread more extensively in the world, from the beginning to this day, and has left almost all nations to walk in their own way, and plunge themselves deeper and deeper in destructive errours and delusions. He has meant to set truth and errour in contrast, and make them serve to illustrate each other. And this contrast has been producing this effect from age to age, and will continue to produce it to the end of time. Truth and errour under the old testament dispensation illustrated each other; and truth and errour under the new testament illustrate each other. And orthodoxy in the church illustrates heterodoxy in the church, and heterodoxy in the church illustrates orthodoxy in the church. The errours in the heathen world illustrate the truths believed and professed in the christian world. The errours in the Romish church illustrate the truths believed and professed in the Protestant church. And the errours in an Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian, or in any

other particular church, illustrate the truths believed and professed in that particular church. Sabellianism, Arianism, Socinianism, and Unitarianism, all illustrate the truth of Trinitarianism. Arminianism illustrates the truth of Calvinism. Every errour that opposes any essential doctrine of the gospel, illustrates that essential doctrine of the gospel which it opposes. It is now easy to see, why God should choose, that errours, delusions, and heresies should always be not only in the world, but in the church. He always has employed, and will continue to employ them, as means to distinguish truth from errour, and to cause errour to appear more criminal and dangerous, but truth more amiable and important.

2. God chooses that there should be heresies in the church that true believers may be distinguished from false professors. This the apostle gives as a reason why there must be heresies in the church. "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." We know, that there were true and false professors in the church of Corinth. The true professors believed, and loved and professed the great and fundamental doctrines of the gospel, which Paul preached and inculcated; but the false professors, who were carnal, and had itching ears, followed false teachers, and heartily embraced and propagated gross and fatal errours. The apostle asks in the 15th chapter of this epistle, "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And it Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also who are fallen asleep in

Christ are perished." Such a great and fatal heresy, as the denial of the resurrection of the dead, had sprung up in the great and flourishing church of Corinth, which Paul had planted and Apollos had watered. And it was necessary, that this heresy should be in this church, that those who were approved might be made manifest among them. It was certainly calculated to produce this good effect. There can be no doubt but that the sincere and approved professors disbelieved and rejected this heresy, while the insincere believed and propagated it to their own ruin, and the ruin of others. Heresy has always had the same tendency to distinguish true believers from false professors. It had this effect in the Jewish church. In the days of Rehoboam, it distinguished the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, from the ten tribes of Israel, who embraced the fatal errours of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. It had this effect till the coming of Christ, when it distinguished the Scribes and Pharisees from the few Israelites indeed. It had this effect in all the primitive churches, and distinguished true believers from Sabellians, Arians, Pelagians, and other hereticks. Heresy still serves to distinguish true believers from false professors in the christian church in every part of the world. God has chosen, that the present flood of errours, delusions and heresies should spread and prevail in the heathen and christian world, that true churches might be made manifest, and the true professors in them should be distinguished from false professors, who imbibe and propagate great and fatal heresies. The heterodox every where, are a foil to the orthodox, and exhibit their characters in a beautiful and amiable light. Unitarians are a foil to Trinitarians, and Arminians are a foil to Calvinists. They are now distinguishing true professors from the false professors, who are following the great and dangerous errours that they are so zealously propagating. And if they succeed. in their proselyting scheme, there will soon be a wide and visible distinction between heterodox and orthodox churches in this land, and as visible a distinction

between true and false professors. God is evidently making manifest those whom he approves, and those whom he disapproves, by the prevailing errours and heresies of the day. Professors of religion in all our churches are rapidly taking sides with the orthodox and heterodox, by which they will necessarily, though not, perhaps, intentionally, discover the sincerity and insincerity of their hearts; which is a desirable discovery. I must further observe,

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3. That God chooses, that errours, delusions, and heresies should be in the world and in the christian church, that mankind may have a fair opportunity of choosing the way to life, or the way to death. Truth is the way to life, and errour is the way to death. It is through the medium of truth, that God prepares men for salvation, and it is through the medium of errour, that he prepares men for destruction. Accordingly, it has always been his method to exhibit both truth and errour before their minds, and give them opportunity of choosing the one, or the other, that they may be saved, or that they may be damned. He gave a fair opportunity to the first generations of mankind, to hear and embrace the preaching of Enoch, or to follow their own delusions. He gave a fair opportunity to the Israelites, when they first entered into Canaan, to embrace the laws of Moses, or to embrace the fatal errours of the ignorant and benighted heathens. Hear the proposal that Joshua made to them. "Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose lands ye dwell, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." The same opportunity of choosing truth or errour; life or death God has given to all, to whom he has sent the gospel. And all under the light of the gospel, have now a fair op

portunity to embrace truth, or errour; that is, to believe and love the great and essential doctrines of the gospel, or believe and love destructive delusions and fatal heresies. Those who believe and cordially embrace the gospel, believe and love the great truths, which make them wise unto salvation. But to those who disbelieve and reject the great and essential doctrines of the gospel, God sends a strong delusion, that they may believe a lie, that they may be damned. For this great, glorious, and awful purpose of saving and destroying the souls of men, God chooses, that there should be fatal errours and heresies in the world and in the church. God compels no man to embrace truth, and no man to embrace errour. He gives every one opportunity to embrace the one, or the other. This places mankind in this erroneous world, in a most important and critical situation. They have life and death set before them, and they are commanded to choose life, and the way that leads to it. If it be important, that truth and errour should be distinguished; or that true believers should be distinguished from false professors; or that mankind should have a fair opportunity of choosing the way of life, rather than the way of death; then God has great and good reasons, for choosing that there should be strong delusions and fatal heresies in the church and in the world from age to age.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If heresies consist in those errours which are opposite to, and subversive of the great and essential doctrines of the gospel; then we have reason to think, that they have had a long and extensive spread in the world. Ever since the gospel was first preached to mankind, the great majority of the human race, who have had an opportunity to hear the great and essential truths contained in it, have been disposed to reject it, and have sought out many other ways of salvation. Though the seed of Abraham were numerous as