submission to his authority? Disaffected to his government, attached to another sovereign, they are ripe for insurrection and revolt; and if not checked by the 'strong arm of the civil power, they will in time overthrow the constituted authorities, and subvert the empire!'

But where (it may again be asked) was the foundation for this Charge? With what truth and justice was it urged? The Christians, indeed, acknowledged Jesus as their King. But His Kingdom was not of this world. Their obedience to Him did not interfere with their obedience in all lawful things to human authorities. Their alle

giance to Him did not involve disloyalty to the Emperor. On the contrary, the precepts and principles of the Religion, to which they had been converted, were calculated to make them better subjects than they had before been. Their Divine Master had Himself expressly commanded them to "Render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's." And what did His Apostles enjoin? What did St. Paul himself constantly enjoin in reference to this subject? "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities, and powers, to obey magistrates." "Let every one be subject unto the higher powers. there is no power but of God. ˆ The that be are ordained of God.

For

The powers
Whosoever

therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." "I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet, and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty."* What colour of probability was there that the followers of a Religion which enjoined on them such precepts as these should be notorious for their disloyal and seditious spirit? And what did facts prove? What had their conduct been? In all the places in which the Gospel had hitherto been preached, we find no instance among those who had embraced it, of any rebellion against the constituted authorities, or of disobedience to any lawful command. What had been the case at Thessalonica? Had the Christians so conducted themselves as to give any ground for the Charge, that they "did contrary to the decrees of Cesar ?" Nothing of this kind is mentioned. It is true, indeed, that at this very moment there was a great commotion in the place, and all the city was in an uproar; but who were the authors of this tumult? Not the Christians, but their accusers; not Jason and the brethren, but the Jews and their agents; who, having assaulted and dragged them before Titus, iii. 1. Rom. xiii. 1, 2. 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.

the Rulers, were now accusing them as disturbers of the public peace, and enemies to the government. Surely nothing more need be added to shew the groundless nature of the Charge, or the injustice and malignity with which it was urged.

From this consideration then of the Charge in reference to the Persons against whom it was originally preferred, let us proceed to consider it in reference,

II. To the Views in which it may now be profitably contemplated by us.

There are several Views in which the subject before us might be contemplated with advantage: but I shall select only two.

1st. We may consider the Charge in the text as exhibiting a specimen of that calumnious treatment which true Religion in the persons of its ministers and its followers has often encountered from an unbelieving and irreligious world. Thessalonica has not been the only place, in which unjust accusations have been preferred against the servants and subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul and Silas have not been the only Preachers of the Gospel, who have been falsely represented as Movers of Sedition, and Enemies to the Public Peace. Jason and the Brethren with him have not been the only Christians, who have been slanderously accused of Disloyalty and Opposition to con

stituted authorities. In fact, it is this Charge which has been the chief Instrument of Persecution in every age of the church. It is this Charge which has been often made the plausible pretence for seizing and slaughtering the servants of the Lord, both by Pagan and Papal Rome. This has been generally the cry against them, "They turn the world upside down: they serve another King." Nor has the cry yet ceased, even in modern times, and in Protestant Countries. Blessed be God! in these countries the monster Persecution now is chained. He can no longer riot in the blood of the Saints. He can no longer drag them before Rulers, and by false accusations can immure them in Prisons, or afflict them with stripes. But though chained, he is not dead. He still lives and in nature and in spirit is unchanged. The original enmity between the seed of the Serpent, and the seed of the Woman, is still the same as it ever was. The unbelieving

world has no more affection for true Christianity and for its real followers, than it ever had. It still dislikes them, and seeks their ruin. The violence, indeed, of its operations, is limited, but their tendency is the same. The world, no longer permitted to lift its arm against the objects of its dislike, still raises its voice against them; and betrays, by the venom of the tongue, the malignant

feelings of the heart. No longer able to wound the Person of its adversaries, it still tries to wound their Character. It still brands them as Enemies to Society, and the Favourers of Sedition. It still charges them (but where is the Truth and Justice of the charge?) with "turning the world upside down, and with doing contrary to the decrees of Cesar."

Nor is this statement mere declamation, or bare assertion. It is too strongly substantiated by Facts. It is too clearly proved by Experience. My brethren, are not you yourselves witnesses to the truth of what I am saying? Have you not heard charges of this kind brought against the Ministers and Professors of Religion? How often are the Preachers of Evangelical Truth represented as the enemies of mankind for insisting on the importance and necessity of vital Faith, and for asserting its sole and exclusive operation in the office of justifying the Sinner? For maintaining, in its purity, this fundamental Doctrine of the Gospel, how often are they charged with undermining the basis of social order, and with opening the door to immorality and licentiousness? Do they preach the necessity of a spiritual Regeneration? Do they declare it to be the Doctrine of Scripture, that except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the