the possession of the kingdom of God, and of immutable riches; he hath brought to them the knowledge of salvation and the doctrine of truth. These gifts, so magnificent, have not ended even with him: seated on the right hand of his Father, he still sheds them over our hearts; all our miseries still find their remedy in him; he nourishes us with his body; he washes us from our stains by continually applying to us the price of his blood; he forms pastors to conduct us; be inspires prophets to instruct us; he sanctifies righteous characters to animate us by their example; he is continually present in our hearts to comfort all their wants: man hath no passion which his grace doth not cure, no affliction which it doth not render pleasing, no power but what springs from him: in a word, he assures us himself, that he is our way, our truth, our life, our righteousness, our redemption, our light. What new doctrine is this? Can an individual man be the source of so many benefits to other men? Can the sovereign God, so jealous of his glory, attach us to a creature, by duties and ties so intimate and sacred, that we depend almost more upon that creature than upon himself? Would there be no danger that a man, become so beneficial and so necessary to other men, should at last become their idol? That a man, author and dispenser of so many blessings, and who discharges, with regard to us, the office and all the functions of a God, should likewise, in a little time, occupy his place in our hearts?
For observe, my brethren, that it is gratitude alone which hath formerly made so many gods. Men, neglecting the Author of their being and of the universe, worshipped, at first, the air which enabled them to live, the earth which nourished them, the sun which gave them light, and the moon which presided over the night: such were their Cybeles, their Apollos, their Dianas. They worshipped those conquerors who had delivered them from their enemies, those benevolent and upright princes who had rendered their subjects happy, and the memory of their reign immortal; and Jupiter and Hercules were placed in the rank of gods, the one for the number of his victories, and the other in consequence of the happiness and tranquillity of his reign. In the ages of superstition and credulity, men knew no other gods than those who were serviceable to them; and such is the character of man, his worship is but his love and his gratitude.
Now, what man hath ever benefitted mankind so much as Jesus Christ? Recollect all that the pagan ages have told us of the history of their gods, and see if they believed themselves indebted to them what unbelief itself acknowledges, with the holy books, the world to be indebted to Jesus Christ. To some they thought themselves indebted for favourable winds and a fortunate navigation; to others for the fertility of seasons; to their Mars for success in battle; to their Janus for the peace and tranquillity of the people; to Esculapius for their health: but what are these weak benefits, if you compare them with those which Jesus Christ hath showered upon the earth? He hath brought to it an eternal
