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Some hope to succeed, by effecting improvements in political institutions. For example: great national evils are endured at this time amongst ourselves; and there is a large body of individuals, false Christs and their disciples, who hope to remedy them all by a reform in the Commons House of Parliament. The leader of this class is one of the ablest writers of the day. This will be acknowledged hereafter, as a matter of course; and that it is not acknowledged now, is one proof either of the general imbecility, or of the general dishonesty, at present prevailing. While in his writings, which I regularly read, I am continually meeting with principles that I abhor, I am yet constrained to acknowledge that he is the only author of my acquaintance, now living, who writes English; and, what is much more than this, that he is the author to whom I am particularly indebted, for being made fully sensible how atrociously the poor are oppressed by the rich in this realm, and how the words of the prophets against Israel for this crime, do in their full extent apply to England. But if a writer, clear-sighted in the discernment of coming dangers, glowing with indignation at the ills which he sees and feels, ignorant of their true cause and of their true remedy, deludes his readers with the fond persuasion that he can shew them a way of deliverance from all evil by parliamentary reform, whereas the true way of deliverance from evil is by the Gospel, and the Gospel only--he must not take it amiss, if I class him in his proper rank and station, as a standardbearer and a leader among the false Christs.

Others hope to remove existing evils, by the general education of the young. This scheme has been tried to a great extent in the present day; and where the attempt has been made in a Christian spirit, and upon Christian principles, of course it is no part of my design to object to it. But we have great reason to fear that education has been too much tried, as a thing sufficient in itself; with the hope of producing that amelioration, which true religion alone can produce; in other words, with the hope of dispensing with the Gospel: and therefore all who have been, and are concerned, in such attempts, must take their place among the false Christs.

Others hope, again, to improve the condition of mankind, and remedy existing evils, by the general diffusion of science and literature. Hence societies for promoting general reading and useful knowledge amongst the middling and lower classes, having at their head a lawyer by some considered eminent, who must therefore be content to rank among the false Christs. The remedy is a poor, inadequate one indeed; has not even the appearance of going to the bottom of the evil; but serves Satan,

as one engine amongst others, to turn men's minds from the true one. Abroad, however, men have not only tried it, but think that it has answered. In Germany they talk of a kind of literary millennium, a day of mental illumination, as already come. A shallow illumination! a millennium with hell and the second death not abolished to them that are in it! As the true millennium is to be brought in by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, all who preach a false one must be reckoned amongst the false Christs.

Many other such delusions, in the shape of attempts to remove existing evils, and so to save the world, might here be mentioned. But let it suffice for the present to observe, that one error pervades them all; namely, an error respecting human nature. The movers of these schemes suppose, that human nature is to be improved by being bettered, carried on, and advanced, continuing such as it is. The Lord on the contrary teaches, that human nature must first be regenerated, or totally changed. They, disbelieving or disregarding (because, if this must be done, they of themselves have no power to do any thing, and must be quiet), make their own attempts, and fail. Either the attempt comes naturally to nothing; or else, as I have said before, it is signally confounded, with astonishment and anguish to the wretched contrivers.

Such the attempt to counterfeit the WORK of Christ. And now concerning that to counterfeit his CHARACTER. This goes with the other; and on the part of these false Christs may be particularly detected, in counterfeiting his goodness, and his self-devotion.

What feature more observable in the character of our gracious Lord, than his great and unchanging goodness? Now the men who set up for usefulness and philanthropy of all kinds, without Him, will often, perhaps generally, be found to attempt a revolting imitation of this his goodness. For example, they frequently assume a character of universal benevolence, great gentleness, remarkable blandness, comprehensive charity. It is very observable how the utilitarian character, and this assumption of goodness, go together. But their nature is unrenewed; they are yet in the gall of bitterness; the reverse of Him whom they counterfeit, the more you know of them, and have to do with them, the less real goodness you find in them: -they are false Christs.

But that which is so peculiar to the character of our Lord, is his self-devotion. He sacrificed himself for the good of others; he gave himself for our sins; he died for our redemption. Now the men who aspire to the title of public benefactors venture an

imitation, even here. They devote themselves to the good of the state. They sacrifice their whole life and strength to promote national or useful objects. They have no views of personal advantage; all they want is, at whatever cost of labour and exertion, at whatever sacrifice, to forward some benevolent or patriotic scheme, which is to remove abuses, do away with existing evils, and prove a fruitful source of general happiness or relief. But the fraud comes out. Often some dirty job, some scheme of personal aggrandizement, some base understanding of an equivalent, some remuneration for services done, some arrangement for putting money into the pocket that must be hushed up because it cannot well be told, some paltry advantage gained, some penny turned, betrays the true character of the patriot, the projector, or the philanthropist, and at once detects and blows up his scheme; and public discoveries and exposures tell us, that liberals, mock patriots, promoters of general illumination, friends of freedom, and professors of that unsanctified benevolence which forms schemes of universal good, but in executing them dispenses with Jesus Christ, may devote, but never forget, themselves.

Thus much by way of description and identification of these false Christs. And here let one observation be made. Where our Lord speaks of false Christs, he also speaks of false prophets "There shall arise false Christs and false prophets." (Matth. xxiv. 24.) Now this part of the prediction we may apply in the following manner. All false deities have their false priests or prophets, to cry them up; and so have these. The "false prophets," then, are they who recommend the "false Christs." And many such there are. While some attain to the first degree, and, as leaders of the various schemes of utility or pretended benevolence, deserve the name of false Christs, there is a second degree reserved for others; namely, for all those who, without themselves giving birth to such schemes, approve and recommend them; the men who praise and admire plans of professed humanity and general improvement, but have no praise or admiration for the Gospel: ministers, it may be, who can promote schemes of temporal benefit and plans for bettering men's condition as to the things of this life, but have no co-operation for schemes to extend true religion: prelates, for instance, who will attend, or take the chair, at a meeting for the encouragement of some invention to save the lives of persons shipwrecked (no bad object in itself), but who will not take the chair, who will not attend, who will not be concerned, who would not for all the world be thought to have any thing to do, with certain meetings of another kind, where the object

is to save perishing souls out of a shipwrecked world. All such may reckon as "false prophets."

But to return from false prophets to false Christs: There are two things foretold of these false Christs; and two things which determine their real character.

Two things are foretold of them. One is, that they" shall shew great signs and wonders." The nature of a sign or wonder is this; to determine the authority of the person by whom it is wrought. On this principle it is, that signs and wonders were wrought by our Lord himself, in the power of God, when he came in the flesh; and many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. In imitation of this principle it is also, that false Christs, literally so called, impostors calling themselves Christ, have succeeded in bewitching the minds of men by sorceries and diabolical agency. But something similar we may observe also, of the false Christs of whom we now speak. They also must have their signs, must produce their credentials. It is not sufficient for them to say, "I am Christ." It is not sufficient for them to say, "I can remove all mortal woes my scheme of illumination, or education, or refinement, or political amelioration, will do away with public suffering, remove urgent evils, advance the character, dignify the nature, or promote the happiness of man." This is not enough. We must have a proof. They must give evidence. Here, then, come in their signs and wonders. That is, their endeavours to do this good, which is in reality of a kind so much beyond human power, seem to be attended with success. Their efforts have apparent results. Good seems for a time to be done. This then is their sign. This constitutes their credentials, on the strength of which they expect to be listened to and believed. People look at the apparent benefit produced, and are surprised. The seeming amelioration of a district; the pattern school, exhibiting the wonderful improvement of the young by schemes of precocious education; or the pretended happiness and innocence of a manufactory, conducted upon certain principles devised for the purpose: this is their wonder. The end is answered: men admire, and they are believed. These are false Christs.-At length, indeed, the truth comes out. After a time the amelioration vanishes: the uncommon children turn out rather clever boys, dull youths, and ordinary men; or, if uncommon still, are neither the better, nor the more useful: the happiness and innocence, viewed closely by a discerning eye, present all the elements of vice and misery; yea, the hotbed of artificial felicity stops the noses of the passengers. meanwhile the object has been gained: the sign or the wonder

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has been for the time believed in: deception has done its work, and the fraud has answered its temporary end.

The other thing which our Lord foretels of the false Christs is, that the design or tendency of their false signs and wonders would be, "to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." Now I have no doubt, that if a false Christ were literally to come, and literally to shew signs and wonders, he would, at this time, seduce some of the elect, if it were possible, amongst ourselves. Finally and entirely seduce them he could not: they are in better keeping than their own. But a great power over their minds, attended with a great hesitation in their judgments, a great disposition to believe and follow him, or to go to Jerusalem to look for him, or to run backwards and forwards to the cry of" See here!" and "See there!" in search of him, I little doubt that this false Christ, so coming, would exercise. For how is it with the false Christs of whom I here speak, and whom we have already in the midst of us? These promoters of visionary good by earthly means, have their believers and their partial followers even among the religious: so as to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.-For, even by religious persons, very obscure and defective views are entertained upon this most important point; namely, that, Christ being the source of all goodness and of all blessedness, whatever good is done in the earth, he will be the Doer of it. Either immediately, by his own power directly exercised, or mediately, by the instrumentality of his servants, it shall all be done by Him; and, independent of his power, none shall have the doing of any part of

it.

On this point, I say, the minds of many of the elect are far from clear. They would not expressly deny it: I am sure they could not. But they hold other opinions, which amount to a denial of it, in their minds. For example, what a disease in the minds of some pious men the notion, that, besides that goodness which comes from Christ, there is a goodness of another kind, a worldly goodness, a goodness in unconverted people, the enemies of God, which has any thing in it that is really substantial and amiable. Oh, it is a heinous error, for it makes God a liar and those in whom we believe such goodness, are generally made the scourges to punish our mistake. Thus Christians look to Christ, in the main, as the Captain of their salvation; but they look to other quarters for other things. Hence, they are very easily seduced by benevolent schemes of various kinds, which have nothing in them of Christ, and which therefore are all foredoomed either to be shattered, or to come naturally to nothing, or to issue in atrocious wrong and glaring ill, discovering their true origin. Any plan of pretended ameliora

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