A Feast for Serpents Being the substance of a sermon, preached at the Obelisk Chapel, on Sunday evening, March 21, 1813 — Key Ideas to Explore

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Authors: Church, J. (John), 1780?-1825? Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2018 First Publication Year: 1813

Key Word: Sermons, English -- 19th century Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 13,352

Reading time 59 min

Text sections 2

This digital edition of A Feast for Serpents Being the substance of a sermon, preached at the Obelisk Chapel, on Sunday evening, March 21, 1813 — Key Ideas to Explore is described by source-level measurements including 13,352 words, 59 min estimated reading time, and 2 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 28.6 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Sermons, English -- 19th century,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #58010

John Church's 1813 sermon uses the biblical image of serpents eating dust to condemn spiritual complacency, greed, and false teaching, while offering consolation to the elect. The text moves between vivid metaphor, scriptural citation, and direct address to his congregation.

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Text length15 pts
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Edition quality

File: pg58010

Read the Text

Transcribed from the 1813 R. Thomas edition {0} by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

[Picture: Public domain book cover]

A Feast for Serpents,

BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF

Preached at the Obelisk Chapel,

On SUNDAY Evening, March 21, 1813,

Published by Desire—and addressed to all whom it may concern.

BY J. CHURCH, Minister of the Gospel.

SAVIOUR.—_Ye Serpents_, _ye Generation of Vipers_.

HOSEA iv, 8.—_They eat up the Sin of my People_, _and they set their heart on their Iniquity_.

ISAIAH.—_He feedeth on Ashes_.

JEREM.—_Against him that bendeth let the Archer lend his Bow_.

Printed by R. THOMAS, RED LION STREET, Borough.

_TO the Church of Jesus Christ_, _who are loved with an everlasting love_, _chosen in Christ before all worlds_—_redeemed by the blood of the Lamb_—_and effectually called out of darkness into marvellous light_; _led by the providence of God to attend the ministry of so unworthy an instrument as myself_, _to whom God has made my labors useful_, _and profitable for reformation_, _conviction_, _conversion_, _building up_, _and spiritual consolation_. _Having been much tried and perplexed by men of corrupt minds_, _who have long endeavoured to prejudice me_, _with a view to separate us one from the other_, _but they have hitherto failed_—_having grace given you to continue with me in my temptations_, _to abide in the furnace of affliction with me_, _and to stand in the evil day_. _The good hand of God_, _restoring a degree of peace to us_, _so that we can pass to our Meeting Place of Worship unmolested_,—_I think it right_, _and that I am in duty bound_ (_though you have not demanded it_) _to make a few general remarks upon the subjects which have agitated the public_, _and not a little distressed your minds_.

_I wish you most decidedly to bear in mind thro’ the whole of this performance_, _that I write only for your sakes_—_I write not for the worldling_, _whose heart is set on the things of time and sense_, _who_, Gallio _like_, _cares for none of these things_, _except it be to pass an unpleasant sneer at us_.—_I write not for the proud Pharisee_, _or the mere Formalist_, _who have a name to live and are dead_—_I write not for Hypocrites_, _whose end will be according to their work_, _and who are a perpetual plague to the Household of Faith_—_Wolves in Sheep’s cloathing_, _who cover the vilest principles and conduct with the garb of apparent holiness_!—_but I write for those who know the plague of the heart_; _the vanity of the world_; _the emptiness of the creature_; _the danger of a form of godliness without the power_; _the spirituality of God’s most holy Law_; _the preciousness of a dear Redeemer_; _the power of the word_; _the manifestation of the atonement_. _These characters so graciously taught_, _must be under the influence of divine love_—_the remnant that shall not do iniquity_, _nor speak lies_—_neither is a deceitful tongue found in their mouths_; _but they feed on the bread of eternal life_, _and can not be satisfied without it_. _To these Characters I dedicate this book_; _and not doubting but it will procure me many foes_, _and stir up that carnal enmity which they are the slaves of_, _for them I would put up that charitable prayer of our Lord_, “_Father forgive them_;”—_and of you I would use the fine language of the blessed Apostle_—_And now_, _Brethren_, _I commend you to God_, _&c._—_Acts xx_.

“AND DUST SHALL BE THE SERPENT’S MEAT.”—_Isaiah_ lv, 25.

IT is a most undoubted truth, that, as in the planetary system one star differs from another in glory, so it is in the Church of God—though the elect are loved alike, chosen and provided for alike, and shall all be partakers of the same glory in ultimate bliss—the infant who died this day, and the mind of the apostle Paul will be alike there; yet, in the Church Militant it is not so. God the divine Spirit, is a sovereign in all his dispensations; and while some of the people of God have scarcely been known here, but through the solitary lane of life, have pursued the noiseless tenor of their way—treasures hid in the sand—a Sparrow alone—a Pelican of the Wilderness—and, as finely described by one of our Poets—

Full many a gem, of purest ray serine, The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear: Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And lose its sweetness in the desert air.

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John Church’s 1813 sermon, preached at the Obelisk Chapel and published by desire of his hearers, opens with a pointed dedication to the “Church of Jesus Christ” and a defensive preface against “men of corrupt minds.” The title, A Feast for Serpents, immediately signals the central metaphor: serpents feeding on dust. Church draws on Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to frame his discourse, and the printed text retains the rhythms of oral delivery—direct address, repeated scriptural quotations, and a combative tone toward opponents. The sermon’s structure moves from identifying the serpent’s seed to describing the various kinds of dust on which sinners feed, including riches, pleasure, and persecution of the saints.

The Serpent’s Seed and Its Diet

Church establishes his primary image early: the serpent’s seed, identified with the “children of the wicked one,” feeds on dust. He glosses this as a spiritual condition: “Man having lost the image of God, left the fountain of his bliss and satisfaction; his mind soon became vitiated—a vacancy being in it he seeks to fill the empty space with any thing, and every thing but God.” The preacher then catalogs types of dust-eaters: the miser feeding on “white and yellow dust,” the worldling chasing “that phantom, called Pleasure,” and the persecutor who “eat up my people as they eat bread.” Each type is illustrated with a chain of biblical references—Blair, David, Solomon, Isaiah—creating a dense intertextual web. The effect is cumulative: the listener or reader is meant to see every form of worldly appetite as a variation on the same serpentine meal.

Erroneous Teachers and the Poison of False Doctrine

A second movement targets those who have “left the truth and turned again like a washed swine to the mire.” Church warns against “erroneous characters” who “make a fair shew, to deceive and to damn immortal souls.” He lists their errors: arguing for universal salvation, denying election, opposing the divinity of Christ and the Spirit, and “levelling their artillery against the Trinity in Unity.” The language is martial—“artillery,” “level,” “destroy”—and the preacher positions himself as defending the fundamentals against a flood of heresy. Notably, he does not name these opponents directly, but the preface suggests they are local figures who have “agitated the public” and distressed his congregation. The sermon thus functions as both doctrinal instruction and a rallying cry for a besieged community.

The Believer’s Former Folly and Present Consolation

Church shifts tone when addressing the faithful directly. He reminds them that they too once fed on dust, but have been “changed by grace.” The believer can “look back on his former folly in forsaking the fountain and cleaving to the stream of creature satisfaction.” This retrospective view creates a contrast between past emptiness and present sustenance: the elect now “feed on the bread of eternal life, and can not be satisfied without it.” The preacher’s language becomes more pastoral, offering comfort to those who have “continued with me in my temptations” and “abode in the furnace of affliction.” The sermon’s structure thus alternates between denunciation and consolation, mirroring the dual audience of the “worldling” and the “household of faith.”

Movement Between Pulpit and Page

The printed sermon retains traces of its oral performance: direct addresses (“I wish you most decidedly to bear in mind”), rhetorical questions, and a preface that explains the circumstances of its delivery. Church notes that he writes “only for your sakes”—his congregation—and that he expects the publication to “procure me many foes.” The text thus exists at the intersection of spoken word and printed artifact, with the preacher’s voice still audible in the exclamatory style and the repeated appeals to scripture. The movement between scenes—from the preface’s personal defense, to the catalog of sinners, to the warnings against false teachers, to the consolations for the elect—creates a dynamic structure that mirrors the sermon’s own claim that the believer is “led by the providence of God” through trials.

Readers approaching this sermon should attend to its dual function: as a public rebuke of perceived enemies and as a private comfort for a specific community. Church’s reliance on the serpent-dust metaphor gives the text a memorable, almost allegorical coherence, while the rapid shifts between scriptural citation and contemporary application reveal the preacher’s rhetorical skill. The sermon rewards attention to its structure—how each section builds on the central image—and to the way Church positions himself as a faithful shepherd amid controversy.

I remember John Church’s sermon about the serpent’s dusty meal, that quiet warning against greed. Years later, while shelving, I found the other volume and saw how its simple tales hold the same seed of patience. There is a gentle fellowship between a fiery warning and a child’s first lesson. Bible Stories — Reading Companion sits beside it now, speaking softly.