RECOMMENDATION

These volumes of " Plain Sermons*'' appear to me
to be admirably adapted to the conveying of religious
instruction on the sound principles of the gospel, and
are therefore recommended to the members of my
diocese, for private and family reading. I also hereby
authorize the public reading of them, together with
such others as I may from time to time appoint, by
lay-readers within said diocese.

Benjamcj T. Ondekdonk,
Bishop of the Diocese of JVew York,

New York, June, lAth, 1841.

PLAIN SERMONS,

BY

CONTRIBUTORS

TO THE

"TRACTS FOR THE TIMES."

" We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

" For we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong : and this also we wish, even
your perfection." — 2 Cor. xiii. 8, 9.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

! I K'

,<;-0j,5_iiL'ijti/X VOL. I.

V:yK\\'-v(A^

NEW YORK:

L & H. O. L ANGLE Y, 57 CHATHAM STREET.

1841.

ADVERTISEMENT

The principles which it has been the object of
" Tracts for the Times" to uphold, have obtained more
extensive reception than their first advocates could
have ventured to anticipate ; and the opposition they
have met with has been in proportion. But as the
former circumstance can of itself afford very little sub-
stantial ground for satisfaction, so the latter need not
necessarily excite feeling of uneasiness.

Nevertheless, while our persuasion of the inherent
truth of these principles may justly authorize us to be
thus indifferent to transient blame or praise, the very
same thought cannot but make us anxious, lest any,
who do admit the truth of them in theory, should be
at no pains to realize them in their daily practice ; an
anxiety which must naturally be felt by every one Avho
entertains any deep sense of the value of such princi-
ples, and has observed the extent to which they are
being received.

For if these principles, developed and imbodied, do
in fact constitute that very church system, which is the
channel, as we suppose, of our highest privileges and
blessings, it necessarily follows that any want of seri-
ousness in the reception of them must be regarded as
equivalent to a careless treatment of things sacred, and
as such attended with proportionate danger. That sub-

ADVERTISEMENT.

jetts of high and awful character cannot be lightly ap-
proached with impunity, is a truth we learn not only
from reason and experience, but also from the whole
tone and tenor of God's holy Word.

If therefore, as time goes on, there shall be found
persons, who, admiring the innate beauty and majesty
of the fuller system of primitive Christianity, and see-
ing the transcendent strength of its principles, shall
become loud and voluble advocates in their behalf,
.speaking the more freely because they do not feel them
deeply as founded in divine and eternal truth : of such
persons it is our duty to declare plainly, that as we
should contemplate their condition with much serious
misgiving, so would they be the last persons from whom
we should seek support.

But if, on the other hand, there shall be any, who, in
the silent humility of their lives, and in their unaffect-
ed reverence for holy things, show that they in truth
accept these principles as real and substantial, and by
habitual purity of heart and serenity of temper, give
proof of their deep veneration for sacraments and sac-
ramental ordinances, these persons, whether our pro-
fessed adherents or not, best exemplify the kind of
characters which the writers for the " Tracts for the
Times" have wished to form.

To carry out this design more fully, it has been
thought well to publish, from time to time, in connexion
with the " Tracts," a few " Plain Sermons," in order
to show that the subjects treated of in the " Tracts"
were not set forth as mere parts of ideal systems, or
as themes for disputation, matters only of sentiment,
or party, or idle speculation, but are rather urged as
truths of immediate and essential importance, bearing
more or less directly on our every-day behavior, means

ADVERTISEMENT.

of continual resource and consolation in life, and of
calm and sure hope in death.

It is also intended, by thus publishing practical ser-
mons in connexion with treatises too generally consid-
ered as only controversial, to bring before all persons,
whether friendly to us or opposed, that solemn admo-
nition from our blessed Lord himself, "If any one will
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it
be of God," an admonition which, amid so much un-
happy contention and dispute, we might, many of us,
be too apt to forget.

In conclusion, we have only to observe, that if in
these "Sermons," or in the "Tracts for the Times"
themselves, there should appear occasional discrepan-
cies, it must be remembered that when many persons
contemplate one object, especially one so vast and com-
prehensive, there must be shades of difference in the
light in which they separately view it. And if (which
is a consideration of far greater importance) anything
should be found in them which appears inconsistent
with the analogy of the faith, or in any other respect
not tending to edification, we can only entreat all sin-
cere Christians, who shall cast an eye on these publica-
tions, to gather from them what good they may con-
tain 5 and, for the rest, to bear in mind, that if there
should be anything erroneous, or unavoidably scanda-
lous (which we humbly hope there is not), their duty
is to make allowances for human infirmity, and to join
with us in beseeching x\lmighty God to bless every en-
deavor, however feeble, in behalf of his afflicted church.

Oxford,
The Feast of the Circumcision, 1839.

CONTENTS

I. Christian Responsibility ...

II. The Certainty of Judgment

III. Self-examination - - - - .

IV. Religious Peace ....
^^- v. Saints' Days and daily Service

VI. Death of young Persons

VII. Value of Time

VIII. Value of Time

IX. Our Lord a Pattern of Private Prayer -

X. Moral benefits of Private Prayer

XI. Christian fear of Relapse into Sin -

XII. Christian Hope of Improvement

XIII. All our distresses known to God -

XIV. The Danger of Self-confidence
XV. Forgetfulness of Warnings

XVI, Danger of presuming on God's Mercy

XVII, Benefits of Meditation on God's Saints

XVIII, Benefits of Meditation on the holy Angels

XIX. Christ's Lamentation over Jerusalem

XX, God's Judgments on his Church -

XXI. Fearlessness under God's Judgments

XXII. TheFidelity of Abraham

XXIII, The Church an unwelcome Prophet

XXIV, The Unity of the Spirit

XXV, God an impartial Judge ...

XXVI. God will be served in Fear

XXVII. Kings to be honored for their office sake

XXVIII. The Sun of Righteousness -

XXIX. Christ's Transfiguration . - . «

XXX. Saints are like Sparks in Stubble • -

XXXI, Godliness with Contentment - -

XXXII. Christian Preparation - - . ,

XXXIII. The Apostolic Church

XXXIV. The Christian Ministry

SERMON I.

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY.

LENT.

Jeremiah xiii. 20.

*' Where is the flock that was given thee .

Thy beautiful flock?"

The holy season of Lent, as it was intended from the
first to give occasion and encouragement to all persons
who had any spark of seriousness still alive in their
hearts, to cherish generally thoughts of their real con-
dition, of their need of deeper repentance and more
energetic faith, so may it with reason also suggest to
all reflecting minds particular recollections of the sol-
emn responsibilities pressing on them, and of the degree
(greater or less) in which we have neglected them, alas!
must I not say, even the best of us.

To the authorized minister of Christ's church in this
country, at this time, when looking back on the irre- '^^'
mediable past, and forward on the dim future, the
thought must naturally arise — How much have we to
answer for, and what answer shall we make 1 How did
we promise at our ordination, that we would never
cease our labor, our care and diligence to bring all such
as should be committed to our charge to that agreement
in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripe-
ness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no
place left among us for error in religion, or for vicious-
ness of life ! And then, whatever our labor, care, and
diligence, may have been — too scanty, alas ! and too
mean at the most and best — how humiliating is the
view of the Christian church among us at this moment,

Vol. I.— 1

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY.

hbw distracted with error in religion, how stained with
viciousness of life ! Again, how did we pledge our-
selves to seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed
abroad, and for his chosen that are in the midst of this
evil world, that they may be saved through Christ for
ever ! And after all these * pledges and promises,
" Where is the flock that was given us, the beautiful
flock 1"

These, I say, are painful humiliating thoughts ; yet
salutary and even necessary to be cherished, if we
would not delude ourselves with false confidences, and
" see visions of peace for Jerusalem, when there is no
peace, saith the Lord God."

But what I would now especially call your attention
to, let all seriously-minded Christians consider how
great our responsibility is — the responsibility of us all,
with respect to children and young persons, that they
be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord Jesus Christ — taught as well by the example as
the precept of their elders, to know the God of their
fathers, and to serve him with a perfect heart and a
willing mind, that so they may walk worthy of their
heavenly vocation, and adorn the doctrine of God their
Savior in all things.

It is matter for fearful reflection, to call to mind the
case of parents and elder persons, too frequently, alas !
to be met wdth in this Christian land, who, as they live
on themselves from day to day, "Having no hope, and
without God in the world," so they are content to see
their children and other young persons around them
pursuing the same ruinous and fatal course. The case
is nothing rare, as all persons well know, for parents to
set their children very evil examples — swearing, drunk-
enness, falsehood, and every kind and degree of profli-
gacy and irreligion ; these things are no matters of
strange occurrence, nor limited to the thoughtlessness
of youth, as people sometimes talk, but are openly
practised, and even avowed by those of elder years, and
even to old age and the bed of death.

Now, to set aside other considerations, how tremen-

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY. 3

dous must be the account which parents and other elder
persons must render on the last judgment-day, for
thus taking part with satan, as one may say, against
Almighty God, to bring their own children to everlast-
inor torment !

Every one knows that example is more forcible than
precept, and especially evil example than good precept.
When grown-up persons then, whether parents or
others, use themselves to violent and intemperate lan-
guage, swearing, for example, or indecent expressions,
or slander, it is as if they took pains to instruct chil-
dren in the language of lost spirits ; it is, I say, to all
intents and purposes, taking pains to teach children to
blaspheme their Father and Redeemer, to pollute their
tongues, formed especially for his glories, with what
most of all dishonors and provokes him — to curse
others or themselves, with those youthful lips which
might so easily have been taught the language of prayer,
gratitude, and divine charity.

Or, to glance at another case not less common, nor
perhaps in the sight of God less cruel and unfeeling,
though in man's opinion less gross and startling ; many
parents there are and elderly persons, who, Avhile they
preserve a decent exterior of conduct, yet leave their
children, or other young persons for whom they are in
any manner responsible, to shift for themselves ; I mean
in religious matters, take no personal care or trouble to
give them an education substantially Christian.

Thus one sometimes hears persons called "religious,"
expressing themselves to this effect — that they enter-
tain such and such opinions themselves, but do not pre-
tend to bias their children in such matters, but leave
them to form their own judgments as they grow up.

The evil consequences of this miserable, unfeeling
mode of proceeding are evident in all ranks of society.
Among persons of higher station it often produces a
skeptical, unsettled state of mind, often amounting to
practical infidelity. And in other cases we see its
efTects exemplified in the disunion of families on that,
the point of all others where union and harmony are

4 CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY.

sought and cherished ; and then the father perhaps goes
to one place of worship, and the mother to another ;
one child to one sunday-school, and one to another, and
perhaps one still to another.

All this is considered of no consequence, a mere
matter of indiiference, and to represent it otherwise is
accounted bigotry.

But I ask, is there not one rule for all 1 Is not that
which is true and good for the parent, true and good
for the child 1 Must not fathers and mothers be an-
swerable for the bringing up of their little flock, the
children whom God has given them, in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord 1 And can this be true Chris-
tian nurture and admonition, to habituate them to those
unfixed and (strictly speaking) unprincipled notions
and ways in the great matter of divine worship, and
communion with Christ's church here militant, but in
heaven triumphant % If these things are mere matter
of fancy and opinion, invented for men's amusement or
recreation, then something might be said for the cus-
toms now alluded to ; but if there be any reality at all
in church communion — if it be not, as I said, a mere
name and fancy, then they are no slight matters, but
symptoms of extreme levity and want of serious re-
flection.

Far greater is the Christian wisdom and compassion
of those, whether parents or others, who consider
themselves distinctly responsible for the spiritual and
eternal welfare of the children and young persons over
•whom they have influence. I mean, who consider that
the inquiry will be made of them by the great Judge
and Father of all : "Where is the flock that was given
thee 1" Didst thou by precept much, and example
more, endeavor to lead on those whom I entrusted to
thee in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth 1

This responsibility lies on us all — ^all grown-up per-
sons— all have an influence either for good or evil on
the younger ; and happy, I say, will they be, who shall
be found to have exerted this influence to the honor
of our Almighty Lord and Master, and the edificatioa

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY. 5

of that flock which he purchased with his own blood.
Such persons, if it has pleased God that they should be
parents, have made it a principal matter of their thoughts
and cares that their children should be also God's chil-
dren. They brought them in their earliest infancy to
the baptismal font, they selected for them sponsors, who,
in case of their own decease or neorliffence, mio-ht be
to them really, and not in name only, fathers and
mothers in God ; they taught them, as soon as they
could speak, the language of prayer and praise : in
short, they labored that their dwelling-house should
be, as it were, a little church, a consecrated habitation
where God should be daily honored, and the wicked
world shut out.

Or, to take the case of other sincere Christians whom
God has not made parents or heads of families, or pos-
sibly has deprived them of their children by death or
separation, they too call to mind that the lambs of
Christ's flock are in a manner committed to them, not
merely generally, but particularly, because on them es-
pecially lies the responsibility of being godfathers and
godmothers to the children of friends and relations ; —
and this office they undertake readily and cheerfully
for the great Shepherd's sake, and to fulfil one of the
purest acts of Christian charity : and as they promised
at first, so afterward they bear in mind, that it is their
part and duty to see that the children, for whom they
answered at the holy font, shall be instructed, as soon
as they are able to learn, what a solemn vow, promise,
and profession they then and there made ; and chiefly
they provide that they shall be well-grounded in that
admirable summary of Christian principles called the
church catechism, and so conducting them to the bishop
to receive his apostolical blessing in confirmation, and
thence to the communion feast of our Eedeemer's body
and blood, they feel that, as far as human frailty will
permit, they have discharged the duties of a Christian
sponsor.

If these things were more attended to by parents and
friends, and a holy example in unison with good instruc-

6 CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY.

tion set before young persons by their parents and other
their elders, the Christian world would not be in the
state in which we now see it, the Lord's flock would not
be as it now is, " carried away captive."

Let then all grown-up Christians, especially parents,
guardians, and other friends of children and young per-
sons, put it seriously to their hearts and conscience,
what a heavy responsibility lies on us in this respect,
how the lambs of the Lord's flock are, as it were, com-
mitted to our care and charge.

Can you imagine, for example, that it is sufficient to
send children to school, even the best of schools, unless
you set them an example of consistent piety at home %
Can you think it right to take no personal pains in the
great work of Christian education, directly or indirectly 1
And can you suppose it possible, that you will not be
called to account for thus neglecting the Lord's flock
given into your care and charge ; and whose eternal in-
terests, for anything you can tell, depend on the advice
you impress on them, and the example you set them 1

These things, I repeat, are serious considerations,
highly deserving the regard of all faithful Christians.

And this the more, because we are not sufficiently
aware of our responsibility herein. I mean, that every
grown-up person in any parish or place is to a certain
degree answerable for the right instruction of every
child ; at least so far as this, that every one has it in
his power to set a good example. But as to grown-up
and elderly people, whose lives belie their professions,
to them may be applied most emphatically the awful
words of our Lord : " It is impossible but that offences
will come, but wo to him through whom they come.
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he
should offend (that is, mislead by false doctrine or evil
example) one of these little ones."

In no words is it possible more forcibly to express the
awfulness of our responsibility, the responsibilty of each
generation in behalf of that which succeeds it, of grown-
up persons in behalf of the younger. Especially, there

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY. 7

is here set before the world, by the omniscient Judge
himself, the wickedness and cruelty of misleading
children by bad example, or even neglect.

May he, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls,
pardon our past sinfulness in these respects, and by the
aid of his blessed Spirit, so lead us for the time to come
into the paths of righteousness and true holiness, that
we may not have the blood of the souls of the poor in-
nocents on our hands ; but rather seek more earnestly
and consistently than we have ever yet done, to pre-
serve in Christ's fold those lambs which are yet within
its holy pale, and by all gentle and compassionate ways
to bring back those which are gone astray.

8 THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

SERMON 11.

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

2 Cor. v. 10.

" We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath
done, whether it be good or bad."

It seems, at first sight, strange and unaccountable
that Christians should go on from day to day, or at least
from Sunday to Sunday, reading and hearing the word
of God, and many attending to it too, and yet that all the
while they should make little or no progress in holi-
ness : for years and years remaining much in the same
state, neither becoming much better, nor much worse.
Whatever may be the cause of this, we may be certain
that it is a very dangerous mistake: — and the more
dangerous, because we are too apt to be unconcerned
about it, and even to think we do very well if we do
not grow worse.

It was an old heathen maxim, that " he who does not
go forward, must go backward." And how much more
important is it, in regard of our conduct as Christians !
For there is surely no ground to be met with in all the
Bible and Testament for supposing that, when we have
arrived at a certain point, we may stand still, and say,
" We are good enough" — " if we remain as we are now,
we are safe." On the contrary, we are taught over and
over again, that it is necessary we should "grow in
grace," and " in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ," and "press forward toward the prize of
our high calling," and that " as we know how we ought to
live so as to please God, we should abound more and more^"*
that "we should not be weary in well-doing," but should

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT. 9

*' take good heed lest we lose those things which we
may have already wrought or gained, and miss of re-
ceiving a full reward."

That many souls are eternally ruined by this kind of
error who can doubt, that considers what Christians re-
quire, and how most people live and die 1 And perhaps
among many causes which may tend to produce so
dreadful an effect, this is one — that we are so apt to hear,
and read, and even meditate on God's word, without
applying it to ourselves. Or, at least, if we do embrace
any part as our own, and really treasure it up in our
hearts, it is rather the promises, the blessings, the
rewards, and the comforts of religion, than its strict
commands and painful warnings. Not, however, but
that we apply these too, readily enough — but then it is
not to ourselves that we apply them, but to others. We
consider not whether we are concerned in them or not.
Indeed we take it for granted we are not. But we ac-
knowledge at once their power and piercing sharpness,
as directed against other people.

Thus when we hear the solemn warnings and the
bitter rebukes contained in the Psalms, the Prophets,
and the other scriptures of the Old Testament, these we
apply chiefly, if not entirely, to the Jews ; rather pleased
to flatter ourselves with the notion (be it true or false)
that we have never treated God so ungratefully as they
did.

So we get rid of the Old Testament, and as to the
New, we hear and read even the warnings of our Lord
Jesus and his apostles, without being much, if at all,
moved by them ; because we do not take them to our-
selves, though we may be quick enough at applying
them to our neighbors. We are more fond of looking
at other men's sins than at our own, and, therefore, we
think that the threatenings and reproofs of the gospel
are meant for them, not for ourselves. And so like the
Pharisees of old, we " make the word of God of none
effect 5" every body applying it to others, and no man
taking it to himself. In some matters this self-deceit
may pass off more easily, but in the matter of the last

10 THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

judgment it can have no place. Here we can none of
us pretend to escape. Here we are all concerned, one
as much as the other. '"'■ Jill must appear before the
judgment-seat of Christ," and among them we also
must each of us appear there. This, at least, we cannot
put olf upon other people, as a truth which ought to
make them tremble while we have no reason to be
afraid. The apostle does not say, " Every one of you
shall give an account of himself to God," nor again
does he say, " You must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ." He looked on it as a matter wherein
himself was concerned as much as any of them. He
could not but anxiously wait for that day himself, and
therefore he labored to fill others with the like anxiety.
*' Knowing" so well " the terrors of the Lord, he per-
suaded men," with all affectionate earnestness, to lay
them up in their hearts. Whereas we are too apt to
go on, as if we alone were free from that, which every
body else was subject to. As if all the world should be
judged, and we should escape. As if other people's
souls were all we had to care about, and our own were
in no danger. It were far better that (as the saying is)
" Each should take care of one," and that one should
be himself. It will be well if each shall have his own
single account ready against that day.

Again, we may observe that Almighty God does not
say " we shall^^'' but " we must all appear before the
judgment-seat of Christ." Now this deserves to be
seriously considered by all who have any value for their
souls, because the Bible and our own experience will
both assure us, that many men flatter themselves that
somehow or other (they know not how) they shall es-
cape without being called to account.

Thus we read of men in old times who " said in their
hearts, God hath forgotten — he hideth his face — he will
never see it." And at another time they would say,
*' Jehovah shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob
regard it." — " They considered not in their hearts that
God remembered all their wickedness, and that all their
doings were before his face." In the apostles' times

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT. H

there were persons who thought they might mock God
and be never the worse for it ; that they might sow to
the flesh without reaping corruption — that they might
reap life everlasting without sowing to the Spirit. And
even in the day of judgment itself, we are taught that
there will be many who will endeavor, though in vain,
to flee from the face of their offended Judge, who will
even yet cling to their old false hope of escaping from
punishment. "They shall hide themselves (says the
apostolical prophet) in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains, and they shall say to the mountains and to
the rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him
that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb."

And to this testimony of God's word, may be added
that of our own experience. For, do we not see people
every day allowing themselves in the commission of
errors, and in the neglect of duties — in conduct which
they all the while know to be wrong, just as if it would
be passed over and forgotten, and they should never
hear of it again 1 Do we not see others acting thus
continually, and are we not too ready to fall into it our-
selves 1 Do we not too easily forget how positive, and
certain, and unavoidable it is, not a matter of choice,
or of doubt, that we shall appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ ]

If it were a matter of choice whether we should be
judged or not ; whether we would be tried according
to the terms of the gospel-covenant, or be utterly de-
stroyed, and perish for ever, like the beasts ; it is not
to be doubted, that very many persons, perhaps most,
would choose the last. They would willingly enough
part with the future rewards of religion, if they might
but enjoy without fear or restraint the present pleasures
of sin. If they could get rid of hell, they would not
mind the loss of heaven.

But, however, be it good or evil, it matters not
whatever we might wish, it is not now in our power to
choose, we must appear before the judgment-seat of
Christ J we must give an account of our own works.

12 THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

If again it were any matter of doubt whether we
should be judged or not, it must be allowed that our
case would be materially different. For we naturally
are much less careful about matters for which we think
we may never be called to account. Although certainly
a wise and prudent person would strive to do whatever
he did well, even if there were the least chance of its
being hereafter inquired into. But, however, this is
not our case : we know for a certainty that all we do,
will be inquired into j we must appear before the judg-
ment-seat. It is necessary, it is unavoidable, no cunning
will conceal us from the eye of our Judge, no strength
will deliver us out of his hand. Before him must we
all appear, saith the apostle — all — that is, none will be
excused on any consideration whatever. Be we young
or old, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, good or bad,
we cannot escape appearing at the judgment-seat of
Christ.

Remember this, then, you that are children, and see
that you live always in the love and fear of Almighty
God your heavenly Father. For though you are young,
yet be sure his eye is ever fixed on you by day and by
night ; that he sees all you do, and hears all you say ;
that " a book of remembrance is written before him" for
all your bad actions and bad words ; and that in the last
great day you will be judged out of the things which
are written in this book.

Remember this too, you, that in consideration of your
riper years, ought to have arrived also at riper judg-
ment. You, who divide your time between the cares
and comforts of this life, and neglect your principal
business ; who love the world better than you love God,
and make religion a second-rate concern. Yet think,
that though you can find little leisure for it now, yet the
day will come when, whether you will or no, you must
find time to give account for your own works.

Let the old too, whose night is fast drawing on,
whose strength is but labor and sorrow, and even that
soon to pass away ; yet, let them remember, that their
old age will not excuse them, but they must appear be-

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT. 13

fore their Judge. Let them think that they must give
account, not only for the days of youth and health and
strength, but for the latter days of sickness and feeble-
ness. For indeed, to spend old age as we ought is a
hard task, much harder than is generally supposed ; it
is a task that we have great need to be learning all our
lives. But, however we spend it, we must give account
for it, and as the account is, so will be the everlasting
sentence.

Again, let those who are in any degree blest with
" this world's good" ever remember (as they love their
own souls) that they are not the owners, but the stew-
ards of it ; that hereafter they will have a strict reckon-
ing to make for the manner in which they have employed
their money, or their property, be it ever so little ; that
in that day of wrath, riches will be of no profit to us,
that unless we take all possible pains to spend what we
have (be it little or much) to the honor of our Savior,
and the comfort of his and our brethren, and not to our
own honor and comfort, they will bring on us the curse
of the unprofitable servant; we shall be cast into utter
darkness.

On the other hand, let not those whose lot it is to
lead a life of poverty and distress, flatter themselves that
in consideration of this, they shall escape the judgment
of God, that the want of worldly comforts will be taken
as an excuse for want of holiness. The truth is, that
both the rich man ought to be the better for his riches,
and the poor man the better for his poverty, whereas both
riches and poverty are generally made an excuse for sin.
But the excuse is a vain one ; for it matters not at all what
our condition is in this short life. Be we rich or poor,
happy or miserable, we must all alike give an account
of ourselves to God.

Nor again shall we be allowed to pass into heaven,
without examination, be we ever so wise and learned.
For it is, " not he that commendeth himself who is ap-
proved, but whom the Lord commendeth-'* The more
knowledge we have, the more danger we are in of being
puffed up with self-conceit j whereas the understanding

Vol. L— 2

14? THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

of all mysteries and all knowledge is nothing without
charity or the love of God, which alone really edifies and
builds us up as living temples of the Holy Ghost. " If
ye know these things (said our Lord Jesus) happy are
ye." But how happy 1 not simply because we know
them, for we might know them, and yet be very wricked
and very miserable all the while ; then only happy " if
we do them." Nor on the other side let us trust to that
too common, though most false notion, that want of
knowledge will be accounted before God as an excuse
for want of religion and holiness. All must come forth
to a strict and just judgment : the unlearned as well as
the learned — they who have had less advantages of edu-
cation, as they who have had the highest. For after all,
in all important points, in this country at least, there is
little difference in the knowledge of the most learned
and the most ignorant. Who is there that does not, or
might not easily know, that he must be partaker of
eternal happiness or eternal misery according as he
spends his life nowl that in a short time he must ap-
pear before the judgment-seat of Christ, to give an ac-
count of his own works, and that however people in
general may spend theii' lives, it concerns him to take
care for his own soul above all things, without much
regarding his present condition 1 All this the most un-
learned (though he may disregard it) yet must know
very well, and the most learned cannot know much
more. Therefore let no one suppose that little will
be required of him, because he knows little. For in-
deed, if he would but be careful to live up to his knowl-
edge, he would find that he had a great deal to answer
for.

The consideration, too, of the judgment to come, may
well make even the best of men tremble. For although
they may have given up their lives to the honor and
service of their master, and " labored to have a con-
science void of offence toward him and toward all men,"
to " walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they were
called," and "to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior
in all things," yet this will not save them from the

I

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT. ^^ 15

dreadful hour of making their account with God. In
that hour indeed it will be an inexpressible comfort that
they have that same Jesus for their judge, whom on
earth they have labored to love and serve, and obey
beyond all others. Still, the holiest life will not excuse
us from coming forth and standing before the throne of
our Savior Christ ; and giving an account of our own
works before men and angels.

But " if the righteous scarcely be saved," if even they
must stand up and be judged as criminals before that
dreadful tribunal, where and how " shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear!" For they too must appear,
however unwilling they may be. They must appear to
give account of their thoughtless, unholy lives of the
time they have wasted, the talents they have abused, the
sins they have indulged in, the duties they have neg-
lected, the warnings they have despised, the offers of
mercy they have slighted, the contempt they have
brought by their pride, their malice, their worldly-mind-
edness, on the sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
his word and sacraments.

Thus certain is it, my Christian brethren, that " we
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ."
The confidence of strength and manhood will avail us
nothing in that day, the feebleness of childhood or old
age will not be accepted as an excuse. Money will
then be of no use, for the Judge will take no bribes.
Poverty and distress will be no plea in our favor, for
that will be a time of justice, not of mercy. Wisdom
and learning will show us no way of escaping the ter-
rors of the last judgment. Nor shall we be allowed to
pass unnoticed under pretence of ignorance and want of
scholarship. If we are ever so good, we shall not be
excused from this judgment — if we are ever so bad, we
shall not be able to flee from it.

There is then no avoiding it, but we must all appear be-
fore our Judge in the last day. Appear — that is, be laid
open, or made manifest, so the word signifies in the
original. For in that day our real character will be
seen, the veil of deceit and hypocrisy will be taken off,

16 THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

and our whole conduct will be set forth m its true col-
ors. Then " the hidden things of darkness will be
brought to light," " the counsels of the heart will be
made manifest," and every one shall have his reward
of God, not according to what he seems, but to what
he is.

For how many proud and wicked thoughts do we
cherish, which none but God is witness to ! How many
false or boastful, flattering or uncharitable words do we
speak, of which none but God knows the full meaning !
And as to our actions, how few (if any scarce) are done
out of pure love to him! Even the best things we do,
are very often either set about with improper motives,
or carried on by improper means. The good we do is
very often for an evil end, while for a good end we
think we may do anything.

All this secret perverseness and pride of our hearts,
which is now known to none but to him, w^hose " eye
is in every place beholding the evil and the good" all
shall " appear," and be laid open before the judgment-
seat of Christ.

Now, when it is said, that in that great day, all shall
be shown forth or made to appear, it can hardly mean
that we should then be laid open before God, for his
eye thoroughly tries and searches us at all times, now
as much as then. He is always " a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart." "He knows what
is in man." " Neither is there any creature which is
not manifest in his sight, for all things are naked and
open" in his eyes. Thus thoroughly does God know
what we are : — but some there are who do not yet know
us, namely, the angels, other men, and ourselves. To
these, therefore, we shall be laid open, and made mani-
fest before the judgment-seat of Christ.

First of all, our whole hearts will be set forth before
the angels, for though we are taught, that those blessed
spirits do continually watch over us for good, and are
filled wdth heavenly joy, when we serve God with regu-
larity, order, and diligence, yet we have no reason to
believe that they are now acquainted with the secrets

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT. l7

of our hearts. This is a peculiar right which the Al-
mighty hath reserved to himself alone, calling himself
*' God that knoweth the hearts," or, as it is properly,
the " heart-knowing God." But the angels esteem of
us only by our outward conduct ; and to this they pay
particular regard, as we may gather from different parts
of Holy Scripture. But forasmuch as our outward ac-
tions do not always show our inward thoughts ; in the
last day these also will be discovered. And surely if
we are not quite hardened to all sense of shame, we
must, at least in some degree, be affected by the consider-
ation,that our most secret sins, our most cunning deceits,
shall be all laid open by the Judge himself, before that
mighty assembly of the blessed and holy angels.

Let us remember, again, that our hearts and lives
will be sho\\ni forth in their true and proper colors, to
all men as well as all angels. Then, it will be seen how
different many of our outward actions and words were
from our inward thoughts. It will be seen how easy it
is to have a fair character in the world, to be reckoned
honest, upright, just, liberal, or sober, and yet all the
while to be no true servant of Christ Jesus. Then will
be seen how little use it is for man to approve, if God
disapprove — how little harm it is for man to hate us, if
God loves us. Then will be brought to light those many
hidden pieces of fraud and cheating, of deceit and cun-
ning, and hypocrisy, which we think men will never
know ; but in that day they will appear. " There is
nothing covered that shall not be" then " revealed, nor
hid which shall not be" then " made known" to the
whole world. Think, too, that if we will not now, we
shall then acknowledge the dreadful nature of sin, when
we are about to feel the punishment of it. We shall
curse our own folly, for not having sooner laid serious-
ly to heart the great truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Though our eyes be now blinded and our hearts hard-
ened by the love of this world, yet, in that day, we shall
be of a far different mind. Our hearts will be softened
by the terrible sound of the last trumpet, our eyes will
be opened by the brightness of the Judge's presence.

2*

18 THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT.

But what will that avail ] The day of salvation will
then be past ; according to our lives we must be judg-
ed. " Then shall it be too late to knock when the door
shall be shut, and too late to cry for mercy when it is
the time for justice."

SELF-EXAMINATION. 19

SERMON III.

SELF-EXAMINATION.

ADVENT.

Psalm iv. 4, 5.

" Stand in awe and sin not ;
Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord."

It was the intention of good and pious men in ancient
days, that, as Lent should be a six weeks' preparation
for the solemn and sacred festival of Easter, so, before
the holy season of Christmas, there should be about half
that space, viz. three weeks, set apart ; the weeks of
Advent (the word Advent signifying", in Latin, the coming
or approach of some great person), for Christians to put
their minds in order, as it were, and prepare themselves
for the due commemoration of the Lord Jesus' first ap-
pearing on earth " for us men, and for our salvation."

And herein it was thought right to have special refer-
ence made to his second Advent ; for this plain and good
reason — because we can have no just sense of the im-
portance of his first Advent to redeem us, if our hearts
are cold and insensible to the great doctrine of his last
coming to judge us.

Whatever people may wish or intend, those, who by
the practice of any kind of unchristian behavior have in
effect " departed from the living God," will certainly not
return to him in true and lively repentance, will not
" cast ofl^the works of darkness, nor put on the armor of
light," unless they pray and strive to have deeply fixed
in their conscience, a sense of the approach of that day
when their Savior shall "come again in his glorious
Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead."

^0 SELF-EXAMINATION,

I consider that in times of trial and perplexity, this is
a very fit opportunity to call upon persons, who with
hearts more or less distracted with earthly anxieties, are
wavering and unsteady in their religious course, though
all the Avhile fully aware of the great importance of a
right faith and a holy life — I say this seems a suitable
occasion to call on such persons (and are not the most
of us such, more or less 1) to call on them to take a calm
and deliberate view of their spiritual condition ; remem-
bering, on the one hand, that we are no benighted
heathens, but persons on whom the light of the everlast-
ing unchangeable gospel hath shined — and on the other,
that this nation and society in which we live, though
calling itself Christian, and possessing indeed high Chris-
tian privileges, yet does certainly sanction many, not
only practices, but even principles, quite opposed to, and
subversive of the truth of the gospel of Christ. Bearing
these things in mind, which to persons of reflection,
will, alas ! need no proof, and to others it were vain to
address ourselves on such a subject as this : let me en-
deavor, as briefly as may be, to point out to you what is
the right frame of mind, in which we should enter on,
and conduct a solemn and serious examination of our-
selves, of our condition before God, and of the prospect
we have before us for the remainder of our mortal life,
and in eternity.

There are, I doubt not many passages in the holy
Word of God, from which a considerate person might
plainly infer what is the safe course to pursue, in this
as in other matters of religious practice. Among others,
the instruction contained in this consolatory fourth psalm,
if duly reflected on, is quite decisive, and shows us be-
yond all question, in what frame of heart and mind frail
and sinful creatures, sensible of their frailty and sinful-
ness, and desiring to obtain pardon and peace at the
hands of their heavenly Father, should enter on this bles-
sed work, this " one thing needful."

This I have before suggested to you ; but what 1 now
desire to press on your anxious and candid attention is,
that to persons so cast down, and doubtful what their

SELF-EXAMINATION. 21

hope is of pardon and sanctification and final acceptance,
and, in fact, how to proceed at all ; the divine answer
is, nothing- mystical and perplexing-, nothing- implying
that our condition is not one of danger and difficulty,
nor, again, anything that shall give excuse for feelings
of despair, as if there were no hope, or of presumptuous
indolence, as if God would brinsf men to heaven whether
they try to serve him or no : nothing of all this is to be
found in these oracles of God, but an admonition, at
once plain, solemn, encouraging, warning: —

" Stand in awe and sin not.
Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.'*

which the Holy Spirit immediately subjoins —

" Offer the sacrifice of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord."

As long as people are going on in a gay, thoughtless,
easy way, in good health and spirits, and their minds
fully occupied — with business (perhaps) chiefly ; only
now and then interrupted by occasional amusements
according to their taste — it is next to impossible that
religion should gain any solid and lasting hold on their
affections. They may, indeed, give occasional attend-
ance on some of its external rules, such as, for example,
to go to church, or to a meeting-house, one, or both, or
neither, just as custom, or fancy, or convenience may
suggest. But this kind of capricious worship alone and
by itself, is no evidence of a serious mind ; but rather
the contrary ; it seems to show a light trifling dispo-
sition, unworthy of a reflecting heathen, and much
more of a professed Christian.

Now it must be confessed, with sorrow and shame,
that it too often happens among us, that people go on
from youth to manhood, and from manhood to old age ;
all the way along deluding themselves and others with
this shallow external service, which passes for religion,
but which reallj'^ has nothing of it but the name.

In some cases, however, and may God's Holy Spirit

22 SELF-EXAMINATION.

increase the number, it pleases his merciful providence
by some special trial, say by a dangerous illness, or
a severe accident, or by the death or suffering of a
neighbor, to put better thoughts before people's minds,
not at all compelling or converting them whether they
■will or no ; but by way of trial and proof of what really
is in their hearts. At least this view of God's dealing
with men seems most consonant to the voice of rea-
son, experience, and Scripture. And let no person be
offended at this way of speaking, as derogating from the
honor of God's blessed word ; for certainly, reason and
experience are divine gifts and talents as well as Scripture
is ; and for the use we make of them as appointed
means, whereby to arrive at the knowledge of saving
truth, we are greatly accountable to that all-merciful
and good Spirit who has provided them for us.

But to return to what I was observing, when careless,
thoughtless persons are led by circumstances (or what
we call circumstances), to have a serious and deep
sense, not merely of the truth and importance of Chris-
tian doctrine, but of the personal danger in which them-
selves (if that doctrine be true) must unquestionably
be involved ; they are often more or less inwardly alarm-
ed, though they would not confess it even to themselves,
much less to any one else. And to some persons this
alarm is so painful that they take all opportunities of
flying from it, by avoiding all serious reflections ; by
constant habitual drinking, or by seeking always for
company as it is called, or reading trifling books or pub-
lications, or other such methods of preventing the mind
from reflecting inward on itself. How little do such
persons consider that in running from these reflections,
however painful, they are rejecting the healing medicine
afforded by the heavenly Physician ! Supposing, how-
ever, that persons have in any case so far yielded to the
suggestions of the blessed Spirit, as to cherish in them-
selves a sincere, though perhaps Aveak and faint, desire
to know and to follow the truth, and to lead different
lives from what they have hitherto led ; too often they
are immediately checked by numberless perplexities

SELF-EXAMINATION. 23.

and difficulties, which before had never entered
their minds. (I speak of cases which have happened,
and may likely enough happen again in the present con-
dition of the religious world in this kingdom.) I say
then that weak persons, Avhen first beginning to be in
earnest, and in what St. Paul calls the infancy of their
religion, " babes in Christ," are too apt to seize hold of
hard places in Scripture, to entangle themselves in high
and abstruse speculations, which it is no part of a
Christian's duty to inquire into at any time, much less
when he is but a beginner in his religious course.
These speculations St. Paul warns us, "which minister
questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith,"
are earnestly to be deprecated and avoided. The ques-
tions I mean, are such as relate to matters, which though
often accounted religious, are in fact merely philosoph-
ical ; for example, how God's foreknowledge can be
reconciled with man's free-will; whether God's true
children can fall from grace ; whether in this world a
man can have a full and positive assurance of final ac-
ceptance ; these, and such as these, I grant are in them-
selves great and high subjects ; but I contend also they
are subjects about which the Almighty has not thought
fit to give us clear, if any intimation ; therefore, I call
them not religious but philosophical, and, as such, what
no Christian need trouble himself about. But, as I said
before, when people are beginners and novices in re-
ligion, they, more frequently than may be imagined,
turn aside from the plain path, and entangling themselves
in these mysterious speculations, pass off into one of
two ways. That either they grow disgusted and amazed
by these notions, which yet in many sermons and tracts
are set forth as being of the very essence of religion,
and so fall back by degrees to their former heathenish
courses ; or else they grow presumptuous in their fan-
cied illumination, and deceiving themselves and others
with the use of long words, and fine sounding expres-
sions, imagine that they have really attained a consider-
able height in spiritual perfection, when in fact (to use

24 SELF-EXAMINATION.

St. Paul's severe language in a like case), "they knew
nothing yet as they ought to know."

Let me then now earnestly advise any person, young
or old, who, conscious to himself that the favor of Al-
mighty God, now, and in eternity, is all that is worth
seeking for ; conscious too that his past years, be they
few or many, have been in various respects sadly mis-
spent and wasted — let me advise such an one not to be
deterred and kept back from his good purposes by any
difficulties or perplexities of this kind ; let him resolutely
avoid them, and put them out of his mind, as being what
in truth they are, unreasonable and unscriptural ; un-
reasonable, I say, because unscriptural.

To persons, I say, beginning to see their danger, and
to seek for refuge, and desirous to know how to enter
on their new and, as to them it naturally appears, difficult
course ; how plain, how solemn, how encouraging is the
warning of the divine Spirit, the Almighty guide and
Comforter of the church. Trouble not yourselves with
deep and high questions: enter into no speculations
about other people's condition ; set your thoughts on
two great subjects, your own sinfulness and the divine
mercy, and let your future life show whether you are in
earnest or no : —

" Stand in awe and sin not :

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord."

Concerning the divinely consolatory warning, let me
offer two or three considerations suitable to the present
state of religion in this country, and indeed in the
Christian world generally.

First, you cannot but observe, how plain, and simple,
and unimpassioned, how far from all perplexing notions,
and from all rapturous heights and flights of feeling, is
the description here given of the repenting convert, the
accepted child of God.

The temper and disposition of mind suitable for liim-
is far from all confidence and presumption, ever stand-

SELF-EXAMINATION. 25

ing in awe lest he should again return to sin and folly ;
studying more than any other books, the book of his
own heart and conscience, understood by the light of
Scripture ; in the hours of solitude, and in the watches
of the night communing with his own heart — in pain
possibly and languor, yet patient and still, and cheer-
fully acknowledging that he deserves all that is laid
upon him. When the day returns with its round of
duties, duties of acting or suffering, he devotes his time,
his money, his abilities, be they in the world's eyes ever
so mean and contemptible, to the welfare of his
brethren, friends, and neighbors, and by direct acts of
religion to the honor of his Master and Redeemer. And
thus consecrating each day to God ; he is content at
night to leave the event of each day in God's hands j
thus does he daily offer the sacrifices of righteousness.

Now let no one say, that this is not preaching the
gospel; that this is a poor kind of life, not of a suffi-
ciently exalted description for God's adopted children
in Christ Jesus, who have a right to look for more decided
inward feelings and assurances of acceptance. Alas! my
poor brethren, how can such as we talk of possessino-
any right to these consolations of feeling! Doubtless
our state here, so far as it is affected by our fallen na-
ture, is at the best poor and imperfect ; nor is it ac-
cording to the tenor of holy Scripture to represent it
otherwise. Nevertheless, our privileges are neither
poor nor imperfect, though our sense of their value may
be and is so. And on the possession of these privileo-es
it is that all the hopes of the true Christian are built —
hopes founded not on his own fallible feelings, but on
the infallible word of God. While, therefore, he offers
the sacrifices of righteousness, he puts his trust not in
them, but in the Lord, even the Lord Jesus Christ his
Redeemer.

This doctrine may be accounted poor and cold, and
unevangelical, but it is the doctrine of the psalms, the
doctrine o{ the prophets, the doctrine of the gospel,
and therefore it is and ever will be the doctrine of the
church.

Vol. L-3

26 SELF-EXAMINATION.

You may also with good reason take notice in the
passage now under our consideration, in what a tone of
solemn warning it is delivered. To sincere and serious-
ly-disposed converts, newly devoted to the love and
service of Almighty God, it might possibly have been
expected that language of congratulation would have
been offered, that they would have been told now that
they were safe, that they had no occasion for farther
fears, that God had adopted them for his own, and that
nothing could now overthrow them. But how different
is the language of the Holy Spirit, " Stand in avi^e — sin
not — commune with your own hearts in your chamber,
and be still."

In these words is clearly implied the greatness of our
danger — the danger of forgetting in whose presence we
are, and of again drawing back to sin, and, as the
apostle to the Hebrews intimates, to perdition. Hence
the necessity of our keeping up in our hearts a deep
and abiding sense of our frailty and peril, of our re-
tiring, at least in thought, from the world, and com-
muning secretly with our own hearts, casting ourselves
before our omniscient Judge with tears of shame and
remorse for the past, and quietly waiting and hoping
for his consolations, in his good time, according to the
thoughts expressed in a beautiful hymn, which is con-
tained in the third chapter of the hook called the Lam-
entations of Jeremiah, and much of which I extremely
and repeatedly recommend to the careful perusal and
study of all serious persons, especially in times of
affliction, for example : —

" The Lord is good unto them that wait for him,
To the soul that seeketh him.

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait
For the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth :"

"good," that is, for us to have our confidence and high
spirit brought down, and to be made to know and feel
what we are, and whom we have to depend on.

Let me also suggest to you, to observe how soothing
and consoling is the view here presented to us of our

SELF-EXAMINATION. 2t

religious state and duties. We are not taught to ha-
rass ourselves with perplexing doubts about our final ac-
ceptance, to seek after any special inward convictions,
as they are called, of feeling; these, whether right or
wrong, are plainly not necessary ; but it is necessary
that we stand in awe, and sin not, and offer the sac-
rifices of righteousness : then, and not otherwise, we
may with cheerful though chastened hope, put our trust
in the Lord.

Exactly according to St. Paul's rule for a Christian
life, supported by a Christian hope, " To them who by
patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and
honor, and immortality, is offered in Christ Jesus eter-
nal life." So truly evangelical is this psalm.

Lastly, I could wish all persons who are sincerely
anxious about their spiritual and eternal condition, to
take especial notice how here, as everywhere else,
where the outlines of a religious life are traced out for
us in Scripture, we are stimulated and encouraged to
active exertion, cautioned against trusting to a sluggish
inactive profession, a dead faith (in fact), and urged
and warned to be fruitful in all substantially good and
Christian works. Thus a great deal of watchfulness,
practical self-denial, and positive exertion, is implied in
the brief directions, *' Stand in awe, sin not, commune
with your own heart, ofl^er the sacrifices of righteous-
ness." When people have lived a heathenish kind of
life, and begin to see the danger of it, they think it a
great matter (and so indeed it is), to fall down before
God in prayer and confession, to listen to his word with
awe, and to become partakers in the blessed communion
of his body and blood.

Yet this is not by any means the whole of a Christian
life, though it be the food and support of it. We need
therefore continually to be warned, that since to us as
Christians so much has been given, of us will much,
very much, be required. There is evidently, even
among religious people, a great deal too much of bar-
gaining and contriving how to serve God with as little
trouble and expense as possible, and to make religion

28 SELF-EXAMINATION.

as much as possible comfortable and pleasant to the
feelings, and under the fair pretext of honoring the
Lord's day, to treat the other days as if they were not
his days. And other things of the same kind might be
mentioned, proving to what a low ebb religion, or what
is called religion, is got among us. I advise you there-
fore, as many of you as really care for these things, no
longer to trust to the example of what is called the
Christian world, but to think and judge for yourselves,
with all humility, according to the measure of under-
standing which God has vouchsafed to you. And if
you Avill keep on firm, steady, and regular, not regard-
ing small difficulties, nor expecting great encourage-
ments, you will find in the end, that whatever the gen-
erality of the people may say, or think, you have chosen
the safe and right path. You will exemplify that de-
scription which the Bible gives of the sincere servant
of God. "The path of the just is as the shining light"
(that is, the morning dawn) " which shineth more and
more unto the perfect day."

So you will be gradually led on by the blessed Spirit,
till all your earthly trials and pilgrimage being over,
you may lay your heads down in peace and take your
rest, in peaceful expectation of the return of your
Savior and Judge, to call you from your quiet graves,
and to receive you to those mansions of his Father,
whither he is now gone to prepare a place for all that
love and fear him.

RELIGIOUS PEACE. 29

SERMON IV.

RELIGIOUS PEACE.

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRIITITY.

Psalm cxix. 165. [part xxi. v. 5.]

" Great peace have they which love thy law :
And nothing shall offend them."

Since the favor of Almighty God is the only object
worth a reasonable man's anxiety ; and since, under the
gospel dispensation, the one appointed way of obtaining
that favor is, by a life of practical holiness, that is,
obedience to the revealed will of Jesus Christ j it is
evident, that we should estimate the value of things
and events, as they fall in our way, not at all by the
degree of present comfort or advantage which they
may yield, but by their tendency to set us forward in
sound practical religion.

Hence we may see the mistake in which a great
many well-disposed people are apt to indulge them-
selves ; who, fancying religion to be only or chiefly
a matter of feeling, which it is not ; will not be per-
suaded to consider it as essentially a matter of practice,
which it is. And so, in their great desire to have a
strong sense of religious comforts, they too often for-
get the plainest rules of religious duty. Indeed, this
sort of error has a much worse effect, and to a much
wider extent, than we are used to suppose ; as any one
who seriously considers the subject, and with reference
to the conduct of the generality of people, will easily
be convinced of.

If such then be the case, if it is of the last importance
to us, that we should be at peace with Almighty God,

3*

30 RELIGIOUS PEACE.

Lut (in itself) of little or no consequence that we should
feel so : it might be asked, among many other doubts
and objections, why the church, in her admirable col-
lect for this day, directs us to pray that our " merciful
Lord would grant to his faithful people" not only "par-
don," but " peace" also % For it might be urged, that
if all our iniquities and errors are forgiven, we must of
course be reconciled to God ; and what more have we
to desire 1

To this it must be answered, and insisted on as a
point of the utmost importance in all our views of the
nature and obligation of religion, that our being once
pardoned does in no way secure us from the possibility
of our again falling into sins and errors ; that our recon-
ciliation to God by the atoning blood of our Redeemer,
to which reconciliation we are admitted at our baptism,
is no certain warrant whatever that we shall not again
offend, and even ultimately " receive the grace of God
in vain."

From this it appears, that we need something more
than pardon for the past ; namely, assistance for the
future : such assistance as shall enable us to " walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called," and
to show our love for Jesus Christ in that one only way
which himself hath prescribed j viz. by keeping his com-
mandments."

But, forasmuch as this uniform and sincere obedience
to the rules of Christian practice, requires no ordinary
degree of courage and self-command ; and since these
habits of mind are impossible to be maintained, if we
are distracted by strong ungovernable feelings of hope
and fear, of joy and sorrow ; therefore it is of the very
essence of practical religion that we should preserve as
much as possible a uniform tranquillity, and peace of
mind, under all trials and provocations, whether from
within or from without us.

Thus then we see with how great reason we are in-
structed to pray, that " our merciful Lord would grant
to us, both pardon and peace," not only that " we may
be cleansed from all our" past " sins j" but also that we

RELIGIOUS PEACE. 31

may be enabled for the future " to serve him with a quiet
mind."

Concerning then this religious "peace," or " quietness
of mind ;" of such consequence to be properly under-
stood, and yet so often mistaken, and with such hurtful
effects ; we shall scarcely in any part of Holy Scripture
find a more distinct and edifying account of it, than
in the words just now rehearsed. " Great peace have
they which love thy law ; and nothing shall offend
them."

For, from hence we learn, first, what religious " peace"
really is 5 and secondly, how we may know certainly
whether or not we possess it. And these in fact are the
only two points relating to the subject, which are of im-
portance in the way of practice.

First, we observe, that true religious " peace" consists
in maintaining a sincere " love" of Almighty God, and
of his declared will : " Great peace have they which
love thy law."

Now, by the *' law of God," here spoken of, may be
understood, either the exercise of that providential
power by which he sustains, governs, and directs the
whole course of the world, the circumstances of nations
and of individuals ; or, more strictly, that revealed law
of life and conduct, by Avhich we are bound wholly to
regulate ourselves, as they who must hereafter " give an
account of their own works."

Considering the expression in the first of these signi-
fications, they who " love God's law," in whatever de-
gree, will have a proportionate sense of his power, wis-
dom, and goodness, as displayed in all events. They
will be loath to ascribe the various changes which are
incessantly taking place around them, to the operation
of a set of heathen names, such as " good and bad luck,"
"fortune," "chance," "fate," and "necessity;" but in
the whole course of things, as well as in each particular
event, however apparently of small consequence, will
acknowledge the providential control of an Almighty
hand.

But in the expression of " loving God's law," is evi-

32 RELIGIOUS PEACE.

dently implied something more than merely an acknowl-
edgment of its authority — viz. a cheerful acquiescence
in all its dispensations, under a sincere and sober con-
viction, that our heavenly Father not only sees what is
best for us, while we are almost, or quite in the dark
about it ; but also that he seeks and contrives our hap-
piness far more anxiously than we do ourselves, or our
best friends for us. And this, though commonly allowed
in words as a matter of course, is by no means so com-
monly acted upon. We are ready enough to believe
that Almighty God sees and governs all events, but not
so certain that his dispensations are really the best pos-
sible for our own particular and personal advantage, that
is, in other words, we are more ready to acknowledge
"God's law," than to "love" it.

" Great," however, " is the peace of those who do
love" it in the way we have been describing. For,
whereas, their own natural inclination would lead them
into all sorts of fears and murmurings, of doubts and
anxieties ; this heavenly principle, if duly cherished, is
of itself able to keep their minds tranquil, and fit for
every active duty. This, in great public calamities, in
times of pestilence or famine, of war and commotion, or
other such visitations, would hold the heart of the true
Christian still steady to its great and final object. This
same principle, too, in the less public, though not less
trying, scenes of affliction, such, for example, as the loss
of health, of property, of character, or of friends, would
afford thorough and effectual support ; — thorough and
effectual, because founded not on a transient emotion of
strong feelings, but on a cool and deliberate conviction
of the truth of our holy religion.

In this point of view then, may it most truly be asserted
that " great is the peace of those who love God's law."

But it is more important still that we consider the
"law" here spoken of in its strict and proper sense, viz.
as that complete rule of conduct, by which we are to
direct our actions now, and to be judged in the last day.
Which rule may be shortly set forth in the powerful lan-
guage of the Holy Spirit, thus — that " denying ungodli-

RBLIGIOUS PEACE. SS"

ness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteous-
ly and godly, in this present world."

And here also a very little reflection will enable us to
see how true it is, that " great is the peace of those
who love God's law."

Thus, the gospel demands of us all a life of self-denial,
and this in two respects — of " ungodliness" and of
"worldly lusts."

In regard of the former of these, " great is the peace of
those who love God's law ;" for whereas in their present
fallen condition, they are tempted on innumerable occa-
sions of daily life to forget God, to murmur and com-
plain against his dispensations, to think lightly of religion,
its ordinances, and its ministers ; to be negligent about
prayer and communion with God ; and, particularly, to
slight the great doctrines, the atonement and intercession
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sanctifying influences
of his Holy Spirit, yet their love for God and his bles-
sed will, enables them resolutely to " deny" all such "un-
godliness ;" by " the shield of faith" they can " quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked."

Again, knowing that we are required to " deny" not
only " ungodliness," but also "worldly lusts," they make
up their mind to " love this law" of God also.

They do not therefore debate how they may serve
God with the least trouble to themselves, or draw back
on their own comforts, but setting to work as to a busi-
ness which they " love," they are continually practising
some mortification on themselves, on their pride, their
indolence, their desire of ease and pleasure.

And, by these habits of self-denial, they attain by de-
grees to such " peace" and " quietness of mind" as
(however far it may be from true happiness) yet far sur-
passes in substantial delights what is called a life of ease
and enjoyment. And the foundation of this is the con-
sciousness of doing that, which our merciful Lord and
Master cannot but approve of.

But as disciples of Christ Jesus, something more is
required of us than habits of what may be called neg-
ative goodness. We must not only " deny ungodliness

34* RELIGIOUS PEACE.

and worldly lusts," but also actually " live soberly, righ-
teously, and godly, in this present world." " Soberly,"
that is, with continual watchfulness and self-mastery ;
" righteously," that is, with a strict regard to the real
welfare of others ; and " godly," that is, in the con-
stant exercise of all the direct acts of piety and re-
ligion.

And let us just observe how " great must be the peace
of those who love these laws" evangelical. First, for
those who " love" to "live soberly ^^"^ in the full and proper
meaning of the expression.

They are thoroughly and heartily satisjSed with their
own condition in life, whatever it be. They are sincere-
ly indifferent to the temptations of worldly prosperity,
in whatever form it shows itself j not indeed despising
it but very well able to do without it. They can bear
scorn, ridicule, or reproach from others, without anger
at the time, or malice afterward, and this because they
*' love the law" of humility. They are glad to guard
against all possible excesses in eating, drinking, or cloth-
ing, because they "love the law" of temperance and
chastity. The approach of poverty and destitution, of
pain, sickness, and death, does not alarm and distract
them, such changes being no more than they have always
been expecting. Indeed, to those who think of the final
change, the unalterable sentence which awaits us, every
other must needs seem but a trifle.

Again, " great" also " is the peace of those who love"
to live " righteously,^^ that is, with a sincere love of all
others ; for nothing else can be called "righteous living"
among Christians.

For, whereas it is the want of this "love" which
causes so much quarreling, malice, and unkindness in
the world, the possession of it would at once produce
" peace" and harmony, if not in others toward us, yet
in us toward others. For people are apt to think it
enough, if they behave honestly to the honest, and kindly
to the kind, forgetting that the duties we owe to others
are to be paid for our own sake, as well as for theirs.
Our love for them is to be founded on our love for

RELIGIOUS PEACE. 35 '

Christ Jesus and "his holy laws ;" and this many even
well-disposed persons do not consider, and thereby en-
tangle themselves in innumerable errors, and also miss
the obtaining of that " peace" which attends those who
** love" to live " righteously," and to do good to all for
Christ's sake.

"Great is the peace" also of those "who love" to
live " godly^'' in this present world of darkness and cor-
ruption ! For " having their affections set on things
above," and their " conversation in heaven," they sit
loose to all the interests of this transitory state. They
take refuge from the cares and vexations of life, and
from the innumerable temptations to sin which surround
us, in prayer and communion with their heavenly Com-
forter and Redeemer. Meditation on the great doctrines
of the gospel, and the remembrance of what the blessed
Jesus had done and suffered for us, are to them an un-
failing source of consolation, a substantial defence
against murmuring and perplexing thoughts.

And while, if it were not for this " love" of " godli-
ness," their hearts would be distracted with a vain pur-
suit of business or comforts ; they have now all their
thoughts and wishes directed to that one great and final
end, Avhich is alone fit for the aim of such as we are —
accountable and immortal creatures.

Thus then does true " peace" consist in the " love of
God's laws," both in regard to what he would have us
suffer, and what he would have us to do. And so seeing
what true peace of mind is, we may the more clearly
ascertain what it is not.

It is not an affected contempt toward all religion, a
cool indifference about what we are now, and what we
must come to hereafter. This, though so often made
a show of, yet can never be the same with true peace of
mind, because it has nothing solid or substantial to rest
upon ; for, though many attempts have been made, yet
no one has ever been able to show that the Christian
religion is false. And this at least ought to be done,
before a man can be a sound conscientious infidel.

Again, true "peace" does not consist in an easy con-

36 RELIGIOUS PEACE.

fidence about our condition, grounded on notions such
as these — that our good actions will make up for our
faults — that we are no worse than other people — that
some errors are excusable and unavoidable — that we
must not be " righteous overmuch." If we allow our-
selves to be satisfied with such poor arguments as these,
we may be sure (however easy we are inclined to make
ourselves) that we do not possess that " peace" which
attends the " love of God's law." For such pretences
are an endeavor to lower, not to heighten, the obliga-
tion of that law ; which those who really " loved" it
could never endure to do.

Nor again does religious " peace" consist in a pre-
sumption that we are peculiarly in God's favor, above
others ; or in a confidence that by some special act of
grace we are incapable of falling away from him : a
presumption this, and a confidence, often founded on
enthusiastic feelings, which, whatever else they are, are
not the fruits of that Spirit who is " the author of peace,
and lover of concord," the only fountain of humility,
meekness, and charity.

Thus does true religious " peace" consist in the " love
of God's law," in that, and in nothing else. The Holy
Ghost, however, knowing how apt we should be to de-
ceive ourselves, to fancy we have this peace and love,
when in reality we have not, has subjoined a rule and
test by which to try ourselves in this respect ; con-
cerning which we will offer a few considerations, and so
conclude.

" Great peace have they who love God's law ; and
nothing shall offend them y" offend, that is, make them
to stumble or fall ; for in that sense the word is gener-
ally used in the Sacred Writings.

Whosoever then truly loves God's law, " nothing will
offend him" — nothing will be of power sufficient to
turn him aside from his steady course of faithful
obedience.

Thus, as he sincerely " loves" to live soberly^ so what-
ever difficulties or obstacles occur, he is not " offend-
ed," will not give up his resolution. The ridicule and

RELIGIOUS PEACE. 37

scorn of thoughtless people, the loss of many comforts
and advantages, the necessity of maintaining constant
watchfulness and circumspection, these things he readily
and even gladly complies with, for his love of the law of
God, which, however, without that love, would be abso-
lutely intolerable.

Again, as he " loves" to live righteously^ so " nothing
will offend him" in the practice of it. Accordingly, in
all matters of business, he maintains the strictest truth
and honesty, knowing, however, very well that he shall,
in many instances, be laughed at and despised for it.
He is uniformly compassionate to those in distress, for-
giving to his enemies, kind and loving to all men.
Objections, indeed, to this sort of conduct are thrown
in his way at every step, and some very specious ones;
but they do not " offend" him, or turn him aside from
his resolved principle of " living righteously" in a world
of unrighteousness.

And again, as he " loves" to live godly, so " nothing
will offend him" in this respect also — nothing will pre-
vent his availing himself of all the privileges which ac-
company the practice of true devotion. Hence he en-
deavors to make everything which befalls him, the occa-
sion of some direct religious act of confession, faith, or
thanksgiving. He is sure to be found in God's house,
and at the Lord's table, at all opportunities ; and only
laments that those opportunities come so seldom. He
can bear with good temper the sneers and ridicule of
thoughtless people, and does not mind being called a
hypocrite, or a methodist, or other such names. Thus,
because " he loves God's law," he is determined that
" nothing shall offenr' him," and that he will continue,
in spite of all difficulties, to maintain the exercise of
his high Christian privileges.

On the whole, then, it appears, that true peace of
mind does not consist in carelessness about religion
altogether, or in a presumptuous confidence of any sort,
but wholly and only in a practical love of God's laws.
And we may know that we possess this peace in any
degree in proportion as we are determined that nothing

Vol. I.— ^

38 RELIGIOUS PEACE.

shall ofTend us, that we will gladly make any sacrifice,
submit to any loss, trouble, or mortification, sooner than
displease Almighty God.

If this be not our mind, whatever be our feelings of
confidence, we cannot have religious peace ; and if this
he our mind, whatever be our occasional doubts and
misgivings, we cannot really be without this peace.

And this is a truth, in many points of view, of great
importance to be attended to, but chiefly in regard of
its tendency to draw oflf our minds from vain hopes,
fears, and fancies, and to set them on that which is the
one great concern of us all, a steady, practical regard
to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ.

39

SERMON V.

SAINTS' DAYS AND DAILY SERVICE.

1 Sam. xiv. 6.

" It may be that the Lord will wotk for us 5
For there is no restraint to the Lord,
To save by many or by few."

Among the many great advantag^es and comforts which
would attend the due observation of Saints' days, we may
observe the opportunity which is given us, on such oc-
casions, of distinctly calling to mind what difficulties
and trials the faithful servants of God have in all ages
been subject to, and by what means it was that they
were enabled to stand firm in those trials, and to over-
come those difficulties.

Especially we may call to mind, how regular, earnest,
constant, and devout they must have been in holding
communion with Almighty God in prayer, intercession,
and thanksgiving ; both in obedience to the solemn and
repeated commands of their Savior — and, also, because
it is by prayer alone, that the heart can be effectually
raised above this present world, and rendered steady and
courageous in " fighting the good fight of faith, and lay-
ing hold on eternal life."

Moreover the difficulties which stand in people's way
in regard of exercising the duty or privilege of prayer
(for it is both a duty and a privilege) — these difficulties
must have been the same to the apostles and first Chris-
tians as to ourselves. For human nature has always
been the same, and the miraculous spiritual gifts which
were shed on the church in its infancy, did not at all affect
the moral character of those who possessed them. Ths^t
was left as it was before.

40 saints' days and daily service.

It was possible for a man to speak with the tongue of
angels — to understand all mysteries — to have faith so as
to remove mountains — and yet with all these to be with-
out charity, the true practical love of God. This St.
Paul assures us, and from it we learn, among other im-
portant truths, that the trial of men's sincerity in reli-
gion is not greater now than it was formerly — that the
apostles, saints, and martyrs in the primitive church,
though living (as it were) in the midst of miracles, and
themselves able to work them, were yet liable to weak-
ness, sorrow, and suffering like ourselves j like our-
selves were tempted in various ways to renounce their
religion — that is, the practice of it ; were tempted, when
they saw the contempt and neglect which it everywhere
met with, to distrust the divine promises, and to fear,
lest after all, they had been, perhaps, deceived, and were
trusting to false hopes. What, then, I mean to say is
this, that the consideration of what those holy men
formerly submitted to, for the gospel's sake, should be
a great encouragement to all God's faithful servants, in
every age, to follow their example.

We are to consider the truth as it is in itself, not
whether it is followed by many or by few. We are to
practise our plain positive duties, without staying to in-
quire whether or not other people think it necessary to
do the same.

All this rule, as it is to be applied to our whole duty as
Christians, so, especially, to the obligations which we are
under to hold continual communion with our Father
and Redeemer in prayer, intercession, and thanksgiving.

There is nothing more earnestly impressed on the
first Christians than this obligation is by St. Paul —
plainly, because he saw how much they were in danger
of being led away by evil example in this respect, and,
also, because he well knew the value of sincere prayer
and intercession. He knew who it was that had said —
" Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them." And here let me ob-
serve, that the rule plainly laid down by our Lord and
Master, viz., that our belief is not to be according to

saints' days and daily service. 41

what we see, that is, that our faith is not to be regulated
by outward appearances ; this ru]e, I say, is peculiarly
applicable to correct the prevailing erroneous notions
respecting church communion.

The common notion of course is, that what most peo-
ple approve of, is true ; that where there is a large con-
gregation, that proves that the truth is preached, and
where a small one, that it is not so.

Yet, doubtless, we are rather taught in the Bible that
the many are wrong, and the few right, so far as that
we are not to trust to the opinions or practices of many,
merely because they are many. Let this be applied to
the consideration of people's observance or neglect, as
of Saints' days ; so, of the daily service so particularly
enjoined by the church.

I purpose, then, on the present occasion, merely to
offer a few observations on the great blessing and ad-
vantage of our being able thus to meet together, day
after day, in God's own consecrated house — and this,
be we ever so few in number.

" It may be that the Lord will work for us
For there is no restraint to the Lord,
To save by many or by few."

I consider then, in the first place, that in meeting
thus continually, the church intends we should make
an earnest prayer for each other especially — that we
may come to this sacred habitation, not from outside
form or custom, but with full and earnest desires to
worship our God in spirit and in truth, that is, to pray
earnestly and live according to our prayers — that we
may learn more and more, to form a true notion of our-
selves and our own condition, our pitiable, fallen, help-
less state — that we may still go on increasing in love
and gratitude toward God our Savior, still more and
more convinced of our own corrupt state, and of the
necessity of our placing all our hope and confidence in
the atonement of his precious blood, and the sanctifying
aid of his Holy Spirit — that, to prove the sincerity of our
perfect love to God, we may be more and more earnest

4*

42 saints' days and daily service.

in practising it toward our neighbors, in all possible
ways of kindness, forbearance, patience, gentleness, and
sincere endeavors for their real good.

Thus should we pray for each other with humble
hopes, that as we meet here in God's house, to celebrate
his daily appointed service, so we may all meet at last,
in those heavenly habitations where we shall never
more be separated from him, or from one another.

In the next place, we should never forget to pray for
those who would come if they could — for those whose
delight it would be to be present here day after day,
were they not utterly prevented by illness, old age, dis-
tance, or press of family business.

Some such there are, though, perhaps, but a few ;
but be they few or many, we who can come here, are
bound to remember them in our intercessions at the
throne of grace — to pray that ^/^a^ blessing may descend
upon them which is promised to those " who hunger
and thirst after righteousness ;" that their ardent wishes
to join in prayer and praise with God's church on earth,
may be abundantly fulfilled, if not here, according to
their present desire, yet, hereafter, by their admission
to his eternal rest — that whatever be the occasion of
their absence, whether old age, or distance, or any other
unavoidable cause, it may still be sanctified to them,
and their loss supplied with heavenly consolation — that
they may still be able to say, from the bottom of their
hearts,

" Lord ! I have loved the habitation of thy house,
The place where thine honor dwelleth."

Thus should we pray for those who would desire to
come hither, but are unable ; who are absent from us,
yet are present in heart.

We seem, too, especially bound to remember in our
daily prayers all sick, destitute, or otherwise distressed
persons, who come within our knowledge.

If we are but sincere, how do we know what a bles-
sing our prayers may bring down, be we ever so few in
number to offer them.

saints' days and daily service. 43

How many are there in this parish, lying on the hed
of sickness — some on the bed of death ! These surely
need our daily prayers.

How many are there suffering under every variety of
pain, sorrow, and distress, known, perhaps, only to God
and themselves ! Many, many such, there are in this
parish. These surely need our daily prayers.

How many are there, alas ! how many indeed, who
are going on headlong in all kinds and degrees of er-
rors ; errors in faith — errors in practice ; — who have
shut their ears that they cannot hear, and their hearts
that they cannot understand. "Everyone turning to
to his course, as the horse rusheth to the battle.^' My
brethren ! how can we be sufficiently earnest and fre-
quent in our prayers for all who are in error, and not
for them only, but for ourselves also, that while we think
we stand, we take heed lest we fall ! This should be
our daily, hourly prayer. For, indeed, errors in reli-
gious truth, which relate to doctrine or practice, however
little may be thought of them in the present state of
the Christian world, must certainly be of very heavy
consequence. Therefore, how earnestly should we pray
" that all who profess and call themselves Christians,"
especially those in this parish, " may hold the faith in
unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness
of life."

For so alone can we have any reasonable ground of
hope, any of us, of reaping that high and transcendant
reward, held out to us through the mediation and atone-
ment of the Lord Jesus Christ.

With these solemn thoughts, these anxious desires
for the good of one another, and of all around us,
should we enter this awful house of the Lord from day
to day. So may we hope, small as our assembly is, yet
that he in whom we trust will work for us ; will send
down his blessing on ourselves, and on all whom we
pray for j

" For there is no restraint to the Lord,
To save by many or by few."

4>4f saints' days and daily service.

It seems farther to be considered, that daily and
hourly blessings need daily and hourly thanks. If we
pray in the evening- that our God would of his great
mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of the ap-
proaching night J are we not in the morning to be
thankful for the wonderful protection afforded us 1 If
we pray in the morning that our heavenly Father, who
hath brought us safe to the beginning of another day,
would defend us in the course of the same, by his
mighty power ; when the shadows of the evening draw
on, what can we do, but still thank him for his continual
protection, still ask him for more ! Thus, as the
psalmist says, with those Avho sincerely love God,
" Day unto day uttereth speech ; night unto night
showeth knowledge." They are led gradually forward
by a chain of holy services, link within link, till they
come to the close of their earthly probation, and their
faint whisperings of prayer and praise, in this earthly
tabernacle of their Lord, shall be turned into the songs
of angels and glorified spirits, in his eternal and beatific
presence.

There is another thing of great importance to be
mentioned, as belonging to the daily service of the
church, and that is, the care that has been taken to have
portions of Holy Scripture constantly read. It may
indeed be said, that a person may hear or read the
Bible at home, with quite as much advantage as by
going to church to hear it. But it should be consider-
ed that in this, as in other respects, we are most likely
to have a blessing from our God, if we seek him (as the
prophet says), in the way of his ordinances ; if we hear
his own word, in his own house, from his own minister.

To a considerate Christian, all these things are of
value. They conspire together to strengthen his faith,
and to confirm his hope. The world, indeed, alas !
that it should be so, the Christian world has learned to
treat these things with levity and indifference, I might
say too often with scorn and contempt. And hence it
is come to pass as a notorious fact, that great numbers
who will listen to what are called sermons, in any place

saints' days and daily service. 45'

and from any person, will pay little or no regard to the
solemn reading of God's own word by his own appoint-
ed ministers and ambassadors j — conduct this, which
cannot but too forcibly remind one of that memorable
and cutting declaration of the blessed Jesus himself.

" I am come in my Father's name,
And ye receive me not :
If anotlier should come in his own name,
Him ye are willing to receive."

No serious person, no really serious person, can con-
template such a state of things as this, without sincere
sorrow and alarm. There is indeed no probability that
in this respect (or perhaps in any other), the world will
ever be better than it is now. Rather, we may expect
that it will go on growing more and more corrupt to
the last ; that while the word of God is talked of, the
word of man will be followed.

Yet still all persons of real serious thoughts and
sound judgment will, by the blessing of God, be able to
see through the mist that surrounds them. They will
take refuge from disputes and controversies in the
pure unsullied truths of the Bible itself. They will see
of what value and importance it is, that portions of the
Bible itself should be constantly read in our ears, with-
out comment or explanation ; — not because comments
and explanations are not very useful in their places, but
because, if they are constantly used, the minds of men.
will be more turned to them than to the Scripture itself,
more (as I may say) to the sermon than to the text.
How happy then should we think ourselves in having
every day through the year some considerable portion
of God's own book solemnly offered to our thoughts in
the church service. And here again, as before, we are
not to ask whether the matter is considered in this
serious light by the generality of Christians ; that is not
the question ; but whether this is not the true way in
which it should be considered, be they few, or be they
many, who are disposed so to do.

Nothing then remains, but that we endeavor more

46 saints' days and daily service.

and more to live up to our professions ; that as we have
such holy psalms, such devout prayers, such awful les-
sons from day to day ; we should also from day to day ^
labor unceasingly, that our whole behavior may become
proportionably more holy, devout, and filled with an
awful sense of the divine presence, that from day to
day, we gather up a still increasing store of heavenly
knowledge, showing itself in holy practice, in still in-
creasing love to God and charity to all men ; and, more
than all, that we still keep a stricter watch over our-
selves, feeling more and more our own worthlessness
and inefficiency ; that our only hope of pardon for the
past, must be in the blood of our Redeemer ; our only
hope of assistance for the future, in the gracious in-
fluences of his Holy Spirit.

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS. 47

SERMON VI.

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS.

innocents' DAT.

Rev. xiv. 5.
"They are without fault before the throne of God."

When children and young persons are snatched
away by (what we call) an untimely death, people are
used, following the natural course of their feelings to
esteem such events as proper subjects for sorrow and
regret. And with persons of tender affections, or under
peculiar circumstances, this sorrow is sometimes cher-
ished to such a degree as is obviously hurtful, and in
many ways unreasonable.

Sometimes, indeed, men are to be met with, who pro-
fessedly regard with indifference these startling proofs
of human frailty and mortality. Whether it be, that
they are naturally of greater coldness and insensibility
than others or whether (which is more probable) the
business and engagements of the world prevail, bv de-
grees, to deaden the affections, and to make men anx-
lous about little beyond their own present interests and
comforts.

But however, generally speaking, whether it be the
real expression of their feelings, or taken up (as it
were) out of civility, and in compliance with the notions
01 others, people are used, as was before observed, to
speak of and consider the death of young persons, as
more or less a fit matter for lamentation and regret. At
east It IS taken for granted that such feelings are al-
lowable in their near friends and relations, if not de-
manded of them, as a sort of duty.

48 DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS.

"Whether this view of the matter be a right one, or,
if there be any mistakes in it, what these mistakes are,
and how they should be guarded against, is evidently,
as a point of practice, very proper for our inquiry, very
proper at all times and to all persons j but I think, per-
haps, particularly for us^ just now.

It is then worth observing, in regard of the subject
•we are upon, that, as people are used to compassionate
the sickness and death of the young, so commonly they
regard with little sorrow, and often with real satisfac-
tion and comfort, the decease of old persons, or of
those who have been long or painfully afflicted with
disease.

Now, in this latter case, the case of the very old and
infirm, it is evident that in thinking and acting as we
do, we are governed entirely, or chiefly, by our feel-
ings, without giving much consideration and thought to
the matter. This, I say, is evident, because the very
mention of any person's dying in extreme feebleness or
pain, calls from us some expression, not of regret, but
of satisfaction (for example, that it is " a happy release").
And any one who should wish to have the life of an-
other prolonged under such melancholy circumstances,
would be thought almost cruel and unkind. It does
not, perhaps, come into our thoughts at all what sort of
person he was, how he had lived, or how he died j
almost the only impression on our mind is, that he \vas
in great distress and wretchedness, and that he is now
" happily released" from it. And this impression, is
what I say, has little or nothing to do with reason and
consideration, but is merely made on our feelings at
the moment.

Whether it be in itself a right or wrong impression,
is another question. At all events, it cannot be much
to be depended on, because it is not produced by sound
reason and reflection.

Now, it is just in the same manner with this, guided
by their feelings rather than by calm consideration,
that people are apt to regard the early death of chil-
dren and young persons. They see an end (as they

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS. 49

think) put to all the fair promises and hopes of their
after life — they consider them as flowers cut off in the
spring, whose bud is not suffered to blossom, or their
blossom to ripen into fruit — they consider the life of
man, so short at the longest, made even shorter by a
premature death — they consider what these young ones
might have been, if they had been permitted to live j
how their good qualities would have improved, and how
their faults, if any had yet shown themselves, would
have given way to better principles. Lastly, they re-
member their own loss, be it more or less, and are cer-
tainly inclined to think it hard, that when there are (as
they suppose) so few real comforts in this life. Almighty
God should deprive them of one of the purest and most
innocent.

In this way, it will probably be found, that the gen-
erality of people consider the death of children. Even
those who are well and religiously disposed do so, and
for the reason above given ; because they suffer them-
selves to be led too much by the example of others, and
their own feelings, and do not by any means bring home
to themselves, as might reasonably be expected of
them, the true and real state of the case. And what
this is, is the very point which now remains for our
consideration.

And here let us observe, that, as it is a subject about
which men's feelings are particularly apt to be interest-
ed, it is highly necessary, at least if we wish to get at
the truth, that we should make our inquiry with cool-
ness and impartiality, and not take for granted that an
opinion is right, merely because it is in harmony with
our feelings : no, not even though it should be gene-
rally allowed and cherished by good sort of people.
For, in all matters of practice, we can scarcely be too
cautious.

Now considering ourselves merely as creatures of
this world, weak and short-lived, and standing in need
of comforts of all sorts, to make our condition at all
happy, or even tolerable ; it cannot be denied, that
parents and friends would have great reason to lament

Vol. I.— 5

50 DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS.

the death of children, for thereby they would be de-
prived of a considerable part of their own happiness.
Looking to this world only^ too, we might, with some
reason, perhaps, be sorry for those who are banished
from it, so soon after they have set foot in it, nor are
suffered to enjoy the goods and pleasures (whatever
they may be) which are to be found here.

In this point of view, the death of young persons
might excite sorrow in us, as well for their sakes, as
for our own. But now, how can this be a right point
of view, to us Christians at least, whatever it might
have been to others 1 For let us only suppose Chris-
tianity to be true — and let us remember the condition
in which we see the world at this day — and then per-
haps the fondest parent could scarcely wish that his
children might live to grow up.

First, then, suppose Christianity to be true. This
may perhaps sound strange, to say ^^ supj)Ose Christian-
ity to be true ;" as if we did not know it for certain.
But the fact is, we only talk and think about it as if it
were true j we live and act as if it were false, or at
least very doubtful.

I say then, suppose Christianity to be true ; Chris-
tianity such as it is represented to us in the New Tes-
tament. Then it is evident that settled opinions and
habits, such as these following, must be of necessity
required of all baptized Christians, that is, if they think
to be any the better for their religion.

To have on our minds a deep conviction of our own
fallen and corrupted condition, and of the wonderful
mercy of Almighty God, in having reconciled us to
himself by the death of his Son, and restored us to the
possibility of attaining eternal happiness. To acknowl-
edge the infinite love of the blessed Jesus, in suffering
as he did for us ; the infinite value of that atonement,
which he wrought for us on the cross ; and the utter
unreasonableness of looking anywhere else but to him,
for pardon and final salvation.

To feel also the infinite importance of having him
for our friend, and his Holy Spirit for our guide and

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS. 51

comforter, so as to make up our minds to this, as to an
absolute certainty, that as nothing can make up to us
for the want of Christ's favor, so with his favor and
protection, we have nothing to fear, either here or here-
after ; and, by consequence, that the one only proper
business of our lives is, to do what is pleasing to our
Lord Jesus Christ.

Such are the settled opinions, which may in reason
be expected, and indeed are expected, of every baptized
Christian, who is old enough to see and consider his
condition.

Habits of life, also of a piece with these opinions,
are with equal reason expected of us. That we should,
actually, and in the whole business and employment of
every day, live and behave as people of another coun-
try, strangers and sojourners here. That we should
therefore, as our only hope and comfort, strive to hold
unceasing communion with Almighty God, in prayer,
and at his holy table.

That we should bear all evils, from whatever quarter
they may come, with patience and meekness ; not in-
deed without reason, but remembering that Jesus Christ
bore much more for us, than ever we can for him, that
these trials are our only opportunities of showing our
love to him ; and moreover, that we are not left to our-
selves, but are sure of the guidance and assistance of
the Holy Spirit ; at least, if we choose to follow his
guidance, and accept his assistance. That we should
love every body for Christ's sake, always remembering,
that what we do to others, whether it be good or evil,
he reckons as done to himself. That we should be very
thoughtful and circumspect in our whole conduct, ever
remembering that we " are not our own, but are bought
with a price ;" and that both within and without us,
there are many and powerful enemies, always on the
watch to draw us out of the narrow way.

Opinions and practices of this sort are unquestionably
required of all who are admitted by baptism " into the
fellowship of Christ's religion." In every part of the
New Testament it seems taken for granted (as it were)

52 DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS.

that all who think " to come unto God by Jesus Christ,"
shall make up their minds to live, as much as possible,
in the manner above described. I say, take any chap-
ter, almost in any part of the Testament, and it will be
scarce possible to understand it properly, except in this
point of view.

And yet, looking- with any attention to the Christian
world around us, which professes to believe and to fol-
low this very same book, we cannot but perceive that
people's practices, and opinions too, are much at
variance with those which we have above described as
so reasonable and necessary — indeed, often quite con-
trary to them.

And that is the great matter of alarm ; that people's
opinions and practices are both deliberately wrong-.
Because, if their actions only were sometimes wrong,
and their notions and opinions still, in the main, cor-
rect, there would be some ground left to hope for re-
pentance and amendment. But when people do not
wish or desire to be much better than they are j when
nothing will convince them but that they are as good,
or nearly as good, as they need be 5 their situation be-
comes, in the highest degree, alarming.

Yet surely it would not be too much to say, that this
is (more or less) the situation of the generality of Chris-
tians. It is not merely that so many transgress the
positive commands of our blessed Savior, and slight his
ordinances ; but there is evidently a general careless-
ness and presumptuousness about religion : practical
holiness is put in the back ground ; religion is made to
consist in questions and disputings, or in a mere custom-
ary attendance on outward forms. In the meanwhile,
there is little or no serious anxiety, no active preparation
for eternity, nor even a hearty wish or endeavor after
such preparation. The heart remains fixed and set on
this world with a stubbornness and determination which
we could scarcely believe possible, if we did not, alas !
so commonly feel it in ourselves, and witness the effects
of it in others.

There is, too, another sort of error, appearing indeed

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS. 53

very different from this indolence and worldly-minded-
ness, yet, perhaps, quite as evil in itself, and quite as
hurtful in its effects on us. And this is, pride, showing
itself in the form of religious enthusiasm and self-
righteousness. An error which has more influence per-
haps, even on good men, than they are aware of, and
which prevails much in these days. On this account
then, and because also pride is of all things the most
hateful in the sight of Almighty God, how is it possible
for us to be too much on our guard against so ruinous
and so deceitful a vice ; deceitful, I say, because it often,
puts on the appearance of virtue ; and is generally held
in high honor and esteem among men, even among
Christians, the professed disciples of Am, who humbled
himself to the form of a slave, to the shame and death of
the cross.

Upon the whole, then, supposing Christianity to be
true, as it is set forth to us in the New Testament, and
the Christian world to be in a condition in which we all
see it is, it will necessarily follow, that the difficulties
and dangers which surround our condition are exceed-
ingly great, greater, perhaps, than we have any notion,
of; that true religion is at this day persecuted by the
worst of enemies — lukewarmness on the one side, and
enthusiasm on the other, and that to keep clear of
these two extremes requires infinite caution, constant
labor and watchfulness all our lives through.

In such a state of things, then, as this, can a cour
siderate parent, who does not confine his views just to
things present — can such an one be called unfeeling or
unreasonable if he be not very anxious for the longer
life of his children % Certainlj'' it should seem, that to
complain and grieve much when they are early taken
away, however it maybe the custom with the generality
even of well-disposed people, it is by no means reason-
able, considering how much Christian religion requires
of all its professors, and what infinite danger there is
lest even those Avho are tolerably w^ell instructed in their
younger years, should in after-life yield to the bad ex-
amples which are everywhere set them.

5*

54< DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS.

But there is yet a higher and more positive ground of
consolation than this, on which we are permitted to
rest, when we see children cut off from us by a prema-
ture death. There is the best reason for supposing that
the change is to them really a happy one. People are
apt indeed to make no doubt of this, without giving"
much consideration to the matter. It is better that we
should examine a little on what foundation such an
opinion rests, that so, if it appear to be a true one, we
may derive that comfort and satisfaction from it which
it ought to afford us.

There are, perhaps many considerations which would
lead us to this opinion, but we will only take one or
two, which seem most obvious.

One argument may be derived from the nature of
baptism, and from the form of administering it in our
church.

For baptism is nothing less than a pledge of our new
birth, that is, of the stain of original sin being washed
out by the blood of the lamb. But if the infant is
capable of being admitted into God^s covenant of grace,
into the ark of Christ's visible church on earth, what is
to hinder the possibility of its being also admissible to
that glorified church in heaven 1 And hence the church
gives it as her deliberate opinion, that " children which
are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are
undoubtedly saved." And though this may be supposed
to be applicable only to mere infants, yet we may
reasonably believe that older children, as they are capa-
ble of actual sin, are also capable of faith and repentance,
of a sincere love of our blessed Savior, and a desire to
obey him. Let us not then doubt, that children who
have lived and died with these dispositions, shall inherit
the kingdom prepared for them from the beginning of
the world, and purchased for them by his blood who
*' died for all."

Another argument may be derived from the manner
in which our Savior constantly speaks of young chil-
dren, and from the pains which he took to show his re-

DEATH OF YOUNG PERSONS. 55

gard for them. This argument is a very strong one,
and deserving of much consideration.

Lastly, we may observe that that remarkable passage
in the Revelation of St. John, of which the text is a
part, may well be applied to this same subject. Indeed
such an application is sanctioned by high authority, that
of the church, who has selected this very portion of
Scripture to be read instead of the epistle on Innocent's
day. " These," says the apostolic prophet, speaking of
the company of the redeemed ones, who stood with the
Lamb on the Mount Sion : " These sire they which follow
the Lamb wheresoever he goeth ; these were redeemed
from among men, being the first-fruits unto God, and
to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile ;
for they are without fault before the throne of God."

Nothing then remains to us, but that we endeavor to
follow the example of these innocent children, according
to the advice, or rather the solemn warning of our
blessed Lord himself — " Except (said he) ye become
like them, ye shall certainly not enter into the kingdom
of heaven." Also that we labor to keep our hearts,
like theirs, pure and spotless from all kinds of pollution,
our hands from dishonesty and violence, our tongues
from evil-speaking, filthiness, and blasphemy, from angry
and abusive language, from lying and slandering ; that
we keep ourselves always prepared for death, since we
are as likely to be called away in the morning as in the
evening of life — above all, that we constantly keep our-
selves ready against the great and final day of account,
lest we be put to shame before men and angels as sloth-
ful and unprofitable servants ; and lest, when in that
day our children shall be received into the bosom of
their Savior, to joy and immortality, we their elders,
who ought to have been their examples and patterns in
all that is good, shall be separated from them for ever ;
and not from them only, but from the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and from that happiness and rest
which is alone to be found in him.

56 > VALUE OF TIME.

SERMON VII.

VALUE OF TIME.

EccLES. ix. 10.

" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
Do it with thy might :

For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
In the grave — whither thou goest."

When our Lord charged us all so earnestly as he did,
to " take no thought for the morrow," not to allow cares
and anxieties about the future to occupy our hearts,
his purpose was (among others) to make us understand
the value of time present, and the necessity of not let-
ting it run to waste.

For very often, under pretence of providing for things
future, we neglect our present immediate duties, or at
least perform them in such a careless thoughtless man-
ner as but too plainly proves that our hearts are not in
the work.

Nothing scarcely can be thought of, of more conse-
quence to us all, than the danger we are in of not en-
deavoring to make the most of the time present, day
after day.

And wherein this danger consists, and how we may
guard against it ; — this is what I would now earnestly
desire to call your attention to ; — at least such of you
as are at all disposed to serious thought, and preparation
for those changes which are drawing on.

To every Christian soul, then, the solemn, I should
say the awful warning, is surely addressed, whether we
choose to pay regard to it or not — or whether our re-
gard be only formal and transitory, or deep, lasting, and
practical.

VALUE OF TIME. 5T

»' Whatever thy hand findeth to do,
Do it with [all] thy might,

For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
In the grave — whither thou goest."

Let us consider a little, in what does the danger con-
sist, against which we are here put on our guard.

It appears upon the calmest consideration, that the
business of this world, even that which is most impor-
tant and most necessary, considered only in itself, and
as belonofins: to this world, is in fact of small conse-
quence, perhaps one might say, of none at all.

At least, things are commonly thought of no value if
the possession of them is thought sure to be very brief,
or extremely uncertain.

For instance, if a person were laboring and slaving to
get a large fortune, and were told for certain that after he
had obtained it, he must part with it all in two or three
weeks, he would at once say that if he must lose it so soon
after he had it, it was not worth the trouble of endeav-
oring after, and would consequently give over his en-
deavors.

Or if a person were in bad health, and were told that
if he followed such and such rules, he would recover
indeed, but must not expect to keep his good health for
more than a week or two, and then be as ill again as
ever, he would naturally think such a recovery scarcely
worth having, nor would he take the trouble to submit
to rules for obtaining it.

And so in other cases of what are called matters of
business, it seems to be commonly allowed, that if we
think ourselves sure to be deprived of our advantages
very soon after we possess them, we have little or no
desire to obtain them.

Why, then, it may be asked, do people trouble them-
selves so much as they do about this world's goods, of
which they must be of necessity so soon deprived \

The answer must be, because, however sure it may
be that they must be so soon deprived of these things, yet
they do not think it sure ; — the hour of death, always

58 VALUE OF TIME,

uncertain, may be distant, and because it may be distant,
we take for granted it must be.

And then this world's comforts and advantages seem
to be of real consequence — in themselves, I mean, and
without reference to what shall be in another unseen
state.

Thus do we deceive ourselves very much, the best
and most religious among us — deceive ourselves (I will
not say, to our own ruin, but at least) to our great hin-
drance and perplexity in following the path of sound
practical holiness, the "narrow way which leadeth unto
life."

It would ill become an authorized minister of Christ's
gospel, to deceive or flatter those whom he is appointed
to instruct.

We may not venture to say, " Peace, peace, when
there is no peace," to soothe men's souls to sleep in the
hour of danger, or to represent the condition of the
Christian world more favorably than the truth will war-
rant on a calm and attentive observation of the state of
things around us.

And I think it must be allowed by any impartial and
fair-judging mind, that however well skilled people may
be in scriptural and other knowledge, and ready to dis-
pute and give a positive opinion on religion, or on any
subject almost which may be started — yet that there is in
fact very little disposition to serious thought, or to close
and careful examination into the truth of things.

Especially, there seems reason for apprehending that
people in general — we ourselves, whatever may be our
knowledge or our professions — do not yet consider
or wish to consider the great importance of all our
behavior — of our right spending every hour as it pas-
ses by.

We no doubt content ourselves too much with gen-
eral notions, intentions, and resolutions, and are less
careful to apply these to each particular case as it comes
in our way.

We do not indeed neglect our duty to God or man
altogether, deliberately, wilfully, and professedly j but

VALTJE OF TIME. 59

we too easily content ourselves with a faint imperfect
obedience.

How inconsistent this with the solemn warnings of
divine truth.

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all

thy mind, all thy strength."
" Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily — as to the Lord and not to men.'*
*' Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."

But the best of us surely will confess with tears of
shame, that Avhatever their love for their God and Re-
deemer may have been, it has not been " with all their
heart, mind, soul, and strength ;" — that when they have
endeavored to do right, it has too often not been
*' heartily" (as St. Paul says), but with too great a re-
gard to men's wishes, and too little to God's : that in
fact, they have by no means done their duty " with all
their might," but faintly, imperfectly, and indolently, as
if they should have an opportunity for " work, and de-
vice, and knowledge, and wisdom in the grave — whither
they are going."

Now, let no one say or think that this is a slight evil,
or that if our general course of conduct be what the
world calls good and religious, that therefore we need
not be so particular about our behavior hour after hour ;
about the government of our tempers on trying occa-
sions, or about inquiring so very exactly into the meas-
ures of our duty toward God and one another.

No doubt we may be too scrupulous — not because we
can possibly be too righteous, too religious (in the right
sense of the word), but because our scruples may mis-
lead us from the right path, the path of holy practice.

Nevertheless, there is certainly on the whole more
danger of our having too little caution, than too much —
more danger of our being too confident, than too dis-
trustful of ourselves.

Hence there is, generally speaking, more need to warn
Christians of these days to look closely into the truth
of things, and to judge and try their ways very severe-
ly : — this is more necessary than it is to tell them that

60 VALUE OF TIME.

they need not be so very scrupulous, or that they need
not try to be more holy than they are at present, or that
if they are no worse than they are now, it will do, or
any such way of speaking, which really can be account-
ed nothing better than false, flattering, and delusive, and
such as seems to show a great coldness and want of
love toward our blessed Lord and Redeemer.

" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might." Does not this plainly imply that we are ex-
pected to be very exact and particular about our be-
havior, hour after hour 1 in other words, that we are to
be careful not merely to be doing right, but to be doing
it with zeal, heartiness, and sincerity, and not as if we
thought that God cared not how we served him.

We very often speak and think as if our time were
our own : as if we had a right to spend it as we pleas-
ed— in fact, as if we had a right to waste it without
being called to account for it.

Alas ! who is there of us, whose heart must not
plead guilty to this charge 1

For let us remember that if any matter of duty
could as well or better be done in a shorter time, and
we loiter and linger about it, we are quite as charge-
able with indolence and negligence as if we had actu-
ally done nothing for some portion of the time so
misspent.

We very often appear to be busy when we are most
idle — appear busy, I say, not to others only, but even to
ourselves — so willing are we to flatter ourselves into
fancied ease and self-approbation, so treacherous and
deceitful is the human heart.

No doubt our all-merciful God, in this as in other
respects, sees and compassionates our weakness : nei-
ther in this nor in other respects is he " extreme to
mark what is done amiss — for if he were, who could
abide it 1" who could look back on any one single day
of his whole life, and say with confidence that he had
spent it hour after hour in such a way as that he could
not have wished it better spent 1

Blessed be God's name, our hopes of mercy do not

VALUE OF TIME. 61

rest on ourselves ; we have nothing to plead in the way
of excuse, much less of merit ; our entire and only-
ground of confidence is in the one great atonement, the
blood of the Lamb slain to take away the sins of the
world. Except in that blood we have no confidence, no
hope.

Still if we consider things aright, with that care and
seriousness which the business of eternity may well de-
mand, we must allow that the more kind, compassionate,
and forbearing our gracious Lord is toward us, the more
are we bound to study earnestly his blessed will, and
never to think we can do enough to show our gratitude
for all he has done for us.

And this must lead us to feel, that it does indeed
deeply concern us to be very exact and particular about
our daily and hourly conduct — and never to encourage
in ourselves the notion — the false, dangerous, and de-
lusive notion, that our time is our own, and that we
have a right to spend it as we please.

Let us again consider, that the government of our
tempers and dispositions is one of the greatest trials of
our Christian sincerity. Here also the divine warning
is truly touching, and of constant application, if we
look home to ourselves and our course of conduct.

In the control and management of our tempers, I say,
especially under trying circumstances, the sacred word
is addressed to us. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do" — whatever possible means you can lay hold of to
mortify all dispositions to pride, envy, malice, peevish-
ness, and ill-temper — "do it with all thy might" — let
no opportunity pass of furthering so valuable an end :
" for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest ;" the present
opportunity let slip can never return.

For instance, if we go on for some time without being
angry or out of humor, we think of course we are good-
tempered : whereas, perhaps, the real cause is, that it
has so happened that nothing particular has come across
us to vex or disturb us. At length some such thing
occurs, and we think we have a right to be very angry

Vol. L— 6

62 VALUE OF TIME.

and out of humor. We do not blame ourselves for
such ill-humor, but are rather pleased to think that it
does not often happen, and that we submit to a great
many things which others would highly resent, and so
forth.

Now in this, as in other like cases, the truth seems to
be — that our general disposition is shown by our con-
duct under such particular trials. For it is in fact only
in the time of trial that the real temper and disposition
of the heart can be ascertained. Hence it is so easy for
us to deceive ourselves, and to fancy we have made
greater advances in Christian perfection, than indeed
we have.

Hence also the necessity of our maintaining a strict
and close watch over ourselves — that so by the aid of
God's Holy Spirit we may be ready against every trial —
that " havinof taken unto us the whole armor of God, we
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand."

But if we get into careless thoughtless ways, and
fancy that it does not much signify what our tempers
and dispositions are day after day, and hour after hour,
then surely we forget what a warfare we are engaged
in, what enemies we have to deal with, and how neces-
sary it is, if we would "lay hold on eternal life," that
we should " fight the good fight of faith," and labor and
pray to be enabled to " bring every thought into cap-
tivity to the obedience of Christ."

Another thing much to be observed and deplored is,
that people should be so ready to think that there is no
need for them to be so very particular and exact in as-
certaining the measures of Christian truth, their duty to
God and to one another.

Carelessness about religious truth is a sign of want of
love for God. No person can be indifferent about such
a subject without great danger surely.

To this also the heavenly warning seems to be espe-
cially applicable. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do," in proving and ascertaining the truth, " do it with
thy might j" — think no labor or cost too great by which

VALUE OF TIME. 63

you may find out where the truth lies, and by what
means you may be preserved in it steadfast to the end.

But now it is certainly the case, that a great number
of people — and many even religiously disposed people —
do not take much pains, perhaps none at all, about as-
certaininof the real nature of reliofious truth — but some-
how take for granted that their own opinions are right —
or at least that one opinion is as good as another, or very
often go on through life wavering and doubtful, but yet
without taking much if any pains to have their doubts
cleared and explained.

I am not now speaking of one sect or party of Chris-
tians more than another : it may seem to be a generally
prevailing practical error, both among the professed
members of the church of England, and those who dis-
sent from her — that whether the truth be here, or
whether it be there, it signifies little, so that every man
be allowed to have his own opinion and think as he
please. Whatever may be the cause of such a prevail-
ing state of opinion, the fact cannot be questioned, that
it does prevail.

Nevertheless, that it is a practical error, and of a most
serious kind, may appear from a few considerations
which I shall offer.

If the ofreat God in his infinite love to us has con-
descended to make known to us the mysteries of his
gospel, can we venture to receive them with carelessness
and indifference \ And is it not receiving them with
carelessness and indifference to say, " whether we un-
derstand them aright or no, we are not sure ; but how-
ever, we do not see that we need inquire or search much
about the matter 1"

For what purpose, it may be asked, has the divine gift
of reason been vouchsafed to us, but that we may em-
ploy it in the noblest of all occupations — the search
and inquiry after God's eternal truth — the truth as it is
in Jesus 1

The volume of Scripture is not a small one : there are
in it numberless things hard to be understood — many,
very many, which require great patience and attention,

64 VALUE OF TIME.

and an earnest desire after right instruction, if any one
think to obtain at all a satisfactory notion of their
meaning.

Can we then venture to say of any passage in Scrip-
ture, that it may mean this, or it may mean that, but it
does not much signify which 1

Or rather, is not the sacred rule, "Whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" — is not this
particularly applicable to the duty incumbent on us, as
reasonable beings, and much more as professed Chris-
tians, to make the study of the Bible the business, as it
should be the delight, of our lives %

No doubt the obscurities and difHculties with which
that sacred book is in a manner filled, are not there acci-
dentally ; no doubt they are intended by its All-wise
Author to be the means of trying our humility, our
teachableness, our diligence — whether we do really love
him, and desire to know and do his pleasure, according
to what we profess.

For let us ask ourselves, can we really love our God,
if we do not desire to know and do his pleasure T And
can we desire to know and do his pleasure, if we do
not anxiously labor and endeavor by all possible means
to ascertain the right and true meaning of his own re-
vealed Word, the volume of Holy Scripture 1

Alas ! what a treasure do we possess, and how little
do we value it — the best and wisest among us !

For the present, then, I must say nothing more than
that the danger we are in of neglecting our Christian
duty is certainly great and pressing — the danger, I mean,
of neglecting the time present, and doing the work of
the Lord in a heartless, careless manner.

How to guard against this danger is a consideration
of as great importance as any that can be well thought
of — but we must put it off to some future opportunity.

However, let us all remember — let us labor and pray to
have the great truth deeply impressed on our hearts —
that we have no time to waste — that " whatever our
hand findeth to do, we must do it with our might ;'*
ever remembering, that every hour is an hour of trial to

VALUE OF TIME. 65

US ; and that whether we spend it well or ill, it is gone
for ever — we can never spend it over again.

And yet this is what we cannot, will not be persuaded
of. We have a sort of notion, that if we were diligent
at one time, we have a right to be idle at another ; or
that if we are negligent in some respects, we may make
up for it by greater zeal in others.

This is so dangerous a notion, that I am sure, I am
positive, we cannot too much guard against it.

And may our merciful heavenly Father, in his infinite
love to us, grant us the aid of his Holy Spirit, to com-
fort our sinking hearts, and strengthen our failing fal-
tering steps : may he, for his dear Son's sake, enable
us, day after day, and hour after hour, to make some
progress at least, however slight, in the knowledge of
his truth, and the practice of his will : that so we may
still be drawing nearer and nearer unto him — still be
growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.

6*

66 VALUE OF TIME.

SERMON Vm.

VALUE OF TIME.

EccLES. ix. 10.

" Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
Do it with thy might ;
For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
In the grave, whither thou goest."

In directing your attention to this passage on a former
occasion, I offered some observations on the danger we
are in of not endeavoring to make the most of the
time present, day after day.

How we may best guard against this danger is evi-
dently a matter of the most serious consideration, and
what I now wish to turn your thoughts to.

First of all, it is what no one I suppose can deny — no
one, at least, whose understanding is not clouded by
habitual indolence, or violent prejudices — that it is the
duty of each of us to put our minds to this matter ; to
consider closely and attentively each for himself, what
it is for such as wo to be wasteful of our time and
talents, not to endeavor to make the most of them day
after day, as long as we stay here.

This can scarcely be denied by any reasonable person.
And yet it is but too certain that a great many people,
some from one cause, and some from another, go on all
their lives through, without so much as ever once — no,
not even once, considering with any earnestness,
whether their course of practice is really what it ought
to be, whether they are making the most of their time,
understanding, and other advantages, which the provi-
dence of God has placed at their disposal.

We take for granted we are right, or at least not
very wrong, in our opinions and practices j and if we

I

VALUE OF TIME. 67

can but keep our feelings calm and comfortable, we are
satisfied.

Now I know this is very natural, and quite what was
to be expected from frail and fallen creatures such as
we are.

But then we must take care how we trust too much
to our nature in its present state, degenerate and cor-
rupt.

And we must ever remember that the very purpose
and meaning of the gospel revelation is to correct and
restore this our fallen nature ; in other words, really to
prevent us from being guided or governed by our feel-
ings, and to keep us ever under the control of sound
wisdom, judgment, and discretion.

Nevertheless we too often forget this, the best of us;
so reluctant and unwilling are we to take the trouble of
entering on close attention and deep serious thought,
though all the while perhaps we have a strong sort of
instinctive sense of the awfulness of our condition — a
great change coming on each of us — but how near to
each of us, no one can tell.

It would be well then if we could be prevailed on
even for once in our lives — only once — to press very
closely on our thoughts the consideration of what the
value of our time really is — for what purposes we are
placed here — what the end is likely to be of our pres-
ent goings on — whether we are really making the most,
or at least sincerely endeavoring to make the most, of
our time, and other various talents and faculties which
our God has bestowed on us — each of us severally.

If we would but for once consider these things very
closely, and with serious attention of mind, not giving
way to our feelings or prejudices, nor taking for grant-
ed that our present way of going on is safe and right —
if we would but for once so far humble ourselves, as
really, and not in words only, to doubt whether or not
we are neglecting, day after day, in many respects, the
gracious opportunities which our merciful God puts
within our reach — if we would only once, just once,
condescend to take the trouble thus to examine into

68 VALUE OF TIME.

the truth of our condition — not what we have fancied it
to be, but what it is — then there would be hope, by the
divine assistance, that we might see and know, before
it be too late, " the things which belong unto our" eter-
nal " peace."

But if we have no doubts and fears for ourselves,
surely some way or other our judgment must be blinded
or misled.

I say then, it would be something, if Christians could
be so far prevailed on, as just for once to give an hour
or two's close thought and attention to their own course
of life, to the way in which they are going on — whether
they are really, and in their every-day practice, trying
to make the most of whatever talents are entrusted to
them.

For if they would think thus seriously and closely
once^ then there is reason to hope that the view they
might then have of their condition, so vast an eternity
spread before them, and their lot in that eternity made
to depend on the few uncertain days we have to stay
here ; and our goings on, at the very best, so mean, so
unworthy, and full of faults ; such a view as this of
what our condition really is, might (one would hope)
lead us on to a constant daily habit of watching our-
selves very suspiciously, lest we should allow ourselves
in the evil custom of wasting our Master's time, or
other the talents which he has given us to make the
most of.

I say, our Master's time, our Master's talents ; for,
whatever we may fancy, we certainly have none of our
own.

We have no liberty to spend anything, but entirely
and only to his honor, and in his service. Our own
will and pleasure, our fancies and imaginations, these
we cannot listen to.

As Christians, we can have no will but that of our
Master, Christ Jesus. Our own inclinations cannot be
trusted to. Be they right or wrong, they cannot, I say,
be trusted to as guides. The will of his Savior is the
Christian's only guide.

VALUE OF TIME. 69

And this is the very consideration which makes it at
the same time so necessary, and yet so difficult, even
for the best-intentioned persons, to get into a resolute
settled habit of watching their own ways closely and
suspiciously. I say, because our own inclinations can-
not be trusted to in any case, but we must be guided
entirely by other rules. And yet our inclinations, by
which I mean our natural feelings and affections, are of
all things most powerful to influence us, not only now
and then upon particular occasions, but in the whole
course of this our earthly probation, hour after hour.
Hence, as the Scripture assures us, a constant warfare
or struggle must be carried on in the Christian's heart :
a warfare and a struggle from which he has no promise
of being free on this side the grave.

Indeed some good persons have represented the mat-
ter otherwise, as if the sincere Christian might have a
right to expect to be freed from this anxious doubtful
state, when once he had resigned up his heart fully and
entirely to the love of his Savior.

But if people, instead of looking to single passages
of Scripture here and there, would consider its general
meaning and intention, they must, I think, allow that
we are not taught to expect anything like perfect rest
and peace here, no, not even those who have made the
greatest progress in evangelical holiness.

And if this be the case, then it must be always ne-
cessary for us to be keeping daily and hourly watch
over ourselves ; to be very suspicious of our own
hearts, and of the motives by which we are actuated ;
never to think we are safe, or secure of salvation, or to
imagine that we have time or anything else which we
can call our own, or which we have a right to dispose
of in any way than to the honor of our adorable Lord
and Redeemer.

This might perhaps not be the case, if we could
arrive at a positive certainty and assurance of salva-
tion. But as the Scripture does not encourage us to
trust to any such confident feelings, no, not even if we
made the greatest progress toward Christian perfec-

70 VALUE OF TIME.

tion ; therefore I conclude that at the hest and happiest
we must "pass the time of our sojourning here in
fear ;" that "whatever our hand findeth to do, we must
do it with our might," while our day of probation lasts,
ever remembering that "there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither we
are going," hastening so very fast !

Let me farther entreat you to observe, that if we
would really make the most of our time as Christians ;
if we would serve our heavenly Master sincerely, and,
as the text says, "with our might;" it is necessary
that we should be still raising our hearts to him in de-
vout aspirations that he would bless every work of our
hands; that he would "prevent us in all our doings
with his most gracious favor, and further us with his
continual help ; that so all our works being begun, con-
tinued, and ended in him, we may, through Christ
Jesus, glorify his holy name."

Let me, I say, entreat you to observe, that thus to
live habitually in the practice of secret prayer is not
merely expedient, but absolutely necessary for all who
wish to make the most of the time present : or rather,
I should say, for all who would not run into the dread-
ful danger of misspending and throwing away their
time, talents, and various opportunities of improvement
which our gracious God puts within our reach hour
after hour during the course of this our earthly pil-
grimage.

We may make the best resolutions, but if we think
to fulfil them by our own strength, and slight him on
whom all our dependance must be, what can we expect
but failure and disappointment '?

Owing to our forgetfulness of this, we too often
grow disheartened in our Christian course ; and though
perhaps we have made a good beginning, yet fall oiT
again, having trusted too much to the broken reed of
our own unassisted strength.

Hence it is absolutely necessary, if we would indeed
make the most of this our time of trial, and serve our
heavenly Master acceptably; — it is necessary, I say.

VALUE OF TIME. 71

that we "pray," as the apostle says, "without ceasing,"
that is, that we use ourselves constantly and hourly to
raise our thoughts to him whose eye is ever upon us,
and heg of him, for the sake of his beloved Son, to
support us in every trial, and to guide us in every diffi-
culty. And surely our lives at the best can be called
nothing else than a succession of trials and difficulties
day after day.

Without heavenly support, then, and heavenly gui-
dance, how dangerous must be our condition ! and what
hope can we have that such aid will be granted to us,
if we think it not worth earnestly and constantly seek-
ing for 1

Another thing which seems very much to be attended
to by all who sincerely desire " so to pass through
things temporal, as finally to lose not the things eter-
nal," is this : that when we see plainly what our duty
is in any respect, we must not allow ourselves to put it
ofT to a future time. No rule can be plainer than this,
and yet, alas ! how do the best, the most sincere and
diligent among us, neglect it — this plain rule how do
the best of us neglect every day of our lives !

We think, perhaps, that what many good people do,
there can be no great harm in, no great danger.

Rather let us think of what little value the example
even of the best of men is, unless it be founded on the
word and will of God — on " the proportion of the faith,"
— the strict and sacred rules of the gospel of Christ.

Let us also think that the faults and errors, of the
best of men are still faults and errors, and as such are
surely to be avoided. A wrong thing does not become
right because a good person practises it.

This is a plain truth, which ought to be much more
regarded than it is ; as in other respects, so also in re-
gard of the obligation which is laid upon us to make the
most of present opportunities, and not to put off to an
uncertain future what we have reason to think our heav-
enly master would wish us to do or to be.

The case seems to stand thus. If we can be better
employed than in accomplishing the will of our blessed

72 VALUE OF TIME.

Lord and Savior, then surely we should be so employed.
Then it would be right — our duty^ to attend to other
things first, and to him at some future time ; days,
months, or years hence.

But I beg and entreat you to consider — is not Jesus
Christ our one only hope \ Or is this a vain enthusi-
astic fancy — a mere way of speaking, words without
meaning ]

But now, if Jesus Christ is indeed our only hope, then
what else can we have to do, now or at any time, ex-
cept to serve him % How can it be reasonable or safe
for us sometimes to serve him and sometimes not — now
to love him and now to forget him, now to serve him
diligently and now carelessly and slothfully % Or rather,
is it not a rule for our daily observance, throughout, to
the very hour of our death — " Whatsoever thy hand find-
eth to do" in accomplishing the will of your Savior,
*' do it with thy might," still remembering that the time
of trial and discipline will soon be over — that " there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the
grave — whither thou goest 1"

Whoever considers this seriously, and with a Christian
spirit, cannot but feel very deeply the necessity which
is laid upon us, to do what we have to do without delay
— not to put off what is right and good to the chance of
the future (for it is but a chance), nor to venture to
consider any time beyond the present day as what we
can call our own.

Another consideration of great value to keep us earn-
est and zealous in making the most of the time present
is this, that certainly our mighty God and Savior is not
to be trifled with. Alas ! my brethren, what can we
say for ourselves when we think of this !

The great God is not to be trifled with — and yet how
have we been going on, I say, the best of us %

How little of our time do we consecrate to his ser-
vice 1 Of that little, how much is wasted and frittered
away, in vain, distracting, worldly thoughts — or in cher-
ishing rash presumptuous confidences — or, at the best,

VALFE OF TIME. 73

with very faint unworthy impressions of his majesty,
whom we profess to adore !

By reflections of this sort, we should humble our
pride and self-confidence ; and labor and pray unceas-
ingly after real seriousness and sincerity of heart, no
longer daring to be careless and trifling, being as we
are on the very edge of a vast boundless eternity, into
which we must be soon all swept away — though how
soon, we know not.

In our whole conduct, indeed, we should carefully
avoid trifling thoughtless ways, which we are too apt to
run into almost without being aware. But especially in
matters of religious truth and practice, we should be
particularly on our guard against all trifling : not only
because we are particularly in danger of erring in this
respect, but also because such conduct seems to show a
great want of love for our blessed Lord and Redeemer.

I leave you to consider, whether practices which are
common enough among Christians ; such, for instance,
as saying prayers for form's sake, without thinking of the
meaning — spending the Lord's day in idleness or worse —
wandering about from one place of worship to another,
for the sake of sermons, or singing, or any such reason —
talking on scriptural or religious subjects in a light care-
less way — irreverent behavior in the Lord's house —
turning one's back on the Lord's table, under pretence
of not being fit, or because there is no need to go so
often — or still more, attending on that sacred ordinance
without earnest resolutions to devote ourselves more
than ever to the service of our Redeemer — I say, I
solemnly call on you to consider seriously whether
practices such as these, common as they may be among
Christians, are not in fact proofs how men can dare to
trifle with their God, how they can set their con-
sciences at ease without suflicient grounds, nor can be
persuaded even to inquire, whether they may not pos-
sibly be in error.

I say not this, God is my witness, with any the least
unkind feeling, but with sorrow and fear : sorrow, that
we should dare to trifle on such awful subjects — and

Vol. L— 7

74- VALUE OF TIME.

fear, for what the consequences may be, when we shall
be summoned before the great tribunal, to give account
of the talents with which we have been severally en-
trusted.

' " There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom, in the grave — whither thou goest."

All that can be done, must be done now, in this brief,
transitory, uncertain space. We cannot live over an-
other life to make amends for our errors in this.

If we make mistakes in our religious opinions, and
do not try to ascertain the truth — we may not indeed
be punished for our errors : but what excuse can we
make for not trying to ascertain the truth \ — the truth,
I mean, of our duty, how we should act.

People should consider this, who talk in such a loose
careless way, and say it does not signify what a man's
opinions are, if his practice is but good.

Perhaps in the eyes of men it does not signify ; but
how can we love God if we are not anxious to think of
him aright, to come to the knowledge of his truth 1
And if the sincere love of Christ Jesus be not the ruling
principle of our conduct — or at least if we are not labor-
ing unceasingly more and more that it should be so,
then indeed we have reason to fear that we are in a
wrong course.

These things let us turn our thoughts to, closely and
seriously.

Let us think little of parting with present comfort, of
subjecting ourselves to doubts, perplexities, and the
scorn of the world, if we may but arrive at the know-
ledge of the truth — " the truth as it is in Jesus."

Let us still remember that every man must look to
himself, that we have no time to lose. Eternity is close
at hand, and how are we prepared for it \

Let us beware of trusting much to good feelings, pro-
fessions, or intentions ; but " whatever our hand find-
eth to do" in the way of duty, let us " do it with our
might."

For thus only can we prove ourselves sincere in the
love and service of our Redeemer. Thus, and thus

VALUE OF TIME. 75

only, can we draw near to the awful hour of death, and
the more awful day of judgment, with humble confi-
dence in his blood, trusting to be received to his eter-
nal joy.

Surely such trust, so placed, shall not be in vain.

Nevertheless, " Be not high-minded, but fear."

76 OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

SERMON IX.

OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

Matt, vi, 6.

'* But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast
shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

What can be more simple and easy to be understood,
than the picture which these words present to us '? A
devout worshipper^ with his door closed, the world shut
out, and he alone with his God, pouring out liis heart
earnestly in the confession of his sin and infirmity, in
prayers for pardon and grace, in thanksgivings for mer-
cies received, and in intercession for all whom he loves.
Every one perceives at once, that this sort of eomrau-
iiication with the Almighty, regularly kept up, is the
best way to exercise himself in devotional feelings.
Accordingly, even among heathens and misbelievers, as
many as have not given up all notions of God altogether,
have used and recommended prayer at set times, as the
best way of securing help from above, and of keeping
up something like religion in the minds of men.

But no false religion, nor any wisdom merely human,
could ever add with authority and power such a promise
as this of our Savior in the text. They might sa}^, pray
so many times a year, or a day ; use such and such helps
to seriousness and devotion : but they could not with
authority follow up their good advice by saying, Thy
Father which seeth in secret, the same shall reward thee
openly. He who came from heaven, and is above all —
the very God who hears prayer, and the Savior for whose
sake it is heard — he assures us that it is acceptable to
his Father and himself. It is not only edifying to us,

OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 77

but it is the way to get a blessing- from him. This, man
never could have known, except God himself had reveal-
ed it to him. And to have the revelation confirmed so
expressly by no less a person than his own incarnate
Son, is the strongest mark of its great importance to us,
and how much concerned our heavenly Father is, that
we might know quite thoroughly the value he sets on
our prayers.

This appears yet more, when we come to consider
our Lord's own practice, the best interpreter of his pre-
cepts. One might have supposed that he, the very Word
incarnate and wisdom of the Father, in whom dwelt the
Spirit without measure, and to whom all things were
committed of God — one might have supposed that he
would not have needed the practice of prayer like other
men. But it is plain that prayer was, humanly speak-
ing, the very life and comfort of our blessed Savior's
soul. He hastened as it were back to prayer, for a refuge
from all the cares and sorrows which beset him in his
painful and laborious life. Was he wearied out with
teaching and with working miracles 1 His refreshment
was, to withdraw himself and pray. Was he preparing
for any great work 1 He continued the night before in
prayer to God. Did any sorrow press heavily on him %
He prayed more and more earnestly, till an angel came
from heaven to strengthen him. In short, no one ever
prayed so constantly as he of whom one might before-
hand have imagined that he stood in no need of prayer.

Now observe what follows from this. We know that
Jesus Christ our Savior is the only pure example the
world ever saw of that temper and frame of mind which
the children of Adam must learn to practise before they
can be happy in heaven. The mind of Christ is the
mind of heaven : and none ever prayed like Christ. Does
not this show most clearly, that he who would be ever fit
for heaven, must begin by learning to delight in his
prayers % Ought it not with reason to alarm those to
whom prayer is a burden and a weariness 1 It is not
only that they lose the blessing they ask — that God
will not hear them for that time : their loss is far greater

7*

78 OUR LOHD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

than that : they are living, and are like to die, without
any practice of that temper which must be practised if
they would be happy in heaven. Every hour that you
go on in that mind takes you farther from the resemblance
of your Savior. Can you think of this, and not wish,
and pray, and desire that God would give you a better
mind 1

But our Lord's example teaches us another thing be-
sides the great necessity of prayer ; and that is, the best
way of prayings so that one's prayers may be sure to be
heard. If we knew it no other way, we might be sure
from our blessed Lord's pattern, that God is never so
well pleased with us, as when we approach him with
the deepest reverence of heart.

He, then, who was infinitely nearer the Father than
any other of the children of men ever was or can be ;
the man who was in his own person the very Son of God
incarnate : he who alone had no sin to make him un-
worthy of approaching his Father's throne : he of all
others set us the pattern of deepest reverence and hu-
miliation of body and mind in our addresses to the
Majesty of heaven. This, we may reasonably believe,
was one reason of his withdrawing himself, as we read
that he did repeatedly, to places where he might be least
interrupted and where he might unreservedly pour out
his divine soul. This made him fall down in so lowly
postures, sometimes kneeling, sometimes lying prostrate.
This breathed over all his prayers, of which there are
several in the gospels, that unspeakable mixture of
majesty and humility, which no words can describe, but
of which surely one effect ought to be, to make every
Christian man very fearful lest he be found drawing near
the high and holy One with any other than the most
serious words and thoughts.

Now one part of this reverence will be, that men will
pray to God regularly ; not at random, and as it may
happen, now performing and now omitting their devo-
tions, just as they chance to be minded for the time.
Do you not plainly see, first of all, that such irregular
unpunctual prayer is very likely indeed to dwindle into

OUS LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 79

no prayer at all ; just as everything else which is done
irregularly is sure to be often left undone. And in the
next place, which is more respectful to the great king
of heaven and earth 1 to wait till you are at leisure, or
so disposed, before you draw near to offer him your
acknowledgments ; or to humble yourself before him at
set hours, making time when you seem to have none,
and forcing yourself to perform that solemn service in
spite of all distractions whatever 1 Common sense will
tell you at once which of these two is the more devotion-
al way, quite as plainly as if one had asked, whether a
parent or benefactor is more honored by our visiting
him or otherwise remembering him now and then, or
by our coming regularly so often, and putting other
engagements by to wait upon him. We may therefore
rest assured, that our Lord approved and himself prac-
tised the custom of private prayer morning and evening,
which natural piety teaches us all ; though neither in
his discourses, nor in any other part of the Bible, that I
remember, are people expressly enjoined to practise it.
Our heavenly Father has left this, as he has so many
other things, for a trial of our dutiful affection toward
him. But wo to that unthankful child, who, because
he finds no express command, encourages himself in the
liberty of omitting either his morning or his evening
addresses to the Author of his being.

Perhaps you will say, " nay, but it is better not to pray
at all, than to pray formally ;" that one prayer with the
spirit is worth ten with the lips only ; and, therefore,
that it is best not to tie yourself to times and forms, but
to pray in this or that place, as God shall move your
heart, in season or out of season. But by thus talking,
you show plainly that you know very little of religion ;
very little of the true fear of God. For if you were
really practised in that, you would know that it is like
other right dispositions, other good tempers of mind and
heart : it will not take root nor thrive in us without
continual practice and effort, and earnest wishing and
striving on our parts. Suppose an undutiful child were
to say, " It is no use, my coming and waiting on my

80 OTIR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

father ; I have tried it once or twice, and I took no
pleasure in it ; it was a mere wearisome burden to me.
I will just let it all alone, and not come near my father,
nor do anything at all for him, till I feel inclined to do
it cheerfully : and this will be much better, surely, than
the hypocrisy of waiting on him with a grudging mind,
and wishing myself elsewhere all the while." What, I
ask, would any one think, who should hear an undu-
tiful son or daughter reasoning thus in justification of
such unnatural behavior 1 Would not people say, " If the
man were in earnest, of course he would not mind wait-
ing on his parent, however at first it might put him out
of his way 1" Would they not advise him, at all events,
to do what he could for his father and his mother, assur-
ing him that by degrees what was irksome to him at
first would become easy and natural ; and that by con-
stant dutiful behavior to his parents he would somehow
or other find that his mind and temper would become
dutiful 1

Why have I put this case about undutiful children
and their conduct to their parents'? Because it seems
to me, and I think it must seem to you, very like the
undutifulness of too many Christians toward God. The
same sort of behavior, then, which would cure the one,
would cure the other. If the unnatural child would
learn to be dutiful, he must begin by ^'■showing piety at
home, and requiting his parents" by kind words, looks,
and deeds. If the unchristian heart wants to be touch-
ed, and to learn the true love of God in Christ Jesus,
that man also must begin by often performing acts of
devotion. He must not forsake the church, nor refuse
to join in prayer at home, nor leave off kneeling down
solemnly in private prayer morning and evening, be-
cause he has tried these things often, and they have
passed over him as mere forms, and he has seemed to
himself never the devouter for them. To do so would
be as if the son should leave off waiting on his father,
because he found at first that he did it rather grudging-
ly. If that would be the wrong way to improve in nat-

OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 81

ural affection, be sure the other would be the wrong
way to improve in piety and devotion.

Indeed, the case is so plain j that one is almost
ashamed of spending so many words upon it; and I
suppose most people see it at once, when the question
is about morning and evening prayers at home. But
in public prayers, I know not how it is, it should seem
that we are apt to take a different measure from what
we do in respect of private devotions. Thus you shall
often hear people saying they abstain from coming to
church on week-days, or as often as they might on
Sundays, and especially they refrain from often com-
municating, because they are afraid of their service
becoming formal. I shall say no more of this at pres-
ent, than that it seems to me they might just as reason-
ably leave out their morning or evening prayers, any
time that they felt indisposedtoward them.

Next to regularity in times of prayer, a wise choice
of a place to pray in is of no small consequence, where
people have a choice. We are all so far like children,
that we are creatures of custom and habit ; and it comes
to be very much of a help to us, when we would estab-
lish ourselves in a way of praying attentively, to have
some one particular room, or part of a room, which is
as it were hallowed to us by our often using it to that
purpose ; to have some place where, when we kneel to-
morrow, the very place itself may recall to us the good
thoughts and purposes we had, when we were there
praying to-day ; and how we have kept them, or swerved
from them. For this sort of reason, most serious wor-
shippers like to have a particular place in the church,
and find it a help to their devotions; a feeling which
of course grows on them as they become older, and
gather in every year a fresh set of holy recollections,
to add to their store of reasons for liking that place.

This kind of devout precaution our Lord does not
indeed command, but he rather encourages it by his
injunction, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet,"
that is, have a set place for prayer. And his example
speaks very strongly to the same effect. For although

82 OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYERi

in the wandering life he passed, not having where to
lay his head, no regular home of his own, it must have
been often out of the question for him to have any reg-
ular place of devotion, to which he might return day
after day 5 yet this we see, that more than once he
chose out this or that place, evidently as most apt and
proper for his holy intercourse with his Father. Thus,
very early in his ministry, when first his miracles began
to be attended to, " In the morning," says St. Mark,
"rising up a great while before day, he went out and
departed into a desert place, and there prayed." On
which words a holy bishop asks, " What is a slothful
sinner to think of himself," when he reads of such de-
votion on the part of the holy Jesus 1 What indeed
are we all to think of our slovenly, and hurried, and un-
worthy prayers, when we see him, who could not pray-
amiss, taking so much trouble to pray in the very best
way possible : using the silence of the early morning,
and the most solitary place he could find 1 no doubt for
this among other purposes : — to reprove us for our too
little care, too little study how to pray best ; and on
the other hand, to encourage those saints of his, who
in better ages of the church have loved to watch with
him early and late, and to steal from sleep, as they con-
veniently might, minutes or hours which they might
spend in devotion.

Again we read that before he named the apostles,
and delivered to them his holy sermon on the Mount,
he continued on the same mountain all night in prayer
to God.

Thirdly, after one of his greatest miracles, the feed-
ing five thousand with a few loaves and fishes, when he
was on the point of delivering that doctrine of com-
munion with him, which was to be the great trial of
faith and unbelief; — then also he sent away both the
multitude and his disciples, and spent three parts of the
night (it was a night of tempest) alone praying on the
mountain ; for it seems to have been the same.

And when he was to be transfigured, then also he
took his three favored disciples apart into the mountain

I

OITR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 83

(probably still the same mountain) to pray : and those
prayers likewise seem to have continued very late in
the nisfht.

Finally, during the last week, the very week of his
suffering for us, thus he prepared himself for his suffer-
ings. "In the daytime he was teaching in the temple,
and in the evening he went out to the mount called the
Mount of Olives ;" no doubt to the holy garden, where
he was taken just after his agony, the last night before
he was crucified. There, too, as it may seem, he had
a set place of prayer ; a place remote from the tumult
of the city : a garden, where he might pray by moon-
light, interrupted by nothing but his affectionate pas-
toral care for his yet imperfect and slumbering dis-
ciples.

To the very last, then, it was our Lord's custom to
prepare himself for great changes and trials by v ry
solemn exercises of devotion : and to make the devo-
tion more solemn, he chose out especial places for it ;
places the most apt, from their loneliness, for such holy
and awful communications.

As regards us, there was another reason probably,
why he so carefully withdrew himself to pray : viz., to
set an example of that secrecy which he so seriously
commands us to practise, here in the text. " When
thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites : for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in
the corners of the streets, that they may have glory of
men. . . . But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth
in secret shall reward thee openly." Our Savior knew
the corrupt hearts of men, knew how surely they w^ould
begin to value themselves, and to seek praise from
others, under pretence of doing more good, for prayers
as they deemed rightly offered up : and therefore he
takes away at once all excuse for that kind of vanity,
by charging us, to the best of our power, to keep our
private prayers secret. So that no one, who minds
what our Lord says, can imagine it his duty to make a

84> OUR LORD A PATTERN OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

show of his devotion, with the notion of profiting
others by his example. For if our vanity were neces-
sary to another's edification, our Lord, who surely
knows best, would not have so peremptorily forbid-
den it.

Let us then remember, and never forget, with what
especial care and jealousy the Lord and Redeemer of
our souls and bodies watches over us night and morn-
ing in this great concern of our private devotions. He
is very anxious indeed, that in a matter so immediately
between God and us, nothing unworthy, vain, or im-
pure, may by any means intrude ; that our prayer may
be such as he may offer, in virtue of his all-sufiicient
merits, like incense before his Father's throne. Will
you not watch with him one hour 1 Will you not labor,
that this night at least the great Intercessor may pre-
sent to his Father from you a real prayer, a prayer
ofTered with meek heart and due reverence 1 You
know not how much good one such earnest supplication
may do you. If by God's grace you begin this night
to say your prayers more devoutly than before, he may
help you to say them still better to-morrow. Devout
prayer, steadily persisted in, will lead to devout and
holy obedience : and holy obedience, for Christ's sake,
cannot lead to less than eternal glory.

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 85

SERMON X.

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

Matt. vi. 6.

" Pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly."

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ being set forth as
the pattern of private prayer, we have seen that his ex-
ample encourages us to pray constantly, and not to
faint ; it shows us that when we have no heart, no li-
king, for our prayers, it is no small fault we commit, but
we show ourselves wanting in that mind and temper
without which we cannot be happy, no, not in heaven,
itself.

Again, the example of our Savior teaches us to use
sound wisdom and discretion in our choice of a joZace
to pray in ; endeavoring to be, as near as we can, alone
with God in our private prayers to him ; availing our-
selves of darkness, silence, solitude, leisure, and what-
ever helps to remove the world from our sight, and
leave us to meditate, undisturbed, on blessings which
the world cannot give, and terrors from which it cannot
protect. Especially we have our Lord's authority for
setting apart, if we can, some room, or part of a room,
or wherever else we can find a proper place, for praying
to our Father which is in secret, every night and morning
of our lives. We cannot do too much to make our-
selves very serious and reverent, when we draw near to
speak to our God on the most awful of all matters.

Such are some of the general instructions which we

may glean from our Lord's own divine example in this

matter of private prayer. In the text, as you see, he

lays great stress on the one point of secrecy, as opposed

Vol. I.— 8

86 MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

to the custom of the hypocritical Pharisees. They
loved, and used themselves, to pray, that is, to say
their private prayers, standing in the synagogues, and
in the corners of the streets, that they might be seen of
men. It was the way of their party, and they got in-
fluence by it. For among the Jews then, as among us
now, and as, I suppose, at all times of the world, there
were some Pharisees and some Sadducees — some, that
is, who made a great show of religion for certain pur-
poses of their own ; others, who took a kind of pride in
showing how little they cared for any kind of religion.
Both parties were large and flourishing : and both, as it
should seem, one as much as the other, set themselves
against the very truth — the gospel of our Lord and Sav-
ior ; and it was set against them. But against the
Sadducees' error about prayer, there was little need to
warn our Lord's disciples : they did not want to be told
that men cannot live happy without prayer, that is,
without God in the world ; therefore, although there
are many commandments how they should pray, and with
what mind, I do not remember that in any place our
Lord expressly enjoined them to pray night and morn-
ing. He takes that for granted, as I said before ;
whereas against the other sort of error — Pharisaical
hypocrisy in prayer, the gospel is full of most serious
warninsfs.

It seems, indeed, a strange thing that any set of per-
sons should ever have thought of making their private
prayers in public; but if we think it well over, it will
be found to agree but too perfectly with the profane
irreligious temper of fallen man, when God leaves him
to himself. For let us suppose that these Pharisees,
having been brought up in some sense of religion, could
not make up their minds to leave off prayer altogether,
yet unhappily, not choosing to live in the practice of
faith and piety, had never learned to delight in prayer.
What would be the consequence 1 Their devotions,
morning and evening, would come upon them as a mere
task and burden : not at all as a blessing, nor as a
privilege. This would be intolerable, going on long,

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 87

twice at least every day of their lives. They will there-
fore in the end either neglect the form itself, giving
themselves up to open and downright profaneness, or
the evil spirit will help them to some way of recon-
ciling it with their sins : which latter is at once done —
men's prayers are made to be compatible with their
wicked lives, when, being offered in public, they may be
offered for decency's or credit's sake, that is, for a mere
Avorldly motive. Thus the long prayers of those Phar-
isees, which would have been intolerable to them if
offered in private, were borne with when they made
them publicly for a show, because they brought their
reward — the praise of men. And thus, without seeming
to themselves to give up God's service entirely, the
Pharisees contrived to live without God in the world.

Too many Christians contrive the same ; not, indeed,
in the same way, by saying their private prayers in.
public, but by hurrying them over always, omitting
them often, and comforting themselves with the notion,
that they do a great deal for God, if they only attend
the service of the church with tolerable regularity,
when they fancy themselves at leisure. May we not
say of such devotion, as our Lord said of the hypocrites
who prayed in the synagogues and corners of the
streets'? "Verily, they have their reward" already,
they have it all out in this world, and must not expect
any in the world to come. They have it in this world,
in the praise and approbation of men ; in not losing the
favor or good opinion of this or that friend or neighbor,
which they would forfeit if they showed themselves al-
together godless and profane. Or they have it in the
false peace of their own consciences, which they manage
to keep quiet by this vain shadow of religion. They
must not expect the true peace of God, who deal with
him and with themselves so deceitfully : but they may
have a kind of peace — the peace of a slumbering and
silent conscience, to the very end of their portion in
this life ; and so much tbe worse for them.

Now this wretched self-deceit is very hard indeed, if
not impossible, to be reconciled with constant, attentive,

8S MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

private prayer : constant^ I say, and attentive ; for no
doubt men do greatly help themselves toward going
on easily in their sins, by praying irregularly, now
and then, or praying regularly, but inattentively, and
then fancying they cannot be so very bad. But to pray
night and morning quite privately^ and attend to the
meaning of their prayers, is such a practice as can
hardly agree with any profane unchristian way of life.

Men think it a very simple and easy duty to bow
their knees, and say their prayers. But take our Lord's
words in the text, and consider how much, according to
them, prayer really offered in secret must mean.

" Pray," says our Savior, " to thy Father which is in
secret." This seems to refer to a name which is given
to God in the prophecy of Isaiah. " Verily thou art a
God that hideth thyself^ O God of Israel, the Savior."
God " dwelleth in the light which no man can approach
unto." — " No man hath seen, nor can see him." To
hold any communication with him is a work of very
great faith. Before you can in earnest think a thought
of God, or speak a sincere word to him, your hearts
must be lifted up to a height far above whatever you
see and know. You must have, strong and present in
your mind, the idea of one infinitely powerful, wise, and
good, at all moments quite close to you ; holding you
and yours, as it were, now and ever in his hand. You
must consider yourself, a poor sinful worm of the earth,
as entering into direct communication with the highest
and most retired heaven; as speaking words that will
be heard beyond the thrones of the most glorious angels;,
as thinking thoughts which the most holy trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, are attending to, and watching,
and ready to cherish, if there be but a spark of Chris-
tian sincerity in them. Now he who is in this frame of
mind — he who seriously and sincerely thinks of God
when he prays — must, for the time at least, lift up his
soul far above all earthly things. And doing this, he
must be deeply interested by the high thoughts which
come over his soul. He must perceive and feel, for the
time, that nothing is truly great but what is immortal 5

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 89

no being worth living- and dying for but he of whom and
by whom are all things. Thus, if you pray to God
thoughtfully, you must pray with deep and awful rev-
erence. You must feel the distance between yourself
and him to whom you are venturing to speak. And
doing so regularly, as often as you prayed, and praying
at least twice a day, you would form by degrees u. habit
of fearing God. Spiritual wisdom would begin in you,
and by the unfailing grace of the Holy Ghost, the good
beginning would ripen to a glorious consummation.

But now, if any congregation of Christians were ask-
ed one by one, and would answer truly and unreserved-
ly, must not many plainly confess, that although perhaps
they have said some prayers not irregularly for very
many years, yet they have never, or very seldom, had
any such deep and awakening thoughts of God 1 They
have been ready enough, indeed, to use God's name,
especially when anything happened to disturb or alarm
them ; but what if the most holy name have passed over
their lips oftener as a word of course than in any other
way 1 What if others, who have been taught, and have
sometimes tried, to be more in earnest, must neverthe-
less own with shame and sorrow, that they have prayed
thousands of times without any serious effort to com-
pose and settle their minds into something like a true
notion of the high and lofty one to whom they were
speaking 1 If these things be so, there can be no won-
der at the decay of true religion in the world, for all
our high and loud professions. But will it not be a
great wonder in the other world, if such careless un-
thinking worshippers obtain any blessing from the God
whom they have so slighted 1 Can we be too speedy,
or too earnest, in repenting of such prayers as these,
and in learning, by God's grace, to pray more thought-
fully 1

But farther ; to any considerate person the thought is
indeed inexpressibly awful, that, when he prays, he is
speaking to " the Father which is in secret :" it is made,
however, still more awful by reflecting on what our Lord
next adds : " Thy Father which seetk in secret shall re-

8*

90 MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

ward thee openly." It is fearful, the addressing ourselves
to one so high above us — to the Father which is in se-
cret ; but it is rendered yet more fearful by the con-
sciousness that he seeth in secret. Although he dwell so
high in heaven, yet he continually " humbleth himself
to behold" the things that are in this lower earth.
Therefore no devout worshipper need fear that any one
of his hearty prayers will be lost. Even if he cannot
pray in words, God knows the meaning of his heart, and
has ways of setting all down. On the other hand, let
no man think that this wilful misbehavior in prayer —
hurrying it over, impatiently shortening it, using negli-
gent or irreverent postures, neglecting to compose him-
self beforehand even by one serious thought, hastening
eagerly away from it as one glad to get back to the
world : — I say, let no Christian imagine that any of these
faults, or the like, is too trifling to be noticed by the
Judge of all the earth. What if there were any of them
light faults in themselves 1 yet, as tokens and samples
of what men have in their hearts, they are fearfully bad
and severely punishable. Indeed misbehavior in private
prayer is especially foolish as well as wicked, because,
of all religious duties, private prayer is that one which
most immediately regards the Almighty as really pres-
e?it, and watching what we do. If a man behave ill in
public prayer, he may defend himself, profanely indeed,
but consistently enough, by saying he does not believe,
nor care for God at all, only he comes to church to
serve this or that temporal purpose ; but no person using
private prayer can consistently say he does not believe
at all. For if he do not believe, why does he pray % He
can get nothing at all by his prayer in the way of tem-
poral good, it being (as we suppose) entirely and strictly
private. Therefore, if he prays in private, he surely
believes. But if he believe — if he really acknowledge
the unseen all-seeing God — how can he behave himself
rudely or irreverently toward him 1 By praying, you
own him infinitely near ; by praying carelessly, you do
in effect deny that he is near or attending to you at all.
Such is the perverse wretchedness of our nature, if not

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 91

helped and guided by true Christian religion, under the
influence of God's most Holy Spirit. A person who,
being alone, prays carelessly, cannot plead, with the
patriarch Jacob, " the Lord is in this place, and I knew
it not." For by the very act of praying at all, he con-
fesses that " God is in this place."

Whoever, then, considers at all, must behave well at
his prayers, and so doing, he gives the strongest pledge
of behaving well afterward, when his prayers are over,
and the grace then asked for is to be tried in active life.
For as was said, by the very act of praying you confess
that God sees you in secret. If he see you while you
are praying, of course he sees you also when the prayers
are over. You are not out of his sight the moment you
rise from your knees. Neither is it possible, if you are
really devout when you pray, that you should become
indevout presently after. The fragrance, as it were, of
the holy offering will continue surely some little while
with you, and dispose you to live in some measure ac-
cording to your prayers.

Let us take for example a few instances out of our
Lord's own divine prayer. Take that which he, by re-
peating it at the end of the prayer, leads us to think of
more particularly. Whenever you say the Lord's
prayer, you acknowledge before the Judge of all the
earth that you are a sinner deserving God's wrath and
damnation : and that you may not lose all chance of
pardon, you plead that you do in heart forgive whoever
has in any way behaved ill to you. You say to God,
" Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that
trespass against us." Suppose any man rising up from
his knees, immediately after offering this prayer, and
beginning presently to do unkind things ; meeting
everything untoward, and every one that affronts him,
with cross words, looks, and actions. Is it not plain
that very many do so 1 and what are we to think of their
prayers just offered 1

Again, recollect that petition, " Lead us not into
temptation," and judge whether any person, who has
just been addressing those words in earnest to the God

$2 MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER.

unto whom all desires are knoAvn, would find it in his
heart presently to renew those loose thoughts and care-
less habits which are likeliest of all things to lead him
into gross sin ; as he knows by long and shameful ex-
perience. Imagine, if you can, a Christian man joining
sincerely in that part of the Lord's prayer, and making
haste, as soon as the service is over, to forget the Lord
and his prayer too, and everything else that is good and
serious, in dissolute company, profane reading, loose
jesting, or strong drink. Make sure of it, there must
have been some great fault in your way of praying against
temptation, if it be followed presently by your running
into temptation. Either you were inattentive, and did
not mind what you said ; or you were presumptuous,
and thought you could stand by your own strength ;
or you were wavering and irresolute, and in your secret
soul rather wished for the contrary to your prayer —
rather wished to be strongly tempted, that you might
have, as you fancied, some kind of excuse for falling.
If such were your prayers, no wonder, when the oppor-
tunity of sinning came, that you found no grace to stand
upright. God, " unto whom all hearts are open, and
from whom no secrets are hid ;" Almighty God, who
hears your thoughts more plainly than men hear your
words ; — he takes you at your thought (if I may so say)
rather than at your word ; he does not interfere to keep
the temptation from you, which you in your heart rather
wish to come near.

Perhaps even you do more — perhaps you invite the
mischief, and watch for it, and follow after it ; not at
all caring for your baptismal vow, in which you pledged
yourself so very solemnly to renounce all covetous
and carnal desires, so as, " not to follow nor be led by
them." To be led by them, is to yield when bad desires
come very near you ; to follow them, is to venture near
them, to indulge disorderly fancies and longings, to go
as near sin as you dare for the moment. Those who
do so are as if they used a prayer contrary to our Lord's
prayer. They are, in God's sight, as though they said
to him, " Lead us into temptation, and deliver us

MORAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE PRAYER. 93

over to the evil one. Give us up to our own wicked
hearts, to the world, the flesh, and the devil." If this
would be a prayer too shocking to think of, learn, I be-
seech you, to be shocked at your own condition, as many
as follow up your prayers against temptation by running
headlong into temptation. Watch, pray, strive, labor
to amend in that respect. It is your weak point : it is
there, above all, that your great enemy still keeps hold
of you. Once disengage yourself from him there, and
you will have made a great step indeed toward complete
and final deliverance.

I say, disengage yourself from the prevailing tempta-
tion ; for so, by God's gracious help, you assuredly may.
This very evening, when you say the Lord's prayer, on
coming to the words, "Lead us not into temptation," you
may stop and quietly consider in your mind, what the
sins and frailties are to which you are most violently
inclined or accustomed ; and you may earnestly wish
and beg for grace, when next those sins and frailties
beset you, to put them by, and have nothing to do with
them. And having so wished and prayed, you may, if
you will, when the time comes, call your wish and prayer
to mind, and leave off the sin " before it be meddled
with." Till you have learned to make this use of your
prayers, they will not be worthy of your Father which
seeth in secret ; you must not expect any blessing on
them. But when they begin to make a difference in
your lives, then God will indeed be glorified by them.
His grace will help you to pray better, and still as the
improvement in your devotion goes on, your behavior
will improve also, till his mercy have thoroughly pre-
pared you for the reward promised in his Son's name to
every persevering humble worshipper.

94? CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN.

SERMON XL

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN.

St. John v. 14.

'' Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou ar^
made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

We are not told the particular history of the person
to Avhom our Savior addressed these words, so that we
cannot say whether they relate to any one great and
notorious sin of his ; we only know that some sin he
had, which had brought on him that grievous infirmity,
continued by God's providence for thirty-eight years,
arid only cured at last hy the miraculous interference of
the blessed Jesus. In any case the same words may
with perfect propriety be addressed to every one, (and
who is not among the number 1) of those whom God's
mercy has at any time raised up and relieved from any
sickness or sorrow. Let such be seriously assured,
that when they read or hear this verse, they have the
blessed Jesus himself, the only physician of souls and
bodies, speaking to them in his own person, and telling
them what use he and his Father intended them to make
of his gracious visitation. For even when he spoke
the words, he knew that his divine Spirit by his apostle
would set them down for our admonition. He knew
beforehand to which of mankind, and under what cir-
cumstances, the same clear warning would be conveyed
by his gospel : "Behold, thou art made whole : sin no
more, lest a worse thins: come unto thee." And what
he so knew beforehand, he surely meant and intended.
He meant and intended these words for you, for me, for
every Christian who has ever been relieved by him in.
sickness or sorrow, as particularly as for that infirm

CHRISTIAN VKAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 99

man to \Yhom he was then speaking in the temple. It
is not only that his ministers, and considerate persons
in all ages, have, as it were, caught up those words,
and applied them to their own good purposes ; but who-
ever ye are that hear the words now, he thought of you
w^hen he spoke them, he willed you to hear them ; he is
watching, with the care of a true physician, whether or
no you will profit by them.

In order to do so, consider first, what awful notions
our Savior would here impress on us concernincr the
future end and sure punishment of sin. "Do so no
more ; lest a worse thing come unto thee." From what
we read before of the sufferings of him to whom this
was said, it is plain with what peculiar force the ex-
pression would come home to him. "A worse thing :'*
worse, that is, than a palsy of thirty and eight years :
worse than lying, helpless and weary, day after day in
sight of relief, and seeing one after another step down
into the pool and be made whole, while he was himself
unable to stir, and had no friend to lift him : yet, says
our Savior, if you fall again into wilful sin, you are to
expect worse than this.

Suppose the man never so thoughtless and ignorant,
such a threat would naturally fill him with alarm.
Coming as it did from one who had just before so
clearly shown his Almighty power, it would set him
upon meditating, more seriously than ever he had done,
upon the infinite danger of offending God, and the ab-
solute necessity of amending his ways. And such, in
all reason, should be every suffering Christian's thought,
when he thinks on his own sufferings. Whatever you
have endured, or still endure, from pain of body, an-
guish of mind, weary and desponding thoughts, neglect
or unkindness of other men, you are here told for cer-
tain— and told by one who enters into your feelings far
too kindly to frighten or distress you without need —
Jesus Christ himself tells you, that far worse is in store,
unless you truly repent of all your sins.

Here, then, you at once discern one most merciful
purpose of Almighty God, in sending upon men pain

^6' CHRISTIAN FEAR OP RELAPSE INTO SIN.

and calamity. It may serve effectually, as a kind of
sample, to teach them, feelingly as it were, somewhat
of the wrath and justice of God. It may serve to
awaken a wholesome fear of falling into his hands with-
out a Mediator to speak for them. And happy indeed
will that man prove, whose severe bodily pains shall
have taught him in time to recollect and fear the tor-
ments of hell, " where their worm dieth not, and the
fire is not quenched;" to fear that place truly and
seriously, so as to seek refuge from it in Jesus Christ
only, and to do nothing which shall forfeit his protec-
tion.

Look, again, to a different sort of trial, harder to
bear, as some will tell you, than even the sharpest bod-
ily pain, and certainly in general much longer to be en-
dured : look to the case of one suffering from a dull,
languid, tedious illness, making all things wearisome to
him, and tiring out his spirits and nerves with constant
anxiety and disappointment. Even this will be great
gain, if it lead his thoughts away from a world, to him
at least so restless and unsatisfactory j and teach him
to dread that place, where all will be eternal disquiet,
without any hope at all ; and to long after the reign of
peace, of which, by God's blessing, he may make him-
self sure.

Again, is any one grieved and vexed at the counte-
nance of men changing toward him 1 because his friends
and relations are affronted, and forsake himl or be-
cause those on whom he depended, one way or another,
disappoint his hopes '? Let him learn to dread the per-
petual, incurable desolation, in which they will find
themselves hereafter, who have gone on slighting God's
mercy in this life : let the bitterness of being partially
abandoned teach him to beware how he forces God to
abandon him, and finally take his Holy Spirit from him.

These few instances may show how much the actual
evils of this life, such as pain, languor, desolation, may
help to teach us the terrors of the next. And if such
terrors reform a man indeed, and bring his natural pride
down to seek pardon and grace at the hands of his

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 97

Savior, and on the terms which he offers, that man will
have reason indeed, reason unspeakable, to bless God
for the worst of his calamities.

And to help him the more in learning that difficult
yet most reasonable temper of thankfulness in affliction,
let him consider well this other truth, which our Sav-
ior's warning voice in the text was meant to sound
distinctly in his ears; namely, that nothing can put a
sinner in greater danger than an untimely removal of
God's chastisements, before they have produced their
due and blessed effect, in making him truly seek God
with unfeigned sorrow for all his sins: it being but too
certain, that most men, too soon after the scourge is
off', begin to think merely of enjoying themselves, and
recollect God and heaven, the cross of Christ, death
and judgment, less and less readily every day. The
psalmist's description of the Jewish people in the wil-
derness bears, I doubt not, a melancholy resemblance to
the testimony of many a Christian's conscience, as in
many other parts, so especially in these following
verses: —

"When he slew them, they sought him, and turned
them early, and inquired after God. And they remem-
bered that God was their strength, and that the high
God was their Redeemer ; nevertheless, they did but
flatter him with their mouth, and dissembled with him
in their tongue : for their heart was not whole with him,
neither continued they steadfast in his covenant. But
he was so merciful, that he forgave their misdeeds and
destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned he his
wrath away, and would not suffer his whole displeasure
to arise. For he considered that they were but flesh,
and that they were even a wind that passeth away and
Cometh not again. Many a time did they provoke him
in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert. They
turned back, and tempted God, and moved the Holy
One in Israel. They thought not of his hand, and of
the day when he delivered them from the hand of the
enemy."

Thus mercifully has the Spirit of God condescended,

Vol. I.— 9

98 CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN»

SO many hundred years ago, to set down for our instruc-
tion the true account of what too commonly takes place
in a sinner's heart, when God relieves him after any
severe visitation. Indeed, these verses of the psalm
declare as clearly as words can do it, how kind and sea-
sonable is the advice offered in the text to a sufferer
newly relieved. " Behold, thou art made whole : sin
no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Our own
observation must surely tell us — it is well if our own
experience do not — how apt men are, when they are
*' made whole," to relapse into the sins they had begun
to repent of; to " turn back, and tempt God," and not
think of the day of their deliverance.

Consider the thing a very little longer, and you will
see why it is so. It is owing, almost or altogether, to
our being too confident in ourselves. For there is hardly
any time, when people in general feel so certain of their
own good resolutions and holy purposes, as when they
are just beginning to look up from some overwhelming
pain or danger. Then it is that you may hear them as-
sure themselves and others most positively, that "if God
will but spare them this time, they are quite certain the
old temptation will never more prevail against them :"
" they have been weak and wicked," they own, " but
now they see things in their true light, and nothing ever,
they are thoroughly convinced, will be able to blot out
of their minds the good dispositions they now feel.'*
Thus people will run on, and sometimes, as their spirits
flow higher, will be more and more confident as their
danger draws nearer : not considering that the same frail
nature which led them to affront God before, will still
continue in them after their sorrow, and will need the
same heavenly Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God, to
counteract it, else the sin will surely return. In a word,
they are half lost already : for already they begin to
lean on themselves. Such, for aught w^e know, might
be the temper, such certainly was the situation, of the
recovered patient in the text. He might be, as those
in his circumstances usually are, too much inclined to
take it for granted, that his spiritual condition was good

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 99

and safe. Happy if he took the compassionate warning,
and indeed " sinned no more," for fear of the " worse
thing-," which in that case was sure to come on him.

But where things unhappily turn out otherwise ;
where the caution of our Lord is slighted, and the evil
habit, suspended only by the affliction, returns and g-rows
over the man anew ; or he falls into fresh transgres-
sions ; that man's case is worse in many respects than if
he had never been visited at all.

First, his wickedness is greatly aggravated by his in-
gratitude for God's especial mercies. " The goodness of
God," says an apostle, " leadeth to repentance ;" that
is, the very purpose of the Almighty Father in sparing
such disobedient children, was to melt them as it were
by his mercy, and make them feel pained and ashamed
at the thought of displeasing him any longer. Wilfully
to make this purpose void, and think no more of our
Father because we no longer feel the rod : does not
every man's heart at once perceive how far gone in evil
they must be, whom any temptation can lead to this 1
how much worse any sin must become, with such in-
gratitude joined to it 1

Again, as such a case is very bad in itself, so it has
the worst possible effect. It sears and deadens the
heart and conscience, rendering it more and more dif-
ficult for any good advice, either of God or man, to find
its way into our thoughts. The reason is, that after you
have once been led, by sickness or sorrow, to meditate
seriously upon your past ways, you can never after say-
even to yourself, of wilful sins committed after such
meditation, that perhaps you may find an excuse in ig-
norance or hurry. If you reflect on such a relapse at
all, you must own it to be mere wickedness of heart,
settled ingratitude to your best friend ; and that is a
thought so painful, that impenitent souls, in order to
avoid it, shrink from serious reflection altogether. Thus
every day their bad habits strengthen, while their chance
of repenting grows less and less. The evil spirit knows
his advantage, and presses them, of course, more and
more earnestly with sullen thoughts of the hardships of

100 CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN.

Christian obedience. Thus they go on, till they become
practically such as the worst of the ungodly is described
in the Psalms : " God is not in any of their thoughts."
It is so painful to recollect him, that they turn their
minds another way, and contrive, as much as ever they
can, to live without him in the world.

While the evil spirit is thus gaining strength, the
good Spirit of God is gradually so grieved and vexed^
that he begins entirely to depart from those who will
not listen to his gracious admonitions. He "gives them
up unto their OAvn hearts' lusts, and lets them follow
their own imaginations." And when God leaves a sinner
to himself, we know too well what must follow.

In this sad account of man's spiritual decay, I have
had in view more particularly the situation of those who
have received at any time remarkable mercies from God:
deliverance in danger, recovery from sickness, relief in
poverty, or the like : but surely there is none of us, if
he rightly consider his own situation, who ought not to
reckon himself in the number of those who have receiv-
ed remarkable mercies. To have been born in a country
where Christ is known, and his blessed sacraments duly
administered ; to have been introduced, before you
could do anything for yourself, to the light of his
gospel and the help of his grace ; to know that what-
ever happens to you here, you have a Savior at God's
right hand, who never will leave you nor forsake you,
and is fully purposed, after a little while, to make you
happy for ever and ever : — are not these remarkable
mercies 1 And when Christians compare their own con-
dition, as partakers of all this and more, with the lost
state which they inherited by nature ; born in sin, and
children of wrath ; sure to be lost if God had left them
to themselves : have they not good reason, as Christians,
to listen to their Savior's affectionate words, and believe
that he says to them also, "Behold, you are made whole:
sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."
Surely, considering the infinite difference between our
evangelical privileges and our natural state, we cannot
but wish to feel as persons who have been wonderfully

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 101

delivered from the very jaws of death. We cannot but
wish to have our hearts full of gratitude to him, who at
the cost of his own precious blood consented to become
our Deliverer and Savior ; we cannot but feel afraid
and ashamed at the thought of forfeiting that inesti-
mable love ; and if, having from our youth up been fa-
miliar with these wonders of Christ's mercy, it is out of
our power to feel them so keenly as if they were now
for the first time made known to us, methinks an affec-
tionate heart would be so much the more anxious to keep
up the due remembrance of them ; and show, practical-
ly, that they are not disregarded.

To all, therefore, who have been made whole by bap-
tism, and not to those only who have been favored with
any signal temporal mercy, the Son of God here gives
counsel, that they should make it very much their care to
keep up a tender sense of the great things which have
been done for them, the wretchedness from which they
have been redeemed, and the continual danger of a re-
lapse. I say, men should make a great point of this ;
they should regard it as a thing to be diligently attended
to and provided for. It is in vain to think of continuing
religious and improving in goodness as a matter of
course; your heart must be steadfastly set upon that
great blessing, and resolved to obey the good rules, by
which alone the Holy Spirit has taught us to obtain it.

Observe by what steps and degrees that wretched de-
cay comes on, which makes the redeemed of the Son of
God first unthankful and then unholy ; and do you, by
the blessing of God, resolve to set yourself against every
one of them.

Thus, there can be no doubt that the first step in
most men's corruption and degeneracy is their wilful
neglect of private prayer ; of reading and meditating on
holy things. I call it " wilful neglect of prayer," not
only when men begin to leave out their own appointed
and customary forms, but also when they begin to hurry
them over more than they had done : to let their ima-
ginations wander as they pray ; to forget that they are
speaking to the great God who has his eye upon their

9*

102 CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIW.

hearts. As soon as ever any person detects this change
in his devotions — and I suppose, if he were ever devout
at all, it cannot take place in them without his being
aware of it — he has cause to fear that he is relapsing
into sin, for all God's mercy in making him whole ; he
had need turn his thoughts very seriously to that " worse
thing," which is finally appointed for all such ; he must
rouse himself, and pray that he may pray better ; he
must take so much the more pains to command his
thoughts at other times, and recall them often to eternal
hopes and fears in the very midst of his ordinary work;
and he must turn away more earnestly than ever from
such thoughts as are loose and evil. This is no more,
surely, than any ordinary Christian may endeavor ; and
this being sincerely endeavored, I dare promise you
the sure help of that merciful and condescending Spirit,
who is always making intercession for Christians ac-
cording to the will of God, that he will help you to pray
as you ought. Bodily infirmities may still discompose
you, and make your thoughts at times wander : but go
on thus doing your best, and then at any rate you need
not fear lest your prayer should be " turned into sin."
Again : it is a perilous step toward relapsing, when
a man finds himself content to stand still, and taking no
pains to get forward. There are some hills so steep,
that he who would climb them must keep urging him-
self upward, else he is sure to fall back : he cannot stop
and breathe where he will. Somewhat not unlike this
is our Christian task of preparing ourselves for Heaven:
this " one thing" we have to do ; to " forget those
things which are behind, and reach forward to those
things which are before." It was the temper of the
great apostle : and if men feel little or nothing of it ; if
they find themselves disposed to rest where they are,
and fancy they may do well enough, if only they become
no worse, they would do well to compare themselves
with him : that, one would think, must make them
ashamed. St. Paul never thought himself good enough :
and you, a mere beginner in goodness, are content to
remain where you are. Truly that heart has begun to

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 103

relapse, which can ever satisfy itself with such a thought.
That man must have somehow neglected himself, and let
his spiritual concerns go on at random, till, according to
the fearful parable of our Lord, the unclean spirit which
had gone out of him begins to find room in his heart
again. Consider the alarming words which follow :
" Then goeth he and taketh to himself seven other
spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and
dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than
the first." Who can think of this, and refuse to be pre-
vailed upon not to give way to spiritual idleness : not
to leave his soul, whose weakness he knows, " empty,"
and unfurnished of good thoughts, " swept and garnish-
ed" to receive his worst enemy 1

On this point of spiritual indolence I wish to be a little
more particular ; for it is one on which we generally
find it but too easy to deceive ourselves. Whoever will
look into himself, will perceive there are two several
ways, in one or both of which he is tempted to be wil-
fully imperfect. He may leave out altogether some
part or parts of Christian duty, some one or more of the
many graces which are the work of the Holy Ghost in
God's faithful people : or in what he does attend to, he
may be satisfied with going a very little way — may
make no effort to advance onward to perfection.

For example: there are persons, and in many respects,
good sort of persons, into whose minds it never seems
to enter that they will have to answer for the conduct of
their servants, or of others anyhow depending on them.
They let them go their own way, quite forgetting the
praise of Abraham, that he " taught his household" as
well as his children ; and that if we are bidden to give
them what is "just and equal" in this world, much more
ought we to provide them with their portion in the
means of grace.

Others again, aware of this duty, cannot be easy in
the entire neglect of it : they now and then speak a good
word to their dependants, cause them sometimes to hear
prayers and sermons, check them occasionally for irre-
ligious ways J but all the while there is nothing like a

104 CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN.

regular, strict, careful control over them ; nothing to
shoAV that our duty to them is constantly felt in the
heart as a point of conscience, for which an account
must be given at the last day. Cautions are neglected,
dangers overlooked, opportunities of doing good put off
from day to day ; and by-and-by, when the servant, or
the apprentice, or the scholar, turns out ill, men are
surprised, and say, " I am sure I warned him often
enough :" whereas if they had looked attentively at their
own doings, they would have been aware that they
were taking the matter much too easily.

Now as it is in this instance of servants, so in all
other departments of practical duty, there are two
chances of our going wrong, and we are in danger of
guarding against one only. We may examine ourselves
very strictly on some points, and seem to ourselves very
zealous, and be satisfied ; and there may be other points
of which we never thought, but of which God thinks a
great deal. Or we may go over the whole of our duty
to God and our neighbor, as it stands in the catechism,
and find or fancy that there is no part of it which
we utterly and entirely neglect, and then be well
pleased ; although in no one thing are we really trying
to do our best. The first of these is the error of per-
sons who, from education, or temper, or other circum-
stances, have a kind of zeal, but not according to knowl-
edge ; the other of such as have been well taught, and
know what is right, but indulge in a sort of lightness of
temper which hinders them from going to the bottom of
any part of duty. These are commonly more childish ;
the others more ignorant and wilful. These are more
easily convinced of their error ; the others more likely
to make a strong effort, and reform, if you could once
convince them. However, both are in wilful imperfec-
tion, and will continue in serious danger of falling back,
and losing what little fruit they have in holiness, except
they will be persuaded, once for all, to set themselves
such a rule as will not let them be contented till they
are trying to serve God in everything^ and with the very
best of everything.

CHRISTIAN FEAR OF RELAPSE INTO SIN. 105

To conclude ; there is one blessing in the church of
God, by which, more than by all others, his providence
would guard every one of us against these and the like
dangers. It is the holy sacrament of the Lord's supper;
which, whoever duly attends, Jesus Christ has pledged
his word to receive that man into nearer communion
with himself, than he could any how else be received,
remaining in this imperfect world. Jesus Christ has
promised to all who have been made whole by his
blessed baptism, the strengthening and refreshing of
their souls by his own saving body and blood, to help
them to sin no more, and to keep them from that worst
of all things, Avhich is sure to come on them if they sin
wilfully. Why, if men do not intend to sin again, why
should they refuse to trust their Redeemer, affection-
ately inviting them so very near to himself. Why not
depend on his love, which is able to protect us against
ourselves, more than fear your own future backslidings'?
against which, if you resolve sincerely, this very sacra-
ment will enable you to guard. That very dread of re-
lapsing, by which so many would excuse themselves
from partaking of Christ, is the reason, if you will be-
lieve Christ himself, why you should make haste and
come to his table. He only should stay away who means
to go on in his sins, who cares not for the grace of his
Savior, and thinks he can do well enough without it.
But if there be truth in the word of God, such an one
must make up his mind to stay out of heaven also.

106 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

SERMON XII.

CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

St. Mark v. 35, 36.

" While he yet spake, there came certain from the ruler of the synagogue's
house which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the master
any farther ? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he
saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."

The day on which these words were spoken was one
of the most remarkable days in our Lord's ministry — a
day on which he seems to have permitted the rays of
his essential unspeakable Godhead to break forth with
more than usual majesty through the veil of his flesh.
The evening before, wearied with long teaching of the
multitude by his divine parables, he had crossed the lake
with his disciples, and having fallen asleep on his pas-
sage, had been awakened by them in alarm at a sudden,
storm, and had vouchsafed to them a kind of glimpse
of his divine majesty, rebuking the winds, and saying to
the sea, " Peace ; be still." Presently, on landing on
the opposite coast, he showed no less marvellous power
over the invisible world of spirits, commanding a legion
of devils to depart out of the soul and body of one whom
they had possessed, and to enter into a herd of swine,
which miserably perished accordingly, before he ordered
them away to their place of punishment. And now
straightway returning again to Capernaum, he is met by
a distressed father, Jairus, who beseeches him to lay
his hand on his daughter, then at the point of death.
On his way to Jairus's house, the people thronged him,
and one Avoman in particular, who had an issue of blood
twelve years, by her simple faith gave occasion to another
manifestation of his divine power and mercy : she just
touched the hem of his garment, and virtue went out

CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT. 107

of him, and she was whole of her plague. During the
delay occasioned by her approach, even while he was
yet speaking words of comfort to her, came one from
the ruler of the synagogue's house, and said, " Thy
daughter is dead ; Avhy troublest thou the Master any
farther V In his all-wise providence he had permitted
this to happen, just as in an after instance he permitted
Lazarus to die, before he could come near to help him.
He himself has told us that in the case of Lazarus he
permitted this for his disciples' sake: "I am glad for
your sake that I was not there, to the intent ye might
believe." In like manner, we may well suppose that he
ordered matters on purpose, so as not to arrive at Jairus'
house in time to find his daughter alive ; in this way
trying more effectually the faith of the parents them-
selves, and of all who were concerned, and preparing the
way for a more signal manifestation of himself as the
Lord of life and death.

He had tried the faith of Jairus, in the first instance,
as he did the faith of almost all whom he healed by
miracle, in this respect : that he waited for a prayer
from him, before he set out upon his message of mercy.
To him were thoroughly known beforehand all the cir-
cumstances of that young person's sickness : and he
needed not that any one should tell him ; yet he did
wait till her father had fallen at his feet, and related her
case to him, before he said, " I will come and heal her."
Even so he knows beforehand all that happens to all his
children and subjects, yet in some mysterious way he
makes prayer on their part necessary to the descent of
his heavenly blessings upon them.

We are, by God's blessing, so used to connect the
thought of prayer with the thought of mercies from
above, that it seems to us a matter of course to say that
prayer is a condition of God's favor : but if we will
think twice on it, we must perceive that it is a great
mystery, a thing which we could never have known had
it not pleased the Almighty himself to tell us. We can-
not at all understand how it is that our prayers draw
dovv'n a blessing from on high, seeing that he to whom

108 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

we speak knows our necessities before we ask. But
we thankfully own that so it is.

Ao-ain, from our Lord's demeanor in this affair of
Jairus's daughter, we may learn to have reverential be-
lieving thoughts of another part of his ordinary dealings
with us : his will, namely, to confer spiritual grace in
an ordinary way, only by sacramental signs. He could
have healed her as he did the centurion's servant, or the
nobleman's son, or the daughter of the Syrophcenician
woman, by a mere act of that same infinite power,
whereby in the first beginning of things, he said, " Let
there be light, and there was light." But we see it was
his will, on this and on other occasions, to use outward
and visible signs, for the purpose of conveying, as it
were, the virtue which went out of him. It was his
will that the daughter of Jairus should not revive until
he had actually laid his hands upon her : as in another
case he made clay wherewith to anoint the eyes of the
blind man, and touched the ears and tongue of the deaf
and dumb, instead of merely commanding that they
might be made whole. It is reasonable to believe, that
by this part of his dispensations, our gracious Savior
intended his people to understand, what they should
think of those outward sacramental signs, which it was
afterward his will to ordain for tokens and channels of
his saving and sanctifying grace. We need no more
doubt that virtue goes out of Christ by the water of bap-
tism, or the consecrated bread and wine of the holy
eucharist, than we should have doubted in those days
whether or no virtue went out of his blessed body, had
we stood by and seen that as many as touched him were
made at once perfectly whole.

A third point of our Lord's divine and gracious deal-
ings with his people, is what the church teaches us to
call his preventing grace : that is, his being beforehand
with us, pouring into our hearts by his good Spirit that
good will and mind which we never could have had of
ourselves. This preventing grace, it would appear, the
holy and ever blessed Son vouchsafed to exercise in
regard of Jairus on this memorable occasion. For know-

CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT. 109

ing what the messengers said apart to the distressed
father, he made haste, before Jairus had any time to
utter words of despondency, himself uttering words of
most consoling hope: "Be not afraid: only believe."
Or ever he had time to express his disappointment and
anguish, our Lord prevented him, showing that he knew
both what was spoken in secret, and also the prepara-
tions of the heart of man. Even as by his preventing
grace he puts into our minds good desires, before ever
we think of asking for them. This power over man's
heart is in such sort the Almighty's own, that there is
no reason to believe in his having ever communicated
it to any created being whatever, man or angel ; and
our Lord, by exercising it, gave a sufficiently sure token,
even throuo-h the v^eil of his flesh, that he is indeed
"very God of very God,' having power not only to for-
give sins and to raise the dead, but also to control and
order men's secret heart.

Let us learn by the compassionate haste which he
made on this occasion, forbidding despondency, and
encouraging faith, while yet Jairus was in that bewildered
state, so common at first in any sudden calamity, and
had had no time to think distinctly for himself — let us
learn, I say, from this, from whom proceeds every one
of our holy desires and just counsels. It is the Holy
Spirit of God preventing us, that we may have a good
will. To him alone be ascribed all the glory. It may
be, if our Savior had not made haste, and spoken to
Jairus such words of encouragement as those in the text,
he might have given up the matter in despair, and have
quite lost the blessing intended him. And we, if
God gave us not first a heart to pray and to do good
works, what would become of our works, and of our
prayers 1 Let us not forget this, but ever remember it,
not so as to make our own and other men's thoughts of
it light and superficial by irreverent mentions of it, but
so as to fear and tremble always in whatever we do
toward working out our own salvation, as knowing that
it is not ourselves, but God, which worketh in us both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. Our godly mo-

Vol. I.— 10

110 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

tions and holy tendencies, are so many clear signs that
God is very near us, yea within ns ; we are the temples
of the Holy Ghost, and our sin and negligence will surely
be punished accordingly. Let this be thoroughly re-
ceived into the mind and heart, let it be acted upon and
made a constant every day thought, that everything
good about us is a sign that God is very near us. Then
surely there must be an end of our valuing ourselves on
our good deeds ; we shall not think much of our own
humility or devotion, when we consider what it might
have been, if we had not wilfully made it imperfect,
being, as it is, the work of God's blessed Spirit.

The grace which Jairus was now called on to prac-
tise, that of faith and assured hope under circumstances
seemingly desperate, is one which we perhaps ascribe
to the true source more readily and seriously than we
do some other of our right feelings : because the occa-
sions of our exercising it, great afflictions, disappoint-
ments, terrors, come often so suddenly and rapidly on,
that we feel we could not stand by ourselves : our very
senses almost appear to tell us, that we are upheld and
braced by something quite beyond ourselves : it is an
invisible arm which holds us up : as for ourselves, we
cannot at all tell whence our strength comes nor whither
it goes.

Hence the common saying on such occasions, that
such and such an one is " wonderfully supported ;"
which I take to be the confession of the whole world,
thoughtful and thoughtless alike, that in these sudden
trials at least no man can stand a moment without grace
from above. It will be well for us, w^henever we use
that common expression, as many of us have no doubt
done, and shall do again — it will be well for us to con-
sider a little at times how deep and awful, as well as
cheering, is its import. " The eternal God is beneath"
us, " and underneath are the everlasting arms:" this is
a thought full of hope and comfort indeed, but it is hope
and comfort of a serious and awful cast : it has nothing
to do with the lightness, the self-satisfaction the confi-
dence of this world j or with the ready escapes from all

CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT. Ill

grave and fearful subjects, which the children of this
world so abundantly contrive for themselves, even
whea they are speaking, nay thinking-, of religion and
of eternity. But the true signs of this resigned Christian
courage, which our Lord meant to recommend, when
he said to the affrighted parent, " Be not afraid, only
believe," are such as these following: —

First, a peculiar way of thinking and feeling about
death — the death of a friend, or our own death ; as if,
to those who die in the Lord, it were indeed the most
awful of all events in this world, yet by no means the
end of hope, nor the end of spiritual communion by
faith in Christ Jesus. The dead are indeed out of our
sight, but are they therefore out of the church of God 1
No, in no wise : they are yet bound to us, and we to them,
as true living members of our Savior's mystical body.
Whether we can do them good or no, we perhaps know
not, any more than whether we can do any good to our
brethren Avhom we suppose to be yet living on the other
side of the world ; but this we know, that we must care
for them as fellow-members. Let not, therefore, the
cold faithless spirit of the world come in, as it some-
times will, to check us in our reverential regard for
them, and pious endeavors to accomplish, as far as we
may, those good intentions which we know they had
most at heart. Let us not allow the thought to cross our
minds, "It is no use — what do they know of it:" —
when we are doing those things which we conscien-
tiously believe that our departed friends, if yet witnesses
of our conduct, most approve.

And if not even death must be permitted to overpower
us with the sense of our inability to do anything, much
less must the more ordinary changes and chances of the
world : which leaving life, as the proverb itself teaches,
leave a kind of right to hope. For instance, let no per-
son engaged in any good, holy, or charitable cause,
especially the great cause of God's church, give it up as
a hopeless thing, because he does not see his way
through the difficulties which at some given moment
encompass it. This is a caution which concerns us all:

112 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

for the humblest and most retired Christian, as a member
of Christ's body, is bound to have a care for the whole
body, as well as for those members which are nearest
to him ; and although it is often one of the privileges of
the humble and retired, to know less than those in
higher station, of the public dangers and perplexities
which beset the whole body, the church, yet there are
times wdien all of us, Avho can judge and think at all,
must feel more or less distressed at overwhelming or
undermining mischiefs which appear to threaten it.
Then is the time to remember, that the church is no
earthly thing, to sink and fall according to the devices
of men : it is the very kingdom of Heaven, the counsel
of the Lord, sure to stand somewhere or other, even
though in this or that country, for our sins, it may be
taken away for the time. Evil times, times when the
enemy of God seems to prevail, and to be winning souls
on every side from the true fold and flock of our heav-
enly Redeemer, are the times for often reminding our-
selves and others of the sayings of our divine Master
on that day of miraculous charity : " Be not afraid, only
believe ;" — " Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith 1"
" Why are you so fearful \ how is it that ye have no
faith V Thus may w^e quiet our own and other men's
misgivings, and hinder them from making us indolent,
and causing us to desert the good cause altogether.

To take an instance which may very possibly at one
time or another fall within the knowledge and the reach
of every one of us ; not that of the whole church, nor
of the church in any particular nation ; nor any public
concern at all : but the case of some one known to us,
for whom, by relationship, or neighborhood, or some
special trust put into our hands by God's providence,
we are bound to feel especial interest. Suppose such
an one far gone in wilful sin : have you ever done any
thing, taken the least step, to reclaim him 1 Have you
not rather said to yourself, if ever the thought crossed
your mind. " It is no use, his habits are inveterate,
quite worn into him : it is but lost labor thinking at all
of it : I will just leave him to himself 1" And thus too

. CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT. 113

often we go on, acquiescing- so entirely even in the gross
sins of those with whom God had in some measure en-
trusted us, as to continue our intercourse with them,
just as if they were not gross sinners, or as if we had
nothing to do with their sins. But let us not flatter
ourselves. St. Paul has expressly commanded, "If any
one that is called a brother he a fornicator, or covetous,
or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extor-
tioner, with such an one no not to eat." Is this precept
altogether a dead letter for us 1 or is it Avritten, partly
at least, for our sakes 1 For our sake, no doubt, it is
written : that we might make a difference between the
clean and the unclean ; and at least refrain from being
intimate by choice with the drunkard the fornicator,
the thorough man of the world (for such a person I
take to be denoted by the word " covetous" in this
passage), the discontented railer at dignities, or the ex-
tortioner and oppressor. We may at least withdraw
ourselves from such, and from every one that walketh
disorderly ; and by so doing, if we can do no more, may
at least show that we do not quite despair of him, we
think it worth while to take trouble, and endure pain^
for his amendment. Who knows how much good might
be done, how many persons might be led to more serious
thought, if in any one town or village those who have the
fear of God, would abstain from giving any encourage-
ment to the too common sins of drunkenness, excess,
and riotl How many are there now just entering on
such courses, or but a little way gone in them, who at
present are encouraged by finding the liberties they
take treated, by those who should know better, as mat-
ters of sport, or matters of course ; but would be startled
and checked if they really found the countenances of
those they love altered toward them ! Some too, who
are grown old in sin, we may hope, would begin to
think where they are — God's heavenly grace would find
their hearts less hardened — if they really began to per-
ceive, that every one of those around them, whom in
their hearts they must look up to, considered them as
really on the very edge of everlasting ruin, and unfit to

10*

114 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT-

be associated with, lest they should draw others after
them.

I have instanced this reserve in our treatment of no-
torious sinners, as one way by which we are bound to
show that we do not despair af them ; and of course, if
it be truly Christian and charitable, it will be accom-
panied by such other efforts for their good as circum-
stances permit us to make. We shall be watching for
opportunities ; praying for them ; contriving methods
of putting good thoughts in their way. The daughter
of Jairus was actually dead when our Lord bade her
father not to be afraid, but only to believe. We cannot
have the same assurance that Jairus then had, concern-
ing any individual among our brethren, who may appear
to us at present dead in trespasses and sins. But we
may and must apply to his case the general assurance,
that there is nothmg too hard for the Lord. We may
and must be moved, by the remembrance of such sad
and apparently incurable cases, to a more exact and
Christian care of our own hearts and conduct. We can-
not tell how it may please him, in whose hand are all
hearts, to bless such charitable exactness, causing those
for whom we care to look in some happy hour toward
us, and be moved by our example to attend to the things
which belong to their everlasting peace. And so we may
do them good for ever, and neither we nor the world
know of it, until we and they come to receive our crown.

After all, the most usual and also the most dangerous
kind of despondency is our allowing ourselves, as we
too often do, to despond about our own possible im-
provement ; contenting ourselves with a few faint lan-
guid efforts, instead of really endeavoring to go on to
perfection. We look at the behavior of the good sort
of people whom we know, and make that our standard
and measure, instead of going by the word of God, and
the example of the holy and approved men of old. No
words can express the amount of blessing which Chris-
tians every day forfeit, for want of faith to go by the
highest standard, forsaking all human imperfect meas-
ures. What is it but this which makes it seem to most

CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT. 115

of US no better than a sort of edifying dream, when we read
or hear of the first Christians; their continual prayer;
their daily communion ; their exact discipline of fasting-,
penitence, self-denial; their bestowing all their goods,
many of them, on God's treasury : their extreme un-
wearied charity ; their triumphant martyrdom 1 " Be
not afraid ; only believe" that all these things really
were, and were for your example ; think of them as of
a pattern set in earnest before you by him who wills
your perfection and happiness. Begin by being as exact
and humble as those early believers were in the use of
the means of grace ; and who knows Avith what large
measures of their grace he may bless you %

I speak more especially to those who have not yet
stained their baptismal robe with any gross wilful sin,
or habit of sinful indulgence. They of all others are
to be encouraged to set before them the highest stand-
ard ; not with self-complacent presumption, as though
they were better than others, but in humble hope that
in this way they shall most effectually secure them-
selves against the unclean spirit, who is always waiting
to enter in and dwell there again. As for those who
have fallen away, they must win their way to perfection
through a course of hard and painful penitence, in pro-
portion to the greatness of their fall ; but let them not
imagine that the way is shut against them : they may
yet do great things, if they will not be afraid to deny
themselves, if they will only believe that it is good for
them to mind only their duty here, and wait for their
comfort until they come to the other world.

You have seen in what instances of duty Christians
seem generally most to need such a warning as that
of our Lord to Jairus in the text ; viz. in all those cases
in which we are apt to say, " It is no use ;" especially
in our remembrance of the dead, in our judgment of
others who seem to be very corrupt, and in our taking
up with an imperfect standard for ourselves.

In conclusion, I would observe on the form which we
commonly find this unchristian cowardice assuming.
People's despair of a good cause, or of their own or

116 CHRISTIAN HOPE OF IMPROVEMENT.

Others' reformation, does not induce them, so often,
avowedly to give it up altogether, as to make a sort of
compromise with the powers of evil ; going some way
to meet them, in order, as" we fancy, to hinder them
from rushing violently on, and quite getting the better
of us. Into this kind of snare, it would seem, no less a
person than the blessed apostle St. Peter did at one time
fall, when he refused to eat with the Gentile Christians,
for fear of aflronting the Jewish ones. The excuse
seemed plausible, viz. that if he did not so accommo-
date himself to their prejudices, they would very likely
take such offence as to fall back into Judaism again,
and so throw themselves entirely away. How often, in
these days, do w^e hear the same kind of argument
used ! A small sacrifice of principle, we are told, is
worth making for the great good of the community ;
some improper liberties may be allowed for the edifica-
tion and salvation of Christian souls. Thus good per-
sons argue, " We must go so far with the world, must
encourage such and such amusements and pursuits,
Avhich we heartily disapprove of, else we shall never
get the world to go any way with us." Thus the chil-
dren of the holy catholic church, not seldom openly
and on principle, and without any pretence of neces-
sity, encourage the sin of schism, by way of avoiding
the greater sin of heathenish immorality and indiffer-
ence. But surely in these and all other cases there
must be some way of going right, without any wilful
sin at all. God's hand is not waxed so short, that his
servants should ever think it necessary to do the least
evil, that the greatest good should come.

Let us then make up our minds to discard and re-
nounce, once and for ever, the practice of putting off
hard unpleasant duties, or shrinking back from char-
itable efforts where the case is unpromising, under pre-
tence that it is of no use. Such a course is shrinking
from the cross the moment we begin to feel it heavy.
It is, in a word, contrary to the temper of martyrdom ;
and what more can a Christian desire to make him re-
nounce it, as displeasing to Jesus Christ 1

ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD. 117

SERMON XIII.

ALL OUR DLSTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD.

St. Matthew vi. 32.

" For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these

thing's."

One great reason why people run into so great dif-
ferences of opinion, and, of course, mistakes and errors,
about religion, seems to be this — that they too often
consider it themselves, and set it forth to others, in a
partial way — not having patience (perhaps) to put
things together, and to observe how the doctrines and
rules of the gospel, like the links of a chain, depend
one on another, and may not be separated without in-
jury to the cause of truth.

Thus, for instance, as to anxiety, hope, or fear, of
what may be coming on us on this side the grave,
nothing can be plainer, nothing more decisive, than the
rule which the blessed Jesus, with his own sacred lips,
delivered, and which the Holy Spirit has recorded for
the guidance and consolation of Christians in all ages ;
"Take no anxious thought for the morrow: for the
morrow shall take thouj^ht for the things of itself. Suf-
ficient unto each day is the evil thereof." This rule is
certainly plain and decisive, and yet how do we neglect
and forget it ] I might say, what pains have men
taken, men of business and men of learning, to explain
away the doctrine more or less, to obtain excuses and
allowances for care and anxiety, just as if they were
desirable things, and what one would be sorry to part
with.

Thus, it is not uncommon for people to say, or at
least to think, that care and anxiety, however wrong

118 ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD.

and unsuitable for a Christian in matters of less con-
sequence, are nevertheless allowable, if not right and
proper, when great troubles seem to be approaching ;
for instance, if poverty, ill health, or the loss of friends,
or of character, is to be apprehended. In such cases
it is supposed, that to think of being free from care
and anxiety is a mere fancy, that to endeavor to take
no thought for the morrow in such cases is rashness
and presumptuousness on God's merciful providence,
and shows rather a want of the common feelings of
humanity, than a suitable submission to the Divine
will — indeed, that it is of no use to say what people
ought to do under such severe trials ; for that they can-
not help^ even if they would, being very full of anxiety,
very often of alarm, about what distresses may be
coming on them.

Now, let us consider the thing temperately, and in a
Christian way. People say, " it is natural, they cannot
help being anxious and alarmed about approaching
troubles." True, they cannot help it, if they look not
beyond themselves and their own strength and re-
sources. " We shall lose this, and we shall lose that ;
we shall be left destitute, helpless, friendless — nothing
but misery and distress around us." Such is the voice
of weak nature.

But is weak nature the support, the guide, of a Chris-
tian 1 Have we not the voice of God himself assuring
us, that if we keep quietly along the path of duty, all
will come right at last % He has not forgotten us. He
will lay upon us no more than he will enable us to bear,
if we faithfully ask his aid. " Our heavenly Father
knoweth that we have need of all these things." If he
think proper to withhold them from any or all of us,
what then — is it not lawful for him to do what he will
with his ownl and, besides, has he not repeatedly and
positively assured us, that affliction and suffering in this
present brief state are intended for our good, in that
endless state to which we are passing %

It is not, however, my present purpose to speak of
the benefits of affliction, great as they may be j but

ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD. 119

only to press on your thoughts this one consideration,
that, in every suffering of body or mind, the great eter-
nal God knows and measures most exactly our afflic-
tions, be they what they may, great or small. The
doctrine was known of old to the psalmist, and was
evidently a great and solid comfort to him. But it was
most expressly declared by our Savior Christ himself:
*' Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of
all these things." As much as to say. It is not that
God is ignorant of man's distresses, or that, knowing
them, he is indifferent about them ; but he has good
reasons for sending such and such afflictions, on such
and such persons. If they are truly wise, they will
take them, as sent by him, with constancy, penitence,
and hope ; if vain and self-willed, they will fret and
disturb themselves with useless anxieties, and be in the
end nothing the better for what their compassionate
heavenly Father meant to be of the greatest good to
them.

Suppose, now, the case of persons suffering under the
great trial of extreme poverty. Let us suppose that a
man has a large family dependant on him, that he can
scarcely obtain half work, or, perhaps, not near so much
even as that ; let us suppose that he sees his children
around him almost naked, and that to provide necessary
food for them he has been obliged to part with articles
of furniture almost as necessary ; and, perhaps, in addi-
tion to all this, may have illness in his house — with little
or no prospect to human eyes of things being much bet-
ter, perhaps, for a long time to come.

Now, such a person, if he be a kind husband and fa-
ther, it is difficult to estimate how much he must suffer
— not so much for himself, as for those around him.
And, perhaps, it may be thought absurd to advise such
an one not to be full of care and anxiety — to take no
thought for the morrow — for, of course, he must be
anxious, and it is mere mockery to desire him not to
be so.

But, I ask, is not the voice of Jesus Christ expressly
directed to a person under such a trial : " be not of

I

120 ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD.

anxious, doubtful miDd ; for your heavenly Father know-
eth that you have need of all these things." He knows
your wants, your sufferings, most exactly.

It must be to persons under affliction that such a doc-
trine must be addressed ; for to them only it could prop-
erly be applied. It could have no meaning to persons
not in affliction.

Now then in the affliction of poverty, as in others, the
truth must still remain the same. This cannot be de-
nied. That is, one might say with reason to a destitute
person, to one whose family around him was suffering
from want of food, of clothing, of health — to him it
might be said, do you think that God has forgotten
you — that he has overlooked your pitiable case — that
he knows not how much you suffer — weakness of body
and distress of mind. Rather be assured, in your Sav-
ior's own words, that your heavenly Father knoweth
that " you have need of all these things :" when you
had them, it was of his giving — now they are gone, he
took them away.

But it will be said, if God sees his faithful servants
in affliction, and knows what things they have need of,
why does not he, the Father of mercy, listen to their
supplications, and supply their wants 1 To this what
can we answer %

Can we say any of us that we are faithful servants —
so faithful as to deserve his blessings — so diligent as
not to deserve his chastisements 1 Can any of us ven-
ture to say this of ourselves 1

Besides, we do not know what reasons God may have
for afflicting us. Some of these reasons may be plain
to a considerate person, but there may be others beyond
our reach.

Certainly then, whether he think best to relieve men's
wants or no, they are not concealed from his observa-
tion. " Your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye
have need of." Our blessed Redeemer's way of speak-
ing is extremely to be observed : " Your heavenly Father
knoweth." He does not say, God knoweth, or, the
Lord knoweth, but, " your heavenly Father" knows your

ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD. 121

wants, regards them with a parent's feelings. Is not the
very expression full of consolation !

Let us consider now a little, in the same point of
view, a very common case, the case of persons suffering
from ill health.

Our heavenly Father certainly knoweth that we have
need of health and strength for the accomplishment of
the various tasks allotted to us each in our several sta-
tions in this our probationary life.

And yet he thinks proper very frequently indeed to
deprive us of health and strength both, in greater or less
degrees, and for longer and shorter periods, according
to his good pleasure. In pain and weakness, whether
of body or of mind, we require some strong powerful
motives for hope and cheerful resignation. I say, hope
and cheerful resignation, as Christian graces, distin-
guished from that cold heartlessness sometimes called
patience, when people say they bear things because they
must^ a way of speaking more suitable, or at least more
allowable, for a heathen, than becoming those who are
called by the great name into which we have been
baptized.

I say, then, in pain and weakness of body, in low
spirits, in fears and anxieties, in distress and anguish of
mind, which few perhaps are quite strangers to, and all
at least are liable to, under such severe trials, what do
we naturally sigh and long for — for better health, for
returning strength, for an alleviation of pain, for sweet
refreshing sleep, for calm and cheerful spirits — these
we naturally and anxiously long for, yet perhaps they
are denied us ; perhaps they are taken from us never
more to be restored to us on this side of the grave.

What then ! still the truth remains the same, " our
heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of all these
things." He knows we have need of them, though in
mercy not in wrath he refuses to grant them to us.

For, I repeat it, let this one thing be considered, that
God our heavenly Father knows and feels all our wants
Suppose, as I said, the case of a person who is in great
bodily pain. Few perhaps know what he suffers, and

Vol. I.— 11

122 ALL Oim DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD.

fewer still care much about it. Yet let him remember
there is one who knows exactly what he suffers, and
who, in the beautiful and soothing language of Scrip-
ture, is touched with the feeling of his infirmities, even
he who suffered for us in the flesh, our adorable Lord
and Redeemer.

Or to take another common case, that of persons
suffering from low spirits. It might be asked, is this
anything extraordinary ; is it not very natural, and just
what was to be expected 1 But it is said, " low spirits
are such a very great affliction, Avorse very often than
pain and sickness." So they are, but still your heavenly
Father knows exactly what he lays upon you, be it more
or less. He is close to us, observing, watching us nar-
rowly. He knows what pain and anguish of mind are
— he whose soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto
death. And will he not sympathize with his weak and
faltering children in their sorrows 1

If we think he will not^ let us seek a better master, a
more loving compassionate Savior than the Lord Jesus
Christ.

If we think he will, O let us cast our burden upon
his cross, and say with that holy patriarch (who yet
knew not the things which we know), " though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him."

Another sort of trial there is, very severe, to which
we are necessarily exposed in this our present temporary
state of banishment, and this is, the loss of friends.
The loss of friends may be of two kinds ; either by
death, or from some unhappy dislike, coldness, or misun-
derstanding. Of the two, surely the last is the most severe
affliction. Nevertheless the first mentioned, the loss of
friends by death, though it be in fact nothing but a tem-
porary separation, yet it is a trial that touches us very
nearly, and to be properly sustained, requires a great
portion of that true resigned patience, which is only to
be obtained at the throne of the heavenly grace. For
certainly, all things considered, the kindness of dear
friends and relations is one of the blessings we seem
least able to spare. The world at the best is not much

ALL OTJR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD. 123

to be trusted ; it knows but little of our afflictions, and
what it does know it does not much care for. The love
of friends and relations seems (and no doubt it is) mer-
cifully intended by God's merciful providence to make
up, as it were, for the world's unkindness or neglect.
Hence we seem with great reason to have almost as
much need of the kindness of friends and relations, as
of any of what are commonly called the necessaries of
life — food for instance, or clothing. For the human
mind seems to need sympathy and kindness as much as
our bodies require to be cherished with daily sustenance.
" Our heavenly Father then knows that we have need of
all these things ;" of the tender sympathy, the watchful
love of relations, and friends scarcely less valuable than
relations. Yet he constantly takes them from us : not
because he is ignorant of our natural love for and de-
pendance on them, nor because he is insensible to the
bitter pang of separation, but for wise and merciful rea-
sons, some of which perhaps we can guess at, but other
reasons, though equally wise and merciful, are no doubt
beyond our reach, at least at present.

But, however, the point to be insisted on, and urged
home to the thoughts of serious persons, is this — that
our heavenly Father thoroughly knows the need we
have of friends and relations, even then when he re-
moves thtm from us whom we have most reason to love.

This is no fanciful speculation, but the plain doctrine
of Jesus Christ himself, our only hope.

But there is another kind of loss of friends, which to
some persons at least, and under some circumstances,
is a more trying affliction even than that separation,
which death causes.

And this is when from some unhappy dislike, cold-
ness, or disagreement, the band of mutual love and con-
fidence is broken. This is, indeed, a great affliction,
especially to the Christian's heart, who, feeling himself
here in a desolate wilderness, has learned the value of
a true, a Christian friend. And especially is this affliction
increased, if we have reason to blame ourselves for our
loss, if by our own hastiness, ill temper, or rash judg-

124« ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD,

ment, we have alienated a friend's affection from us:
or if, on the other hand, those whom we had accounted
faithful, have turned out unfaithful.

In either of these cases, the trial becomes very severe,
though, indeed, in the present state of the world, it is
such as is by no means uncommon, as we well know.
Yet, I say, even in these cases, it is a solid consolation
to reflect : " Our heavenly Father knows what things
we have need of,'* knows that we need a gentle and
soothing hand to heal our wounds, and restore us to
peace.

And then if we lose all other friends, the loss, how-
ever great, may be submitted to, so we lose not him.

One other sort of trial I would wish to notice — one
of a peculiarly painful nature, at least to most people —
and that is what is commonly called a bad name, or loss
of character.

In one respect this is even a greater affliction than
j)Overty, or illness, or loss of friends ; namely, that it
shuts a person out from all sympathy and compassion
almost. For the world is always more ready (and, alas !
not without some reason) to believe the ill than the well
of any person. This is, indeed, directly contrary to
Christian charity ; but Christian charity is not the rule
of the world.

Our natural feeling would lead us to sympathize with
a fellow-creature in extreme poverty, violent pain, or
the loss of dear friends. But if a person's character is
vilified, and his good name injured, it is too often at
once believed to the very outside : and no one is sorry,
for every one takes it for granted that it is no more
than he deserved, and people will even think it their
duty to speak evil of the wicked.

My brethren, I know not where we are taught that it
is our duty to speak evil ^of the wickedest. The Chris-
tian rule is very different : — "Speak evil of no man.'*
But, however, it is very certain, that many sincere
Christians have at different times been brought to un-
known sufferings, by the thoughtlessness or slander of
Other people — to sufferings, I say, unknown to all but

ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD. "■ 1*25

to him who seeth in secret. This, perhaps, is on the
whole one of the severest trials that we can be exposed
to, for the reason mentioned above, that it puts us out
of the reach of human sympathy, and exposes us to
general scorn and contempt. This sort of suffering
seems to be often alluded to in the Psalms. And it is
what no one can say that he is secure against — for any-
one can tell a lie of another. It is also a trial to which
God has often subjected his most faithful servants in
every age.* Still, whatever may come upon us, the
truth of God stands unchanged. " Our heavenly Father
knows what things we have need of" — feels all our
sorrows, sympathizes with us, not only in our severest
distresses, but even in those which are accounted small
and trifling ; such as pass like clouds over the soul from
time to time — even these little daily griefs he knows of
and observes.

If this doctrine be true, (and who can deny it — who
can doubt it 1) then let us bless God's Holy Spirit for
revealing it to us, and, by his gracious aid, apply it as
he intended it should be applied, to our furtherance iri
evangelical doctrine. Christian practice. Let us con-
sider deeply and seriously, "the love which God hath
to us," the tenderness, the anxiety with which he watches
over us, and then wonder at ourselves that we can ever
distrust him, even for a moment.

Let us still bear in mind, that we are not placed in
this world to enjoy ourselves ; but to be exercised and
disciplined in order to our admission to a world of real
enjoyment, lasting happiness, eternal rest.

Let our life be a life of prayer, of constant aspirations
after the aid of the Holy Spirit, without which we can-
not but fall — without which we have no strength. Then
whatever is sent upon us, joy or sorrow, good or evil,
let us labor to receive it calmly and temperately — neither
overmuch elated by prosperity, nor much cast down with
adversity — but still remembering from whose hands they

* See Gen. xxxix. 14 ; Num. xvi. 14; 1 Sam. xxii. 13 ; 1 Kings xviii. 17;
Ezra iv. 12 ; Job xvi. 20 ; Jer.xx. 10 ; Amos vii. 10 ; but chiefly, St. Matt,
xi. 19 J xii. 24 j St. Luke xxiii. 5 ; St. John v. 18.

11*

126 ALL OUR DISTRESSES KNOWN TO GOD.

both come, and only anxious that we may make that
use of them, which our heavenly Father intends we
should. For " nevertheless," (that is, whatever doubts
and perplexities may surround us, never perhaps in this
life to be alleviated or removed — at least there is no
promise that they shall be :) —

" Nevertheless, I am continually with thee:

Thou hast holden me by my right hand ;

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

My flesh and my heart faileth ;

But God is the strength of my heart,

And my portion for ever."

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. 127

SERMON XIV.

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

Jer. xxii. 21.

« I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou saidst, I will not hear."

Whatever may be the degree of knowledge, or of
confidence, which prevails among Christians of the latter
days, there is great reason to apprehend that there pre-
vails also a portentous neglect of serious consideration
— of such consideration as would lead men to a sense
of their real condition, and of the necessity of their
having their practice more and more suitable to their
high and heavenly profession.

Instances of this alarming want of consideration may
be noticed, first, with respect to the plain tremendous
doctrine of eternal rewards and punishments; secondly,
with respect to the doctrine, no less plain and unques-
tionable, of the little or no real importance of the world's
goods or evils, considered only in themselves.

In both these instances it is but too evident, so great
is the decay of sound Christian piety, that the instinctive
anxiety of the very birds and beasts for their own wel-
fare ; their instinctive attachment to, and confidence in,
those who attend upon thep — are constant, silent up-
braidings to us — upbraidings of our want of confidence
in our only friend — our want of care and anxiety for our
eternal interests.

" The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time ;

And the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the
time of their coming (and going) ;

But my people know not the judgment of the Lord."
" The ox knoweth his owner, and tlie ass his master's crib ;

But Christians do not know, my people do not consider."

128 THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

Let ns now turn our thoughts to another familiar In-
stance in proof of the same sad truth.

Christians are taught, at least in words, to believe,
that riches, and, indeed, any kind of worldly prosper-
ity are exceedingly dangerous to us : — that they prove,
very often, too great a trial for men's principles ; a
snare in which they are entangled to their own de-
struction. " It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God," to submit himself to the mortifying
precepts of the gospel. So said our blessed Lord, and
we no doubt believe him.

" The love of money is the root of all evil." So
said the great apostle ; and if our experience does not
convince us, at least we must believe St. Paul. We
believe him ; but do we consider what must be the con-
sequences of such a belief if we proceed to them 1
Can they be anything less than this : — that each of us,
separately, in our own persons, must actually and con-
stantly endeavor to keep up in our minds a sense of the
danger we are in, in respect of the love of money.
*' The love of money," I say, for that may be as strong
in the poorest as in the richest.

This love of money, in whatever way it shows itself,
is in all possible ways to be resisted, and kept out of
the heart. For in proportion as that is cherished, the
faith and practice of the gospel must of necessity be
neglected and forgotten. I say, the sincere faith and
practice of religion must be neglected ; for it is not to
be denied but the outside show and profession, enough
to satisfy ourselves and other people, may be kept up,
even where the love of money rules the heart.

So necessary is it, in this as in other respects, that
we look home to ourselves, and ascertain that our de-
votion is not merely external, but real, substantial,
practical.

" I spake unto thee in thy prosperity j
But thou saidst, I will not hear."

Such was the affecting remonstrance of Almighty

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. 12^

God with his chosen people of old, when, having done
for his vineyard all that could be done for it, he looked
in vain for real, substantial fruit. It brought forth, in-
deed, wild grapes — outside forms, shows, and profes-
sions of religion ; but in practice they revolted more
and more, till "from the sole of the foot to the crown
of the head, there was no soundness in it :" all orders
and degrees, from the lowest to the highest, " had cor-
rupted themselves," and were gradually drawing and
departing farther and farther from the living God.

To Christians also, to ourselves, the same touching
remonstrance is doubtless addressed ; and, if any dif-
ference, we surely have reason to be more deeply affect-
ed by it, even than the Jews could have been expected
to be. And this any considerate person will but too
easily allow, who turns his thoughts to the present
state of practical religion in the Christian world.

Is it not then certainly true, that worldly ease and
prosperity are very dangerous to the spiritual interests
of men 1 And yet is it not also true, that Christians
"do not consider" this, but persist in their earnest en-
deavors and desires after present ease and prosperity,
just as if there were really little or no danger in such
success 1

The account given in the text is not the account of
one nation only, or of one age. It is the account of
the human heart — a charge to which we must all plead
guilty :—

" I spake unto thee in thy prosperity j
But thou saidst, I will not hear."

The word here translated, "prosperity," signifies
properly " calmness, tranquillity, self-satisfaction." It
does not merely mean (what is generally understood
by the word prosperity) the possession of money, and
other such advantages, but also any state or business
of life, which makes a person unwilling to apply to his
heart or his conscience those truths of the gospel es-
pecially, which might lessen his confidence about him-
self, and his spiritual estate.

130 THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

When " God speaks to men in this their" fancied
" prosperity," how often in the pride of their hearts, do
they refuse to " hear."

They will not hear, because they "will not consider."
Thus, for instance, when things go well with a man,
and he has sufficient to maintain himself and his family
comfortably and creditably according to his station in
life : I do not say that a person has not reason to bless
God for such advantages, but still I consider that his
case is one of great difficulty and danger.

It is indeed true, let our circumstances be what
they will, in the height of prosperity, or the depth of
adversity, that we are, as Christians on our trial for
eternity, in great difficulty and danger, much more
than we are generally willing to believe.

But there is this which makes prosperity a greater
danger to us than adversity, that it renders us less wil-
ling to listen to the voice of truth and conscience.

When worldly things have gone well with a person,
and he has not yet neglected his eternal interests, there
is still hope that adversity may bring him back to his
God. But if things have gone ill with a man, and yet
he is still worldly-minded and irreligious, what hope
is there that prosperity will effect what adversity could
not do.

The reason is, because worldly business, especially if
it be at all successful, is apt to intoxicate the mind, as
a dram, and to make a man unable to collect his thoughts
and fix them steadily on any object which is not some
way or other connected with his immediate interests.

But adversity, sorrow, and suffering, if the heart be
not quite hardened against the convictions of con-
science, as they make us feel our frailty and depen-
dancy, so they have a natural tendency to make us
look beyond this present scene for support and conso-
lation.

And therefore, of the two, if it were left for us to
choose for ourselves, no doubt a life of adversity is to
be preferred to a life of prosperity. In proof of this,
let us only consider — -Are we not Christians — followers

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFlDENCE. 131

of Jesus Christ, at least by profession 1 If so, what
must be our rule of life : or can it be any other than
that which our Lord and master has prescribed for us,
and sanctioned by his own perfect example.

Surely no one can presume to say or think that any
course of conduct, any way of life, can be more suita-
ble for a Christian, than that which Jesus Christ him-
self followed during his abode on earth. And was his
a life of ease and prosperity in the usual sense of these
•words \ Rather was it not one unceasing course of
labor, anxiety, disappointment, sorrow, and suffering 1
It cannot be doubted but that, if he had chosen, he
might have manifested himself to the world in another
character, as a wealthy, prosperous prince, surrounded
with every enjoyment and luxury, victorious over his
adversaries, and honored by his subjects.

Such, his disciples and first followers hoped he would
be, but he never gave the least encouragement to any
such expectations. He taught them, " that the Son of
man" himself must suffer every indignity from "the
hands of sinful men," and that it was useless for any
one to think of " coming after him," who was not pre-
pared to " take up his cross daily, and follow him."

Surely then, adversity, sorrow, and suffering, must
be best for us, must tend to bring us more nearly to a
resemblance of our heavenly Master. Surely, prosper-
ity and success in the world can never be objects of
anxious desire to the sincere Christian, if there is dan-
ger of their making him so unlike that perfect example
to which he looks.

Let it also be considered, that a life of prosperity,
and ease, and freedom from trouble, such a life is the
least suited for the exercise of those graces and virtues
which are peculiarly Christian, and by which our souls
are to be fitted for an entrance into that blessed land
where sin and sorrow shall be no more.

There is surely no doctrine to be more cautiously
received than that which now very generally prevails,
that the Christian character is formed at once by some
fancied operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul, pro-'

132 THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

ducing a sudden, irresistible effect, working a mirac-
ulous change which is felt in the heart, and making the
person from that time forward an altered character, a
new creature.

The general tenor and meaning of the gospel is,
doubtless, inconsistent with notions of this kind ; and
if there are particular passages or expressions in the
discourses of our Lord, or in the epistles of St. Paul,
which may at first sight seem to give countenance to
them, yet, on examination, such expressions will in
every case be found, by fair judging persons, to be capa-
ble of a different meaning from this, which is often,
forced upon them.

However, it is quite certain and unquestionable, that
the gospel of Christ is uniformly addressed to us, as to
persons on their trial and probation for an everlasting
reward — to persons who have it in their power to refuse
or to receive the gracious offers made to them — to per-
sons who are to be through life exercised and disci-
plined, and led on by degrees toward that perfection of
holiness from which our nature was degraded by the
transgression of our first parents.

That perfection of holiness is, indeed, beyond our
reach in this corrupted world ; but we are taught to
look forward to it as the end of all our hopes and de-
sires. We are taught that our title to such a blessed
treasure was purchased for us at no less a price than
the blood of the Son of God — and that the strength by
which we are enabled to attain it is not our own, but
the gracious gift of the ever-blessed Spirit of God.

Nevertheless, we are instructed at the same time that
we must work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling — that if we would be angels in heaven here-
after, we must be saints on earth here — that those dis-
positions must be daily cultivated and cherished in our
hearts through life, which can alone fit us for the en-
joyment of that exalted happiness " which God hath
prepared for them that love him." Here, then, we may
see and acknowledge the great danger of a life of pros-
perity, ease, and self-satisfaction j and, at the same

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. 133

time, the real benefit of adversity, suffering, and self-
distrust.

For, when things go well with us, we naturally grow
presumptuous and confident. Either our hearts are
little disposed toward a contemplation of the heavenly
truths of religion — or if they are, yet we are contented
with imperfect or mistaken notions about them, and
have little doubt or anxiety about our spiritual con-
dition.

But this sort of confidence is ill-suited for creatures
such as we — it has nothing of Christian love in it — it is
rather the presumptuousness of lost spirits, than the
humble and filial dependance of angels.

But sorrow, adversity, or self-distrust, these have a
natural tendency to bring down the soul from her high
thoughts, to make us feel our own nothingness, and to
acknowledge that God our Savior is all and all to us.
And so, by degree, we become more and more fitted to join
with that heavenly company, whose highest honor it is to
cast their crowns before the throne of God, and their
perfection of happiness to " sing praises to him that
sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and
ever."

If, then, our gracious God has spoken to us in our
prosperity, and we have refused to hear ; if he have
spoken to us in adversity, and our hearts have been
somewhat softened at his gracious chastisement, then
let us learn to bless him for all his dispensations, indeed,
but most of all for his punishments.

But, if he hath spoken to us both in prosperity and
adversity, and yet we have still said. We will not hear:
If, when things have gone on smoothly with us, we have
been proud, worldly-minded, or covetous — if, when af-
fliction has befallen us, we have been content to place
our trust too much in ourselves or in other people, and
too little in him who is our only friend — then let us be
assured that we have not yet attained to that truly
Christian disposition, which " seeks first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness." But, without this dis-
position, what reasonable claim can we make to the high

Vol. I.— 12

134 THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE.

character of disciples of Christ Jesus — what reasonable
hope can we entertain of being admitted into the num-
ber of his saints in glory everlasting 1

These questions let us seriously ask ourselves, and
no longer venture to trifle with the interests of our im-
mortal souls. When adversity comes upon us, in what-
ever form or degree, let us remember that God speaks
to us, and shall we refuse to hear 1

Alas ! too often so it is with Christians, even with
those who have abundance of knowledge and scholar-
ship— they have made up their minds as to what notions
they will hold to — what course of practice they will fol-
low, and nothing will persuade them, I do not say to lay
aside such notions and practices, but only to consider
whether they are correct or not.

And so they go on to their death-beds in calm con-
fidence— because they do not see the danger, thinking
themselves safe.

0 ! let us beware of trusting to this false show of
prosperity, this deceitful glare which (as it were)
dazzles the heart, and renders it unable to perceive its
real condition.

Let us ever mistrust ourselves, our own strength, our
own judgment, nor ever rest satisfied with any advances
we may have made in the knowledge or practice of the
gospel, but still press forward more and more anxiously
for the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.

Let us receive every disappointment, trouble, and
mortification, " with both hands, earnestly," acknowl-
edging it as God's special favor to us, as a pledge of
his fatherly anxiety for our eternal welfare.

On the other hand, let us receive every sort of pros-
perity, every degree of worldly success or comfort — let
us receive such with caution and fear, lest they should
steal away our hearts from our heavenly treasure, and
we should find, when it is too late, that we have been
beguiled of our everlasting reward.

And may Almighty God enable us to open our eyes
to our real condition, and to beware of trusting to any
fancied prosperity, whether temporal or spiritual.

THE DANGER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. 135

May he, for his blessed Son's sake, hear and grant our
petitions, when we beseech him to make us, in what-
ever way he thinks best, fit for his beatific presence.

And whether in prosperity or adversity, in joy or in
sorrow, in life or in death, may his Holy Spirit never
leave us nor forsake us, so that under his gracious
guidance, being steadfast in faith, joyful through hope,
and rooted in charity, we may so pass the waves of this
troublesome world as finally to come to the land of
everlasting life, there to reign with him for ever, through
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

136 FORGETFTJLNESS OF WARNINGS,

SERMON XV.

FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS.
Psalm Ixxviii. 34-37.

" When he slew them — then thej' sought him
And they returned, and inquired early after God :
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the High God their Redeemer.
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth,
And they li'^d unto him with their tongues :
For their heart was not right with him,
Neither were they steadfast in his covenant."

It cannot, I suppose, be doubted by any person who
considers all circumstances, that pain, ill health, low
spirits, and other such personal or domestic afflictions,
are especially intended by our merciful God and Father
as means of correction ; to bring us back to himself if
Ave have wandered away from him j to quicken our zeal
and confirm our resolution, if we are already disposed
to follow him and his holy will.

Nevertheless, it is a subject well worthy of the seri-
ous consideration of all persons who desire to be in the
safe way to salvation, how lamentable in this as in other
cases, the weakness and frailty of our nature is seen ;
how commonly it happens that the best intentions and
resolutions, made in times of danger and affliction, are
thouoht little or nothino: more of when the alarm is
passed over.

Herein, as in many other respects, alas ! the history
and conduct of God's chosen people of old, is but too
correct a description of ourselves, of the conduct of too
many Christians under the chastisement of their heav-
enly Parent.

FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS. 137

Thus :—

" When he afflicts us, then (perhaps) we seek him j
We return and inquire early after God ;
We remember that God is our Rock,
And the High God our Redeemer.
Nevertheless, we do but flatter him with our mouth,
And dissemble with him in our tongues ;
For our heart is not whole with him.
Neither continue we steadfast in his covenant."

To this subject I desire, on the present occasion, to
draw your attention, while I endeavor briefly to point
out two or three considerations belonging to it, which
though plain and obvious enough of themselves, yet are
such as we all need to be constantly reminded of.

When we are in good health, and engaged in the daily
concerns of this world's business, it is wonderful how
different things appear from what they do to persons
lying on a sick bed, or suffering under any other heavy
affliction. I mean this is generally the case ; though,
of course, there are frequent exceptions ; some persons
so dead to all sense of their condition as to have neither
hopes nor fears about their souls, whatever may come
upon them ; and some, too, so confident upon the fancy
of inward feelings and supposed evidences of the divine
favor toward themselves peculiarly, that they would even
think it wrong and dangerous to have any doubts or fears
about their own final salvation. But this, I should think,
is rather to be accounted a kind of stoic philosophy,
than the fruits of true evangelical faith, which ever leads
to " reverence and godly fear." Nor is the disposition
itself probably so common in reality as, at first sight, it
might be supposed to be ; the Scriptures so plainly
warning us that we shall be judged according to our
works ; and the voice of conscience, too, so urgently,
though silently, reminding us, if we will but attend to it,
how unfit we are at the very best, and in innumerable
respects, to meet our God. But, as I before said, to the
generality of persons, if they are not dead and inserisi-
ble to all serious reflection, the heavy afflictions to which
we are now liable must, when they come, produce a great
change in their view of thinsfs,

12*

138 FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS.

Particularly, one may mention the danger of death
approaching, whether from illness, or some accident, or
in any other way — how does it naturally — that is, by
God's providential mercy — affect our feelings, and startlo
us (as it were) with the notion of being on the edge of
such a precipice, death and judgment close at hand, and
no more time for preparation.

Then, if ever, people feel (if I may so speak) the reality
of religion j they are convinced that it is not a mere
matter of words, names, and professions — they earnestly,
and without hypocrisy or affectation, desire to have God
for their friend, to die in peace and favor with him.

Then, if they are capable of reflection, they look back
on their past lives with shame and remorse ; they see
how much they have to lament of actual transgression —
and how much more of sins of omission ; how much
better they might have been ; how much more good
they might have done in their generation, if they had
but improved the opportunities placed within their reach.

Then they see what a vain, restless, miserable round
this world's business is : and how all the things that
seem of most importance in it are, to a dying man, of
no value at all.

Then they wonder at themselves how they could have
acted in such and such a way on such and such occa-
sions— they remember the falsehood and deceit, the
drunkenness, impurity, and blasphemy, the bad temper
and unkindness, the neglect of God and religion, into
which they have suffered themselves to be led from
time to time, and if they are not utterly hardened, the
remembrance of these things stings them with the sharp-
est pangs of remorse.

Indeed, the pain of this kind of recollection is so great,
that few persons — I mean few who have led profligate
irreligious lives — can bear to endure it; but rather
would deaden it if possible, with a cold, heartless insen-
sibility, and rejection of all serious thought ; or else
with the intoxicating drams of enthusiasm.

However, these thorns of a self-reproaching conscience
will force their way more or less j and if allowed to have

FOKGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS. 139

their proper salutary effect — the effect intended by him
who knows what is in man — these painful feelings, I
say, would lead on the thoughts of the repentant sinner
from the time past of his life, to what may yet be remain-
ing of it. He thinks, if his life may yet be spared, if it
should be possible he may be restored to his former
health, O ! how different a life he will lead from what
he did before ; — how certain he is that he will never
act, speak, or think in the careless way he has been
used to — that he now sees things in their true light, and
that nothing shall ever have power to deceive him again,
as formerly.

Every one who has been used at all to attend the
beds of the sick and dying, must be aware that mten-
tions and resolutions of this kind are very commonly
then made, and expressed with the greatest apparent
earnestness and sincerity ; so that, humanly speaking,
one could not doubt for a moment that it was impossi-
ble that persons so expressing themselves should ever
return to their former course of life, or anything like it.*

Yet every one knows, whether they attend sick and
dying beds or no, that numbers and numbers of persons
who have been on the very brink of death, and have
been restored, yet have been in no respect whatever
the better afterward for such a fearful warning. Indeed
it is so common a case, that no one scarce wonders at it.

Nobody wonders at it who looks only or chiefly to
this world. But may we not well wonder, when we ex-
tend our view a little farther, and recollect what we are,
and whither we are hastening. For we must always
remember, what is a most unquestionable truth, that
nothing w^hatever happens to us by chance — particularly
of dangerous illness, accidents (as we call them), and
any imminent perils to which we may be exposed, we
may be sure that nothing like chance has anything what-
ever to do with them. These things, as we all know
very well, are sent by Almighty God on the sons of men
for various reasons ; but very often, no doubt, for this—

♦ See " The Christian year," fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

140 FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS.

by way of caution and warning, to put people on their
guard on every side, and to set them on reflecting on
their condition in God's sight ; on comparing what they
are with what they ought to be. No doubt, when our
heavenly Father so afliicts us, he intends it for the very
purpose described by the psalmist, " That we should
seek him, and return, and inquire early after God ;" that
we should in the day of our calamity " remember that
God is our rock, and the high God our Redeemer."

But if this be indeed what God intends for our good,
when he visits us with any signal affliction, or peril of
death — if he deliver us out of the trouble, and yet we
frustrate his gracious intention, and lead no better lives
than we did before ; or rather do not give up ourselves
wholly and entirely to his service — what then have we
to expect 1 what more mercy or forbearance %

I say, if we do not give up ourselves wholly and en-
tirely to his honor and service. For the mere circum-
stance of our being externally more regular and orderly
than we were before, though so far as it goes, it is well ;
yet that alone is no evidence that we are going along
the narrow way of life.

There is then no alternative. They who have been
brought out of any misery or danger, whether of mind
or body ; who have been restored from a sick bed, or
delivered from any other impending calamity which
seemed on the point of overwhelming them ; they, I say,
who have received any such signal instance of God's
providential care as this (and most of us probably have,
if we choose to look back and consider), if they have
not been the better for it, if it has not had the effect
intended, to lead them to a serious life, and preparation
for eternity — then let them be assured they are in great
danger — then there is reason to fear they have so hard-
ened their affections against the moving truths of pure
and undefiled religion, that without earnest, immediate,
and painful struggles, we shall never gain that path of
holiness, that way of the just, which leadeth "more and
more unto the perfect day."

Probably, as I said, there are but few of us, if we

FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS. 14«1

choose to look back and consider, who have not on some
occasion or other been rescued from some great and to
all appearance overwhelming calamity.

How many are constantly being raised up from the
bed of sickness, when all hope has been given up by the
most skilful and experienced attendants.

How many accidents of life and limb do we narrowly
escape, I might say almost every day ; and many peo-
ple's trade and business is such as ever exposes them
to this kind of dangers.

And if we should say any of us, that as we have
never been very ill, or in any other alarming danger, we
have in this respect no particular cause for gratitude —
what then 1 are we not always in danger 1 our bodies
(as the psalm says) so " fearfully and wonderfully made ;"
our minds and intellectual faculties so astonishingly
constructed and harmonized — that in one hour, nay, in
one moment, all may be over with us, our bodies man-
gled, or our senses gone \

So that to a reflecting mind it seems little less than
a miracle, that we should be preserved in the manner
we are from day to day. And is not this matter for
daily thankfulness 1 and should not the consideration
of it make us ever feel as persons every moment rescued
from the brink of ruin, every moment supported by an
unseen Almighty hand !

However, as these daily mercies are so slightly re-
garded, our tender compassionate Father frequently by
some more signal visitation, a dangerous illness op
otherwise, calls us back from carelessness and folly.

In these circumstances, those who are not dead to all
religious feelings, as they lie on their bed of sickness,
naturally are led to make resolutions of what they will
be, if God will be so good as to spare them this once.

Such a person they remember to have injured or de-
frauded ; this they will set right with shame and sorrow.

Against such an one as they have spoken ill — they will
confess their fault, and intreat his forgiveness.

Swearing, filthy language, drunkenness, sins of impu-
rity— all these they will for ever renounce.

142 FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS.

The Bible, the house of God, the Lord's day, and the
Lord's table — these they will no more be ashamed of;
nor will they care in the least for the scorn or ridicule
of other people.

Such as these are death-bed resolutions ! Alas ! I
need not say how generally they all pass away as the
morning cloud, are forgotten when the danger is over ;
the love of this world again resumes its place in the
heart, and the awful well-grounded apprehensions, raised
by the near prospect of death and judgment, gradually
fade away and disappear.

Nevertheless, it is a truth ever to be remembered by
us, that the resolutions and vows we make in such hours
of trial, and on the bed of sickness, these are remember-
ed and recorded in God's book. VVe may forget them,
even forget that we ever had such thoughts at all in our
minds : yet, doubtless, they are, as I say, recorded, and
will be brought forward again in the great day of final
account.

This is a fearful consideration, if any one will reflect
on it : and so also this, no less true ; namely, that if our
heavenly Father gives us these startling warnings, and
we slight or forget them, very probably he will never
give us the same any more. The time present is all we
can reckon upon : — " what thou doest do quickly."

Again : what I before mentioned, and I repeat it, we
ought to be very careful of trusting to a partial amend-
ment ; of thinking that because we are better than we
once were, or better than many other people, therefore
we are in the way to heaven.

The religion which we profess is so strict, so holy
and heavenly, requires such purity and self-denial, such
exalted affections, and, in one word, such an angelic
life, that the utmost height of holiness to which modern
Christians for the most part aspire, is but low indeed
with what seems expected of us, and what the first Chris-
tians actually did reach.

We must therefore beware how we too easily satisfy
ourselves, and trust to false presumptuous hopes.

Indeed, there is no question but the difficulties which

FORGETFULNESS OF WARNINGS. 14.3

surround us in this, as in other respects, are great and
pressing.

It is difficult to take sickness, sorrow, and danger, in
the way we ought. More difficult still, to fulfil the
holy vows and resolutions we were then led to make, if
at least we had any serious sense at all of our condition.

But amid all this dim and perplexing prospect, the
comfort is, that our compassionate heavenly Father
knows our weakness, and our wants ; that Christ Jesus,
who is hereafter to be our Judge, is now touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, and that if we will but take
refuge in his mercies and atonement, with sincere, deep,
and practical repentance, we shall not in the end be for-
saken by him, we shall not be left destitute of the aid
and guidance of his ever-blessed Spirit.

In this confidence we may humbly go forward, as
many of us as truly feel, and unfeignedly acknowledge
our own utter unworthiness, and are conscious that we
have no hope but in God's mercy through Christ Jesus.

And then, whatever calamity befals us we may trust
to come out of it, as gold out of the fire, still more and
more unspotted, holy, and heavenly-minded, still refined
to higher degrees of purity and brightness, and more fit
for that heavenly society of angels, saints, and martyrs,
which even now faintly to look forward to, is a substan-
tial consolation and refreshment, every Sunday as it
comes round.

14-4' DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOD's MERCY.

SERMON XVI.

DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOD'S MERCY.

Ps. Ixxxi. 11, 12.

" My people would not hearken to my voice ;
And Israel would none of me ;
So I gave them up "

It is a matter of painful and startling observation, that
very often when people enter on wrong courses, they
think they shall be able to stop when they please. They
do not pretend to be very good, and they do not mean
to very bad. Something between both contents them.
As on the one hand they do not set up to be saints, so
on the other they will take good care not to run into
very gross crimes: and this they think is as much as
can be expected of them, especially when vice and
wickedness prevail in the degree they do.

The danger, the great and alarming danger, of allow-
ing such vain flattering notions as these to insinuate
themselves into our hearts, is what I shall now endeav-
or, by God's aid, to set before you.

It cannot be doubted, that very often when people
get into wrong courses, they think they shall be able to
stop when they please. And this notion tends very
much to quiet their consciences, and to make them tol-
erably easy and cheerful even while they are doing
things they know to be wrong, or neglecting duties they
know to be right.

Indeed, we seem to be taught both by Scripture, and
by experience, that the heart naturally becomes " hard-
ened by the deceitfulness of sin" — hardened not all at
once, but gradually j so that by degrees the sense of
right and wrong, of truth and error, becomes deadened,

DANCER OF PRESUMING ON GOD's MERCY. H5

till at last the conscience, as the apostle says, is (as it
were) " seared with a hot iron."

This comes very much from the flattering notion
which people indulge, that there is no great danger in
this or that wrong habit, because they shall be able to
stop when they please.

Let us consider this with some attention, such as the
matter certainly deserves.

From what we observe in other people's conduct and
condition, and from what we feel in ourselves, we may
reasonably judge that we are placed here on our trial
and probation for another state yet to come ; in other
words, that our eternal condition is not yet fixed and
settled, but depends on the sort of way in which we
shall live and die. This, too, is according to the general
tenor of Scripture ; — I say according to its general
tenor, though there are certainly single passages or ex-
pressions here and there, which do seem at first sight
to convey a difl!erent meaning. But in this as in every
other case relating to the interpretation of Scripture, it
must always be remembered, w^hat surely it is nothing
more than reasonable to allow, that the meaning of any
particular passage must be determined by the general
sense of Scripture, and not the general sense to be
determined by the apparent meaning of one, or two, or
more particular passages.

Whoever considers this plain rule with attention and
candor, will be convinced that our ^condition is in this
respect so much the more awful and dangerous. Be-
cause if God's providence absolutely governed and
directed our actions, in the same way as he governs and
directs what we call the works of nature, then we could
have no power to resist his will any more than the in-
ferior creatures have.

But we plainly have the power to resist his will ; it is
in our power to do wrong if we please.

And this is not all j for we are certainly more dis-
posed to do wrong than to do right. We may see
clearly enough the path in which we ought to walk ;
yet by some strange perversion we would rather turn
Vol. I.— 13

146 DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOd's MERCY.

aside from it, into some other fresh and forbidden way,
I am not now inquiring into the cause and root of this
sad corruption ; I only say that such is the fact ; and I
suppose every person who has turned his thoughts
inward, and examined closely his own heart and con-
duct, will allow that it is no more than the truth.

Our gracious heavenly Parent, in pity to our sad
and dangerous condition, and knowing better than we
do what must be the dreadful consequences of un-
pardoned sin in the eternal world, seems, if I may so
speak without irreverence, to have done all that could
be done for us, to bring us back to himself.

To apply the inspired eloquence of the apostle here,
we may say, " He that spared not his own Son, but de-
livered him up for us all, how should he not also" have
done everything else possible for us.

And yet notwithstanding all, we see that sin, and
misery in consequence of sin, do prevail in the world
to an astonishing and an alarming degree. How this
should be, it is to us a great mystery, one of " the
secret things which belong unto the Lord our God."
But there are certainly two truths — two facts which no
one, I suppose, can doubt or deny ; that the great God
has done all that is consistent with his wisdom and
goodness to deliver us from sin and misery ; and also
that sin and misery have a great influence on men of
all ranks and conditions on the face of the earth.

There is no account to be given of this beyond what
the Scriptures give us, and which is confirmed by every
day's experience ; viz., that this life is a course of trial,
proof, and preparation for a lasting state of good or evil
beyond the grave : that God having put it in our power
to choose for ourselves, leaves us to ourselves to make
the choice ; at the same time plainly warning us, that if
we choose the right path and follow it on, he will help
us ; but if we choose the wrong path, and refuse to
listen to his voice, the voice of conscience, that then
he will, however unwillingly, give us up, leave us to go
our own way.

Such is the account of his dealino;:s with his own

DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOd's MERCY. 147

chosen, favored ones, his peculiar people, his holy-
nation,

" My people would not hearken to my voice,
And Israel would none of me :
So I gave them up — — "

For what other meaning can there be to such a pas-
sage as this (and there are many like it in Scripture),
than that God's own chosen people may if they please
hearken to his voice, or not, which they like ; that if
they do hearken to his voice, he will favor and support
them ; if they do not hearken to him, he will give them
up to follow their own ways 1

If this be indeed true, and really I do not see how it
can be doubted by any one who carefully turns his mind
to such subjects, then it is plain that it is a great sign
of rashness and presumptuousness in us, if we have
begun, or are going on in any wrong course, thinking
we shall be able to stop and alter our ways when we
please.

I call such notions as these, rash and presumptuous,
because they are founded on the opinion — the proud
and false opinion — that we are strong enough to help
ourselves, without the assistance of divine grace ; or at
least, that we are sure of having that assistance in the
time of need, whether we seek it in due time, and in the
right way, or no.

Few persons, indeed, perhaps none, would openly
avow such opinions as these. Yet no doubt a great
many act upon them without thought of their being
dangerous ; and perhaps we all, even the best of us, are
influenced by them, to a greater degree than we are
aware of.

For whatever we may think, the weakness of our
present condition is certainly very great ; we are much
more easily deceived, especially in matters relating to
religious practice, than we should be willing to allow ;
we are deceived, I mean, not by other people, but by
ourselves, by the soothing, flattering, delusive fancies
with which we lull to sleep the restless or doubting

^

148 DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOD's MERCY.

conscience. And of these fancies there is none perhaps
more delusive or hurtful than that against which I would
now put you on your guard, the notion that a wrong
habit is not so dangerous, because we may reform it
when we please.

The root of this error, if Ave examine, seems to be
want of love to God the author of all good 5 want of
pure devoted charity, that without which, " all our
doings are nothing worth."

Because if a person really loved God, or at least really
desired and wished to love him, however he might fall
short of accomplishing this his desire and wish ; yet at
least he would not endure to do anything wilfully, which
he might think would be displeasing to his heavenly
Father, Redeemer, and Guide, the supreme object of
his affections.

There is nothing about which we ought to be so
watchful and suspicious of ourselves, as of want of love,
true and devoted love to Almighty God. There are two
great reasons why we should be thus watchful and sus-
picious of ourselves in this respect.

The one, because this divine charity or love is the
very life and soul of true religion : the other, because
we are so peculiarly ready to deceive ourselves in our
views of this ; perhaps more than any other of the obli-
gations of the gospel.

Thus when people do wrong things, or omit right
ones, under the notion that they shall be able to alter or
improve their conduct whenever they please : even sup-
posing this to be true, that they might so alter or im-
prove their conduct hereafter ; yet surely at the time it
shows a great coldness of love, a great deadness of
affection toward their heavenly Benefactor, their only
Friend.

And if they should be taken off to the bar of eternal
judgment before they had entered on their intended re-
formation, what could the word addressed to them be
but this, "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee,
thou wicked servant !"

But this intended reformation, even granting that it

DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOd's MERCY. 149

should be accomplished, if examined into, what will it
be found to be, or what its value 1

Tf true religion consisted in the mere outward per-
formance of certain good actions ; or the mere inward
indulgence of certain good feelings, if this were all that
is required in the true Christian, then our need of watch-
fulness and self-suspicion would not be so great.

But is it not true that the law of the Christian is love,
devoted love to his God and Savior ; and that for the
want of this love nothing can make up 1 Is it not also
true that we have no way of evincing this our love to
be sincere, but by a thorough and earnest anxiety to
give up our whole wills, under all circumstances, and
on every occasion, to the will of him who is our only
hope 1 And farther, is it not true that if we are looking
after exceptions and excuses, and trying to please our-
selves with flattering, soothing, comfortable notions that
we are safe enough ; that we are as good as can be ex-
pected ; that we shall be better before we die, and if
not, the blood of Christ will make all right — I say, do
not such ways of speaking or thinking as this show a
great want of love for our blessed Redeemer, a great
ignorance of the true nature of the gospel, and of the
true meaning of Scripture %

I ask all thoughtful and serious-minded people to
consider whether such rash and presumptuous fancies
as these do not prevail to an alarming degree among
professing Christians of these days, and whether it be
not the duty of Christ's authorized ministers to warn
his people against such fancies, whether they choose to
attend to the warning or no.

" My people would not hear my voice,
And Israel would not obey me:
So I gave them up "

Every baptized Christian is by his profession one of
God's people — of his chosen Israel ; I say, whatever
his practice may be, such is his profession, holy, heav-
enly, and divine.

If he labors, strives, and prays constantly to live up

13*

150 DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOD's MERCY.

to this his high profession, then the Holy Spirit leads
him as it were by the hand from grace to grace, from
one step in holy love and faithful obedience to another,
till mortality be swallowed up of life. In God's deal-
ings with such an one, the ancient and just rule is em-
inently fulfilled, " Whosoever hath, to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance." They shall
be most helped who will do most for themselves. Such
is the proverbial rule which the blessed Jesus himself
hath sanctioned with his own approbation, and given
us to understand shall be the rule of final judgment in
the great day of retribution. Nor is it a rule which
we can dare to call unreasonable or unjust.

If on the other hand this same Christian, having it in
his power to go wrong, does go wrong — neglects duties
which he knows are agreeable to his Lord's will, and
allows himself in thoughts, words, and actions which
he knows must displease him ; then does the Holy
Spirit after long forbearance withdraw his gracious
aid, and leave us to go our own way, as we will not
go his.

According to the latter clause of that most equitable
rule, " Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken,
even that which he hath ;" that is, whosoever will not
endeavor to make the most of what is put in his power —
such an one it is of no use to do any more for, and even
what he has may justly be withdrawn from him.

There is not, perhaps, in all Scripture a more awful,
startling, alarming passage than this ; because it warns
"US so plainly, that our notion of keeping up a tolerable
degree of goodness, and staying at a certain point, not
intending to be very good, and resolving at the same
time not to be very bad : that these kind of notions are
vain, delusive, and presumptuous, and, as we may with
reason fear, will prove at last the ruin of many souls
for whom Christ died.

Very often, indeed, in this world, we see people who
we are sure must know better, and who certainly can-
not plead the excuse of unavoidable ignorance or any-
thing like it J getting gradually into some bad habit, till

DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOD's MERCY. 151

at length it as it were overpowers them, and they are
" led captive" at the will of their soul's enemy, and
they do thinsj-s which every one wonders at, and which
they could not believe themselves capable of doing a
little time before.

This we often see, and wonder how it can be, and
secretly thank God we are not like such persons, and
are certain that come what will we should never act so
and so, fall into such and such wilful disobedience and
gross sin.

My brethren, let us not be too sure. There are
other crimes beside those which human laws can reach —
crimes as great, perhaps, in. the sight of God, though
in the judgment of man they may be esteemed trifling
and not worth attention.

And what is yet more startling to reflect on, it is cer-
tainly possible for us then to be most cast off by God,
when we are most secure and confident of our being
the objects of his favor and approbation. Whether
this be a common kind of self-deceit or no, it is cer-
tainly possible ; and the mere fact that it is possible,
should humble us to the dust in deep humility, and with
earnest supplication to be kept from so dreadful a con-
dition, a condition so forcibly described by the blessed
esus in his merciful, though severe rebuke to some of
his self-confident hearers.

'' Are we blind also V said they : to whom he an-
swered, " If ye were blind, ye should have no sin, but
now ye say. We see ; therefore your sin remaineth."

It is generally reckoned a sad and distressing thing to
see a person cast down with what is called religious
melancholy, full of fears and doubts about his spiritual
condition, and quite unable to feel those comforts and
joys which are often described as attending the sincere
profession of the gospel ; to see a person so cast down,
and out of spirits, is generally reckoned a sad and dis-
tressing sight.

But let me ask whether to the view of sober reason
it be not quite as sad and distressing, to see people
going on calmly, and confidently, without fear or mis-

152 DANGER OF PRESUMfNG ON GOD's MERCY.

giving ; nay, with open professions of assurance as to
their spiritual state, and yet all the while transgressing
the plain moral laws of God in various instances.

This is indeed sad and distressing — more than that,
it is painfully alarming ; because it gives one reason to
fear that in such cases God in his righteous judgment
has fulfilled his own decisive warning,

" My people would not hear my voice,
And Israel would not obey me :
So I gave them up "

Where is it anywhere said in the Scriptures, that if
we can but feel ourselves safe, we are safe 1 Where is
anything like this said in the whole volume of Scrip-
ture rightly understood, or carefully considered ] In
like manner, where is there any the least hint given,
that because we feel ourselves in danger, we must there-
fore he ever the more in danger.

Again and again, I warn, entreat, and beseech you
not to trust to your feelings one way or the other.
Every day's experience convinces me more and more,
that these feelings cannot, must not, be trusted to. If
you are displeased with me for saying so ; yet I must
say it. If you say that in preaching this, I preach not
the gospel, then I say, God forgive me ; yet I must
preach it — and wo be unto me if I preach not the
gospel.

However, whether I am right or wrong in pressing
upon you warnings of this sort, one thing is certain,
that we are dropping off very fast one after another
into that vast abyss of eternity which is before us : we
see in repeated instances, that be we young or old, we
cannot reckon with certainty upon a week to come.
Can we then venture to stand trifling upon the edge of
such a precipice 1 Are we to wait till the world grows
better, before we grow better 1 Are we sure that be-
cause we feel comfortable, therefore we are safe \ If
not, what are we trusting to ]

Our heavenly Father has in mercy warned us of our
danger. He has warned us that even if we are his

DANGER OF PRESUMING ON GOd's MERCY. 153

peculiar people, his chosen Israel, yet if we obey not
his voice, he will give us up.

That then is the question, are we sincerely obeying
him — do we give up our wills to his : will we and do
we submit to any loss, shame, or mortification, rather
than grieve his Holy Spirit. Is it all our study to think
how we may best fulfil his blessed will — all our labor to
put these good thoughts in practice 1

If not, we have indeed reason to fear for ourselves —
reason to fear, lest if we go on any longer trifling with
God's mercy he should give us up, to walk in our own
counsels J and at length should "swear in his wrath,
that we shall not enter into his rest."

Again, then, and again, I repeat it, " Be not high-
minded but fear :" if God spared not the natural
branches, his chosen people of old, " take heed lest he
also spare not thee."

154

SERMON XVII.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOD'S SAINTS.

Heb. xii. 23.
" The spirits of just men made perfect."

The sacred writer in this part of his epistle is pres-
sing on the thoughts of those who should hear or read
it, the absolute necessity which is laid upon Christians
to lead lives suitable to their high and heavenly privi-
leges— privileges more high and heavenly than the
greatest vouchsafed to God's favored people of ancient
days. Let us first consider a little this argument as it
is set forth with such affectionate earnestness, begin-
ning at the fourteenth verse, and reaching to the end
of the twenty-fifth verse of this twelfth chapter.

He begins — " Follow peace with all men ;" " follow'*
that is, pursue after it, spare no pains to obtain it — and
also follow after " holiness, without which," w^hatever
we may flatter ourselves, "no man shall see the Lord;"
looking " diligently lest any man fail of the grace of
God" — lest we wilfully allow our practice to fall short
of our privileges and profession — " lest any root of
bitterness springing up," like a poisonous weed in a
garden of sweet herbs, " trouble" the consciences of
men, and thereby many who were inclined to go right
" be defiled," misled, deceived, and ruined — " lest there
be any fornicator or profane" profligate person, who,
though he bear the name of a Christian, yet cares not
for the loss of heaven and God's eternal favor, so he
may follow his own will and way in this life — after his
desperate example " who, for one morsel of meat, sold
his birthright." And what a warning does that example
of Esau offer to us who have the birthright of Chris-

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOd's SAINTS. ISB

tians, to us who are the sons of God by adoption —
when we remember, that afterward, when he wished to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected — " for he found no
place of repentance, though he sought it earnestly with
tears" — so we, if we reject the service of our heavenly
Master in this short life of probation, what other oppor-
tunity, what other day of grace, can we expect will be
granted to us.

For let us (so the argument goes on), let us ever re-
member, that as Christians we are really under a great,
a glorious, and an awful dispensation — not the less
glorious and awful, though the tokens of the Divine
presence are no longer visible to the natural eye, but
are only to be seen by faith.

Great things they were, indeed, which our fathers of
old, the Jews, were witnesses of — the mountain rock of
Sinai burning with fire — enveloped in blackness, dark-
ness, and tempest ; the sound of the trumpet; the voice
of words, Avhich voice they that heard entreated that
the word should not be spoken to them any more, for
the people could not endure that which was command-
ed, and so terrible was the sight, that even Moses said,
" I exceedingly fear and quake."

These were great and awful things to which the Jews
were eye-witnesses ; yet the Christian by the eye of
faith sees himself really and actually under a still great-
er and more awful dispensation.

By his Christian profession he finds himself brought
nearer to God than ever the Jews were ; he finds he is
come not to Sinai, the mountain of temporal wrath, but
to Sion, the rock of eternal mercy, and to the city of
the living God, heavenly Jerusalem ; and to an innu-
merable company of angels, the general assembly and
church of the first-born which are written in heaven —
and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the
new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling which
speaketh better things than that of Abel, cries unto
God, not for vengeance, as Abel's did, but for mercy on
the guilty. " See, then," here comes the great prac-

156 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOd''s SAINTS.

tical conclusion — " See, then, that ye refuse not him
that speaketh," see that your lives and conduct be a
course of peace and holiness j for, " if they escaped
not," that is, the Jews, "who turned away from him
that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if
we turn away from him which speaketh from heaven."
If so much were expected of the Jews, who had but
the knowledge of a temporal law, what must be expect-
ed of us, to whom is offered the eternal gospel — and, I
may add, who, so far as profession goes, have accepted
the offer.

Whether we shall be any the better for it, depends
now on ourselves, and on the course of life we choose
to lead.

Now, let me call your attention to one clause in the
divinely eloquent account which the apostle has given
of the kingdom of God, the church of the Lord Jesus,
militant here on earth, but triumphant in heaven. This
city of the living God, this heavenly Jerusalem, is, we
are told, inhabited, as by innumerable other blessed,
glorious, and immortal beings, so also by " the spirits
of just men made perfect."

It seems to me, that this may afford matter for some
very important and touching reflections, particularly
suited for the thoughts of all serious persons on this
day especially.*

When we consider what the condition of human
nature now is, even at the best, full of frailty and im-
perfection— and when we consider, also, what glorious
hopes, what blessed promises, are held out to the faith-
ful servants of Christ Jesus, we are naturally led to
suppose that the soul Avill be exalted and refined above
all earthly degrees of excellence, when it is admitted
into the everlasting habitations — that even just men
will be made perfect, brought to higher degrees of
goodness, when their spirits are received into the man-
sions of glory.

Conformably to this view, the whole Christian life is

* All-Saints' Day.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOD's SAINTS. 157

constantly set forth to us, in the New Testament, as a
course of discipline, a progress from step to step, from
grace to grace. So that, as the apostle intimates, we
can never, in this life, no not even at the best, " count
ourselves to have attained" — reached that height of
spiritual excellence which we should — never think our-
selves "to be already perfect." "But this one thing
we have to do — forgetting those things which are be-
hind," all mean, unworthy, trifling objects, " and reach-
ing forth to those things which are before," substantia],
heavenly, and eternal things — we have nothing to do,
but only still to be " pressing toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

So that the best of men, as long as they stay here,
must still be trying to grow better, and even to the
very last will deplore with sorrow and shame innume-
rable sins, negligences, and ignorances.

The best of men in his dying moments could surely
offer no more acceptable prayer than the Lord's prayer,
and is not that a prayer for forgiveness \ Therefore I
conclude, that the best of Christians in his dying mo-
ments needs forgiveness, that is, is chargeable with
faults and errors.

How then, it may be asked, can even the best and
holiest man be fit, or have hope to appear, in the pres-
ence of his God. I answer, because they have fixed
their trust not on anything they have done, or can do
of themselves, but entirely and alone on the blood and
intercession of the one Redeemer. For his sake alone
they are accepted ; not partly for their own goodness,
and partly for the sake of Christ Jesus, but entirely,
wholly, completely, and alone, through the blood of the
Lamb slain for the sins of the whole world. Except in
that blood there is no hope — no reasonable hope — even
for those who have made the greatest advances in spir-
itual excellence. But then, as we are assured on the
highest of all authorities, "Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord" — in the sincere faith and love of tlieir
Redeemer. Blessed are "the spirits of the just," re-

VoL. h—U

158 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOd's SAINTS.

moved from this world of trial and affliction, to a state
of perfection in the beatific presence of their God.

In this world, even at the best, they have had innu-
merable errors and daily frailties to deplore ; there (as
we have reason to hope) they will be for ever out of
the reach of temptation.

In this world, even at the best, they were liable to
all kinds and degrees of afflictions — pain of body, and
pain of mind, remorse for the past, and fear for the
future. There (we are assured) " There shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor tears:" but "they who
are accounted worthy to obtain that world shall be
equal unto the angels."

Here "just men" must expect, like their Savior and
pattern, to be " made perfect through sufferings" — to
be exercised with a painful course of trials and trou-
bles— to discipline them, (as it were,) and refine them
like gold in the fire. Hereafter as glorified spirits they
shall " shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father," with no cloud of imperfection, no liability to
change or decay, ever, any more.

As these thoughts are not forced and overstrained,
but such as would naturally suggest themselves to any
one who attends to what the Scriptures say on such
subjects, so we may be assured that they may, and in-
deed are intended, to be of great service to us in im-
proving our hearts and lives — and this in many respects,
some few of which I must mention to you.

First ; let us think what an encouragement it is to us
to go forward on our Christian course with zeal, perse-
verance, and steadiness, when we reflect on that perfect
state of peace and holiness to which "the spirits of the
just" shall be admitted in the eternal world.

We very often talk and think of how little value the
best things of this world are, its profits, its pleasures,
its comforts, all trifles of small account. So we talk,
when we wish to appear serious ; so we think, when we
are really so. And yet, so much are we led by present
impulses and feelings, these good words and good
thoughts have on the whole comparatively but very little

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOD's SAINTS. 159

lYifluence on our every-day conduct ; and we go on, the
best of us, alas ! too much, as if this present life was
something solid and substantial, something of real im-
portance, even without reference to what may be beyond
the grave.

And this it is, among other hindrances, which makes
us so slow, indolent, and heartless, in the love and ser-
vice of our Lord and master ; so reluctant to take much
trouble for his sake — so careless about finding out what
his will really is in every case — so indifferent about
accomplishing that will, even after we have found it out.

Hence it is, I do not say desirable, but absolutely
necessary, for all who would wish to go forward in "the
good and the right way," that we will still use ourselves
to carry our thoughts on to that perfect state for which
at present we are only in a course of trial and discipline,
that we cheer ourselves with this prospect, and seek en-
couragement in looking beyond the present scene of
things, to that nobler one which the gospel has opened
to the view of our faith — that land where " the spirits
of the just," all the holy men of all ages, once subject
to the same temptations, trials, and weaknesses with
ourselves, but then to be " clothed upon" (as St. Paul
says), with bodies spiritual and immortal, shall be received
into the immediate presence of their Savior and God,
never more to be separated from him, or from each
other.

Again, let us consider, that if we are indeed faithful
servants of Christ Jesus, then we are members of that
communion of saints, that mystical body, whereof he is
the head. Then we are entitled to a place among pa-
triarchs, prophets, saints, and martyrs. Then the glory
to which we shall be admitted at last is as much above
the glory of the greatest prince or potentate on earth,
as heaven itself is above this world.

Such, and so great, is the dignity of the true Chris-
tian.

It is a commonly received maxim in the world, what
one often hears, that people should act with a proper
spirit — that they should keep up their dignity— that they

160 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOd's SAINTS.

should not let themselves down too low. How much is
it to be wished that in this, as in other respects, the
children of light would learn wisdom from the children
of this world ; that we would think of the great dignity
and honor we are admitted to in being made Christians
— that we would consider how ill it becomes us, " fellow-
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,"
to trouble ourselves with the mean, paltry, cares of this
present life — much less to entangle ourselves in evil
tempers, evil habits, or evil company ; thereby bringing
disgrace not on ourselves only, but on " that worthy
name by which we are called."

The dignities and honors of this world are but for this
world, and will perish with it. The dignity and rank
of the true Christian can never be taken from him : but
rather, in that day when high and low, rich and poor,
must stand before the same judgment-seat, and be tried
by the same rules, then it will appear that all other dis-
tinctions are utterly worthless, and that the only true
lasting dignity we can attain to, is to be a faithful ser-
vant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This was the highest honor which all the holy men
have aspired after since the times of the gospel. Apos-
tles, evangelists, martyrs, saints, all have thought it the
highest honor to be servants of the crucified Jesus.

This, too, must be our highest honor, if we think to
be admitted with them into the land of eternal joy.

Another thing to be considered is, of the deep, sin-
cere, and thorough humility which must be expected of
those who think to be admitted into the blessed society
of " the spirits of just men made perfect." Indeed, the
true dignity of the Christian consists in his humility:
" He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." How can
we in reason expect to be " numbered with God's saints
in glory everlasting," if it be not our constant study to
follow them as they followed Christ, " in all lowliness
and meekness, in long-suffering and loving forbearance."

And these considerations will be still farther height-
ened, in proportion as we remember, on the one side,
our own worthlessness even at the best 5 and on the

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOd's SAINTS. 161

Other, the vastness of that mercy, the boundlessness of
those promises which are held out to us.

For a mind which is at all well disposed, nothing can
be more touching, nothing more humbling, than to re-
ceive kindnesses from one whom we have injured.

What, then, must be our feelings when we contem-
plate our behavior to God, and how he has requited us !

We enemies to him by wicked works — He reconciled
to us by the blood of his eternal Son ; and not merely
reconciled to us, but bringing us near to himself, to
the heavenly Jerusalem, to the general assembly and
church of his first-born, to the blessed society of the
spirits of the just in their perfect state of happiness and
glory.

" What heart can think of these things worthily !" or
how can we sufficiently bow ourselves down with hu-
mility, and self-abasement, when we thus consider " what
God has done for our souls."

Let me, in conclusion, call to your thoughts what com-
fort and encouragement there is in this heavenly doc-
trine of " the spirits of just men made perfect," to be
received into the eternal joy of their Lord. Comfort
and encouragement in respect of ourselves, in making
us patient, cheerful, and thankful ; and in our conduct
toward others, in making us brotherly and kind, and still
looking forward to a happier meeting in a world where
neither sin nor sorrow can enter.

Thus it is certainly a solid ground for inward patience
and consolation, to reflect that whatever is laid upon us
it is no more than " what is common to man," as St.
Paul says, that is, what human nature must be liable to:
that (in the words of another apostle) " the same afflic-
tions are accomplished in our brethren which are in the
world ;" that the most righteous and holy men who have
ever lived have passed through the same, or greater trials.
How, then, can we expect like them to be glorified, if
we are not wilhng like them to endure.

There are also substantial reasons for sincere cheer-
fulness and inward peace, to be derived from this same
evangelical truth. If with all our imperfections, it be

14*

162 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOD S SAIxNTS.

Still our earnest wish and daily endeavor to " grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ," to draw
nearer and nearer to that perfection to which the spirits
of the just shall finally be admitted: if this be indeed
our daily anxiety, our daily endeavor, then may we rea-
sonably cherish an inward cheerfulness and peace of
mind, in the hope that we shall not be shut out from
that blessed society hereafter, whom it is our earnest
wish to resemble here.

These same thoughts, too, duly cherished, will tend,
by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to keep us thankful —
thankful, I say, not merely for God's mercies, but also
for his chastisements ; to us, in fact, no doubt the great-
est of his mercies, though at the same time they must
of course be painful, as the apostle reasons in this very
chapter.

For all his mercies, then, we may well be thankful ;
but above all for the means of grace, and for the hope of
glory — the blessed hope of being numbered with his
saints in glory everlasting. For this how can we love,
bless, and adore his holy name too much or enough.

It is also what may well afford comfort and encourage-
ment to all sincere minds, especially in the present
state of things, to consider how the hope of meeting
our fellow-Christians hereafter, must naturally tend to
make us kind, forbearing, and brotherly toward them, all
through this our life of probation.

I cannot indeed agree with those who think it a small
evil, or no evil at all, that the Christian world should be
divided into so many sects, parties, and varieties of
opinion. At the same time it is a great comfort to think,
that it is in no case our duty to be angry with those
who differ from us ; and that it is our duty to pray and
hope, that however we may be divided or separated
here, yet that we may be brought together hereafter.
And then ifyve do pray and hope, that we may be brought
together hereafter, that those who now differ from us
most widely, may be admitted with us into the blessed
company of " the spirits of just men made perfect :" if
this be our constant prayer, and earnest desire, then

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON GOD's SAINTS. 163

surely there will be no bitter, hostile feelings, but all
will be tenderness, candor, and heavenly love.

In like manner, in our daily intercourse with each
other, in the common concerns of life, if we use our-
selves to look on each other as fellow-Christians, as
travellers on the same perilous journey to eternity, yet
hoping to be admitted at last into the same heavenly
mansions : this thought must greatly tend to keep us
kind, tender, and compassionate in our behavior one tow-
ard another ; to lead us to make all possible allowances
for each other's faults and failings, nor to bear the
thought of being in malice, or any ways at variance with
persons, who we hope and pray may be our companions
in peace, happiness, and glory, through the ages of
eternity.

Now what I have said is, I am persuaded, of great
consequence, and what we should all attend to, and ap-
ply to our every-day practice. Whether we shall do so
or not, must depend upon ourselves.

164 BENEFITS OF MEDITATrON

SERMON XVni.

' BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON THE HOLY ANGELS.

Dan. vii. 10.

"Thousand thousands ministered unto him,
And ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him."

When the blessed Jesus commanded that it should be
one of the constant subjects of a Christian's prayer, that
God's will may " be done in earth, as it is in heaven :"
he seems herein to have marked out (as it were) the
kind of life suitable for all who aspire to be accounted
his disciples.

Their work is " on earth ;" in the performance of their
every-day duties they " do God's will ;" but the rule and
measure of their conduct is not earthly — the obedience
and order of angels is their pattern — they are not to rest
satisfied with any worldly standard of excellence, nor
ever to cease praying and striving, that so far as in them
lies, " the will" of him who is Lord of men and angels
may " be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

Now if this be so, in other words, if the Lord's prayer
be as it were a pattern of prayers for all Christians in
every age (and it is difficult to understand how it can
be considered otherwise) then, this thought, viz., that
the Christian life consists in the performance of every-
day duties on the principles of the gospel, and with the
temper and disposition of the blessed inhabitants of
heaven ; this thought, I say, may be of great use, by the
aid of the Holy Spirit, in restraining us from two seri-
ous errors, into which from our extreme frailty we must
confess ourselves but too liable to fall.

The one of these errors is, the disposition to imagine
that religion is a matter of so transcendently high and

ON THE HOLY ANGELS. 165

spiritual a nature, as to be quite above and unmixed
"with earthly things. Whereas we learn from Scrip-
ture, from its general tenor, and from numberless ex-
press passages in it, that the very proof of our reli-
gious sincerity is in the common every-day duties and
trials of this present life ; that as Christians, we are not
to " go out of the world ;" but what is perhaps a far
more difficult task, to " to use this world as not abusing
(or, rather, as not using) it 5'' to consecrate our affec-
tions and conduct to the honor of our God and Savior ;
in short, to pray and endeavor that his gracious will may
be done by us on earth, with love, zeal, awe, and con-
stancy, bearing at least some proportion to the pure
exalted service of those glorious spirits who always
behold the face of the Almighty in heaven.

The other error which we seem hereby to be cau-
tioned against, is one, if possible, more serious and fatal
than that just mentioned. It is seen in the disposition
Avhich so sadly prevails to lower the standard and
measure of Christian morality ; when people think, as
they often do, or at least act and speak as if they
thought, that outward decency of conduct, and keeping
up (what is called) a good moral character, were a prin-
cipal part, or indeed almost the whole of religion.

Too often, anything beyond this is ridiculed as wild,
and enthusiastic ; only fit for persons of strong feelings,
unfit to mix in worldly business, but not to be expected
of the generality of Christians.

What, it may well be asked, is it not expected of the
generality of Christians that they should labor to be
perfect, even as their Father which is in heaven is
perfect 1 is it not required of Christian people in all
ranks, stations, and circumstances, that they should set
their affections on things above, not on things on the
earth 1 is it a duty required only of some persons, and
not of all ; of all who aspire to the great name of Chris-
tians, that we shall earnestly pray, and as earnestly
labor, each in our several callings, that the will of our
gracious God may be done by us on earth, as it is by
the anorels in heaven 1

166 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

These are questions of grave importance to be con-
sidered by us all ; especially in these evil days, when
Christian morality is so lightly esteemed ; and in so
many instances false principles of conduct are avowed
and taught, evil called good, and good evil 5 darkness
put for light, and light for darkness.

It is, I say, plainly of the highest importance to us all
as Christians, that we pray and endeavor to have our
affections deadened to this present world, by the power
of the Spirit of God to have our minds drawn up to high
and heavenly things. This we must still pray and en-
deavor after, we must use whatever means our gracious
God has put within our reach for the furtherance of this
blessed end ; we must not rest contented with our pres-
ent attainments, be they what they may, in the knowledge
of things spiritual ; but remembering that such things
of all others are to us most real and substantial — most
truly touch and interest us : we must put to them our
thoughts, our minds, and understandings ; nay, even our
inferior faculties, our powers of imagination, our hopes,
and our fears, if so be we may by the enlightening and
strengthening aid of the Holy Spirit, obtain a powerful
and lasting sense of those truths which so wonderfully
concern us.

Especially it may seem, for many reasons not difficult
to be perceived by any thoughtful person, that habitual
reflection on the happiness of glorified spirits in the
beatific presence of their and our God ; such contem-
plations, I say, made habitual, as from the clause in the
Lord's prayer, before referred to, it may be supposed
that he, its divine Author, intended should be the case ;
would greatly tend to wean our affisctions from mean,
unworthy objects, to fill us with humility and awe, and
at the same time to give us a notion of our true dignity
as God's adopted children in Christ Jesus ; to lead us
to follow the guidance of the blessed Spirit in peace
and contentment, in love, in the practice of prayer and
communion with God, in lively faith in our Redeemer,
and in earnest aspirations after that eternal rest which
remaineth for his faithful people.

ON THE HOLY ANGELS. 167

" Thousand thousands minister unto him.
And ten thousand times ten thousand stand before him."-

" They praise the Lord, all these his hosts,
Those servants of his that do his pleasure."

The mere thought that there are in existence innumer-
able such glorious immortal spirits — that their God is
our God — that let our condition in this world be ever so
poor and degraded, yet these blessed angels disdain not
to acknowledge themselves our "fellow-servants ;" that
they care for us, and, as the apostle says, minister for
us as Christians, and heirs of salvation ; and above all,
when we reflect that if we are not in the end admitted
into their celestial society, good were it for us if we had
never been born : the mere thought, I say, of these plain
scriptural truths, may well arouse us from the low-born
cares and follies of this present world, may make us
" look up and lift up our heads," lead us to consider
what we are, and what we are coming to.

If you take a child out in a bright sunshine, and tell
him that there are then as many stars in the sky, over
bis head, as in a clear star-light night, he probably
would not believe it, because he could not see them ;
and indeed it may be difficult for us all to imagine, what
however we know to be the case, that there are as
many stars in the sky by day as by night. Something
in the same manner the glare of this world obscures our
view of things spiritual. It is not without difficulty and
considerable exertion that the mind can realize to itself
things heavenly and unseen, however real and concern-
ing, and however, too, our reason and understanding
may have taught us, that they are real and concerning.
It is only by spiritual aid, by light from above, that we
can overcome this difficulty, and learn to live and walk
(as the apostle so energetically expresses it), " by faith
not by sight."

We see not indeed, nor can we expect to see on this
side the grave, any of that blessed, innumerable, heav-
enly company of angels ; yet we are as sure of their
existence as if we did see them ; we know in what their
employment and their happiness consists j nay, more,

168 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

know that we ourselves may be even now like them — •
not indeed to excel in strength — but by God's aid, like
them, to fulfil his commandment and hearken unto the
voice of his words ; and most of all, we know that the
kingdom prepared for God's faithful children from the
beginning of the world, is a kingdom wherein they
shall be equal unto the angels ; where, if one may so
venture to apply the sacred proverb, " there shall be
one fold, under one shepherd," the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since then, such great things are certainly in store
for us, are offered to us all, if we will but accept them
Oft the terms of the Christian covenant — and since this
world, with its wealth and its poverty, its comforts and
its afflictions, is so soon to pass away from us, or we
from it, it must of necessity deeply concern us to look
closely into our condition, what it is likely to be finally
and unalterably.

To be in the presence and favor of the great Almighty
God, this and this only can constitute the happiness of
all reasonable creatures, of angels in heaven, or of men
in earth.

To be separated from God, without hope of restora-
tion, is the very misery of lost spirits ; to feel ourselves
the objects of his displeasure from wilful guilt, negli-
gence, and forgetfulness, this in all degrees is the misery
of sinful men on earth — a misery against which those
who have not learnt to place all their hopes in the blood
of the Redeemer have no solid support — and against
which also, let me say, those who have learned this
blessed lesson have yet need of the constant aid of the
heavenly Comforter, to keep them " steadfast, immove-
able, always abounding in the work of the Lord," under
the well-grounded conviction " that their labor will not
be in vain in the Lord."

To live in the presence of God is the happiness of
glorified spirits in heaven. To live as in his presence is
the great rule of holiness to men on earth — the rule of
holiness and of happiness too, so far as that is to be ex-
pected in a place of trial and probation like this. How-
ever, it seems unquestionable that what is revealed in

ON THE HOLY ANGELS. 169^.

Scripture, however faintly, concerning the blessed in-
habitants of heaven, is meant, like the rest of God's
word, to encourage us in our difficult path — our path of
holy duty — and to fill us with still increasing higher
degrees of awe, gratitude, and love toward him before
whose throne even the angels cast their crowns.

When, then, in the hours of darkness or of solitude,
or in the solemn thoughts which will occasionally find
their way into the minds of the most careless, in seasons
of fear or affliction ; or, again, in the course of those
delightful contemplations which to a well-trained dis-
position ever form a portion of its sacred and happy
employments on each returning Lord's day, and other
the holydays of the church — when, I say, at such pecu-
liar seasons of reflection our minds are raised to heav-
enly things, to " meditate of the number and nature of
angels, and their blessed obedience and order, without
which peace could not be in heaven ;" then, also, will
the thought naturally come in, " O that it might be so
on earth j" and upon this will follow (if we are sincere)
an anxious desire and labor to cherish as much as pos-
sible in ourselves, and in all over whom we have an
influence, an unceasing love of order, harmony, and
peace. And toward this blessed end, certainly, nothing
can be more efficacious than for Christians ever to bear
in mind, that they, too, like the spirits above, are placed
each in their several stations to minister to the Most
Hicrh, to fulfil his commandments, and to hearken to the
voice of his words.

For, is it not true that nothing could tend so effect-
ually to produce and maintain peace, both in Christian
societies, and in the hearts of individuals, as for each per-
son to attend to his proper appointed work, not over-
stepping the bounds assigned to him, nor unduly inter-
fering with others % Then will the church of Christ
flourish, when " every member of the same in his voca-
tion and ministry truly and godly serves" him.

But when this celestial rule is disregarded, and people,
sometimes under a show, alas ! of superior sanctity, are
more ready even to hinder and check other men's du»

Vol. L— 15

170 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

lies, than with a meek and quiet spirit to fulfil their
OAVn 5 then, instead of harmony and peace, there will
spring up envy, discord, and confusion ; then the name
of God and his doctrine wall he blasphemed ; then
Christians, instead of taking example from the angels
of heaven, will be more like those lost spirits whom
pride and envy have sunk in irremediable ruin.

As it is the employment, so is it the supreme happi-
ness of those glorious angels to be ever in the presence
of the Almighty, to stand before him, to minister unto
him, to hold ineffable communion with him that sitteth
on the throne and with the Lamb.

But now we should consider, if we think to be ad-
mitted to that blessed society hereafter, it is even ne-
cessary that here, in this evil world, our happiness should
be like theirs in the contemplation of God's perfections,
especially of his love, and in holding communion with
him — that high privilege to which we are entitled
through the mediation of his Son, and the sanctifica-
tion of his Spirit.

And, if this be so, then we should consider, all of us
who have any serious care for ourselves or our friends,
how dangerous it must be to lead any but a strictly re-
ligious life — how dangerous, I say, must be our spiritual
condition, if it be not our highest satisfaction to cher-
ish a sense of God's love and compassion, to hold com-
munion with him in prayer, in thanksgiving especially
in the feast by himself appointed of his own body and
blood.

If these things are what we have little or no relish
for, then we must be told that our hearts are not right
in God's sight ; that our having a good, respectable
character in the world w^ill be of no avail ; that if it be
not our prayer and endeavor, our comfort and happiness,
in all things to act as in God's presence on earth, surely
we must expect, at last, to be excluded from the society
of saints and angels in heaven.

These are matters deeply to be laid to heart in these
unhappy days, when the Lord's house and the Lord's
day are so openly profaned, when (as of old) the table

ON THE HOLY ANGELS. 171

of the Lord is contemptible ; and when in an evil and
adulterous generation, the most of those who bear his
name, are ashamed of him and of his words. For, in-
deed, this does seem to be no more than the truth.

We are born into this world to live to eternity ; but,
as Christians, we have been new-born into Christ's
church, to an eternity of happiness and glory ; we are
entitled to call God our Father, and the angels our
brethren.

Heaven is now our home ; and, as every one will al-
low, it is of far more consequence whom we are to spend
our lives among in daily familiar intercourse, than whom
we chance to meet with in a short journey — just so
much more does it concern us to think who are to be
our companions in eternity, " our home in heaven," as
St. Paul calls it — than with whom we are to spend this
brief and transitory life of trial.

I mean, that even now it should be our great object
and prayer to be made fit for the society of angels — this
is of far more consequence than to study the rules of
this world, even if they were ever so harmless. How,
then, shall we be fit to enter that heavenly home, if our
hearts be polluted with earthly or sensual lusts, with
covetousness and ambition, with pride and self-confi-
dence !

How will that tongue which has been used to the
language of filthiness and blasphemy, of slander and
falsehood — nay, even to the utterance of vain and idle
words — how will it be able to give utterance to angelic
hymns of glory to him that sitteth on the throne and to
the Lamb !

How will it be possible that they should be admitted
into the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and
to that innumerable company of angels, the general
assembly and church of the first-born, which are enrol-
led in heaven— they, I say, who by their unchristian
lives have, in a manner excommunicated themselves
from that heavenly society, and have indeed, disgraced
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things!

We, no doubt, flatter ourselves that we are not so

172 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON THE HOLY ANGELS.

had as this — that such hard things cannot be said of us.
If so, it is well ; and we have, indeed, reason to be
thankful. Yet, believe me, the present state of things
in the Christian world is such as may reasonably excite
the apprehension and alarm of all thoughtful persons;
on this account especially, because the very principles
of Christian faith and holy practice are now so openly
assaulted, worldly principles of false morality are sub-
stituted for those of the everlasting gospel, and heaven
and heavenly things are, in fact, put aside, as of small
consequence compared with some question of politics,
or some other matter of present business or amusement.

For these reasons, I say, it is of great consequence
for serious minds, I mean for all persons who really be-
lieve in the truth of Christ's gospel, to withdraw their
thoughts frequently from these temporary trifles, to raise
them to high and heavenly realities; especially to the
thought of that innumerable society of good angels, who,
day and night, sing on high their hallelujahs before the
throne, and never rest. And the more we cherish these
happy thoughts, the more we shall, by the aid of God's
blessed Spirit, become like those exalted inhabitants of
Heaven ; and, in the end, through the blood and medi-
ation of our Redeemer, we shall be even accounted
worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from
the dead, and shall be indeed, and for ever, the children
of God, equal unto the angels.

That this may be our lot and portion at the end of
the days of this our earthly trial, may he grant, our
adorable, compassionate, heavenly Father, to whom,
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the sacred Spirit, one
God blessed for evermore, be ascribed all honor, glory,
and adoration, by men and angels, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Christ's lamentation over jertjsalebi. 173

SERMON XIX.

CHRIST'S LAMENTATION OVER JERUSALEM.

St. Luke xix. 41, 42.

*' And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
saying : If thou hadst linown, even thou — at least in this thy day —
the things which belong unto thy peace — but now they are hid from
thine eyes !"

This most memorable and affecting passage of our
Lord's history, must suggest to the thoughtful mind
so many considerations of the deepest interest, that it
is difficult to select one as more than others suited to
afford us instruction, edification, and comfort.

However, as no one can deny that the chief use of
Scripture knowledge in general is, that we may apply
it to our own particular case, so in this instance it may
be well for us, and especially suitable at this holy sea-
son,* to inquire into some at least of the various re-
spects in which the Savior's lamentation over apostate
Jerusalem, seems but too applicable to ourselves. For
as when the holy Jesus groaned and wept at the grave
of him, whom in his unspeakable condescension he
called "his friend," Lazarus, we may well suppose the
tears he then shed were at the thought of the little
effect all that he had done and was about to do, would
have on the obdurate hearts of the children of men ;
so, when from the Mount of Olives he beheld the city
of Jerusalem and wept over it, the grief he felt was
not at the thought of the bitter sufferings he was so
soon to undergo in that very place, but at the obstinacy
and blindness of God's chosen people, and the terrible

* Lent.

15*

174 Christ's lamentation over jerttsaleht.,

destruction to which that obstinacy and blindness would
too surely bring them.

*'If thou hadst known, even thou" — God's elect cho-
sen peculiar people — if not sooner " at least in this thy
day" — this thy last space of trial and repentance — if
thou wouldst but know, in this thy eleventh hour, "the
things which belong unto thy peace — but now they are
hid from thine eyes !"

And here let me take occasion to urge on your
thoughts, what seems certainly of great importance for
us to bear in mind, in order to our right understanding
of scripture warnings, as well those contained in the
Old Testament as in the New — that under the name
and type of "Jerusalem" the Holy Spirit in numberless
instances has prefigured to us the condition (whether
good or evil) of the Christian church, in the latter
days — that is to say (and it is a point which chiefly
concerns us), in the very times in which we live.

The subject is one of great magnitude and interest,
and might be illustrated by many passages, especially
from Isaiah and Jeremiah ; but at present I only just
touch upon it w^ith a view to impress on thoughtful
minds the solemn consideration, that when our blessed
Lord beheld Jerusalem and wept over it, it is to us in
the way of a prophecy, as if it were written that when
he beheld his church in this country or in this parish,
he wept over it — saying, " If thou hadst known, even
thou, at least in this thy day — ^the things which belong
unto thy peace !"

I have occasionally ofliered to your thoughts some
reflections on the cruel unfeeling manner in which
most grown-up people treat children and young persons,
I mean, with reference to their spiritual and everlast-
ing condition — for with respect to worldly matters, I
do not say that the charge would hold good : but as to
what is beyond the grave, if it be true what a very
wise and good man has observed, that "the majority of
men grow more profligate and corrupt with age" — then
there is no question but that if children and young per-
sons wish to have God for their friend, and to go to

Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem. 175

heaven, they must have a different rule to go by than
the example which their elders for the most part set
them.

Of this, alas ! it were too easy to multiply proofs
and illustrations. But I now only observe generally,
that when our Lord and Master wept over Jerusalem,
and bewailed the blindness and obduracy of that apos-
tate city, it was for the sins of the people, and the in-
iquities of the priests (as the prophet says), the aged
and influential persons, that the heavy indignation of
God was denounced against them.

With respect to the children of Jerusalem, that they
in a manner kept alive the almost expiring flame of de-
votion in that self-righteous city and people, we are
taught by an account which the evangelist gives of an
incident which took place there very shortly before our
Savior's last sufferings, and the same day as it seems
with that on which he had beheld the city and wept
over it. " When the chief priests and scribes saw the
wonderful things that he did, and the children crying
in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of Da-
vid— they were sore displeased, and said unto him,
Hearest thou what these say 1 And Jesus saith unto
them, Yea: have ye never read, Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise 1"

And doubtless it is the same with us now ; were it
not for children, the very face and form of religion
would fast fade away from among us — " if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry
out." God's houses first forsaken, then fallen to de-
cay, and at length laid even with the ground, would
bear testimony to the faithlessness, the cowardice, and
the practical infidelity of the grown-up persons of this
generation. Of this there is one great evidence, well
known to persons who observe what is going on, and
cannot but perceive what course things are taking — a
course, as has been truly asserted, tending to rob God
of his glory, and the poor of their most sacred rights.

But to descend from these general to more particular
and personal considerations, is it not too certain and

176 Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem.

unquestionable, that great numbers of individual Chris-
tians refuse to know, in this their day of trial, the
things which belong unto their peace, till at length, in
God's just judgment, they are hid from their eyes 1

When young persons just entering on the world (as
we say), have the opportunity given them of conse-
crating the prime of their days to the honor of their
Lord and Master, and of making a choice which shall
prove a blessing to them even through eternity ; how
often, alas! do they, encjouraged by the evil example of
their elders, show themselves at once ashamed of
Christ crucified in an evil and adulterous generation.

Whatever may be pretended, this is the real cause
why, for instance, first, confirmation is so neglected,
and then their Lord's holy table.

For neglect of both these essentials of church com-
munion, various objections and excuses may be pleaded ;
but there is, as I said, one root and foundation on
which such conduct, however plausibly defended, cer-
tainly rests, viz. this — that people are ashamed of Jesus
Christ.

Yet he, our omniscient Savior, in his tenderness and
compassion, weeps, as it were, over the lambs of his
flock, and seeks all ways of leading them to know, at
least in that their day of youth and comparative inno-
cence, the things which belong unto their peace. But
they too often take no heed to the yearnings of the
great Shepherd over them ; but following for the most
part the evil example of their elders, become first
thoughtless, and then hard-hearted, yet all the while
retaining a sort of half religion, enough at least to quiet
the upbraidings of an uneasy conscience.

At length, the things which belong unto their peace
are for ever hid from their eyes.

It may, perhaps, be invidious, in times like these, to
mention as blessings and privileges, the being allowed
and permitted to enter into God's consecrated houses,
I mean churches ; to be permitted to use a book of
common prayer, breathing the very spirit of primitive
Christianity; to be ministered to by presbyters duly

Christ's lamentation over jertjsaleim. 177

Ordained by bishops, and those bishops deriving their
spiritual authority by unbroken certain succession from
the very apostles ; to have unceasing invitations to the
communion feast of the body and blood of the Lord
Jesus, and as unceasing opportunities of attending
there; — lastly, to be permitted to spend the Lord's day,
and sometimes, perhaps, other holydays, in happy
thoughts and humble anticipations of the eternal Sab-
bath : that we are permitted and allowed thus to be in
some faint degree, what true church people ought to
be, is doubtless a great blessing and privilege.

And if we did but know in these respects, as in
others, even we, at least in this our day, the things
which belong unto our peace ; but now they are hid
from our eyes — from the eyes of most of us, alas ! too
plainly and unquestionably.

And beside these warnings of mercy, so generally
unheeded and even scorned, how plainly do the Lord's
chastisements put us in mind, while yet it is called to-
day, to seek after and know the things which belong
unto our peace. When afflictions are in prospect,
whether national, domestic, or personal ! first, it is a
favor to have the prospect set before us, to be warned
of what we have reason to expect. This, I say, is a
favor and a mercy, and so must be confessed, unless
any will say that it is better for one's ruin to come sud-
denly and at an instant, or, that a sudden death is to be
prayed for by persons living as the most of us are.

But whether regarded so or not, the approach of
severe trials should lead us to search after and know,
in this our day, the things which belong to our ever-
lasting peace.

When the old landmarks which our fathers set are to
be violently torn away — when God's church is to be
violently overthrown, so far as a nation can overthrow
it — when the ears of the nation, as such, are to be vir-
tually closed against the cries of the poor, the stranger,
the fatherless, and the widow — and when we are told
that it is injudicious and impolitic, and I know not what,
to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked (though God's

178 Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem.

word itself has assured us that the poor never shall
cease out of the land), I say, when men are now, under
pretence even of religion, getting wiser than Christi-
anity ; and with the gospel in their mouths, setting aside
the very first principles of all that is right and good — •
then, I say, it is the time for us all, be our station in life
what it may, calmly and resolutely to protest against
these ungodly, unfeeling proceedings, but chiefly to
turn our thoughts and affections to higher and nobler ob-
jects, the things which belong to our everlasting peace.

So also under the pressure of family cares and afflic-
tions, with the anticipation, perhaps, of more severe
trials of this kind approaching, the sincere Christian
girds up his loins, and hopes to the end (as St. Peter
says), considers this as his trial day, as the furnace of
affliction, from which, if he comes out tried and puri-
fied, he shall be in God's sight as gold, fit to be placed
among the jewels of the Lord.

And in like manner he judges of bodily sufferings,
pain, sickness, desolation, or oppression.

In all these cases striving and praying to be enabled
to attain to the true Avisdom, the knowledge of the
things which belong to his eternal peace ; and with this
hope bearing up patiently against whatever is cast on
him, fully convinced, that, be the load ever so heavy, it
is never more than he deserves, nor so much.

Far different and far more to be deplored, is the con-
dition of those who refuse, in this their day, to know
the things which belong unto their peace. The chastise-
rnents of the Lord have been inflicted on them, but in
vain ; they refused to amend ; they might be startled,
perhaps, a little at the time, but there is no lasting re-
pentance.

Such persons, if they could be by any means led to
give attention, the Christian pastor might thus address : —
Do you consider what warnings you have had, and
how you have neglected them — and that if you still per-
sist in so doing, God's mercies may be for ever with-
drawn, the light of his countenance for ever hid from
your eyes ]

Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem. 179

Can you doubt for a moment that Jesus Christ, your
God and Savior, loves you, and watches over you, and
is ever making intercession for your pardon ; but you
will not come to him to be pardoned 1

Can you doubt that the distresses and perplexities
which in various ways encompass us both nationally
and individually — that these are intended as merciful
chastisements to us all, and to you among the rest, to
make you know and feel both what you are, and what
you ought to be \

And do you not suppose, that if you continue thus to
refuse to know, even you, in this your day, the things
which belong unto your peace, that they will, speedily
and suddenly, be for ever hid from your eyes 1

In this way might the Christian pastor address too
many of his flock, going on in open deliberate sins —
leaving undone what they ought to do, or doing what
they ought not.

But experience proves too well that such warnings
would be ineffectual, at least so far as human under-
standing can judge. However, it is our duty to press
these sort of considerations on men's consciences ; not
merely now and then, but habitually and unceasingly.
Good resolutions are soon made, and as soon, alas !
forgotten — hence the necessity of urging these great
points of Christian duty without intermission, that, as
the waters wear the stones, so the gentle dew of God's
blessed Spirit may, if it please him, soften by degrees
the callousness of men's hearts, and open a way to holier
and happier impressions.

In the mean time there is no other alternative for us,
miless we are willing practically to forsake Jesus Christ j
there is, I say, no other alternative for us — but to bear
calmly and patiently whatever is laid on us by our heav-
enly Father — and even if we should be in a manner
consumed by the means of his heavy hand, yet be ready
to add, with the psalmist, " Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and with thine ears consider my calling ; hold not thy
peace at my tears."

And he who wept over apostate Jerusalem, will be

180 Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem.

sure to regard the tears of his own elect, that is, all
faithful repentant Christians ; and as they, in their day
of affliction, have sought out and known the things
which belong unto their peace, so may they console
themselves with the sweet assurance, that if they so con-
tinue to the end, faithful and repentant, come what will
on them of earthly sorrow and suffering, the mercies of
God in Christ Jesus shall be to them steadfast and im-
moveable, and shall never be " hid from their eyes."

god's judgments on his church. 181

SERMON XX.

GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON HIS CHURCH.

Jeremiah, vii. 12.

" But go ye now unto mj' place which was in Shiloh, where I set my
name at the first, and see what I did to it, for the wickedness of mf
people, Israel."

There is, as it may seem, no part of the gospel his-
tory more worthy of the consideration of thoughtful
persons, especially in times of trial, doubt, and per-
plexity, than what we are told of the circumstances
attending our blessed Lord's last visit to the city of
Jerusalem ; as we find those circumstances detailed in
the twenty-first chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and

the eleventh of St. Mark's The sacred history

intimates that the day was far spent when he first came
in, and that he had then only time to enter into the
temple, and to " look round about upon all things." He
beheld, doubtless with sorrow and indignation, the ir-
reverence and profaneness, now almost grown into a
system, with which the Lord's chosen house was treated
by the Lord's chosen people. It does not however ap-
pear that, on that evening, he expressed his displeasure,
either by word or action ; but, as night came on, and
the multitude who had accompanied him was dispersed,
he returned again with the twelve to Bethany, their
lodging-place.

The next morning (early, St. Luke says), he came
again into the city, having by the way, in the withering
up of the fig-tree (at once a miracle, a parable, and a
prophecy), given his disciples occasion for reflection on
what his meaning might be, in working a wonder so un-
usual with him in its kind j and also put them in the way

Vol. L— 16

182 god's judgments on his church.

to perceive the force of tlie solemn warning implied
in what (as soon as he came to the temple) he proceeded
at once to accomplish. For, as the history tells us, as
soon as he came into the city, he went into the temple
and began to — that is, spent much time and labor in —
*' casting out them that were buying and selling in the
temple ; and he overthrew the tables or desks of the
money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.
And would not suffer that any man should even carry
any vessel through the temple." And then he began,
at length, " to teach the people," to tell them the mean-
ing of what he had done ; turning their attention espe-
cially to two passages in the ancient Scriptures, the one
in the prophet Isaiah, the fifty-sixth chapter. " My
house shall be called an house of prayer for all people ;"
the other in the prophet Jeremiah, the seventh chapter,
*' Is this house which is called by my name become a
den of robbers in your eyes'? Behold, even I have seen
it, saith the Lord." So leading on the thoughts, at least
of reflecting persons then present, especially those who
saw the fig-tree that morning dried up from the roots,
to what follows : " But go ye now unto my place which
was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see
what I did to it, for the wickedness of my people
Israel."

At the time when (six hundred years before) the holy
prophet Jeremiah was commissioned to deliver these
solemn words of warning to the Jews, their condition,
in all respects, was most miserable. They had sinned
against the Lord, and their sin was just finding them
out ', yet they did not ever the more turn to him, with
repentance of heart and amendment of life.

They had had the blessing, for thirty years, of the ex-
ample of their good king Josiah ; but notwithstanding their
external shows of respect for him, as a nation, they were
far more disposed to pursue the wicked track marked
out before by his grandfather Manasseh, and subsequent-
ly followed up by his own two sons, who, after him,
were kings in succession, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim ; of
both of whom it is testified, that " they did evil in the

GOD^S JUDGMENTS ON HIS CHURCH. 183

sight of the Lord, according to all that their (not their
father, but their) fathers had done."

Of the corrupt state of God's people at that time we
need seek no farther evidence thail that of the holy-
Jeremiah, in this very chapter, where the Holy Spirit,
in describing the conduct of the Jews, seems (as it were)
to set forth before all generations of men, and especially
before Christians, the fatal nature of that hypocrisy
which leads people to suppose that the mere possession
of divine privileges will secure them the divine favor,
without correspondent holiness of heart and life.

" The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying, stand in the gate of the Lord's house" — that is,
the temple at Jerusalem — " and proclaim there this
word, and say,

"Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that
enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways,
and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this
place" — that is, ye shall not be carried captive. " Trust
ye not in lying words" — that is, believe not the assur-
ances of your popular teachers, men of the world, who
encourage you by saying there is no danger, God will
never cast off his chosen: "The temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are
these." — "Ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear
falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other
gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before
me in this house which is called by my name : and say,
or imaofine, we are not delivered to do all these abomi-
nations ;" our privileges will protect us, though our
conduct be ever so unsuitable to them ] " Is this house
which is called by my name become a den of robbers
in your eyes 1 Behold ; even I have seen it, saith the
Lord.

" But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh,
where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to
it for the wickedness of my people Israel." And from
that example learn to fear for yourselves.

l84 god's judgments on his church.

Within twelve years from the time in which this
warning was given, came the army of the king of Baby-
lon, and besieged the city, till, from want of food, they
were forced to surrender. The king of Judah was taken
and brought before the king of Babylon, who gave judg-
ment against him. His sons were slain before his eyes,
then himself was cruelly made blind, bound with fetters
of brass, and carried to Babylon. The house of the
Lord was burnt, also the king's house, and all the houses
of Jerusalem. Thus, says the sacred history, Judah
was carried away captive out of his own land, and thus
•was fulfilled the fearful threatening denounced by the
all-merciful Jehovah himself against his rebellious peo-
ple. "Now, because ye have done all these works,
saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early,
and speaking, but ye heard not ; and I called you, but
ye answered not ; therefore will I do unto this house,
which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto
the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I
have done to Shiloh j and I will cast you out of my
sight.'* And then presently turning his address to the
prophet himself, " Therefore pray not thou for this peo-
ple, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make
intercession to me, for I will not hear thee."

Thus did God speak of and to his elect, chosen peo-
ple. But to perceive the force of the divine warning,
*' Go to my place which was in Shiloh, and see what I
did to it for the wickedness of my people," we must
somewhat look back into the more ancient history of
the Jews.

You may observe, then, that after the children of Is-
rael came under God's miraculous guidance into the
land of Canaan, a long space, even four hundred and
fifty years, elapsed before a temple was built for the re-
ception of the holy ark, the symbol of the divine pres-
ence. During the first portion of this long period, the
sacred tabernacle, as we find in the eighteenth of Joshua,
was set up at a place called Shiloh, near to the centre of
the kingdom, which was as it were the first Jerusalem,
or city of peace, and of which it may be remarked, that

G0D*3 JUDGMENTS ON HIS CHURCH. 185

it had the very same name with that which the pa-
triarch Jacob on his death-bed has assigned to the future
Messiah — " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come."

In this favored town or village of Shiloh, in Joshua's
tribe, that of Ephraim, the holy tabernacle, or house of
God, was for about three hundred years or more, that
is, from the time of Joshua to that of Samuel. Of this
most distinguished prophet and man of God, the sacred
history informs us, that he was brought up even from
his childhood in the temple, namely, the tabernacle in.
Shiloh, where the two wicked sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas were officiating as priests.

I need not remind you how God warned the aged Eli
of the terrible consequences of his sons' wickedness,
first, by a prophet, and then by the child Samuel : nor
how soon the divine vengeance was accomplished. All
this is stated in the early chapters of the first book of
Samuel, and is familiarly known to persons who pay at-
tention to Scripture history. The Israelites, having
been defeated by their enemies the Philistines, sent out
the ark of God to the field of battle, thinking that so
they should ensure themselves victory, but (like Samson)
they knew not that the Lord was departed from them.
No less than thirty thousand were slain, and the ark of
God was taken (as it were) captive, and carried into
the land of the enemy, never more to return to Shiloh.

No particulars are given in that history of what befel
the place ; but its utter desolation is very pathetically
referred to in more than one passage of the prophets.
For instance, in the seventy-eighth psalni, where we
read,

" They tempted and provoked the Most High God

And kept not his testimonies,"
" When God heard this he was wroth,

And greatly abhorred Israel.

So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,

The tent which he placed among men.

He gave his people over also unto the sword,

And was wroth with his inheritance."

16*

186 god's judgments on his chtjrch.

And many years afterward, when the prophet Jere-
miah, full of holy zeal for his God, earnestly called his
countrymen to true repentance, he was directed by the
sacred Spirit, as we before observed, to direct the consid-
eration of those w^ho would consider, to the example of
Shiloh, thereby to bring down all vain confidence, which
they might have cherished on account of their peculiar
privileges — " Trust ye not in lying words, in false con-
fidences— Go to my place which was in Shiloh, and see
what I did to it — how her house was literally left unto
her desolate — the tabernacle destitute of the ark — Icha-
bod, the glory departed — for the wickedness of my people
Israel. And now because ye have done all these works,
saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early
and speaking, but ye heard not, and I called you but ye
answered not ; therefore will I do unto this house, which
is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the
place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have
done to Shiloh" — " and I will cast you out of my sight."

How unpleasant this doctrine was to the priests and
to the people generally, we find in the twenty-sixth
chapter of this same prophet. It there appears, that
Jeremiah by the divine direction stood in the court of
the Lord's house, that is, the temple of Jerusalem, and
said, " Thus saith the Lord, if ye will not hearken to
me, to walk in my law which I have set before you — to
hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom
I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending them :
but ye have not hearkened — then will I make this house
like Shiloh."

" Whereupon" (the sacred history says) " the priest*
and the prophets and all the people took him, saying,
thou shalt surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in the
name of the Lord, saying. This house shall be like Shi-
loh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabit-
ant 1" And all the people were gathered against Jere-
miah."

To whom his answer was as follows : —

" The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house
and against this city, all the words that ye have heard.

god's judgments on his church. 187

Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and
obey the voice of the Lord your God — and the Lord
will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced
against you. As for me, behold I am in your hand ; do
with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But
know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall
surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon
this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof, for of a truth
the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words
in your ears."

And now may not the authorized ministers of the
gospel in this country at this day, say like the prophet
of old — " Of a truth, the Lord hath sent us unto you to
speak all these words in your ears 1" Does not the
warning apply to the professed members and ministers
of Christ's church in England — " Go ye to my place
which was in Shiloh, and see what I did to it for the
wickedness of my people Israel."

These, I say, are questions well deserving the con-
sideration of serious persons.

The time was, when the space enclosed by these walls,
the place whereon we now are, was not holy ground ;
when the inhabitants of this land, in ignorance of the
one true God, worshipped the works of their own hands,
or perhaps the sun, moon, and planets — or, as it is said,
the earth itself — but however with no sense of the divine
superintendence over them, as having no hope, so with-
out God in the world.

At length when the light of the gospel shone through-
out the land, and was after a time welcomed by men of
all orders, from the highest to the lowest, the first thing
done almost, when things came to be somewhat settled,
was to form parishes and build a church in each ; a
church, that is, a holy house of God wherein the Chris-
tian or sojourners (for that is the proper meaning of
the word parishioners, Christian strangers and pilgrims)
should assemble for the due celebration of the Lord's
service — especially for prayer, for the administration of
baptism, and chiefly for receiving from the hands of the
bishop of the diocese or presbyter of the parish, the

188 god's judgments on his church.

blessed seal of pardon and sanctification in the commun-
ion of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. While for
some little space round the sacred walls of the church
the ground was also consecrated to be a cemetery, that
is, a sleeping or resting-place for the bodies of departed
Christians till the day of the last resurrection. Thus
provision was made (as one may say) by the whole na-
tion, for (as I said before) all ranks and orders joined
in it, for the due celebration of the worship and service
of the Lord Jesus, and also for continuing his holy
establishment (if one may so use the word) on from gen-
eration to generation.

But by degrees corruptions crept in and increased ;
corruptions, too many of them sanctioned and cherished
by the church of Rome, which for many years exercised
its tyrannical usurped power over this church and king-
dom.

At length these corruptions became so intolerable,
that, whether from good or bad motives, the rulers of
the land, supported by the people, resolved to shake off
the Roman yoke which had pressed so heavily on the
necks of our forefathers — and so took place what is
called the reformation.

Since that time, now about three hundred years, that
is, about the space for which the ark of God was at
Shiloh — the condition of the English church externally
has been indeed very varied ; this variation chiefly per-
haps owing to the endeavors which statesmen have con-
stantly been making to render the church a mere in-
strument for political purposes.

And these endeavors have proved, alas ! but too suc-
cessful. Nevertheless, whatever may be the outward
circumstances of the church in this land, it has at least
preserved all the essentials of pure Christianity, in the
Bible, the Prayer-book, the acknowledgment of the ex-
clusive authority of the bishops and presbyters, and the
laying down rules and directions for all the parts and
duties of a Christian life — so that I may venture at least
to say thus much, that there is no condition of joy op
sorrow, of doubt or perplexity, in which the church

god's judgments on his church. 189

has not provided for the direction and guidance of her
sons.

I do not say what is regarded, but what might and
ought to be so.

Now, then, things have gone on so long, that is, one
may say, three hundred years in this way, that people
who do not reflect, take for granted that it will last for
ever. " But go now to my house which was in Shiloh,
and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people
Israel." In Shiloh the ark rested for three hundred
years. Then, when it was least expected, it was deliv-
ered into the hands of the enemies, and the tabernacle
of the Lord was left desolate. The Jews formerly said
(as the prophet testifies) — •" The temple of the Lord —
the temple of the Lord — the temple of the Lord." Just
as people now talk about the church — the church —
the church ; and yet, very often, what are their lives 1
A very disgrace to any religion whatever. No person
who leads an unholy life can be a true churchman, be his
professions ever so loud and confident. But what is an
unholy life 1 Surely any course of conduct inconsistent
with the strict rules of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If this be the case, what can people say for them-
selves, either as Christians or as churchmen 1 What
result can we expect that the present state of things
must soon come to, or rather, t should say, what has it
come to % For, indeed, it is evident to all judicious per-
sons that (externally) there is but the shadow of a
church remaining to us.

And, internally, it is equally evident that the best ac-
count which can be given of us— of the great majority
of professed church people, is nothing better than that
dictated by the great Shepherd himself, concerning a
bishop of the primitive church. " I know thy works,
that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert
cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
This is the best account to be given of us.

Under such circumstances it becomes an important
question, how the sincere member of the church, in

190 god's judgments on his church.

times so trying, should conduct himself so as not to fall
into the condemnation pronounced against the luke-
warm, half Christian.

But this would lead us into an inquiry, of which the
present time will not allow.

I will only say, that the subject is not a fanciful one,
but one of solid practical importance — at least if it be
of importance to us to know whether or not we are true
members of Christ's spiritual body, and whether our life
and practice be such as will (not satisfy other people or
ourselves, that possibly they may do ; but whether they
are such as will) evince us, in the last day of account,
to have been (however imperfect yet) sincere, loving,
and zealous disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOD's JUDGMENTS. 191

SERMON XXI.

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOD'S JUDGMENTS.

Jer. xxxvi. 24,

" Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king,
nor any of his servants that heard all these words."

Perhaps one may venture to say, that there is no
part of the Old Testament more worthy of the careful
attention of all serious persons, than that which relates
to the history of the Jews, during the period from the
death of King Solomon to the Babylonish captivity —
being a space of about three hundred and seventy
years.

For immediately after Solomon's death, that great
revolution took place, when, owing to the folly of his
80n and successor Rhehoboam, together with the pride
of the people engendered by long prosperity, ten tribes
revolted, and established for themselves a separate
kingdom under Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Two tribes
only remained faithful to their lawful sovereign.

Thus were there two rival kingdoms — Israel con-
taining ten tribes, and Judah only two, constantly (as
might be expected) at variance with each other, and so
taken up with worldly politics, as to become, as time
went on, more and more estranged from the pure
worship of Jehovah their God. Of these two kingdoms
Israel was the worst — a fact not difficult to account for,
as from other causes so from this, that Jerusalem
and its holy temple being within the kingdom of Judah,
it was always an object with the kings of Israel to re-
strain their subjects from going thither to worship.
They therefore erected and encouraged, what one may
call, schismatical places of worship (or as they are called

192 FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS.

in the book of Amos, chapels), in two parts of their
dominions, namely. Bethel in the south, and Dan in the
north, as much more convenient, and making of the
lowest of the people priests of the high places, they
effectually loosened in men's minds all practical regard —
first to the ordinances of Jehovah, and then to Jehovah
himself. Thus the kingdom of Israel grew corrupt very
rapidly, and by God's just judgments was carried cap-
tive into Assyria, never more to be restored, after they
had subsisted as a distinct nation, from Jeroboam the
the first king to Hosea the last king, about two hundred
and fifty-four years. But Judah was allowed to remain
another century in all (as I said), three hundred and
seventy years, and then the measure of her iniquity also
being filled up, she was carried captive to Babylon, for
an appointed term of seventy years, the city and temple
being destroyed, and the whole land laid utterly des-
olate.

Just as this eventful crisis was coming on, the wicked
Jehoiakim being then king of Judah, this word came unto
Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, " Take thee a roll of a
book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken
unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against
all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the
days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the
house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to
do unto them ; that they may return every man from
his evil way ; that I may forgive their iniquity and their
sin." See here the infinite mercy of our heavenly
Father, how does he declare himself ready to change
his purposes of punishment, if Ave will but return from
our evil way.

All these warnings, Jeremiah, being " shut up," could
not deliver to the people. Whereupon he directed his
faithful scribe Baruch to execute the commission for
him.

*' Go thou (said he), and read in the roll, which thou
hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in
the ears of the people, in the Lord's house, upon the
fasting-day." — " It may be they will present their sup-

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS. 193

plication before the Lord, and will return every one
from his evil way : for great is the anger and the fury
that the Lord hath pronounced against this people."
Baruch accordingly did as Jeremiah commanded him,
both then and (as it appears) the next year after. For
in the first verse of this chapter compared with the
eighth, it is mentioned that it was the fourth year of
Jehoiakim, when the writing of the roll and first reading
of it took place. And then again from the ninth verse
it appears m. the fifth year, in the ninth month, a solemn
fast being proclaimed for all Judah, Baruch took the
opportunity to read once more the solemn threatenings
denounced by Jeremiah, before all the people, as they
stood in the great court of the temple.

Of his having done this, word was brought to the
king's chief counsellors of state, mentioned by name at
the twelfth verse — and they immediately sent to Baruch,
desiring him to bring the roll, and let them hear it also.
" And it came to pass (the history says), when they had
heard all the words," that is, the threatenings denounced
against Judah and Jerusalem, " they were afraid both
one and otlier, and said unto Baruch, we will surely tell
the king of all these words." Being themselves (for the
time at least) deeply affected, they thought it their duty
to let the king know all the circumstances 5 at the same
time, being aware of his cruel disposition, they advised
Baruch and Jeremiah to conceal themselves. They
went in to the king into the court, not however taking
the roll with them — perhaps apprehensive that he might
injure or destroy it, but they told all the words in the
ears of the king ; " all the words," that is, the purport
of all the prophecies. So the king sent a person to fetch
the roll, probably even then intending to show his bold
presumptuous contempt of God and his warnings.

For thus the history proceeds. " The king sat in the
winter-house, and there was a fire on the hearth burning
before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi
had read three or four leaves, and thoujrh three of his
counsellors made intercession to him that he would not
burn the roll, he would not hear them, but cut it with

Vol. L— 17

194) FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOD S JUDGMENTS.'

the pen-knife and cast it into the fire that was on the
hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that
was on the hearth."

" Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments,
neither the king, nor any of his servants, that heard all
these words."

To all persons, who have on their hearts any serious
sense of leligious truth, any reverence for the great
name of God, any awe of his judgments — such conduct
as this must appear hoth fearful and surprising — sur-
prising, that men should hear such tremendous denuncia-
tions of the divine vengeance with indifference, and
fearful, at the apprehension of that seven-fold wrath of
the Almighty, which must surely await those who so
dare to despise and defy him — must await them, I say,
if not in this present world, yet certainly in that day,
when it will he too late to repent.

Now then, whosoever of you are sincerely anxious to
preserve in your hearts a deep and lasting sense of the
ineffable majesty of the great Almighty God, and of the
terribleness of his judgments against sin and sinners-—
let me ask you, whether it is not plainly one of the signs
of these times, that men are so much disposed, like the
wicked Jehoiakim and his servants, to encourage in
themselves, and in one another, a spirit of fearless,
shameless, unfeeling defiance of our great God and
Savior, of his judicial warnings, and his righteous laws:
*' they will not be afraid, nor rend their garments, though
they have heard all these words ;" a spirit, surely, in
some respects more alarming even than that of pretended
infidelity itself. For with the infidel there is at least
the name of reason, the profession of being open to con-
viction 5 but for him who allows the truth of God's
word, and the sure approach of a day of account, and
and yet deliberately lives as if these things were no
concern of his — what more can be done 1 what remedy
can be thought of.

If you urge on the thoughts of such an one the terrors
denounced in Scripture against those who obey not the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, he vi^ill answer that he

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS. 195

is no unbeliever — that he knows all those things as well
as any one can tell him. If you proceed, again, to ask
how he can know such things and not be afraid, nor
look forward with apprehension to the accounting day — •
he has an answer ready ; — that be it as it may, he is
not at all afraid ; and whatever any one may say, he
does not mean to be frightened, but to go on with his
present notions or practices just as long as he shall
choose.

I think it will be found, on a careful investigation,
that this kind of wilful nejrliofence of God's truth, and
unconcern about his warnings and threatenings, is ex-
tremely prevalent among us at this day — prevalent, let
me add, not merely among the openly careless and prof-
ligate, but also among great numbers who make pre-
tensions to superior knowledge and piety.

As to persons who lead openly careless irreligious
lives, yet without at all professing to be unbelievers
(and how fearfully common such cases are, I leave to
yourselves to consider), but of persons so living, the
greater number probably very seldom feel anything
like keen remorse of conscience for their sins, or any
painful apprehensions about what their condition shall
be in the eternal world. Sometimes possibly a violent
illness, or the dancrer of death from some other cause,
or some heavy affliction befalling themselves or their
near friends, startles them (as it were) from their for-
getful slumber, and leads them to form resolutions of
repentance and amendment. But alas ! in by far the
greater number of instances, such repentance shows it-
self to be little better than a mere name, a deceitful
shadow, " as the morning cloud, or the early dew, that
passeth away."

But, however, many persons go on for years, indeed
to old age, without even this temporary awakening, this
shadow of repentance and reformation of life.

The world and worldly business occupying all their
thoughts and time, except, perhaps, some portion that
they assign to be spent in pleasure and recreation — how
can there be any room in a heart so occupied, for spirit-

196 FEARFULNESS UNDER GOD's JUDGMENTS.

ual recollections, for thoughts of God and his judgments,
and preparation for eternity !

Now that they are really ignorant of these great con-
cerns— it has never entered their minds to doubt the
truth of the gospel, the inspiration of the Scriptures, or
the account they must give for their own works at the
tribunal of an omniscient Judge. These things they
are not ignorant of — have never doubted of — yet of what
value to them has been this knowledge or this confidence,
if they have not been thereby led to a due sense of their
own danger, and of the infinite mercy of our heavenly
Father in showing us a way of escape on the terms of
the gospel covenant.

The solemn words of warning and of threatening have
been familiar to them — they have constantly been re-
minded in various ways of the terribleness of God's indig-
nation against sinners, yet " they have not been afraid,
nor rent their garments, when they have heard all these
words."

No person of the least serious thought and reflection,
tvho contemplates the state of the Christian world, in
this country at least — a country, let it be observed, which
makes the highest pretensions to knowledge and religion
of any country on the face of the earth ; yet, I say, no
serious person can doubt that sins of impurity — drunk-
enness, whoredom, fornication, and adultery, do prevail
among us to a degree that is, without question, most
fearful and appalling.

For however a profligate abandoned world may make
light of such crimes, encouraged herein, alas ! by those
rash presumptuous, enthusiastic views of the religion
and gospel of the Lord Jesus, which now so widely pre-
vail ; yet of what value can such encouragement be,
when set against the awful denunciations of the great
God himself in the law, the prophets, and the gospel ;
but most especially (which ought to be observed) in the
gospel. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away." " Take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with sur-

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GODS JUDGMENTS. 197

feiting" and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares."

" The works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these ; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lascivious-
ness, . . . drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of the
which I tell you (says St. Paul), that they who do such
thinofs shall not inherit the king-dom of God."

"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled ;
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
Yea, will so judge, as appears from the two last chapters
of St. John's Revelation, that, without true and timely
repentance, they shall " have their portion in the lake
that burneth with fire and brimstone — the second death j"
shall be shut out for ever from the holy city — from the
beatific presence of God and of the Lamb.

" Heaven and earth shall pass away, but these words
shall not pass away." Yet how are they constantly
heard and read, without fear or remorse, by persons
who have not only been themselves notoriously guilty
of these crimes — crimes, I mean, of intemperance and
impurity — but who encourage others, in many instances,
alas ! parents their own children, and elderly people
younger ones, to follow in this path of ruin.

To whom may be too correctly applied the words of
the prophet in the corrupt days of the Jewish church : —

" Are they ashamed when they have committed
abomination 1 Nay, they are not at all ashamed, neither
can they blush 1"

And however plain the warnings, however awful the
threatenings, denounced in the gospel — observe in the
gospel — against such sins, yet, like the abandoned Jeho-
iakim, " they are not afraid ;" not startled or alarmed,
not abashed or confounded, " when they hear all these
words."

Or again, is it not plainly required of all persons to
whom God has vouchsafed the divine gift of reason and
understanding, and much more of those who call them-
selves by the great name of Christians, to follow after
truth, peace, unity, and submission to authority, avoid-
ing all hypocrisy, pride, discord, and self-confidence, as

17*

198 FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS.

those dispositions by which the ^eat enemy of men^s
souls labors most effectually to alienate us from God
and his faithful service 1

Yet now it is certainly what no person of observation
can deny or question, that a deep anxiety for the truth,
an earnest practical endeavor to avoid separations, dis-
putes, and divisions, a spirit of dutiful and lowly sub-
mission to authority, these are not the dispositions
surely which in these days are most valued, most cher-
ished and honored, even by those multitudes who make
high pretensions to religion, much less by others.

The Scripture, indeed, that holy word of the Almighty,
by which w^e know we are to be judged at the last day,
has plainly warned us, that we ought to "love the truth
and peace" — that those who " receive not the love of
the truth," are in danger of " perishing" — that " the
wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peace-
able"— that " God is not the author of confusion, but of
peace, as in all churches of the saints" — ^that "we should
obey them that have the rule over us, and submit our-
selves"— that " in the last days perilous times shall
come J- times when men (that is Christians, by profes-
sions) shall not endure sound doctrine, but after their
own fancies shall heap to themselves teachers, having itch-
ing ears, (O the wonderful accuracy of this prophecy !)
and shall turn away their ears from the truth" — that
we ought to " mark (that is, observe) those who cause
divisions and offences contrary to the apostolic doctrine,
and avoid them," remembering that, as St. Paul asserts,
" such persons serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, as they
imagine or pretend ; but their own feelings and fancies
(for that seems to be the meaning of the expression in
the original), and by good words and fair speeches, de-
ceive the hearts of the simple."

Can any one deny that these are the plain warnings
and admonitions of Scripture 1 and if so, ought they not
to be attended to by all who profess to be guided by
Scripture 1

And yet are they attended to in these days of what is
called superior light and knowledge j though more

FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS. 199

truly (it is to be feared) worthy to be accounted days
of increasing apostacy, darkness, and confusion %

Rather, we may ask, is it not certain, is it not what
will be allowed by persons of observation, experience,
and impartiality, that it is in vain, or almost in vain, to
attempt to persuade the generality of Christians in this
country, at this time, to consider the love of truth, peace,
humility, and obedience to authority, as essential gos-
pel duties. To urge them, is to raise a smile of pity,
not to say of scorn. Like the hardened king of Judah,
in the text, Christians are " not afraid, nor rend their
garments, when they hear all these words :" all these
solemn warnings against pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy,
false doctrine, heresy, and schism.

Under circumstances so trying, it seems a plain duty
of Christ's authorized ministers to keep on putting peo-
ple in mind — whether any regard be paid to our advice
or no — that confident feelings are no evidence whatever
of spiritual safety — that the uniform voice of Scripture,
and not popular opinion, must be our guide in matters
of truth and duty — that sins of intemperance and im-
purity are not the less sins for being common, nor for
their being boldly and shamefully avowed among all
ranks of people — that covetousness and the love of
this world are inconsistent with the love of Christ Jesus,
and the sincere profession of the gospel : however the
covetous and the worldly may slight the warning,
these, and such as these, seem to be the kind of admo-
nition we are bound to offer in these days, when the
danger to men's souls is more than ever great though few
seem to be aware of it.

And, therefore, because they are not aware, they think
such admonitions needless and impertinent.

Yet, believe me, the persecution that is at this moment
raging against the truth of God and his blessed gospel,
is worse than the persecution of the sword ; worse, as
being more ensnaring to men's souls, under specious
names and pretences drawing them off from "the truth
as it is in Jesus :" worse, too, because it is so difficult
to point out exactly Avhere the danger lies, especially

200 FEARLESSNESS UNDER GOd's JUDGMENTS.

when so many, alas ! refuse to believe that there is any
danger at all.

For these reasons let us advise you, let us implore
you all, especially young persons, whose hearts are not
yet hardened, nor your principles corrupted by long
intercourse with a treacherous world — let us, I say, im-
plore you, to reflect seriously on the great danger you
are in of learning to think lightly of religious truth — of
using yourselves to hear the warnings of the Almighty
without regard, and to witnessing his judgments without
fear or alarm.

Rather, you will do well earnestly to seize every op-
portunity of applying such warnings and judgments to
your own case, to the improvement of your own hearts
and lives, that so the merciful intentions of your heavenly
Father, for your eternal good, may not be frustrated
and made void.

For such endeavors, by the all-sufficient aid of the
blessed Spirit, will not he in vain j and though the world
may pity, scorn, or persecute us, yet the world is not
our master, we owe it no service, no allegiance : only
let our care be so to live, that in every trial the Lord
Jesus may be on our side, and then we need not fear
what man can do unto us.

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 201

SERMON XXn.

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM.

St. James ii. 21-23.

" Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
When he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou, how faith wrought with his works,
And by works was faith made perfect ?
And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith,

Abraham believed God,

And it was imputed unto him for righteousness :
And he was called. The friend of God."

It was only about one hundred years after the Al-
mighty had displayed " the power of his wrath" against
sin, by the destruction of this beautiful world by a deluge
of water, that mankind again grew corrupt, and proved
the faithlessness and pride that reigned in their hearts,
by setting about building them " a city and tower whose
top should reach unto heaven."

Upon this followed the remarkable judgment of the
confusion of languages. So that people could no longer
associate together as belonging to one family or nation,
but were obliged to separate one from another — " were
scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth." Still
it does not appear that in this their dispersion they car-
ried with them any lasting recollection of the divine
judgments, but like their fathers before the flood, " cor-
rupted their way upon the earth."

It was not, however, long before the hand of God
again interfered, in a less decisive manner indeed than
on former occasions, but to all thoughtful persons dis-
playing not less authoritatively than in the flood, and
the confusion of tongues, his eternal hatred of sin, and
love of righteousness and truth.

For it was only three hundred and twenty-six years

202 THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM.

after the dispersion, and therefore only about four hun-
dred and twenty-six years after the flood, and before the
death of Shem, the son of Noah (which is much to be
observed), that the Almighty selected one individual, as
the instrument of his dispensations, one through whom
he would condescend to make known his will to mankind ;
in short, a chosen vessel unto him to bear his name before
all the nations of the world, in every age : and in whom
they should all be blessed.

That this illustrious person was selected out of all the
then inhabitants of the world, on account of the faith,
humility, resignation, zeal, and love of God, and other
heavenly graces which peculiarly shone forth in him
even before God called him to be a special instrument
of his providence, we can hardly doubt, when we call
to mind these and other passages of Scripture relating
to the subject.

St. Stephen says (Acts vii.), " The God of glory ap-
peared unto our father Abraham, w^hen he was in Meso-
potamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
come into the land which I shall show thee ; then came
he out of the land of the Chaldeans." — And in the
twenty-fourth chapter of Joshua, we have this account
of the same memorable event : " Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of
the flood, in old time — {the flood, that is, the river Eu-
phrates, called by the people of those countries " the
great river") — even Terah the father of Abraham, the
father of Nahor ; and they served other gods j and I
took your father Abraham from the other side of the
flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan."

On comparing these passages together, it seems evi-
dent that while the Chaldeans in general, and among
them Abraham's father and kindred, had fallen into
idolatrous worship, he himself /roTTi the first had remain-
ed faithful to Jehovah, the true and only God.

In Isaiah (the forty-first chapter), the Jewish church
is thus reminded of God's dealings with Abraham their
father and founder. " Who raised up the righteous man

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 203

from the East, called him to his foot, gave the nations
before him, and made him rule over kings V — Here the
emphatic expression " the righteous man" (or, as it is
in the original, " righteousness"), seems evidently in-
tended to point out that Abraham was selected as one
faithful among many unfaithful.

And in the same prophet (the fifty-first chapter), the
example of Abraham is thus held forth to devout Is-
raelites— " Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged : look
unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare
you : for / called him alone^ and blessed him and in-
creased him." Here the expression " I called him
alone" seems to show that Abraham had been as it
were "alone," in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, and that for his singular faithfulness he was so
"called" of God.

Indeed, the testimony of the Almighty himself is de-
cisive on the point, as we find it in the eighteenth chapter
of Genesis.

" The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do 1 Seeing that Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him : for I know him, that
he will command his children and his household after
him: and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do
justice and judgment."

These and other passages seem plainly to show that
this illustrious man was selected out of all the then in-
habitants of the world to be the instrument of the divine
dispensations ; selected, I say, not from mere arbitrary
choice, or for some hidden reason, but because he was
eminently good and holy — self-denying and resigned.

The whole nation of the Jews indeed were a chosen
people, but then it Avas for Abraham's sake, not for their
own, that they were so privileged, as they were often
reminded by their prophets ; nay, we find (in the twenty-
sixth chapter of Genesis) that the special favor shown
even to Isaac was for Abraham his father's sake. " I
will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven^

204» THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM.

and will unto thy seed all these countries, and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, be-
cause that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge,
my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

Abraham then having been selected, by " God who
knoweth the hearts," out of the midst of a corrupted
world, as the instrument and channel (as it were) of
the divine dispensations to that world, was found also
(which is quite a separate consideration), when put to
the trial, to maintain through a long life that same holy
and devoted resignation to the divine will, that resolute
self-denial in God's cause, which then, and in every
age, have been the true test of a living faith.

For from the time when he left his home, and " went
out not knowing whither he went," to the last hour of
his life, comprising a space of not less than one hun-
dred years, he was constantly subject to trials and suf-
ferings of various kinds j by his behavior under which
the sincerity of his faith was fully proved, and like the
holy men before him, Enoch and Noah, "he had this
testimony, that he pleased God."

As to the trials which befell Abraham, all persons who
have attended to the Scripture history are well aware
what they were. But it will be well just to call to
mind the chief of them, as they occurred during the
fifty years after his departure out of Haran, as we find
in Gen. xii., and the following chapters.

This departure itself into an unknown land — the
wickedness of the Canaanites among whom he was
placed — the famine which compelled him to go down
into Egypt — his anxiety while there about Sarah his
beloved wife — (an anxiety which perhaps proved in this
one instance too strong for his faith) — the trouble he
had wjth Lot, whom he had treated as a son — his being
so long childless, with no hope of an heir to his wealth —
the covenant of circumcision with all its circumstances — «•
the promise of a son in his extreme old age — his anxiety
again about Lot, in the threatened vengeance against
Sodom and Gomorrah — and again, too, about Sarah
in Gerar— his domestic troubles about Hagar and Ish-

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 205

mael ; — all these may be taken as instances of the various
sorts of trials which he who was honored with the title
of " The friend of God," had to endure, and by which,
when proved, he was so far found faithful. But now,
after this fifty years of probation, there rennained a
heavier trial still — one which, if he endured it as he
had done the former, would prove beyond all doubt
that he had indeed, not in profession only, given his
heart to his God. For thus we find it.

" It came to pass after these things, that God did
tempt Abraham," that is, put his faith once more to the
trial — in this way.

" He said unto him, Abraham ;"

" And he said, Behold, here I am ;" (ready to do or
suffer anything) ; " and he said, take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a
burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will
tell thee of."

It may perhaps be imagined, but it would be vain to
attempt to describe, what must have been the holy pa-
triarch's feelings at receiving such an injunction as this.

But God's will was his, and he set himself in silence,
though we may suppose not without many a painful
struggle, to fulfil the divine command.

"He rose up early in the morning," doubtless after a
night of prayer, " and saddled his ass, and took two of
his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave
the wood for a burnt-oifering, and rose up and went
toward the place of which God had told him."

But the journey was not a short one, for it was "the
third day before Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw
the place afar off." Upon this, doubtless in the true
spirit of devout self-denial, and apprehensive lest any
hinderance should arise to prevent the fulfilment of
God's mysterious purposes, he would allow no one to be
witness of this his heroic resignation of himself to more
than martyrdom.

For he commanded the young men to abide there
where he first came in sight of Mount Moriah. But

Vol. I.— 18

206 THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAftf.

*' he took the wood of the burnt*offering (which before
had been carried by the slaves), and laid it upon Isaac
his son, and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife,
and they went both of them together."

Now observe how (what we call) trying was every
minute circumstance : for instance, " Isaac spake unto
Abraham his father, and said, My father ! and he said,
Here am I, my son.

" And he said. Behold the fire, and the wood ; but
where is the lamb for a burnt-offering 1 And Abraham
said. My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt-offering. So they went both of them together.

" And they came to the place which God had told
him of. And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the
wood in order : and bound Isaac his son, and laid him
on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched
forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son."

Now let me observe, whatever may be the differences
of opinion as to the most edifying way of understand-
ing and applying this wonderfully touching passage of
sacred history, it cannot be doubted that the holy pa-
triarch was made the instrument of presenting to man-
kind in this instance, first of all a wonderful type and
foreshowing of the transcendant mercy of Almighty
God in the great work of redemption by the blood of
his adorable Son ; and also it is equally unquestionable
that there is provided in this memorable history a pat-
tern of true faith and self-denying resignation, a pat-
tern, I say, for the benefit of all sincere believers in
every age. In these two points of view it is quite nat-
ural and obvious, that this famous passage should be
constantly presented to men's thoughts. And for this
reason, doubtless, it is, that the chapter containing it
is appointed by the British church to be read on Good
Friday, with reference to the great atonement on that
day commemorated ; and on the first Sunday in Lent,
the season when all serious men's thoughts are specially
directed to the necessity of self-denial and a thorough,
resignation of the heart to the disposal of the holy
jealous God.

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 207

That the thorough self-renouncing martyr-like trust in
his heav^enly Father, displayed by the patriarch on this
occasion, was well-pleasing in God's sight, may appear
as from other passages, so from what immediately fol-
lows in the history.

" The angel of the Lord called unto him out of heav-
en, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither
do thou anything unto him ; for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son, from me." And afterward, "By my-
self have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast
done this things and hast not withheld thy son, thine
only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in mul-
tiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven,

and as the sand which is upon the seashore ;

and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voiced

" Was not" (then asks the eloquent apostle), " Was
not Abraham our father justified by works 1" did not
his conduct show his faith to be solid, substantial, and
such as God approves of, " when he had offered Isaac
his son upon the altar V Seest "thou how on the one
hand faith wrought with his works, and" on the other
" by his works his faith was made perfect," brought to
its proper end and effect.

"And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abra-
ham believed God, and it was imputed to him for right-
eousness."

And he was called "The friend of God;" he had the
great, the magnificent distinction of being acknowl-
edged by the Almighty Jehovah himself, "Abraham,
my friend."

You see then that true faith, such as Abraham the
father of the faithful practised, and such as God will
accept through the blood and mediation of the Lord
Jesus Christ — true faith, I say, consists, or (as St.
James's word is) " is made perfect" in a self-denying
life ; or, to speak shortly, self-denial is the real test of
faith.

It would be not difficult to confirm and illustrate this

208 THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM,

truth by abundant references both to Scripture and to
our every day's experience ; but for the present I for-
bear to enter into particulars, and shall only suggest to
the consideration of those who are disposed to be con-
siderate, some general reflections out of the many nat-
urally arising from this great subject.

One consideration is, of the life which Abraham led,
how far from anything like peace and rest — how unset-
tled and without a home he was ; like the Almighty
Savior himself when he dwelt among us, having not
where to lay his head, that is, in any place he could
call his home.

The patriarch's condition in this respect is very pa-
thetically described in that famous chapter, the eleventh
to the Hebrews : " These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. Now they that say such things," that is con-
sider themselves as strangers and pilgrims, " declare
plainly that they seek a country," that they are as
wanderers and travellers, looking out for a home.

If such then were the case with those holy men of
old, men who were honored with God's special favor,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, if they were as strangers and
wanderers in this world, and more than this, if the Re-
deemer himself were, when he was among us, in a
manner homeless and friendless — what are we to ex-
pect, if we would be faithful servants of God, like those
holy patriarchs, if we would be true followers of the
meek and suffering Lord Jesus.

As Christians our home must be in heaven now, or
heaven will be no home to us at last. In this life we
must be content to be nothing better than strangers, so-
journers, wanderers, and even outcasts, if God so
please, otherwise we are yet strangers to the faith of
Abraham.

The other consideration naturally arising from the
foregoing is this : — If we are not now in this life like
Abraham and the other holy men who have gone before

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 209

US, how shall we be fit to join their society in the land
of eternal rest 1

This reflection should be often and deeply pressed on
the mind, as being of the utmost possible consequence
to preserve in us right views of our condition, and a
disposition of heart suitable thereto.

To this purpose let me offer to your thoughts the
solemn and startling observations of a living writer : —

" We are apt (he says) to deceive ourselves, and to
consider heaven a place like this earth ; I mean a place
where every one may choose and take his own pleasure.
We see that in this world active men have their own
enjoyments, and domestic men have theirs ; people of
different habits and stations of life have their own re-
spective pursuits and pleasures. Hence we are led to act
as if it would be the same in another world

" But the fact is, heaven is not revealed to us in Scrip-
ture as a place where many different and discordant
pursuits can be carried on at once, as is the case in
this world.

" Here every man can do his own pleasure ; there, he
must do God's pleasure.

" It would indeed be presumptuous to attempt to de-
termine the employments of that eternal life which good
men are to pass in God's presence, or to deny that that
state which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind
conceived, may comprise an infinite variety of pursuits
and occupations. Still, we are distinctly told, that that
future life will be spent in God's presence, in a sense
which does not apply to our present life ; so that it may
be best described as an endless, uninterrupted worship
of the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit. — ' They serve him
day and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the

throne shall dwell among them The Lamb

which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.' ....
Again ' The city had no need of the sun, neither of the
moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof.'

" If then it were possible for a man without religion

18*

210 THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM.

to be admitted into heaven, doubtless he would sustain
a great disappointment — he would find there no pur-
suits, he would hear there no discourse but what he
disliked on earth.

" Heaven is not heaven, is not a place of happiness,
except to the holy.

*' For think only what would be the condition of an
irreligious unholy person, if he were thrust into the so-
ciety of saints and angels. How forlorn would he
wander through the courts of heaven ! he would find
no one like himself; he would see in every direction
the marks of God's holiness, and these would make him
shudder. He would /ee/ himself always in the presence
of God. He could no longer turn his thoughts another
way, as he now can when conscience reproaches him,

" He would know that the eternal eye was ever upon
him ; and that eye of holiness, which is joy and life to
holy creatures, would seem to him an eye of wrath and
punishment. God cannot change his nature ; holy he
must ever be. But while he is holy, no unholy soul can.
be happy in heaven."

Think, then, I beseech you, and reflect on these
things, while yet the power of thought and reflection
remains to you.

Would you have your eternal portion with miserable
wicked men, who have departed this life out of God's
faith and fear, with lost, abandoned, yet immortal spirits,
for whom there can be no more mercy, no more hope,
no not to all eternity — v/ould you have your portion
with these, or with the holy men who have gone before
us, prophets, martyrs, and confessors, whose lives, like
faithful Abraham's, were devoted to the love and service
of their and our God %

Now the choice is in your power ; you know not any
moment but it may be withdrawn from you ; in any
moment we may be cut off, as you very well know.

O then let us be wise betimes — let us earnestly seek
after those dispositions, and graces, and habits now,
which would suit the blessed spirits in heaven ; other-
wise we may know for certain that we shall find no ad-

THE FIDELITY OF ABRAHAM. 211

mittance there ; we shall be shut out for ever ; the door
once closed will be never again opened ; and the recol-
lection of the precious opportunities we have wasted,
the precious time we have mispent, will be among the
bitterest of those bitter tortures.

Again then, I say, think of these things and be wise
betimes.

For it is no imaginary danger that threatens us, but
one real, positive, and tremendous ; one, too, that the
great God himself is ever warning us of: and if all
shall be found too little to rouse us now, what will be
our thoughts when we shall be wakened from our
graves by the last trumpet, how shall we dare to meet
him who will no longfer be our Savior !

212 THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

SERMON XXIII.

THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

1 Kings xxii. 8.

'' There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may in-
quire of the Lord : but I hate him j for he doth not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil."

One of the portions of sacred history which the
church has been most careful to teach all her diligent
hearers, by selecting- almost the whole of it to be read
in the course of her Sunday lessons, is the life and death
of Ahab, the worst of the kings of Israel. The reason
is, that his crimes and errors, however shocking, were
so very natural, so very like what we see and feel every
hour among ourselves.

For example, nothing can be more natural or more
common, yet surely few things more inexcusable, than
the temper expressed in these words : " I hate him,
because he doth not prophesy good of me, but evil."
Nothing, I say, can be more natural than this : for who
likes to be told of evil to come, and hindered from pur-
suing favorite schemes, upon which he has long set his
heart 1 especially when, as in this case, his conscience
tells him that he deserves no good, and cannot there-
fore expect God's blessing. It is no wonder men should
shrink from advice which passes so unfavorable a judg-
ment on them, and represents their own condition to
themselves and others as beyond measure dangerous
and disgraceful. But although this is no wonder, it is a
very great folly indeed : folly of that inexcusable kind,
which is sure in the next world, and almost sure in this,
to bring after it the punishment of deliberate wicked-
ness. For how earnestly soever one's heart may

THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET. 213

be set upon this or that thing, who that coolly considers
for a moment would not wish to be warned in time, so
that if it were really evil for him, he might give up the
pursuit of it altogether I Who does not see, in every
one, and despise, in every one but himself, the folly and
childishness of accounting a man your enemy, because
he tells you the truth for your good 1

The thing cannot be put in a stronger light than it is
by the circumstances of the king of Israel, when he spoke
the words in the text. He was just entering on a dan-
gerous war, and he knew well enough, for all his hea-
thenish behavior, that there was only one power in the
world that could bring him safe out of it ; and that
power was God Almighty. But his conscience told him
also, but too clearly, that he was in sight of the just and
holy being, stained with many of the worst sins, an idol-
ater, a murderer, a corrupter of his people ; to which
sins he was so deeply besotted, that no warning, he well
knew, had any chance of making him repent in earnest.
Good reason had he to think, that neither in this war,
nor anything else which he should undertake, he was
likely to obtain the blessing of God, or to receive an
encouraging answer from his prophets, should he ask
their advice what to do. Accordingly, instead of going
to him who alone was sure to give a true answer, hu^
betakes himself to the miserable shift of asking certain
corrupt prophets, who were ready enough to use God's
name for any vile purpose of deceiving souls ; these he
assembles together, and asks them, " Shall I go up to
Ramoth-Gilead and prosper V They answered, as a
lying spirit had taught them, " Go up and prosper : for
the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the kinof."
Upon this encouragement, in which it should seem he
had himself no real reliance, he makes up his mind to
the unspeakable madness of venturing into danger with-
out first trying to make God his friend by sincere re-
pentance. And having still one friend who feared God,
when that friend advises him to find out a true prophet
of the Lord, and inquire of him also, he betrays his own
foolish and wicked heart by those words in the text :

214' THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

" There is yet one man, by whonn we may inquire of the
Lord : but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good of
me, but evil." Here then you have a person, wise
enough generally in worldly matters (for such undoubt-
edly king Ahab seems to have been), refusing, in a mat-
ter of life and death, and that to be decided in a few
days — refusing, I say, so much as to ask advice of the
only good adviser he could find, because he suspected
the advice would be unpleasant : refusing, as long as he
dared, to inquire of the Lord, lest the Lord should dis-
suade him for his good. And to complete the picture
of what people come to who have lived so as to make
God their enemy, when he had been shamed into send-
ing for Micaiah, he only raged against him, and totally
disregarded his warning. He goes on obstinately into
the war, and is killed shamefully in the first battle, leav-
ing a curse upon his whole family.

It requires only reading over, to pass a right judgment
on all this. But now let us suppose for a moment, that,
as we by the help of Holy Scripture are enabled to look
back on the case of Ahab, and wonder at his rash im-
piety, so Ahab in his turn might have been taught as it
were to look onward : suppose that Micaiah or some
other prophet, had come to him in the word of the Lord,
and told him of a sort of people, who should one day
appear in the world, to whom God would reveal for a
certainty, what in Ahab's time men only guessed at ; the
doctrine of eternal life or death, heaven or hell, prepar-
ed for them hereafter. Suppose Ahab was told of a sort
of people, who should hear from the Son of God him-
self, that a worm which never dies, and a fire which
never shall be quenched, is prepared for the wicked ; and
that hell, the place where they must go, if they die in.
their sins, is well worth avoiding at the cost of a right
eye plucked out, or a right arm cut off; — would not
Ahab, with much reason, have said, that these things
were unspeakably more terrible than what God had
threatened to him by Elijah 1 his own violent death,
dogs licking his blood, and the utter and bloody destruc-
tion of his family 1 And might he not also have

THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET. 215

added truly, that, bad and inexcusable as he might be,
men who could despise such warnings, and live entirely
for this world, would give a still more frightful proof
of their wilful blindness and hatred of good things 1

Suppose he were told all this, and were informed
also, that these people, knowing themselves to be in such
danger, would most of them hate to be reminded of it ;
would, on purpose, get out of the way of everybody and
everything which would put them on their guard against
it ; would consider themselves greatly affronted and in-
jured, if one should endeavor charitably to open their
eyes, and show them how near they have come to it
unawares.

Going more into particulars, let us suppose that Ahab
could have had also communicated to him, in the same
way, by the Spirit of prophecy, the future institution of
the Christian ministry, and the manner in which that
would be received. Let us suppose that the prophet
had said to him, the same divine Person, who shall tell
the world clearly what will be the fate of impenitent
sinners in another w^orld, will also lay down his life to
save them, truly repenting, from it : and having so done,
he will rise again, and continue among men for a time ;
for this among other purposes, viz., to appoint certain
messengers to go out in his name, and teach all nations,
and all generations, by themselves or their successors,
the bitter consequences of sin unrepented of. And
God's good providence will so order things, that there
shall never be wanting in after ages persons commis-
sioned to put the world in mind of these great truths :
commissioned, I say, by God himself, and bound to him,
by the most solemn oath, to rebuke sinners in due sea-
son ; to use both public and private admonition, and
make every one aware of his danger, as need shall re-
quire, and occasion shall be given. So that the fearful
tidings of judgment to come, and the good tidings of
salvation by the Son of God, shall be brought home to
men's own doors, and no soul at the last will be able to
plead that it perished for want of " knowing better."

To this account of the Christian ministry, and of the

216 THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

solemn oath by which Christian pastors are bound, let
us suppose the Spirit of prophecy to have added farther
some notion of the general fashion of the world's behav-
ior to the messengers of the gospel, such as we see
it in our days. Suppose Ahab had been farther told,
the ministers of the Son of God being thus left in the
world to discharge, in his absence, their high office,
thus and thus they will be received : many persons will
avoid their sermons, for fear of being made uneasy by
strong remonstrances against things on which they have
set their hearts; and many more will shrink from allow-
ing the instructions, which in public were spoken to all,
to be applied by private reproof to themselves ; some,
being so reproved by their pastors, will be affronted all
their lives long, will hate their persons, and despise
their instruction ; and hardly any will thank them, in
earnest, for doing them the greatest service which one
man can do to another, for opening their eyes to the
worst of all evils, just as they were bringing it upon
themselves. So that the very name which means a
messenger of Christ, shall become among many a word
of reproach ; and they who seek to do good in that way,
will be forced to use as much forethought, and invent
as many various devices, not to fail of the good they
wish, as the crafty schemers of this world use, in order
to accomplish the worst of mischief.

If he, whom we blame for his usage of Micaiah, could
have heard such a representation as this — and surely it
is no more than a true representation of what happens
daily among Christians — if Ahab, I say, could have had
all this prophesied to him, would he not, with reason,
have exclaimed against our times, as we, when we read
his history, are apt to exclaim against him 1 And bad
as his usage of Micaiah was, yet surely for Christian
people to shun and dislike Christ's ministers, because
they do not like to be told they are in a bad way — for the
Galatians to account St. Paul their enemy because he
tells them savinsr truth — this is as much worse than
the conduct of Ahab, as the gospel, against which we

THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET. 217

sin, is better and clearer than the law and the prophets
by which only God had then revealed himself.

But this is not all, nor the worst. Other circumstan-
ces might be added, in such a prophetical view of the
Christian world as I have now supposed, to leave us
yet farther without excuse. It might be mentioned,
how God's holy word, the Bible, made in due time per-
fect and entire by the addition of the New Testament
of our Lord and Savior, would come in aid of his min-
isters everywhere, and in their place many times, where
they could not be in person : there being no individual
among us Christians, so poor or so unlearned, but he
has it in his power, by the blessing of God, to hear or
read out of that book enough to understand his duty
and his danger. What then might not a man say, if he
had been told beforehand, of the way in which the Bible
should be brought within every one's reach ; being told,
at the same time, how it would be treated by the greater
number ] that however much it might be admired in
words, it would be practically despised and slighted ?
That people would let it lie by them for years, liardly
ever looking into it : that many would read it for mere
amusement ; some as a task which is well over ; some
out of pride of scholarship, or by way of showing them-
selves holier than others : hardly any for the true pur-
pose, that of knowing their own faults, and trying to be-
come fitter for heaven. I say, could Ahab, or any one
else, have known all this beforehand, he might with some
reason have thought that a generation which could be
guilty of so abusing God's written word, had no great
right to blame him for his dislike of the word spoken
by the prophet. „

And if he could have been farther told, to crown all,
that the blessed Son of God himself, the author and
giver of everlasting salvation, shall promise and offer,
most affectionately, to continue his spiritual presence
with his people, by giving himself to them, his body
and blood, for the food of their souls in his holy sacra-
ment ; and that they would, almost universally, shun
and forsake their divine presence, because in order to

Vol. I.— 19

218 THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

approach it worthily, they must look their sins in the
face, and this they would not have the heart to do ; I
say, could all this have been foreshown to Ahab, at any
rate he would not have wanted connpany to keep him in
countenance in his treatment of Micaiah. Is not his the
very language, in which sinners too often speak to
themselves of the holy communion. When you are
called on to be better Christians, and are reminded, that
there is yet one way, the sacrament of the Lord's sup-
per, by which you obtain grace from the Lord : do you
never, like Ahab, reject the advice, with some such un-
thankful expression as this : " I dread and dislike the
Lord's supper, because the examination, which ought
to go before it, would not prophesy good of me, but
evil 1" It would show you, that you are in a bad way j
which is the last thing you want to be told. And yet
if it really be so, you must be told it or lose yourself
for ever.

Unquestionably, in all these things ; in dislike of good
advice from every quarter, especially from the mes-
sengers of Jesus Christ j in neglect of his word ; in
contempt of his sacraments; the comparison between
the generality of Christians, and Ahab shrinking from
the warnings of Micaiah, would make them out m.uch
worse than he was. For many of them are in a fair
way to come at last to hate and shun, not only God's
messengers, but God himself 5 because continuing, as
they are, impenitent, he doth not prophesy good of
them, but evil.

But, here, as in every other subject, our self-deceit
will be busy with excuses; and among the very first
which offer themselves, not a few are generally heard,
drawn from the infirmities of the human teacher,
through whom the divine warning proceeds. Some
warnings, men say, are unkindly delivered, some rudely,
some unseasonably ; and one very common remark is,
when people are told of the faults, that the adviser has
mistaken the kind of fault. " There is enough about
me that is wrong, I know, but in this particular respect,
with which I am charged, I consider myself quite blame-

tHE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET. 219

less." This is a mode of taking reproof, which almost
every one must have observed. Now suppose it really
so — that the warning in this instance is misplaced ;
what would a reasonable man do 1 Continue just where
he was, without any reformation whatever 1 Nay, but
he would turn his mind in good earnest to those parts
of his own conduct, in which he cannot deny that he
wants improvement : just as if a house was found out
of repair, though not exactly where the owner had been
told, he would not leave it just as it was, and go away
affronted with the person who told him of it, but would
put it in order where need was, and be much obliged by
the timely warning which enabled him to do so. Then
again, you should consider, that there is great danger of
your mistaking yourself, and thinking you have no need
to be warned on a point in which, perhaps, your wiser
friends perceive you are most open to temptation. St.
Peter thought he had no need to be warned against
turning coward and denying his Master ; but his Master
himself knew better, and repeated the warning a good
many times, that it might never be forgotten after the
event : and though the apostle was grieved at the
charge, and spoke vehemently in disavowal of it, we do
not read that he was offended with his Lord ; he did
not, as Ahab did, and as many foolish sinners do, hate
his adviser for prophesying evil concerning him. So
far, we shall do well to follow his example ; and if we
add to it, that in which he unfortunately failed, a due
mistrust and fear of ourselves, believing ourselves
capable of any sin, if we are not continually on our
guard, continually seeking aid from above ; then we
shall be thankful for any well-meant warning, how little
soever, otherwise, we might seem to ourselves to need
it. And perhaps those who are so much offended, when
a friend or adviser mistakes their case, and offers what
they account needless censure — such persons might do
well to consider, what they would think of the same
man's joraz5e, if their conscience told them in any case
that he was undeservedly bestowing that upon them. If
thfiy can find it in their henrts to he pleased with the

220 THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

one, surely they have no right whatever to despise the
other so very much.

Some do not 'deny their need of warning, only " they
could not endure this or that warning ; it was so rudely,
so unseasonably delivered." But they should remember
the end and purpose which the adviser had in his mind,
in delivering what they call " a prophecy of evil" con-
cerning them. Perhaps he saw them so dull and dead
in their sins, that he thought it needful to be somewhat
rude and vehement in his manner, the better to awaken
them, and make them more attentive. As our Lord
himself, the meekest and most charitable of all teachers,
feared not to tell his disciples, that " if they would
come after him, they must hate father and mother,
brethren and sisters, wife and children, and their own
soul also." " Hate them," that is, be ready to forsake
them : which our Lord expressed by this startling word
hate^ in order that their attention may be thoroughly
roused j that they might be set upon inquiring, What
can he mean % And having inquired, might not soon
forget it. It may be, that what seems to you rudeness,
is mere friendly vehemence, intended, like this word of
our divine Master, to put you more thoroughly on your
guard. And, as to a warning being unseasonable or indis-
creet, it is in every one's power at any time, as far as
he is himself concerned, to prevent its doing harm in
that way, by merely taking it as it was meant, and not
being offended at it.

Finally, to take the worst case of all ; advice, be it
ever so unkindly delivered — the very taunts of reproach-
ful enemies — may do a man the greatest good, if he will
consider them in this true light, namely, as being per-
mitted by God to humble him the more for his great
sins. David, the man after God's own heart, though
long before Christian times, made this truly Christian
use of the curses uttered against him by Shimei, when
he called him a bloody man. It brought his sin to his
remembrance ; for in the matter of Uriah, once in his
life, he had acted like a bloody man ; and he acknowl-
edged, "the Lord hath said unto him. Curse David."

THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET. 221

Abusive words, and even malicious calumnies, thus
taken in the spirit of David, as hints to a man what he
would deserve, if God should deal strictly with him ac-
cording to his secret sins, might help him greatly in
the work of repentance, instead of souring his temper,
as they too often do, and causing anger, malice, and
revenge. To say no more of Christian humility : com-
mon sense to be sure would teach one to remember,
both in the last-mentioned case of advice unkindly
given, and also in the former cases, which supposed it
well-meaning, but mistaken in the manner, that any
error of that kind in your admonisher may put him in
the wrong, but cannot put you in the right. If Micaiah
had been malicious toward Ahab, still the prophecy of
God was true. AVe have our separate accounts to
give ; and no error, no vice even, in a minister of
Christ, or in any one else, can excuse you for hating
those warnings, which are delivered to you out of
Christ's own mouth.

Least of all will any such excuse be allowed, as your
not being able to endure an admonition, because it
seems to prophesy evil concerning you, and would
make you uneasy, and put you out of spirits. You
know well enough that there is nothing in the Bible to
make you uneasy or put you out of spirits, if you will in
earnest part with your sins. Do this with purpose of
heart, relying on your good God and Savior, and you
will no more hate that voice which prophesies evil, not
to you, but to your sins. You will then be really glad
and thankful when any one tells you quietly of your
faults ; and not spiteful, nor at all unforgiving, though
you be told of them somewhat roughly. Think
for a moment, what peace and comfort, even in this
present life, ivould ensue upon warnings being kindly
and seriously taken ; what sweetness and good temper
such a rule would spread over our daily conversation
with each other ; how certain we should be to go on
from day to day improving in our duties both to God
and our neighbor.

19*

222 THE CHURCH AN UNWELCOME PROPHET.

The matter may be brought into a short compass.
Will any Christian repent him at the hour of death, as
having borne warnings too patiently 1 Or will he think
when the day of judgment comes, that it was best to
turn away from serious advice, as not prophesying good
of him, but evil 1

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 223

SERMON XXIV.

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

Eph. iv. 3.

" Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

One part of St. Paul's meaning, in this part of the
divine epistle to the Ephesians, is quite plain to every
reader ; the earnestness, namely, with which he enforces
mutual love, forbearance, and forgiveness. " I, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of
the vocation with which ye are called: with all lowli-
ness ancl meekness, with longsuflfering, forbearing one
another in love." So far, even the ordinary sort of
persons, the world as it is called, would agree with the
judgment of the apostle, however unwilling many may
be to practise it. But in the next words, the words of
the text, quite a new thought is introduced, a thought
into which the world cannot enter. We are directed
seriously to endeavor to keep, not simply the bond of
peace — so far the world agrees with the gospel, and is
forward to proclaim her agreement — but we are to keep
the unity of the Spirit by means of this bond of peace.
The great end of good-natured well-meaning men of the
world, is simply to keep the peace among their neigh-
bors, as being one of the greatest of earthly blessings.
True evangelical Christian charity seeks peace also,
and that most earnestly ; but she seeks it with a view to
a greater blessing j hoping by its means to preserve
the unity of the Spirit ; that is, to keep people close to
that body, of which Jesus Christ is the head, and to
which they are united by his Spirit. The union and
charity which the world admires is too often a false
kind of truce ; persons agreeing, for a quietlife, to let

224 THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

one another go on without warning" or contradiction,
in the worst religious errors, and in neglect of the most
sacred and divine duties. But the union and charity
for which the church instructs us every day to pray, is
something which goes far deeper : binding men to-
gether, not for the present only, by their agreeing to
say nothing about their differences, but for all time, nay
for eternity, by actually rendering them of one mind in
regard of the highest and holiest truths. For this real
and solid union, the church instructs us to pray daily.
I mean in the collect for all conditions of men, wherein
every evening of his life the considerate worshipper
beseeches Almighty God, that "all who profess and call
themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth,
and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace,
and in righteousness of life." Not only in the bond of
peace and in righteousness of life, but also in unity of
spirit, and this, in maintenance of the true faith. There
are some who think this impossible ; considering the
various opinions and tempers of mankind on all sub-
jects, they say it is out of the question, ever prevailing
on them to serve God in Christ with one consent. But
the church evidently does not think it impossible, other-
wise she would not have taught us to beg it as a blessing
of God every day of our lives. Neither did St. Paul
think it impossible: else he would not have besought
the Corinthians, " in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that there might be no division among them ; but, that
they should all not only speak the same thing, but also
be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment." An admonition as strange and un-
reasonable— on the notions of those who think religious
differences impossible to be avoided, and therefore not
so very blameable — as if the apostle had directed us all
to think the same colors beautiful, the same tastes
pleasant, the same sounds harmonious. There must of
course be some great mistake in the way of judging so
inconsistent with the language and meaning of the Holy
Spirit. Nor is the mistake hard to be pointed out. It
is just this: that people judge of things by the rules

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 225

and measures of the world instead of the gospel. They
do not believe, or do not remember, that the Holy Spirit
of God is at hand to help men in being- of one mind ; that
he really did keep the church united in all material
things, and with only partial and occasional exceptions,
for the first six hundred years and more.

For indeed the gospel and church of our Lord Jesus
Christ has this among its special privileges, that it
makes all things so entirely one ; just as one especial
curse of the Anti-Christian power, the world, the enemy
of the gospel, is continual division and separation of
what else was united. Jerusalem, says the Holy Psalmist,
is built as a city that is at unity in itself. But the very
name of the world, or city of God's enemies, is Babel,
or confusion : its curse, from the beginning, was to be
divided and scattered into all the nations of the earth ;
to be broken into a thousand people, speaking as many
different languages, and no two of them understanding
each other. The men of this world have each their
own object, and that changing from time to time ac-
cording to their humors, fancy, or momentary profit.
The young irreligious man has one object, the old
another, the middle-aged another : and truly even in
this world they often feel it a fearful judgment to be
torn, and distracted, and pulled, as it were different
ways by their wavering, inconsistent passions, and
fancies. So, that, in this as in other more frightful
senses, that is found true which the prophet repeatedly
declares, " There is no peace, nor rest, saith my God,
to the wicked." On the other hand, it is the blessing
of the worthy members of God's kingdom, to be at
unity, first each man with himself, and then all men one
among another. The whole mind and temper is form-
ed, the whole inclination of the man is swayed, by one
great overpowering principle, swallowing up all the
rest : that is, the desire of pleasing God in Christ Jesus.
This makes the good Christian, however weak and ig-
norant in other respects, a nohlp, sfpnrly, ooneistcnt
character ; he knows always which way he is to look,
what rule he must ablrl^ hy, nnd what example he must

226 THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

follow. All things to him are drawn as it were into
one point : and as long as he keeps that steadily and de-
voutly in view, he knows that he cannot miss it ; he
must be continually making progress, whether he feels
it himself or no.

Hitherto I have been speaking of the blessings of that
unity, which Christian holiness secures to each person,
inwardly within his own heart and mind. But St. Paul
in the text had chiefly an eye to the unity of the church,
or of Christians one among another. For, after enjoin-
ing us each one in particular to try and keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace, thus he goes on ;*
" There is one body," &c. All these are so many cir-
cumstances in the situation of a Christian man, so many
reasons why he should practise the Christian duty just
before enjoined, of endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit. Let us briefly consider the meaning and force
of each of them.

" There is one body," that is, the body of Jesus Christ.
The church apostolical throughout the whole world is
really though mystically united to our Lord and Savior,
and in virtue of that most divine and mysterious union,
is entitled to be fed with his flesh and blood in the holy
sacrament of the eucharist. As surely then as there is but
one Christ, and as all the children of Adam have the
same need of being mystically united to him, if ever
they would escape the curse of Adam, so surely is there
but one body, into which we are all engrafted. And to
say that God is equally well pleased with all the various
bodies calling themselves Christians, provided all are
equally sincere, equally moral and charitable in their
conduct, is the same absurdity as if you should say,
there are more Christs than one, to whom we may be
spiritually united, and God has given power to every
man to choose his own.

Again, " there is but one Spirit," the Spirit of Christ
poured largely on his mystical body the church, even
as it dwplt without measure in his visible mortal body,

* See vpTsps 4-fl.

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 227

when here among us. By the heavenly assistance and
power of that good Spirit in holy baptism, we are trans-
lated out of that solitude in which we were born, a mis-
erable, forlorn, helpless condition; we are taken from
ourselves, that is, from the power of darkness, and are
anointed and pressed as it were into one mass, with
him who is the channel of true and healthful grace.
Dare any one be so profane as to reckon that the holy
ever blessed Comforter, animates and quickens alike
those who are joined to the true body of Christ, and those
Avho are as yet separated from him 1 It cannot be ; it
is an affront to Christ to say so, making out his precious
blood to have been shed in vain. I beseech you, there-
fore, let us never allow ourselves, out of a false and un-
kind charity, to think lightly of the difference between
those who truly have Christ's sacraments, are thoroughly
joined to his mystical body, and those who have them
not, or having, care not to use them. We might by the
same rule go on to think lightly of the differences be-
tween Heathens and Christians ; between those who
have, and those who want the blessed hope of everlast-
ing life. For so the apostle tells us by his manner of
proceeding. " There is one body, and one Spirit, even
as ye are called," &c. As much as to say, you find no
difficulty in acknowledging that we have all but one
hope. All Christians, all the world over, look to one
and the same heaven, prepared for all alike by the mercy
of the same Savior. Now, then, take it for a certain
truth, that on earth there is but one church, one only
body, quickened by one only Spirit, which is ordained
to nurse and prepare men for that everlasting abode.
This you must believe, as surely as you believe the
other ; although, in some respects, you may find it a
harder point. For the happy state of the redeemed
hereafter is a thing so entirely out of sight, that if we
have faith to believe it at all, there is no additional difli
culty in believing, that to all, in kind, it is one and the
same. All will shine with the same sort of heavenly
light, however one star may differ from another star in
glory. But when we are called on to believe the holy

228 THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

catholic church here on earth, we find it hard to believe,
that persons whom we see with our eyes to be, in many
respects, so distant, so utterly unconnected with each
other, and quite unaware, most commonly, of each
other's existence ; sometimes, perhaps, still more pain-
fully separated by jealousies and suspicions which will
hereafter vanish away — we find it hard to believe that
Christians now living are not merely in a figure of
speech, but by a real mysterious work of God's Holy
Spirit, joined with God's departed people of all times,
in one holy universal body, as truly as the limbs of our
own bodies are joined in one. This, I say, is especially
hard to believe, because so many of the persons, con-
cerning whom we are to believe it, are continually in
our sight ; and there is little or nothing, as we look at
them, which naturally leads us to consider them as so
joined in one blessed company. Nevertheless, says St.
Paul, you must believe this of all Christians, on the same
ground as you believe that the same heaven is provided
for all. There must be unity and grace here, to prepare
men for unity in glory hereafter.

And to bring this still more home to our minds, the
apostle goes on and reckons up many other things which
all Christians know to be the very same to all. There
is " one Lord" Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by him : " one faith," that of the Holy Trinity, as
set forth in the creeds of the church, into w^hich faith
we were all baptized : " one baptism," once for all, ad-
ministered to every Christian soul and body, with water
and the regenerating Spirit, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Last, " there
is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all:" the mysterious, unspeaka-
ble centre or point, in whom, if we may so say, meet all
the various rays or streams of glor)', connecting this
visible earth with the highest heaven — who is, indeed,
all in all. God is perfect unity : and let us not doubt
that his church, the most perfect of his works in this
fallen earth, is also perfectly one, whatever appearances
there may now be to the contrary.

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 229

But the more this heavenly and spiritual union of all
Christians in one body is out of sight, and above under-
standing, the more necessary it is that we should be
continually put in mind of it. Having once learned it
(as we all have in the apostles' creed) we should never
allow ourselves to forget it ; else we shall be often doing
many things, in carelessness or in ignorance, most con-
trary to this divine unity. Therefore the apostle lays
such stress on the word " endeavoring" in the text ; —
" Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace :" that is, making a serious object of it :
looking to church union and communion distinctly, as
one great purpose of our lives. Do Christians in general,
do we ourselves, attend as we ought to this precept of
the Holy Ghost l Do not a good many, even of the
well-disposed, rather behave as if church union would
come of itself, without any care of theirs, provided they
be in their several ways honest, sober, and devout 1
The bond of peace they understand, and perceive the
benefits of it: but the unity of the Spirit is a matter of
faith, not of sight ; they either never think of it at all,
or dismiss it at once out of their minds, saying, it is
above them, and all they can do, is to live quietly among
their neighbors of all sorts. Somewhat of this sort, I
think, must be in people's minds, when they so quietly
allow themselves, week after week, and festival after
festival, to be content without waiting on God in his own
holy house. Let usnot deceive ourselves: itseemsasim-
ple thing, to attend on the prayers regularly offered there,
and kneel before God, and sing his praise, and call upon
him in the appointed words and in the appointed place :
yet nothing is more certain, than that every voluntary ab-
sence from these solemn assemblies is so far a breach of
Christian unity, a neglect and forfeiture of the communion
of saints. Consider it as a privilege, rather than as a duty,
and you will perceive, that, in what I have now said, I
am not going beyond the truth. Do not say, it is no
where set down in Scripture, that we must go to church
so very regularly ; — what great difference can it make,
my going rather seldomer than I might, missing this
Vol. I.— 20

230 THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

or that opportunity 1 but say this rather — I know that
whenever 1 go there, whether on Sundays or on week-
days, I am where Christ has promised to he, among two
or three gathered together in his name — I know that it
must be a blessed privilege to be near him, whether I
feel edified and comforted at the time, or no : I will,
therefore, by God's grace, walk according to this faith,
and not suffer any frivolous, unnecessary engagement,
nor yet any cold, heartless calculation of just how much
is my absolute duty, to keep me from Christ's solemn
assemblies, which, rightly used, are so many steps to-
ward heaven. Is there anything in this way of think-
ing, unworthy of a sound faith or of a reasonable piety 1
Is it not rather in exact agreement with those scriptures,
which teach us that the whole of the spiritual life is a
matter of faith, not of sight, or feeling ; and that the
blessed gospel is a law of liberty, according to Avhich,
whatever is done, is best done when joyfully and wil-
lingly offered, not exacted as a wearisome duty \

By what has been now said, one question is sufficiently
answered, which many persons may naturally be ready
to ask, when such obligations are pressed on them, as
this of keeping the unity of the Spirit. It may come
into their minds, what can I do ; I who am no clergy-
man, but a mere private Christian, toward so great an
object as this, of keeping the church at unity in itself]
In answer to this, I would remind you of those many
scriptures in which the church of Christ is represented
as a holy building or temple, whereof the materials are,
not earthly stones, but the sanctified and regenerated
souls and bodies of Christians ; living stones, as St. Peter
entitles us all, forming one spiritual household. Now
this description belongs to every one of us; to the
humblest little Christian child as truly as to the chiefest
apostle : each is, as it were, but a single stone in the
building, although the apostles and their successors be
indeed foundation stones, whereas the others only hold
their place in the building, as God has set them here
and there. So far then the layman or the child has the
same duty with the apostle, that is, to maintain his post

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 231

in the building ; and not to loosen it, as the withdraw-
ing of any stone must do. He must, therefore, adopt
the same ways with the apostle, of keeping himself in
the church, and so far keeping the church one. Now,
how the apostles kept themselves in the church, we
know by their own accounts in the acts and epistles :
they continued daily in breaking of bread and in prayer ;
they kept under their bodies by fasting, and brought
them into subjection ; they were very diligent in rec-
ommending, in all ways, that Christians should keep up
their solemn assemblies ; they never, for a moment,
thought of themselves as of single unconnected persons,
but always as of members of Christ's body, stones in the
holy temple, the church.

So, then, ought we to act and think, if we would
do our part in the great work and kingdom of our
God and of his Christ. Humble though it be in com-
parison, it is yet our part ; and it is to be done as the
apostles did theirs — by great exactness in outward com-
munion, so far as our circumstances allow, and by con-
stantly remembering the church in our prayers at home,
and in the education of her children, and in the dis-
charofe of our household duties.

And let it not be thought, that in thus recommending
great exactness in outward communion, we are setting
np the form above the substance, the body of religion,
above the spirit. Our outward communion, if we come
with devout minds, is indeed real spiritual worship ; it
is the very way by which God has promised to bestow
on us the treasures of spiritual grace. Consider the
several church services in their order, how between,
them they make provision for all that an immortal but
fallen spirit can need to bring it at once into communion,
with God, and keep it so for ever. First, regenerating
grace comes by holy baptism, whereby as infants, being
once for all made partakers of the atoning blood of our
Redeemer, and sanctified by his holy Spirit, we need
afterward from time to time only supplies and renewals
of the same grace ; which supplies and renewals are af-
forded by laying on of hands in confirmation, by contin-

23^ THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.

ual prayer at home, and in solemn assemblies ; by fast-
ing in due season, and, most of all, by the holy eucharist.
Now every one of these duties has something in it out-
ward as well as inward and spiritual ; the body has a
part to perform in them as well as the soul. For even
in the most retired private prayer, the very act of " sit-
ting alone and keeping silence," is such as cannot be
performed without the body ; and therefore it is in vain
for persons to draw a distinction between outward and
spiritual services, as if the latter could be at all perfect
without the other. More especially it is the height of
presumption for any one to think of continuing a lively
member of Christ's body, without receiving that which
is the very principle of union in that body — the flesh
and blood of our Lord in the holy eucharist. St. Paul
has taught us to consider this as the very cement of the
Christian building, the essence as it were which runs
throughout the whole mass, and gives life and spirit to
all. For he has said, " We being many, are one bread
and one body ; for we are all partakers of that one
bread." As much as to say, that if we have not our
share in that bread, if we refuse our part in that com-
munion, we have no reason to think that we are one
body : we are left single as it were and unsupported, to
bear the burthen of our many sins and miseries. The
wise and excellent Bishop Wilson had so strong a feel-
ing of the necessity of the holy sacrament of the Lord's
Supper to our being lively members of Christ's body,
as to have left it on record that he should have been
even afraid to pray, if he were not in the habit of re-
ceiving the holy communion.

Such as were the thoughts and practice of that good
bishop, such was the judgment and practice of the uni-
versal church in the first and best ages. All baptized
Christians, at least all of full age, were then communi-
cants, except such as were under the censures of the
church, and were doing penance to prepare themselves
for communion by and by. All were communicants ;
and one blessed consequence was, that the unity of the
Spirit was kept in such great perfection as it is hard for

THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 233

lis even to imagine in our days. The holy church
throughout all the world was one living and feeling body ;
feeling, I say, throughout its extent whatever happened
to any part or extremity of it. The Christians in Asia
sympathized with the Christians of Rome, both in their
joys and in their sorrows : they made known to one
another the trials and dangers which they underwent in
defence of the common truth ; they prayed and gave
thanks for one another ; they warned one another against
heresies and errors : they fought the battles of our Lord
and his cross, though at a great earthly distance, yet
with one heart and one mind.

Let us endeavor, each in his station, to serve God in
his church as regularly, as punctually, as humbly, as
they did: and when we cannot serve him in his church,
yet to remember the church at home ; and no doubt,
unworthy as we are, our blessing will be like theirs.
We may never see what they saw, on earth, the church
universal of one accord, of one mind ; but we may hope
to see in heaven, through the merits of him w^ho hath
purchased for us every blessing ; through him, I say we
may hope to see in heaven, that of which even the first
and best church was but a faint shadow and emblem —
the unity of the spirit, kept perfectly in the bond of
everlasting peace.

20*

234? GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

SERMON XXV.

GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

1 Peter i. 17.

" If ye call on the Father, who, without respect of persons judgeth ac-
cording to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear."

There is a verse in the psalms very full of instruction,
which might perhaps be not unfitly taken as a text for
this whole epistle of St. Peter. It is at the end of the
llUh psalm, in which David had been giving most high
praise and glory to God for his marvellous and distin-
guishing mercy toward his own chosen and peculiar
people. " He hath given meat unto them that fear him ;
he shall ever be mindful of his covenant. He hath show-
ed his people the power of his works that he may give
them the heritage of the heathen. He sent redemption
unto his people : he hath commanded his covenant for
ever." This is the holy psalmist's account of the high
privileges and honors given to those, whom the great
God of heaven and earth chooses to be his own people
and servants — to the Jews first, and afterward to us
Christians. But observe how he follows it up ; and this
is the very instructive verse which I just mentioned.
*' The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a
good understanding have all they that do thereafter:
the praise of it endureth for ever." As much as to say,
that, great and glorious as the mercies are, which God
has provided for his own elect people, they are not such
as ought for a moment to set us free from that godly
fear, that religious and awful sense of God's unspeaka-
ble presence, which is the beginning, the head and
crown, of all spiritual wisdom. " The praise of it en-

GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE. 235

dureth for ever ;" it is not to be set aside after a time,
as if it were but a mere beginning. The fear of God is
not a thing to be used for bringing babes to Christ, and
then to be discarded and done without as fast as persons
grow up to spiritual manhood : rather it must accom-
pany those, who would walk worthy of God's high call-
ing, from the beginning to the end of their time here on.
earth. It must be joined indeed with love, but we must
never expect, we must never endeavor, to turn it entire-
ly into such love as we feel toward those who are dear
to us here among- men. In a word, the love and fear of
God will grow up together in a religious and thoughtful
heart ; as we come to know more of him as the great-
est and best of fathers.

Such is the psalmist's account of the fear of God :
and lest any person, having an eye to the infinite bless-
ings of the gospel of Christ, made known to us but un-
known to him, should imagine that this description of
God's fear is now as it were out of date ; that since the
Son of God is come, and is not ashamed to call us
brethren, we may go on with less awe and reverence,
more at our ease in the dreadful presence of the Al-
mighty ; lest we should dream of being assured of his
personal favor and consequently grow careless of exact-
ly obeying him, familiar and irreverent in his service ;
I wish all Christians w^ould observe how earnestly the
very same lesson is taught in the New Testament also.
Our Lord, as well as David and Moses, nay more awful-
ly than David and Moses, forewarns us whom we shall
fear ; him namely, who is able to cast both body and
soul into hell : this caution our Savior gives more awful-
ly than the prophets of old, but how much he is the very
judge who shall pass the dreadful sentence which he
threatens : and also because the time was come for
speaking more plainly of eternal life and death, than
ever they had power and authority to do.

And observe, he speaks thus, not to those who were
still at a distance from him, but to his own chosen
apostles and followers, to those whom in the same dis-
course he calls his friends and his little flock. " Fear

236 GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom. Fear not them, which kill the
body, and afterward have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear. Fear him,
which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell ;
yea, I say unto you, fear him." Surely this one text
is enough to do away with all presumptuous irreverent
notions of any persons ever becoming so good, or so
hiffh in God's favor, as to do without the fear of God.

It is true, St. John says, "Perfect love casteth out
fear," but what fear 1 surely not religious reverence of
the ever present Almighty Father, but rather the fear of
what man can do to separate us from his love : or the
mistrust and doubt too natural to us all, as to whether
God will indeed fulfil the blessed promises of the Bible :
this sort of fear, perfect love does indeed cast out, but
not that fear with which angels and good men must
each worship before the infinite Creator : not that filial,
reverential fear which is "the beginning of wisdom, and
the praise of it endureth for ever."

As I said before, this verse of the Psalmist might well
stand for a kind of text to the whole first Epistle of St.
Peter. For that epistle, although no portion whatever
of the New Testament, dwells more upon Christian
privileges, yet is every where deeply marked with the
reverent fear of Almighty God. The apostle writes to
the whole body of eastern Christians, as " elect accord-
ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father :" he speaks
to them as to persons " rejoicing with unspeakable joy :'*
he assures them that the salvation which they had actu-
ally attained was so blessed, as to be the great object of
inquiry and expectation on the part of God's holy
prophets since the world began. And what is the con-
clusion he draws from these unspeakable blessings and
privileges 1 Is it, "because God has favored you, there-
fore you may take your salvation for granted ; it will be
all done for youl" Quite the contrary : the instruction
which St. Peter would build on these our Christian
honors and privileges, is such as follow: — "As he who
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of

GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE. 237

conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I
am holy." And again, " Seeing ye have purified your
hearts through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another out of a pure
heart, fervently." And, " you who in time past were
not a people, but now are the people of God j you who
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy ;
I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." And to men-
tion but one more instance, he bids them remember that
they are " free," partakers of spiritual liberty through
Jesus Christ, not in order that they " might use such
their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness," an excuse
for sin, but " as servants of God."

On the whole, it is plain that St. Peter was in some
measure afraid, lest the Christians to whom he was wri-
ting should so dwell on favors received, be so entirely
taken up with the comfortable promises of the gospel,
as to forget the fear of God, and the plain duty of keep-
ing the commandments. He is therefore earnest every-
where, in endeavoring to temper their affectionate grat-
itude to Christ with deep and awfal reverence, such as
is due from sinners to their judge, from creatures to
their Creator. The passage in the text is a remarkable
instance of this. " Seeing ye call him Father," who is
above all the partialities and weak indulgence of earthly
parents ; w^ho is just, severe, and true, even to his most
highly favored children ; " who without respect of per-
sons judgeth according to every man's work;" take
care that ye " pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear."

As if he had said. It is our privilege to call God, our
Father which art in heaven. Christ himself in his own
prayer has authorized the faithful to do it. And it was
their privilege ; none but believers might enjoy it ; for
which reason one title given in old times to the Lord's
prayer, was " the prayer of the faithful," or of the be-
lievers. Such therefore were allowed by God's own
express word to call on him as their Father ; to call
themselves by his name, his children, in such a sense as

238 GOD AN IMPARTIAL JITDGE.

no other man mifiht. God is indeed the Father of all,
but it is only to Christians, that he has expressly given
permission to call him Father, and to account themselves
his household and children.

Here the irreligious pride of some men might present-
ly come in, and tempt them to imagine that God is par-
tial to them j that he favors them above others, and
therefore they may take liberties ; he will not be so
strict in requiring an account how they have kept his
laws. But St. Peter teaches us just the contrary : even
as the last of the prohets, Malachi, had taught before,
looking forward by the Spirit to a time, when men hav-
ing greater privileges than ever, would be in danger of
abusing them more than ever. " If I be a Father where
is mine honor 1" How can you call the great God of
heaven and earth by a name which brings him so very near
you, and not feel an awful kind of thrill, a sense of his
presence in your very heart 1 We all know how it is
with a child who is conscious to himself that his parent
is watching him at the moment, and knows that he is a
parent who will not put up with wrong things, how af-
fectionate soever he may be ; such a child will be more
restrained from giving way to any wrong passion or
habit, by the presence of such a father, than by the pre-
sence of a stranger; and so, argues the apostle, will it
be with you, if you have anything like the feeling of
sons : God's tender fatherly care over you will be a
reason, not for presumption, but for fear.

More especially, when you add that which he takes
notice of in the next place : that this our heavenly
Father, by whose name we are called, is one who " with-
out respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work." " Without respect of persons," that is, without
such blind fond partialities, as are continually mingling
themselves with the likings and dislikes of men, and
perverting their judgments, when they mean to be most
impartial.

This was in a great degree a discovery of God's na-
ture and character made by the gospel. Before the
coming of our Lord and Savior, neither Jew nor Gentile

GOD AN IMPARTUL JUDGE. 239

looked on the God of heaven as being impartial, and
judging without respect of persons. As for the Gen-
tiles, they supposed there were as nnany gods as there
were cities or nations among them: that every place
had its protecting deity ; such as Chemosh the god of
the Moabites, Milcom the abomination of the children
of Ammon, Beelzebub the god of Ekron, Diana of the
Ephesians, and so on ; and to these and the other evil
spirits which they w^orshipped, they attributed all the
bad and childish passions which frail men indulge in,
and to the same excess : as the Psalmist says, " They
thought wickedly, that God was even such a one as
themselves."

Again, even God's own people, the Jews were gener-
ally apt more or less to mistake the nature and meaning
of the great favor, which God Almighty had shown them
for so many ages. They kept continually saying within
themselves, " We have Abraham to our father ;" in such
a manner as if they were sure of especial consideration
to be had of them on that account merely ; as if they
might be looser in their conduct than other men. For
■which reason the Almighty kept continually warning
them in such words as those of the prophet Amos : " Yon
only have I known of all the families of the earth, there-
fore will I visit you for all your iniquities."

When therefore both Jew and Gentile were to be
called into one great family in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, one of the things most necessary to be
taught was, " God is no respecter of persons, but in
every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteous-
ness is accepted with him." This St. Peter had taught
long ago to the Jews, when, by especial direction of the
Holy Ghost, he had to convert and baptize Cornelius
and his household, the first-fruits of the Gentile world
to Jesus Christ : and now again he repeats the same in-
struction to the converted Gentiles themselves, lest they
should abuse their own privileges, and fancy they were
entitled to favor at the hands of the most holy God,
merely for being on his side; as their forefathers had
imairined themselves secure of the favor of this or that

^^40 GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

false god, because they were among his worshippers,
and belonged to the place where his temple was.
Therefore St. Peter bids them take notice, that our
God is an impartial God, he judges "without respect
of persons."

Nor may we imagine that the apostle spoke to the
men of those times only ; we too, and the Christians of
all times, are in danger of the same kind of error : we
are all too apt to indulge the childish imagination, that
our own case has something particular in it, and unlike
all the rest of the world: that God Almighty therefore,
just and terrible as he is, will surely make exceptions in
our favor ; we know not how, but somehow or another
we flatter ourselves, that we individually shall escape
the sentence, pronounced in Holy Scripture against
those, who fall into deadly sin, after being delivered
from sin by holy baptism. Is it not so, that we all of
us, young and old, many times before now, have humor-
ed and flattered ourselves with blind notions of this
kind 1 We have not, of course, said to ourselves, in so
many letters and syllables, " God will judge us differ-
ently from others j we have not the same occasion as
they to take these threatenings literally to ourselves."
This has not been our way of reasoning, distinctly ; but
in a blind indistinct way we have used ourselves to
something very like this. We have dreamed that God
knew something about us, which made our case unlike
that of the rest of the world j and we have in our con-
duct taken liberties accordingly.

I will instance a fault against which Holy Scripture,
the Scriptures of the New Testament, are as plain and
as terrible as against any whatsoever ; and yet this is
perhaps of all faults the one for which persons general-
ly excuse themselves most easily on the plea of there
being something extraordinary in their case : I mean
the crime of lying ; of which St. John says openly, " All
liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
This notwithstanding, how easily do most men allow
themselves in various ways of lying, for gain, for credit,

GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE. 241

for convenience sake, and make no sort of scruple about
it, nor believe themselves at all the worse Christians.
It is plain that such as do so, and yet read and believe
their Bibles, must have some way, hardly known per-
haps to themselves, of getting rid of this fearful denun-
ciation, and persuading themselves that they are not
of the number of those, to whom the bottomless pit is
thus threatened. But in vain : since they are clearly
warned that " God is no respecter of persons ;" and he
who has warned them, will soon come fearfully to con-
vince them.

And to give them the less excuse for their error, the
same Scriptures which are thus express in declaring the
perfect impartiality of the heavenly Judge, that is, his
purpose to decide in every case, according to his rule ;
those same Scriptures, I say, tell us, no less clearly,
what the rule will be. " The dead, small and great, will
stand before God, and will be judged out of what is
written in the book, according to their works.'''' " We
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
every man may receive the things done in the body, ac-
cording to that he hath done, whether it be bad or good."
*' Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to
give to every man according as his work shall 6e."

These are a few of the many plain declarations of
God's Holy Spirit, as to the rule of judgment, by which
the Son of God our Savior, will determine our sentence
at the last day : and they come, you see, to the same
with St. Peter's, in the text. " God, without respect
of persons, judgeth according to every man's work."

The reward, then, of those who shall receive God's
blessing at last, will be strictly in proportion, not to
their deservings, for those strictly speaking are none at
all ; they owing to God a perfect obedience, and it being
but of his undeserved mercy, that he accepts any such
homage as a penitent sinner can offer him ; the reward,
therefore, and blessing of the last day, will be in propor-
tion, not to their deservings, but to their sincerity and
steadiness in working. " They will be justified," as St.
Paul says, " by faith, without works of any law," that
Vol. I.— 21

242 GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

is, by the free and undeserved mercy of God in Christ
Jesus, accepting their faith as if it were perfect obedi-
ence : yet, in another sense, they are justified by the
works of the gospel law, not by faith only ; that is, God
graciously accepts, not their bare nominal good mean-
ing, but their good meaning proved by their works, as
the proper condition on which he vouchsafes to pardon
them, and make and keep them members of his Son our
Lord.

And there is no respect of persons on this plan : be-
cause the faith meant is not a strong emotion, or lifting
up of the soul, more or less sudden and sensible ; but it
is the deliberate, calm, steady devotion of the heart, to
do the will of God our Savior, and not our own will.
This faith, like all other good habits, is (under God's
Holy Spirit) the result of continual good works; the
more good we do, the more we cherish and refresh it ;
and God, by it, makes us worthy, and reckons us worthy,
of his kingdom. There is not, in all this, one word of
partial arbitrary preference, as though the Judge, to
please himself, took out of the number of mankind here
one, and there another, to be endowed with faith, and
finally saved, whether themselves will or no. Against
all such human inventions the truth of God stands clear
in the text, and in a great many other places : " God,
without respect of persons, judgeth according to every
man's work."

Therefore, let us fear, for we have indeed great rea-
son : let us fear, lest, so much depending, as plainly
does depend, on our own works, those works be found
at the last day to be nothing at all, or next to nothing.
And having this'fear in us, let us by God's grace en-
deavor for the future, to work more soberly and dili-
gently ; not as if any thing we can do would suffice, or
at all avail, to " put away our sins, or endure the severity
of God's judgment ;" but, as being quite entirely sure,
that without such good works, not even the precious
blood of Christ will avail for us at the last day. They
would not have purchased heaven, and yet the want of
them may, and will, most undoubtedly shut out from

GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE. 243

heaven. Who, I say again, can think of this, and not
fear and tremble, comparing his own progress in holi-
ness with the opportunities which God has given him 1

This consideration of itself is surely terrible enough;
but there is one thing yet remaining, which makes it
yet more alarming to the conscience : and it is that
which St. Peter sets before us by his use of the word
" sojourning''' in this passage. " Pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear." As much as to say, "Pass
your time in fear, not knowing how short it may be."
Since you are to be judged by your works, some good
space of time, generally speaking, must be necessary,
for you to obtain those right habits, those devout, pure,
and just dispositions of mind, without which heaven it-
self, had you made your way thither, would be no heaven
to you. Some good space of time, some regular course
and practice of holy desires, good counsels, and just
works, must be generally necessary, before you can be
duly clad with the w^edding-garment, the robe of holi-
ness, which God in his mercy threw over you in holy
baptism, but which you, too often, by your unworthy -
behavior, have more or less thrown off. Some good
while is necessary : and, for aught you know, you have
but a moment.

The churchyards around us are fast filling ; the gates
of the unseen world are opening, every day almost, to
receive one or another of our neighbors and acquaint-
ance : it may be our own turn next 5 very soon it must
be so : and what have we done to be ready for it 1 how
far have we advanced, by the heavenly aid of God's
spirit, in that great and difficult work, of putting off the
mind of this world, and putting on the mind of Christ %

These questions if we continually ask ourselves, we
shall, according to the holy apostle's advice (A«5 advice,
who, at one time suffered himself so grievously by pre-
sumption), we shall " pass the time of our sojourning
here in fear :" not slavish fear of God, as of a hard
master, but reverent and religious fear and love of him
as of a watchful ever-present Judge, yet most merciful
Father and helper. Such a fear, as shall quicken us

244" GOD AN IMPARTIAL JUDGE.

from time to time, in bringing- forth the fruit of good
works, and laying up our treasure in heaven. Happy,
indeed, most happy and blessed, according to the say-
ing of the wise man, is he that so " feareth always."

GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR. $145

SERMON XXVI.

GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR.

1 Peter i. 17.
" Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear."

If these words were not known for certain to be the
words of Holy Scripture ; If they were merely words of
advice, gathered by some good men out of much medi-
tation on the instruction provided for us by the Holy
Ghost in the book of God, I make no doubt they would
appear to many very severe, very ill-timed, very un-
fit to win souls to God, very unlike the mild and indul-
gent spirit, which, as they persuade themselves, is the
chief mark of God's holy gospel. " What," it would
be said, " are people to fear always ? all people, those
who are farthest advanced in true religion and in
the comfort of the Holy Ghost % Is life to be passed
altogether m jealous discomfort, in severe denying our-
selves 1 What, then, is to become of the natural cheer-
fulness of youth ; of the enjoyments inseparable from
even health and spirits, quiet and comfortable times,
affectionate and kind relations and friends ; what of the
testimony of a good conscience ; what of that full as-
surance of hope, which the sacred Scriptures of the
New Testament mention as one fruit of God's good
Spirit in the heart V

All this and more would be said, by persons unwilling
to walk in the true fear of God, against such a maxim
as that of St. Peter in the text, "Pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear," if that maxim were not known
to be the very words of Holy Scripture. All this and
more is said by different sorts of persons, against those,
who, following God's own method, would make them

21*

246 GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR.

serious in the true Scriptural way; by teaching them,
and encouraging them in, the true reverence, dread,
and awe of God's holy and glorious presence, and of the
eternal world, toward which they are close approaching.

It may be through God's blessing, of use to us, if we
now consider what those tempers and habits are, which
are most apt to make men impatient of being told to
"pass the time of their sojourning here in fear." We
may hope to find some instruction, as to the best way
of training ourselves to a better mind, and avoiding that
heathenish kind of devotion, which makes them dissat-
isfied with the teaching both of God and man, except it
tend to make them gay and cheerful for the moment.

I call it a heathenish kind of devotion, for such indeed
it is : it is like the earthly and carnal notions of those
who even now in idolatrous countries gather themselves
around the temples of their false gods, and cry out, one
to another, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we
die." " Come ye," say they, " and we will fetch wine,
and fill ourselves with strong drink, and to-morrow
shall be as this day, and yet more abundant." These
words of the prophet, which describe the behavior of
certain persons in his time, enemies to all religion, are
but of too near resemblance to the thoughts and ways
of a good many in our time, who yet most carefully
profess and call themselves Christians.

Indeed, there is a certain time of life, in which we
are almost all of us, if the truth must be owned, more
or less partakers of this pagan error, of disliking all that
is really serious, all that would impress us deeply and
thoroughly with the fear and dread of Almighty God.
When youth, and strength, and spirits, are high, before
we have tasted of our Father's severer discipline, we
shrink, almost all of us, from the graver and sadder
lessons of Scripture and the church : we say to our-
selves, and allow others *to say to us, " Surely this
world, so full of enjoyment, can never have been meant
merely as a place for the exercise of hard and severe
penitence ;" and thus by degrees we allow ourselves to
be led on, until too many of us forget almost entirely

GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR. 247

the better mind of our innocent and simple childhood :
that mind, which before had caused us to take God and
our parents and teachers, who are in God's stead to us,
at their word : which had made us really thoughtful in
our prayers, and diligent from time to time, in our self-
examinations. Too often it happens, that, as years go
on, and we come more and more within reach of the
corrupting world, the happy tempers learned in serious
and religious childhood are spoiled and marred, one after
another ; one after another, we learn and are embold-
ened to take liberties with holy things, to think lightly
of what before would have shocked us ; prayer without
regularity and seriousness, conversation without re-
straint, wilful pleasing of ourselves in all matters in
which we have any choice ; these things seem by de-
grees less shocking and more natural to us ; we grow
more and more inclined to say of this and that, " I don't
care ;" and you all know, even by the proverb, to what
sort of an end "not caring" is sure to lead.

If, then, any young person happen now to be listen-
ing to me, let me beseech him to be aware of this dan-
ger ; to watch in himself that spirit of confidence and
gayety, which, under pretence of mere youthful cheer-
fulness, would lead him to make light of God's most
holy commandments, and of the means of grace, ap-
pointed in his church, for the preservation of our first
blessed baptismal innocency.

Let me in particular beseech and warn you, not to
listen to those who, whether in jest or in earnest, would
persuade you, that you are too young to come to the
holy communion. Our church fixes no limit of age, but
distinctly declares, that no person is too young, who is
" willing and desirous to be confirmed ;" that is, who
can give some account of the Christian hope that is in
him, and can make a steady resolution, by God's bles-
sing, so to live as not to forfeit that hope. Wherever I
go, I hear young persons saying, they know it is their
duty to attend the holy table, but they consider them-
selves full young as yet ; they see others going, who,
as they think, are never the better j and so, for their

248 GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAK.

part, they mean to wait, and see whether, some years
hence, they shall not be fitter than they are now. I
would say to all who use such language as this, " Look
to it, for evil is before you. Under pretence of rever-
ence to your Savior, you are but encouraging the light-
ness and childishness of your own inconsiderate unsteady
heart. You cannot bear the thought of passing the
whole time of your sojourning and abode on earth in
such devout fear as St. Peter recommends to all : you
think it would be a dull melancholy thing to begin seri-
ousness so early in life ; aud so you put the whole mat-
ter off, like Felix, to a more convenient season, which
season, to most of you will never come.

" As to other young persons, bolder as you think than
yourself, communicating, and being never the better for
it ; that is really no reason at all, why you should abstain
from communion, though it is a very strong reason,
why you should most diligently prepare yourself for it.
Do so, and you need not fear to come : young as you
are, and of yourself unworthy, Christ has invited you as
expressly as your elders and betters : it is not Christian
fear, but extreme heathenish rashness, when he has or-
dained this one way for you to have life through him,
and you draw back as though you could do without him."

" But the sacrament is such a very solemn thing." —
True ; and is it not a solemn thing to die 1 Is it not an
extremely solemn thing to spend one's time, day and
night, in the immediate presence of the great and holy
God 1 This you must do ; withdraw yourself as you
may from his sacraments, you cannot withdraw yourself
from his sight, nor from his Almighty hand. He will
ask you, by-and-by, why you did not strengthen your
youth against temptation, by the early und frequent use
of that sovereign medicine. The body and blood of his
dear Son. This God will ask you ; consider in good
time, whether it will be enough for you to answer, that
you were some way from the church ; that you were
afraid of falling into sin afterward ; that you have known
many go, who did not seem to improve.

Doubtless, if the lambs and little ones of Jesus Christ

GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR. 249

would seriously turn in their minds, what they know
very well, concerning the bread of life and the cup of
salvation, the face of things in this respect would be
quite altered. Those who now shrink from the blessed
eucharist, would draw near to it humbly, as to the most
glorious of all privileges ; those who come seldom would
come oftener ; those who come without sufficient thought
and consideration, would recollect themselves more
thoroughly, and practise a religious fear. And what
would be the consequence, even as to that cheerfulness,
which because young people are afraid of losing, they
too often give up every kind of serious thought 1 Why,
they would begin from that day forward to be infinitely
more hopeful and settled, though perhaps less gay and
confident, than before they listened to their Lord's gra-
cious call.

It is one of the greatest mistakes to imagine, that the
sort of fear which men practise in worthy communi-
cating, is an enemy to real refreshment, and cheerful-
ness, real joy and peace of heart. Nothing but want of
faith, of considerate faith, could ever have put such a
thought in a Christian's mind. Once really believe, and
recollect, that he who gives himself to you in that sacra-
ment, is the life and joy of the whole world: that by
virtue of it, you have constant mysterious communion
with our Lord Jesus Christ, the rest of the weary and
heavy-laden, not only at the moment of receiving, but
afterward also ; even as the virtue of bodily food is
perceived in the nourishment which it gives after the
meal, and not at the table only : believe and remember
this, and you cannot but acknowledge that the holy
sacrament is the last thing to make persons sad, gloomy,
and cheerless ; — unless you believe it would have been
a sad, gloomy, cheerless thing, to be an attendant in
person on our divine Master, as he went about doing
good : unless heaven itself be in your account a sad,
gloomy, cheerless place.

It is true, the sort of rest and satisfaction, which our
Lord by his Spirit pours into the hearts of those who
come worthily to his altar, is not of a gay tumultuous

250 GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR.

sort : it does not make people light-minded^ though in a
certain sense it makes them very light-hearted ; it does
not flash to and fro, any more than do the joys of heaven,
any more than did the joy of those favored disciples,
who knew our blessed Lord face to face, who lay in his
bosom, and whom he called friends. Theirs, no doubt,
was a calm, quiet, deep-seated consolation and security,
which the world knew nothing- of; but was it for that
reason the less real % Nay, the calm, the quiet, the
depth, were the very things which made it true, real,
and abiding. Would it not have been utter madness,
as well as profaneness, for St. John the beloved disci-
ple, lying as he did in Jesus^s bosom, to have growQ
weary of that highest honor, and hastened away to such
refreshments as no doubt then abounded in Jerusalem %
And yet this is the very thing young persons do, the
very thing we all do, when we deliberately draw back
from communion with Jesus Christ, under the notion
of its being too solemn a thing, and requiring a further
separation from worldly enjoyments than we are as yet
willing to submit ourselves to. It is as if St. John, being
invited to Jesus's bosom, had said "he was too young
yet J it might be well enough for St. Peter and others,
but he was as yet resolved to enjoy himself a little ia
the ordinary way of the world."

If, indeed, admission to this blessed sacrament had a
necessary tendency to lessen your fear of God; if com-
ing to it often, as not a few persons imagine, of course
took away from your reverential thought of it when you
came ; that would be a reason for doubting- about it
sometimes. But can it be so 1 can it be that partaking*
of our Lord Jesus Christ, his body and blood, should
ever make persons less reverential toward him 1 less
like him in a deep devotional sense of the presence of
the Almighty Father in their hearts'? would those, who
always come to the sacrament prepared, pass the time
of their pilgrimage with less of godly and Christian fear,
if they came twice in the same number of weeks where-
in now they come once % I do not understand how this
should be j and I do not believe that experience proves

GM)D WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR. 251

it ; although in matters of this kind, that is, in judgino-
of other men's comparative religious character, I am
almost afraid to appeal to experience at all. But, how-
ever, I think any one that pleases may, without presump-
tuous comparison, at once see enough to convince him,
that those persons, who resolve by God's grace to com-
municate as often as they can, are not in general more
wanting in the fear of God, than those who come more
rarely.

I do not deny, that if a man got into a habit of de-
liberately coming with a profane and light mind, vi^ithout
sincere, actual self-examination and repentance, such a
one would be the worse in the end for his frequent
coming, for it would sear and harden his heart ; and
there is reason to fear, as the church intimates in one
of her exhortations, that the devil might enter into him,
the evil spirit get entire hold of him, as a punishment,
especially, for such his profane conduct ; and it may be
that here and there such miserable cases do occur : but
will any one say that this is any reason, why those who
come in real humility, real well-meaning, however im-
perfect, should be afraid to come often \ Surely the
fault of those miserable persons arose from their ap-
proaching the holy table profanely^ not from their ap-
proaching it whenever they had opportunity: nor, while
the world stands, shall any one ever be able to show an
instance of any person, who, coming reverently, and
leading a good life, has been the worse Christian, merely
because he came often. The feelings at the moment of
communicating may not have been so strong and over-
powering, but true goodness, a Christian heart and life,
depend not on the feelings of the moment ; and to stay
away, for fear of losing some part of their keenness, is
just giving up the substance for the shadow's sake.

Hitherto I have been speaking to young persons, and
to persons of all ages, who shrink from communion with
Jesus Christ, because they cannot thoroughly receive
the saying, " Pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear." But it is not only in regard of the holy euchar-

252 GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAE.

ist, that such an evil temper continually betrays itself,
even among those who seem free from gross sin.

Let us only recollect ourselves, how it is with us at
our prayers. Are we not too much inclined to say them
over without seriously bringing before our minds the
awful presence of him to whom we pray 1 Do we al-
ways enough consider what we are doing, when we enter
into our closet, and shut our door, and fall down on our
knees before our Father which seeth in secret 1 We
are, then, as we shall be when we die, alone with Al-
mighty God and his holy angels. We are come close
to his footstool, and his ear is inclined to hear us.
Should we not use ourselves to consider this dreadful
presence, if it were but for one moment, before we enter
on the direct matter of our prayers 1

At least, while we pronounce the words, Almighty,
Everlasting God, we might try to recollect ourselves,
and consider to whom we are speaking, and that every
word we now speak is to pierce the clouds, and make
its way through the darkness of God's throne, higher
than ever angel or archangel could reach : we are speak-
ing to God himself. And I suppose it is in order to ac-
custom us to thoughts of this kind when we pray, that
the church has from the beginning taught us to address
him as Almighty, rather than by any other of his glori-
ous attributes : the word Almighty, above all others,
teaching and reminding us in what deep fear we should
approach him, holding as he does so entirely in his
hand our being, our life and death, our salvation and
ruin.

This too is one of the reasons why outward religion,
the religion of the body, is of so very great consequence ;
viz., that it helps very much to keep and improve in our
hearts the true and wholesome fear of God. Therefore
God himself does not disdain to give directions in holy
Scripture, agreeing with the very feelings of our nature,
which are in another sort intimations of his almighty
will, as to what posture we should use, if our health al-
low, in praying to him. " 0 come, let us worship and
fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker." And

GOD WILL BE SERVED IN FEAR. 253

he has by his Holy Spirit declared, that the saints of
old, when they prayed, kneeled down, and that our Lord
and Savior himself fell prostrate on the earth. Because
in truth not only does nature teach us to express our
feelings in such postures, but also these very bodies of
ours, so fearfully and wonderfully nnade, are of purpose
so framed as to have an influence in their turn on our
souls. Soldiers, we know, in all armies, are made to
march erect, and to be firm and straight in all their
bodily movements ; not merely for the appearance' sake,
but because the very attitude, in some unaccountable way,
tends to make them bolder and firmer in mind ; and in
like manner there is no question, that kneeling and other
humble gestures in devotion, practised not for form's
sake, but in obedience to the church, and in the fear of
God, would cherish and improve that very fear in our
hearts: God having, as I just now said, ordered our
frames so that the outward part, the body, shall always
have more or less effect on the inward part, the soul ;
whereby, he has given to every devout servant of his,
a powerful instrument and help to true devotion, that is,
the limbs and sense of his own body ; by the right use
and ordering of which, we may every one of us do a
great deal toward making ourselves better Christians.

And surely it is something very like human presump-
tion, set up against the inspired word of God, when
people make light of those outward and bodily services,
and say, " the religion of the heart is everything :" as
if he who must know us better than we do ourselves,
had not appointed such outward devotion, on purpose
to secure the religion of the heart.

Let us rather make up our minds, not to be too nice
and subtle, in inquiring Avhich of God's commandments
are important, and which of small consequence ; when
the mere fact of their being God's commandments makes
them all of exceeding consequence. Let us leave ofT
considering which of our fathers' good old religious
customs we may best do without ; for that is too much
like considering, with how little of piety and religion
we may still get on tolerably well. One whose heart

254 GOD WILL BE SERVED IN PEAK. ^^

was thoroughly possessed with a devout sense of the
great things done for us by our Lord and Savior, would
rather employ himself, I should imagine, in contriving
how to make every work and purpose of his, every part
of his life and conduct, in some way or other, a kind of
offering to God ; which devout wish the early Christians
used to express by signing themselves with the sign of
the cross, on almost every occasion of life ; when they
sat in the house, and when they walked in the way ;
when they lay down, and when they rose up. Such
customs if they begin from the fear of God, are very
likely, by his blessing, to improve that fear in our hearts
continually ; as, indeed, everything must do, which
really reminds us of his unspeakable and most awful
presence.

The excellent Bishop Wilson has said, speaking of
small instances of self-denial, " Say not, it is a trifle, and
not fit to offer in sacrifice to God." And the same may
be said of small occasions of nourishing the remem-
brance of him ; of short prayers frequently through the
day, of bowing the body at the sacred name of Jesus,
of turning every event and accident of life, not openly,
but as much as may be in secret, into an opportunity
for devout prayer and recollection, " whose we are and
whom we serve 5" where we are now, and whither we are
fast going. Life is made up of such little things as these,
and if these be regularly offered to Almighty God, in
the name of his Son Jesus Christ, then the whole of life
is offered to him : and no doubt he will bless the sacri-
fice, he will not despise the day of small things. He
who gave an everlasting reward to the poor widow with
her two mites, will look down graciously on the least
and lowest offering, which the least and lowest of his
people may humbly present to him : he will bless the
willing mind, and fill it more and more with the spirit
of his holy fear, that it may continue his for ever.

KINGS TO BE HOKOREB FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 255

SERMON XXVn.

KINGS TO BE HONORED FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE.

PREACHED ON THE KING's ACCESSION, 1836.

Jeremiah xxix. 7.

*' Seek the peace of the city, whither the Lord hath caused you to be
carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it : for in the peace
thereof shall ye have peace."

These words are part of a letter which the prophet
Jeremiah, remaining himself in Jerusalem, wrote by
God's Holy Spirit to those of his countrymen, who had
been carried away to Babylon before the rest. The im-
mediate object of this letter was, to quiet any feverish
restless hope, which they might entertain, of speedy
deliverance from that their sad captivity : knowing them-
selves, as they did, to be God's own people, but not
having anything like a true notion of the greatness of
their sin, and of the punishment which they were to ex-
pect from their offended Father. Besides, they had
among them, not a few false prophets and diviners, who
did their best to encourage and flatter them in false
hopes.

Therefore, Jeremiah was directed by the Holy Ghost
to stifle at once all such deceitful expectations, and to
bid them make up their minds to the spending seventy
years in captivity, so that very few indeed of those to
whom he wrote, might expect themselves to return
to their own land. That was his immediate object ; and,
in the meantime, he gives them instructions how they
should behave in the land of their captivity. They
should regrard it for the time as a kind of home : should
patiently and contentedly make the best of God s visit-

256 KINGS TO BE HONORED

ation. "Build ye houses and dwell in them ; and plant
gardens and eat the fruit of them ; take ye wives and
beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons,
and give your daughters to husbands, that they may
bear sons and daughters ; that ye may be increased
there, and not diminished."

Of course where they had their home, there they
owed the duty of subjects. They owed peace and sub-
mission to the government, which protected them in so
many comforts. Therefore it goes on as in the text :
" Seek the peace of the city, whither the Lord hath
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto
the Lord for it ; for in the peace thereof shall ye have
peace."

There is a remarkable correspondence, in many re-
spects, between this advice of the prophet, and the
apostolical advice of St. Paul to Timothy, and through
him to the church of Ephesus (of which Timothy was
bishop), and to the church generally in those times;
which advice you will find is put first in the special
service for this day. " I exhort that, first of all, sup-
plications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks
be made for all men ; for kings, and all who are in au-
thority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty." St. Paul is here directing
the order of the church prayers, and the very first thing
which he insists upon, is prayer for kings, and those in
authority : and, according to his direction, the church,
in all times, has made special mention of those high
persons in the most solemn part of her service, that is,
in ojfTering up her solemn intercessions, with the sacred
bread and wine, to the Most High, before partaking of
the holy communion. She prays then as you know, for
all Christian kings, princes, and governors, and espe-
cially for our gracious king.

Again, as the reason assigned in Jeremiah is, " In the
peace thereof ye shall have peace," so St. Paul's argu-
ment, why Christians should pray for heathen govern-
ors, is, "That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty."

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 257

But how is it that this direction of St. Paul answers
so well to the advice of Jeremiah in the text % Because
the condition of those, to whom St. Paul wrote, answer-
ed very nearly to the condition of the Hebrews in Baby-
lon, to whom Jeremiah wrote. Both were in a kind of
captivity, the one under the kin^ of Babylon, the other
under Rome, which in our Lord's time and after stood
in the place of Babylon, being the imbodied represent-
ative and image of the power of this world, the anti-
christian power, which in all times has set itself against
the saints of the Most High. The kings, therefore, and
persons in authority, for whom St. Paul here directs
that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanks-
givings, should be made by the church in her liturgy,
were aliens and enemies to Jesus Christ and his gospel,
persecutors and hinderers of the saving truth of God,
and servants and agents, so far, of the evil spirit, just
as much or more than Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon had
been : and we know that Nebuchadnezzar not only wor-
shipped idols himself, but made an image of gold, and
proclaimed destruction by fire to every one, who should
refuse to worship that image. But for Babylon and
Rome alike, as you perceive, God's people were direct-
ed to pray. The church, in her intercessions, was to
include all, because God included all in his gracious
purposes of mercy, through Jesus Christ. He would
have all men to be saved, and, therefore, we must pray
solemnly for all ; even from his enemies and the perse-
cutors of his gospel. The infidelity and persecution
of rulers made no difljerence in the loyalty of the sub-
jects.

Nothing is more evident than this in the history of
the early Christian church ; her history, during those
three hundred years which passed between the death
of our Lord and the time when the Roman empire be-
came Christian. All that time the church was persecu-
ted more or less by the civil authorities, and Christians
were in continual danger of their lives, for refusing to
offer sacrifice to idols. Yet during the whole of that
period, their conduct was such as is truly described in the

22*

258 KINGS TO BE HONORED

following words of an early writer : " How often do you,
pagan emperors and powers, spend your rage upon us
Christians ! how often do your people attack us with
stones and fires, and drag our dead bodies out of their
very graves ! Yet in what instance have you convicted
us, bound together as we are, of any conspiracy against
yourselves % and full as Ave are of a courage to endure
even death, when have we made you, by any kind of
suffering, pay for your injuriousness and cruelty toward
us V Nay, " for the safety of the Roman emperors, we
call regularly not on idols, but on the eternal God, the
true God, the living God :" " we pray continually for
all emperors, that their life may be long, their authority
entire, their home safe, their armies strong, their coun-
sellors faithful, their people good and honest, the world
under their government at rest ; whatever a man, what-
ever a king would desire, these things we pray for on
their behalf:" "the rather, because we are directed by
our sacred books, to pray to God in overflowing kind-
ness, even for our enemies and persecutors." " And
this, although we are now more in number than any of
your foreign foes ; your cities, your islands, your strong
holds, your very camps and senates are full of us: we
might for strength, numbers, and spirit, be equal to any
war whatever ; but we have been taught in our school,
that it is better to suffer death than to kill."

Such were the politics of the early, uncorrupt Chris-
tians ; politics learned not of man, but of Jesus Christ
and his inspired apostles.

And in this suffering, patient loyalty, the church went
on, till it pleased God, that the kings and rulers of the
world should themselves become Christians, that they
should draw near with faith, and become nursing fathers
and nursing mothers of the church, that is, head ser-
vants, especially trusted by her, and honored with the
most glorious office of protecting and guiding her
children : bearing them in their arms, according to
Isaiah's prophecy, and bowing down with them in hum-
ble submission to that kingdom, which is above all, and
which can never come to an end. For this, undoubtedly,

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 259

is the true meaning: of that famous prophecy of Isaiah, so
often quoted when, in this country, the union of church
and state is talked of. " Kings shall be thy nursing
fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers :" not
nurses to the church herself, as if she were an infant
requiring their care ; but nurses to the children of the
church, to the little ones of Christ, under the church's
direction : the church herself being described, in the
very same verse, as a triumphant queen, receiving the
homages of these very kings, emperors, and powers of
the earth : " They shall bow down to thee with their
face toward the earth, and shall lick up the dust of thy
feet."

Something of this sort did once happen, when first,
by God's gracious overruling wisdom, the Roman em-
pire became the empire of our Lord, and of his Christ ;
there were occasionally good and pious monarchs, Avho
did submit themselves and their counsels, in the way
thus prophesied, to the guidance and judgment of God's
church ; yet so that, in general, the will of God, and
the word of his prophet, were but partially and imper-
fectly accomplished. Throughout the Christian world,
the Babylonian power, the spirit of worldly pride and
ambition, has still for the most part, been too strong for
the church j either corrupting her inwardly, as in Rome,
or openly overbearing and vexing her, as in many other
countries.

Our own country, perhaps, has been more highly
favored than any others in modern times with a pattern
of a king, who really did strive to act the part of a
nursing father, not of the church herself, whose servant
he knew himself to be, but of her children under her
direction. That king was Charles the First, and we
know what return he met with from the world.

But, generally speaking, the church history of Eng-
land, like the rest of modern church history, is sadly
blemished with encroachments, more or less flagrant, of
the old Babylonian or Roman spirit ; sometimes the
bishop of Rome, and sometimes our own government,
have opened their mouths to speak great things against

260 KINGS TO BE HONOKED

the authority of God's heavenly kingdom, set up for the
correction and salvation of the whole world : although
outwardly, that kingdom has ever been acknowledged,
and we have not, at least till of late years, ceased to be,
in profession, a Christian people.

All through this time, of course, it has been the duty
and the practice of true Christian men, in this and all
other countries, where Christ's name is honored, to seek
the peace, prosperity, and welfare, each of his own
country and government. Whether as a captive, or as
a queen and mother, or as something between both, the
true church has ever been loyal.

And so by God's blessing, she will continue to be,
though her condition should become outwardly still
more disadvantageous. It may be with some reason
questioned at this moment, whether in this and some
other countries, the church be not approaching near to
a condition, not unlike that of the Jews in Babylon, or
of the Christians under the heathen Roman empire.
There is surely some ground to think, that if any of the
old sainted fathers, who lived just after the empire be-
came Christian, when worldly powers seemed truly to
know their duty under the church ; if any, I say, of
those old sainted fathers could now rise and come among
us, and see how we are going on in this country, he
would say the church was in captivity, and had need to
pay especial regard to the advice of Jeremiah and St.
Paul, given to her in such circumstances.

For what is it but captivity, when the chief power
over the church herself is given into the hands of the
church's enemies 1 and is it not plain that in many parts
of Christendom at present those who have, not perhaps
professedly, but virtually, the ordering of things in the
church, are, indeed, her enemies ; are bound to be so,
because they account her a false and dangerous thing 1
It is hard to speak on this subject, because it seems too
much like bringing political discussion into the church ;
which is akin to profaneness, considering what political
discussions generally are. But it is right, that as true
churchmen, and, at the same time, loyal subjects of our

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 261

king", we should be aware of our real condition : and
wishinor not to utter a word of blame upon any one in
particular, I do say, that God's providence, for our sins,
has brought us to this ; that the church of God is not
free among us : she is in the hands of those who are
more or less bound to be her enemies ; they have pow-
er to make laws over her, power to manage, and if they
will to take away, her property, that is, to deprive her
of those lands and goods, which, not this country in
general, but the piety of persons long since departed
has endowed her with : and what is still worse, and
must, one should think, be especially displeasing to the
Almighty, these enemies of the church have also power,
more or less direct, in appointing who shall be her
bishops or chief pastors. The successors of the apos-
tles, the heads and ordainers of all the clergy of God,
may now, in many countries, calling themselves Chris-
tian, be really nominated and appointed by those who
have neither part nor lot in the faith of the apostles.

Till of late it was not so among us : till of late this
realm of England professed Christianity, so far as to
make it necessary that those who were appointed to
high places, and so had virtually the power of appoint-
ing bishops, must themselves, in profession at least, be
Christian people, believers in the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost : but now that is all done away with ;
and it is surely not too much to say that, as churchmen,
we are in captivity, since the enemies of the church
have it in their power to do what they please with her
property, to name whom they please for her ministers,
and to make what laws they please for her conduct in
her own internal concerns.

God forbid that such statements as these should be
made in fretfulness or discontent. We ought to be
too thankful that we have God's church among us at
all ; that we have pastors among us, churches to go to,
time and leave to serve our Creator and Redeemer,
without being in peril of our lives, as those first and
best Christians were continually. We ought to be on
our knees daily in humble acknowledgment to Almighty

262 KINGS TO BE HONORED

God, that he has not quite taken his sacraments and his
apostles' ministry from us. We have a gracious king-,
who, we well know, means nothing but good to the
church: whose enemies are the church's enemies;
whose person we are bound to honor, and as we may to
uphold his right, at the risk, if need were, of our very
lives. God knows, all this is far more than we deserve,
considering how little use we and our country have
hitherto made of those inestimable privileges. Not,
therefore, in discontent and fretfulness, but in deep
humiliation, sorrow, and fear, does it become a Chris-
tian person to meditate on the present captivity of the
Christian church in this land. The sense of her con-
dition should have the same effect on us, as the captiv-
ity of the Jewish church had on the holy prophet Daniel j
it should put us upon seeking the Lord our God, with
prayer, and supplication, and fasting, and sackcloth and
ashes. Instead of going about boasting, as too many of
our countrymen do, of the light and liberty, the wealth
and glory of our land, we ought, as Englishmen, to be
perpetually humbling ourselves in the dust, with the
thought of the many wrongs and insults which our coun-
try is continually inflicting on the church of God. This
is one plain duty, which the present aspect of things
requires of us : to intercede for this whole realm, that
it fall not quite away from the true faith and church, as
more than one of the kingdoms of the earth have even
in our own time.

Another duty, no less obvious in Scripture, is that
which the text enforces on us : to seek the peace of the
land in which our church is a captive ; that is, by every
means in our power (and all of us have it in our pow-
er in some small measure) to study the quiet and pro-
mote the welfare of our country, fallen though it be,
and on its way to become a declared enemy of God's
holy household. Do not say, "I am a private Christian,
a poor needy helpless person; what can I do in this
kind 1" The very first duty in this kind is one in which
you may bear a part, just as effectually as the greatest
nobleman or the wisest counsellor in the land. Hear

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 263

St. Paul, what is his rule of politics : "I exhort that,
first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, be made
for kings and all who are in authority." Do not we all,
rich and poor alike, pray for the king whenever we as-
semble here in church \ and have you any doubt in the
world, that the prayers of the poor are as effectual as
those of the rich, in brinsfino: down a blessing- on his
majesty, if both pray alike in the true fear of God 1

1 am afraid this is not enough considered. Persons
pray for the king as in mere words of course, without
much setting their mind on what they say ; but they
should consider how dangerous and frail the condition
of an earthly king is, and how much he requires their
prayers ; their very charity, I had almost said compas-
sion, will make them serious and devout in wishing
God's peculiar grace both on his majesty and on all the
royal family, as being all persons who are in peculiar
danger.

Again, this we all know ; that as we pray, so must we
live, if we would not mock God instead of honoring him
by our prayers. If therefore we pray for the king, our
conduct must show that we honor the king : we must
honor him, not merely as one in high authority, as one
who keeps together the whole state, and is therefore
most useful and necessary for keeping up that quiet and
peaceable life, which all men, and especially all Chris-
tians, naturally desire ; but we must honor the king
apart from all use to ourselves, because he is the an-
ointed of the Lord, a living type, if I may so speak, of
the supreme dominion of Jesus Christ, as bishops are
living types of his priestly and pastoral care : we must
be loyal, self-denying servants of his majesty, not merely
cool calculators how much more would be lost than
gained, in the end, by any kind of rebellion. It is but
an old, worn-out heathen notion, lately taken up by
some moderns, that the great thing is love of one's
country ; and that if a man be full of that, it matters
little whether he respect his king or no. The Bible
holds a very different language : it says throughout,
This is God's anointed, therefore he must be feared and

264? KINGS TO BE HONORED

honored ; God has made him an image of his majesty,
has commanded us to pay tribute to him ; let us perform
that duty cheerfully. If we do not mean to mock our
Creator when we pray for our sovereign, let us pay
tribute with a willing mind, as to the Lord and not to
man ; and let us pay it scrupulously too, never doing
anything to encourage the miserable and lawless ways
of defrauding the revenue, which I fear are still too
common, even among decent people. Much, very much
might be said of such proceedings, and of their evil and
bitter fruits : but surely to a Christian this one thing
should be sufficient, that to uphold them is utterly con-
tradicting our prayers for the king.

The same thing may be said of another most common
transgression against loyalty : I mean speaking evil
of dignities ; which, however some appear to regard
it as a matter of course, is placed by St. Peter among
the worst symptoms of the very worst sort of people,
" They walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,
and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-
willed," they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
The same lawless kind of temper, which makes men
greedy after forbidden carnal pleasures, shows itself
also in making them impatient of the control of those
whom God has set over them, and eager to express their
impatience in mutinous words. We have not so learned
Christ ; and as we know that he expects us to be pure
in heart, and for that purpose to keep our passions in
very strict order, we know also no less certainly that
he would have us obey those who bear lawful rule over
us, and submit ourselves to them without reproach or
railing ; which conduct even if they do wrong us, would
ensure us one advantage by them ; the practice, namely,
of self-command ; by ruling our tongues, when tempted
to speak evil of dignities, we should be the better able
to rule our passions, when tempted to any other kind of
disorder.

You cannot fail to see what follows from this dislike,
so earnestly expressed on God's part, of all calumny
and slander, and wilful abuse of kings and persons hav-

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 265

ing authority. You must perceive, that if there be any
publications coming among us, whose very trade is to
sin in this way, and foster the poor man's envy and dis-
content, by reporting and aggravating the crimes and
follies of the rich j to possess us all with false proud
notions of our own liberty and importance, by calling us
as it were to sit in judgment on those whom God has
made our superiors ; such publications, however amu-
sing, however full of useful information we may find or
fancy them to be, are among the number of the devil's
snares, whereby he would teach us his own sin of rebel-
lion ; and it cannot be very doubtful, I should think,
what the first and best Christians would have done with
them; who at one time, in the one town of Ephesus, burnt
their own mischievous books and papers, to the cost of
fifty thousand pieces of silver, rather than allow Satan
to get an advantage over them.

In a word, one plain duty of loyalty is, to give no en-
couragement in any way to books, papers, speeches, or
parties, which speak disrespectfully of the king's majes-
ty, or try in any way to lessen or disparage his authori-
ty. This one rule, if observed by those only who now
break it out of mere thoughtlessness, or without any bad
intention at least, would soon make an extreme differ-
ence in our country's chance of peace and welfare. But
as long as all persons will go on indifferently purchasing
and reading all sorts of things ; as long as rich and poor
alike are content for the sake of news, to encourage
treason, falsehood, and malice, so long we shall be
" sowing the wind," and what can we expect but to
"reap the whirlwind 1"

Now if the mere denial of our own inclinations, in a
matter of itself so insignificant as hearing and reading
news, would make so much difference for the good of a
falling church and state, how much more would we carry
on the same wholesome principle of self-denial into all
other parts of our conduct ! What a blessing might we
not hope for, on our king and country as well as our-
selves, would we take care to live so that our prayers
for them might be heard] We know what happened tQ

Vol. I.~23

266 KINGS TO BE HONORED

the highly-favored prophet Daniel, when he fasted and
prayed for his own sins and the sins of his people ; an
angel was sent from heaven on purpose to assure him
that he was greatly beloved ; that his prayer was heard,
and he, the angel, was come on purpose to instruct and
comfort him as to the approaching deliverance of his
captive people. The God of Daniel is still in heaven ;
were there but a Daniel on earth to draw down the like
angelical visitations by like self-denial, purity, and de-
votion of heart to the church and the king.

But far as we may and must be beneath that great
saint, still our prayers, if sincere, and if accompanied
by true penitence, will be heard, and will draw down
their measure of blessing. We may not perhaps live to
see the church restored from that captivity, in which
those, who look beyond the mere outside of things, may
now certainly perceive her to be sunk. Evil days may
be in store for her ; evil, I mean, as far as outward ap-
pearances and the natural feelings of men go : the state,
which now holds her in captivity, may before long quite
cast her off; and if so, will probably begin to persecute
her, as did the Babylonians and Romans of old : then,
though our trial will be severe, our duty will be plain :
we must not return evil for evil : then, as now, we must
pray for the state, and must seek its peace and welfare
in all Christian ways ; although, what chance it can
have of either without God's blessing, or how it should
enjoy God's blessing, having thrown off his church, no
man shall well be able to say.

Then, no more than now, need we to despair of the
church, for with her, Christ has promised to be always,
even to the end of the world. When we feel apt to de-
spond at the sad fallings off, we see everywhere around
us, and the tendency of our country, as a country, to
throw off the yoke of God, at the same time that in
some respects there is so great a show of religion ;
when our hearts sink within us at these things, as some-
times they not unnaturally may, and we are inclined
with the Psalmist to wish for the wings of a dove, that
we might get away far off, and remain in some safe

FOR THEIR OFFICE SAKE. 267

wilderness ; then let us try, by a strong faith, to fix our
hearts on that last promise of our Lord ; let us in thought
place ourselves on that mountain in Galilee, where he by
appointment met his eleven disciples, gave them their
message and token to all nations — their message, his
commandments ; their token, holy baptism — and pledged
himself to be with them " always, even to the end of
the world." We of this church of England have that
baptism, that commission, that promise. Christ then we
are sure is with us ; for all our many and grievous of-
fences we have not cast off him — his faith, his baptism.
We have his warrant, by laying on of his apostles' hands
for what we do in his name : therefore we dare humbly
hope, that whether our church stand out worldly high
or low in the country, yet in the country God will per-
mit her to abide : and as long as she is there, whether
persecuted or encouraged, in whatever condition, she
will pray for the king, and will serve him dutifully, and
will count that person no true son of hers, who shall
refuse to do the like. The church of England's rule has
always been, and by the blessing of God it always will
be, "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, and
meddle not with them that are given to change."

268 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

SERMON XXVin.

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

PKEACHED ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

Psalm xlx. 5.

" In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun : which cometh forth as a
bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his
course."

There is no doubt that this verse describes the nativ-
ity of our Lord, and therefore the psalm which contains
it was appointed not by our church only, but generally
throughout the Christian world, as one of the proper
psalms for Christmas day. For, says an old father of
the church, " It was sung concerning Christ, seeing that
we find it here written, he cometh forth as a bridegroom
out of his chamber. I think thou canst not fail to know
whom the psalmist is here speaking of. He it is, who
as a bridegroom, when the Word was made flesh, found
his chamber in the virgin's womb : there he joined or
wedded to himself the nature of man, our nature : and
from thence, as from a bridal bed, chaste and pure be-
yond expression, he cometh forth, in mercy humbled
beneath all, in majesty mighty above all : for such is the
psalmist's meaning, when he says, he rejoiceth as a
giant to run his course : he was born, he grew up, he
taught, he suffered, he arose, he ascended : he ran on
his course, he lingered not on his way."

Thus the sun, that we see in the eastern heavens, is
made to us an image of our incarnate Lord and Savior,
issuing from the virgin's womb to be the light and life
of his church : and we are taught so to interpret the
psalm, not by any fancy of our own, but by the express
testimony of the Holy Spirit of God : for the Spirit of

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 269

God guided St. Paul's pen to apply certain words of this
psalm, " Their sound is gone out into all lands, and
their words unto the ends of the world," to the preach-
ing of the apostles : and not without the same Spirit,
be sure, did the whole church from the beginning use
the rest of the Psalm in the like high and spiritual
meaning.

We are then to consider the rising sun as ordained of
God to be a figure, token, or shadow, of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, born, as on this day, of the blessed
Virgin Mary. Nor is it any new or strange thing, for
Holy Scripture to give such a turn as this to the works
of nature, the things which we see daily. The lessons
which even children learn, out of what are accounted
the plainest parts of the gospel, are enough to show that
the whole world is full of parables. Take such a com-
mon thing as the growth and use of bread corn. Every-
thing about it, the sowing of it, its silent growth, its
mixture with tares and weeds, the harvest, the thresh-
ing floor, the winnowing fan, the leavening of it when
ground into meal, the kneading of that meal into loaves,
the breaking and eating of those loaves : all is made, in
one gospel or another, or in the teaching of St. Paul, to
bear a high and holy signification, to be a token of
something relating to the kingdom of heaven. No
wonder then, if so bright and glorious a creature as the
sun risinof in the heavens be also set forth to us as a
token of something spiritual : and in fact we find that
not in this place only, but elsewhere not seldom in the
book of God, it is made the token of our Lord's most
holy nativity. I will mention two instances in particular.

The prophet Malachi, providing God's people with
comfort in that long silence of prophecy, which was
to begin from his time (for he was the last of the old
prophets) left with them, among many terrible warn-
ings, this cheerful one, concerning the day of the gos-
pel: "Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of
righteousness arise, with healing in his wings." Where
the glory of our new-born Lord is compared to the
bright clouds, sometimes called "the wings of the

23*

270 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

morning," which spread on each side and before the
sun at his arising, and that with a healing, a refreshing
power, driving away gloomy dreams, and encouraging
all to go about their day's work cheerfully : and more
than that, warming and kindling the benumbed world
into a life not its own; as our Incarnate Lord, by his
touch, brought life and healing to our nature which was
dead in sin.

Thus far the prophet Malachi, in whom the voice of
the prophetic spirit ceased for a while out of Israel.
When it was heard sounding again, in the mouth of
Zacharias, the father of St. John the baptist, it took up
as it were the same note, like a person who had fallen
asleep in the midst of some heavenly strain of music: I
say, the voice of prophecy, on its awakening, presently
began again to speak of our Savior, as of the sun arising
in the east. " The day-spring from on high hath visited
us : to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death ; to guide our feet into the way of
peace." As yet it was only the day-spring, the morn-
ing twilight, because our Lord was not yet born : but
his incarnation had been made known, it had been de-
clared from heaven that he was already in that chamber,
from which in a few months he " should go forth as a
bridegroom, and rejoice as a giant," or strong warrior,
" to run his course."

And here one may just notice by the way, what a
light these texts of Scripture throw on that ancient cus-
tom of the church, to pray, if conveniently it might be,
toward the east : a custom which as you know we still
keep up, so far as this, that we turn to the east at the
creed, and that the chancels of almost all churches are
at the east end of the church, and the altar or table at
the east end of the chancel. And on this matter I think
it best to use the words of a great and good man of our
own church, speaking on a subject very like this.
*' Such ceremonies," he says, " are most profitable
against all who derogate from the honor of Jesus
Christ ; they show a reverent regard to the Son of
God."

THE STTN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 271

But to proceed : the sun in the heavens, especially
the sun risinof, beings thus uudoubtedly a sort of token
or figure of God shining in the person of our Savior on
the darkness of this world : what can we do better, now
on his own day, than set ourselves humbly and thought-
fully to consider the deep doctrine herein contained,
and the awful yet blessed duties, binding upon us all 1

First then, every one may understand that as the sun
is beyond comparison the brightest object in those out-
ward and visible heavens, so the great privilege of the
kingdom of heaven, the kingdom and church of God's
saints, is to have the Sun of righteousness, God made
man, especially present, abiding and reigning in it. It
is the kingdom and church of Christ : that is all its
hope and glory. And the same is true of every soul
which is inwardly and spiritually conformed to God's
holy church ; which has, as our Lord speaks, the king-
dom of God within it. It is full of Christ : not of the
name only and profession, of the shadow and fancy, of
the dreamy and deceitful feeling, which some mistake
for Christ ; but of Jesus Christ himself, silently and
mysteriously coming in and dwelling there ; according
to his own unspeakable promise, " If a man love me, he
will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and
we will come unto him and make our abode in him."

Secondly, as Christ is a sun to his church by his glo-
rious abiding in it, so the manner in which he came to
be so is likened, you see, by the divine psalmist to " a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber." He proceeded
forth and came into the world out of the womb of the
blessed virgin, where he had married, that is, united for
ever, the nature of God to the nature of man, by taking
on him our flesh, of the substance of that his blessed
mother, and that without spot of sin, to make us clean
from all sin.

Therefore St. John the Baptist calls him the bride-
groom : St. John, who, before they were either of them
born, had leaped in the womb for joy, at notice of Christ's
having taken on him our flesh, which Scripture, you
see, calls a divine marriage j — the same St. John, long

272 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

after, remembering and renewing the same awful joy,
spake thus of Christ's person and office : " He that hath
the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bride-
groom, which standeth and hearethhim, rejoiceth great-
ly because of the bridegroom's voice : this my joy there-
fore is fulfilled."

In those words St. John rejoices, even as the angels
rejoiced on Christmas morning : but in the text we are
told of another joy, a joy on our Savior's own part. —
*' He rejoiceth as a giant to run his course :" and what
sort of a course was it, as far as this world saw it 1 It
began in poverty, and ended in a cruel death ; began in
a stable, and ended on the cross. He was "despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief:" his people, even his own relations, "hid
as it were their faces from him ;" he was " despised and
they esteemed him not." True, his course was to end
in " dominion, and glory, and a kingdom," but as far as
it reached here on earth, he w^as altogether as one
" stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted :" and so he
knew beforehand it would be. Yet to all this he bowed
himself of his own accord ; left in a manner that glory
which ^e had with the Father before the world was, and
stooped to be made perfect through sufferings ; because
it was his Father's will, and our salvation.

I wish we thought more of this, as often as any world-
ly wrong, or pain, or hardship, comes upon us. I wish
we had at least so much thought of the cross of that
Savior whose name we have so often in our mouths,
as to take cheerfully that little portion of it which it may
please him to lay on ourselves. Such patient cheerful-
ness would prove at last to have been the mother of great
and holy joy ; even as our Lord's willing obedience
unto death was crowned with a name which is above
every name. He rejoiced then as a warrior in his hard
warfare: now he rejoices as a conqueror in his glorious
kingdom.

For, as the psalmist goes on next to tell us, he is still
in a certain sense running his course. He " goeth about,"
like the sun, " unto the uttermost part of the heaven,

THE StTN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 273

and runneth about unto the end of it again, and there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof." That is, our Savior,
God, made man, born for us, and crucified, and risen
again, fills the whole church and the whole world. He
is everywhere among Christians, everywhere and in all
times, in all the portions of his church, and in each sin-
gle individual baptized into it, high and low, little and
great, rich and poor, wise and foolish, nay, and I will
add good and bad ; since we learn from the catechism,
that both are made members of him, and we have read
in his own words, that there are branches in him which
bear no fruit, and must be cut off; as well as those which
the Father loves, and which he only corrects, that they
may bring forth more fruit.

Thus is Christ whole in his whole church, and in
every part and member of it ; as the sun in the firma-
ment shines impartially on the whole world beneath him
and in his circuit visits each part in turn with his w^arm-
ing and life-giving beams. But Christ's faithful and
considerate people are more particularly made aware of
his presence by the outward means of grace, and the
visible ordinances of his holy catholic church. Let us
consider them one by one, and see if he be not especially
present in each of them.

Look first at the book of God. Is it not full of Christ
throughout X Is not he " the end of the law for righ-
teousness V To say nothing now of the New Testament,
did not " all the prophets, from Samuel, as many as
have spoken, likewise foretell of his daysl" Are not the
Psalms in honor of him, and therefore called " spiritual
songs V What were all the holy men of old, but so
many types and figures of him 1 Was not Abel, in fig-
ure, Christ suffering ; Noah, Christ preparing the church
for the saving of his elect ; Abraham, Christ as the father
of the faithful ; Isaac, Christ offered on the Mount ; Jo-
seph, Christ rejected by his brethren ; Moses, Christ
mediating between God and his people ; Aaron, Christ
sacrificing ; Joshua, Christ victorious ; Samson, Christ
slaying his enemies in his death ; David, Christ a king ;
Solomon, Christ anointed with the spirit of wisdom j

274 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Jonah, Christ rising again 1 These, and many more
than these, nay, the whole Hebrew nation, were but so
many figures and pledges of him that was to come, in
whom all should be summed up.

And now he is come, is not everything in the Chris-
tian world fuller of him than it had been in the Jewish
world before % Are not our prayers, the prayers of the
church, offered up wholly and only in his name 1 Is he
not in the church ministry, with those his apostles, and
the bishops and priests their successors, with whom he
has promised to abide even unto the end of the world 1
Certainly, St. Paul speaks always as if Christ were so
among us: as where he says, " We are ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us." And
again, " when ye are gathered together, and my spirit,
wath the power of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again,
*' since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in us, which
to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in us." Christ
is therefore in every true minister of his, in every act
of his ministerial office.

Observe also if he be not, in a remarkable manner, in
the holy days and times of his church, from one end of
the year to the other. The Sunday we know is his own
day, called from the beginning by his name, the Lord's
Day. Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, and other
such days ; they too are plainly his days, for they are
kept in remembrance of great things done or suffered
by him. And are not the days of his saints, his days
alsol They are so accounted by the same wise and
holy writer, some of whose words I a little before men-
tioned. Hooker says, " these days and times have all
relation to one head." Again, he adds, " Forasmuch as
we know that Christ hath not only been manifested
great in himself, but great in other his saints also, the
days of whose departure out of this world are to the
church of Christ as the birth and coronation days of
kings and emperors ; therefore, especial choice being
made of the very flower of all occasions in this kind,
there are yearly times chosen to meditate of Christ
glorified in them" (he means the Holy Innocents) " which

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 275

had the honor to suffer for his sake, before they had age
and ability to know him ; glorified in them, which know-
ing him, as Stephen, had sight of that before death,
whereunto so acceptable death did lead ; glorified in
those sages of the East, that came from afar to adore
him, and were conducted by strange light ; glorified in
the second Elias of the world sent before him to prepare
his way ; glorified in every of those apostles whom it
pleased him to use as founders of his kingdom here ;
glorified in the angels, as in Michael; glorified in those
happy souls that are already possessed of heax^en." Thus
it appears that our Lord and Savior is in all the bright
days of the church, as the sun in heaven in all those of
the year. His light shines reflected in them all. He
goeth about unto the one end of his heavenly kingdom,
and runneth about unto the other end of it again — from
Christmas to Whitsuntide, and from Whitsuntide to
Christmas again, and there is nothing hid from the heat
and life which he gives.

Again, Christ is in all sorts of persons in his church,
as he was in his prophets of old, in their several ways.
He is in kings, because they are the Lord's anointed, as
he was : in the poor, because what is done to them, he
reckons done to him : in marriage, because it is a token
of the mystical union betwixt him and his church : in
the sickness and pain of his people, because they, like
St. Paul, do thereby fill up what remainsof the affliction
of Christ in the flesh.

Lastly, and perhaps one ought to say above all, Christ
is in his holy sacraments ; in baptism, that we may be
made members of him, and truly and really put him on:
in the holy communion, because therein, as we are
taught in the catechism, those who are faithful, verily
and indeed take and receive his body and blood. Now,
baptism is the root and ground of the Christian life, and
the eucharist, in this world at least, is its top and crown.
From the root, therefore to the crown, from the begin-
ning to the end, that may be said of our Lord in his
kingdom, which the wise son of Sirach afHrms of Al-

276 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

mighty God in all his works : '* We may speak much,
and yet come short: wherefore, in sum, he is all."

Such is the doctrine taught us by the comparison,
which the church and the Scriptures teach us to make
between the sun in his tabernacle in heaven, and the
eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ, in the tabernacle of
that blessed body, wherewith, as on this day, he showed
himself first both to men and angels, to save the one,
and be glorified by the other. Such, I say, is the doc-
trine of Christmas day ; it is as it were a clear, musical
note, sounded at this blessed time, in harmony with
which are to be all our praises of Almighty God, and all
our holy services throughout the year. The doctrine is
given in two words by the apostle, where he says, con-
cerning the church, that in it " Christ is all and in all.^''
Christ is in every person, and he is every person's all.

I will conclude with a few plain thoughts about our
own duty and practice, suggested by these two most
certain, yet most mysterious and unspeakable truths.

First, if, according to our profession as Christians, we
really regard the most holy Jesus as our a//, surely we
shall never wilfully miss an opportunity of coming to
him, of prevailing on him to come more and more to us.
I fear we are sometimes tempted to think, that, provided
the great concern be as we think going on well with us
— provided we belong as yet to Christ — we have no
occasion to trouble ourselves about this or that church
ordinance, this or that mean of communion with him ;
and so we permit ourselves to indulge our natural sloth,
and miss many a holy prayer, and the meaning of many
a wholesome lesson of the Bible, and fail of our part in
many a good work, all of which a little trouble, a little
self-denial, a little devout care, would have secured to us.

Thus we do, forgetting that Christ's treasure of mer-
cies is infinite j that however near he is now to any of
his saints, he may and will be infinitely nearer, when
that saint shall have served him longer and more faith-
fully. His promise, "We will come unto him, and make
our abode with him," never can come to an end ; it re-
mains to be still more and more accomplished, the more

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 277

completely any one, using his grace, shall learn to love
him and keep his word. Surely it is a poor kind of
faith, a meager hope, a cold charity, when a man, for-
getting all this, can find it in his heart to say, " I shall
not attend such and such a holy service ; I shall not
communicate such a day, though I might; I shall not
take any part in such and such a good work : for why 1
I do not think it necessary, I trust I am in a good and
safe way without it." We know not what we trifle with,
what we throw away, when we permit ourselves to
speak and act thus.

Much more, when we not only neglect opportunities
of coming to hinn, who is our all, but even drive him
away from us, otherwise being near ; or rather, turn his
gracious presence into condemnation. God give us
grace to thirik of this, the next time we are tempted to
unclean, malicious, covetous, or repining thoughts. Let
us not only dread the present sin, but much more thp,
affront to him, in \vhom we spiritually live, and move,
and have all our Christian being. If we drive him away,
to whom shall we go to save us 1

Taking now that other half of St. Paul's account how
Christ is the sun of his church, namely : that he is not
only all things — light, and heat, and life, and comfort,
to each particular person ; but also that he is in all —
there is no Christian who is not partaker of him : this
will give us deep thoughts of our duty to our neighbor,
as the other, of our services paid to Almighty God. It
is a remarkable saying of St. Peter, "Honor all men.'*
Do not only deal kindly with them, but really respect
and honor them. Whyl Because they are made after
the image of God. By the same rule, and more, the
meanest Christian must be honored, because he bears
Christ about with him ; even as a certain holy man of
old, Ignatius, the friend of St. Paul and St. Peter, told
the Roman emperor when about to pass sentence upon
him. The emperor asked him, "What signifieth the title
you are called by] and to whom belongs itV "It be-
longs," replied the saint, " to all who carry Jesus Christ
in their bosoms." "Do you mean " inquired the empe-

VoL. I.— 24.

278 THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

ror, "that person who was crucified in the time of Pon-
tius Pilate V "Him," replied Ignatius, "I mean who
nailed upon his cross both the sins which I have commit-
ted, and the being that led me to commit them, and w^ho
hath decreed that all spiritual craft and malice shall be
put under the feet of them who carry him in their bo-
soms." " Do you, then," asked the emperor, " carry a
crucified man within you V Ignatius answered, " I do :
for.it is w^ritten : 'I will dw^ell within them, and I will
walk among them.'" It was no special holiness of his
own that this blessed saint was speaking of; he would
not so have praised himself: but he w^as speaking of
that which is common to all Christians, did they but
kno^v their own happiness: Jesus Christ dwelling in
them by his holy Spirit.

We see, then, that in honoring them we are honoring
him : loving them, we are loving him : in going out of
our way to serve them, we are making a little sacri-
fice to him, who thought not his life too dear to be
parted with on the cross for our salvation. And the
common saying, "For Christ's sake," is m.ore exactly
founded on truth than we perhaps have considered. For,
indeed, Jesus Christ is in those who use it, whoever
they are, and however unworthy, if they be Christian
people ; and we must reverence them, and do the best
we can for them, not only for the sake of pity and kind-
ness, but also for the sake of Christ abiding within
them.

And let us also seriously consider, what a thing it
must be in any w^ay to defile or corrupt the bodies and
souls, in which our gracious Lord so vouchsafes to
dwell.

May the good spirit of God write in all our hearts
high and true thoughts of our calling, as this holy day
declares it to us ; viz., that our Lord and Redeemer is
truly present in every one of us, to be all in all, if we
refuse him not ; that so, keeping church unity in this
world, we may come to perfect union with him in
heaven.

And if it should please God to preserve our life

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 279

through that year which will soon begin, may we so
live during- that year, that we may find ourselves next
Christmas to have really made a step in that blessed
journey.

I will end with a short collect, which was formerly
used in the Church of England at the morning com-
munion on Christmas day : —

" O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remem-
brance of the birth of thine only Son Jesus Christ :
grant, that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeem-
er, so we may with sure confidence behold him when
he shall come to be our judge : who liveth and reigneth
with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world wilhout
end. Amen."

280

SERMON XXIX.

CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION.

PREACHED ON TRINITY SUNDAY.

St. Mark ix. 7.

" And there came a cloud and overshadowed them: and there came a
voice out of the cloud, This is my beloved Sou ; hear him."

Those who read the Gospels with attention, and com-
pare them one with another, can hardly help observing
a remarkable agreement between the account of our
Lord's transfiguration, of which these words are a part,
and the account of his baptism by St. John, which the
church appoints to be read as one of the lessons for to-
day. In both there is something very unlike the ordi-
nary course and tenor of our Lord's life on earth among
men : in this respect, that whereas generally his divine
glory was under a veil, his humiliation and low estate
open to the eyes of all, in these two examples, and per-
haps in a very few others, the opposite of this is the
truth : he appears all over encompassed with majesty
and brightness, only some faint shade appearing of his
being yet in the form of a servant.

Then, if we compare the circumstances of the two
events ; the one came just before his temptation, the
other, just when he was addressing himself, more open-
ly, to prepare his disciples, and if one so may speak,
himself, for his bitter cross and passion.

The one, the visible glory and voice at his baptism,
came to him as he was praying ; the other, the change
which is called his transfiguration, found him in the act
of prayer.

Both were before chosen witnesses j the one, as it

CHRIST S TRANSFIGURATION. 281

seems, St. John Baptist only : the other, the three great
apostles, and the two great prophets. In both it seems
to have been part of our Lord's design to set forth the
agreement between the law and the gospel ; in his bap-
tism, where he said, " it became him to fulfil all right-
eousness," even ceremonial ; at the transfiguration, by
the appearance of Moses and Elias, the law and the
prophets, as it were conferring with him who came not
to destroy, but to fulfil them.

In both, the same message was brought to men's ears,
concerning the Son of man, by the voice of the Almigh-
ty Father : the only difference being, that in the one in-
stance, the baptism, the voice spoken seems to have been
to our Lord : " Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am
well pleased ;" in the other, the transfiguration, it was
spoken to the disciples of him: ''''This is my beloved
Son : hear him."

Finally (and this is the reason why I have selected
this passage for consideration to-day), in both these
marvellous events, if I mistake not, there was a mani-
festation, even to men's outward senses, of the whole Di-
vine Trinity. In the case of the baptism, this is apparent j
the voice of the Almighty Father being heard from heav-
en, the Son appearing incarnate on earth, and the Holy
Ghost descending on him in a bodily shape like a dove;
which is, of course, the reason why the passage is select-
ed as one of the lessons for the day. In the transfigur-
ation, the presence of the holy Father and of the bless-
ed Son, is marked too plainly to be mistaken : the Fa-
ther by his voice, showing himself to the ears of those
his chosen witnesses, the Son incarnate showing him-
self in their sight with his glorious body. But the
presence of the Holy Spirit is not so distinctly marked.
I conceive, however, according to a conjecture of one
of the old fathers of the church, that God the Holy
Ghost, the third person in the blessed Trinity, did then
and there manifest himself in the bright cloud which
overshadowed the disciples. The same cloud or pillar
of glory, had been the token of his presence at the Red
sea : when he went between the host of the Israelites

24*

282 Christ's transfiguration.

and their enemies, and was a cloud and darkness to the
one, but gave light by night to the others : and, after-
ward, in their march through the wilderness, the same
cloud resting over the tabernacle door, or moving on-
ward, showed them when to rest or move. And to this
Isaiah seems to allude, when he particularly mentions
among God's mercies to the Israelites, that "he put his
Holy Spirit within them :" and in another place, where
he says of them in their sinful stubbornness, that " they
rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit."

The same cloud of glory, as is well known, was the
especial token of God's presence both in the tabernacle
and in the temple. Of the tabernacle, it is said, when
it was first finished, and God did, as it were, take pos-
session of it, and begin to inhabit it; "a cloud covered
the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord
filled the tabernacle." In like manner, when the tem-
ple was builded, and Solomon was in the act of dedica-
ting it, " the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that
the priests could not stand to minister, because of the
cloud ; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the
Lord :" the same glory which was shown in part to Mo-
ses, when God passed by him on Mount Horeb ; the same
glory which filled the temple, spreading round the throne
of God like a train, when Isaiah had that wonderful vision
of the seraphim, singing, " Holy, holy, holy."

I say, on comparison of all the places, this visible
light or glory evidently was the outward sign of the
presence of the Holy Ghost, the invisible Spirit of God
the Father, and of Christ ; and, therefore, the apostle,
speaking of the passage of the Israelites through the
Red sea, as a figure or type of Christian baptistVi, says,
"They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
in the sea." He means, as Christians are baptized
into Christ by water and the Spirit : the cloud answer-
ing to the Spirit, and the sea to the water of baptism.

All this being so, it seems most reasonable to believe,
that the bright cloud into which the glorified Jesus en-
tered with Moses and Elias, was the token of the same
Holy Spirit, overshadowing them with the same dove-

Christ's transfiguration. 283

like motion as when he came hovering over our Lord at
his baptism ; and, therefore, although the name of the
Comforter is not mentioned, we may well regard the
transfiguration as one of the occasions, on which the
whole blessed Trinity graciously condescended to reveal
itself to mankind : the more so, as the time and manner
of the cloud's appearing were exactly suited to repre-
sent to the apostles, the time and manner of the Holy
Spirit's coming down from heaven, to reveal the whole
gospel of Christ. The voice, declaring Jesus to be the
beloved Son, came not from heaven, until the bright
cloud had overshadowed them : even as the great mys-
tery of the gospel, the one Godhead of the Father, and
the Son, with the communion of saints, was not fully re-
vealed, until the Holy Ghost had come down from heav-
en, and actually set up the church : according to the
promise of our Lord, " At that day ye shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

The bright cloud being thus supposed to betoken God
the Holy Ghost, personally present in his church, we
may, perhaps, perceive, that the whole course of things
which took place at our Lord's transfiguration, is well
fitted to represent, to a thoughtful mind, no small part
of the counsel of God in his church. St. Peter seems
to imply as much, when speaking of what he then saw,
he says, " We were eyewitnesses of his majesty." The
word which stands for eyewitnesses, in St. Peter's own
original writing, means " persons admitted to see with
their eyes some great and aw^ful secret of religion.'*
And some portion of the secret which was then reveal-
ed to St. Peter and the rest, he has himself told us.
They had made known to them " the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ." He appeared to them in his
glorious body, such as he appeared after his resurrec-
tion, such as he will appear to us all at the great day.
He appeared in conference with Moses and Elias, con-
cerning his decease, which he was soon to accomplish
at Jerusalem : whereby is represented to the thoughts
of all men the agreement of Moses, that is, the law,
Elias that is, the prophets, and the gospel of our Lord

284< Christ's transfiguration.

Jesus Christ himself, in the great doctrine of his death
and sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

And what if the sleep of the apostles, which hindered
them at first from seeing- the glory, and from which
they were only awakened by our Lord's touching them,
and by his gracious voice, saying, " Arise, and be not
afraid :" what, if this sleep of St. Peter, St. James, and
St. John, be a token and type of the sleep of death,
which is one day to overtake us all, and from which no
child of Adam can be awakened, except by the touch
and voice of the Son of God made man 1 His voice,
which the dead, he promised, should hear and live : his
touch in the most holy eucharist, whereby his very body
and blood is mysteriously received, to be a pledge of
resurrection, a seed of immortal life to our vile bodies.

And whereas, after the voice was past, they looked
up and " saw no man, save Jesus only :" is not this a
lively representation of the condition of Christian men,
walking by faith and not by sight ; only seeing around
them, with their very bodily eyes, the tokens of the
presence of him who was made man for us, and through
whom only they can ever hope to know God as they are
known]

In all these particulars (and others, perhaps, might
be found), the Transfiguration of our Lord does seem,
as though it were intended to show forth a good deal of
God's gracious way of saving us by his Son and Spirit ;
a good deal of the awful mystery of the holy, blessed,
and glorious trinity, three persons and one God. If so,
it becomes us reverently and faithfully to examine the
circumstances, which, by God's providence, accompanied
that Avonderful revelation : if, haply, we may find help in
ordering our minds and hearts and tongues rightly, when
we are speaking or thinking of these secrets of the high-,
est heaven.

Thus, when we think of the particular time at which
it pleased God thus to reveal himself, we seem to per-
ceive what kind of preparation is required for those,
who would think worthily of him and his gospel. The
doctrine of the cross must go before ; even as our Lord,

Christ's transfiguration. 285

a week before his transfiguration, had spoken more
clearly than usual to St. Peter and the rest, of his ap-
proaching suflerings; and when St. Peter had rebuked
him, he had explained to them, that, as his followers,
they too must expect to suffer : they must deny them-
selves, and take up the cross: they must be willing to
lose their lives for his sake : they must prepare for such
trials, as would make many ashamed of him and his
words. Thus prepared, and not before (for our Savior
waited a full week for them to consider that warninof,
and so went up into the mountain), they were fit to see
" the kingdom of God come with power ;" that is, to
see this glorious rehearsal of the setting up of the
church, which was exhibited to them on the mountain.
Would you then know the true gospell do you desire
to draw near the glory of God, and to know something,
as the saints know it, of the way of salvation, the secrets
of the most holy trinity 1 You must begin by denying
yourself. Christ crucified is the corner-stone, the
foundation of the building of true faith : that is, not
simply believing that he died for you, and trusting to
be saved by his merits; that^ in comparison, is an easy-
kind of faith, and has been felt by many an impenitent
sinner : but the faith which must bring you, as an apt
scholar, to the mountain where Christ is glorified, must
be joined with real self-denial.

And here, I suppose, we may see reason to fear, lest
our time, — which is a time, generally speaking, of much,
religious talk, and, as I should suppose, not a time in.
which there are (speaking by comparison,) very many
open unbelievers, — should be little, if at all, better than
times past, in respect of true devotion and goodness.
There is danger, lest men should come to the mountain,
without first bowing themselves down to take up the
cross : lest they should approach the most holy doc-
trines, profess their faith in them, talk freely about
them, without in earnest trying to deny themselves.
Would it not be well, if we would first endeavor to take
rip Christ's yoke, in such a plain simple matter as fast-
ing and abstinence, and denial of our bodily appetites ]

286

if we would prepare for Sunday, by keeping Friday 1
Is it not sad to see persons come straight from their
pleasures and amusements, without any special prepara-
tion, to the most holy things, and yet not at all ashamed
and humbled in conscience 1 Is it any wonder, if the
high and holy truth do many of us rather harm than
good, when we thus approach it with unprepared, it may
be with unclean hearts.

Observe who they were, whom our Lord chose out,
in paradise and in earth, as the fittest to be honored
with this bright glimpse of his majesty. They were
the three apostles, who had especially set the example
of leaving all and following him : and the two prophets,
Moses and Elias, most remarkable for miraculous fast-
ing, each forty days and forty nights, by way of type of
his mysterious fast in the wilderness. Is not this a
hint, that penitent, humble, self-denial, — fasting, not
outwardly only, but in heart, is the only preparation for
high Christian knowledge 1 So the church of God has
ever believed and taught 1 And in proportion as her
children have swerved from that faith and teaching,
there is reason to fear that their faith in the atonement
of our Lord, and in the rest of the divine gospel, has
been more in word and in tongue, than in deed and in
truth. As in St. Paul's time, so also now, Jesus Christ
crucified, that is, the taking up our cross and following
him practically, in fasting and abstinence, in mortifica-
tion and self-denial, must be the foundation on which
the faith of high doctrines must be built.

Good helps to the same purpose are solitude, retire-
ment, silence ; the love of God's own holy and favored
places; and, most especially, earnest, regular, humble
prayer. Thus our Lord took his disciples into a high
mountain apart: as much as to teach, that those who
desire to see the kingdom of God come with pow-
er, have need in the first place to withdraw themselves
from outward things. Why do we naturally hide our
faces, when we are in deep and earnest prayer 1 Is it
not because nature herself teaches us, that we cannot

Christ's transfiguration. 237

set our hearts on two things at once 1 that if we look
up toward heaven, we must look away from earth 1

The angels who watch our behavior, both in church
and out of church — do you not suppose, that if one of
us could ask them why there is so little earnest and
solemn devotion to be seen in many Christian congre-
gations ; why God's people seem ashamed to kneerbe-
fore him ; why there is so little difference made between
God's holy house, and any other room : they would tell
you that the reason is, our being so little used to remem-
ber God and his dreadful presence out of church, and
when we are engaged in the ordinary duties of life 1
And, again, if we could ask them why we find it so hard
to lift up our hearts above the world, and go about our
daily tasks with a single eye to God's glory, would they
not say it was greatly owing to our taking so little pains
about composing our minds and bodies to the one only
business of worshipping our Maker, when we are in the
house of worship.

Depend upon it, the two go together ; the heavenly
mind out of church, and the hear^t and behavior full of
fear and reverence in church: God will bless you if you
pray and labor for both, but not if you depend on either
apart from the other.

If you would truly know, and not only knowingly talk
of, the mysteries of the church of Christ, you must go
regularly apart to pray ; you must not depend on chance
opportunities and moments of leisure, as many do. He
who seeks God in earnest, and stands any chance of be-
ing called his friend, will do as Abraham did, who was
honored with that glorious title : he will have certain
times and places, where he will stand regularly before
the Lord ; he will not expect to see anything of Christ's
mysteries- except he have looked for them in prayer, and
in holy retirement, as it were, in the mountain apart.

Again, you will observe, that the transfiguration of
our Lord was that which led the way to this train of
heavenly wonders : his human body was glorified for a
while in their sight, and so his divine nature, and the
glory also of the whole everrblessed Trinity, became in

288 Christ's transfiguration.

a manner visible to the disciples. And is it not so, that
through the body of our Lord, his glorified body, all the
wonders and graces of the gospel are even now commu-
nicated to Christian men 1 We are made members of
Christ, that is our beginning ; we are baptized into his
body : and by the sacrament of the Lord's supper, we
are more and more incorporated with him, in the blessed
communion of saints. We know him first as man, by
the gracious and endearing histories which we read of
him in our childhood : as we grow older, we discern and
feel, what the church all along taught us to confess in
words, that he is not only perfect man, but also perfect
God, sent of the Father, sending the Spirit ; and so
through him we are introduced to the whole glorious and
divine Trinity.

Let us then honor and revere Christ's holy sacraments,
not merely as edifying ordinances, but as the very means
whereby we are partakers of the man Christ Jesus, and
through him, partakers of the divine nature, communi-
cants with the whole sacred Trinity, the Father and the
Son coming to us, and making their abode in us by the
Holy Spirit.

Another condition of this holy fellowship is, that we
thankfully receive the whole of God's dealings with man,
the law and the prophets, as well as the gospel of the
kingdom. Some persons, rather presumptuously, will
be making difl^erences in the holy Scripture, and con-
fining their attention to the Epistles (for example) of
St. Paul, while they treat the other holy books with
comparative neglect. But, surely, the only difference
which a truly loyal worshipper of Christ can well dis-
cern between the honor due to one book and to another
is this ; that he will honor those books most, in which
the Son of God speaks most in his own person ; that is,
the holy gospels : other distinctions he will hardly per-
mit himself to make.

Now, this great mark of the right faith, that it receives
the whole Bible impartially, reverencing and adoring
God's great name as sincerely in those parts which seem
at first hard and unedifying, as in those which come

Christ's transfiguration. 289

home to men's hearts ; and not forgetting God's elder
servants, and his mercies of days long past, in the bright-
er and nearer glories of the perfect gospel: — this mark,
I say, of the true faith, our Lord, at his transfiguration,
was pleased to recommend to us, by the appearance of
Moses aud Elias, with himself in glory. It was a very
signal token of that love, by which the Almighty Savior
embraces all generations of his people : the law and the
prophets, as truly as us Christians. It was a plain lesson
to us, that one great preparation for a right belief in the
high mysteries of Christ, will be to have a heart full of
affectionate reverence toward the saints of the Old Tes-
tament : to study, day and night, the law, the Psalms,
and the prophets.

Again : we see by St. Peter's manner of speaking, that
Almighty God is most willing to reveal his secrets, such
as this of the holy Trinity, not so much to great scholars,
men of high and deep understanding, as to those of a
simple and lowly mind ; such as St. Peter showed, when
in his affectionate zeal he cried out, " Lord, it is ofood
for us to be here !" and proposed to make the three
tabernacles. He spake, indeed, in fear and wonder, not
well knowing what he said : but is not this a plain proof,
that God Almighty encourages such to come near to
him, and will reward them with the knowledge of his
high mysteries, not looking to their much or little learn-
ing or wisdom, but to their sincere and humble minds 1

A further instruction, which we seem to learn from
this account of our Lord's Transfiguration, is this : that
the knowledge of gospel mysteries, rightly considered,
is a most awful thing, and that the only support which
can enable frail mortals to bear it, is communion with
Jesus Christ. The awfulness of Christian knowledge
we learn, in that when the Son was transfigured, when
the Father's voice was heard from heaven, when the
Spirit in a bright cloud (for so I suppose) overshadowed
them, they sank, as Daniel, when he saw a bright vision,
*' in a deep sleep on their face to the ground." The
only support which can enable frail man to endure such
brightness unharmed, is pointed out, when we read that-

VoL. I— 25

290 Christ's transfiguration.

*' Jesus came and touched them," and said, "Arise, and
be not afraid." It is the touch of the Son of God incar-
nate ; it is actual communion with his blessed body,
which enables penitent yet still frail sinners to look
toward the Almighty and All-wise, without being oppress-
ed by the glory.

Therefore it is that those who despise the sacraments,
if they think of divine things at all, are sure to fall into
some heresy ; they have not the strengthening touch of
Jesus Christ, the light and strength Avhich flow only
from communion with him ; they are left, so far as we
know, to their own natural courage and wisdom, to con-
tend against the evil and seducing spirit ; and we all
know what is sure to happen, when in that war man is
left to himself.

But lest any one, hearing or reading of the great and
high mysteries contained in the gospel of our salvation,
should begin to expect too much, that is, should look
for fuller assurance, clearer light, concerning either God
himself or any of his doings, than the condition of this
world affords : mark what follows next. " When the
voice was past, Jesus was found alone." "When they
lifted up their eyes and looked, they saw no man save
Jesus only with themselves." As much as to say, that
after all, the greatest saint must still expect to walk by
faith not by sight ; and to find such walking a severe
trial and temptation. We all the days of our life, are
as then the three apostles were in the immediate pecu-
liar presence of the most holy Trinity : the Father
and the Son, by the Spirit, actually, as he foretold by
the prophet, " dwelling in us and walking in us." But
we see no such thing : we only see the church, the min-
isters, and sacraments, and Scriptures of Jesus Christ,
which are as it were himself present with us, to touch
us, and make us continually aware of the fearful unseen
glory, with which we are encompassed. In this sense,
although the whole Trinity is with us, yet that may be
truly said of us, which when the voice was past was said
of the three disciples, that " Jesus is found of us alone :"
we see with our eyes, we hear, we touch, our hands may

Christ's transfiguration. 291

handle, the proof, both by sacraments and by other church
ordinances, of our Lord and Savior's abode on earth in
his sacred body : and through that knowledge, and by
the help of those ordinances, we come to know the secret
things of our Lord. Therefore let no man expect too
much, either of spiritual joy, or of quiet and peace in
believing. He may, he must, lift up his eyes to heaven
in faith ; but let him not, while this world lasts, look for
that clear knowledge of saving doctrines, which may be
fitly compared to light.

Finally, the history of the transfiguration may show
us what holy reserve God expects men to practise, in
communicating the high mysteries of Christ to the
world. "Jesus said, ' Tell the vision to no man, until
the Son of man be risen again.' " It was not to be told:
the holy mysteries are not to be rudely cast like pearls
before swine, that is, made matter of conversation with
all sorts of people, pious and thoughtful, self-willed and
humble.

It is true, as times are now, one can hardly keep very
unworthy persons from knowing the sayings which con-
vey the knowledge of the trinity, and of other great and
awful secrets in religion. But we may keep from wan-
tonly discoursing of such things ; we may keep silence
even in our own thoughts, not rashly either speaking or
conjecturing about the most holy trinity ; never forget-
ting, very often expressly adoring.

In two words, would we know how best to behave
ourselves in respect of these heavenly truths, which are
but half revealed, yet the life of our souls depends on
our entirely believing them ; let us try to be minded as
the two great apostles were ; neither of whom ever after
lost the remembrance of what he had seen in the mount ;
and how they remembered it, themselves have told us :
St. John found in it great help to look steadily by faith
and love on the face of God incarnate : " the Word,"
says he, "was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we
beheld his glory." Again, St. Peter found in the recol-
lection of the same moment a sure and certain pledge
of the second coming of our Lord j his words are, " We

292 Christ's transfiguration.

have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we
made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majes-
ty. . . For the voice which came from heaven we heard,
when we were with him in the holy mount."

With those great apostles, and with all saints, let U3
give glory to our transfigured Lord : to whom, with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God,
be all honor and glory, all praise and dominion, for ever
and ever. Amen.

SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE, 293

SERMON XXX.

SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE.

PREACHED ON ST. ANDREW'S DAY.

St. John i. 42.
** He first Irrpairoil findeth his own brother Simon."

We are now come to the end of one more year of
the church Sundays and holydays. For another twelve-
month we have had the church open, not only on the
one day in the week which all who call themselves
Christians at all, think themselves bound in some sort
to keep holy, but also on those other days on which the
Prayer Book directs us to remember the holy saints and
martyrs of old, both for their good example's sake, and
also in token of our continued communion by faith with
that blessed company who have gone before us into
paradise. We have tried to honor God in them as the
holy church directs ; but some persons would be apt to
say, we have tried it with very little profit. Few, very
few, were those among us who at first showed any dis-
position to take part in this service — and few, very few,
they continue still. If one judged of such matters by
outward appearance, or looked anxiously to any present
visible effect, surely one should be much tempted to
leave off these saints' day services altogether, or sub-
stitute for them something else, which should draw
more people, and seem to do more good.

But, in the first place, the rule of the church is plain.
We cannot leave off these services, without direct and
manifest disobedience to the Prayer Book. They are as
distinctly ordered in that book, as the service of the
Sunday itself.

In the next place, to leave off any service, merely be-

25*

294 SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE.

cause we do not see the good effects of it, supposing it
to be otherwise right, seems not well to agree with the
first principle of all goodness— faith. Think of the great
example of all. Jesus Christ hanging on the cross
ceases not " all day to stretch forth his hands to a diso-
bedient and gainsaying people." If the church be truly-
crucified with him (and that is the very pledge and seal
of her being), she, too, must be content to do the same.
She is not to cease stretchiug forth her hands, because
her children are disobedient and gainsaying : not though
they were all such.

And M^hat if but few come % who can tell how much
good the Almighty may have wrought, or may one day
purpose to work, in and by some one or more of those
few, who are able and willing to come 1 Who knows
what ample growth, what abundant fruit may be given
to some seed of truth and grace, scattered, as to men it
would seem, almost at random, on such an occasion as
thisl an occasion which the world in general agrees to
pass by in such utter neglect.

Let us just look to the history of the saint whose
memory we this day honor. So it is, that he comes
first in the list, of whom divine Providence has caused
that to be set down, which may most encourage us in
continuing- such services as these, however little coun
tenance we generally find for them.

St. Andrew is the first of the Apostles whom the
church commemorates. Look now into the Scripture
notices of St. Andrew, and see how he first came to
Christ. Was it not by a kind of providential chance 1
by what the world, speaking humanly, would call a kind
of happy accident % In the same sort of way as if any
one person, coming here regularly when he could, on
Saints' day as well as on Sundays, should happen (so we
speak, but we know what it means) to hear something
in the collect, or lessons, or sermon, which might just
meet some spiritual want of his, and do him good for
ever ^

For thus it was : — St. Andrew, being a disciple of St.
John the Baptist, happened to be standing with him one

SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE. 295

day, not long after St. John had come to the knowledge
that Jesus was the Christ, by the voice which came from
heaven, and the Holy Ghost which descended on him
at his baptism. St. Andrew happened to be one of two,
who heard St. John at sight of our Lord utter those
memorable words, which the Holy Ghost, probably by
their witness, has preserved for the church to all gene-
rations. " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world." So hearing, they both followed Je-
sus, and abode with him that day : and what he saw and
heard, together with St. John's testimony, convinced him
that this was indeed the anointed of the Lord, the prom-
ised Savior. It prepared him to forsake all that he
had, when the same Jesus not long after called on him
to do so, and to become a fisher of men. Thus the
gathering of Christ's people began : not by any over-
powering manifestation of him, such as one might ex-
pect after the wonders of his baptism, but privately and
quietly, and, as we should say, by accident.

And as this gathering began, so also it went on. The
very next thing we read is, that St. Andrew "first found
his own brother Simon," he who was afterward the
beloved Apostle St. Peter, and " brought him to Jesus,"
assuring him that he was the Christ. Both of them as
it may seem, both St. Andrew and the other whose name
is not mentioned, went to look for St. Peter ; knowing
no doubt his zealous, earnest, dutiful temper, they
wished to lose no time in making him partaker of the
glad tidings. Both most likely looked for him, but St.
Andrew his brother found him first.

Here the same word, Jindeth, is used again, as also
twice afterward in the continuation of the same narra-
tive : in the calling, first of St. Philip and afterward of
Nathanael. " The day following Jesus would go forth
into Galilee, and jindeth Philip, and saith unto him, Fol-
low me." The Holy Ghost seems on purpose to have
guided the pen of the holy Evangelist so, as if he should
say, "Christ being on the point of departure into Gali-
lee, it so happened^ that just before his departure he fell
in with Philip :" who being of Bethsaida had, perhaps,

296 SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE.

heard something of him from Andrew and Peter, both
of whom were of the same place ; and was the readier
to listen to the call, when directly given.

Again, he goes on, " Philip findeth Nathanael :" it so
happened that the next person Philip should light upon
should be Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the town to
which our Lord was going ; which Nathanael was also
prepared, by knowledge of the old Scriptures, and still
more by his guileless and simple heart, to believe in
Christ, when he should see him.

Thus our Lord, having been without disciples when,
he was first seen coming to St. John, went into Galilee
with four or five at least : who were present at his first
miracle, and so seeing his glory, had their faith con-
firmed in him. And all this was owing, under God, to
St. Andrew's taking advantage of the providential acci-
dent of our Lord's passing by where he was standing
with St. John.

Further; in what little beside Holy Scripture tells us
of this apostle, we may, if I mistake not, trace some-
thing of the same Avay of thinking and acting. He seems
to have been remarkable for what one may call spiritual
presence of mind : a disposition to observe and to treas-
ure up, what to others might possibly seem mere casual
and insignificant matters, as not knowing what good
might be secretly laid up in them, for those who would
mark them in the fear of God.

Thus, as in the text St. Andrew was made instrument-
al in preparing many to be apostles of Christ, so after-
ward a remark of his led in a manner to the miracle of
the loaves, and to the treasure of divine knowledge con-
cerning the bread which came down from heaA'en, con-
tained in the discourse which followed that miracle.
For when our Lord, seeing the multitude, began to try
his disciples, saying first to St. Philip, "Whence shall
we buy bread, that these may eat V and Philip, accord-
ing to his simplicity, seemed to think it out of the ques-
tion, St. Andrew, with deeper thought, but not without
perplexity, pointed out that they had among them just
live loaves and two fishes: "but what," said he, "are

SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE. 297

they among so many 1" Apparently he had observed
enough of our Lord's manner, to feel sure that he did
not ask the question without some deep meaning ; he
rather anticipated some great manifestation of him ; but
of what particular kind was beyond his conjecture.

So again, when our Lord's time was drawing near, we
read of certain Greeks, Greek Jews from a distance,
who had come up to the Passover, and who, wishing to
see Jesus, made their desire known first to Philip.
Philip, as it should seem, doubting whether the matter
was of consequence enough to trouble our Lord about
it, " Cometh and telleth Andrew : and again, Andrew
and Philip tell Jesus :" Andrew probably having, as be-
fore, the deeper sense of the two, that this and every-
thing else which took place in relation to their divine
Master was in the strictest sense providential and mys-
terious, and must not be allowed to go by as utterly
insignificant.

Lastly, whereas we find St. Andrew's name mentioned,
among the four who came to our Lord privately, with
the question about " the sign of his coming, and the end
of the world ;" for the four were Peter and James and
John and Andrew : this also agrees well Avith the idea
we have been giving of his character. Our Lord had
said, as it were incidentally, as he came out of the tem-
ple, " There shall not be left here one stone upon another,
which shall not be thrown down." There was some-
thing probably in his manner, which told watchful ob-
servant persons, such as St. Andrew, that this was more
than a mere passing hint, or remark on the transitory
nature of worldly glories. Accordingly he noticed it,
and did not permit it to fall to the ground, but follow-
ing the clew which his gracious Master no doubt ofTered
for that very purpose, he obtained from him, for us and
for the whole church, that awful warning, concerning
the latter days and the final judgment, which perhaps
tells more than any other passage in Scripture, toward
keeping up something like the fear of God in a revolt-
ing and rebellious world.

Thus we see how much was gained not only for An-

298 SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBlE.

drew himself, and for those persons whom he brought
directly to Christ, but also for Christ's kingdom in all
ages, and for ourselves among the rest, by this one
saint's diligent and dutiful watching of all opportunities
and hints for instruction and devotion. He suffered
nothing to pass away as in a dream. He was so firmly
persuaded that God is in all things, little and great, that
he never would put away from his thoughts anything
that might be providential, under the pretence that it
was too trifling, too remote from religion, to be worth
noticing in that point of view.

Why should not you and I learn this holy lesson of
him 1 If not a sparrow falls to the ground without our
Father, much more may we learn of this great saint to
believe that none of his words, or the words of his
church, falling on our ears by his providence, were in-
tended to fall in vain. It may be that many of us, when
they come to church, cannot even hear a great deal of
the holy service : and that even of what they do hear, a
great deal is beyond their understanding. But I wish
they would consider, that this makes those portions
which they do hear, and follow in their minds, so much
the more like distinct providential warnings, voices from
heaven to them personally. When anything strikes
you particularly in a prayer or lesson, more especially
if you are deaf or very ignorant, you have reason to
think that Almighty God would have you lay hold of
that thought, carry it home with you, think on it after-
ward, see what difference it should make in your con-
duct, perhaps consult your minister about it. You must
give an account of it somehow or other ; you cannot be
as if it had never entered into your mind.

So much for St. Andrew's Christian presence of mind,
as it may be exercised in treasuring up and improving
the hints which we receive in this place, especially from
the church and the Word of God : next consider whether
it may not be also exercised, much to your own and
others' profit, in your own intercourse with your breth-
ren. Would that our eyes were more open as St.
Andrew's were to the chances which continually occur,

SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE. 299

of doing our fellow-creatures, especially our relations
and those of the same household, spiritual good! Why
are not those, who in some sort have acknowledged our
Lord in their hearts, more intent than they generally
seem upon first finding their own brothers, their own
■wives, children, near friends, and bringing them also to
Jesus, not in word only, and in mere knowledge, not
only by such things as sending them to school (which yet
is a plain duty and too much neglected), but much more
by watchful care against the first beginnings of sin : by
checking heedfully the first oath, the first lewd or pro-
fane jest ; by anxious watching to see that prayers are
said, and lessons learned, and obedience to ministers
and teachers practised!

All these, and many more, which true Christian love
will find out for herself, are the ways of bringing chil-
dren, and others committed to our charge, to the knowl-
edge and love of God : to the neglect of which, in good
measure, we must attribute this sad result, that in so
many families, where the parents seem religious, the
children grow up without the fear of God. St. Andrew,
you have heard, was on the watch, wherever, and among
whomsoever, he was : he availed himself discreetly, not
in an affected way, of every opening which God's prov-
idence gave him, for bringing first his own brother, and
then his friends, and then strangers, to Jesus. It is true
Christian wisdom to do as he did : not violently intro-
ducing on all occasions the mention of the most sacred
things, but never leaving them out of your mind, and
gently doing what you can, to make people's attention
turn toward them of itself. In this way, a look, a tone
of voice, or a single word, used for that purpose hum-
bly and in the fear of God, will often do more good, and
less tempt both speaker and hearer to any kind of hypoc-
risy, than a set and formal discourse would.

To conclude by briefly returning to the point from
which I began. If it be so great a part of Christian
goodness to catch up the loose hints which the provi-
dence of God strews everywhere in our way, we mny
not think our time lost, if we strive to keep up God's

300 SAINTS ARE LIKE SPARKS IN STUBBLE.

worship and honor, and to obey him, sanctifying in his
church such days as these, though but two or three be
then gathered together in his name to meet us there.
It rests with ourselves, who do come, to take care that
this our good custom (for I will boldly call it so, being
as it is, in strict obedience to the prayer book), be not
idle and without fruit. It depends on ourselves, ser-
riously to improve the memory of every saint as it oc-
curs, by honoring God for him, and practising his good
example ; instead of indulging mere wonder, that so few
are found to care for this part of God's service, or mere
complaint of the decay of church rules in our days. As
we go about our daily tasks, we may see many chances
of doing good, each in his own little way, and not a
few, wherein we may set on others to do that, which is
out of our line or beyond our power. We may quietly
notice those occasions, which if we mark them will con-
tinually arise, causing us to attend to something in our
own conduct, which hitherto, by comparison at least, we
have neglected : and thus we may become, not in out-
ward show, but in inward reality, more strict and par-
ticular, in other words better and happier, every day
that we live in this world. In short, we may make it
our rule, never to think anything beneath notice, which
is ordered by God's Providence, and for which immortal
souls may be the better or the worse : ever remember-
ing that the apostle's rule holds alike for good or evil :
" Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth."

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 301

SERMON XXXI.

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

1 Tim. vi. 6.

"Godliness, with contentment, is great gain."

The apostle St. Paul, having in the course of this his
first letter to the bishop of the Ephesian church, given
various directions suited to the difficult circumstances
in which his " beloved son" (as he calls him), Timothy,
was placed, proceeds now, in the latter part of the
Epistle, to impress on the bishop, and, through him, on
the church generally, some very solemn cautions rela-
tive to an evil which, it seems, was then springing up
among Christians, and threatening to produce the worst
effects.

To understand the force of the apostolic warnings, we
must call to mind one or two circumstances relating to
the state of society in those times.

Among all the nations of antiquity, not only among
the Greeks and Romans, but also with God's chosen
people the Jews, it was, we know, common for persons
to have slaves in their houses ; whether taken captives
in war, or purchased for money, or born in the house.
And the condition of these slaves was, of course, very
varied, according to the principle or temper of their
masters — some being treated as if they were relatives
(like the centurion's servant, " who was dear unto him,"
mentioned in the seventh of St. Luke), others again ex-
periencing much harshness, cruelty, and oppression,
such as we here of in the accounts of modern slavery.

Now, then, when the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
was first preached and made known to the people of
these countries — a gospel in which God showed himself

Vol. L— 26

802 GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

to be "no respecter of persons," but which was offered
to all indiscriminately, high and low, rich and poor, bond
and free — then trials and difficulties would arise, such
as would put very strongly to the test the sincerity of
the new converts. We can easily imagine that masters
would be very unwilling to acknowledge the spiritual
rank (if one may so call it) of their slaves as fully equal
to their own — all, in God's sight, miserable offenders,
and needing redemption from the slavery of sin. And,
on the other hand, there was plainly a danger lest
slaves on becoming Christians, and learning that as
Christians they were in a spiritual sense and manaer,
exalted to the same rank with the highest of the sons of
men — there was danger, I say, lest, in thus mistaking
the meaning of Christian liberty, they should neglect
the primary Christian rules of humility and obedience,
and so forfeit the blessed privileges placed within their
reach.

Accordingly the apostle, under the direction of the
Holy Spirit, thus delivers his solemn caution to the
bishop, with reference to this subject — a subject which
was of course one of touching importance, and affecting
the condition of almost or quite every Christian family,
or every family in which there were Christians, in the
diocese of Ephesus.

" Let as many slaves (says he, ver. 1) as are under
the yoke" — that is, as are converted to the gospel, and
are become Christians by profession — " let them count
their own masters worthy of all honor," even though
those masters should be Jews or heathens, having no
faith in the sacred name of Jesus Christ ; still the
Christian slaves must treat them with honor, respect, and
obedience, as before ; otherwise these masters will wish
their slaves had never become Christians, will think that
the gospel encourages pride and disobedience — and so
(says St. Paul) " the name of God, and the doctrine of
the gospel, will be blasphemed," maligned, and evil-
spoken of without reason.

This was the advice in the case of Christian slaves
having Jewish or heathen masters.

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 303

But in the next verse he speaks of a different case,
viz. that of Christian slaves having Christian masters.
Here the danger to the slave was, that he should be-
come conceited, imagine that his Christianity altered in
some way his worldly rank, put all orders of society on.
a level. No, says St. Paul, nothing of this kind is true —
"Those who have believing (that is, Christian) masters,
must not despise them," treat them with less respect
*' because (as Christians) they are brethren ; but, quite
the contrary, do them service all the rather," in consid-
eration of their blessed Christian unity, of their being
"faithful and beloved, and partakers with them of the
common benefit" — God's everlasting mercy in Christ
Jesus,

" These are the things" (continues the apostle, ad-
dressing the bishop), these are the practical truths which
1 require you to " teach and exhort. If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine
which is according to godliness" — such an one (what-
ever he may think of himself, or whatever he may pro-
fess), such an one is "proud, knowing nothing, but do-
ting about questions and strifes of words."

He then specifies some of the evil results which had
followed from these questions and strifes of words, viz.
" envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings or suspicions,
perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and desti-
tute of the truth, who suppose that gain is godliness,"
or, as the original might perhaps be not less faithfully
translated, " who suppose that religion is a sort of trade
or business" — that is, to make people better off in this
world. From such teachers or persons (says the apostle)
" withdraw thyself 5" that is, be cautious of giving any
sanction to such opinions. They will tell you that " gain
is godliness," that religion is a good thing if it helps
you on in this world, not otherwise — rather I tell you,
that " godliness with contentment is great gain ;" that a
contented life of pure religion, however the world may
think meanly of it, " is great gain," will in the end turn
out to be the best of all schemes, the most profitable of

304i GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

all speculations. Everything else will fail, but that
will stand any shock or trial.

Such being in some degree the apparent force of the
apostle's reasoning in this most remarkable place, let
us, under the aid of God's Holy Spirit, endeavor to de-
rive from it some practical hints which may be of service
to us under the difficult circumstances in which (surely)
we are now placed, whether as individual Christians, or
as members of the church called of England.

" Godliness with contentment," says the apostle, is
the best business a man can follow, be his station in life
what it may.

" Godliness with contentment" — as much as to say,
not " Godliness without contentment." There were, it
seems, when St. Paul wrote this, and perhaps have been
at all times since in the Christian church, persons who,
though impressed with a sense of the importance of re-
ligion, yet forgot that, in respect of themselves, the
proof and trial of it lay in its effect on their hearts and
tempers.

A religious discontented person is a sort of contradic-
tion ; that is to say, the godliness and holiness of heart
which is essential to the true Christian character, cannot
consist with a peevish and discontented temper, any
more than with habitual impurity or dishonesty.

This is a rule of much importance to be attended to.
For, in some shape or other, the temptation to be dis-
contented with our lot assails most persons, at least
occasionally, and at some period of their lives. And
some are almost always murmuring and complaining.

Now we ought to remember, when we are thus unhap-
pily inclined, the apostle's rule of " Godliness with con-
tentment." We ought not to flatter ourselves, that be-
cause we are in a certain sense, and in some respects,
religious^ and, as we think, " godly ;" I say we ought not
to be so certain that therefore we have those tempers
and dispositions which imply what the apostle calls "the
power of godliness," as distinct from " the form" of it.

Especially, it greatly concerns us to ascertain whether
what we call our religion, is of sufficient strength to

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 305

keep us contented with our lot and station, be it what
it may ; to restrain us from all murmuring and re-
pining; thoughts ; from all feelings of envy, or grudging
agaiiisi others, who (we think) deserve less, but have
more than ourselves; in one word, whether in the most
emphatic and admirable words of the catechism, we
really do endeavor, without comparing our own condi-
tion to that of others, "to do our own duty in that state
of life to which it has pleased God to call us."

Unless this be our frame of mind and course of prac-
tice, we cannot properly be said to possess '' Godliness
with contentment." And then whether "Godliness
without contentment" (if such a thing were possible)
can he in the sight of God of any price, all persons can
judge who with seriousness and humility call to mind
what are the duties and the privileo-es of a Christian.

Again, it seems a point worth some consideration,
that there may be and are such things as ?//?godliness
with contentment, and ungodliness too with (//^x'ontent-
ment. As to the latter of these, the disposition to lead
a miserable life, without present comtort or future hope,
however strange and unaccountable it may seem;
surely instances of such conduct are not, alas ! very
uncommon among \is. And the great distress and per-
plexity which, from whatever cause, has befallen the
trade and manufactures in many parts of this country,
has a naturiil tendency to increase this unhappy state ot
what may be called (as I said) "ungodliness with dis-
contentment." I suppose I may say that there are many
persons who do not go to any place of worship (as the
phrase is) for weeks and months, I may almost say for
years, because their clothes are not good enough ; or
in some cases, absolutely from the want of them — such
want being partly owino- to tlieir own negligence. This
by degrees brings the mind into a state of what may be
termed unsfodliness, or irreligion ; that is, people get
ofradually into a notion, and at last into a confirmed
opinion that they can get on as well without religion as
with it. Then, they have no support left against the
troubles and ditficullies which surround them 5 feeling

':6*

306 GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

that they have in a manner cast off the worship of God,
they also feel that God has as it were cast off them ;
and so they seem to lose all hope, all resolution, all
energy and spirit : dissatisfied with others, no less than
with themselves, they drag on a miserable life — a life
unworthy of virtuous heathens, much less of baptized
Christians. Such is ungodliness with discontentment :
whether there is danger of its increasing in this our once
favored country, let persons of observation decide. At
all events such cases, when they do occur, should be a
warning to us, into what a low and desperate, indolent,
discontented wretchedness we may be permitted to fall,
if we once habitually cast off the love and service of
our heavenly Father.

However, there is perhaps a disposition still worse,
and, if possible, more fatal than this ; viz. (as I before
said) " i^Tigodliness with contentment," when persons
in a Christian country go on from year to year, setting
at naught all the holy rules of Christ's religion — yet all
the while cheerful and self-satisfied, maintaining a de-
cent character in the world — living without fear — dying
without hope. This, I say, may be called "^^?^godli-
ness with contentment j" and is, I suppose, also likely
to increase very rapidly in this kingdom, now that the
restraints of religion, that is, of the church, are in all
ways sought to be got rid of under the sanction, as it
may seem, of law, and of the highest authorities: as if
the world would go on all the better, and liberty flour-
ish, in proportion as God and his laws could be set
aside and forgotten.

Nevertheless, as I observed, however bad a thing
*' ungodliness with discontentment" may be — ungodli-
ness with contentment seems to be worse, I mean more
fatal to men's spiritual interests. When men are wicked
and miserable, there is hope that their misery may lead
them to reflection, and so to repentance and amendment.
But when they are irreligious and unprincipled, yet all
the while easy, cheerful, and self-satisfied, there is then
indeed reason to fear that they have provoked God to
give them over to their own imaginations — that they

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 307

are fast sinking into complete " hardness of heart, and
contempt of his word and commandment." And what
the end of such a course must be, none but an infidel
can deny or doubt.

There remains then no other alternative to us, if we
would be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in name
and profession only, but in deed and in truth ; our rule
of heart and life must be " godliness with contentment ;"
this is the one rule of life for us all as Christians, with-
out regard to differences of rank or station.

There must not be contentment without godliness —
nor godliness without contentment (if such were possi-
ble); but both must be together, or else the heart will
not be right in the sight of God. This, perhaps, it is
not difficult to see and ascree to — but tobrinsf it consist-
ently into practice, in this country at this time, is per-
haps more difficult than might be readily supposed.

The word translated "godliness," means, in the ori-
ginal, what we should call religion, that is, a religious plan
or system of worship. Now in the primitive church, as
all persons know who have turned their attention to an-
cient Ecclesiastical history, there was one uniform sys-
tem and no other. But now there are so many varie-
ties, and shades of varieties, without number, and yet
continually increasing, that among so many there is a
great likelihood that vast numbers of persons will settle
down into nothing — especially, as the advocates of the
church are set down at once for bigots — and bigotry is
reckoned so bad a crime. However, as you have been
often told, so it must be again and again repeated, that
if it is bigotry to stand steady to the truth, and not to
shift and change about with every wind of doctrine — if
bigotry and steady love of truth are the same thing, at
least sometimes ; in that sense surely we have no need
to be ashamed of the name of " bigots ;" but rather to
wish that we were more deserving of the name than we
are — the best of us.

However, I mention this to show how many difficul-
ties stand in the Christian's way in respect of his ful-
filling the apostle's rule of godliness with contentment.

308 GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

If the Christian world (as it is called), were what it
ought to be, " of one heart and of one soul," it would be
sufficiently difficult to act up to this rule, owing to the
weakness and corruption of our fallen nature ; but now
from external causes this difficulty is sadly increased.

Yet difficulty is one thing, and impossibility another.
By the all-powerful grace of God duly sought in prayer
and sacramental ordinances, more especially in the com-
munion feast of the body and blood of the Son of God,
we may be enabled to prevail in this necessary conflict,
this conflict for life or death. I say, a necessary conflict.
For, surely, to hope for salvation through Jesus Christ,
without a religious and godly life, is as great a delusion
as to trust to the rules of Mahometanism or heathenism ;
that is, the Mahometan or the heathen may have as rea-
sonable hopes as the wilfully irreligious Christian.

And thus, as there are many present difficulties in the
path of sincere godliness, so also in the exercise of con-
tentment.

Whatever the causes may be, no one can doubt that in
many instances it is extremely difficult indeed, and more
so than it used formerly to be in this country, for a per-
son to obtain a competent maintenance for himself and
his family; especially in the manufacturing districts we
know this to be the case, too well. Yet, to persons so
suffigring, the divine rule is ofl^ered now, as much as
when, some years since, they or their fathers were in
more prosperous circumstances. *' Godliness with con-
tentment is great gain." " Contentment," that is, a pa-
tient reliance on God's disposals, looking for better
things when it shall please him, and checking all mur-
muring and repining thoughts.

This is a plain rule to give, but doubtless very diffi-
cult to act up to in times of severe trial, and when dis-
tress comes on a family in many ways (as one may say)
at once. Poverty, sickness, nakedness, discredit, low-
spirits — all these things form together a trial of greater
severity (I suppose) than any one can imagine who
does not feel it. And to tell such an one that he ought
to be patient and contented — it is very true — so we all

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 3C9

ought to be ; nevertheless, the means of being so, ought
to be pointed also ; implied in the apostle's emphatic
word, when he says, not " contentment" only, but
godliness with contentment is great gain ; or, according
to the force of the original words, a great bargain — a
profitable line of business.

As if he had said, if you wish to engage in an under-
taking which is quite sure to be successful, take up this,
"Godliness with contentment." All other plans, how-
ever carefully concerted, may fail, and often do — this
never can ; this will always be a profitable business, and
will end in " great gain."

What that gain is, we cannot doubt, though its great-
ness and value be beyond our powers of computation.

Nor in the competition for it, is there any middle
place : if we gain it, we gain all} if we lose it, we lose
all.

In conclusion, let me only offer two or three brief
admonitions, such as the subject must naturally suggest
to persons of "humble, penitent, and obedient hearts,"
in times of trial and perplexity.

St. Paul, you see, directed by the Holy Spirit, sets
forth " godliness wnth contentment," as the capital (if I
may so say) or stock on which the Christian must carry
on his business, his " trading" (as it were) for eternity j
for that is implied in the original word.

Be sure, then, in the first place, to have a foundation
well laid in godliness, piety, religion pure and undefiled.
Be not ashamed of your God and Savior ; that is, be not
ashamed to follow those holy rules by which his saints
of all ages have been willing to be guided. A meek and
quiet spirit, obedience to the authority of Christ's an-
cient church, a patient enduring of scorn and contempt
from all, but especially from those who think themselves
more spiritual or more enlightened ; pray to be led in
the good and the right way, and not to be left to the
false lights of popular opinion or of private feeling ; a
sincere distrust of our own frailty and weakness, heart-
felt sorrow for past negligences, and earnest supplica-

310 GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT.

tions to be enabled to amend wherever we have done
amiss ; and to all this, if there be added a humble, regu-
lar, obedient attendance on those gracious means of
spiritual improvement, which have been vouchsafed to
the church of God through many trials and perplexities,
down to this day ; if you thus endeavor to serve your
God and Father from day to day, and from week to
week, you need not doubt that so far at least you have
made progress in the fulfilment of the sacred rule of
"godliness with contentment."

But we must, as I before said, be very careful in this
as in other cases ; be careful, I say, not to separate what
God hath joined together ; we must not be satisfied with
a form of godliness without real contentment, nor with
a show of contentment without godliness.

Remember, then, that as we none of us can choose our
stations nor our places, so we all have very difficult
duties to perform in them. To live an easy, undisturbed
life, is out of the question. I mean it is out of the ques-
tion for any one who would faithfully do his duty to his
God and Savior.

Hence the necessity of contentment ; not that we may
grow indolent and slothful, but the very contrary j that
we may take things as they are, and do our own duty
under them ; never expecting that the world will grow
better, or our difficulties less, but earnestly hoping that
we may grow better, and more worthy of the great name
by which we are called.

Then only can we truly lead a godly and contented
life, free from the slavery of the world, and of our own
evil passions, walking always in the love and fear of
God, and having resigned our wills to his.

It is unquestionably in this frame of mind that true
devotion consists ; and if we are not habitually praying
and endeavoring in this way to regulate our affections
before our omniscient Judge and Savior, we may indeed
have religion enough to satisfy the world or our own
feelings, to pass respectably through life, and to meet
death with decency and calmness — but what will all
this avail, if God shall try us by a different rule, even

GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT. 311

by his most strict and sacred precepts delivered to us in
his gospel 1

And yet certain it is — and unless we are infidels we
cannot deny or doubt it — that by this rule we shall be
judged, according to his own most awful warning : —

If any man (said he) hear my words, and obey them not,
I judge him not.

that is, not now, in this present life of trial j neverthe-
less he shall not escape — for

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my wordsj

Hath one that judgeth him.

The word that I have spoken —

The same shall judge him in the last day.

312 CHRISTIAN PREPARATION.

SERMON XXXII.

CHRISTIAN PREPARATION.

Amos iv. 12.
" Prepare to meet thy God, 0 Israel !"

These few but solemn words form part of an address
delivered by divine authority to the Jews, under the fol-
lowing circumstances.

The kingdom having been, after the death of Solomon,
divided into two parts (as all persons know who turn
their attention to Scripture history), and thenceforth be-
coming two separate states, the one called the kingdom
of Israel, and the other, that of Judah j the kings of Is-
rael were, with few (if any) exceptions, given to idolatry,
and in other respects too like their founder, the usurpei
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

Nevertheless, some of them were powerful and suc-
cessful monarchs, among whom may particularly be men-
tioned Jeroboam the Second, who, in his wars with the
Syrians, prevailed against them, and recovered Damas-
cus and other ancient long-lost possessions of the Israel-
ites. With this success, no doubt, he and his subjects
were much elated ; but it does not appear that they were
at all the more inclined to seek Jehovah, the God of
their fathers, or to acknowledge their own past sinful-
ness with true penitence and resolutions of amendment.

At this time, to warn them of their danger, and of the
ruin that awaited them without timely repentance, God
sent to them two of his messengers the prophets, if so
be they would listen, before it should be too late, to the
voice of mercy.

These two prophets were Hosea and Amos.

The writings of these holy men have been preserved
to us, and they contain abundant and awful proof of the

CHRISTIAN PREPARATION. 313

dreadful corruptions into which the Israelites of that
time had fallen ; proof, also, no less decisive and awful
(if any were wanting), of the dreadful indignation of
God against those who despise his warnings, his good-
ness, his forbearance and long-suffering.

With respect to the prophet Amos, it appears that he
was specially called out of the land of Judah to prophesy
to Israel, and that he fulfilled his commission with the
most heroic courage, deliverinsr his warnino:s at Bethel
Itself, the chief place of Israelitish idolatry (as we find
in the seventh chapter).

He, indeed (as was the case with most of the proph-
ets), was commissioned to utter the divine counsels, not
merely as they respected his own nation of the Jews,
but other nations also, the inhabitants of the neio-hbor-
mor countries and cities.

Yet though his warnings (see the first and second
chapters) are severe toward Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus,
Edom, Ammon, Moab, and even Judah, it is against Is-
rael that his most indigfnant threateninffs are denounced,
for their forgetfulness of their God, and their oppression
of one another.

And then, in this fourth chapter, he proceeds to men-
tion the different judgments which, one after another,
God had sent on them 5 famine and want of bread, then
want of rain and water, then blasting and mildew, pesti-
lence and war. And then he refers to some awful de-
struction by fire from heaven, or perhaps lightning, the
particulars of which have not been recorded. But some-
thing of the kind seems to be certainly implied in these
words : " I have overthrown some of you, as God over-
threw Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand
plucked out of the burning : yet have ye not returned
unto me, saith the Lord."

And then, since all had been in vain, and not even
these awful judgments could move their stony hearts,
he seems to say, that nothing more could be done, their
destruction as a nation was unavoidable.

"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel !"
[And] because I will do this unto thee,
Prepare to meet Ihy God, 0 Israel !"

VoL.l.— 27

314 CHRISTIAN PREPARATION.

That is, prepare thyself, if penitent, to meet him with
supplications, prayers, and tears ; but if still hardened
and impenitent, to encounter his just vengeance and fiery
indignation. But at all events, whether penitent or im-
penitent, grieved or hardened, " prepare, O Israel, to
meet thy God ;" still thy God, though thou hast disown-
ed him.

Now, whatever might be the condition and conduct
of those Israelites, it cannot, I suppose, be imagined by
any person of the least consideration, that such a warn-
ing as this is less applicable or less necessary for us
than it was for them. For, like them, we have received
warnings and notices in abundance of what we are to
expect ; like them, too, alas ! we have, for the most
part, disregarded those warnings, and gone every one
his own way.

However, meet our God we must, prepared or unpre-
pared ; and surely it were far better to meet him now
with sorrow, shame, and sincere endeavors after amend-
ment, than to meet him hereafter in the day of his
wrath, and when the door of mercy shall be for ever
closed.

As Christians, then, immortal spirits redeemed by the
blood of Jesus the Son of God, placed here for a little
space on our passage and trial for eternity, preparation
is our business — and our only business: preparation,
that is, for the great changes which are drawing on up-
on us, and of which we must all soon be witnesses; but
whether in joy or in sorrow, in hope or in despair, it is
left to ourselves to determine.

Now religious preparation implies in it, at least these
three things : First, serious forethought ; Second, actual
search and inquiry ; Third, a resolute course of practice
suitable to what appears to be the truth of our condition
Avith respect to the future.

Without these, it is vain to flatter ourselves that we
are " preparing to meet our God."

Serious forethought and anxiety about what end we
are coming to, the reasonableness or rather the neces-
sity of this, is what no thoughtful person can deny or
question.

CHRISTIAN PREPARATION. 315

For as the great distinguishing mark which at present
separates us from the beasts that perish, is the power of
exercising reason and reflection, so is this power in
nothing more wonderfully shown than in our being ca-
pable of looking forward, and ascertaining with a con-
siderable degree of certainty, what will be the conse-
quences of our conduct, both on this side the grave and
beyond it.

The mind, indeed, when left to itself, naturally
stretches its views onward ; but the prospect being very
often alarming, or at least doubtful and perplexing, the
generality of people do not like to dwell on it. And this
is one great reason why people according to their dif-
ferent dispositions, get into the opposite habits of covet-
ousness or extravagrance.

One is all for business and money-getting, another,
all for pleasure and enjoyment ; the course of conduct
is as different as may be, but the principle is much the
same — a strong aversion and dislike to look seriously
forward to our condition in the eternal world.

If any proof were wanting of the extreme, and, I may
say, fearful corruption of our nature, this alone would
be but too decisive.

Nevertheless, however great and pitiable our frailty
may be, the path of duty in this, as in other respects, is
plainly marked out for us, and if we wilfully desert that
path, we must be left without excuse.

I am not now saying that in all particulars of every-
day conduct it is easy to say positively how one ought
to act, but as a general rule, it may be asserted, that if
a person does not live in constant forethought and anx-
iety about his eternal state, he must somehow or other
be going wrong.

And this forethought and anxiety, if it be sincere, and
at all proportionate to the importance of the subject,
will lead us to search also, and inquire what our pros-
pects really are, what promises and threatenings are
before us to be fulfilled in eternity, and in what degree
our conduct at present may produce effects to be felt,
for good or evil, hereafter, for ever.

It seems, I say, requisite, that we make this search

316 CHRISTIAN PREPAKATION.

and inquiry not merely with reference to mankind in
general, but to ourselves, each of us. For, after all, it
is only so far as we consider religion a personal thing,
a matter which infinitely concerns our own selves, each
one of us, that we can make a due estimate of its vast,
unspeakable value.

For this reason it is quite necessary that time should
be spent, and attention bestowed, in closely examining
what may be called the accounts of our souls.

No day or season indeed can be unfit for this holy
and absolutely indispensable work. Yet is it peculiarly
fitting for our employment on that sacred day, which
even the tyrannical world allows us to consecrate every
week to the memory of our Lord's resurrection. At
other sacred seasons too, such as Advent in preparation
for Christmas, and Lent in preparation for Easter, and
in our more solemn occasional examination of ourselv^es
before receiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper ; at
such times especially, it is necessary for us to take par-
ticular account of the state of our souls, and to ascertain
what hopes we are really authorized to cherish, of our
being at present in favor with our God, and our coming
at last to his eternal joy.

Yet now, from different causes, so many taking for
granted that they are right, and so many like Gallio
"caring for none of these things" — inquires of this kind
really employ very little of people's time and attention.

And even of those who are more sincerely and seri-
ously disposed, too many have suffered their minds to
be perplexed with difficult unedifying questions, and
even have come to imagine, that perhaps, after all, men
will not be rewarded or punished according to their
works, but by some other rule laid up in the secret
counsels of the Almighty.

The natural consequence of this is (just what the
great enemy intends when he lays the snare), that so
many who make a good beginning in the ways of re-
licrion and holiness, afterward become either over-con-
fident, or else cold and indifferent ; but in either case
are moved away (as St. Paul says) from the simplicity
which is in Christ — and so too, often instead of adorn-

CHRISTIAN PREPARATION. 3l7

ing, they disgrace the doctrine of God our Savior in all
things.

Being then in such danger of falling, it is the more
needful that we should watch ourselves very narrowly,
and with the utmost suspicion. For it is only by this con-
stant, close attention that we can obtain that knowledge
of ourselves, and of our spiritual condition which is ne-
cessary for us, if we would indeed be prepared to meet
our God.

But for this blessed purpose, we must not only use
ourselves to serious forethought, and actual search and
inquiry, but also we must resolutely maintain a course
of practice suitable to the prospect which is before us.

We are well aware that at no great distance of time,
and even that completely uncertain, we must have done
with everything here ; and the place where we are (as
the beautiful psalm says), shall know us no more.

This we are perfectly well aware of; whether the
consideration afl'ects our conduct in any way, is another
question.

We are also assured that at some future day, which
how near it may be, or how far off, is purposely kept a
secret from us ; we each of us in our own persons shall
be summoned before God's judgment-seat, to give ac-
count for our own works, of the deeds done in the body,
that is, of the way in which we have passed this our
life of mortality.

We are farther assured, that the Judge before whose
tribunal we shall then appear, will be one whose name
we have often heard, often repeated, either in reference,
or in thoughtlessness, or blasphemy ; who having before
shown his infinite love by coming to die for us, will
then show his justice, power, and majesty also infinite,
when he comes to be our Judge.

We are also warned, not by Scripture only, but by
every day's experience of the conduct of those who are
called Christians, and who have been baptized into the
sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ — we are abundant-
ly warned, I say, that it is now in our power, in any
way and any degree, to scorn, neglect, and disregard
the declared will of our Redeemer. This is plain and

27*

318 CHRISTIAN PREPARATION.

unquestionable. For many things which he has most
expressly and repeatedly forbidden, are openly and
avowedly practised among all orders and degrees of
Christians. And that heavenly disposition which he
most solemnly enjoins on all his disciples, as what he
expects of them — a disposition made up of purity, meek-
ness, love, and deadness to this world's things — to say
that this is the prevailing disposition among Christians,
even among such as are more seriously disposed, would
argue, either a great ignorance of the way in which
people are going on, or, what is worse, a dangerous and
mistaken estimate of that perfection evangelical, to
which our profession obliges us to aspire.

Yet, whatever lives we choose to lead, however care-
less, or even profligate, however neglectful of God, and
forgetful of eternity, still we do know, and we must
know, that we shall not escape at last, we must be called
to account, we must meet our God. Nor is there any
way of preparing ourselves for that awful hour, but by
keeping it in mind from day to day, and ever living with
a view to it.

As the blood of Christ Jesus is all our hope and de-
pendance, so his will must be all our rule and guidance.

And take we good heed, lest while we profess faith
in his blood, we forget or neglect his will.

We cannot suppose, if we turn our thoughts to the
subject with any seriousness, that in the day of his ter-
ror he will receive us as good and faithful servants, if
we have not made it the business of our lives to be good
and faithful — that is, always, and in all circumstances,
to endeavor to act in such a way as we think will be most
likely to please him. This, and nothing else but this, is
the duty of a good and faithful servant ; and if this is not
actually and really our course of life, we are not pre-
paring ourselves to meet our God.

But now, I ask, can we have any reasonable hope or
comfort in our hearts, if we are leading an unprepared
life 1 Do we consider what this is, and what it will end
in 1 To say that we are no worse than other people, or
that we have done many right things, or that we feel

CHRISTIAN PREPARATION. 3l9

satisfied in our consciences, and are not afraid to die j
all this is nothing- — nothing to trust to or depend on;
and we must be well aware that it is so. I mean that
there is nothing solid in such foundations as these, on
which to build our hopes of eternity.

Or if we say that we are not yet quite prepared to
meet our God, but we mean to be before he calls for us
— what, has he not called for us already 1 has he not
given us, every one of us, daily, hourly warnings 1 And
do we expect that he will work miracles to convert us,
that he will force us to heaven whether we will or nol
Where is there any encouragement given in Scripture
to any such imagination as this ? And if the gospel of
mercy does not encourage us in cherishing it, what else
are we trusting to 1

It is thought a sad thing for Christians to be cut off
unexpectedly, to be called unprepared to meet their God
— and no doubt it is a sad and a fearful thought.

But surely it is also no less fearful, for us to venture
to live unprepared j to lead any kind of life but one of
thorough, unreserved devotion — any kind of life, in
short, unworthy of angels and immortal spirits, sojourn-
ing here indeed for a little while on earth, but speedily
to be called away to the presence of their Father in
heaven.

This is true and unquestionable ; and what it concerns
us all equally, and not one more than another, to keep
deeply impressed on our hearts; and may Almighty God
of his infinite mercy enable us so to do, more than we
have ever yet done, the best of us. For "when once
the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the
door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the
door, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us — and he shall an-
swer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are,
— then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk
in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you I know you not whence ye
are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

" Take ye heed, then, watch and pray ; for ye know
not when the time is."

320 THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

SERMON XXXm.

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

Acts ii. 42, 43.

** And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every
soul."

Although Almighty God has in his just judgment per-
mitted his church, once " glorious, without spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing," to be as it were cast down
to the earth, and defiled in the dust — though to her may
be too truly applied what the prophet Jeremiah spake of
the Jewish church in her affliction : "Her adversaries
are the chief: her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath
afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions — and
from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed ;"
though such, I say, be alas ! the condition of Christ's
visible church among us, at least to a rightly discerning
eye, yet, blessed be God's holy name for it, we are not
yet so far quite cast off, but that there still remains some
ground, however faint, for consolation and hope. Where-
on this our hope may be founded, is plainly a subject
well worthy the consideration of thoughtful churchmen j
and, as such, I shall now briefly request your attention
to this one inquiry, whether it be not in our power to
believe and to live as the first Christians did 1 because
if this be in our power, it is evident that the door of
hope and comfort is not yet closed against us, nor is it
impossible but that living and dying according to the
pattern of our forefathers in the Christian faith, the mem-
bers of the primitive church, we may trust, as they did,
being partakers of Christ's sufferings here, to be allowed
in the day when he shall be revealed, to be like them
" glad also, with exceeding joy."

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 321

Of the Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem from
all parts of the world, to keep the feast of Pentecost,
about seven weeks after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus,
a very considerable number were so wrought upon — first
by the great miracle of the languages, and then by the
reasoning of the apostles — that they could not but pro-
fess themselves ready to follow at once the guidance of
men whom they were constrained to acknowledge as no
other than the messengers and ambassadors of the Most
High. " Men and brethren," said they, " what shall we
do 1" To which their earnest question the apostle's
answer was as decisive as it was encouraging. " Re-
pent," said he, " and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For (added
he) the promise is unto you and to your children, and
to all that are afar ofl^, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call," without distinction of Jew or Gentile.
And then the apostle continued his admonitions to them
at considerable length, " saying, save yourselves from
this untoward generation ;" that is, he urged on them
in a practical way, and with words of warning and cau-
tion, the danger they were in, either if they should refuse
to embrace the Christian profession so offered to them,
or if embracing it, they should afterward settle down
into an unholy or careless course of life.

They, however, the history says, " gladly receiving
his word," readily submitting themselves to the obliga-
tions of the Christian covenant, were admitted to be
"baptized the same day, to the number of about three
thousand souls." And at first, at least, whatever might
have been the case afterward with some of them, theirs
was not a mere external lukewarm profession, they really
endeavored to live accordingly — "they continued stead-
fastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in
breaking of bread, and in prayer. And fear came (or
was) upon every soul."

Under these five heads there seems to be set forth to
us in a general view, the religious course of life and
practice entered on by the first Christians j those who

322 THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

were members of the church within a twelvemonth af-
ter the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord
Jesus.

If we can follow their example, surely we cannot be
I'ery wrong ; if we neglect it, we cannot be very right.
And this, I say, is a point highly deserving the con-
sideration of all serious minds, of all who are in earn-
est about their salvation, of all who do not wish merely
to feel safe, but to be so. And, alas ! how few are these
all.

You will observe that in the primitive church, reli-
gion was the chief thing on people's minds ; they applied
themselves in earnest to it, or as our translation well
expresses it, " continued steadfast" —

1st. In the apostles' doctrine ;

2dly. In the apostles' fellowship ;

3dly. In the breaking of the bread j

4thly. In the prayers j
and all this because

5thly. Fear (that is, awe and reverence, and a deep
sense of the truth of the gospel) was on every
soul.

First, It is said, " they continued steadfastly in the
apostles' doctrine."

The word "doctrine" means, in the original, "teach-
ing," or " instruction ;" and in that sense merely is,
apparently, sometimes to be understood in the New
Testament, as for example, when it is said " the people
were astonished at our Lord's doctrine," that is, at the
authority and dignity with which he delivered his in-
structions, for so it is explained : " He taught them as
one that had authority [of his own] and not as the
Scribes" [mere expounders]. And St. Paul warning
Bishop Timothy of the corruptions into which profes-
sing Christians should fall, admonished him to stand firm
nevertheless, not to fail either in zeal or in patience :
"Reprove," said he, "rebuke, exhort with all long'
suffering and doctrine y" that is, with unwearied teach-
ing and instruction : and other places might be men-
tioned not unlike.

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 323

Nevertheless, I suppose, the word " doctrine" has
oftentimes a more confined ond particular meaning-,
with reference, that is, to the great special concerning
truths offered to the hearts (I say the hearts, rather than
the minds) of true believers in the gospel of Jesus
Christ.

Thus, for example (Acts xiii.), it is said of the Roman
officer, Sergius Paulus, that he was " astonished at the
doctrine of the Lord ;" that is, at the statement of
Christian truth set forth by the apostles, and con-
firmed by miracle. Again, St. Paul, in the first chapter
of his epistle to Titus, describing the qualifications of
a Presbyter, says, he should be one who can maintain
(or stand up for) the faithful word or argument " accord'
ing to the doctrine ;" for so it is originally, though
translated "as he hath been taught." In the short
second epistle of St. John, the doctrine of Christ is three
times mentioned, as above all things to be maintained
by all who would lay claim to the name of Christian.
To which may be added, that St. Paul congratulates the
Christians in the city of Rome, that they had proved the
sincerity of their conversion by their course of life —
" for," says he, " ye have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered you ;" referring
their thoughts as it may seem to the profession of Chris-
tian truth made in their baptism — in fact, what we term
the creed, and what St. Paul calls "a form of doctrine,"
a type, or model, or rule of Christian truth.

From these and other passages which might be al-
leged, we may conclude that when it is said of the first
Christians, that " they continued steadfastly in the apos-
tles' doctrine," we are to understand that they reso-
lutely assented, both with their hearts and their lips, to
those great fundamental principles of the gospel which
the apostles set before them — and this, notwithstanding
every difficulty, whether from within or without — their
own prejudices or the scorn or persecution of the
world — from whatever quarter the opposition might be
offered, " they continued steadfast."

We observe, in the next place, what the sacred his-

324 THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

torian asserts of the members of this primitive church,
that they " continued steadfastly also in the fellowship
(or communion) of the apostles," as well as in their doc-
trine.

This word, sometimes translated " fellowship," and
sometimes " communion," seems to imply intimate
union and sympathy, as of the members of the body
one with another, so of all with the Head.

It is sometimes used to express the g-reat mystery of
God's condescending love, in uniting his church to him-
self by the mediation of his Son, and the sanctification
of his Spirit ; and sometimes it expresses the union of
true believers in the visible church, each in their several
stations, held together by the bonds of obedience and
love, and avoiding all schisms and divisions as contrary
to the doctrine which they had received.

This spirit of love and unity the first Christians most
carefully cherished — thus they continued steadfastly in
the apostles' fellowship and communion — and as long
as they did so continue, the divine blessing was on
them ; but when some began to break the bonds of this
unity, and to fall away into sects and divisions, we read
in the letters of the apostles, how highly displeasing
this their conduct was to the great invisible Head of the
church.

We are told, thirdly, of this church of the first Chris-
tians, that they continued steadfastly in breaking of bread,
or as it is originally, " the breaking of the bread ;" that
must mean of course the celebration of the holy feast of
their Lord's body and blood, in the manner in which he
himself appointed, when he said to his apostles, " Take,
eat, this is my body j" " Do this in remembrance of me."

That this is the meaning of the expression, " breaking
of bread," we cannot doubt, both because such particu-
lar mention is made by all the sacred historians, of our
Lord's breaking the bread at the institution of the holy
Eucharist ; and also because we are told repeatedly, that
the apostles, as part of their public devotional duties,
did break bread with the other Christians ; and farther,
because St. Paul expressly says, " the bread which we

THE APOSTOLIC CHUKCH. 325

(the apostles) break, is the communion of the body of
Christ."

AVe see, then, that the Christians, in the earliest and
therefore the purest days of Christianity, continued stead-
fastly in breaking of bread ; notwithstanding every diffi-
culty and objection, whether from the violence or scorn
of foes without, or the treachery of their own hearts
within, would on no account neglect the command of
their dying Lord ; as knowing that unless they were
united to him, they could be none of his ; and that of this
unron there were no means open to them, except such
as he had appointed and blessed.

Moreover, these good and holy men, the members of
the primitive church, who continued so resolutely and
consistently in the doctrine and fellowship of the apos-
tles, and in the commemoration of their Redeemer's
death, at his own holy table — were steadfast also in
prayers — or, as it is originally, in the prayers ; from
which, as from other grounds, we may justly infer, that
even then, in the very beginning of the gospel, set rules
and forms of prayer were provided, and sanctioned by
apostolical authority for the use of the church. And
that these rules were religiously and carefully regarded,
we cannot doubt when we reflect that those first Chris-
tians were fresh, as it were, and earnest in the profes-
sion of the gospel, with the apostles for their guides
and instructers, and taught by them that " God is not
the author of confusion, but of peace in all churches of
the saints."

If now it be asked, why the members of the primitive
church yielded up their prejudices and inclinations in so
many ways as they must have done, before they could
consent to such a course of religious discipline as that
implied in these words — to continue steadfast and regular
in their regard to the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
in breaking of bread and in prayers — the statement next
following must be considered as supplying the grounds
and principles of their conduct — "fear was upon every
soul."

They were thoroughly in earnest in their religion.
Vol. 1.— 28

826 THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

They had such a deep and unaffected sense of the
transitoriness of all worldly things, of the necessity of
having God for their friend, of their own frailty, sin,
and unworthiness, of the holiness, truth, and Almighty
power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the blessedness
of being true members of his church ; an awful sense of
these things so filled their souls, that all other things
seemed of small consequence, and worth no more of
their care and anxiety. In a life of true devotion and
practical holiness, was all their consolation, all their
hope.

And may we not, too, my brethren, we whose lot is
cast in this late period of the militant church ; may we
not still, after eighteen centuries, derive hope and con-
solation from the same thoughts, and the same practi-
ces, which the primitive Christians took refuge in 1

Is it not in our power also to continue steadfastly in
the apostle's doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers 1

That these high privileges are within our reach, is
unquestionable, the doubt is, alas ! whether we know or
reflect on the value of our treasure.

We possess the apostle's doctrine, in the blessed vol-
ume of Scripture ; to our possession of which may be
truly applied the emphatic words of our Lord and Mas-
ter: "Blessed are the eyes that see the things which ye
see, and read the things which ye read : for I tell you
that many prophets and kings have desired to hear and
read the thing which ye can hear or read from that
book, and have not known them." We possess also the
apostle's doctrine in the church prayer book, not only
because we have preserved there "the form of doc-
trine," the apostles', and other ancient creeds ; but also,
because much of the noble and magnificent liturgy is as
ancient and venerable as it is noble ; and if not in form,
yet in spirit and meaning, may be dated even as high as
the apostolic age.

And as we have by God's blessing the apostle's doc-
trine, so also the apostles' fellowship. Our bishops de-
rive all their spiritual authority by succession from the

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 327

apostles downward — we, the inferior clergy, all ours
from the bishops. If this be denied us, nothing remains
on which we can ground any claim for respect or re-
gard. If this be denied us, we are nothing better than
usurpers, self-appointed ministers, useful perhaps for
the peace and order of society, but spiritually power-
less.

But, blessed be God, this cannot be denied us with
truth, we still have, though unworthy, the apostles' fel-
lowship as well as doctrine ; and while these are left
to us, our hope and consolation cannot at least be alto-
gether lost.

We have, too, still in all its vital efficacy to faithful
souls, the holy sacrament of the eucharist, the breaking
of the bread, the communion of the body and blood of
Christ, set within reach of all who are religiously and
devoutly disposed to follow their Savior's rules, and
who desire to be spiritually united to him, as knowing
that, except in that union, we have not any well-ground-
ed hope of life and immortality.

And as we of this church possess the blessed privi-
lege of partaking spiritually of that body which was
broken for us, and for our sins, so also have we prayers,
even the prayers, sanctioned by the ancient church, one
may say, even from the apostolic times, and such as,
when uttered by humble lips and from a pure heart,
cannot but be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,

Being thus able at least to continue steadfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread,
and in prayers ; still the touching question remains, has
" fear come upon every souH" Are we indeed deeply
impressed with the reality, the substantial, overwhelm-
ing importance of all these things, and of our laying
them to heart, now while it is yet an accepted time with
us, a day of salvation.

If this be indeed the case with us, and our conscience
can bear us witness that we are indeed in earnest, then
may we encourage feelings of hope and consolation.

But if otherwise, if we are not living, or trying to
live, as the first Christians did, then we have reason to

328

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

fear that somehow we are deceiving ourselves with false
confidences, and that we shall be found in the great day
to be in the condition of that servant "who knew his
Lord's will, but prepared not hinfiself,nor did according
to his will." From so sad a delusion may God in his
mercy preserve us, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 329

SERMON XXXIV.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

1 Corinthians iv. 1.

" Let a man so account of us — as of the ministers of Christ, and stew-
ards of the mysteries of God."

This account which St. Paul gives of his own office
as an apostle, is applied by the church, and, we may be
sure, not without good reason, to the whole Christian
ministry.

The subject is one in every way of great importance,
and, like all other subjects relating to religion, it is one
about which people are very content to remain in igno-
rance or error. We are too apt to be in earnest about
anything, rather than about religion.

There seem to be two reasons why, at this season
particularly,* our thoughts are directed to the Christian
ministry. Thus, in the collect we pray to our Lord
Jesus Christ, that as at his first coming he sent his mes-
senger, that is, John the Baptist, to prepare his way
before him — so now the ministers and stewards of his
mysteries, may duly prepare the way for his second
coming.

In the epistle, we have St. Paul's account of the char-
acter and office of Christ's ministers.

In the gospel, we have the character and office of St.
John the Baptist, set forth to us in the very words of
our Lord himself.

There seem, then, I say, to be two reasons why this
subject is ofl^ered to our thoughts particularly at this
time : the one, because it is a subject especially suitable

• Third Sunday in Advent.

28*

330 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

for this season of Advent ; the other, because this week
is what is called by the church " an Ember-week."

With regard to the first of these reasons — the sub-
ject is especially suitable for this Advent season, be-
cause it seems to have direct reference to the last Ad-
vent of Christ ; his coming to judge the world.

For as John the Baptist Avas sent to prepare the way
for his first coming by preaching of repentance, so is it
the proper and only business of clergymen, to prepare
the way for his second coming, by laboring to " turn the
hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just."

Also, it is to be observed, that this week is what is
called by the church " an Ember-week." For there are,
you know, four Sundays in the year appointed for the
solemn ordination of deacons and priests, of which the
Sunday before Christmas is always one. And some days
in the week before, were specially employed by good
men in prayer, and fasting, and intercession to Almighty
God, because they considered of what infinite impor-
tance it was, that none but persons of sound piety and
judgment, should be admitted into the Christian minis-
try.

And this is the other reason, why on this day our
thoughts should be particularly directed to such a sub-
ject as they are, in the collects, epistle, and gospel.

Such an occasion, then, being ofl^ered us, we can
scarcely do better than consider a little what is really
the proper nature and meaning of the Christian minis-
try— so far, at least, as it concerns our own practice.

Now to understand this, or any other matter of the
same sort, we must call to mind what our own circum-
stances really are : that we are placed here to prepare
ourselves for eternity; that we have but a short time
allowed us for this preparation ; that we are in a dan-
gerous world ; that of ourselves we are deplorably
weak, and ready to yield to all evil.

A serious consideration of these plain truths seems
necessary, before we can rightly apprehend the impor-
tance of St. Paul's admonition in the text.

We are then, all of us, on our trial for eternity ; that

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 331

is, on our behavior now it depends what our condition
shall be, happy or miserable in the eternal world.

We cannot understand how this should be, that hap-
piness or misery should depend on a person's being
good or bad.

But that it is so, we see plainly very often in this
world. And that it shall he so hereafter, we are assured
over and over again in the Holy Scriptures ; indeed, it
is always supposed throughout the gospel revelation,
that we are to be judged according to our works.

But then, although we are thus on our trial for eternity,
and what we shall be in the next life depends on what
we are in this, yet is it certain that we have but a short
and precarious time, wherein to prepare ourselves for
our day of doom.

This is plain in whatever way we consider the matter ;
and though people may deny all religion, yet they can-
not deny this.

No one can say that he shall live a long time, or any
time certain. And when we talk of a long life, it is only
long by comparison.

Even with respect to the business of this world, this
life is reckoned short ; and many people die, and leave
their plans and schemes unfinished. But with respect
to religion, and the preparation for such an account as
we shall have to give, it is plan that our longest time
here must be exceedingly brief and transitory.

It is moreover to be observed, that the world in which
we live, is so far from giving us assistance, in these our
dangerous circumstances, that it is, in fact, itself one
of our greatest enemies.

If we are placed here on our trial for an eternal sen-
tence, the world by its precept and example, urges us
to disregard these serious considerations, and to live
and die at all hazards, without regard to the future.

If our time of probation too, is really but short and
transitory, then the world, like a false friend, per-
suades us to make the wrong use of this consideration.
" Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." A doc-
trine this, directly at variance with all sound reason and

332 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

religion, which ever admonish us to "remember the
end j" to " spend the time of our sojourning here in
fear j" to "watch, as those who know not at what hour
their Lord may come."

A sort of life this quite suitable to our condition and
circumstances, but such as the world is ever ready to
ridicule and despise.

Added to all this, we ourselves are at the best but
weak and helpless, easily yielding to the various temp-
tations which beset us.

We, who are on our trial for eternity — who have but
a short time allowed us for preparation — who live in a
deceiving and profligate world — are ourselves neverthe-
less far too much disposed to forego our true interests,
to forget all that is worth remembering.

And this it is which makes our condition so truly danger-
ous ; that we are so apt to be our own enemies, so apt to
shut our eyes to our real circumstances, and to lay our con-
sciences to sleep with false and flattering representations.
Thus then we are circumstanced ; with eternity before
us, depending on this short life, in a world of sin and
corruption, and we ourselves so ready to yield to it.

This, I say, is our condition ; and Almighty God sees
that it is so.

He, who is all holiness and perfection, sees in what a
world of sin and corruption Ave are ; how apt we are to
indulge our evil dispositions, how forgetful of him and
his righteous will.

He likewise fully knows and sees what must be the
dreadful consequences hereafter of unrepented sin here.
Moreover, this same most wise and holy God, is also
all-powerful ; as he fully knows what a mass of evil there
is in the present world, and what this must lead to in the
world to come, so he is fully able to employ all such
means as to his wisdom shall seem fit, for averting or
putting a check to it.

And as he is a God of infinite loving-kindness and
tender mercy, who "would not that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance ;" it is certain
that he not only ':an^ but that he will^ and dots employ

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 333

all the best means for bringing mankind to a true knowl-
edge of their own condition, or the danger they are in,
and of the way to escape it.

Considering then what we are, frail and helpless,
weighed down with sin and weakness ; considering also
Avhat God is, all-perfect in wisdom, holiness, and good-
ness, we may well expect that he will afford all possible
aid to those who sincerely desire it.

We may expect, that to those who sincerely wish to
know their duty and the way to heaven, means will be
provided for imparting this knowledge.

We may expect that to those who wish to do their
duty, and to please God in all things, such assistance
will be afforded as shall render their labors not vain and
fruitless.

We may also expect, not indeed that men's wills
should be overruled (for perhaps no man can be forced
to be good against his will), but, we may expect that
some strong reasons and inducements should be offered
to men's minds (if they choose to consider them) ; in-
ducements, I say, to look forward to that eternity for
which we are born, and, in expectation of the judgment
to come, to " live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world."

But particularly we might expect, that our merciful
God would provide us remembrancers; that is, persons
duly authorized and appointed by him, to assist in keep-
ing up in the world, a practical recollection of those
vast momentous truths, confirmed or revealed to us in
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For if this gospel is indeed true, and the work of man's
salvation is indeed a matter of such difficulty and im-
portance as it is there represented, and if also subjects
of this sort, death, judgment, and eternity, occupy very
little of most people's thougVits — very little in compari-
son of this world's business, then it seems plain that we
need to have constant warning given us of our real con-
dition.

But they who give this warning must have authority
from God for the office they undertake, otherwise they

S34f THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

cannot clainn to be attended to ; and, beside that, they
have reason to fear that they are presumptuously intru-
ding into an office to which they have no right. But,
however, that people should act with thoughtlessness,
ignorance, or presumptuousness, in this as in other mat-
ters, is indeed much to be lamented, but not at all to be
wondered at. This does not prove but that it should be
still highly reasonable, and a thing to be expected by us,
that Almighty God should keep up in the church a
known succession of men, ordained by an outward form,
to be his " remembrancers" with a thoughtless and evil
world, and by their office only (without regard to their
character), to bear witness to the truth and awful im-
portance of the Christian revelation.

And as this might have been expected beforehand, so
we find it in fact to be the case. We find as well from
what we read or hear of old times, as from what we see
at this day, that ever since the ascension of our Lord
Jesus Christ, or certainly from within a very short time
after it, there have been in the church, orders of men,
whose peculiar business it is to minister between God
and man in the great dispensation of the gospel.

But in this ministry all are not equal ; there being
different ranks and degrees, according to the different
duties required.

Considering, however, that all are appointed to labor
for our salvation, to keep alive in a careless world some
due sense of the importance of religion ; and to warn
men with authority of the necessity of "repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ;"
therefore to all, but especially to bishops and priests,
may be truly applied that description which St. Paul
gives in the text, " Ministers of Christ, and stewards of
the mysteries of God."

From this we learn how to form a true estimate of
such an institution as that of the Christian priesthood.

" Let a man account of us (says St. Paul), not as wise
or foolish, good or bad, not, in short, according to our
personal character or conduct, but only according to

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 335

our office and ministry ; as " ministers of Christ, and
stewards of the mysteries of God."

We are in a dangerous world, on our trial for eterni-
ty, and whatever helps God is graciously pleased to
send us, we should thankfully receive.

If an order of men is duly appointed to minister to us
in holy things, and in this order are found many unwor-
thy persons, this does not disannul the value of their
office.

A bad clergyman is as much a minister of Christ as
the best. Judas Iscariot was an apostle as much as St.
John. We are not therefore to look to the person, but
to the office.

And the reason is very plain ; for we have enough to
do to mind our own conduct, and to keep ourselves, if
possible, in the right way. We are no judges of other
men's hearts ; " to their own master they must stand or
fall."

If God sends us a good message by the hands of a
bad man, are we therefore to reject the message 1

Or if another man, of good character, calls himself a
messenger or minister of God, when he has never been
duly ordained to such offices, are we therefore to ac-
knowledge him as such 1

" No man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is
called of God, as was Aaron."

However, without entering into any of the bitterness
of dispute or controversy upon the subject, it must be
matter of consolation to every serious and humble
Christian, that we have such a proof of God's watchful
care over us, as the continued succession of regularly
ordained ministers — bishops, priests, and deacons, from
the apostles' times down to our own.

This must be a consolation to every serious and hum-
ble person, as showing so plainly the truth and reality of
our holy religion, as also the personal regard which our
heavenly Father feels for us all.

For every bishop or other minister is to be considered
as Christ's special messenger and ambassador to all who
are under his care.

336 THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

i

Or in St. Paul's words, he is to be accounted as the
" minister of Christ," to all who follow Christ ; as the
*' steward of the mysteries of God," to all who sincerely
desire to be partakers in those mysteries ; to all whose
only wish and object it is, " so to pass through things
temporal, that they finally lose not the things eternal."

Christian brethren ! the subject to which I have now
called your attention, is one of real and serious impor-
tance ; of far more importance, certainly, than the gener-
ality of Christians are used to suppose.

It becomes therefore every person, who sincerely
wishes to go right, in this, as in other matters of prac-
tice, to be very cautious how he rests satisfied with
common and prevailing notions ; to inquire, observe,
and examine with all humility, first, what the truth is,
and then what his own conduct should be, according to
the truth ; and more than all, to be earnest and constant
in his prayers at the throne of grace, that himself, and
all others who call themselves Christians, " may hold the
faith, in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in
righteousness of life."

END OF VOL. I.

V

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