\\ \
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■THE . ^^^/iJ
KEW-JEHSEY PREACHER s
OR,
SEHMONS
OS
PLAIN & PRACTICAL SUBJECTS.
BY SOME OF THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL,
BESIDINO IX THE STATE OF NEW-JWlSur,
» »
1 f
^'Ot. I.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as thougli God did beseech
you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead be yc reconciled
to God....2 Cor. v. 20.
r
PUBLISHED BY D. PENTON, TRENTON;
AND
CHARLES D. GREEN & CO. NEW-BRUNSWICK.
T.. PBAnE, PHINTnn
■ V-
A9«rOR. LE»roX AND
rrLDAr Fa)atl»ATI«N*S
District of JVexv- Jersey, ss.
Be it'bemembered, tliat on the thirty-first day of March, in
the thirty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America,
George S. WoodhuU and Isaac V. Brown, of the said district, have deposited -
4n this office, the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors,
in the words following, to wit :
" The New-Jersey Preacher, or Sermons on plain and practical subjects.
" By some of the ministers of the gospel residing in the State of New-Jersey.
•• Vol. I. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did be-
" seech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. —
" -2 Cor. V. '20."
Iiv conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An
act ftr the encouragement of learning, by seaa'ing the copies of maps, charts
and books, to the authors and proprietors ^Kuch topics, during the times
therein mentioned ;" and also to the act, enWled, " An act supplementary to
an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the cop-
ies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies,
during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the
arts of designing, engraving and etching historical, and other prints."
ROBERT BOGGS,
f Clerk of the District of JVexv-Jerset/.
S
JPJUIEFACE,
J. HE present state of the •world presents a prospect,
highly interesting to the philosopher and statesman —
and not less so to the real christian. The encouraging
and gloomy scenes are so mingled together, as alternate-
ly 10 excite emotions of hope and fear. When the
christian looks a'oroad on the earth, he discovers, com-
paratively few, who profess to believe and practice the
prcftcpts of the gospel.* The extensive continents of
Asia and Africa are almost wholly immersed in the dark-
ness of Pagan superstition and idolatry, or led away by
the delusions of Mahomet. Europe has for many years
been •a. field of blood ; and our ow n beloved country has
lately engaged in a sanguinary conflict with a powerful
nation. ^
In the midst of this gloom and confusion, there is still
something that gives to the christian an animating hope
* The following ingenious calculation will serve to shew of what small ex-
tent the christian religion is, when compared with those many and rast coun-
tries, that are overspread with Paganism or Mahometanism. Supposing; the
inhahitcd world to be divided into thirty parts, only three of those parts are
possessed by christians of the Protestant and Roman Catholick communion — txuo
by christians of the Greek church — six by Jews and Mahometans — and the
remaining nisetken by Pagans.
It is to be observed that this calculation was made before the late discoveries
of the north west part of America, the north east part of Asia, the vast tract of
New-Holland, New-Guinea, and th^ numerous other islands in the Pacific
ocean — How. much greater then must the numerical difference appear at the
present day between that part of rp.ankind who enjoy the li^lit of Christianity,
and that part who are now groping in Pagan darkness i
J\Iiss Hannah Mams' vipw>ofreJliffi6ns, p. 49'"'.
m^<-
5 PREFACE.
that the time is not far distant, when heavenly light and
peace -will be diffused through this dark and troubled
world.
The increasing number of young men who are willing
to devote themselves to the work of the gospel ministry
—the numerous Missionary and Bible Societies that have
been established in G. Britain and America within a few
years past — the lively interest taken in our own country
in the establishment of Theological seminaries — the
spirit of liberality that has been manifested by all deno-
minations of christians, in sending the Scriptures and a
preached gospel among tbe Heathen — the avidity with
"which books on religious subjects are sought for anil
read, give us reason to hope that the dawning of a bright-
er day is near at hand;
Surrounded by such scenes, it surely becomes the du-
ty of professing christians, and more especially of the
ministers of the gospel, to be diligent and zealous in pro-
moting the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. There
i^ no object of greater magnitude — there is nothing on
which the peace and happiness of mankind so much de-
pend as the diffusion of the knowledge of a crucified Sa-
viour. The universal practice of the truths and pre-
cepts of the gospel would put an effectual stop to fraud
and injustice — to deadly feuds and animosities between
nations, and individuals, and make this world a peace-
ful abode where the great Creator would delight to dwell
with the workmanship of his own hands. It is the gos-
pel of Christ that raises man to that dignity in the scale
of beings for which his nature is designed — it is this that
throws light on tlie darknes of the grave, and cheers us
•\Yith the enlivening prospect of a glorious immortality.
PREFACE. 6
To spread the knowledge of divine truth ; to concen-
trate the exertions of many in hokling forth the word of
life in a plain, forcible and engaging manner ; to give
(if possible) some check to the progress of iniquity ; and
to stir up professing christians to diligence and fidelity,
are among the great objects that have induced the edit-
ors to engage in the publication of this volume.
We believed that a work of this kind, consisting of
sermons, by ministers of tbe gospel residing in the State
of New-Jersey, on practical and important subjects —
adapted to be read in families or in religious societies — pre-
served free from useless and unedifying controversy —
and recommended by its novelty and variety to the laud-
able curiosity of individuals, could not fail to excite a
lively interest through the churches in this state, and
contribute largely to the edification and improvement of
christians.
Our devout and humble prayer is, that the great Head
of the church would give a blessing to this work, that it
may serve to promote his glory, and the salvation of our
fellow-men.
We cannot close these observations without returning
our thanks to our Reverend fathers and brethren, who
have so promptly complied with our request, in contri-
buting materials for this volume.
If sufficient encouragement be given, to warrant the
undertaking, we hope at no distant period to present to the
public another volume of the " New-Jersey Preacher.*'
GEORGE S. WOODHULL,?^„,^„,
ISAAC V. BROWN, i editors,
New-Jehset, July 2i, 1813,
lillKATA.
Page 49, line 8 from the bottom, for creation read a'eature
57, line 14 from the top, for healing- re^d feeling'
CG, lir.e 8 from the bottom, for feint vend faint
flo. line 3 do. for pefect read perfect
68, line 4 do. for jnirse read pure
^Ci, liile T do. for ititrunted read instnccfed
164, line 4 from the top, for promise is read premises are
174, line 16 do. i'or tenfold ve?i(\ tivof old
18.T, line 3 from the bottom, for few read Winw^/
aOS, line 15 froni the top, for victoroies read victories
3159, line 1 on the lop, for earl read early
3fi?, lii:e 1 1 from the top, foi- difficnlt read defective
SC.5, li;ie 8 do. for corrupt read correct
348, line 3 from the bottom, for I. read IT.
CONTENTS,
SERMON I.
Faith the principle of a holy life — 1 Cor. xiii. 13.— And now aliideth fiiUi.
By Samuel S. Smith, D. D. L. L. D Page f
SERMON II.
On Experimental Religion. — Psaltn Ixvi 16. — Come and hear, all ye that fear
God, ike By John VI'Dowell, A. M. Pastor of the Presbyterian congreg*-
tion of Elizabeth-Town. ^
SERMON ITI.
An Ordination Sermon. — Rev. ii. 10 — Re thoughtful unto death, &c. By Jolm
Woodlmll, D D. Pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of Freeliold. 51
SERMON IV.
The influence of faith in producing holy obedience. — Fleb. xi. 17. — By fa'r&
Abraham when he was tried, &e. By A.mzi Armstrong, A.M. Pastor xrf"
the PresbyteriaQ congregation of Mpixlham. 73
SERMON V.
Oji attending the public worship of Go<l. — Eccles v. 1. — Keep thy foot wheo
thou goest to the house of God, kc. By James Richai-ds, A. M. Pastor «f
the first Presbyterian congregation of Newark. ^
SERMON VI.
The sinner blinded to truth. Sec. — John xii. 39, 40. — Therefore they could noif
believe, because Esaias said again, &c. By Samuel S. Smith, D. D. L. L.D.
IDS
SERMON VII.
The disciples of Christ, the light of the world. — .Matt. v. 14. — Ye are the light
of the world, &c. By Robert Finley, A. M. Pastor of Uie Presbyterian
congregation of Baskingridge. 151
SERMON VITI.
The Smitten Rock. — Exofl. xvii. 6. — Behold I will stand before thee there up-
on the rock in Horeb, &c. By Solomon Frteiigh, D. D. Professor of Divin-
ity, and Pastor of a Dutch reformed congregation in Hackensack and
Scraalenberg. 151
SERMON IX.
On the Sacrament of the Lord's Suppei — 1 Cor. xi. SS^^-BolTlet a man e.tara-
ine himself, &c. By Charles H. Whaitou, D. U. Rector of St. Mary's,
Burlington. 1^7
SERMON X.
The danger and folly of indulging a covetous temper. — Luke xii. 20 — But God
said unto him, thou fool, tliis night thy soul shall be requu-ed of thee, 8cc. liy^
James Richards, A. M. Pastor of the first Presbyterian congregation of
Newark. 187
SERMON XI.
On the benefits of .affliction. — Rom. vii. '28. — And we know that .ill things wnrfc
together for gmjd, &cc. By Thomas Pictpn, A.M. PasOir ofUiu Prosbv-
terian congregation of Westfield. 'i-jl
i
I
S GONTENTS. ♦
SERMON XII.
On Resignation. — Psalm xxxix 9. — I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, &c.
By John M'Dowell, A. M. Pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of Eliz-
abeth-Town. 215
SERMON XIII.
Justification, with some of its precious fruits. — Rom. v. I, 2. — ^Therefore being
justified by faith, &c. By Peter Studdiford, A. M. Pastor of the Dutch Re-
formed church of North Branch. 229
SERMON XIV.
The true and false grounds of religion. — Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. — But what things were
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ, &c. By Joseph Clai-k, D. D.
Pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of New-Brunswick. 241
SERMON XV.
The same subject continued. By the same. 263
SERMON XVI.
On a death-bed repentance. — Matt. xxv. 10. — And while they went to buy,
the bridegroom came, &c. By Samuel S. Smith, D. D. L. L. D. 29S
SERMON XVII.
Warning against self-deception. — Matt. vii. 24, 25, 26, 27. — Therefore, who-
soever heareth these sayings of mine, &c. ^y Uzal Ogden, D, D. 313
SERMON XVIII.
The same subject continued. By the same. 327
SERMON XIX.
On the dissolution of tlic world. — 2 Pet. iii. 11. — Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, &c. By Thomas Picton, A. M. Pastor of the Pres-
byterian congregation of Westfield. 343
SERMON XX.
The excellence of the knowledge of Christ. — Phil. iii. 8 — Yea doubtless, and
I count all things but loss, Sec. By Enoch Bui-t, A. M. Pastor of the Pres-
byterian congregation of Lamington. 359
SERMON XXI.
The benefits resulting from being found in Christ— Phil. iii. 9. — That I may
be found in him, &c. By Robert Fhiley, A M. Pastor of the Presbyterian
congregation of Baskingridge. 381
SERMON XXII.
Destruction of the wicked. Prov. xiv. 3-2. — The wicked is driven away in his
wickedness. By Samuel Fisher, Pastor of the Presbyterian congregation
at Morris-Town. 399
SERMON XXIII.
Triumph of the righteous. — Prov. xiv. 32. — But the righteous katli hope in his
death. By the same. ^13
SERMON XXIV.
Wisdom resulting from numbermg our days. — Psalm xc. 12. — So teach us to
number our days, kc. By Amzi Armstrong, A. M. Pastor of the Presby-
terian congregation of Mendham. *29
SERMON XXV.
Joy in heaven over a repenting sinner.— Luke xv. 7—1 say unto you, that
likewise joy, &c. By Enoch Burt, A. M. Pastor of the Presbyterian con-
gregation of Lamington. ^^^
FAITH THE PRINCIPLE OF A HOLY LIFE.
1 Cor. xiii. 13.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these thi-ee —
And now shideth faith.
BY SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D.
Vol. I. 3
I
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L D. 15
anil spirit of his system, his instructions miiy 'appear
dark, and we perceive no adequate motive to apply tlsem
for the regulation of our owji conduct. We may liave
perfect confidence in the skill of some eminent artist who
analizes with judgment the principles of his art,* wc
may admire the talents of a distinguished scholar wh(»
declaims with elegance on the beauties of any elassle
work, and points out with accuracy the grounds of the
pleasure they afford us ; but, for want of knowledge, or
of taste, we may not distinctly comprehend his meaning,
or perceive the beauties which he endeavours in vain to
point out to us. In the cases which I have supposed, wc
may yield entire credit to the judgment, integrity, or
skill of the teacher or the artist ,• we may have full faith
in the wisdom and truth of the man, hut, through de-
fect of cultivated understanding, or of liberal taste, his
principles, his doctrines, .the beauty of his examples,
cannot strictly be said to be the objects of our belief, be-
cause they are not justly apprehended, they are notseeu
in their proper light, nor perceived in their true nature.
To apply these remarks to our present subject. — A
genuine and practical faith in the gospel, which is that
alone after which we seek, consists not merely in ac-
knowledging the scriptures to be the word of God, in
confessing the divine authority and heavenly mission of
the apostles, the prophets, or of Christ himself, all which
may be nothing more than an hereditary opinion, a pious
prejudice of education; but it implies, as still more es-
sential to it, a clear perception of the s'piritual nature^
beauty and perfection of the doctrines which they teach,
especially as they regard t!ie glcry of God, the system
of our redemption, and the duties, and immortal liopes of
man^ and a profound persjiasion, not only of their (nitb.
15 NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
but of their infinite importance to our everlasting peace
and happiness. These doctrines, therefore, as far as
they are within the comprehension of the human mind,
are not received with genuine faith, hut in proportion as
they are in their true nature understood ; and truly un-
derstood they cannot he but in proportion as tlie heart
perceives th^r spiritual excellence and perfection, and
with a holy and divine taste, relisiies their beauty. Fot
the excellence of virtue, the loveliness of genuine piety —
the bcauUj of lioUnesii is part of its idea. Here, then, we
begin to discern the practical and moral influence of a
sincere faith. For, what the heart understands and
loves, must govern the practice. Perceiving, by this
gracious principle, the beauty of holiness, the divine ex-
cellence of the evangelic doctrine, the believer is led by
the sweet and irresistible attraction of a renewed taste,
to delight in the law of God after the inward man^ and
to derive his chief pleasures from the study of its heaven-
ly truths, and conformity of heart to its holy precepts.
Here we begin, also, to discern the dependence of faith
on the good dispositions of the heart.
By the uuderstandiixg we judge of speculative truth f
yet, on all moral subjects, the convictions of the under-
standing are greatly influenced by the state of the afflic-
tions. But it is the heart alone, profoundly touched by
the spirit of grace, which creates those lively and affect-
ing conceptions of the beauty of divine things, and the
perfection of the system of the gospel, Avhich form the
essence of a practical faith, the active and operative
principle of a holy life. Hence hath the apostle said,
tvith the heart man helieveth unto righteousness. And
Pliilip replied to the eunuch who desired to be baptized,
—if thou helievesi with all ihine heart thou maycst.
SAMUEL S. SMITH, I).D. L.L.D. 17
tVill it be domaiulcd, if we do not, by this representa-
tion, require the reij;eueratioii of the heart, the cultiva-
tion of a divine and holy taste, as a prerequisite to failh,
of which change, liowever, faith is acknowledged to be
the only j^jcnnine cause ? No j degenerate as human na-
ture is, it still so far possesses ideas of moral excel-
lence, so far approves, with the mind, the perfection of
the divine law, and consents to it, that it is good, even
when, by the law of sin which is in his iiesli, he violates
it, as, under the gracious influences of tlie Spirit of God,
co-operating Avith his holy word, to be a sufficient foun-
dation of tliis understanding, operative and sanctifying
faith, of which we speak, in its first and incipient siate.
An«l when once this holy illumination, this divine taste
exists in the weakest and most imperfect degree, it pre-
pares the soul under tlie culture of the same word, and
the continued inliuence of the same spirit, to receive
every doctrine of the gospel witii a fuller conviction,
to perceive increasing beauties in the system of grace,
and to feel with augmented force the obligation of the
whole law of lioliness.
But in treating of the moral and sanctifying influ-
ence of faith, we must add to tliat spiritual understand-
ing of the doctrines of the gospel, and that divine taste
of their beauty, Avliicli it implies, tliose powerful mo-
tives, also, to duty, to evangelic obedience, and universal
lioline'ss wliich it drawM from celestial and eternal things.
For, if is, saith the apoi>tle, llie substance of llimgs hoped
for, and the evidence of things not seen. It penetrates
the veil which covers them from mortal eyes, and pre-
sents them to the devout mind with a certain ineffable
and spiritual sensation; especially the glory of God, the
infinite love of the Redeemer, the final Judgment.of tjie
Vol. I. C
IS NEW-JERSEY PREACflER.
universe, the everlasting retributions of the righteous
and the wicked. But, on these divine subjects, and the
respective influence of each, both on devotion and on
practice, jour time does not now permit me to dilate.
Your faith, believer, renders it unnecessary. The con-
ceptions of faith in the heart of a humble and sincere
disciple, far outgo all that the feeble powers of language
could convey.
Let us, then, hriefly review the principles which we
have hitherto laid down. Faith, consists in the first
place, and in its most general idea, in receiving the
sacred scriptures as containing the giacious revelation
of the will of God for our instruction in lighteousness,
and our eternal salvation. It consisCs, in the next place,
not only in the belief of the divine authority and direc-
tion under which the scrijjtures have been communicated
to the world, but in a clear and spiritual understanding
of tlie nature and perception of the excellence and per-
fection of their holy doctrines. Thirdly, in a strong
impression on the heart, of those high motives to practi-
cal piety and virtue, which religion has drawn from the
glory of God, from the redemption of the cross, and the
retributions of eternity. And, finally, in a profound per-
suasion of the personal, and everlasting concern which
we have in these precious, these glorious, and these aw-
ful truths.
What moral system, then, or institute of religion, has
ever laid such a foundation for purity of heart and sanc-
tity of life, and for attaining ultimately the perfection
of our nature, as the christian religion, resting, as it
does, on the doctrine of a sincere faith in the Redeemer
pf the world. Here we behold the infinite purity and
perfection of the divine nature, and are assimilated to ii
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 19
by tlie powerful influence of a lioly love 5 we bohoUl the
excellence and beauty of the law of holiness, and are led
to obedience by the delightful attractions of a divine
taste, and the sweet constraints of a renewed nature ; we
behold the love of the ever-blessed Redeemer extending
salvation to a guilty world througli his own sufferings,
and the believing penitent from the depth of his affliction
on the account of his sins, looking up to Heaven for mer-
cy, is led to embrace the cross with an ecstacy of grati-
tude j we behold the glorious rewards of life and immor-
tality, purchased by the death, confirmed by tlie resur-
rection of the Saviour, and shining in every promise of
the gospel, and the spirit of holiness becomes raised by
the view, to its highest tone.
Assemble all these objects of faith in one view; re-
ceive them as the infallible truths of God, not with a
vague unmeaning assent, the fruit, merely, of custom
and example, but with a profound conviction, arising
from reflection, from examination, and from the holy in-
fluence of prayer, aided by the concurrent illumination
of the Eternal Spirit, and what principles or what mo-
tives drawn from any other source, can be compared
with those of the gospel, for their purity, their efficacy,
and their persuasive power on the heart ? These con-
siderations naturally lead to the second topic of this dis-
course ; the illustration of the excellence of this grace.
Previously, however, to entering directly on this branch
of the subject, permit me to take notice of some com-
mon definitions, or representations of faith, tlie coinci-
dence of which with the views hitherto presented to you
may not immediately appear.
Faith, in the holy scriptures is sometimes character-
ised by one of its principal acts ; Jihraham is said to
20 kew-jersey preacher.
liave leUeved God, aiul it was counted to iiim for right-
eousness, because he trusted implicitly iu tbe divine pro-
mise, in opposition to the most untoward events, and of
appearances which might have discouraged the strong-
est hopes. Such eoiifidence could have existed only in a
heart prepared to receive with submissive duty and
obedience every word of God.
Sometimes it is characterised by one of its principal
objects ; beUeve on the Lord Jesus Christ, said the apos-
tle to the jailor. And, in another place, descending to
an idea still more pariiculai", he says : ij' thou slialt con-
fess rvith tliy month the Lord Jesns, and heUene in thine
heart that God hathraised him from the dead, tliou shall
he saved. The doctrine of the resurrection of the Sa-
viour is so intimately involved with the accomplishment
of the atonement, and Avith the truth of all the promises
and hopes of religion, that sincerely to receive it, in all
its relations and consequences, is to embrace the whole
gospel.
The pious and learned compilers of our catechism
haA'e chosen to describe it by one of its essential and in-
separable fruits ; receiving and resting upon Christ alone
for salvation. Desirous of giving some single cri-
terion of this grace which woukl be least liable to be
rnistakea by a believer himself in judging of his own
spiritual state, they have fixed on this self renuncia-
tion, this absolute dependence of tlic penitent sinner on
the grace and merits of the Saviour as one that is most
certain, because one to v/hich the pride and self-compla-
cency of man most reluctantly submits : one to which he
never does submit, till the sense of his own depi'avity and
guilt; till the purity, the holiness and justice of the di-
vine laxv j till the grace and aU-suificicney of the right-
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 21
eoii^ncss ami power of (lie Redeemer ; in a word, (ill the
whole gospel has taken full possession of his soul.
II. But returning to the views already given of the
gi-aee of faith, permit me now lo add a few reilections
to illustrate its excellence as a principle of moral eon-
duct, Mhich will justify the high rank which the apostle
has assigned to i«, along with hope and charity in the
christian system.
The enemies of the gospel who delight in disingenu-
ous representations of its spirit, and its institutions, af-
fect to consider the command to believe as an address to
the credulity of mankind and as suhstituting faith in the
room of good morals and a life of virtue. Oh ! false-
hood, embittered hy malignity ! Does not the gospel in-
vite, does it not require the most rigorous investigation
into its pretensions ? And is it not the crime of unbeliev-
ers that they do not apply themselves, with seriousness
and faithfulness, to this great and interesting enquiry ?
Instead of being designed, as they falsely and wickedly
assert, as a substitute for morals, is it not true, on the
other hand, that it is tlie purity, which they esteem the
unnecessary rigor, of the morality of the gospel, that is
the genuine source of all their hostility to it? Is it not
the very ground on which the sacred writer extols this
grace, not that it stands in the room of a virtuous and
holy practice, but that it is the pioper spring of all true
virtue, and the most ellicient principle of a holy life ?
In entering on this subject, let me lay it down as an
established maxim in morals, that right principles when
truly understood and heartily believed, will ever be fol-
lowed by rectitude of conduct. False principles, on the
other hand, tend to vitiate the fountain of virtue and
piety in the heart ; and in the practice of life to lead
as NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
to many departures from the path of duty. Wliat, then,
is evangelic faith ? Is it not the reception, on the authori-
ty of a divine and infallible teacher, and on the renewed
taste of a mind enlightened by divine truth, of the purest
principles of practical virtue, of the holiest law of uni-
versal duty, which have ever been prescribed to man-
kind? It is subjecting the soul to the influence of the
sublimest and most powerful motives of holiness which
even the wisdom of God has ever devised for the regene-
ration of the world. The laws of morals as they have
been discovered merely by reason, or have been prescribed
in the systems of the wisest of men who have not drawn
them from the fountains of inspiration, are susceptible of
so much disputation, are so doubtful in their limits, and
liable in their application to so many exceptions and modi-
fications in favour of each man's peculiar inclinations
and passions, that they form a most uncertain and falla-
cious rule of duty. It is, besides, a rule as feeble in its
authority, as it is defective in its prescriptions, being
liable to be changed, or set aside by every caprice of
self-love, or impulse of ungoverned passion. But every
thing in the law of Christ is clear and luminous as the
eternal law of truth from which it emanates. Here are
no enfeebling doubts, no uncertain reasonings which may
make the law too often speak the language of a corrupt-
ed heart. All is defined and enjoined by the awful and
infallible authority of Almighty God. Where, then, let
ine again ask, can there be found, in all the systems of
human wisdom, such a basis of morality as in that faith
which is the practical principle of the gospel of Christ ?
Shame on those scoffers, then — shame on those pretend-
ed sages ! who affect to represent the faith of the gos-
pel as a weak and superstitious credulity, unconnected
SAMUEL S. SmTH, D.D. L.L.D. id
with genuine piety or purity of morals. Is it not the
whole purpose of the doctrine of the Saviour to bring
sinners to repentance ; to lead the penitent to unfeigned
holiness of life, and thereby to conduct them, finally, to
the immortal perfection of their nature in the heavenly
state ? And where shall wc find means so wisely and ad-
mirably adapted to this end ? Has any philosophy, the
candid unbeliever himself being judge, taught so pure
and excellent a system, derived it from so sublime a
source, enjoined it by sanctions so weighty and import-
ant ; or added to it the force of obligations, and the per-
suasion of motives so transcendent in their nature, and
fitted to interest all the best powers of the soul ?
Let us attend, then, to the effects of these principles
and these motives on the life and character of the real
christian : motives and principles which habitually gov-
ern him in private and in public, in all the transactions
of his soul with God, and in all his intercourse with the
world. What fervent and supreme love of God ! what a
deep sense of obligation for redeeming mercy ! what du-
tiful submission to the divine will ! what a holy fear of
offending ! what cautious circumspection in shunning the
scenes or the incentives of temptation ! what constant
vigilance against the frailties of the heart, and the sur-
prises of the passions ! And in his commerce witli man-
kind, what justice! what sincerity ! what truth ! what
meekness and humility of mind ! never arrogant to give
offence, always ready to forgive ! what warm and active
benevolence ; ever prompt to do good to others as a com-
mon family of brethren, and mingling, with an amiable
sympathy, in all their joys and griefs ! Such is the por-
trait of a child of faith. With the highest reason, there-
fore, does the apostle raak this grace in dignity and ex-
fi^ NEW-JERSEY PREACHEK.
cellence, along with hope, and that divine cl^arity whicli
is the fulfilling of the law, far above miracles and
prophecy, and the knowledge of mysteries and langua-
ges, (and all those external aids of religion wiiich served
in the beginning for its esta'jlishment and extension in
the world, but were afterwards to pass away), not be-
cause it implicitly receives the gospel, as its enemies pre-
tend, without examination, but because it most effectual-
ly promotes the end of all true religion, the virtue and
moral perfection of man. The proper end of religion is
to deliver mankind from the dominion of sin and death,
and to make them heirs of life and immortality by re-
storing them to the primitive purity and holiness of their
nature. And faith, whieli leads through hope to per-
fect love, is the precious instrument by which she ac-
complishes this great design.
The preceding illustrations of the nature and effects
of a sincere and evangelic faith, considered as a princi-
ple of practical holiness, will vindicate the high place
which it holds in the catalogue of christian graces, and
the superlative value which is set upon it in the chris-
tian system. It tvorks hy lore^ and pnrijics the heart.
Its genuine offspring is the supreme love of God through
Christ, and the universal love of human kind. It is the
commencement of that pure and heavenly spirit of chari-
ty, which, iinfoldcd and ripened in the regions of immor-
tal love, Avill be the consummation of that grace wherein
7ve now stand.
If such are the fruits of a sincere faith in the. gospel
of the Redeemer, whence is it that we so often see in the
manners of christians so little of the distinguishing spirit
and character of the disciples of Christ ? Alas ! is it not
because our faith is uierely a habit of assent springing
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L,D. 23
fi'om general custom and example, and not from a heart
deeply penetrated with the truths which concern our
everlasting salvation? Is it not heeause the ordinary
faith of christians consists rather in not having called in
question, through a useful prejudice of education, the di-
vine authority of the sacred scriptures, than in having
embraced them with an enlightened conviction of their
excellence and glory, and a profound persuasion of our
OWH eternal interest in the incarnation, the death and re-
surrection of the ever-blessed Redeemer, who is their
principal subject. This is that historical faith, to use
the language of casuists, which fills our churches with
nominal christians, but never creates sincere disciples;
which replenishes the gardeii of God with trees Avhich
only put forth leaves and blossoms, but, blasted with a
fatal barrenness, never produce a holy fruit.
But, if the evidence of the gospel is so luminous as
justly to command the assent of the world, and the ex-
cellence of faith is so transcendent as a principle of holi-
ness, whence is it that there are so many doubtful chris-
tians, so many open and avowed unbelievers ? The an-
swer to these questions is, unhappily, too palpable ; it is,
saith our blessed Saviour, because theij hate the light,
neither xvill theif come to the light, lest their deeds should
be reproved. The gospel, making war upon their pas-
sions, and their vices, and proscribing their dearest
pleasures, awakens against itself every prejudice of pride
and self-love ; rouses into hostility the passions it would
subdue, and makes every pleasure an enemy to the truth.
Finally, christians, l«t us in the eonelusion briefly re-
view the topics whence we may exah, with the apostle,
the superior excellence of this grace, and derive from
them some grounds on which we may try the sincerity
VoL. I. D
£6 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
of our own faith. The sole purpose at which it aims is
to promote holiness of life, and through the road of holi-
Hess, to lead the humhle heliever to a state of heavenly
perfection. And where shall we find such admirable
means to enlighten, regenerate and sanctify the heart ?
Faith unfolds in its genuine spirit, the sacred volume of
inspiration, that precious fountain of divine wisdom.
Faith erects in the view of the believer, the cross stain-
ed with the blood of the atonement, loaded with the sac-
rifice of our sins. And, in this blessed symbol of our
salvation, we behold all that can convince and bring to
unfeigned contrition the sinner ; all that can inspire
hope in the bosom of the penitent ; all that can win the
believer to obedience and love ; all that can elevate the
soul above the corrupting influence of the world. Not
only does faith erect the cross, all-powerful to conquer
sin, in the view of the believer, but is able, likewise, in
some measure, to draw aside the veil which covers from
our feeble vision the glorious and the awful mysteries
of eternity. It penetrates to the throne of God, and be-
holds in their fountain that infinite power, and wisdom,
and love which pervade the universe. It contemplates
the mansions of everlasting rest and peace, of light and
of joy, and assists the soul to raise lier hopes, and de-
sires and pursuits to that celestial purity which reigns
in the kingdom and the immediate presence of God.
Often it casts its view downwards laiothe lake that hums
ivithjire, into the everlasting prisons of divine justice,
and thence derives new motives to diligence in duty j
new power to urge tlie soul farther fi"om the confines of
sin ; to break the force of the passions, and destroy the
seductive charms of temptation. — Yes, in whatever view
you consider this fundamental grace of the gospel, it will
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. «?
be lound to be the most efficacious, as it is undoubtedly
the most pure and sublime principle of a holy life.
Try the sincerity of your faith, then, by this test.
What humility, what repentance, what contrition for sin,
what fervent devotion, what love, ardent and supreme to
him who comprehends all perfection in his own existence,
what profound gratitude to him who became incai-nate,
and died for our salvation ; and in the intercourse of so-
ciety what integrity and uprightness, what purity of life
and manners, what simplicity of heart, what candour,
what benevolence, what meekness of temper, what rea-
diness to forgive oJSences against ourselves as we hope
to be forgiven of God, will distinguish the genuine pow-
er of faith in the heart of a true believer ; from all
those false and defective principles of piety, that dishon-
or religion in the pretended disciples of Christ ! Chris-
tians ! if your faith bear these decisive tests of sincerity,
adore the grace by which it hath been wrought in your
hearts. Open your souls more and more to its divine
illuminations, till it give place, at length, to immediate
vision, and be lost in the blessed light of heaven, and till
hope, the child of faith, enter with you into that ivithin
the Teil. AMEN.
SERMON II.
ON EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION.
Psalm Ixvi. 16.
Come and hear, aU ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done
for my soul.
BY THE REV. JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M.
Pastor of the Presbyterian CongregaUon of Elizabeth-Town.
NEW-JEESEY PREACHER.
SERMON II.
Psalm Ixvi. 16. — Come and hear, all ye tliat fear God, and I will declai-e
what he hath done for my soul.
X.F any subject, proper to be made known, be deeply
impressed upon the mind, and supremely and delightfully
engage the thoughts and affections, the tongue will de-
clare it ; and it will be the chief and most delightful topic
of conversation. Of the truth of this remark, there can
be no doubt. It is proved by the declaration of our Sav-
iour, " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh," Matt. xii. 34 ; and it is proved by daily obser-
vation and experience. If therefore we be christians,
we shall delight to meet w ith our fellow christians, and
engage with them in conversation on experimental piety.
And true religion must either be very low, or be entirely
wanting in the heart of that person who seldom speaks
on the subject, or extends not his conversation beyond
the doctrines and forms of religion, or speaks in an unin-
terested and heartless manner. The scripture saints, as
appears from their history, engaged much in religious
conversation; This was especially the case with the
pious king of Israel, who penned the greater part of the
Psalni3 : in the Psalm which contains our i^i^t, he was
so filled with a sense of the divine goodness towards him.
that he invited the people of God to come and hear what
the Lord had done for him, that they might be encourag-
ed and strengthened from his experience, and might
33 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
iinitewith liiinin praising God for his goodness — " Come
and bear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what
he hath done for my soul." —
By those who fear God we arc to miderstand his true
people. The whole of true religion is frequently express-
ed, especially in the Psalms, by the fear of God. And
indeed it would have been almost, if not altogether in
vain, for the Psalmist to have called on any but the peo-
ple of God to listen to the relation of his experience.
They would either not have understood him, or would
not have entered into the spirit of his conversation, or
would have wondered why he spake in such strains on a
subject which appeared to them unintelligible or unintejq^
csting. But the people of God would understand his lan-
guage, and would hear with delight and improvement
this favoured and experienced servant of the Most High
relate what the Lord had done for his soul.
Experimental religion is a very fruitful subject ; and
if our hearts have experienced the rich grace of God,
we cannot be at a loss for topics of conversation. The
subject is inexhaustible, and will employ with renewed
delight and rapture the tongues of the redeemed through-
out eternity. We may tell our fellow christians, that
the Lord liath chosen, redeemed, called, justified, adopt-
ed, sanctified and comforted our souls. In these parti-
culars you have the division of the ensuing discourse.
1. The tru#christian may say, *' Come and hear, all ye
that fear God, and I will declare he hath" chosen " my
soul." Before tJie foundation of the world, he thought
of me, and while he passed by others, placed his love on
me, and determined to redeem and save my soul. And
he did this wlien he foresaw I would, Avhen brought into
being, break his laws, trample on his authority, render
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M. S3
mjself vile, and justly deserve his eternal abhorrence
and wratli. He then laid the plan of my salvation — .he
then registered my worthless name in the lambs book of
life—he then ehose me in Christ. And it is in conse-
quence of this everlasting, electing love, that I now love
him. As saith the Apostle John, " herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us ;" and, " we
love him because he first loved us," 1 John iv. 10, 19.
Here, in the eternal, electing love of God, is the origin
of all that astonislilng love towards us which he has since
manifested, and which he will continue to manifest for
ever: let us unite with the Apostle Paul in saying,
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heaven-
ly places in Christ : according as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love : having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will, to the praise of the glory of his grace," Eph. xi. 3,
4, 5, 6.
2. The Christian may say, " Come and hear, all ye that
fear God, and I will declare " he hath" redeemed " my
soul." Descended from an apostate parent, from him I
derived a corrupt nature, and in him I became exposed
to the curse of the divine law — in him I died. As soon
as I became capable of moral action, the seeds of sin in
my nature began to grow, and discover themselves. I
became guilty of actual breaches of the divine law, and
thus to original sin added actual transgressions. The
divine holiness, justice, and truth, and the honor of the
divine law, required that the curse of the law, which was
eternal death, should be executed. And unless the
Vol. I. E
Si NEWJ^ERSEY PREACHER.
holiness of God could be illustrated, his justice satisfied,
his truth vindicated, and the honor of his law main-
tained, I could not be saved. And where was the person
to be found in heaven or upon earth who was competient
to, or who would undertake the work of removing these
difficulties, and providing salvation ? No created being
on earth or in heaven was competent to the work.
But, O astonishing love ! " Come and hear, all ye
that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for
my" perishing, lost ** soul." He redeemed my soul !
and this too. Oh ! in what a wonderful and mysterious
way ! and at what an infinite price ! *' not with corrupti-
ble things, as silver and gold ; but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with-
out spot," 1 Pet. i. 18. He so loved me that he gave
his only Son to be my Saviour, and redeem my soul from
eternal woe : and truly, " herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins," 1 John iv. 10. When no less"
a person could effect the great work of the redemptioj|i^of
lost sinners, God spared not his own Son.— -When the
Son of God " looked, and there was none to help,"
« then said he, lo I come, to do thy will, O God," Isa.
Ixiii. 5. Hcb. x. 7. In the fulness of time, a body was
prepared for him and he stooped to a union with our na-
ture. Though " being in the form of God," he " thought
it not robbery to be equal with God ;" he " made him-
self of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men," Phil,
ii. 6, 7. He was " made under the law," which man
had broken, and he fulfilled it. He submitted to the
most humiliating circumstances, and the most trying in-
dignities for me. He emptied himself of his glory that
m
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M. ^5
I might be crowned with everlasting glory— He became
a servant, that I might become a Son of God. " Though
he was rich yet, for" my " sake he became poor, that"
I «♦ through his poverty might be rich," 2 Cor. viii. 9.
and become heir of all things— •»< He" was " made sin
for" me *< who knew no sin ; that" I " might be made
the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21. " He
bare" my " sins in his own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii.
24. He received on his own head the stroke of divine
justice due to me, and which must have forever sunk me,
beneath its awful weight-—" He was wounded for" my
" transgressions, he was bruised for" my " iniquities : the
chastisement of" my " peace was upon him ; and with
his stripes" I am " healed," Isa. liii. 5. — His soul
" was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," Matt. xxvi.
3, 8, that my soul might be filled with everlasting joy— .
He was in an agony and sweat blood in Gethsemane —
He endured the hidings of his Father's face, that I might
dwell in the light of his countenance — He became" obedi-
ent unto death, even the death of the cross," Phil. ii. 8,
and died, " the just for the unjust, that he might bring"
me ** to God," 1 Pet. iii. 18. — He descended into the
grave that he might conquer death and the grave for
me.
But who can describe his love ! It was infinite. Mortal
strains cannot reach it ; yea, saints in heaven fall infi-
nitely short of doing justice to this subject. This love
has " a breadth, and length, and depth and height, which
passeth" finite " knowledge," Eph. iii. 18, 19.
Let us speak of his person. He is " the brightness of his"
Father's " glory, and the express image of his person,*^
Heb. i. 3. " His name" is *• wonderful, counsellor, the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of
55 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
peace,'* Isa. ix. 6 — He is " full of grace and truth,'*
John i. 14. " Unto" them " which believe, he is pre-
cious," 1 Pet. ii. 7. — He is " the chiefest among ten thou-
sand— ^He is altogether lovely," Cant. v. 10, 16.
Let us speak of his redemption. It is complete. He is
God, and therefore able to save. He is man, and there-
fore fitted to obey, suffer, and die. He is God and man
in one person. And thus the proper works of each nature
are ascribed to the whole person j and the obedience and
sufferings of the human nature derive an infinite efficacy
from its union with the divine nature. The Father has
accepted the satisfaction : I therefore need not fear, and
do not fear to put my trust in him as an all-sufficient
Saviour, and to commit the dearest interests of my immor-
tal soul to his care.
3. The christian may say, " Come and hear, all ye
that fear God, and I will declare he hath" called " my
soul." — ^He saw me lying in the same mass of ruin with
the rest of mankind. My mind was carnal, and it was
enmity against him. I loved sin. I was walking with
the multitude the broad way, which leadeth to destruc-
tion. God called after me. He gave me pious parents,
who early dedicated me to him, and put upon me the
seal of his gracious covenant ; and who endeavoured by
their prayers, their instruction, their example, and their
affectionate reproofs and corrections, to bring me to a
saving acquaintance with God, and divine things. But,
although my conscience under these means frequently
rendered me uneasy, still I continued a stranger to God;
I wandered from him and loved to wander. — He cast my
lot in a christian land. He brought me within the lieai*-
ing of a preached gospel. By this he called after me,
day after day and year after year, instructing, inviting.
JOHX M'DOWELL, A. M. S7
Avapning, reasoning and expostulating witli me, threat-
ening me, and lamenting over me. But when he called,
I refused ! when he sti'etched out his hand I disregarded.
He poured out his spirit — iUiany of my companions be-
came serious I paused and became thoughtful. But still
I loved sin, and soon said to my convictions, " go your
way for this time, when I have a more convenient sea-
son, I will send for you."— He visited me with alarming
providences ; death snatched my friends from me, and
disease threatened his aiiproaeh to me. I trembled, I
Avished to die the death of the righteous ; but I refused
to give God my heart. I besought him to remove his
hand from me, and promised amendment. He heard me,
and granted my request ; but I forgot his goodness and
my promises, and returned to carelessness and sin. My
heart became harder, my mind blinder, and my conscience
less tender. O wonder of patience ! that I was born w ith
and not cut down in my sins !
The Lord would not give me up ; but continued to
call me, and sent his Spirit to accompany the call with
his Almighty, and irresistible influences. Then, like the
prodigal, I came to myself, and saw my wretchedness. I
saw myself walking the broad way to destruction. I
heard the law of God pronouncing its curses against me;
and felt a load of guilt pressing down my soul into
woe. Then my anxiety was excited in earnest ; and I
cried, " what shall I do to be saved." — I then feared that
the day of grace might possibly be past — I read, and
heard, and prayed, and reformed ; but could find no
comfort. I heard the law rigorously demanding satisfac-
tion for the past, and perfect obedience in future. I
heard of the gospel plan of salvation ; but my mind was
blind, I could not understand it. My heart was proud.
58 KEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
and im^villing to submit — it was filled with unbelief, and
I could uot by faith lay hold of an oifered Saviour, Ig-
norant of the deeeitfulness of my own heart, I thought I
was willing to give myself away to God ; but that he
was unwilling to assist me to make the surrender, or
to accept the dedication. But he led me by a way that I
knew not — he humbled my proud heart— he made me
willing in the day of his power— he put his spirit within
me — he took away my stony heart and gave me a heart
of flesh — he enlightened my mind — he renewed my heart
—he discovered to mc the suitableness of the Saviour,
and his ability and willingness to save. My heart ap-
proved of his character, and I was enabled to believe in
him, and to receive and rest upon him for salvation as
he is offered in the gospel.
Then was my soul comforted. " Old things passed
away, and all things became new." The character of
God appeared to me glorious and worthy of my highest
love — ^his law appeared holy, just and good, and I loved
it, and heartily desired to render obedience to it. — Sin ap-
peared to me odious and I detested it, and loathed myself
on account of it, and wondered how I could live in sin with
delight, as I had done. Jesus appeared precious to mc,
" the chiefest among ten thousand," and "altogether love-
ly." He appeared a suitable, an able, willing, and com-
passionate Saviour ; and | felt as though I could and
did venture my soul upon him, and commit my everlast-
ing interests into his hands ; and I heard him in his
word speaking peace to my troubled conscience, and
promising to me everlasting life. O fellow-christian !
what a season was this ! after the gall and wormwood
which I had been compelled to drink ! It was a day of
espousals~-a season of love. "Then was my mouth
JOHN M'^)O^VELL, A. M- • ^
filled with laughter and my tongue with singing,**
Psalm exxvi. 2. O the riehes of divine gi'ace ! that
such a wretch was arrested in his career to destruction,
while he was stopping his ears against the voice of mer-
cy ! and hath been brought to a saving knowledge of him-
self, and of Christ !
Fellow-christian, you have experienced this same
gi*acc, though there may be shades of difference in the
manner and circumstances of your call, and the exerci-
ses through which you have passed. Like me, you were
once blind, but you now see — you were once dead, but
you are now alive — you were once lost, but you are no'V
found. Let us unite in admiring, adoring and loving
God. Why were we guests ? Why >vere we made to
enter while there was room, while so many have per-
ished, and are perishing in their sins ? We must ascribe
it to the free grace of God. To grace we will give the
glory — " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy
name give glory," Psalms cxv. 1. " Who hath saved us,
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to thine own purpose and grace,
whieh was given us in Christ Jesus before the world be-
gan," 2 Tim. i. 9.
4(./rhe christian may say, " Come and hear, all ye
that feai* God, and I will declare he hath" justified fj
"my soul." — By the; law of God I was condemned. — 1
had broken the divine law, and that awful denunciation
** cursed is every one tliat eontinueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them,'*
Gal, ill. 10, was directed against me. By the law I was
cursed and condemned to die eternally. How unspeaka-
bly dreadful was my condition ! for who can endure the
40 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
tremendous wrath of Almighty God ! who can be^r the
ceaseless atonies of the second death !
But the Lord has justified my guilty soul. He has par-
doned all my sins. By the operations of his holy spirit,
enlightening my mind, and renewirg my will, he enabled
me to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ j and believing
on him, my " faith was counted for righteousness,'*
Horn. iv. 5. By faith I apprehended the Saviour, and
renouncing every other hope, I tiaisted to his merits
alone for salvation. In consequence, agreeably to his
promise — not for any good works of mine ; for so far
from having any good woi'ksto recommend me, I deserv-
ed God's eternal wrath — not for any merit in my faith ;
for this w as the gift of God ; — but of liis free mercy, he
imputed the righteousness of Christ unto me ; and for
the sake of this righteousness, he pardoned all my sin
— he annulled the sentence of the law against me wli,
had doomed me to eternal death — he delivered me fi
the law as a covenant of life, and placed me under the
covenant of grace. And truly I can say with David,
" blesed is he Avhose transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered ; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
iniputeth not iniquity," Psalm xxxii. 1,2.
Further, for the sake of Christ, and through union
to him by faith, the iMd lias not only pardoned my sins ;
but he has done more— he has accepted me as riglueous,
and received me into favour. He has not only delivered my
soul from hell j but has also given me a title to ever-
lasting life. What riches of grace bas he manifested in
the justification of such a guilty, fifcU-deserving sinner !
Let us unite in, more fervently, adoring and loving him,
and unreservedly devoting ourselves to him.
JOHH M'DOWELL, A. M. 4 1
5. The christian may say again, <* Come and hear, all
ye that fear God, and I will declare he hath" adopicd
" my soul" — He hath not only pardoned my sins and accept-
ed me as rigliteous ; hut he hath also received me into
the number of his children. He condescends to call me
his son, and permits me to call him, my Father — He
loves me with a paternal love — yea, with a love infinite-
ly greater and more tender than an earthly parent is ca-
pable of. And he has admitted me to the privileges of
this high relation. With the tenderness and care of a
father, he instructs me, provides for, corrects and pro-
tects me. ** He hath sent forth the spirit of his Son in-
to my heart, crying, Ahha, Father," Gal. iv. 6 « I
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ;
but the spirit of adoption, whereby I cry Abba, Father.
The spirit itself beareth witness with my spirit that I am a
child of God : and if a child, then an heir ; an heir of
God, and a joint heir with Christ," Rom. viii. 15, 16, 17.
and " all things are mine ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present,
or things to come," 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. Fellow-chris-
tian ! what amazing love is this ? The Lord hath not
only pardoned me ; but he hath received me into his
special favour—- He hath admitted me into his family ; and
this, too, not as a servant, but as a son ; and he hath
made me an luir of heaven^ and of all things. — ^Truly we
who are the subj(( <s oT ^Jii^ Icve, have reason to ex-
elaim w ith the Apostle John — " Behold ! what manner
of love the Father hag^ bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God: — ^now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear Avhat we shall be ; biit we
know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him ;
for we shall see him as he is," 1 John iii. 1, 2.
Vol. t. F
Is NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
6. The christian, speaking of his experience, may fur-
ther say, " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I
will declare, he hath" sanctified " my soul." By nature
I was totally polluted, estranged from God, unfit for com-
munion with him and the enjoyment of him, and whoUy
indisposed, and unable to do any thing really good and
aeeeptable in his sight. In regeneration, the spirit of
God gave me a new nature : he implanted a principle of
spiritual life within me : this was the beginning of that
work of sanctification, which he has ever since carried
on. Although grace was implanted in my soul, the seeds of
sin still remained, and tempted me to disobedience, back-
sliding and apostacy. But through the influences of the
spirit, accompanying the means of grace, I have been
kept from yielding the dominion of my soul unto my cor-
rupt propensities ,• and, although, alas ! Avilh shame I have
reason to speak it, I have too often yielded to the corrup- ^^.
tions of my own wicked heart, and dishonored my God
and Saviour j yet I humbly hope, sin has been mortified
in my soul, and its influence gradually weakened, that I
have a more pure and deep hatred of sin, and that I am
filled with an increasing desire to be entirely delivered
from it.
I But this is not all that the Lord has done in the work of
sanctification : he has by his spirit, not only mortified
&in, but he has preserved and quickened grace, and
caused me to <* grow in grace," through the operations
of his spirit. I humbly hope I have been enabled, not on-
ly more and more to die unto sin^ut also to rise unt«
newness of life, and live unto righteousness, although 1
was regenerated, and then had a principle of spiritual
life implanted in my soul ; yet if God had left me then
to myself, I should soon have relapsed, and yielded the
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M. 4g
dominion of my soul to sin : without divine aid I could
do nothing; : I could not maintain what I had already rcr
€eived, much less advance in holiness. I needed con-
tinual communications from the fountain of divine influ-
ences ; and these communications, blessed be God, I
have received. The Lord has preserved alive the seed of
grace, which, by his spirit, he at first implanted in my
heart ; and has caused me to grow in grace and the
knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, though
alas ! with shame I have reason to confess it, I have
not advanced according to the means which I have en-
joyed. Tlie Lord has also given me grace and increas-
ed and strengthened this grace, according to my necessi-
ties. When I have looked at my course of my duties, as
marked out in the word of God, I have been ready to
say, if this be the way to heaven, who then can be saved ?
«< who is sufficient for these things ?" But in the Lord
I have found strength equal to my day. His strength
has been made perfect in my weakness : and when I have
been most weak — -when I have most felt my own weak-
ness, and distrusted myself and trusted in the Lord, I
have been the strongest and have been enabled the most
faithfully, and comfortably to perform my duty. Under
trials at the approach ofwhieh I trembled, and which I
knew not how to meet, his grace has been sufficient for me
— ^He supported me by aftbrding;grace suited to suifei'ing
times. When I loolvcd at my enemies — when I saw withiu
me a numerous host of powerful corruptions— m hen I be-
held without, the world presenting innumerable snares to
draw me away from the path of duty — when I considered
that Satan, endued with subtilty, and filled with malice,
*< as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may
devour," 1 Pet. v. 8^ and that I had to « wrestle against
4i NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places," Eph. vi. 13. When I looked around and saw
how many who once hid fair for heaven had been cast
down by these enemies, and destroyed or wounded —
when I considered how many who had appeared to be-
gin in the Spirit, and for a time to run well, had ended in
the flesh, I trembled, and was ready to say, how can a
feeble, helpless worm ever advance and hold out to the
end, amidst such numerous foes, before whom, many
who appeared much more likely to stand and conquer,
havefallen ? Surely J shall one day fall by the hand of
mine enemies. But fellow-christian ! to the glory of
God be it spoken, he has strengthened my soul ; and
weak and helpless as I am in myself, he has enabled me
io encounter these numerous foes, and obtain the victory;
and here I may and will set up my " Ebenezer, saying
hitherto hath the Lord helped me."
It is true, and with deep self-abasement would I con-
fess it, I have too often been ensnared by the world, I
have too often yielded to my corrupt propensities, I have
too often listened to the suggestions of the wicked one,
and I have suflered severely for it. But when I have
been thus ensnared, and have thu^ wandered and stumb-
led, either forgetful of the directions of my heavenly
Father, I had become less watchful, ami less frequently
visited the throne of grace, or was less earnest in my
supplications there ; or, unmindful of where my
strength lay, and trusting too much to myself, I went
forward in my own strength. But, forever praised be
his name ! when I have wandered he has humbled
me, and then restored my soul ; when I have fallen he
has chastised me, and abased me in my own eyes, and
JOHN M'DOWELL, A.M. 45
when I Iiavc cried to him, has raised Die up again, and
established my goings. He has forgiven the past and
given nie new strength. And from past experience of
what he has done for me, I confidently hope he will ena-
ble me to hold out to the end, and Avill finally bring me
off conqueror and more than conqueror over all my spir-
itual foes. Come polluted, weak, and trembling felloM-
christian, and hear what the liord has done for me, pollu-
ted, weak, and helpless too — He has mortified sin He
has preserved, increased, and strengthened grace : — in six
troubles he has been with me, and in seven he has not
forsaken me ; and from my experience, be encouraged
to trust in the Lord — trust in the Lord and you need not
fear.
7. Once more the christian may say, " Come and hear,
all ye tliat fear God, and I will declare, he hath" com-
forted " my soul." According to his word I have found
that wisdom's " ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace," Prov. iii. 17. He has given me
" joy and peace in believing," Rom. xv. 13. He has de-
clared himself to be reconciled unto me, and has made
my own conscience to be at peace with me. He has
given me a hope of glory, which has supported and re-
joiced me in my darkest hours ; he has granted me sea-
sons of communion with himself, Avhen niy soul has been
filled with inexpressible comfort, and joy unspeakable,
and full of glory. In every trying situation, his pre-
cious promises have been appropriate, and a never-fail-
ing source of comfort ; they have been " my songs in
the house of my pilgrimage;" in seasons of darkness,
desertion, and spiritual distress, he has comforted me
with such precious promises as these : — " Light is sown
for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart,"
46 NEW- JERSEY PHEACHER.
Psalm xcvii. 11. " Blessed are they that mourn : fop
tliey shall be comforted," Mat. v. *. « They that sow
in tears shall reap in joy," Ps. cxxvi. 5. *' For a small
moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies
will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from
thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer,"
Isaiah liv. 7, S. Under afflictions he has comforted me
with such promises and declarations as these : — " when
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee — -
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be
burnt ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,"
Is. xliii. 2. " My son, despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him :
for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and seourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as sons : for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not. He" chastened us " for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now
no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous : nevertheless afterward ityieldeth the peacea-
ble fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby," Heb. xii. 5, 6, 7, 10, 11. When I have been
distressed with a sense of the difficulty of christian du-
ties, he has comforted me by saying, « my grace is suf-
ficient for thee ; for my strength is made perfect in
weakness," 2 Cor. xii. 9. Where my spiritual enemies
have appeared formidable, and have terrified me, he has
said to me, " fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul : but rather fear him which is
able to destroy both soul and body in hell," Mat. xi. 28.
• Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled,"
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M. 47
1 Pet. iii. 1*. ** I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. The Lord is my helper," Heb. xiii. 5, 6. <» Fear
thou not, for I am with thee : be not dismayed, for I am
thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my right-
eousness," Is. xli. 10. When I have looked forward,
and considering my own weakness, and the numerous
snares laid for me, have trembled, lest I should one day
fall, and at last come short of that rest after which my
soul breathed, he has comforted me with promises of per-
severance, saying, " my sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me : and I give unto them
eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of my hand," John x. 27, 28,
** Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor tilings to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall he able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord," Rom. viii. 38, 39. Under all the tri-
als of life the Lord has comforted me, with the declara-
tion, " We know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called ac-
cording to his purpose," Rom. viii. 28.
Thus we have attended to something of what the chris-
tian may say the Lord has done for his soul ; and look-
ing forward, another wonderful theme for religious con-
versation is presented to the christian ; and he may
speak of what he expects the Lord will yet do for his
soul, viz. that he will glorify his soul. He may say,
*' there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at
his appearing," 2 Tim. iv. 8. Soon I hope to enter into
the i-est which remaineth to the people of God, Hel). iv. 9*
NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
and to be put in possession of " an inheritance, incor-
ruptible, uudefiled, and tliat fadctb not away, reserved
in heaven," 1 Pet. i. 4. Soon I hope to " inherit the
kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world,"
Matt. XXV. 34 — to become a resident in " a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,"
Heb. xi. 10 — and to wear a crown of " a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory," 2 Cor. iv. 17.
Soon I hope to " sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven," Matt. viii. 11—
and to join ^* the general assembly, and church of the
first born, w hick are written in Heaven," Heb. xii. 33.
Soon I hope to be entirely freed from sin, and to serve
my God with a perfect heart. Soon 1 hope to join the
Redeemed in the song of Moses and the Lamb; and soon
I hope to see my God and Saviour as he is. Fellow-
christian ! what a prospect is this ! and what reason have
we to join with all our hearts, in adoring and loving the
Lord who has promised such blessings to us !
In the conclusion of this discourse, we may observe
from what has been said, that christians need never be
at a loss for conversation on experimental religion when
they meet. The subject is inexhaustible. Even eterni-
ty will not exhaust it. And considering what great
things the Lord hath done for his people, how can we
belong to that number, if we seldom, or never w hen we
meet, speak of these things to his praise and glory.
Even the real people of God engage too seldom, and with
too much indifference on this subject. Let them be
humbled and excited by this subject more frequently to
engage, when they meet, in conversation on experiment-
al religion. Thus they will shew forth the praise and
glory of God, and mutuaUy edify and animate each
^ther.
JOHN iI'DO^^TLL, A.M. 49
Aiiotlicr observation wliicli is obviously sii,e;gested by
fhis subject is, tbat salvation, ia every step of if, is all
of arrace. The foundation stone was laid bv jrrace, the
superstructure is raised by j^race, and the " head-stoiiC
will be brought forth with shoutings, crying grace,
grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7. Let christians be deeply
impressed with this truth ; let it ever keep them hum-
ble, and cause them to say, " by the grace of God, I am
what I am," 1 Cor. xr. 10 ; and to ascribe all the glory
of their salvation to free and sovereign grace. Grace
will undoubtedly be the theme of heaven. Merit in the
eii«tt^n, as the cause in the least degree, of their salva-
tion, will never be mentioned there by the redeemed. —
Even now let their song be, " Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but unto thy name give glory," Ps. cxv. 1. And
" unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests un-
to God, and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever — AMEN." Rev. i. 5, 6.
Vol. I.
SERMON III.
AN ORDINATION SERMON.
Rev. ii. 10.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crowa of life.
BY JOHN WOODHULL, D.D.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of Freehold.
I
NEW..TERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON III.
Revelation ii, 10. — Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life.
XJE thou fviithful unto deatli." This charge is from
the First and the Last — from him who was dead, and is
alive. In the gosj)el of John we see the Lord Jesus a
man, conversing with men ; there we see him agonize in
the garden, expire on Golgotha, and laid in the tomb.
Here, in the Revelation of John, we see him raised from
the dead and in gloi'y ; Avith a countenance shining as
the sun iu his strength, walking in the midst of the gold-
en candlesticks, or churches, and holding the stars, the
ministers of the churches, in his right hand. Here, he
speaks and acts as having conquered the grave, triumph-
ed over death and hell, and, having angels, principali-
ties, and powers in subjection, and exercising supreme
and universal sway. This charge, then, is enforced by
the highest authority. It is directed to the angel, or
minister of the church of Smyrna, and through him
comes down to these ends of the earth, and to every min-
ister of the gospel ; — he thou faithful unto death — with
fidelity perform all the duties of thy solemn olfice, per-
severingly through life, and to the parting with life it-
self, should thy trials rea«li so far,' and I will give thee
a crown — a crorvn of life.
We have in the text, a solemn charge, delivered to
ministers of the gospel, by the First and the Last, that is.
54 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
by THE ETERNAL — " be thou faithful unto death" — and,
a gracious promise of an iullnite reward to those who
shall faithfully execute this charge — " I will give ihee
a crown of life.'*
In discoursing on this solemn subject, I propose,
through divine assistance,
I. To consider some qualiiications which are eminent-
ly needful in the faithful execution of this charge.
II. How it must be executed.
III. The danger of being unfaithful.
IV. The infinite reward of those who shall be found
faithful.
First, 1 am to consider some qualifications which arc
eminently needful in the faithful executions of this
charge.
And here, tiett and prudence may be considered
as holding the first rank. A good natural genius suita-
bly Improved by the knowledge of language, and of the
sciences, is needful. The apostles, who were at first il-
literate, were taught in the school of Christ, and mirac-
ulously endowed with knowledge from on high, before
they were sent forth as heralds of the cross. Neither
can we believe, that God ever so sanctified ignorance, as
to make it a light to the world, or a safe guide to those
who sit in darkness. But, piehj or real religioUi is emi~
nenthj needful for a minister of the gospel. Without
this he will be likely to pay but little regard to the sol-
emn duties of his oifice. And if he discharge them at
all, how can it be from a good conscience towards God,
respect to his glory, or zeal for the salvation of souls ?
The great spring of his actions must be self— 3. principle
very unsuitable to the pure nature and design of his of-
fice, and very remote from that excellent spiiit which
JOHN WOODHULL, D.D. US
ought to rule in his heart, and preside in all his actions.
It is religion alone that disposes and qiialiiics us to aim
at the glory of God in all, or in any thing, that we do.
This attaches us to the gospel, to its doctrines, and laws,
as the power of God, and wisdom of God unto salvation —
l,his discovers its divine glories, and renders it precious —
engages us to commend it with zeal, and makes us truly
eoncerned for its success. A minister, who faithfully
discharges his trust, will not only have the doctrines of
the gospel proceeding from his lips, hut also shining from
his life : he will live religion. A lively and abiding sense
of its important realities, will he of unspeakable conse-
quence as to the success of his ministry — it will have the
happiest effect upon every part of it, and give life and
spirit to the whole — it will dispose him to take heed to
his conduct and conversation — inspire him with holy
watchfulness and caution— and, render him meek ami
gentle, kind and condescending to all. It will awaken
the powers of the man, and put in motion all the springs
of action ; — hence, he will pray with fervor, read with
diligence, preach the word, be instant in season and out
of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffer-
ing and doctrine. Religion is that inward savour in the
character of ministers, which makes them the salt of
the earth; it is, that oil of grace whence they become
lights in the world ; and, without which, they are in dan-
ger of being not only useless, but noxious.
The seeond qualification mentioned as being eminent-
ly needful, for the faithful execution of the ministerial
office, is jifudence. ' Here, the wisdom of the serpent,
and the harmlessness of the dove should be duly blend-
ed. Indiscretion in confJiJct and conversation will low-
56 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
er, and even sink the reputation of a minister, dishonor
his office, and either lessen or destroy liis usel'uhiess.
The want of prudence, will cloud the hrightest talents
and eclipse the most shining uhilities ; no knowledge of
language, no degree of science, not even religion itself,
seems to he sufficient to compensate this loss. But, in-
fidelity holds up its head, and religion mourns and lan-
guishes, while its advocates are daily exposing them-
selves hy their follies. O ! how highly necessary is it,
that the ambassadors of Christ, who negotiate a moment-
ous treaty of peace, between the offended majesty of
heaven and earth and his rebellious subjects, should ex-
ercise the utmost circumspection, and carefully observe
the different circumstances of time and place, of char-
acter and tempers, lest sinners should perish — the in-
terest of the Redeemer's kingdom suffer — the honour of
God be sullied, and tlie great design of their mission
frustrated by their own indiscretion.
Secondly, We proceed to consider, how a minister
must execute this soJcmn charge.
Here, we are not to suppose that the Avhole of our du-
ty is confined to the pulpit, to the house of God, or to
the congregation where we statedly labour ; but, that it
extends, in a degree, to the presbytery, the synod, the
general assembly to which we belong, and, even to the
ciiurch of Christ, yet more extensively. Let no one, then,
suppose that he faithfully perforins his duty, while he
n "gleets it in any of these departments.
At present we have time only to treat of the pulpit
peiformances, which indeed contain the most important
part of the minister's work.
1st. He must preach with plainness and simplicity of
style. This may not be altogether calculated to please
JOHN WOODHULL, D.D. 5/
the fancy, and to offer incense to our own vanity, yet, it
is well suited to inform tlie judgment, and reach the
heart. And indeed, it must be considered as a sad symp-
tom on hearers, when they are disposed to have their
fancies pleased in serious and solemn subjects ; and a
symptom not less sad on preachers, when they make it
their business to gratify this disposition. As well may
the physician undertake to cure a fever, and bind up a
bi'oken bone, with fine set music, as the minister to heal
the disease of sin, and bind up the broken hearted, with
flowers of language or strokes of wit. Dare he hope to
receive a crown for his fidelity, who coldly entertains
his hearers with accompUshed trifles^ while he ought in
the most healing and animated manner, to proclaim to
them those great truths of the gosjjcl, which justly ar^
rest the attention of angels and of men ! There is a nat.
ural and commanding eloquence arising fiora a deep
sense of the subject, from an ardent love for soulsj, and
from zeal for the glory of God, wherein the speaker for-
gets himself, that of all others, is the most poweitul
rhetorick : and I believe these are th< discourses which
God usually owns, and condescends to bless.
3d. A minister must be awfully careful, that he may
be able to say with the apostle, " I have not shunned to
declare unto you, all the counsel of God ;" that, at
parting from his people, he may again make the apostle's
language his own, and say, " I am pure from the blood
of all men." To be charged with the blood of men i^^,
awful, but, to be charged with the blood of their souls,
and that by the eternal God, before whom we are soon
to stand, carries something in it >vhich language is too
feeble to express.
Vol. I. H
58 NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
To avoid this, -we must endeavour to awaken those
who securely sleep in sin ; teach bold transgressors the
error of their Mays, and danger of their state ; show
them the wrath that hangs over their heads, and the des-
truction which lies beneath them : and, in the most per-
suasive and pathetic manner, beseech them to flee for
refuge, before the storm of divine indignation overtake
them, and th«y welter in flames which can never be
quenched. We are also to bring to them the free ofi'ers
and precious promises of the gospel ; set before them
the heavenly rest, and paradise of joy — the crown that
can never fade, and the kingdom that can never be mov-
pd ; but above all, we are, if possible, to constrain them
by the love and sufferings of a Saviour. "We are to set
forth Jesus Christ crucified before them, pouring forth
his blood in making atonement for sin, and pouring out
liis soul in making intercession for transgressors. Yes,
like Philip in Samaria, we must preach Christ to our
people. We must open up his boundless fulness and
all-sufiicieney, his rich grace and infinite compassion as
a Saviour — show them their own insufiieiency, and tlie
defect of every other refuge, and the last necessity which
they are under of depending only on him for life and
salvation. We must make known the terms of their in-
terest in him, and acceptance with God tliroiigh him ;
in a word, we must, comparatively, neither know nor
preach any thing among them, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified. To kun all the lines of our discourses should
bend, and in him terminate. We must also lead weary
and heavy laden sinners to this Saviour, support weak
believers ; defeat the dangerous errors of the times, and,
in fine, do all that is in our power, which tends to turn
JOHN WOODHULL, D.D. 59
men from the ^vays of sia and death, lead them in the
way of life, and bring them to glory.
3d. A minister must exercise the utmost diligence
in the execution of this charge.
They greatly mistake their business, who enter into
the gospel ministry, that they may lead a life of indo-
lence and ease. For, as it is a work which requires the
most diligent and laborious application, so it will be a
most awful thing for the stewards of Christ's household,
to receive that reprimand from the Judge, " thou sloth-
ful and wicked servant." We must therefore meditate
on these things, carefully seek furniture for the great
work, and give ourselves wholly unto it. For we are
charged before God, to be instant in season and out of
season ; we are to think no pains too much, no care or
application too great, which are within our reach, to
promote the vast design of our ministry. We are even
to travail in birth, to see Christ formed in the souls of
our hearers, A great work is before us, in our study,
in personal converse with our hearers, and in our pub-
lic administrations, enough to engage the whole man ;
and, the infinite importance of the business, with the
dread account which we are to give, are enough to chal-
lenge our most diligent activity, and absorb the whole
soul.
•ith. We must preach with pathetic eamestnes&f and
affectionate solemnity.
We watch for souls — for souls of infinite value, whose
salvation is yet depending, and now hangs in awful sus-
pense. And can Ave with cold indifference look on and
see the extreme hazard which those committed to our
care are running ; some by building their salvation on
the bubbles of their own fancy ; some, on the sandv
Vd NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
foundation of their own merits, while others, intoxicated
with the alurements of the worhl and pleasures of sense,
carelessly void of reflection, are treading on the break-
ing brink of eternity, liable, every step they take, to be
lost — lost to this world, and to all worlds ! " Passion
would be reason, and transport temper here !'* To lull
hearers to sleep with languid essays in such a situation
as this, and on matters of everlasting consequence, which
might overwhelm their souls, or transform them into
statues of attention, is a shocking inconsistency ! It is
inconsistent with the orator and christian, but most of
all, inconsistent with the faithful ambassador of Christ,
and the solemn charge given in our text. Knowing the
terrors of the Lord, and the value of souls, we must per-
suade men. We must place before them their danger,
and their remedy — bring to tlieir view the safety of ap-
pearing in the rigliteousness of Christ, and the danger
of depending on their own, which, like the yielding air,
or breaking bubble, will vanish from them in the time
of their greatest need. We must, with the utmost fer-
vour of affection and expression, warn them by all the
thunders of the law, and beseech them by all the grace
of the gospel, to come away from every evil course, and
every refuge of lies, and re.st their whole salvation on
Christ Jesus— be reconciled to God, accept of his mercy
without delay, and not wrest from his almighty arm,
that punishment which he is unwilling to inflict.
5th. To be faithful, ministers of the gospel must
preach experimentally.
We should be able to say with the apostle, «<that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto jou, that
ye also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fel-
lowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus:
.**■■
JOHN WOODHinLL, D. D. '51
Christ." This would render our labours pleasing to
ourselves, profitable to our hearers, and approved of our
God. And, ahhouji;h they may be ministers of Christ,
their office acknowledged by him, (even Judas was an
apostle), and, though they may be made instrumental of
good to others, who have never felt the power of the di-
vine life in their own souls ; for, ** the excellency of the
power is of God, and not of us ;" yet, they who preach
an unknown Christ, cannot be acquainted with the meth-
ods of grace, and variety of exercise, which souls meet
in their way to heaven ; and therefore, must be poor
guides to others in a way which they know not them-
selves. And how inconceivable must be the disappoint-
ment and anguish of our souls, if, in the last great day,
both our ministry and our people should rise in judg-
ment against us, and Ave find, when too late, that while
we had preached to others we ourselves were cast away.
6tb. The charge, he thou faithful unto death, in-
ohides and enjoins peseverance through life.
Having put our hand to the plough, we are not to look
back. After we have in the presence of God, and of the
Lord Jesus, devoted ourselves to this great work, and
have received the solemn charge, we are not to shrink
from the undertaking, nor abandon the cause on account
of the labours or dangers which may attend it ; but, re-
lying on diviue aid, we are with diligence, with self-de-
nial, and with fortitude to persevere — to endure labours
however hard, and withstand opposition however formi-
dable. And in doing this, a supreme love to Christ is
of the first importance. Is diligence needful ? Love will
set in motion every spring, and awaken every faculty of
the soul, and engage us to meditate, to read, to pray,
and to fill up each poi-tion of time with duty. Is self-
NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
denial needful ? Love stoops to any terms or to any con-
dition; it was this that brought tlic Son of God from
Heaven to earth — from a crown to a cross, and from a
throne to a grave, that he might redeem us, and our
fellow-men from death : and shall it not bring us to
stoop down and take up the cross for him, and in his
cause ? And is the fortitude and courage of the lion
sometimes needful ? There is nothing like love, to in-
spire with this. This love, not onJy raised the ancient
reformers and heralds of the cross above the fear of
man, but hath enabled even delicate women and young
children to smile at danger, despise death, and court the
crown of martyrjlom.
The gospel history, in the life and character of Paulr
affords a pre-eminent example of faithfulness, of labours,
of sufferings, and perseverance in the ministerial work.
Having been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, he pos-
sessed great knowledge and reputation, and had a fair
prospect of rising to places of honour and profit. But,,
he gave up his earthly prospects, gave up his ease, part-
ed fi'om his friends, and entered upon a course of la-
bours and perils, an affecting account of which is given
by himself ; yet, saith he, ''none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear to myself, that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus."' Paul, in the fullest sense
of the word, vf as faithful unto death; he sealed his
ministry with his blood. And Avhen the time of his de-
parture was at hand, and he ready to he offered, he could
confidently say " I have fought a good fight, I have fin-
ished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth
there is laid up for me a .crown of righteousness, which
iP^^'fil
JOHN WOODHULL, D. D. 6s
the Lord, the righteous Judge, sliall give me at that
day."
Thirdly — We now proceed to consider the danger of
being unfaithful.
1st. Unfaithfulness in our ministry, will be dan-
gerous to the people committed to our care — dan-
gerous to their souls — dangerous to their spiritual
peace in this world — and to their everlasting peace and
happiness in the world to come — and will leave them
exposed to the wrath of God — to the dreadful penalty of
his holy law — to the stroke of the sword of divine jus-
tice, and to final condemnation and eternal death.
It is a tragical and affecting spectacle, to see men die
by human laws; but how much more so must it be, to
see them led forth to that last execution, and hear the
beginning of those cries and wailings which must never
have an end ! And oh ! how must these cries pierce our
souls, should it appear that they, and the agonies from
which they arise, were all occasioned by our neglect or
our unfaithfulness !
And this danger is brought near by the shortness and
uncertainty of life. How short is the space, and how
few are the steps, between our hearers and the eternal
world ! How frequently are we called to see them on a
dying bed, or to attend their bodies to the grave, while
the soul has already appeared before God, and received
her doom ! Their danger, therefore, is near, even at the
door, and loudly and solemnly calls upon us to exercise
towards them the utmost care and faithfulness. And,
more especially, when it is further considered that our
life is as great an uncertainty as theirs, and that death
is reaching forth his cold hand, to stop their ears from
hearing, and our mouths from speaking, and to hasten
both them and us before our final Judge !
m^r- ««l*t?l>
<4 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
2(1. Unfaithfulness in their office is awfully danger-
ous to Ministers themselves, as it brings the guilt of
perjury before God, on their own souls. The vows of
God are on them ; they have been charged before him,
and by the Son of God ; and they have, in the presence
of both, and before angels and men, solemnly engaged,
faithfully to execute their sacred trust. It was a very
aggravating circumstance of the falsehood told by Ana-
nias, that it was spoken, not to merif but to God. And,
the oath of fidelity in the ministry, is, with much for-
mality and solemnity, made before Godf and to God,
Therefore, a violation of it will be an offence committed
in the presence of, and against a being of infinite perfec-
tions and glory, and will infer a malignity, to which we
do not venture to fix a bound, and must expose to a pun-
ishment equally boundless !
The neglect of souls must be very criminal in all, but
eminently so in those who have deliberately and public-
ly taken upon themselves the charge of them. In this
case, it would not only be perjury in us, but extreme
cruelty to them, and base treachery to our Lord, who
has bought them with his blood, and committed them to
our care.
Unfaithfulness in our sacred trust, wiU not only incur
the guilt of perjury, but, will also bring the blood of
souls upon us. God has placed us as watchmen upon
the walls of Zion, and hath declared, " If thou dost not
speak, to warn the wicked of his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at
thine hand." God hath manifested the high value which
he sets on souls, by the vast expense which he hath
been at for their redemption. The mighty effort of the
wisdom of God in concerting the scheme of salvation—
JOHN WOODHULL, D. D. 65
his great love in giving his only begotten Son to execute
it, taken in connection with all the Redeemer's labours,
"with his sufferings and death, loudly proclaim to all
worlds, that, in the estimation of the eternal God, souls
are of injimte value. How fearful a thing then, must it
be, to have this same God charge the loss of them to
us, and require their blood at our hands ! Then, happy
Paul who could say, " I am pure from the blood of all
men," and happy are those, who can make his assertion
their own.
Fourthly. Let us now consider the reward of those
who shall be found faithful.
Be thou faitliful unto deaths and I will give thee a
crown of life. These words plainly intimate that the
complete fulfilment of the promise is not to be expected
in the present world : for, tlie crown of life, is to be
given after death. Yet, the Lord Jesus, who liveth and
was dead, hath been graciously pleased, by his gospel,
to draw aside the veil of darkness, which curtains round
the eternal world, and thereby enables us, like M ses,
to take a Pisgah view of that promised inheritance,
which lies beyond the Jordan of death.
God doth not give either his ministers or people
their inheritance in this world, where they continue but
a few days, and where all, like travellers in a common
inn, bad as well as good, are promiscuously entertained.
But, he gives his children their portion in that better
world, where he himself is, and where they are to have
their settled abode, and everlasting rest — where tlie
faithful and fervent Paul wears his crown, and where the
holy apostles possess their thrones ; there also those who
are now faitliful ministers of Christ, are to look for, and
to receive their crown of life — crown of iife ! — These
Vol. I. I
66 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
great and highly figurative expressions are worthy of
our most serious and careful consideration, that we
may ohtain some idea of the vast and comprehensive
blessings contaiiied in them. The usual language of
mortals was never intended to express the majestic re-
alities of eternity, it was designed for lower objects.
Hence, the happiness and glory of heaven are illustra-
ted by a crown, by a throne, and by a kingdom, or by
such tilings on earth, as are most esteemed and valued
among men. These similitudes are used, because we
find nothing else that can afford us a more exalted idea
of the supreme excellency and value of that glorious
state. For, a crown is the highest wish of ambition, in
which, the most aspiring mind proposes to rest.
But an earthly crown, however rich with gems and
gold, and resplendent in the eyes of mortals, and admir-
ed by them as glorious and great, yet, must be but a
dim and feint emblem of that dignity and dominion, of
that glory and immortality, which are connected with,
and give infinite value to the heavenly diadem, which
not only exceeds Avhat earthly monarchs possess, but
goes vastly bejond the utmost reach of our imagination,
for " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them tliat love him." Ilence, a crown be-
ing too fefnt an emblem fully to represent the heavenly
gloi'y, life, is added — a crown of life, which increases
and completes the idea. And, is expressive of an end-
less life, in the heights of jierfection, of happiness, and of
^lory, in the eternal world. This will suppose, or in-
clude pefect freedom from all sin — from all temptation
to sin — and, from all the penal consequences of sin.
Yes, when the faithful servant shall have finished his
JOHN WOODHULL, D. D. 67
course and put off his tabernacle of clay, he will also put
off the body of sin, and enter into rest, into the joy of
his Lord, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing —
There, also, the wicked cease from troubling, and there
the weary find rest — there the roaring lion can never
come, nor the tempting serpent ever enter — there no
eye weeps, no tongue ever complains ; for, God shall
wipe away all tears from every eye, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain ; for the former things shall
have passed away.
The comprehensive reward will also include the per-
fection of our natures. Here we are in the infancy of
human nature ; we see as through a glass darkly, and
know only the surfaces of things— f/ie?"^ we shall sec
face to face, and know as we are known, in a clear, in-
tuitive, and comprehensive manner. O ! how ravishing
will the contemplation of the mysteries of divine provi-
dence, the riches of divine grace, and the works of Al-
mighty power be to a glorified saint ! — But, how much
more ravishing will the clear view of God himself, Avitli
all his boundless and attractive perfections, be to us,
when made strong by immortality, and able to bear the
dazzling lustre ©f so resplendent an object. And above
all, what transcendent felicity and perfection will arise
from the transforming nature of this view ! " We shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is," saith the word
of God — and, " wc all with open face beholding tlie
glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from
glory to glory." These words express an increasing
conformity, a rising from one degree of glory to anoth-
er degree of glory, in the scale of perfection ,♦ and if
we may suppose the increase to continue — to continue
6» NEWJERSEY PREACHER.
through eternity, then what imagination, what thought
can reach the glorious height of perfection, to which a
saint will at some period arrive !
Another part of the blessedness contained in the re-
ward promised to those who shall be faithful, may be
considered as resulting from the glory and beauty of the
place prepared for them. The Lord Jesus, when about
to leave the world, and enter into glory, told his disci-
ples, that he roas going to prepare a place for them.
This is mentioned, as an object of his special attention
and care, one which lay near his heart. Then, if in the
space of six days, by Ms speaking the ivordf this vast sys-
tem of creation rose into existence, with all that order
and beauty, which we behold with so much astonishment
and delight — then, what must we suppose that mansion
to be, where he hath bestowed his most curious work-
manship, and Avith divine skill prepared for those whom
he loves, and whom he delights to honour ? It is called
an house not made with hands ; and is so glorious, that
the temple built by Solomon, covered with gold and pre-
cious stones, and enriched with the wealth of na-
tions, was but its type, or shadow. It is also called a
city ; but then it is a city, of which the new Jerusalem,
described by the beloved apostle John, was only a sha-
dow—" I John," said he, " saw the holy city New Jeru-
salem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared
as a bride, adorned for her husband." The length, and
the breadth, and the height of it were equal, each be-
ing twelve thousand furlongs, or, fifteen hundred miles j
the walls of it were jasper, and the city was purse gold,
like unto clear glass ! If all this is no more than the
shadow! then, what must we think of the suhstance — of
heaven itself, the court of the eternal King, the seat of
JOHN WOODHULL, D. D. ** 6§
fais glorious empire, the royal palace, and throne of oul*
incarnate God ! from which all evil is banished, and
where light, and life, and joy, forever dwell. And is
this the place where our blessed Saviour receives his
faithful ministers and people ? Hear his own gracious
words ; " and if," saith he, " I go and prepare a place
for you, I wiU come again and receive you to myself j
that where I am, there ye may be also." Doth not every
pious soul reply, Lord it is enough ?
This happiness may be considered as further increas-
ed, by tlie society and converse of the hearenty inhdbitanis.
The pious and faithful of every age, and of every na-
tion, will all meet in that blessed abode. Then, if we
shall be so happy as to be found among them, we shall
there sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob — we
shall see the company of the Prophets — of the Holy
Apostles — and the great company of the blessed Mar-
tyrs— there, we shall again see those who have been ve-
ry dear to us, and have slept in Jesus, whether of our
brethren in the ministry, of the people of our charge, oi--
from our own families — we shall again enjoy their com-
pany, their conversation, and affections, and shall join
our hearts and voices with theirs, in loving God without
measure, and in praising him without end. But above
all, there we shall see our Saviour and our God face to
face, and shall satiate ourselves with the fulness of joy
that is in his beatific presence, and in that ocean of
pleasure, whieh is at his right hand for evermore.
Lastly, that whieh gives completeness to this happi-
ness—to this great reward, is, its duration. The hap-
piness is without intermission, and will be without end.
It is an everlasting crown, the glory of which can never
fade, it is an undclilcd and incorruptible inheritance, re-
70 ' NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
sei'ved in heaven, Avhieh can suifer no diminution by be-
ing possessed through eternity. — O, vast and boundless
eternity, how dost thou at once astonish and delight us !
thou addest new lustre to the crown of life, and givest
new accents to the songs of the blessed, while they can
in a triumph of holy security, say this happiness is end-
less, and this God is our God forever and ever.
The improvement follows :
1st. AVe cannot avoid reflecting upon the greatne&s
and dread importance of the ministerial work — a work
which hath for its object the salvation of souls, the in-
terest of the Redeemer's kingdom, and the glory of God
— objects, which in their nature are infinite and reach to
eternity ! Who are sufficient for these things ? Could
we speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, we
might tremble in approaching this sacred and awful
work. What gifts and graces, what wisdom and pru-
dence, what faithfulness and diligence, yea, what zeal for
the glory of God, love to Christ, and compassion for
souls are here needful! But our consolation is, that we
serve a good master, who hath promised that as our
days are, so sliall our strength be. Had we no strength
to depend on beyond our own, no encouragement but fromi
human assistance, we might sit down in disconsolate des-
pair, and utter the passionate language of Moses, " O
my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom
thou wilt send," for thy servant is insufficient for these
things. But our sufficiency is of God, we have his di-
vine promise for our security and consolation—" lo, I
am with you always." With our Saviour by our side, we
shall have nothing to fear. If he go with us into our
study, into the pulpit, and among our people, we shall
not only have easy, but joyful work. If he continue
JOHN WOODHULL, D. D. - 71
with US always, we shall have light in darkness, strength
in weakness, defence in dangers, victory over all our
enemies, and finally, shall obtain the crown that can
never fade, and the triumph that can never end.
2d. This subject leads us to look with trembling, fo
the last end of those who shall be found unfaithful in
the sacred office. When conscience, and when God who
is greater than conscience shall witness, that they had
taken upon themselves the charge of souls, and had
neglected them — that instead of aw akening sinners from
their slumbers, and Avarning them of their danger, they
had lulled them to sleep by smooth and delusive words —
that instead of preaching Christ Jesus, and him erucili-
ed, they had preached themselves, and offered incense to
their own vanity — and, that instead of leading their peo-
ple to the Redeemer's blood for cleansing, to his right-
eousness for clotliing, and to his great salvation for life,
they had left them exposed to wrath and eternal death :
and, therefore, that their blood, the blood of their souls
was found on them, and required from them. Surely,
it wiU be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in
the day of judgment, than for vain and vicious, or, for
graceless and imfaithful ministers of the gospel.
Finally, let us admire and adore the ^race and bounty
of our Redeemer and our God, towards those ministers
who sliall be faithful unto death. He hath made them
" stewards of the manifold grace of God," and, " work-
ers together with him." And, to support their faith and
hope, animate their zeal, and insure their fidelity and
perseverance in the sacred Avork, he hath promised his
presence — that he himself will be with them always,
and that his grace shall be sufficient for them : and
^^ NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
then, to complete his bounty, he engages to crovm his
own gift — to crown that grace >¥ith glory.
O, how short are our labours, when compared to the
tle.rn(xl rest, and how light are our sufferings and ser-
vices, when laid in the balance with the eternal weight
of glory, and crown of life !
If the latter end of wicked and unfaithful ministers of
the gospel shall be awful ; if they shall be followed with
uncommon wrath, and be sunk down deep into misery,
on the other hand, those who shall be found faithful and
successful, will be raised high in heaven — brought near
the throne, and wear a resplendent crown. " They that
be xvise (skilful teachers) shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteous-
ness, as the STARS, forever and ever."— -AMEN.
THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH IN PRODUCING
HOLY OBEDIENCE.
Hebrews xi. 17.
By faitli Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had
received tlie promises offered up his only begotteu son.
BY THE REV. AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of Mendham.
YoL. 1. R
NEW-JEESEY PREACHER.
SERMON IV.
Hebrews xi. 17.—" By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ;
and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son."
TT HEN we read, in the book of Genesis, the history
of the transaction here referred to, our hearts feel a
deep interest in all the cireumstanees of that transaction,
and are aifeeted by some of tlie most powerful and ten-
der emotions that our nature knoAvs.
We wonder at the strangeness of the command, and at
the implicit obedience of the Patriarch. We admire his
resolution and firmness to engage in such a transaction,
and the perseverance and constancy which could hold
out during a three days' travel, and, after every oppor-
tunity for reflection and for the working of parental ten-
derness and love, could yet endure and be prepared for
the finishing of the heart-rending catastrophe. We love
the filial meekness, obedience and submission of Isaac j
and perhaps we weep over his honest simplicity j or ven-
erate the character of a father, who could so command
the confidence and respect of his son. We readily think
we see a certain kind of piety reigning througbout the
whole transaction, and our hearts are melted in grief
and tenderness — in love and admiration.
Yet, in all this, there is no regard to that true char-
acter of piety which distinguisbes the transaction: and,
with all our sympathies and feelings, we discover noth-
ing that would seem to have power to prepare us for
7S NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
such a scene, or perhaps even to excuse altogether the
conduct of the Patriarch, and satisfactorily to account
to our minds for so strange an occurrence.
Ilevievving the subject more at leisure, we may re-
volve in our minds curious questions of the means hy
tvhich Abraham was assured that God required the sa-
crifice at his hand ; and we may indulge ingenious spec-
ulations about the interfering of the mother, and the
means by which the son was brought to yield to his fa-
ther's purpose. But all these speculations would only
lead us farther from that scriptural view of the transac-
tion, in which we are called to regard it.
It is related to us in the scriptures with plainness and
precision, in all the circumstances needful for us to
know ; and in the text the Holy Ghost teaches us to
consider it, a xvork of faiths eminently illustrative of
that pure principle of obedience, without which " it is
impossible to please God."
It was that faith which was imputed to Abraham for
righteousness, that prompted him to obey, and that sup-
ported him in so trying a duty.
We arc therefore most deeply interested to consider
and " see how iailh wrought with his works."
The two great efficient principles of duty, by which
men profess to be influenced, are Faith, and Reason.
While some zealously contend f(»r the sufficiency of rea-
son alone, it is yet evident to all, how much the scrip-
tures insist on faith as necessary to our acceptance with
God in our services.
Reason may afford very strong convictions of duty, and
may iuliuence men to a very considerable extent in a
secnnng respect for God's authority, and obedience to
AMZI ARMSTRONG, AM 77 '
lits w5U. But all this comes far short of what is, in the
scriptures, called " the obedience of faith."
Every one who acknowledges the Being of God, must
have some convictions of duty towards him. The heath-
en have often had very deep convictions of this kind ;
and much more may it he expected in christian .coun-
tries, where his name and authority are declared by his
word, that reason shall teach men to fear him, and in
certain things, to profess obedience to him.
We are therefore greatly concerned to examine and
know the difference, between that obedience which aris-
es from the convictions of reason alone, and that which
flows from that principle of faith which is so often and
so solemnly inculcated in the scriptures.
It is evident that reason, under the instructions of
God's word, and supported by the power of conscience,
may lead men to most of the common duties of social
life. These duties are, for the most part, plainly dedu-
cible hy reason, from the circumstances of relation and
connection in which we find ourselves ; and therefore as
far as the mind can be brought to consider them without
passion or prejudice, the authority and power of con-
science will interpose to require that they shall be res-
pected.
But in a more enlarged and correct view of moral ob-
Kgations, we will find the inlluence of reason, to pro-
duce holy obedience, is essentially deficient especially in
these three particulars : —
In its extent.
In its efficient power,
And in the manner of influencing the heart.
1st. In its extent, regarding both the grounds and the
matter of duty.
M NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
The influence of reason, in the concerns of duty, eaa
be founded only in those considerations and principles
which can be distinctly perceived and comprehended by
reason : and therefore can, at best, produce but a heath-
enish kind of obedience. There are many truths res-
pecting God, and his providence, which our reason is
not adequate to discover, nor even to comprehend Avhen
revealed. These truths are just and essential grounds
of duty, but cannot become such with us, without faith
to believe them.
Therefore, in the beginning of this discourse on the
nature and influence of faith, it is stated that it is
** through faith we understand that the worlds were fram-
ed by the word of God ; so that things which are seen
were not made of things which do appear." While Phi-
losophy and Reason wander, in the regions of conjec-
ture, after their chaos, their monads, and their atoms,
of which they may suppose the world was formed, Faith
is satisfied that it was created hy the word of God.
There are also some of the essential doctrines of the
gospel, which the limited reason of man never compre-
hends, and therefore can never adopt as grounds of duty.
Such is the great doctrine of the incarnation of the Son
of God, and his vicarious sufferings and propitiatory
sacrifice for sins. And it is evident how exceedingly de-
ficient in the christian duty he must be, who has not this
as a settled ground of duty with him. Such also, are
the doctrines of God's universal, complete and holy sove-
^ reignty — of his eternal decrees, and of eternal rewards
and punishments. Our reason is not naturally disposed
to receive these doctrines, or capable to comprehend
them. Yet every true christian knows, and feels, that
if these should not be grounds of duty with him, there
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M. 79
would be a very great and essential deficiency in his duty
toward God. And in this he is convinced, that " with-
out faith it is impossible to please him."
In regard of the matter of duty also, the influence of
reason is far from being universal.
However decidedly and clearly it may lead to some
duties, there are others which, if unassisted by faith, it
never discovers. This is the ease, not only where the
grounds of duty lie beyond the apprehension of reason,
but also where they are plain and obvious. Such is the
spiritual worship we owe to God— christian self-denial,
and christian love and kindness toward them that are
Christ's, as are also love toward our enemies, supreme
and ardent love to God, and love toward our neighbour
as ourselves. The influence of reason alone, seldom, and
perhaps never, leads to these and other matters of duty
essential and indispensable in true christian morality.
So that it is evidently insuflHeient in point of extent,
both as to the grounds, and the matter of duty.
2d. In its eflicient power to produce holy obedience,
the influence of reason is deficient, as a principle of duty.
This is evident in the multitudes of mankind who^
although no strangers to the dictates of reason, yet de-
liberately and daily disregard them.
It is evident also, in the many instances in which pas-
sions and prejudices lead men on in violation of the clear-
est dictates of reason.
In every instance, where reason is relied on to direct
and encourage in duty, it is evident how feeble are its
influences, opposed to the feelings of interest, and to the
fear and the love of the world.
Faith alone enables a man efi*ectually to resist, and to
triumph over these. Therefore, the scripture saith,
80 I^W-JERSEY PREACHER.
« this is the victory that overeometh the world, even oirr
faith."
3d. In the manner of influencing the heart, the insiif-,
fieieney of reason is great, and will cause a radical de-
fection from holy obedience.
Its influence is primarily and chiefly on the under-
standing and judgment : and the affections of the heart
are untouched and unmoved. Every one knows, that
the judgment may be clearly and poM erfully convinced,
and yet the feelings and sentiments of the heart be en-
tirely opposed and unyielding to such convictions. Rea-
son exerts its influence by instruction and argument 5
but ** faith worketh by love." Wbile, therefore, the
former produces only a constrained and unwilling sub-
jection to the laws of duty, the latter has efi'ectual influ-
ence to produce a ready and cheerful obedience, in which
the best affections of the heart are engaged. Such alone
carries in it the marks and distinguishing characteristics
of a pure and holy obedience to God.
He that is moved to duty only by the convictions of
reason, even with the aid of the power and authority of
conscience, engages in it with a very different spirit
from what the m^n does whose best affections lead him,
and whose strongest emotions prompt and support him
in a cheerful obedience. This is "the obedience of
faith ;" and is conformable to that re€j[uirement in which
God saith, " my son, give me thine heart." " Man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord look-
ethon the heart."
Let us now observe the illustration of these positions
in the example referred to in the text.
The apostle had taught the doctrine of justification by
faith; and that the necessity of faith, in order to justi-
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M 8i
^cation, might fully appear, he devotes the whole of this
eleventh chapter to the subject ; beginning with the dC'
«laration, that " faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen," and then by an
induction of particular examples, shewing its opera-
tions and influence. With others he introduces also
this, *' by faitb, Abraham, when he was tried, offered
up Isaac : and he that had received the promises offered
up his only begotten Son, of whom it was said, that in
Isaac shall thy seed be called ; accounting that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence
also he received him in a figure."
In considering this example, we may observe, 1st. As
to the grounds and the matter of duty —
Had the Patriarch relied chiefly on reason to deter-
mine his duty in this case, he would have found much to
object, even against the immediate and plain command
of God j and would have argued, as faithless professors
often do, that the fitness and propriety of obedience to a
command directing him to sacriflee his beloved and only
son, did not, on any principle which he could discover,
appear to him ; and inasmuch as his Creator had not giv-
en him an understanding or penetration to discover any
grounds of duty, that would justify him to his own rea-
son and conscience in such a deed, it would be highly
absurd in him to think of doing it. However flt and
proper it miglit be in the sight of Gad, or of any intelli-
gent beings superior to himself j yet it never could be a
duty for hiuj, who could discover no propriety in it.
And he would therefore conclude, either that tliere must
be some mistake in supposing it to be the command of
God, or else that he did not give it with a purpose of
having it executed, or with any design or expectati«m
Vol. I. L
82 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
that he should obey it. He would also have argued, as
deists and unbelievers continually do, that it was against
every principle of liis nature; and inasmuch as God had
given him that nature, he could not suppose that he
would seriously call on him to violate all its strongest
principles, and act contrary to its most amiable dictates :
and he would therefore have concluded, that however
plain the command of God might be, yet he must not in-
terpret it according to its plain and evident import, or
else he must not suppose it was designed for him strictly
to obey. As to the nature of the duty, he would have
argued, how can God be honored, or how can any good
possibly come of such a deed by my hand. If my Son
had been guilty of any great crime, or meditated any
serious injury against society, public justice might re-
quire of me the necessary means of prevention, or the
merited punishment. But, when he has done nothing,
and meditates nothing of this kind, it would be unnatu-
ral and wicked in me thus to sacrifice a beloved son, and
it could be productive of no good to fellow-creatures, and
of no honor, but on the contrary of dishonor, to God.
His justice, his goodness, and above all his promise for-
bids it : for in this very son he has promised me a seed
in whom all nations shall be blessed. What therefore
would be the consequence of obeying this strange com-
mand? And how couhl I justify myself, even to God
himself, in view of the promise he has made me, and of
the covenant he has established with me ?
In consideration of such arguments as these, reason
would have rejected, without scruple, the plainest and
most direct command, and wouhl probably have made
high pretensions to piety and religious feeling in doing
so. After this manner, carnal and unbelieving men dai-
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. ?.!. 83
ly reason concerning commandeil duties, of >vhich they
do not readily perceive the fitness, the propriety, and the
end to be answered by them. And they think they ar-
gue correctly, and are led by the clearest reason to neg-
lect such duties ; and having the utmost confidence in
their conclusions, they think they may rest in them with
a good conscience toward both God and men. Perhaps
the greater part of professed believers allow themselves
to be guided mostly by the same principles, and to rest
in the same conclusions.
But it was not thus that Abraham's faiih wrought
with his works, when it made them perfect before God.
His faith esteemed the word and authority of God
paramount to every authority, and to all law ; and in-
stead of looking to nature and to reason, looked to na-
ture's God, the fountain of all true reason, for direction
in the way of duty.
All that such faith needs, is only to know the com-
mand and word of God, and it can trust all the conse-
quences of obedience to his disposing. Abraham's con-
fidence in the wisdom, power, and faitlifulness of God
enabled him to submit the event, and trust in God con-
cerning the consequences, while he was satisfied that he
obeyed his command. This enabled him " against hope,
to believe in hope, that he might become the Father of
many nations." It was by this faith, that ^< Abraham
when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had
received the promises oftered up his only begotten son;
accounting that God was able to raise him up, even
fiom the dead." His faith required nothing more than
to know the command of God, and by (his all the plead-
ings of nature and of reason were answered ; and fop
the apparent contrariety between the promise and the
U ^EW-JERSEY PREACHER.
command, he confided in God to reconcile them, and
make both good. And as at the first, he staggered not
at the promise through weakness of faith, so now he
still accounted him faithful who had promised, and trust-
ed to him to reconcile the hopes which he had inspired
with the command he had given.
The event eminently justified this confidence, and en-
titled him, who thus believed, to be accounted the Fa-
ther of all them that believe. The maxims of human
reason would have condemned such conduct, as rash and
unnatural. A self-righteous spirit would call it impi-
ous. And the affected wisdom and philosophy of men
would charge it to the account of superstition, and by
the reproachful epithet offunatic endeavor to shake off
the obligations of duty. But in all the scriptures, there
is, I believe, no one action of any man more frequently
and more decidedly commended as partaking of the na-
ture of true piety and obedience to God, than this of
Abraham : and all these cavils and objections can only
serve to shew the great influence of faith above reason
to produce holy obedience, and to support men in the
path of duty before God.
Superstition and fanaticism do not consist in implicit
obedience to the command of God, where reason and na-
ture seem, in the apprehensions of men, not to counte-
nance or justify it. On this principle, there never
would be any call or opportunity for the exercise of
faith 'j and this first of christian graces, so much com-
mended and insisted on in the scriptures, would be in
fact, nothing more than philosophising professors and
teachers represent it — the mere result of reasoning and
reflection upon obvious truths, level with our own fee-
ble understanding, and according with our own preju-
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M ^5
diced notions and opinions. This would be to invert the
whole order of gospel doctrine, and to make the cross of
Christ of none effect.
Fanaticism consists in men's substituting their own or
others' fancies, conceits, or dogmas in the place of God's
com mauds, and paying a blind regard and reverence to
them as such : and superstition, in deranging the order
of christian truth and duty ; scrupulously adhering to
some, and disregarding or despising others. There can
be no superstition, or fanaticism, in the most scrupulous
and implicit adhering to the word of God, and obeying
his commands. It is but our reasonable duty. And yet
reason, connected with our depraved nature, and guided
by our limited understanding, would never prompt us to
this, in all cases, or support us in it. Therefore it is
that the scripture saith, " without faith it is impossible
to please him." This is the vital principle of all holy
obedience : and without faith, m orks however correct in
the view of reason and pliilosophy, and however painful
or splendid to the senses of men, are dead. Destitute of
that vital principle in which the true spirit and nature
of holy obedience consists, they can be accounted, in a
righteous judgment, only a " departing from the living
God," and " coming short of his glory." " There is
none righteous ; no, not one ; there is none that under-
standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They
are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that docth good, no, not one :
there is no fear of God before their eyes."
2dly. In considering the example before us, we may
observe also the inefficiency of the power of reason to
strive against all the workings of natural passions and
feelings, in promoting holy obcdieneo.
86 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Had Abraliam been ever so tliorouglily persuaded of
his duty iu this case — though no question had been left
ttnanswered concerning his obligation to obey the com-
mand of God ; yet reason alone could never have sur-
mounted the difficulties that lay in the way of obedience.
We all know that reason never stilles the natural affec-
tions and desires ; and there is nothing in all the resour-
ces of reason and philosophy to hold that commanding
station, Avhieh imposes stillness and submission on the
heart, and animates duty in opposition to its tenderest
emotions. The feelings of parental love would have
plead powerfully, at least for delay ; and instruction and
argument could never have strengthened the mind, or
supported the resolution, in a purpose of obedience.
Nothing less than that faith which rejoices in God's ho-
ly sovereignty, and confides in his wisdom, power, and
goodness, could overcome these difficulties, and put that
restraint upon the natural feelings, which would leave
the heart free to " rejoice that the Lord reigneth,"
" giving thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.'*
And, odly. If we could suppose Abraham's reason and
judgment to have been wrought upon by fear, or by the
force of authority, or by any other means, to yield obe-
dience to the divine command ; yet reason alone could
never have engaged the feelings and affections of the
heart on the side of duty. It could have been only by
their being extinguished or overawed, that they would
have ceased opposition ; and there would have been no
concurrence of the heart in performing the duty. So
that, in the manner in Avliich reason influences the hearty
it is insufficient to promote holy obedience in men.
Faith alone could reconcile in Abraham's breast, the
feelings of parental love and tenderness, with the spirit
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M, 87
of piety and obedience to God, and enable him, with all
the feelings of a father, to fulfil the part of a dutiful
son and servant of the living God. In the mingled feel-
ings of tenderness and piety that wrought in Abraham's
heart, parental love was not extinguished — it probably
never wrought deeper ; but it was brought to harmonize
with the spirit of piety toward God, and was relieved
and consoled by conlidenee in his power and goodness.
This is the genuine influence of true faith, when it is
tried. It brings the believer sensibly near to God, and
while it regards his will and his authority, aboAe every
other consideration, it also invigorates the mind to rest
with confidence in his love, and to " wait for his sal-
vation.'*
In ordinary eases, the influence of faith will not be so
conspicuous in the sight of others, and tliey who specu-
late on the subject, will discover nothing, that may not
be attributed to the influence of reason aad conscience.
But every true believer knows there is an essential dif-
ference, between that conduct which proceeds from the
convictions of reason alone, and that which is animated
by love and duty to God, with a just confidence in his
power and grace, and guided by a clear understanding
and knowledire of his will.
If christians seldom feel themselves moved by that
respect and duty toward God, which are the fruits of
faith, it is because they yield themselves to the influ-
ence of inferior and unworthy principles. And if they
seldom have confidence to venture much in the service
of God, it is because their faith is weak.
Habits of pure obedience may make the genuine influ-
ence of faith less novel and surprising, and on this ac-
count less observable ; but t^ey can never make the be-
8tS NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
liever insensible of its refreshing and constraining pow-
er. The love of God and the love of Christ, arc al-
ways arguments of duty, which have access to his heart :
and to be found waiting on God, is infinitely better to
him, than the utmost confidence of the approbation of
reason and philosophy. The former always secures to
him the latter ; but the approbation of reason will not
always satisfy him, that he is waiting on God in that
respect and duty which he owes him.
Therefore it is, that a christian conscience is always
better satisfied to take its directions immediately from
the word of God, than from the most laboured systems
of religion and duty, that human ingenuity can cdmpile.
Brethren, is this influence of faith well known to us,
and familiar in our daily experience ? Are we partakers
with Abraham in this, and followers of his faith?
It is the same faith that God requires in all ages of
them that would approach, with acceptance, his altar.
That principle which could so direct and support Abra-
ham, and Moses, and Daniel, in former ages, is not,
since the coming of Christ, debased to a mere uninter-
esting acknowledgment of the truth of the gospel ; or
chilled into an inert, mysterious, and uninfluential prin-
ciple, that does not afll'ct the life and manners ; nor is
it changed to a vain and presumptuous confidence, which
regards chiefly a supposed security of God's mercy and
approbation. AVlierever christian faith exists now, it
is the same as it w as with Abraham ; and it is as impos-
sible to jjlease God without it now, as it was in the
days of Enoch. It w as the same faith that Christ in-
tended, when he said, " lie that believeth and is l)aptiz-
ed, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not, sh^H be
damned."
BEHMOH Y.
ON ATTENDING THE PUBLIC WORSHIP
OF GOD.
Eccles. V. 1.
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more
ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.
BY THE REV. JAMES RICHARDS, A. M.
fastor of the first Presbyterian Congregation of Newark.
Vox. I. * M
NEW-JEBSEY PREACHETl.
SERMON V.
Eocles. V. 1. — Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be
more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.
J-T is our privilege, brethren, to live near the house of
God, and often to meet within its sacred walls. We
have no such lengths to go as had the ancient church of
Israel. The tabernacles of God are in the midst of us,
and their doors, from sabbath to sabbath, are opened
for our reception. Here we are permitted to send up
our prayers and thanksgivings to God, while his ser-
vants address us in his name.
With these advantages, should we not grow in grace,
and daily ripen for that exalted service which is rendered
by saints and angels in the higher courts ? But how is
the fact ? Do not many of the Lord's people cry out,
** O my leanness, and barrenness ! How far am I from
God, and from the happiness of those who come near
to him !" Do not others from month to month and year
to year, visit this sacred place, without sustaining any
important change in their disposition or habits ? I fear
the salutary caution in the text is too often overlooked.
** Keep tby foot when thou goest to the house of God,
and be more ready to hear than to give tlje sacrifice of
fools."
That our future attendance upon God*s house, may
be more profitable tlian the pastel propose in the first
S2 NfiW-JERSEY PREACHER.
place to consider the import of this command, and sec-
ondly to urge a serious regard to it.
I. The command before us is, *' Keep thy foot wheiv
thou goest to tlie house of God, and be more ready to
hear than to give the sacrifice of fools."
The first part of this preeept is a solemn cautioa
against those imperfections, which are wont to attend
our public devotions. "Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God." — Do not step heedlessly; but
consider well thy path. Remember, it is to the house of
God that thou art going— to sacrifice to him, who is
acquainted with all thy ways, and whose glory demands
the entire, the unequivocal homage of thy heart. Ap-
prised of the temptations which lie in wait for thee,
exercise a watchful and jealous care over thy thoughts —
over thy words and actions. Avoid whatever may be
offensive to God or injurious to thyself, or to thy fellow-
worshippers.
This, in few words, is what is meant by keeping our
foot when we go to the house of God. But the duty de-
serves a more particular consideration. There are va-
rious things, concerning which the most jealous cau-
tion should be exercised, if we would enter into the spirit
of this precept.
1. We should beware, in the first place, of entering
upon the duties of the sanctuary, in a thoughtless man-
ner, without preparation and witliout object.
Many hurry to the house of God when the appointed
hour of public service arrives, without considering with
themselves what object they have in view. They go
because others go, or because they themselves have of-
ten been j they consider not, the duties to be performed
%
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 93
in the house of God, nor the deep and solemn interest
which they have in those duties.
Others possessed of more principle, attend the service
of the sanctuary from a conviction of duty — but still
they attend without preparation. They stop not to reflect,
whose altars they approach, what sacrifices are requir-
ed— whether these sacrifices are offered with clean or
with unclean hands. They rush into God's presence as
the horse rusheth to the battle, without that awe upon
tlieir spirits which is indispensable to sincere and accep-
table worshippers.
"We should beware of such thoughtlessness and irre-
verence when we come into the house of God. We
should contemplate beforehand the solemn duties to be
performed, and earnestly implore the gracious influences
of the Divine Spirit. We should say with the pious Da-
vid, »< O send out thy light and thy truth ; let them lead
me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy ta-
bernacles, then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God,
my exceeding joy,"
2. But secondly, if we should beware of coming to
the house of God in a careless manner, and without
any specific object, we ought to be no less solicitous to
avoid coming with improper motives.
AVe ought never to enter the house of God simply
for the purpose of passing away an idle hour ; we ought
never to enter it, merely with a view to entertainment,
as men enter the theatre or the* ball-room. Nor should
we come hither with the empty design of seeing and
being seen ; and still less with the design of making ar-
rangements for business or pleasure for the remainder
of the week. Far nobler objects should possess our
hearts in such a place. We should come to worship tlie
94 NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
King Eternal ; to pay him homage as our Creator and
Lord. We should come to hear what God will say to us,
by his messengers or by his Spirit ,• to learn more of his
character and our duty — to have our hearts inllamed
with love to him and to one another. We should come
to prepare for death and eternity :►— to get our minds
abstracted from the world — our thoughts, our desires,
our hopes supremely placed on heaven.
3. To keep our foot, when we go to the house of God,
we must not only attend to the motives which carry us
there, but to the whole of our deportment while we are
before the Lord.
Our external behaviour must be such as becomes the
worshippers of Jehovah. Not light and frivolous, as
though we had no reverence for God : not morose and
gloomy, as though he delighted in austere and cruel rites ;
but solemn and serene as those who worship a being of
infinite perfection, and who ardently desire to secure his
friendship. Our eye must not wander over the assem-
bly of our fellow-worshippers, as if our chief business
was to observe their dress and demeanour ; nor must we
recline in the posture of indolence, as though we took no
interest in the duties of God's appointment, and were
only anxious for the tedious service to close. The
whole of our external conduct should be marked
with gravity and devotion ; for God is to be worshipped
with our bodies as well as with our spirits.
A far more important article is, that our inward
man should be duly regulated. The thoughts and feel-
ings of our hearts sliould be such as an holy and om«
niscient God will approve.
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 95
It is the heart at which God chiefly looks in our de-
Totions. Should v/e how before him with the apparent
reverence of adoring seraphim, it would be vain, unless
our hearts were right. God cannot be deceived and he
will not be mocked. All vain and unseasonable thoughts
should be carefully avoided when we come into the sanc-
tuary, and our minds exclusively fixed on the great du-
ties before us.
This is often a work of difficulty. Our hearts are
naturally unstable as water, continually changing the
objects of their attention — wandering like the fool's eyes
in the ends of the earth, instead of being swallowed up
in the service of God. We had need to bring a solemn
and prayerful spirit to the place of our devotions, if we
would counteract the temptation which springs from
this quarter. We must verily believe that there is a
God — that this is the house of God — that these are his
worshippers — and this his service, a service in which we
are deeply and eternally interested, before we can say
with the Psalmist, " my heart is fixed, O God, my heart
is fixed : I will sing and give praise. Aw ake up my
glory."
II. It is not enough, however, that we keep our foot
when we go to the house of God ; the second part of the
precept before us is " that we must be more ready to
hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools :" we must in-
dulge a spirit of solemn and devout enquiry ; we must feel
a disposition to know and practise the will of God.
As this part of the exhortation relates to a specific
and important duty, too often performed in a very un-
profitable manner, I must beg you to give it a serious
and attentive consideration.
96 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
" Be more ready to hear," says Ihevoiee of inspiration,
*' than to give the sacrifice of fools ;" as though we
were in danger of acting the part of fools in the house of
God, instead of humbly and earnestly listening to his
voice. There are occasions, brethren, when God's visi-
ble worshippers do this ; when they are nothing the
better for their attendance upon the services of the
sanctuary,' but the worse, when instead of being brought
near to God, in the prayers which are offered, or in the
truths which are set before them, they go away with
their thoughts dissipated and their hearts hardened.
They have seen nothing of God ; nothing of themselves.
No good purpose has been formed ; no grace awakened ;
no virtue strengthened ; no sinful passion mortified. To
avoid this unprofitable attendance upon the house of
God, the wise man exhorts " to be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools." But how ought we
to hear to come up to the spirit of this precept?
1. We ought to hear in the first place with attention
in opposition to a careless or distracted frame of mind.
It betrays a stupidity or levity unworthy of rational
creatures not to be seriously attentive to what is uttered
in God's name ; besides of what consequence will it be,
that we are addressed on subjects deeply interesting to
our immortal being, if our minds are occupied with oth-
er things. Can we be intrusted or edified, if instead of
a^ttending to the several parts of the discourse, our ima-
ginations are wandering over our farms — transacting the
business of our families, or secretly taken up with the
advantages or disadvantages of a bargain ?
In hearing the word of God attentively however, it is
important to remark, that our attention should be direct-
JA:MES RICHARDS, A. M. 97
ed more to the truth itself, than to the manner in which
it is communicated.
It is the truth which instructs and edifies. " Sanctify
them through thy truth," said our Lord in his prayer
for his disciples, " thy word is truth." It is by mani-
festation of the truth to every man's conscience in the
sight of God, that the great end of hearing the gospel is
attained. Believers therefore are considered not only
as having purified their souls by obeying the truth 5 biit
as persons who are begotten by the word of truth, and
born again, not of corruptible but of incorruptible seed,
by the word of God Avhich liveth and abideth forever.
Whatever has not truth for its basis, however it may
gratify our taste or delight our imaginations, is like a
gilded cloud, which presently disappears and leaves no
trace of its form or beauty behind. We want some-
thing to fix our principles and to operate as a constant
and powerful spring to our actions. Nothing but the
truths of God's word carried home to our hearts will
do this. To these then should our attention be chiefly
directed, when the servants of the Lord address us in his
name.
2d. Again, if we would be more ready to hear than to
offer the sacrifice of fools, we must hear the word with
reverence ; we must hear it as the word of God, not as
the word of man.
Instead of considering the preacher as coming to play
a part before us for an hour, while we have nothing to
do but to judge of the success with which that part is
played, we must consider him as an ambassador of the
Lord of Hosts, charged with a solemn message to our
souls. We must consider him as coming in God's name
and in efTeet speaking tlie words of God. As far as he
\0L. I. N
98 NEW JERSEY PREACHEU.
speaks according to the sacred oracles, this is the fact,
and it is a fact which we should distinctly recognize.
Too often God is overlooked in the administration of
the word. What is heard is not regarded as the au-
thoritative voice of Jehovah, though it he uttered in
language which he himself has dictated, but as the sim-
ple, unauthorised effort of human talents and skill. This
is one reason that the word of the Lord takes so little
effect — that it so seldom conies to men in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. Confining their attention to
the mere instrument, they lose sight of their relation to
God, and of those tremendous sanctions of divine au-
thority, which make the words of truth enter into the
soul.
It is one thing to be iiijterested or even fascinated with
the powers of the speaker, and another to be edified.
We may go from the house of God, admiring and prais-
ing the gifts of those who address us in his name, while
the Lord Uath sent leanness into our souls. Then only
shall we profit by the labours of his servants, when his
voice is heard in their voice, when we reverence their
message as the message of the Lord of Hosts and honour
them chiefly for their master's sake.
I speak tlie more freely on this subject, because it is
evidently a fault among the hearers of the gospel of the
present time, that the preaching of the word is consid-
ered rather as a matter of entertainment, than as a so-
lemn institution of heaven designed for their salvation.
I tremble to think how this must appear in the eyes of
the great God who is jealous for the honour of his in-
stitutions, and who will not suffer them to be perverted
or contemned with impunity.
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 99
Sd. I hasten to observe, in the third place, that if we
hear the word of God as we ought to do, we shall hear
it with an humble and teachable disposition, in opposi-
tion to a proud and captious spirit.
This our Lord pressed upon his disciples, when he
said, " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, shall in no case enter therein." And
the apostle Peter urges the same thing upon believers,
when he exhorts them ** to receive with meekness the
ingrafted word of truth, which is ahJe to save their
souls." It is the meek whom God hath promised to
guide in judgment ; the meek whom he will teach his
way.
They who preach the gospel are required to do it with
a spirit of meekness ; and they who hear must have the
same spirit. There cannot be a readiness to hear,
where there is not a humble and child-like temper.
There may be a disposition to enquire, or rather to spe-
culate and build systems of our own ; but there can be
no disposition to receive the distinguishing and humbling
truths of the gospel, till we are in some measure humb-
led ourselves. Our pride must be laid in the dust be-
fore we shall be willing to take our own character, or
the character of God, as it is given in his word. Then
only shall we be willing to hear and learn of the Father,
when Ave are willing to place God on the throne, and
ourselves at his foot-stool. Mary, at the feet of Jesus,
listening with joy to the gracious words which fell from
his lips, is an example of that humble and teachable
spirit, which ouglit to inspire our bosoms when we at-
tend upon the institutions of the sanctuary.
4th. To this we add, as an important article, that we
should hear the word of God with close and pointed ap-
plication to ourselves.
r^'^a9S)k
1.00 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Many a judicious sermon lias been lost, for want of
being personally applied by the hearers. What does it
avail that the character of individuals is drawn with
strength and exactness; that their sins and dangers are
pointed out with a bold and faithful hand, if they never
bring the subject home to their own hearts ; if after be-
ing told every thing, but " thou art the man," they are
looking on the right hand or on the left to find the per-
son to whom the observation or remark applies ? Alas,
brethren, what is more deceitful than the human heart ;
and where does its deceitfulness more manifestly appear,
than in the artifices employed to hide from its own view
the unsightly image of itself, frequently and faithfully
presented in the glass of God's word. How ardently
should we pray, <* Search me, O God, and know me, try
my reins and my heart. Let the light of divine truth
penetrate my bosom. Let thy word, quick and powerful,
and sharper than a two-edged sword, pierce to the di-
viding asunder of soul and spirit, and become a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
We should make this prayer, brethren, because it is
from God only that a serious, self-applying spirit can be
obtained. It is his eternal power alone which can make
his word sink down into our hearts and take eflTectual
root there.
5th. We shall give the sacrifice of fools, unless we
hear the word of God with a believing and obedient
mind.
Founded on the veracity of God, it demands the full
and unwavering assent of our hearts. Containing a glo-
rious system of truth and duty, it ought to be affection-
ately received and obeyed. To obey is better than sacri-
fice, and to hearken than the fat of rams : and it is
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 101
chiefly for the purpose of bringing our hearts to the obe-
dience of the truth, tliat the truth is proclaimed in our
ears. This is constantly held up as one great end of all
the instructions, warnings and reproofs of the scrip-
tures ; and the very perfection of scripture itself, is re-
presented by its being " profitable for doctrine, for re-
proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto
all good works."
We cannot be said to hear the word of God in the
highest and best sense, unless we obey it : for in the
language of scripture it is often one and the same thing.
Thus we read, " Hear, O my people and I wiU testify
unto tbee. O Israel, if thou Avilt hearken unto me, there
shall no strange god be within thee, neither shalt thou
worship any strange god. But my people would not
hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me ;" i. e.
they would not obey. *' Put your burnt offerings unto
your saeritices, saith the Lord of Hosts, and eat flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them
in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices. But this thing
commanded I them, saying, obey my voice ; but they
hearkened not nor inclined their ear. They did not
obey ; but walked in tlieir own counsels, and went back-
ward and not forward."
These scriptures while they teach us, that to hear and
obey are often one and the same thing, suggest to us al-
so the immense importance of obedience. They teach
us that all our sacrifices and oblations will be vain with-
out this ; that neither hearing nor praying will avail us
any thing, unless they proceed from a spirit of sincere
obedience to the divine will.
102 NEW-JEllSEY PREACHER.
I close this discourse, brethren, by urging a serious at-
tention to the subject now laid before you,
« Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,
and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of
fools," is the voice of Jehovah himself, directing his wor-
shippers. Shall we regard it as such ? Shall we set a
double watch over our hearts and over our whole con-
duct when we come into the house of God ? Yes ; let us
say, ** God is to be feared in the assembly of his saints,
and to be had in reverence of all them that are round
about him." While we would not be hasty to utter any
thing in his presence, let us not trifle with any thing ut-
tered in his name. God is in heaven and we upon earth :
let us hear him with submission ; let us adore him with
reverence ; let all our services be begun, continued and
ended in him.
We urge this not only because it is God's command,
but because it is in itself reasonable. Such a service is
due to" the great God, who gave us our being and aU
our powers. Any thing short of this, is a reproach to
his character, and infinitely unworthy of the relations
we bear to him. The worship of his people on earth
should bear a resemblance to that which is paid him in
heaven.
It should be a joyful anticipation of that exalted ser-
vice, in which our enlarged and sanctified powers shall be
employed through the ages of eternity. O ! what
preaching, what hearing, Avhat praying, should we have,
could our eyes be fixed on the temple above, and our de-
votions kindled from the fire of tliose altars which burn
with increasing brightness before the throne of God for-
ever!
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 103
But I ask, what will it profit us, to appear in the
house of God, and attend upon its services, unless we do
it in the manner which God has prescrihed ? Shall we
enjoy the Lord in his ordinances ? Shall we find his tem-
ple a Bethel ? Shall we be made to say, with Jacob,
** surely this is none other than the house of God, and
the very gate of heaven ?" No ! all will be darkness and
insensibility ; the light of divine truth will not shine in-
to our hearts. We shall not be humbled for our sins,
nor consoled with the hopes of pardon — we shall not be
animated to run in the way of God's commandments, nor
made meet for the service and bliss of the heavenly
world. Unless we keep our foot when >ve go to the
house of God, our services, instead of preparing us for
the upper sanctuary, may set us farther and farther from
God's kingdom. Privileges abused, while they harden
the heart and blind the mind, often provoke God to give
men up as incorrigible and to leave them to remediless
destruction. If we are not brought to wait upon God,
in this world, in the spirit of true worshippers, we shall
never be admitted into his presence in the world of glo-
ry. All the advantages we have enjoyed on earth will
augment our guilt and aggravate our doom. The ser-
mons we have heard, and the prayers and thanksgivings
in which we have joined, will be remembered only to
sting with keener anguish and to overwhelm with deep-
er despair. Every man who shall not learn to keep his
foot when he goes to the house of God, will eventually
curse the place of his birth — he will wish that he had
been born among the savage tribes of the wilderness —
where no temple of God is to be seen — no voice of mer-
cy to be heard, rather than at the doors of the sanctua-
ry, where, from his infancy, the public worship of God
10* NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
has tieen celebrated and the oracles of divine truth ex-
plained.
May God pour his spirit upon us, and prepare us for
his service in his earthly courts. In due time, may he
call us to the general assembly and church of the first
born, to worship in that glorious temple, where his face
shall shine with unclouded beams forever. — ^AMEN.
SERMON VI.
THE SINNER BLINDEB TO TRUTH, ANB
HARDENED AGAINST CONVICTION,
BY HIS OWN SINS, ANT) THE
RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
OF GOD.
John xii. 39, 40.
Therefore they could not believe, because thatEsaias said again, he hath blind-
«d their eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should net see with their
eyes, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal
them.
BY SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D.
Vol. I. O
"^v
NEW-JEBSEY PREACHETl.
SERMON VI.
Jdin xii. 39, 40. — ^Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaiaa said
again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should
not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I should heal them.
X HAT no being can exist but by the wisdom and powev
of God, and that no event takes place in the infinite or-
der of divine providence, and the state of angels or of
men, but in consequence of the physical or moral laws
which he has established in the universe, are principles
as certain as his 'jwn existence. On the other hand^
that man is endued with entire liberty of moral action,
whence arises his accountability to the Supreme Judge
of Heaven and of earth, is among the first dictates of
reason, and possesses the irresistible evidence of our own
consciousness, than which no stronger exists for the first
truths in science. In perfect consistency with these
principles, we learn both from experience and the word
of God, that, when men abuse their liberty, and pervert
the faculties of their nature to the unrestrained indul-
gence of sinful desire, their perceptions of sin and duty,
and in general, all their moral feelings become blunted,
in proportion as they advance in this unhappy course ;
their hearts are hardened against the impressions of di-
vine truth, and their unholy inclinations increase in
strength, till at length, it becomes impossible to resist
their force. In this state of the mind and affections, all
108 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
the principles and tendencies of human nature, and evea
all the circumstances in providence, with which men are
surrounded, concur to weaken on the heart the motives
of religion, and to augment the strength of its corrup-
tions. Abundance or poverty, society or solitude, equal-
ly become snares to the soul ; ignorance encourages sin j
the light of divine truth irritates the passions or hard-
ens the conscience, and even reason offers its aid, and
employs its perverted powers to justify every vicious
tendency of the heart. Such is the natural course of
that order which God has established in the moral
world, that men, by persisting in an evil course, arrive,
at length, at an unhappy necessity of sinning. It is the
consequence, indeed, of their own wilful abuse of the di-
vine mercies; but being also the natural consequence of
the laws which God has established for the operations of
his providence, and the moral government of the uni-
verse, the effects proceeding from it are often said, in the
holy scriptures, to be the work of God ; because he has
so laid the order of things, that sinful men, acting free-
ly from their own impulses and unrestrained by his
grace, shall bring upon themselves, as a just punishment
of their folly, that blindness of mind and hardness of
heart whicli are the surest presages, and deepest aggra-
vations of the final perdition of sinners.
These preliminary observations may assist us in form-
ing just views of that incorrigible state of depravif y into
which the Jewish nation were sunk in the age of the
prophet, and which was again their reproach and their
condemuiition at the time of our blessed Saviour's ap-
pearance upon earth. They may serve also to rescue
from misconstruction, and from the impious objections
often raised against the language of the sacred scrip-
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. loy
tures, as if they represented God, most holy, as infusing
some positive degree of guilt, or obduracy into the heart
of the sinner, or condemning him for an impotence
to fulfil his duty, imposed upon him by the divine decree
itself.*
This is a subject on which many speculative questions
have been raised, which far transcend the powers of the
human mind to resolve, and many uncharitable contro-
versies excited to the great reproach of religion. The
simplicity of the gospel has been marred, and the zeal
©f christians too often withdrawn from those plain and
practical doctrines which sanctify the heart, to be wast-
ed in speculations which have created divisions, and em-
bittered contentions in the church, just in proportion as
the subjects of them have not been understood, and indeed
have been above the reach of the human understanding.
This only we know from the explicit declarations of the
word of God, confirmed by universal experience, that
light, that privileges, that mercies, and even corrections
sent, in the course of divine providence, for the instruc-
tion and reformation of mankind, if they do not soften
and bring to repentance, if they do not produce the
sanctification of the heart, commonly render it more cal-
lous to the impressions, more blind to the beauties of
divine truth. And God has so formed, and so governs
the universal system of things, both in the moral and
natural world, that the wicked, following only the coun-
* This error is sometimes encouraged in ignorant minds by some inadver-
tencies in language which our venerable translators of the sacred scriptures
liave, in a few instances, permitted to escape them. One example of which
accurs in our text. They could not believe, it is said, because that EsaUis
said, he hath blinded their eyes, &c. Whereas the expression contains only
an allusion to the prophet's words, and ought to be rendered according to
v:hat Esaias hatli said.
no NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
sels of their own hearts, shall ine^itahly deceive and
Uestro}' themselves ; some at an earlier, others at a later
period, according to the natural (endeneies of their
minds, combined with the circumstances in which his
sovereign aud holy providence has placed them. And
although it is true, as a general principle, that iiie pre-
sent life is a state of trial, in which mankind are on their
probation for a future, and immortal existence ; it is no
less true that men may so hasten to till up the measure
of their iniquities as to be ripe for destruction before the
natural course of life is run. And although the period
of their mortal existence may be prolonged, and they
may be spared in tlie midst of means and ordinances,
they seem to be spared only in judgment. Ordinances
and means become fruitless ; or, their only and terrible
fruit is to aggravate the guilt of those who have so long
misimproved and abused iliem. This is that awful con-
dition of the hold, secure, and injpenitent sinner, which
has been denominated by practical writers, judidai ilind-
ness and hardness of heart.
As it is a doctrine which ought to affect, with deep and
solemn concern, every hearer of the gospel who has long
lived barren and unfruitful under the uicans of grace-
as it ought to inspire with a holy fear over themselves
those who have hitherto misimproved the precious means
which God has given them to attain everlasting life,
let me solicit your attention for a few moments, while
I endeavour,
I. In the first place, briefly to explain the nature, and
tlie evidences of this unhappy state of the soul ; togeth-
er with the proofs that the scriptures afford us of the
existence of such a state in the present life.
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. Ill
II. And, secondly, to point out some of those classes
of sins which we have reason, from the express declara-
tions of the holy scriptures, or the experience of the
chui'ch, to consider and fear as principally conducing to
this deplorable end.
1st. Ill the first place, I shall endeavour to explain
the import of tJie proposition contained in the text ; or to
shew the nature of that blindness of mind, and hardness
of iii'art which to some dai-ing and habitual sinners have
made their return to God by repentance, in a great meas-
ure, if not absolutely impossible, and is, at length in the
righteous and holy purposes of heaven, judicially inflict-
ed as a punishment, on nations or individuals who have
rendered themselves ripe for destruction.
These figurative expressions, blindness of mind, and
hardness of heart, have an obvious reference to those
great and commanding powers of the soul, the under-
standing, and the affections, which, according as they are
regulated, govern the operations of the will, and the ac-
tions of the life, either to good or evil. They imply,
therefore, that spiritual ignorance of the nature and
beauty of divine truth induced by the corrupted disposi-
tions of the heart, and that perverseness and obstinacy
in sinning, which is the consequence of long continued
habit. Truth is the light of the mind. This precious
light the corruptions of the heart tend to extinguish ;
or they render it incapable of discerning the proper
beauty, glory and majesty of divine things. The in-
structions and invitations of the gospel, in consequence,
lose all their convincing and persuasive power on a mind
thus darkened by sin. If our gospelis hid^ saith the
apostle, it is hid to those who are lost, in 7vhom the God
of this world, that is, the pleasures and vanities of this
112 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
world which they worship as a God, has blinded the
minds of them who helieTe not, lest the light of the glori-.
0118 gospel of Christ f who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. In conformity with this striking and
ohvious figure of language, bringing a sinner to a sense
of his duty, and to the saving knowledge of God in
Christ, is, in many passages of holy scripture, described
by opening his eyes, and bringing him from darkness to
light. In like manner, hardness of heart is expressive
of that stale of our moral affections, that is most direct-
ly opposed to true repentance, by which the humble and
contrite soul is dissolved in profound sorrow under a
sense of its great and manifold iniquities.. Thus St.
Paul uses the terms hardness and impenitence as imply-
ing precisely the same ideas. Bespisest thou, says he
to the hold, audacious sinner, the riches of his goodness,
and forbearance, and long-suffering ; not knowing that
the goodness of God Icadeth thee to repentance'^ But after
thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy-
self wrath against the day of wrath.
Such is the general interpretation of these scriptural
phrases, blindness of mind, and hardness of heart. But,
that they may be the better understood, and that I may
enter more particularly into the practical nature, and
the causes of those corrupt dispositions of the soul ex-
pressed by them, suffer me to trace them through the
various degrees by which we find them marked out in
the sacred scriptures.
1. The first grade, or rather the foundation of the
whole, is that natural blindness and indisposition of the
heart to divine truth, and to the duties of a holy life,
which is common to all men, springing from the original
SAMUEL S. SAimt, D.D. L.L.D. 113
imperfection and corruption of our nature, which we in-
herit from the fallen parents of the race.
It is this which we see displaying itself in the early dis-
inclination of all children to the duties of religion, to the
practice of holiness, to whatever tends to the improve-
ment of their nature. It is this which requires in their
education, restraint, government, discipline, to be added
to instruction. It is this that lays the necessary founda-
tion for that most important and practical doctrine of
our Saviour, the radical principle of the divine life ; ex-
cept a man he horn a^ain, he cannot enter into the king-
dom of heaven.
This native impurity and imperfection although lay-
ing a foundation for all the corruptions which may be
added by time, by habit, and temptation, in the miost
depraved of mankind ; yet, will easily be understood not
to be, in itself, that blindness and hardness of heart, in-
tended by the prophet, which places the obdurate sinner
beyond the reach of repentance, and is truly a judicial
infliction by God for his obstinacy in his crimes. The
corruption of nature, however it is to be deplored, does
not render repentance impossible. It is the purpose for
which the Son of God hath come into the world, to call
all men every where to repentf and to draw all men to
himselft by the exciting movements, and the assisting
grace of his Holy Spirit; and Anally, to give them a
law of life and salvation fitted to the frailty of a fallen
nature. He is the light of the world, Avho came to dispel
our natural darkness, and to open a practical way for
the return of the sinner to God ; and it is now his gra-
cious purpos'" to have all men come to the knoivledge of
I he truth.
Vol. I. P
Hi NEW-JERgEY PREACHEU.
3. But, in the next place, this natural, unholy state,
and tendency of the soul, acquires a high, and most dan-
gerous increase hy our own actual sins. Hahit confirms
the corrupted principle from which all the positive trans-
gressions of the laws of God proceed. Every indul-
gence of an impure passion, every repetition of a sinful
act, strengthens its root, and strikes it deeper into the
heart. Conscience which, in the beginning, might
have been tender and easily impressed, with the fear of
God, assumes, by degrees, a brow of brass, and sets at
defiance the threateniugs of the divine law. Each day
renders repentance, and the return of the sinner to God,
more uncertain and more difficult. This interesting and
alarming truth is attested hj universal experience ; it is
repeated in the instructions and reflections of all moral
writers ; and the sacred scriptures are full of admoni-
tions and warnings on the subject : to-day, saith the ho-
ly psalmist, if ye ivill hear his voice, harden not your
hearts. And the blessed apostle adds a farther and
most solemn counsel j wherefore exhort one another dai-
ly, while it is called to-day, lest any of you he hardened
through the deceif illness of sin.
3. But there is another, and still higher degree of this
dreadful depravity of heart wliieh ought to be regarded
as distinct from both the precceding, although built up-
on them. It is the habit of sinning carried to the high-
est pitch of obstinacy and obduracy, when God, in right-
eous judgment for the abuse of past mercies, abandons
the sinner to his own follies ; to the unrestrained im-
pulses of his own sinful passions, without any of those
checks and admonitions which in the scriptures are so
justly called the strivings of his Holy Spirit.
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.LD. 115
The means graciously appointed by God for the re-
covery of mankind from the death of sin become fruit-
less and ineffectual to him j they no longer make any
impression on his heart. He not only does not love
truth and holiness, God and divine things, he regards
them with malignant aversion. All the tendencies of
his soul are to sinful indulgences and enjoyments ; giv-
en up in divine providence, to the power of those temp-
tations which he loves and pursues with avidity, the de-
termined course of nature renders his perdition sure
and infallible. And, although man cannot enter into
the heart of his fellow-man, or fathom the purposes of
the Most High, so that we can know when any living
man is beyond the reach of mercy ; yet we may be as-
sured, from repeated declarations in the sacred scrip-
tures, that there are sinners, in this unhappy case, whose
state is already fixed in the secret decree of Heaven ;
sealed under a judicial hardness and blindness, the con-
sequence of their own presumptuous fully and impiety.
This is the condition of the sinner which is described in
the text, and which seems to be implied, wherever God,
in his holy word, is said to harden the hearts of perverse
and obstinate offenders.
On this subject, however, permit me to remark, in
order that we may guard against mistaken apprehen-
sions of the divine government, that we ought to beware
of imagining that the author of all purity and holiness
ever, by any positive agency, or any agency independent
of their own inclination and will, infuses any principle
of evil into the heart of a sinner, Avhich contributes eith-
er to blind him to tlie nature and beauty of holiness, or
to harden him in his career to destruction. Let no man
sayy when he is templed, I am tempted of God ; for God
116 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
cannot he tempted with erml, neither tempteth he anyman^
t3.s I live, sdith the Lord God, I desire not the death of a
sinner, but rather that he turn to me and live. What
then is the agency of God when he is said to harden the
heart of the abandoned sinner ? He refuses to him those
lights, those assistances of his grace, those influences of
his Holy Spirit, which have been so often resisted, abus-
ed, extinguished, without which the ordinances of the
gospel are ineffectual for the conversion and salvation of
the soul ; and the sinful passions of a corrupted nature,
constantly increase in strength, and meet with no resist-
ance in their headlong course to ruin. Are not the as-
sistances of the Holy Spirit necessary to every sinful
child of Adam to give their full efficacy to the means of
grace upon his heart ? How much more necessary are
they, then, to those who have added to the corruption of
nature the perversity and strength that arises from long
continued habits of sinning ? And when God, in just judg-
ment, for the manifold abuses of his mercies, not only
refuses any extraordinary aids, but withdraws even the
common influences of his Holy Spirit, what can be look-
ed for but continually increasing darkness and blindness
of heart, but augmented hardness and obstinacy in ini-
quity, the sure presage, and the awful seal of their ap-
proaching perdition ? Thus said the Lord, hy the proph-
et Hosea, of the apostate Ephraim, Ephrairn is joined to
idols, let him alone. And of a degenerate church he
pronounces ; my people would not hearken to my voice ;
and Israel would none of me: so I gave them up to their
own hearts lusts ; and they 7valked in their own coun-
sels. When, therefore, the sinner has, like Ahab, sold
himself to rvork iniquity ; and God has determined con-
cerning him, that his spirit shall no more strive zvith
SAMUEL S. SAfiTH, D.D. L.L.D. It7
him ; but that he will IcaAc him to himself to^?t i/p the
measure of his iniquiiy till the day ofliiial judgment and
retribution. In Ephraim you have the picture of those
wretched souls under the awful sentence of judicial
blindness, and everlasting barrenness ; whose salvation
is at length placed, by tiieir own crimes, and the right-
eous and holy purpose of God, beyond the appointed lim-
its of the divine mercies.
But in the execution of this judicial sentence upon the
bold and hai denvd offender something more may be im-
plied in the order of providence than this negative influ-
ence which consists in witiiholding the admonitions and
restraints of tije iioly Spirit ; for when a righteous pun-
ishment is to be iniiicted on obstinate impiety, may not
the train of events be so laid in the divine providence
and government over the world, without foolishly charg-
ing God with the sins of men, that the sinner shall be
thrown in the way of stronger temptations, that he shall
be exposed to situations in which his sinful appetites, be-
ing more lavishly grat Wied, shall be greatly strengthen-
ed, the constant tumult of the passions excited by a con-
tinual succession of temptations, shall suspend reflection,
and augment his fatal blindness and security, the com-
pany into which he shall be led shall seduce him more
and more, and such views shall be continually presented
to his perverted understanding, in the occurrences of
the world, in the example and conversation of other sin-
ners, as shall encourage and conflrm those fallacious rea-
sonings by which he delights to deceive himself. Such
may be the positive as well as negative operations of
divine providence in those fatal inflictions to which God,
in his holy and righteous judgments is pleased to doom
11$ NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
some bold transgressors, whom he has left to themselTes
to treasure tip 7crath against the day of ivrath.
Do you ask what evidence we have that such spiritual
judgments are ever Iniiicted in the present life, even on
the most guilty ? It is a melancholy truth which we can
learn only from the word of God. AVe cannot penetrate
into the states, or the destinies of our fellow-sinners.
But in that holy and infallible word are contained many
fearful denunciations to this purpose which should make
every daring and habitual offender tremble, who has long
and securely set at naught the instructions of the blessed
gospel, and the admonitions of divine providence. Not
to repeat again the declaration in our text, what can be
plainer and stronger than the denunciation of the apostle
in the second epistle to the Thessalonians ; for this
cause God shall send them strong delusions that they
should helieve a lie, that they all may he damned who hare
pleasure in unrighteousness ? What can be more affecting
than the declaration to the same purpose in the lament-
ation of our Saviour over Jerusalem j Oh.' that thou
hadst knoivn, even thou ! at Uast in this thy day, the
things that belong to thy peace ! But now they are hid
from thy eyes. What can be more fearful than the com-
plaint and the threatening of divine wisdom ; because
when I called ye refused, I stretched out my hands and
no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my
counsel, and tvould none of my repi'oof; 1 also, will
laugh at your calamities, I will mock when yoiir fear
eometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call, but 1
will not answer ; they shall seek me early but they shall
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. lU
notjind me : for that they hated knowledge, and did not
chuse the fear of the Lord,
Hnving shewn from such express and undeniable tes-
timony out of the sacred scriptures that there are sin-
ners who, according to the laws of the divine govern-
ment, are given up and sentenced by God, even in the
present life, to irremediable destruction ; let me now,
for our admonition and warning,
II. Point out some of those classes of sins, which we
have reason, from the express declarations of the word
of God, or the experience of the church, to fear, as
principally conducing to this deplorable end.
Are there, then, any particular sins or any particular
aggravations of guilt ; which the great Governor and
Judge of the church has determined uniformly to punish
by the absolute dereliction of his spirit, and by utter
abandonment to the unrestaincd force of temptation, and
of sinful passion ? Not that are known to us. These
are awful secrets in his own breast. And we must ac-
quiesce in the decision of the apostle ; he hath mercy on
whom he will have mercyf and whom he will he hard-
eneth. Sometimes, we see him leave the sinner to the
natural course and eifects of his own lusts, and his en-
mity to the truth ; while, on other occasions, we see
those who appear not less, or even more guilty, plucked
as brands from the burning and raised up as trophies to
the riches of divine grace. When we behold those mys-
terious operations of providence in the church, what can
we say but unite in ascriptions of praise to God with our
blessed Saviour ; we thank thee, 0 Falher I Lord of
hearcn and earth I lecanse thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
hales; even so. Father.' for so it seemed good in thy
120 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
sight. Or add with the apostle ; 0 the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God I How un^
searchable are his judgments / and his tvaijs pastjinding
out.
But, although we cannot penetrate the depths „of the
divine councils, yet have we such lights afforded as may
furnish most important guards to us against these ft ar-
ful and spiritual evils, and present most powerful incite-
ments to holy fear and circumspection in working out our
own salvation. It is not difficult to point out many sins
which have a natural tendency to lead to the fatal issue
described in the text. And in general, we may say tliat
whatever sins have an operation to confirm men in a
course of evil, to increase their natural aversion to the
duties, and self-denials of religion, or to strengthen cor-
rupt propensities and habits, ever expose the soul to im-
miilent danger, and tend, more or less directly and im-
mediately, to this awful judgment of God.
But, not to rest in this general warning, permit me to
descend to a few more particular examples of sins which
appear to have the most dangerous tendency. And, in
the first place, an open and habitual neglect and con-
tempt of tlie means of grace, and the ordinances of di-
vine appointment, threatens the most fatal consequences
to the soul. If it is by the spirit and grace of God alone
that the sinner can be brought to repentance, where can
that blessing be reasonably expected, but where he has
promised to bestow it? If faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God, what may we fear for those
who voluntarily exclude tbemselves from the hearing of
that word which is able to make them wise to salvation ?
Shall they ever be able to enter into the holiest of all
m the temple of God in the heavens, who refuse to apt
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 121
proach eren the outer courts of his house upon earth ?
Judge of the consequence from experience, and from llie
nature of things. Does not ignorance create a secure
and unfaithful conscience ? Does it not deliver the sin-
ner, unadmonished, and unrestrained, to the impulse of
his own lusts, to the power of temptation, and the infec-
tion of evil society ? True it is, that in some instances,
even strangers are brought in from the high ways ; and
a stroke of divine providence may he effectual for turn-
ing the hearts of those who had never been persuaded to
attend to the voice of God speaking in the gospel. But
is this an example on which you may prudently risk the
salvation of the soul ? It is like the unexpected and al-
most miraculous deliverance of a single individual in
some of those terrible contingencies of providence, where
thousands have perished. Let us contemplate wJHi a
holy fear the established connection between moral, as
well as natural causes and their effects. It is possible
with God, by the same almighty word with which he
created the earth, to produce a crop where no grain has
been sown, and where no plough has mellowed the soil :
but is this in the course of nature ? Is it not the estab-
liUfed law of providence, that he becometh poor who
rcorketh with a slack hand'^ In like manner may he not
miraculously arrest a bold blaspheming sinner, like Saul
in his way to Damascus ? But is it not his usual course,
that, as they do not like to retain God in their knowledge,
so he doth give them over to a reprobate mind^
3d, If such is the dangerous consequence of neglect-
ing, or despising the institutions which Christ hath ap-
pointed in his church, have we not reason to fear, in the
next place, no less fatal effects arising from their abuse ?
Tt is a melancholy truth, tiiat the abwse of tljie means of
Vfijj. I. Q
122 NfiW-JERSEY PREACHER.
grace, or hiibitually attending upon them without apply-
ing them to their proper end, or reaping from them their
proper fruit, is perhaps as common as the utter neglect
of them. How many are there, alas, who rest in the
means alone, as if, by a grave and regular attendance
on these ordinances, they had fullilled all that God re-
quires ; who trust in the form of godliness without the
poiver ; who substitute rites and forms in the room of
true holiness ? Few things have a more powerful influ-
ence in producing coldness, and indiiference to the great
objects and interests of religion, if not absolute hardness
of heart, than making a dull barren form of its ordinan-
ces, and customarily frequenting the house of God with-
out having the sacrifices ^>hich we offer there, kindled
by the fire of devout and holy affections. Habitual ac-
tions are less attended to, habitual forms become more
and more lifeless, by repetition ; but, on the other hand,
every thing that is done with affection and desire,
strengthens the warmth and force of those tendencies of
the heart from which it springs, by every act. How
much is this reflection verified in the experience of the
crowd of our merely outward and formal worshippers !
They come up to the courts of the Lord's house, with
his people ,♦ but how often are they hardly sensible of
aught that is said or done in the most holy acts of
his worship ? Whereas, the truly pious and devout, who
love his habitation, the place where his honor dwelleth,
only love his service the more by every approach which
they make into his presence, and would feel the greater
pain at being deprived of this precious privilege.
That the abuse which has been pointed out, of the or-
dinances of religion, naturally leads to habitual insensi-
bility, and ultimately tends, if not corrected by the grace
SAMUEL S, SMITH, D.D. L.LD. 183
of God, to the most deplorable of all conditions upon
earth, judicial hardness, is evident from the general
strain of the language of scripture. To the various
passages alr.eady quoted to this purpose, suffer me to add
one more, which should fill every customary and care-
less hearer of the gospel with a watchful and solicitous
circumspection and fear : For the earth, sailh the Holy
Ghost, ivhich drinketh in the rain that comelh oft upon it,
and bringeth forth herbs meet for them bij xvhom it is
dressed, receireth blessing from God : but that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto
cursing, whose end is to be burned,
3d. In the next place, resisting and stifling those con-
Tictions of truth, of duty, or of personal guilt which are
often awakened in the house of God, or postponing an
attention to them, like Felix, to some imagined more
convenient season, is a most dangerous mean of harden-
ing the conscience, and rendering it callous to all future
impressions from the divine word. It is not uncommon
under the influence of the preaching of the gospel, or^
in consequence of some alTee ting dispensation of divine
providence, to see the sinner awakened to a temporary
concern for the things which belong to his eternal peace.
But how frequently have we to lament that it is only
temporary ? He is impatient under the stings and re-
proaches of conscience ; he is distressed with the serious
reflections, with the melancholy views, which religion
seems to present to a mind covered with the gloom, and
oppressed with the fears of conscious guilt. He hastens,
therefore, if by any means he can, to dissipate this mel-
ancholy, and to admit more flattering imagesj till he re-
covers his former security of conscience, and liberty of
sinning. Seldom, however, is he contented to rest mere-
iS» NEW-JERSEY TREACIffiK.
ly in <lie same degree of liberty and security as former-
ly ; but endeavours, if possible, to prevent the return of
these gloomy thoughts. He closes his ears against the
truths which would recall them ; he watches their first
entrance, that he may turn away from them ; he plunges
deeper into those follies, or crimes which will help him
to stifle them. This is what, in the holy scriptures is
called grieving the Spirit, and, in other passages, resist-
ing tlie Holy Ghost. And may we not justly fear that it
"will provoke the Spirit of Gqd to cease striving with the
sinner who has so often quenched his influences ; who
has so folded himself up in his guilty security ; and to
pronounce on him, as on Ephraim, he is joined to idols;
let him alone.
4th. The last evil which I shall mention, as tending
to that fatal blindness and hardness of heart against
>vhieh Qur blessed Saviour pronounces the warning in the
text, is the habitual indulgence of open, gross, and pro-
fligate crimes. Such sins are committed as much
against the light of nature, as the revealed word of God.
They lay waste the conscience, and drown its remon-
strances. No evils commonly tend so eff*ectually to in-
dispose the sinner to listen to instruction, and to harden
him in pride and obstinacy against reproof. For these
sins the heathen, though violating only the light of na-
ture, are said to have been given up by God, and aban-
doned to destruction 5 and, surely, much more reason
have they to dread his fearful dereliction, and his ex-
terminating judgments, who have extinguished the light
which came down from Heaven, and trampled so boldly
on the authority of the divine law, and the riches of d^-
^ine grace.
SAMUEL 9. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 125
Having thws exposed to you the natural progression of
those sins which most surely lay the sinner, under the
gospel, open to the execution of the awful sentence, im-
plied in the text, of being given up of God to hardness
of heart, and blindness of mind, the necessary source of
spiritual barrenness, and the sure prelude to eternal
destruction, let me conclude this discourse with a few re-
flections which seem naturally to arise from the preced-
ing illustrations.
In the first place, let me repeat here a caution, whick
I have already enjoined, against misinterpreting the lan-
guage of the text, and other similar expressions in the
sacred scriptures into a foolish and impious charge
against God, as if he infused into the heart of the sinner
any positive principle of evil, independent of the natural
and necessary tendency of his own corruptions, while he
obstinately shuts his eyes against the light of divine
truth, and resists the means which God has appointed
for his instruction and conversion. That blindness which
at length becomes invincible, that hardness which time
and sinful habit render impenetrable, is the fatal worH
of his own folly and obstinacy. God has undoubtedly so
constituted the nature of man, and the order of things
in the natural and moral world, that the bold commis-
sion and habitual indulgence of sin, shall lead the sinner
to greater and greater insensibility both of his guilt and
danger, and to a more determined resistance against the
necessary means of his correction and reformation. And
these native consequences resulting from the moral or-
der of divine providence, may be regarded also as the
holy and righteous judgments of God, who by these
means, often prepares for a more exemplary perdition,
tlkose vessels of wraths who have taken such fatal pains
126 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
to destroy themselves. The train of providence is so
laid, in the unsearchable wisdom of God, as often to
ilhistrate the riches of divine grace in the recovery even
of the most guilty oifenders from the error and mad-
ness of their sinful courses j and often to display the
sovereignty of his dispensations, and the awfulncss
of his judgments, by so preparing their desperate
and headlong way before them, that they shall by the
abuse of bis mercies only hasten their own irremediable
ruin. 0 the depth of the riches both of the unsdom and
Jsnowledge of God I Hoxv unsearchable are his judgments,
and his 7vays past finding out !
3d. Does not this order of divine providence, in the
next place, and this tendency of human nature, afford
the justest ground of fear to those who have been long
barren and unfruitful under the means of grace ? Be-
lieve it, it is not in vain that the gospel is preached, that
the sacraments are administered, that the light shines
around you, that the offers and the calls of divine mercy
are so often addressed to you. If they do not penetrate
your hearts, if they do not convince and persuade you, if
they are not effectual to arrest you in your sinful course,
and to bring you to an humble acquiescence in the terms
of the gospel, they must have the contrary effect of hard-
ening the conscience, and rendering it insensible and se-
cure amidst the awful hazards of its situation. And
have not you reason to apprehend tlie fearful Judgments
of God, on account of the long continued abuse of his
manifold mercies ? I^Iay he not withdraw the mercies
wbicb you have abused ? May he not withhold the gra-
cious influences of his Holy Spirit, which, often rejected
or stifled, he may no more impart ? and for the abuse of
which, he may, in righteous judgment, resolve to deliver
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. LJ..D. JST
you up to the unrestrained dominion of dangerous temp-
tations, and of your own uncorrected lusts and passions ?
Reflect, then, how long you have been unfruitful in the
garden of God ; how many merciful calls you have re-
jected ; how many movements of the Holy Spirit in your
hearts you have resisted ; how many blessings both of
his grace, and of his common providence, intended for
your salvation, you have perverted to your own injury,
and to the dishonor of his holy name, and let a salutary
fear awaken you to serious consideration. Tremble at
the curse of being forsaken of God, of being given up
by him to pursue your own destruction, without any fur-
ther restraints or monitions from his Holy Spirit, as the
most fearful state in which a sinner can be left on this
side of the blackness of darkness forever .
3d. This subject, in the next place, addresses itself for-
cibly to the young, not without encouragement and hope,
to persuade them to an early and diligent endeavour to
return to God by repentance. Your hearts cannot as
yet be hardened and confirmed in an evil course. Nay,
do you not feel them, at some times, moved by the good-
ness of God, by the sentiments of your duty, by the
thoughts of your eternal interests ? Conscience has not
yet been stilled by the boldness of gross iniquity, nor ren-
dered callous by long continuance in its practice. The
young mind is comparatively docile. It has fewer diffi-
culties to overcome from the violence of passions and
appetites long indulged, from pride and ohstinacy of
character, from the strength of confirmed habits in sin,
than it will have after years have added all their dan-
gerous force to the power of evil. But if you now
thoughtlessly resist, or misimprovc the precious season
of instruction, if you study to efface the impressions
ig> WEWJ'ERSEY PREACHER.
which the truths of religion often make upon your minde,
remember that, at every step in your progress, you are
losing more and more the dispositions most favourable
to duty, and rendering the heart less suseeptible of th©
influences of the Spirit of God. Every day is bringing
you nearer to that deplorable state of hardness and blind-
ness, when instructions and corrections, means and op-
portunities, shall have lost all their power ,• and God,
justly offended at the obstinacy of the sinner, pronounces
upon him the fearful sentence of his perpetual derelic-
tion, and his final perdition. Awake, then, earnestly to
improve the inestimable opportunities which you now en-
joy; opportunities that, misimproved, will never return.
Prevent the danger of being forsaken of Almighty God,
by a speedy and diligent application to the great work
of life, the salvation of your souls. If you seize the
present opportunity to resist the bi'ginnings of sin, if you
study to devote your early life to your Creator, and Re-
deemer, you have every thing to hope from the aids of
his grace; but if you now resist the earnest and repeat-
ed calls of divine mercy, you have every thing to fear
from the hardening influence of time, as well as from
the growing infirmities of nature, in advancing life,
which disables men from contending against the strength,
and deep-rooted power of their sinful ha])its. Remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, ivMIe the evil
days come not and the years draio nigh when thou shalt
saj^, I have no pleasure in them. When your strength
shall be turned into weakness, and even the grasshopper
Bhall be a burden.
5th. In the last place, this subject addresses itself in
an awful tone to those who have long rejected the offers
of mercy in the gospel, and, by the protracted custom of
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 129
sinning, have hardened themselves against its instruc-
tions and reproofs, against its compassionate invitations,
and its most affecting warnings. Coukl we, indeed, dis-
tinguish those who luive seared their consciences, and
who are delivered over of God to work all uueleanncss
with greediness, sealed up hy his sentence to eternal
death, it Avould he in vain to address them : they have
chosen their delusions : their hearts are as adamant ;
the dry hones in the valley of Ezekiel's vision could as
soon be awakened into life bv the voice of man. But
are there not some old and habitual offenders, who,
though buried in deep insensibility and security, may not
yet be beyond the reach of divine grace ? But are you
not every day approaching nearer to tbat fatal boundary
which may forever separate you from the hope of salva-
tion ? Alas ! how many means may yet be suffered in
the forbearance of God to remain to you ? How long
may the light be yet permitted to shine around you ?
How near may the sun of righteousness be to his setting
forever ? To some of those who hear me, this may be
the last ray of light which, by his grace, may ever be
darted into your soul ; this may be the last call which,
in his righteous and holy providence, you shall ever en-
joy. Oh ! that that omnipotent voice which, in the be-
ginning, said let there he light, and there was light, would
graciously shed, along with our Avords, the powerful and
creative light of divine truth into your hearts, to form
them anew in Christ Jesus ! Oh ! tbat that voice which
shall swell the trump of the arch-angel, that shall call
the dead to judgment, would awake your consciences
from the mortal sleep of sin, and bring them, before it
he too late, to consideration arul reflection ! If I could
hope, with regard to any such sinners who hear me, that
Vox. I. R
130 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER-
these solemn and interesting truths would so touch
your hearts as to arouse you from your security, and
make you sensible of your danger, with pleasure would
I point you to an all-sufficient Saviour who is able, even
in this extremity of your case, to deliver you from going
down into the pit ; who can pierce the most secure and
dead conscience, and soften the most obdurate heart,
who can change and sanctify the most unclean spirit, and
pluck the most atrocious oifender, as a brand from the
hurning. Possibly, the repetition of these otfers of par-
don and salvation, which have been so often rejected and
contemned, may only tempt you still more lightly to es-
teem them ; yet, although you should again trample
them under your feet, I call God, and your own souls to
witness this day, that salvation has been once more with-
in your offer.
!j»r,
SERMON VII.
THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, THE LIGHT
OF THE WORLD.
Matt. V. 14.
Ye are the light of the world : A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
BY ROBERT FINLEY, A. M,
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of Baskingridge.
NEW.JEBSEY PREACHER.
SERMON VII.
Mattkew v. 14.— Ye are the light of the M-orld : A city that is set on aa
hill cannot be hid.
X O man in paradise, all things were full of light. His
eye was single, his understanding clear, and the divine
image was hright upon his soul. This was sufficient for
his direction in his passage through the world, and if
this were not sufficient, the light of the descending di-
vinity was daily displayed before him. Happy for hira
if with such helps he had continued his journey to the
heavenly land. But when he sinned his situation was
greatly changed. He stumbled and fell upon the very
brink of everlasting darkness. But as God had ordain-
ed, not entirely to cast away a sinful race, it was neces-
sary that our first parent should be supplied with a lit-
tle light. "What was given him was large enough to
keep him from despair ; and yet so small as to be ex-
pressive of the divine displeasure. He no more enjoyed
the perfect assurance of the love of God which he once
possessed ; nor did he see the heavens continually open
to him as before : but was left to follow the twinkling
ray of an obscure promise, that the seed of the woman
should bruise the serpent's head. Instead of the quicken-
ing splendor of the present divinity, the mission of an-
gels and their ministry made up the light of unhappy
man. In this manner the father of lights communicat-
ed himself in the days of the patriarchs. In the midst
134 XEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
of night only a star appeared and that hut rarely. As
the designs of mercy Avere opened up, the Lord gave a
clearer light coming down himself on mount Sinai ; but
not in such a manner as he appeared in the happy garden.
There in the mildest and most condescending manner
he unveiled his glory. But on Sinai he shrouded his
awful light in darkness, making the cloud his chariot and
the thick cloud his pavilion. In process of time a clearer
light shone forth, and the Baptist preached repentance
for the remission of sins. Afterwards, the sun of righ-
teousness arose with healing in his wings, and happy
they who walked in his light. Yet it Mas but a short pe-
riod that the sun of righteousness continued to shine on
earth. He made a few revolutions and then removed to
shine in brighter worlds, and display his beams amidst
the glory of everlasting day. Before his removal he
had enlightened a portion of our race, and restored the
lost image of God to their souls. Having done this he
departed, leaving them by their light to lighten the world,
till time shall be no more. Ye, said he, are the light of
the world ; let your light shine before men. The col-
lective body of christians is by Christ's appointment de-
signed to illuminate mankind. Their lives are ordained
as the medium through which, in general, men will see
religion and judge of it as true or false ; the way-marks
bv which thev will learn the road to heaven, or for want
of which they will err from the way of righteousness
and perish in their error. In a situation attended with so
much importance and accountability, it becomes the fol-
lowers of Christ to present the brightest points of their
christian character before the world, and at the best ad-
vantage, lest their light be found as darkness. — Our sub-
ject naturally leads us to consider.
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. lift
I. Wherein consists the light of the christian's life.
II. The ways in which he can best present his light
before men.
I. Wherein consists the light of the christian's life.
In shewing fhis, it would be an easy matter to fill up
several discourses. The christian graces might be all
enumerated, each of which contributes something to
adorn the man of God. But some of the more eminent
parts of the christian character, and which at once en-
lighten the beholder and attract him toward heaven,
are, gentleness and love, innocence and separation from
the world — superiority to the vicissitudes of life and
heavenliness of mind — humility and repentance.
1. The christian's light consists in gentleness and
love. If it were not so these characteristics would not be
so often mentioned nor so much insisted on in the holy
scripture. They are there described in such tw manner
that a beam of light seems to accompany the very re-
commendation and description. "The wisdom that is
from above," saith the apostle James, " is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them
that make peace," James iii. 17, 18. The sun of righ-
teousness sends his beams in benignant influence upon
the heart, rendering it soft and pliable and aflectionate.
Does the apostle ever appear to more advantage than
when he writes to the Colossiaus ? "But we were gen-
tle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children,
so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing
to have imparted not the gospel of God only; but also
our own souls, because ye were dear unto us," 1 Thess.
ii. 7, S. While he thus expresses himself, we are satis-
fied, that Christ had imparted to him His own temper
136 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER
and dispositions.— I do not mean to say that an angry
christian is an impossible character ; nor that it is un-
lawful for the best of men to be angry on just occasions.
But I mean to say, that passion though it may he-
sometimes necessary and ofien lawful, is like the angry
cloud which darkens rather than enlightens the travel-
ler. It is difficult to persuade mankind that the lamp
of holiness burns amidst hardness, unkindness and se-
verity. However badly they may judge in other things,
they will readily decide with the apostle ; that " where en-
vying and strife is there is confusion and every evil
work," James ii. 13. The world judges rightly in this,
it being utterly impossible for the grace of God, in any
considerable degree to dwell amidst the conflictings of
the angry passions. The spirit of truth speedily de-
parts from the realms of noise and strife and seeks some
more tranquil habitation. In secret silence of the mind ;
our God and there our heaven we find — This gentleness
of disposition derives great lustre from being connect-
ed with that love which is solicitous for the happiness
of others. The man who is easy, and amiable and gen-
tle in his manners, soothes and interests the beholder.
But love takes hold upon his heart. It is love in the
Saviour's character that constrains us, and so endears
his precious name to our hearts. To the power of this
he resorted, when every other influence failed him, in
his desire to convince and save the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem. His flowing tears bespoke the pity of his heart,
and had they not been given up to a blind and obdurate
mind would bave convinced them, that as God is love, so
the fulness of the Godhead did dwell bodily in him ; he
was so fiUcd with love and compassion for their souls.
liOBERT FIXt^EY, A. IVf. I i:
And when christians possess this temper and to such a
degree as to persuade the world, that they have a real
compassion for the perishing state of men, they Jiave
gone far to make sinners helieve in the necessity cf
being horn again. Love and pity will do more to an^
lighten and persnadc, than a thousand cold and unfceli'ig
argunienls. Perhaps, a great reason wl.y minist'ers
have so little success in persuading irien, is the want of
a fervent charity for their souls. Indifi'ercnce to the in-
terests of otliers, whether tenipoi-a! or spiritual, too
much resenihlcs tiie temper of the worhl, which has nev-
er been enlightened by the Spirit of truth.
2d. In innocence and separation from the world. The
innocence of Adam made him a fit object for the- love
and regard of angels. It arrayed him wiih a robe of
light and ci-owncd him Vritii a crown of glory. And be-
ing lost by his apostacy from God, his iine gold became
dim, and the excellency of his cliaraeter departed. Sin
is called in the scripture by the name of darkness, and
the father of lies is reprcseatcd as the prince of dark-
ness. God, because of his perfect holiness is called tljat
light in 7vhicli tho'C is no darkness at all. Whosoever
becomes a folhnver of God as a dear cliiid, is assimilat-
ed to him who dwelieth in the light, raid is exhorted to
cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of
ligiit. We cannot help admiring the lives of those who
pass througli a polluting woi-ld, without materially in-
juring tlieir christian character, by any great departure
from the perfect rule of righteousness. Tlierc is some-
thing in the heart of man, notwi(l»standing his fall,
which makes him remember primeval puri<y,^fix it as
the standard of all that is excelient, bov/ before it wlicr-
ever it is in any good degree discerniblr. and mark if ag
Vor,. r. S
1^8 NEW-JERSEY PnEACHEK.
the leading star m hich conducts to heaven. The world is
in reality but little influenced by those disciples, whose
lives are not unblemished, however splendid their tal-
ents, however great their attainments, however brilliant
their accomplishments. If they admire them, it is for
their strength of mind» and elegance of taste, but not
as proper guides to heaven. Their lives only, have in-
fluence on the hearts and consciences of men, who bear
a proper resemblance to their Lord and master, who
was ♦< holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin-
ners."— Connected with innocence of life, is separation
from the ivorld. Not an austere withdrawing from the
endearments of society, nor slotliful negligence of ap-
pointed duties. But that temper and conduct which iu
the midst of all the rational enjoyments of society, and
the diligence of a faithful steward, still exhibits the
character of a pilgrim and sojourner. There is some-
thing exceedingly impressive about the man, who can
persuade the beholder that he believes and feels himself
made for a better world. " Be not conformed to this
world," is a direction of the greatest moment. It is to
little purpose to persuade men to take their affections
from the earth, unless we can at the same time persuade
them, that we have not selected the companions, the
fashions, and the interests of tiie present life as our best
portion. The father of the faithful is conspicuous among
the cloud of witnesses, who " when called to go out into
a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed ; and went out not knowing whither he went,
and sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob ;
for he looked lor a city wliich Jiath foundations, whose
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. 13S
builder and maker is God^ confessing that he "was a pil-
grim and stranger in the earth," Heb. xi.
3d. The christian light consists ; in being superior to
the troubles of the world, and in heavenliness of mind.
The children of this life who have no better hope and
look for no better portion, act consistently with them-
selves when they keenly feel all the vicissitudes of life.
They have here their gods and no wonder if they are
troubled, when these arc lost or endangered. They
know no other happiness. But God and man expect
something more from those who have received a king-
dom that cannot be moved, and are made heirs of an in-
heritance, that fadeth not away. Not that the good man.
loses the sensibilities of his nature, or puts off the feel-
ings of humanity. The infusion of divine grace does
the more soften the heart. The pious parent does not
love his children less for being made partaker of the
grace of God, but the more, viewing them as immortal
beings. Nor does the pious youth less esteem and rev-
erence his earthly parents, because he hath a father in
heaven. He loves them more abundantly because the
love of God hath strengthened and refined his heart.
The christian may therefore feel under his various af-
ilictions. But while he feels and mourns, he feels and
mourns as those who have a better hope. «' Therefore,*'
saith the Psalmist, " will we not fear, though the moun-
tains be carried into the midst of the sea. There is a riv-
er, the streams whereof sliall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High,"
Ps. xlvi. 2, 4. The character which interests mankind
and makes them wish they were possessed of it, is that
of the man who weeps and is afflicted when tlie tender
tics of nature are unloosed. But who sntilcs throngfc
IfiO NEVV-JEUSEY PKEAClIEli.
bis tears, looks ii\»\vai'(l, cries Abba Fullier, and is as-
sured that liis beloved iiitei-esls are still safe. On viewr
ing such a life, it is easy to discover that the end of that
man must be peace ; and scarcely any one can forbear
devoutly wishing hiniseif possessed of such a frame of
mind. The disciple that is cast down but not destroyed,
perplexed but not in despair, who looks away from the
things that are seen and temporal, thinks of the things
which are unseen and eternal, and casts his anchor with-
in the veil, makes every beholder wish himself a chris-
tian.— Especially, when combined v/ilh this temper, there
exists a heavenliness of mind. Men must see some re-
semblance of heaven, before they can be persuaded to
seek it, and they can no where so well discern it as in
the lives of those who are journeying thither. AVhile
the patriarch in the cool of the evening walks in his
fields, contemplating his eternal rest : while the psalm-
ist remembers God on his bed, converses with him, and
rejoices in the shadow of his wings : while the apostle
has his conversation in heaven, fiom whence he looks
for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, to change his vile
body ; they carry a divine illumination, not upon their
souls only, but almost on their \erj countenances. I
once heard of a little cliiid, who being asked by a pious
mother, whether he Avould not wish to be like a certain
one of his relatives ; answered, no. Being asked in like
manner concerning anothei' ; he answered, no. These
>vere both professing christians ; but they had not in
operation, the unction fi-om the Holy One, nor were they
like persons who waited for the coming of the bride-
groom. But when he was asked Avhat he thought of a
friend who was eminent for a useful life, and for com-
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. 141
miinioii v/i(ii God: he answered, oli ! mother, I wish I
may live twul die like him.
4th. The last part of t!»e ehristian's light is humility
and repentance. " And be ye elothed with humility,"
salth the apostle Peter. In his estimation, the ehristian's
most beantifnl apparel, was humility, and his most use-
ful ornament, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.
On the humble heart, God himself looks with approba-
tion ; and in his sigJit humility is of great price. Pur-
ple and fine linen, parade and equipage have their effect
upon the human mind ; but they have no tendency to
convince the beholder, that the possessor is bound for
heaven. A'anily and self-estimation excite men to great,
sometimes to noble actions. But after all, they mani-
fest but little of tlie spirit of heaven. Indeed few things
excite greater disgust, than a mixture of high religious
profession, and empty parade or swelling pride. When
the apostle wished to make a deep impression on the
Ephesians, and establish a conviction on their hearts,
that he had the marks of a true apostle, he appealed to
his humility. " Ye know fiom the first day that I came
into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all
seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and
many tears," Acts xx. 19. Pride looks too much like
the pi'inee of darkness to lighten men ^o heaven. Even
tlie lawful equipage of wealth sometimes lessens the
ehristian's liglit. Let those therefore who would wish
to hold foi'th the ligiit to others, learn of Jesus who was
meek and loivly of heart. Moreover, because in this
world of weakness and temptation, offences must come,
and the christian's light be for a season dimmed ; there-
fore a light is requisite which can shine through and
even dissipate his darkness. And such a light repent-
142 NEW4EUSKY PRBACHEU.
auce is found to be. The waters of contrition have a,
mighty efficacy to cleanse the heart. They cannot jus^
tify in the sight of God. This the blood of Christ alone
can do. But they may purify him. " For behold this
self samte thing, saith the apostle, that ye sorrowed after
a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea
what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea
what fear, yea what vehement desire," 3 Cor. vii. 11.
While the heart is healed toward God, the wounded cha-
racter is recovered in the sight of men. Few descrip-
tions in the holy scripture, strike us more forcibly, than
that of the prodigal especially after he comes to him-
self. ** I will arise and go to my father, and will say un-
to him ; Father I have sinned against heaven and before
thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son,"
Luke XV. 18, 19. It is almost the best evidence that
can be given of real piety, >vhen men after lapsing into
sin, are truly humbled, and with sincere repentance re-
covered to God. It requires a greater effort of the soul
to endeavour a recovery of what it has lost by tempta-
tion, than to make the first exertion toward a religious
life. Offering to God the sacrifice of a contrite heart,
is an act at which the world looks with wonder. For
although it may for a while stand in doubt whether this
profession of repentance is sincere ; yet when it is once
convinced of this, it is convicted, and desires to partake
of the principle which has actuated the real penitent.
Repentance is the grace which excites interest and joy,
among the angels of God. — We proceed,
II. To consider the ways in which the christian light
may best be made to shine before men.
Christ having committed the il]umiuation of the world
to his disciples, proceeded to inform them that it was
BOBBRT FINLEY, A. M, 143
not proper to veil this light ; that they ought te aet not
like those >vho light a candle and put it under a bushel.
In a word that they ought to let their light shine before
meo. — This may be done ; by the disciples standing fore-
most in every thing that is excellent and useful : by the
uniformity of his conduct : and by making it appear,
that his happiness consists in following Christ.
1. By standing foremost in every thing that is excel-
lent or useful ; — the conspicuous place is always in the
fore-front. There the soldier acquires his glory, and by
doing good and being ready to communicate, the good
maa obtains the respect of others. ** What do ye
more than others,'* said Christ, as he taught his dis-
ciples, where was their proper place in point of duty.
While christians do not exceed others, in patience and
forbearance, in activity and zeal, in love to God and
charity to men, their light is not discernible. They are
lost amidst the multitude, and cannot be distinguished.
They should come out and be separate, therefore ; not
with the vain-glorious forAvardness of the man who
seeks his own things more than the things of Christ, but
with the sincerity of those who feel it a duty to be
meekly conspicuous in every grace. Without wishing
to attract the notice of the world, they should be desi-
rous to make a good impression in favour of true piety-
The pharisee was condemned, who to obtain the praise
of men, fasted twice in the week, paid tythes of all he
possessed, and for a pretence made long prayers. But
the conduct of Nicodemus was more praise-worthy who
was a disciple, but secretly for fear of the Jews. It
was a noble commendation of the Corinthians, that
their charity abounded greatly. The forwardness of
their minds was the pleasing theme of the aposth 's
144 KEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
boast. For he bore them record, that according to their
power, yea and beyond their power, they were willing of
themselves, so that their zeal had provoked many. Re-
ligion must live and act to be visiL>le to the world: and
it must live and act with greater vigor than the spirit of
the world, to have its proper influence. True piety for-
gets the things that are behind, and reaches to the things
^hich are before. Every duty does not belong to every
Christian, trod having marked out dilFerent lines for dif-^
ferent characters. Eut in their proper sphere, every
disciple ought to feel a holy ambition to be among the
foremost, in whatsoever is lovely and of good report.
They may be, and often are too lardy in their course of
duty. But this very tardiness obscures the lustre of
their character, and leaves a degree of doubt whether
they arc influenced by the spirit of Christ or notr
2. The christian's light is seen in the uniformity of
Lis life. There may be light and life where there is
great unevenness of conversation. Eut they are great-
ly obscured by such unevenness. AVhile there are ma-
ny ebbs and llowings in the current of tljc professor's life,
he is often seen by tiie world as dark as its own chil-
dren. Our Saviour has informed us that the water which
he gives, shall become in him that drinks it, a well of
water springing up unto everlasting life, John iv. 1 i. It
therefore becomes a ffxed belief Avitli men in general,
that there is no true religion, where the course of chris-
tian duty docs not proceed as evenly as the stream from
tlie living fountain. For want of this the greatest acts
of duty and even piety, are only like the blazing of a
meteor, which Hashes and is extinguished, and seems af-
terward only to jucrease the darkness. Light it is, but
no one can be beacfitcd by it ; it in so sadden and tran-
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. 145
sitory. The jealousy of man concerning the piely of
others, will not suffer him to follow them unless they
have some resemblance of Jesus Christ : ** who is the
same, to-day, yesterday and forever." They will sus-
pect that it is melancholy, or enthusiasm, or hypocrisy,
if it only appears on a sudden and disappears as soon.
But where by the grace of God, the sense of duty, and
the feelings of divine love operate with a steady inllu-
cnce and produce a uniform obedience to the will of God,
there the best impressions are ever made in favor of pie-
ty. Such light is like that of the sun constant and uni-
form, to the praise and glory of God.
3. The christian's light appears, by letting others see
that his happiness is increased by religion.
The work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of
righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. The
heart pants after happiness, and wheresoever it can be
found with the greatest certainty, men will most natur-
ally go. It is certain that religion does soothe the af-
flictions, and griefs of our nature, and enlarge its joys.
It is the duty therefore of every christian to grow in
grace, that he may give religion its proper force upon
his heart, in order to diminish the pressure of his afflic-
tions, and render his life as tranquil and happy as possi-
ble. He may thus convince mankind, that it is a high
privilege as well as duty to have received the Spirit of
the gospel. Peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost,
and the Spirit of adoption which embraces the pro-
mise of the heavenly inheritance, cannot fail of impart-
ing an excellent savour to the name of those who have
largely received them. When the afflicted heart is
strengtliencd by confidence in God, so as to say like Da-
vid, " when my fatJier and my mother forsake mcj
Vol. t. T
lie NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
then the Lord will take me up :" when the happiness of
prosperity is increased by the love of God : when grati-
tude for (he kindness of our heavenly Father, enlarges
the satisfactions of life : then it is made evident, that
blessed is the man whose God is the Lord. How ear-
nestly ought christians to strive for the fruits of the
Spirit, which are love, joy, and peace. They would
themselves live and enjoy at a different rate. Love, the
most active and delightful of all feelings, would pro-
mote a life of charity and equal justice j and their joy
would bear up their spirits, while they were expecting
the blessed hope, the bright appearance of their Lord,
Religion promises an increase of happiness to those Avho
embrace it. It proposes to lighten the yoke and burden
of human sorrows, and points to a way of pleasantness
and to a path of peace. What it propiises, it is able to
perform. But before the world will fully believe this,
it must have the evidence from the lives of professors,
that they are really made more happy. The men of
grace ought to find glory begun below. How can the
world believe, unless the peevishness of the human heart
is abated, the raging passions cooled, distressing cares
destroyed, and the fear of death diminished visibly in
the man of God ? God hath not designed, that our pre-
sent condition should be a state of perfect happiness.
But he meant that his children here should partake of
some consolations which should teach the world as well
as convince themselves, that they have chosen the better
part.
We come now to improve this subject by one or two
observations —
1. We nuiy notice the goodness and wisdom of the di-
vine providence, in appointing true christians to be the
ROBERT FINLBY, A. M. 147
liglit of the world All the other methods by which it
had pleased God to make the light to shine in the dark
places, had passed away, and become inexpedient. Sin
effaced the image of God from the heart of man, and the
light within was obscured. God who is light withdrew
his spiritual beams from his offending creatures, and hid
himself behind the thick cloud of iniquities. The min-
istration of angels ceased, after that the Angel of the
covenant had come, the minister of better promises.
The mixed and terrible scenes of Sinai wherein the law
was given, were too dreadful ever to be repeated. The
feeble light of types and shadows, fled away after the
coming of the very substance. — The lamp of the ancient
prophets Avas extinguished, and their succession broken.
The beams of the morning star were absorbed in the
overwhelming brightness of the sun of righteousness ;
and Christ, the true light, had withdrawn from the sight
of men, to repossess his glory, and finish our salvation
in the heavens — there remained therefore only the light
of the Spirit in the souls of men, which Christ at his as-
cension promised to send down and that it should abide
forever. This is the best and most convincing of lights.
The image of God, clearly discernible in the lives of good
men, is the most satisfying evidence of the certainty of
religion. The nicest reasonings or the most solid de-
monstrations have but little effect, unless he that utters
them is confessedly a man of God. It is only like the
operation of a pleasing dream, the remembrance where-
of glides insensibly away. But when the spirit of
Christ's religion is displayed in the life of his disciples,
it becomes substantial, it lives and produces its impres-
sion. Herod never felt the denunciations of the proph-
ets ; but the presence of the Baptist filled him with awe
Ui NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
antl terror. This is a light too, the nature and force
whereof is easily understood. It may be difficult for
most men to enquire into the certainty of those various
lights Avhich God hath furnished to the world. But it is
no difficult task to notice the workings of the Holy Ghost
wherever they exist ; and they are understood with al-
most equal ease by the rich and the poor, by the igno-
rant and the wise. One may not be able to read his bi-
ble, nor to understand the plainest book, and yet be fully
competent to understand the language of a holy life— •
such a life continually addresses the observer ; " we are
journeying to the place, of which the Lord said, I will
give it unto you, come thou with us, and we will do thee
good, for the Lord hath spoken good concerning us,"
Num. X, 29.
3. How earnest ought every christian to be in his en-
deavours to make his light shine. — The motives to this
duty are many and powerful ; but especially those con-
nected with our text. Others will be greatly benefitted,
and the great and precious name of our God and Saviour
glorified. The christian is surrounded with a cloud of
witnesses, most of whom are in some way influenced by
his example. It hath pleased God to create man with
a strong propensity to follow the example of others
wiiether good or evil. The wicked believe that there is
a heaven, and a happy flock who arc collecting there ;
and a hell Avhere the neglecters of religion must feel the
slings of a guilty conscience and the wrath of God.
Perhaps at the same time they often dou])t, wish that
there was no heaven, that all things were uncertain in
futurity, and that their prospects might be as good as
others. In this mixtuve of certainty and doubt, they
will often look ispon the conduct of the disciple, to judge
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. 149
whether his soul is really filled with the life of God,
and >Yhelher the lamp kindled by the sun of righteous-
ness is truly burning on his heart. How very much as
to means does the salvation of the world depend on
christians. They are set for the falling or rising of
many. Groping in the darkness of sin, the world is left
by God to the light of the Holy Ghost shining in his
people, for their conviction and external guidance. — In
this way will God be glorified also. When the disciples
increased in faith and holiness, the name of Jesus was
exalted. When they forsook their duty, it gave occa-
sion -to the enemy to triumph. When David sinned,
the Lord said unto him by his prophet ; " by this deed
thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the
Lord to blaspheme :" and the apostle testifies the same
to heedless christians : " for the name of God is blas-
phemed among the Gentiles through you." Too little
do we think, how much the glory of God among men,
and (lie honour of the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour
rest on us his professed people. Men cannot follow
Christ into heaven to see him there: but they can ex-
amine the character and conduct of those who profess to
have received his Spirit and to be changed into his like-
ness. They will judge of the master by his household,
of the parent by his children, and of our heavenly Fa-
ther by his adopted children. And what a powerful in-
centive should this be to live a life of exemplary pie(y,
and to shine as lights in the world, that thereby the
name of God is exalted ! What so glorious as the name
of God ! What so precious as the name of Christ !
What end of man so high and' excellent as the gloiy of
his Creator : and what duty so urgent as that of living
150 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEU.
haMtually in such a manner as to make others glorify
him !
NoAV to him tliat is light—to the hright and morning
star — and to the Spirit of illumination be immortal
praises— AMEN.
SEJRMOH YIII.
THE SMITTEN ROCK.
Exodus xvii. 6.
Behold I will stand before thee there upon the i-ock in Horeb : and thou shall
smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may
driiik.
BY SOLOMON FR^LIGH, D.D.
Professor of Divinity, and pastor of a Dutch Reformed congregation in Hack-
ensack and Scraaleuberg.
NEW-JERSEY PUEVCHER.
SERMON VIII.
Exodus XAii. C. — Boliolil I will stand before thee there, upon tlie rock in Ilorcb :
and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the
people may drink.
JL HE journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to
Canaan, was a standing miracle, and evidently intended
to represent the wonderful changes, and providential in-
terpositions, incident to a life of faith and holiness. They
were liberated from the most abject servitude that ever
oppressed an unhappy people, and their joy seemed to
preclude every apprehension of any future disaster.
But behold their disappointment ! They come to the
waters of Marah, and borne down with extreme fatigue,
and 1 hirst, were delighted with the prospect of cooling
draughts ; but alas ! the water was bitter ! however their
expectation shall not be defeated ; a species of wood is
provided, which thrown into it corrects its taste, and
renders it palatable. The traveller to the heavenly
Caiiaan does not proceed far, when he meets Avitli the
hitter waters of alHiction, botli internal and external,
which nothing but the wood of our Saviour's cross can
sweeten. Their next grievance, and which produced
seditious murmurings, was Avant of food. Tiie clouds
drop manna, and the eastern breezes waft multitudes of
fj'.iails into their camp. Tlie christian sojourner in this
sd-ange land, becomes subject to hunger, which nothing
can aUay but the bread that cometli down from heav
en, justly and em^dKilically deni»nina<(Ml the hidden
Vol. t. I '
154 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
maiina. The next afflictive occurrence, is again want of
water to extinguish their thirst, at Rephidim. They
chodc with Moses ; — " Wherefore," said they, " is this,
that thou hast brought us up out of the land of Egypt
to kill us and our cattle with thirst." Upon his crying
unto the Lord, he was commanded to take with him the
elders of Israel, and his rod, and repair to a certain
rock in Horeb, and the Lord promises as in the text, " Be-
hold I will stand before thee there, and thou shalt smite
the rock ; and there shalt come water out of it, that the
people may drink." The weary traveller in his jour-
ney to the celestial world meets with his Rephidims, a
dry and thirsty land where no water is, and where he
pants for the refreshing streams of quickening grace,
as the hunted hart for the water brooks. But behold
his rock in Horeb is smitten ; waters flow out of it, that
the people may drink. That I may treat the subject
with some order, 1 shall show,
I. That the Saviour Jesus Christ was typified by this
rock in Horeb.
II. In what manner he was smitten, and,
III. For Avhat purpose,
I. Jesus, the Redeemer of Israel, the Mediator of the
new covenant is typified and prefigured by this rock in
Horeb ^ as a proof I may quote inspired authority ; see
1 Cor. X. 4, *' for they drank of that spiritual rock that
followed them, and that rock was Christ." To select a
rock as emblematical of the Saviour, is an evidence of
divine wisdom, as nothing can be more expressive of
his mediatorial qualities. As a rock he is the strength
and support of his people. In this point of view he ap-
plies the figure to himself; see Matt. xvi. 18, " Upon
this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
SOLOMON FRiELIGH, D.B. 155
shall not prevail against it." In strains of pious ejacu-
lation the sweet singer of Israel tunes his harp in Psalm
xviii. 2, " The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and
iny deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust ;"
and in Psalm Ixi. 2, he prays, " lead me to the rock that
is higher than I." As a rock, he is to his people a re-
fuge, and an asylum, in times of imminent danger ; to
him they fly with ninihle wing when pursued by their
embittered foes. — " He is an hiding place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a
dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land," see Isaiah Ixii. 2. This rock was in Iloreb
the mount of God. The rock Jesus holds his seat
in his church, God's holy mountain ; he is in the
midst of her a Sinai in holiness ; he is the foundation
stone, which the builders rejected, and is become the
head of the corner.
He is there as King, bearing universal sway over his
extensive dominions, for he was anointed over his holy
bill ; on this mount he feeds his flock | here he is to all
his chosen a refuge in distress and a very present help
in time of trouble.
II. The rock ill Iloreb was smitten. Jesus our rock
could have produced nothing advantageous to his people,
had he not been smitten. — He was smitten with the rod
of jMoscs^ tlie rod of God's fiery law inflicted on him
all its awful penalties ; he had declared himself man's
substitute, placed liiniself in man's law-Stead, and made
himself obnoxious to all the punishment sin had merited.
The sins of the elect become his by imputation, his per-
fect innocence and spotless lioliness become theirs ; lienee
a pious christian once addressed the Saviour, " Lord, my
sins are tliine, thy righteousness is mine; lam thy hell
%
156 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
but thou art my Leaven," From this lod he received
many soi-e stripes. They were hiid long and heavy. It
heaped on him nil its dreadfiil maledietions, see Gal. iii. 13,
" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us : for it is written cursed is
every one that hamgeth on a tree." He was smitten by
the rod of divine justice. Having undertaken to bring
in an everlasting rigliteousness, by making complete sat-
isfaction to vindictive justice, the uttermost farthing of
the sinner's enormous debt was demanded from the sure-
ty ; the most rigid infliction of all the punisliuient due
to sin : not a groan, not a tear, not a single arrow of di-
vine vengeance, nor one bitter ingredient in the cup of
God's wrath, could be deducted : justice seized him by
the throat, and said, pay me what thou owest as surety
for thy people.
He was smitten Ijy ihe rod of devils. At his entrance
into the world, satan raised a storm against him in the
slaughter of the innocents at Bethlehem. On his en-
trance on his public ministration, he made another for-
midable attack on the seed of the woman. He led him
into the wilderness, and there harrassed him with the
most direful temptations, for the space of forty days ;
and again wlien his mediatorial sufferings were brought
to a crisis, an^bout to receive tlieir completion, all the
powers of hell rushed upon him with infernal rage, de-
termined to crush his scheme for the subversion of the
kingdom of darkness in its last cTorts. The devils pro-
bably accosted him with such hmguage as this ; " Feeble
man, wliat a tremendous work hast thou undertaken !
namely, to suircr the punisliiiicnt ihw to sin : all the host
of angels arc inadequate, and wilt^thou, O! despicable
son of Mary, vealurc upon it ? Abandon a work so far
SOLOMON FR.'ELIGH, D.D. 157
above thy created pov/ers ; thou wilt surely sink under
the pvj^ssure of such a presumptuous attempt."
He was smitten by Romans: Pilate commanded him
to be scourged, lioping thereby to excite the compassion
ol' the JcM^s. Eehold the innocent Son of the Most High,
with his body all over lacerated and torn to pieces.
He was smitten by the Jews : smitten Avith mocking
tongues, crying, " Hail king of tlie Jews ! AVho is it that
smiteth thee ? If thou be the Christ, come down from
the cross ; others he saved, himself he cannot save."
Smitten with thorns on his head, with nails in his bands
and feet, with a javelin in his side, and in his soul w itli
sorrows and the wrath of an incensed Jehovah. •
He was smitten by the rod of bis people's sins, " for
lie was wounded for our iniquities and bruised for our
transgressions; the chaslisement of our peace was upon
Lim, and by his stripes we are healed." All the sins of
every individual, and of all collectively, who have exist-
ed from the beginning of time, and of all who shall exist
to tlie end of the world's duration, were loaded on him.
Enormous mass ! How was our rock smit<en ! He was
smitten during the whole time of his sojourning on earth ;
it was by no means limited <o his crueiiixion, nor to the
most excruciating passion of his last moments. From
his manger to his grave Avas one eon^ucd scene of
smiting ; born of a contemptible virgin, and in a stable;
debari-ed from t!te comforts and often from the necessa-
ries of life ; travelling tl!roi!gh the Jewish country on
foot, accompanied by twelve companions in mean attire,
one of them carrying the bag; possessing not a mite to
pay his tribute, until he had extracted it from the bow-
els of a fish—How afTectitig his complaint, and yet how
magnanimous ! «« Fox^s ]iavc holes, and the fowls of the
i?8 KEW-JKRSEY PREACHER.
air nests ; but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay
his head.'* He was smitten with hunger, thirst and fa-
tigue ! He was smitten with the rod of divine indigna-
tion : the Father who now proceeded against the darling
of his bosom, in the character of an angry judge, sus-
pended that parental affection which his Son from eter-
nity had enjoyed in his bosom, and rushed on him with
all the vengeance of offended majesty. How awfully
doth he excite his indignation against him," Zech. xiii. 7,
** Awake, O sword ! against my shepherd; and against the
man, that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts : smite
the shepherd." He held the bitter cup at his lips, and
there continued it until he had drank the last drop of his
Tvrath. Like the rock in Horeb, he was smitten merely
for others, ** He, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God ;" see 1 Pet. iii. IS. Astonishing conde-
scension and grace : this is love ; love that surpasseth all
understanding : angels have been desirous to look into
this tremendous plan of divine love, but have not been
able. It is too high for finite conception ; an ocean with-
out bottom or shore, infinite like deity. That the Son
of God should willingly submit to all these smitings,
merely for the sake of promoting the ha]>piness of apos-
tates, rebels, and enemies, is a fact that exceeds ail the
powxrs of created reflection. We can only say, the Lord
hath done it, and it is w ondcrful in our eyes. It will fur-
nish the most pleasing theme for beatified contempla-
tion to saints in glory. The heavenly arches will ring
forever with loud Hosannas to the rock of our salva-
tion, that was smitten, not on Mount Horeb, but on
Mount Calvary ; and a reflection that their sins liave
smitten him, will greatly swell the celestial anthems,
O ! to consider, that by suffering all this smiting, he has
SOLOMON FR^XIGH, D. D. 159
brought them to glory, will link their hearts to Imman-
uel, in the iudissoluble bond of unfeigned, eternal love !
III. The rock in Horeb was smitten, that water
might come out of it, and the peoi»le diiuk : for the same
purpose, was the rock Jesus smitten ? We shall enquire,
1. What hath resulted from all the smitings our Saviour
underwent, that can fitly be represented by the water
that flowed from the smitten rock at Horeb. 2. How
his people are said to drink.
The blessed effects of our Lord's active and passive
obedience are, in many places of scripture, compared to
water, especially those spiritual gifts and influences,
which he hath purchased ; see Isaiah xliv. 3, *' I will pour
water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry
ground ; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my
blessing upon thine off*spring;" see also John iv. 14,
" But whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall
give him, shall never thirst ', for the water that I shall
give him, shall be in him a well of water, springing unto
everlasting life." A body of water possesses astonish-
ing force ; running in strong and rapid currents, it often
overturns cities, inundates extensive tracts of country,
and overwhelms every thing that comes in its way. So
the Spirit of Christ in its powerful and saving operations
on the human mind ; it breaks in with amazing energy,
and carries all before it j the carnal bias, erroneous
principles, strong prejudices, self-sufiiciency, and pride,
are all necessitated to yield to the omnipotence of the
Holy Ghost. Water possesses a power to wash away
filth or remove a stain ; by the purifying efficacy of the
divine Spirit the sinner's innate pollution and unclean-
ness is washed away ; see 1 Cor. vi. 11. " Such were
some of you il but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified.
160 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
but ye are juslified, in tlie name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." AVater posses-
ses a nourishing virtue, so do the gifts and endowments
of the Holy Ghost.
The rock was smitten that the people might drink.
This smiting, with all the water that gushed out of the
rock, would have afTorded no refreshment had the peo-
ple abstained from drinking. The blood and Spirit of
Jesus Christ possess power to quicken and revive our
souls, to make them vivid and fruitful, but not unless
we drink of these waters of life. — Christ's people drink
of this rock by faith ; out of his exhaustless stores they
receive abundant supplies of grace ^ see John vii, 37, 38,
" On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto
me, and drink.
<' He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." The
phrase is expressive of that exquisite gladness, which
the Holy Spirit produces in the hearts of God's people,
yea, joy unspeakable and full of glory ; " for the king-
dom of heaven is not meat and drink, but peace, joy and
gladness throngli the Holy Ghost." The waters that
flowed from the smitten rock were emblematical of that
abundance whicli believers receive through Jesus Christ;
namely, rivers of living water ; enough for all the peo-
ple to drink ; therefore eat, 0 friends ; drink, yea, di-ink
abundantly, O beloved.
a Tljey are satisfied with the fatness of his house, and
he makes them drink out of the rivers of his pleasure."
Not only are all their wants supplied, and all their holy
desires satislied, but all share in this abundance, from
the most eminent personage to the meanest babe in
SOLOMON FR^LIGH, D.D. 161
Christ. These streams are not limited within the nar-
row confines of this lower world, they water even the
celestial paradise. The myriads of glorified spirits
drink of this rock. It is there " a river of pure water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God, and of the Lamh," see Rev. xxii. 1. Here they
are, comparatively speaking, harely the droppings of the
sanctuary ; there they flow in copious rivers, and make
glad the city of God, the New Jerusalem ; there they
fill the hearts of the blessed, with fulness of joy and
pleasures forevermore at God's riglit hand. Eternity
will never obliterate from their minds the recollection
that their glorified state has originated from the smiting
of the rock of ages, Jesus Christ ; hence, in strains of
beatific rapture, they sing, « Unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins, in his own blood, and hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father — to
him be glory and dominion forever and ever — AMEN.
»
IMPROVEMENT.
I. From what has been advanced on the subject, we
may infer,
1. That salvation, through the sufierings of a divine
Saviour, justly excites admiration. The whole intelli-
gent system is struck Avitli amazement. Doubtless the
Israelites were astonished when they saw the smitten
rock in Horeb emit rivers sufficient for six hundred
thousand and upwards, with their numberless herds ^
and who is not amazed at the tremendous effects of the
Redeemer's obedience, whereby a perishing world has
been saved ? Who does not wonder at the benevolent de-
sign ? What goodness ! what love ! what condescension !
what mercy did the Israelites observe in this miracle !
Vol.. I. W
tfii NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
but infinitely more is to be seen in the smiting of our'
vock ,• — O that the Almighty should send his darling Son.
to suffer all these smitings for us ! had it been for fallea
angels, but O ! for such vile nothings as we are j incom-
prehensible condescension !
2. It has equally a tendency to excite joy. What ee-
stacies of joy must have expanded the heart of every Is-
raelite, when they beheld the waters gushing from the
rock. Ready to perish, despairing of relief, and con-
ceiving it impossible, according to the nature of things,
that water could be extracted from a flinty substance.
How may christians rejoice, when they behold Jesus
Christ, God's eternal and beloved Son, thus smitten, that
their souls, ready to perish, might yet be saved !
3. Such reflections should excite sincere thankfulness.
What gratitude did doubtless fill the hearts of these Is-
raelites when they saw rivers spouting from the rock ;
scorched with thirst, harrassed with desponding fears
;uul torturing apprehensions that they were led into the
wilderness, with their wives, their children, and their
cattle, to perish. They must have experienced the most
grateful emotions when they saw that a beneficent pre-
server would command the rocks to supply them, where
no springs could be found. How much more should the
most sincere and unaffected gratitude influence our
minds, when we consider that God caused the beloved
of liis bosom to be smitten, that sinners might drink of
the waters of life and live for ever!
il. But at no time, and on no occasion, does any spir-
itual entertainment so fully answer to the smiting of
ihc rock in Iloreb, as when the sacrament of tlie Lord's
Sij|>|>er is atluiinistered ; here Christ crucified is set
ekavly before our eyes : here Ave view him as the sniit-
SOLOilON FR^LIGII, D.D. 163
ten rock. But, alas ! multitudes reject and despise liim,
by neglecting and slighting this ordinance. AVhat would
you have thought if persons among these perishing Is-
raelites had refused to come to the rock, and had said,
« We believe not that a drop of water will come out of
it, though it be smitten a thousand times, and had rath-
er perish than come ?" Your obstinacy and folly, who
neglect the Lord's Supper, are still more unjustifiable.
You disobey his positive command. " Do this in re-
membrance of me," was the dying injunction of our
Lord. And what is your reply ? We will not eat this
bread, and drink this cup in remembrance of thee. We
are not desirous of remembering thee, and care not how
soon we forget thee. Ye deprive yourselves of the most
solemn and the most beneficial of all gospel ordinances,
and thus you act a foolish part : like the prodigal, you
run away from your father's sumptuous table, and are
content to feed upon husks. But says some one, " a
morsel of bread and a sip of wine appear so trifling and
insignificant, that I cannot see what good eflect they can
produce." WTio art thou, O man, that thou wouldst
boast of wisdom superior to that of Jehovah, who has
been pleased to institute these simple elements, seals of
his covenant ? A scrap of paper, and small bit of seal-
ing-wax, confirms your title to all your earthly posses-
sions; and yet these are in themselves trifling things :
and will you reject the offer of an inheritance among the
saints in light, because your heavenly Father has thought
proper to seal your title to it, by broken bread and a
cup of blessing ? Besides, as the ritual of the Mosaick
worship was extremely expensive, which rendered it a
burden too heavy to be borne ; that under the new dis-
pensatioQ was intended to restore equal liberty, and
iC4 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
therefore must necessarily be simple. — Says another, <* I
cannot view the Siiq)per as essential to salvation, and
therefore it may be dispensed with." Friend ! thy pro-
mise is just, but thy conclusion is false. It is not essen-
tial to salvation. A man may go to heaven who has never
partaken of the Lord's Supper. But it may not be dis-
pensed with ; and whoever lives in an habitual neglect of
this ordinance, certainly is not, nor was he ever in the
way to heaven.
Says another. " I am afraid of eating and drinking
my damnation." Against partaking unworthily we
should use all possible precaution j but that precaution
does not consist in abstinence, for thereby we most cer-
tainly expose ourselves to condemnation. Another ob-
jects—'' I am too great a sinner, it would certainly be pre-
sumption in the extreme should such a wretch approach
the sacred board." — This ordinance is by no means insti-
tuted for sinners, whose sins may be comparatively few,
but for sinners without distinction. Not for a few po-
lite moralists, but for the most abandoned profligate,
provided he repents and believes ; for Saul of Tarsis,
v.lio persecutcii the lambs of Christ ; for Mary Magda-
len, wliosc body had become a den of devils ; for the
Ihief on the cross ; yea, for many Avho had assisted in
killing the Lord of glory.-— Says another, " I do not find
that I possess the requisite frames and exercises of
mind, and therefore I cannot come ; not that humble
mindedness, not that brokcnness of heart, nor that con-
trition of spirit, which I think we should experience
when Ave go to the Lord's table. Your uneasiness is an
evidence that you are not wholly destitute of them, but
that you do not possess them to the degree you would
wlsh^ — but know ye not that these are among the bless-
SOLOMON PRiELIGH, D. D. 165
iiigs that result to the people of God, from the use of
this ordinance ? Ah ! says another, <* I would come to
the table, but I feel not that hunger and thirst which,
according to our Lord's sermon on the mount, would
render me a proper subject of the promised blessing."
And yet you appear not to be devoid of that very hunger
and thirst. Pray what else is the desire you intimate,
but the identical frame, whose want you complain of ?
III. The solemnity of the ordinance demands that I
should particularly address you who have made up your
minds, and have determined, in the power of divine
grace, to approach.
Come with a broken heart ; such an oblation is accept-
able to God; on such he will look who are of a broken
heart and of a contrite spirit, and that tremble at his
word. Was Jesus broken for you, and should not you be
broken for him ? Come, leaning on Jesus as one that
leaneth on her beloved : come, weeping : He will lead you
with joy. O did he weep blood for you, and will you not
weep tears for him ?
When at the table, meditate on his sufferings ; their
nature, their variety, their design, and their effects.
Consider his command when he instituted this ordinance.
«' Do this in remembrance of me." Does not your heart
reply — remember thee ? O ! should I ever forget thee l
Forget one who has shed his own blood for my soul ?
No ! let my right hand forget its cunning, if I forget my
Redeemer. O, my soul, keep my Jesus in everlasting
remembrance. — AMEN.
SERMOK IX.
ON THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S
SUPPER.
1 Cor. xi. 28.
But let a mftn examine Wnvself, and let him eat of that bread and drink of
that cup.
BY CHARLES H. WHARTON, D. D.
Rector of St. Mary's, Burlington.
NEW-JET?8EY PREACHEll.
SERMON IX.
1 Cor. xi. 28. — " But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that
bread and drink of that cap."
X HE all-wise governor of the universe knowing what
is in man, and condescending to his infirmities, has not
accommodated his holv ordinances to the intellectual im-
provenients of a few only of the human race, but adapt-
ed them to the great mass of mortals, immersed in sen-
sual things, prone to acquiesce in mere animal life, and
with difficulty perceiving and admitting the pure and ex-
alted truths of religion. The rites which he has insti-
tuted are accompanied with sensible images, with ob-
jects visible, and tangible in order to conduct the carnal
mind by gentle gradations, and in the easiest manner,
to the sublimity of a spiritual and celestial state. For
this purpose he has appointed two sacraments. Baptism
and the Lord's Supper, in which the elements of water,
bread, and wine, are constituted under the operation of
his Spirit, both signs and means of sanctification and par-
don. In these symbolical institutions something is done
as well as spoken, some palpable signs are introduced,
and the language of actions and signs is adopted, a lan-
guage more impressive and universal than any mode of
articulate utterances whatever.
The Avord sacrament, Avhich distinguishes these Holy
Rites, is certainly not a scriptural term, neither is it
classical, for it does not appear to lie derived from $(i-
YoL. I. W #
17© NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
1^ cramentnm, the military oath of the Romans ; but from
the same word, as nsed by the early translators of the
bible, in the edition called the vulgate, whenever they
had occasion to render into latin the Greek term myste-
ry. The very name sacrament implies mystery. In the
language of theologists, who, more intent on things
than words, did not always study the purest diction of
classical accuracy, sacramentwn is adopted as the ap-
propriate name for the holy mysteries of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper, and accordingly our church, in the
communion service, announces, *' that our Master and
only Saviour hath instituted and ordained holy myste-
ries, as pledges of his love, and for a continual remem-'
brance of his love, to our great and endless comfort."
Wherefore, as sanctification and the remission of sins
are, without doubt, the greatest favours that a human
being can receive, and as these are offered in the eu-
charist to the worthy receiver, by the founder of our
religion, and of its rites ; it follows, that, with the low-
est prostration of body and mind, man, wretched as he
is by nature, ought to approach this holy mystery, and
accept the blessings of grace which it tenders; that he
ought to eat of that bread, and drink of that cuj) after
having examined himself, Avith respect to the ideas
which he entertains of the nature, end and advantages
of this rite, after having examined the force of the ob-
jections and pretences which generally speaking induce
christians to neglect it ; after having examined the re-
ligious habits and dispositions of his soul required to re-
ceive it. In order to lend some assistance to those who
are willing to enter upon this important examination, I
shall endeavour, by God's help, briefiy to lay before you
at this time, the nature and end of this holy ordinance-.
CHARLES II. WHARTON, D. D. 171
togethei" with some reasons whieli oblige christians to
eoiuply with it, and the answers which may be made to
their objections and excuses. And first, with respect to
the nature of this ordinance, it is evident from every
passage of scripture in which it is meniioned,»t.hat the
.Lord's Supper is a spiritual feast, appointed for a solemn
remembrance of Christ's death, and is moreover a seal
of that covenant which God has made with us in him.
Its two-fold meaning is therefore manifest. It is meant,
on the one hand, to be a solemn remembrance of the
person and passion of our blessed Lord, exciting us
thankfully to call to mind all that he has done and suf-
fered for us, and in our stead ; and quickening our af-
fections with love to his person, and our wills with reso-
lution to obey his commandments; and on the other
hand, it is a seal of the new covenant of grace, which
God has made with us in Christ : in which covenant he
has assured us of pardon of sin, and eternal life, upon
the conditions of faith and repentance. This, in few
words, is tlie genuine nature of tbe Lord's Supper. It
is a commemorative sacrifice, and typical representation
by way of memorial of the grand sacrifice that had been
olFcrcd up on the cj-oss by Jesus Christ. Now with re-
spect to the ends of tliis religious institution, or the
special reasons and purposes, for which it was ordained
by our Saviour, they were brieiiy these — it was intend-
ed, Tn tbe first place, as a renewal of that solemn cove-
nant which we entered into at baptism, wlicn by the pie-
ty of our parents, or sponsors, we were dedicated to the
Lord, and solemnly promised to continue his fuiUifnl
soldki's and servants unto our lives end : and because
our inlii'Miifies ai-e many, and our violations of this cove-
nant too frequent, this opportunity was mercifully af-
172 NEW-JERSFA' PREACHER.
fordcfl us to rise again into newness of life. Another
end of it is to quicken our remembrance of our dying
Redeemer, and of the love which he manifested for us
in his painful and costly sacrifice. "This do in remem-
brance of me." It was meant as a seal to God's act of
forgiveness, as an assurance of his free gift of eternal
life. " This is my blood of the New Testament," says
he, « which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
A third end of this ordinance is to fortify the soul against
temptations of every kind, and through the strength of
this bread of life to render those who duly partake of it,
more than conquerors over all their spiritual enemies.—.
Lastly, it was intended to create an intimate moral un-
ion between Christ and the human soul, it being indeed
an holy communion between man and his Redeemer, and
to establish between all the professors of his I'eligion the
strictest bonds of harmony and love. <» AVe being many
are one bread, and one body, for we are all partakers of
that one bread," 1 Cor. x. 17. That is, as many grains
of wheat united togctliei' in one lump, constitute one loaf
of bread ; so christians, though many by the death of
our common Saviour, and the participation of his holy
supper, are spiritually incorporated into one mystical
hodv, and should labour assiduously to be of one heart,
and one mind.
Our next consideration regards the obligations incum-
bent upon christians to observe this ordinance, and these
obligauons are founded in motives of duty and of inter-
est— of duty, because a compliance with this institution
is a possitive command issuing from sovereign authori-
ty, enacted bv a dvinar Saviour : it is a command of love
and grace, " eat, and live." It is a pleasant, easy, and
honourable command, admitting frail man to the table
eilARLES H. AVHARTON, D. D. 173
ef the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is a com-
inand admirably calculated to facilitate our obedience
to e\cvy other precept ; a command wbieh must remain
in force till countermanded by the same supreme author-
ity by which it was enacted. — A compliance with it is
grounded moreover in motives of self-mtercst, for it is
surely a rich magazine of spiritual treasures — it strength-
ens our jQiith, it enlivens our hopes, it kindles the flames
of divine love, it enlarges our views and desires of Christ,
increases our sorrow for sin, and our esteem of holiness ;
it multiplies all our spiritual comforts in this world, and
greatly enlivens our expectations respecting those of
the next. While holding out sueli inestimable advanta-
ges, is it not a matter of much astonishment, that the
greater part of christians should resist the kind and
pressing invitations of the gospel, and its ministers, and
turn their backs upon this holy ordinance ? Many rea-
sons, no doubt, are alledged by thoughtful persons, to
reconcile their consciences to an omission of this kind.
We will consider the principal and most common of
these excuses in the remaining part of this discourse ^
and should what is about to be said produce no convic-
tion among my hearers, let them attribute this less to
the validity of their objections, than to the want of skill
and ability in the present attempt to refute them.
Among the first excuses made by some, is the extraor-
dinary dread, and solemnity of the ordinance itself.
These persons would put their Saviour ofl' with a com-
pliment by telling him, that the privilege is too great,
the dignity too high, the institution too sacred for them
to approach it — ^this, indeed, is a good reason for not
partaking of this ordinance witliout peparation and
care, but it is no reason for omitting it altogether. Let
ir* NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
lis not misfiike the reverence required of us in this act
of religion. It is the reverence of obedience, not of
mere speculation ; and that man onl^ has his mind im-
pressed with a proper sense of the solemnity of this sa-
crament, who is careful to receive it with all the humili-
ty and self-ahasement which becomes sinful dust and
ashes, without encouraging those superstitious appre-
hensions, which deter him from his duty. — Another plea,
is that of unworlhiness. We are unworthy, and there-
fore afraid to come, for he that eatcth mnvorlhily, eat-
eth his oivn damnation ; it is safer, therefore, to ahstain
altogether. — Now, hesides the improper stress laid upon
the word damnation in this passage, which, in the ori-
ginal means only the temporal judgments of God, as the
context clearly evinces, we must always rememher that
there is a tenfold worthiness with respect to this sacra-
ment : a worthiness of merit, and a worthiness of meet-
ness, fitness or jtroj^riety. — If by hcing^vorthy, you mean
the former, a worthiness implying merit, or a deserving
to be entertained at the Lord's table ; in that sense, not
only the holiest saint npon earth, but the highest arch-
angel in heaven is unworthy of this privilege. But there
is besides this a worthiness of Jitness or 'projirieiy^
which consists in such a preparation of soul, as the gos-
pel requires, and Christ will accept. A heggar is fre-
quently not worthy of your alms, yet you would not ac-
count it humility, but rather pride in him to refuse them
(especially if solicited to do so) upon the pretence of
his unworthiness. The truth is, an liumble sense of our
imworthiness is among the best preparations for receiv-
ing this sacrament — as to the plea of safety, w hieh is
urged for keeping away from it altogether, I conceive it
to be a very palpable mistake, because the guilt and dan-
' CHARLES II. WIIARTOX, D. C. IJS
gei* of unworthij refusing is certainly as great or great-
er, than the danger of unworthy receiving ; for a total
omission must generally be considered as a bold affront
to the authority of Christ, and a cold indifference to his
love. It is an open renunciation of those important gos-
pel privileges and graces, which the best and wisest
professors of Christianity have always believed and eon-
tended, are conferred in this ordinance. They who
slighted the invitation to the marriage-supper fared no
better than he did, who came without a wedding-gar-
ment. The former were as severely punished for their
disobedience, as the latter for his disrespect. The third
plea, is a want of due pvcpuraiion. My conscience tells
me, some one will say, that lam unfit to come to this or-
dinance, and therefore, I had better slay area]). — But to
whose charge, let it be asked, is this unfitness to be laid?
It must either be God's fault, or your own. — Will you be
rash enough to say, that God is not willing to assist, and
to accept your endeavours ? Wliat is it then that ren-
ders you unprepared ? Is it not some darling sin, which
you are unwilling to renounce ? Does not conscience tell
you that you lead an unchristian life, or that you have
never thought seriously on the nature of tliis ordinance,
and your obligations respecting it ? Besides, let them,
who plead their unfitness in this respect, ask themselves
whether they be fit to die : such persons pretend that
they must wait all the days of their lives till they ai*e
pi'epared for the Lord's Supper ; but will death wait for
lliem, till they are prepared for that event ? When this
terrific messenger calls, whether prepared or not, you
must obey his summons. Now, in what does a prepara-
tion for death consist but in the exercises of faith, rej>en-
tance and a holy life ? These also will fit you for the sa-
iTS NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
crament ', and to expect admittance into heaven without
them, is the height of senseless and guilty presumption.
Let these persons, moreover, candidly acknowledge,
whether they ever undertook in good earnest to prepare
themselves for this ordinance ? Whether they ever spent
a day, or half a day, or a few hours in their closets, in
reviewing their consciences, in discovering, confessing
and bewailing their sins, in soliciting God's grace to
mortify and subdue them ? Did they ever take time
to examine the grounds, the reasons of this christian rite,
as well as the presumptive evidence in favour of its
strict obligation on christians, arising from the opin-
ions and practice of every christian church, and of their
most exemplary and learned members and divines ? If
they have never done this, does it not look very like hy-
pocrisy to plead unfitness, which they have never taken
any pains to remove? Such persons should be careful,
lest their unfitness for the Lorirs table be extended to
every other duty of religion. The same omission of pre-
paratory exercises disqualifies for both, and God was nev-
er known to work a miracle to countenance inattention
and sloth. If you say, that you can do nothing without
God ; I reply, that, in this instance, God will do noth-
ing without you. His grace is ever ready to assist
your sincere endeavours and his goodness to accept
them j but do not deceive yourselves by excusing one
fault with another. Some will say, as another excuse
for omitting this duty, " Alas ! we are ignorant and un-
learned, and altogether destitute of the knowledge
which is required in a worthy communicant." To these
I reply, that, if they be ignorant of the fundamental
doctrines and duties of religion, their ignorance, indeed,
is dangerous and fatal, such as must debar them from
CHARLES II. WHARTON, D.D. 177'
lieaven as ^veIl as from this ordinance. But why do such
persons sit down contented in (heir ignorance ? Why do
they not repair to their churches for jmhlic, or to their
pastors for imvatc instruction, who Avouhl thank them
for such opportunities of serving them ? The fact, how-
ever, probahly is, that such persons are not so ignorant
as they imagine ,• perhaps they are mistaken in the meas-
ures and degrees of knowledge required in a worthy
communicant. For if they have a competent knowledge
of the JluthoVf the use and end of this ordinance, this will
be sufficient, however they may be unable to dispute
about its controverted points. If they imderstand the
author of tliis ordinance to be the Lord Jesus; the end
or purpose of it to be a representation, and commemo-
ration of his death — that the breaking of the bread re-
presents *» the breaking of his body upon the cross," and
the " pouring out of the wine, the shedding of his blood
for their redemption^:" if they understand the use of
this ordinance to be the renewing of their covenant with
God, which they entered into at Jjaptism, a remembrance
of their dying Lord, a seal to pardon for sin, a pledge
of Christ's love, and a solemn sanction to a strict
union among Christians in charity and love : if, I say,
they know all this, and endeavour to act comformably
to this knowledge, I may venture to assure them, that
they are sufficiently insti-ucted respecting this ordinance ;
a\id that their view s of the same will be enlarged and
perfected in proportion to their punctuality in partaking;
of its blessings. There are others who complain of a
certain hardness of heart, a certain insensibility to the
pleasures of religion, or the guilt of sin, and without
some inward feelings of this kind, they deem it most ad
visable to abstain from the Lord's Supper. Such per-
Vol. t. Y
178 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
sons should reflect, that if their sorrow for sin induce
them to loathe and abandon it, although their souls, at
the same time, be as land without water, they niay hope
humbly that their repentance is sincere. Lively and ve-
hement impressions are not certain signs of the solidity
of religious principles, much less are they always the fore-
runners of a holy life. The remembrance, of enormous
crimes often fills the soul with horrors and alarm which
are not felt by those whom God's grace has preserved
from such crying iniquities, and who have only to de-
plore the usual frailties and sinfulness of their nature ;
of these the repentance is not less sincere for being calm
and composed, and if sincere, the devout communicant
wants no other evidence of its reality. The danger of
relapsing into former irregularities is another excuse
which many alledge for omitting this ordinance ; *' we
fear, say they, that if we fall again into sin after being at
the sacrament, we shall sin, as it were, against the Holy
Ghost, and never be forgiven; we judge it, therefore, saf-
er not to receive it at all." My brethren, it must, indeed,
be acknowledged, that to sin wilfully and deliberately,
after being admitted to this intimate communion with
the Lord Jesus, is a considerable aggravation of our ofien-
ces, but still not such as to render themunpaidonable, or
sincere repentance ineffectual, because still " we have
an advocate with the Father, ever making intercession
for us," as Jong as we remain in this state of trial. lie
expects indeed of the devout communicant an hohjf but
not an aiigellcal life ,• a life of sincerify, though not of
absolute perfeelion ; and it was chiefly to secure us
against the surprizes of our vicious propensities, and to
enable us to repair them by godlike sorrow and genuine
CHARLES H. WHARTON, D. D. 179
repentance, that this sacrament was instituted ; for
what can so effeetiiallj preserve us in a course of inno-
eency, from relapsing into sin, as the solemn act of our
religion, which commemorates ft/s deaths who suffered to
expiate it ? Another j}lea is this — I dare not, says one,
partake of this ordinance, because I labour under fears
and doubts of my own sincerity. — Had I an assurance of
my state of grace, I might venture ; but I have heard
that no man ought to come to this ordinance who wants
assurance. In reply to this excuse, we may observe,
that there are two sorts of doubtings : some proceed
from a want of faith, and some from weakness of faith.
With respect to the former, some men there are, whose
consciences tell them that they are either open sinner^,
or concealed hypocrites : these persons have great rea-
son to doubt of their condition, or rather there is scarce-
ly room for any doubt at all. It is, certainly, very bad
and very dangerous, and should be immediately aban-
doned. But, on the other hand, there are doubtings
which arise from weakness of faith — our Lord alludes
to these, when he says, Matt. xiv. .31, " O thou of lit-
tle faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?" Now the ordi-
nance of the Lord's Supper is the proper remedy for
the relief and cure of doubts of this nature, and the con-
sequence is, the longer we neglect it, the more dis-
tressing will be our perplexity and apprehensions.
As to the idea that none should approach this sacrament
without an assurance of grace, it is certainly a great mis-
take ; for the sacrament being a sealing ordinance of the
covenant of grace, cannot pre-suppose what it is the piin-
eipal means of procuring. — If a man possess the full aS'
surance of salvation, there can be no need of repairing
180 NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
to any ordinance to obtain it. Besides, this assurance,
wliieli is not of sense, but of faith, must rest entirely up-
on the promises of the gospel ; and these, we know, will
only be realized to those who comply with its positive
injunctions ', of Avhich a participation, of the Lord's Sup-
per seems certainly to be one. But, says another, by
way of further excuse, I see not much advantage aris-
ing from this ordinance. Many who frequent the Lord's
table lead as " unchristian lives, as they who entirely
absent themselves ,• and such persons, instead of being ben-
efited, only incur the additional guilt of profaning a
holy rite." Allowing this assertion to be true in its ut-
most extent, we must still reject the conclusion drawn
from it. Shall we say, because some persons by a blame-
able inattention to their bodily food are choaked in the
act of eating, that therefore we should resolve to abstain
from all nourishment ? Because some persons eat and
drink unworthily, and so dishonour the memory of their
Ri-deemer, is this a sufficient reason why we should
disobey him. My brethren, we must be influenced by prin-
ciple ; we must walk by rule, and not by example.
TVe must attend to Christ's command, not to our neigh-
bour's excuses for eluding it. Besides, do we know that
the person who has fallen, after receiving the sacrament,
lias not risen again by repentance ? This, at any rate,
we may presume, that a remembrance of this ordinance
is calculated to produce a delicacy of conscience, and to
back its upbraiding^ with many affecting suggestions,
which they who neglect it are not so likely to experi-
ence. It is with this, as with every other act of reli-
gion ; the frequency of its being performed unworthily
can never serve as a plea for its omission. How many
attend weekly at the house of God without being re-
CHARLES H. WHARTON, D. D. ■ 181
formed ! Sliall we therefore say, that such attendance is
unnecessary ? By many Avho see and acknowledge the
propriety of attending to this ordinance, a very common
excuse is aliedgcd, " that they are not in charity Avith
a neighhour, that they liave received such injurious
treatment, as has excited feelings incompatible with the
dispositions required for the sacrament." On this head
calmly reflect, whether ^ou should wrong your own
souls, because a neighbour has wronged you. The in-
jury done to you is his sin ; but the malice with which
you resent it is your own, and you must answer for it.
At any rate, it is your duty to enquire, whether your
anger against your neighbour be just or otherwise. If
he has clearly injured you, and persists in his injustice,
vour resentment is well founded : but even in this case
it must be kept within due bounds, and not suffered to
instigate you to sentiments of revenge. A sensibility to
injuries, when chastened in this manner, does not indis-
pose you to this holy rite. But if, upon examination, you
discover your aversion to be unfounded in this case, go
Jirst and he reconciled to your brother before you present
yourself at this feast of love ; and there, if any sparks of
the irascible passions be still lurking in your hearts, you
will surely be induced and enabled to extinguish them
Avhen solemnly engaged in commemorating the most il-
lustrious and affecting instance of loving our enemieSf
and pardoning injuries, that was ever exhibited to the
world. This emptying of the heart of all rancour and
animosity is an indispensable peparation for coming to
this ordinance ; but reflect also, that even to pronounce
the Lord's prayer without it, is a manifest profanation,
and that at the final judgment of the universe, the difini-
tive sentence will turn chiefly upon tliis point. Anothcv.
1«2 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
reason for neglecting this ordinance, and wbieh they who
are actuated by it, will hardly allow themselves to acknow-
ledge, is a certain apprehen.sion, lest so public and so
solemn a profession of religion should lay them under
restraints incompatible with some beloved levities, fri-
volities, and vanities of a worldly life. Such persons
unfortunately confound the gloom of superstition with
religious seriousness, and are thus deterred from their
duty in this particular by the insidious tempter persuad-
ing them that the christian temper is inconsistent with
the innocent enjoyments of human life. This, indeed, is
a fatal and common error ; but if it be suffered to influ-
ence their conduct with respect to this ordinance, it may
also annul the obligations which are already upon them.
Let such persons look back upon their baptismal vows.
Did they not then " renounce the devil and all his works,
the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and the
carnal desires of the flesh, so as not to be led by them ?"
Did not as many as have been baptized into Christ, prom-
ise to put '' on his Spirit and walk in his commandments
all the days of their lives ?" Now what obligations arising
from a participation of the Lord's Supper are more bind-
ing than these ? This ordinance, therefore, lays no re-
straints upon the conscience, which our baptismal engage-
ments have not already established ; nor are they who
neglect it exempted from any christian duties and strict-
ness of living which the devout communicant is obliged
to practice. At the Lord's table we confirm our baptis-
mal covenant, and proclaim it to the church ; but we
bind ourselves by no new ties to the service of our Ma-
ker; so tbat whether we partake or not of this holy or-
dinance, the obligation is still the same ** of living soberly,
righteously and godly in the present world.'' The last
CHARLES H. WHARTON, D.D. HS
excuse which I shall mention, is that which is often al-
ledged on the score of a multiplicity of wordly concerns.
<* We are so incumbered, it is said, so bewildered with
a press of daily business, that we have really no leisure
to prepare ourselves for so holy a solemnity/' — But can,
indeed, men find no time to serve and glorify that God,
of whose gift is every moment of their existence ? Can
time be found for every thing, but the concerns of the
soul ? Your business is either necessary or it is super-
fluous, if the latter, why not renounce it ; for such busi-
ness is commonly, to say the least of it, laborious idle-
ness I If it be necessary, and proper, the business of
your station and calling ought not to preclude a
preparation for the sacrament ; for such business, per-
formed with a right spirit, is God's service. You are
serving God, when walking industriously and uprightly
in the ways of your vocation. Besides, let us reflect,
that the more worldly business we have upon our hands,
the more pressing is our obligation to attend on this or-
dinance. Men of extensive business, more than all others,
are exposed to that wordly-mindedness so hostile to a
spirit of religion, and Avhich nothing can effectually
counteract but occasional abstraction* of the mind from
earthly concerns, to refresh it with the influences of
another world. The constant encroachments of the
mammon of unrighteousness upon the affections must
be combatted by the most powerful aids of religion,
or this idol will finally succeed in usurping that place in
die heart which should be alwavs reserved for its Cre-
ator and its God. In a word, he who pleads busincas for
neglecting tlic Lord's Supper virtually declares that he
cannot wait upon the Sovereign Lord and Master of the
184 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
universe, till permitted to do so by another master who
has a higher claim to his services.
And now, having taken a very cursory view of the ex-
amination which every person should make of the na-
ture, end and obligations of this ordinance, and of the
excuses which arc commonly alledged for neglecting it,
we should, in the next place, naturally proceed to that
personal examination which each one ought to make of
the state of his conscience, before he eats of that hread
and drinks of that cup. But as there is no leisure, at
this time, for entering on this subject, which is very
clearly elucidated in our book of common prayer, and
other treatises on the Lord's Supper, which devout com-
municants will not fail to read as part of their prepara-
tion, all that remains to be said at present is, to entreat
those who hear me to make themselves acquainted with
this holy ordinance, and the dispositions necessary for
partaking of its blessings. The example of those who
deliberately reject this institution, or who, Avithout de-
liberation, never comply with it, can on no account be
deemed an excuse for any who will not think upon the
subject. In a matter of such importance, it is the duty
of all persons to examine for themselves, with upright-
ness of heart, and humble supplication for light to un-
derstand (he scriptures, which mention this institution:
they should examine moreover the presumptive evidence
in favor of the importance, sanctions and benefits of this
rite, arising from its primitive, uninterrupted, and uni-
versal adoption in the christian church ; and from the
conscientious practice of the most learned, most religious
members of that branch of it to which we profess to be-
long. As members of this ehureh anxious to preserve
her ancient rcppectabiiity, to support her claim to apos-
DUARLES H. WHARTON, D D. 183
tolic orthodoxy, and promote effectually her concurrence
with other churches in spreading on every side the light
and purity of the gospel, let us from this time pay more
becoming attention to tliis holy ordinance— Let us consi-
der an increasing attendance at the Lord's tahle as one
of the most certain proofs of an increase of piety among
us. Besides the excuses commonly alledged for the neg-
lecting this holy ordinance, there are some causes to
the same effect of a local nature, which apply to particu-
lar congregations, and from which ours is probably not en-
tirely exempt. Our lot is cast in a part of the country,
where a certain christian society is most numerous, which
has abandoned all the outward ordinances of religion :
and it has been often remarked, when this is the case,
that the opinions of the many, merely from the weight
of numbers, are apt to preponderate, or at least to damp
the zeal of less numerous communities for their peculiar
doctrines ; any indifference arising from such plausible
pretexts towards what we profess to be the positive in-
junctions of the gospel, must be ranked among those
obstacles to our duty which we arc called upon to over-
come ,* nay, the very respectable society which deems
it a material part of their religious system to omit
these ordinances, must censure those who imitate
their practice, Avhile condemning their principles.
What in fact would be our own reflections, if at the close
of a sermon against Baptism and the Lord's Supper, we
should see these sacraments administered in a meeting-
house of Friends ? And are not their unfavourable im-
pressions equally well founded ,• when they behold so
few of those who admit these ordinances to be divine,
regarding them with indifference, and omitting them al-
together ? Let us then wipe away the foul reproach of
Tox. I. Z
186 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER;
inconsistency so frequently, and alas, so justly objected
to us by the professed adversaries of this rite, who
tells us exultiugly, that we teach our children to believe
the Lord's (Swjjpcr to he one of the sacraments generally
necessary to solvation, and yet that many of us, nay by
far the greater part of us, pass our whole lives without
ever receiving it. In a word, let us always rememberj
that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is one of the
appointed and most effectual means of grace ; that the
preparation for it, and all that concerns the receiving of
it, is highly favourable to virtue, and true godliness,
and that whatever favours these, must promote happi-
ness, both private and social, both temjmral and eternal.
And now to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be
everlasting praise. — AMEN.
SERMON X.
THE DANGER AND FOLLY OF INDULGING
A COVETOUS TEMPER.
Luke xii. 20.
^ But God said, unto him, thou fool, this night thy seul shall he required of thee .^
then whose sriall those things be which thou hast provided ?
BY THE REV. JAMES RICHARDS, A. M.
Pastor of the first Presbyterian Congregation of Newark.
NEW-JEBSEY PREACHER.
SERMON X.
Luke xii. 20. — " But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ?
jy EVER was the folly of a worldly spirit, pourtrayed
in stronger colours than in the parable before us. One
had said to our Lord while he was discoursing upon the
danger of denying him, " Master, speak to my brother,
that he divide the inheritance with me." To which un-
seasonable request Jesus returns this answer, "Man,
who made me a judge or divider over you ?" I am not
come to settle men's disputes about their worldly estates ;
I have an infinitely more important errand ; I came to
save their souls, which from a covetous spirit they are
in danger of losing forever. " Take heed therefore, and
beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
To give the more effect to this reply, he relates the
short and striking parable from which my text is taken.
<< The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plen-
tifully : and he thought within himself, saying, What
shall I do ? because I have no room Avhcre to bestow my
fruits. And he said. This will I do : I will pull down my
barns, and build greater ', and there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul. Soul thou
hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine case,
eat, drink and be merry. But God said unto him. Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then
198 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
whose shall those things he, which thou hast provided ?
So is he, who layeth up treasure for himself, and i& not
rich toward God."
There is none who can describe the heart of man like
him who made that heart. There is none whose instruc-
tions so much merit our regard, as his who came into
the world to teach us and to shed his blood for our re-
demption.
He has a perfect knowledge of our ease, and the most
disinterested regard to our welfare. Let us a ujoment
attend to his representation of the rich man in the para-
ble, whose character and destiny are both comprehended
in these words, " Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee : then whose shall those things be, which
thou hast provided ?"
I ask the more earnest attention to this subject, be-
cause no doubt there are many, who are acting the fool-
ish part of this man, wliile others, are treading so close-
ly in his steps, as greatly toemlanger their salvation. It
is a day, brethren, of deep and aAvful declension : a^ ben the
love of the world has become predominant ; and the cry
of many hearts is, " give^ gi'ce, and say not, it is enough.'*
But let us hear our Lord's representation of the rich
man.
1. In the midst of prosperity, he was unthaiikfiil. God
had endued him with wealth, and thus raised him above
that state of dependence, to which many are subjected. A
blessing descended upon the labour of his hand, and his
ground brought forth plentifully, so that he had not
room where to bestow all his fruits. Here was a call
for tlie warmest gratitude. He ought to liave lifted up
his heart to God, in sentiments of humble and pious ac-
knowledgment. But God does not appear to have
JAMES RICHARDS, A.M.' 1.91
been in all his tlioughts. His concern was how to aug-
ment and secure his abundance, regardless of the hand
whence it came and uf the obligations it conferred.
Who does not see, that this is a common case, among
those on whom God has bestowed the riches of this world?
The more they are indebted to their great benefactor,
the more do they forget him. The more he causes
their cup to run over, the more presumptuous, hardened,
and ungrateful do they appear. This is so plainly the
fact, that if a man were to ask, where shall I lind the
best friends of my God ? Where shall I find the heart
that glows with the warmest sensibility for the common
blessings of divine providence? We must for the most
part direct him to the humble dwellings of the poor, and
often to those who subsist upon the slender charity of
their fellow men. Read what the pious Asaph has said
of the rich in the seventy-third Psalm. <« Their eyes
stand out with fatness ; they have more than heart can
wish.— They set their mouth against the heavens and
their tongue walketh through the earth. They say, how
doth God know ? And, is there knowledge in the Most
High ? Behold these are the ungodly, who prosper in the
world : they increase in riches." We know that this is
not true of all : we know that there are many who, like
Abraham, abound in the good things of this life —
and at the same time are rich in faith and heirs of the
kingdom. Still it cannot be denied that men who in-
crease in wealth, often increase in pride and self-suffi-
ciency, and forget their dependence on God. But we
proceed with our Saviour's account of the rich man in
the parable.
2. His grounds brought forth plentifully. God pours
abundance into his hands. Hoes he not begin to consider.
192 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
wliat is the proper use of this bounty ? What deeds of
charity and beneficence he ought to perform ? Perhaps
he intends to be the father of the poor, and to make the
widow's heart sing for joy ? Perhaps he meditates deeds
of benevolence which shall immortalize his name on
earth and lay up in store a good foundation against the
time to come ? Far otherwise ; his heart is occupied
only with selfish and earthly schemes. He cares not for
the cries and suff*6rings of the poor. If others chuse to
be eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, be it so : he
neither covets their work nor their reward. His soul is
bent on another object. All his thoughts turn upon the
grovelling purpose of increasing his wealth, and provid-
ing the means of voluptuous enjoyment. He does npt
seem to know that he has an eternity to provide for. He
talks of his soul indeed, but not of its future and im-
mortal destiny. All his attention is confined to this
world, and to those short-lived pleasures, which with the
fashion of this world pass away. On these his imagi-
nation eagerly dwells. But mark,
3. They are to him pleasures yet future. Much as
he loves the world, and much as he possesses of it, all
his enjoyment is in prospect. He has not yet reached
the period in which he can say," Soul, take thine ease;"
nor does he know any satisfaction in a moderate parti-
cipation of his abundance ; an insatiable desire to hoard
up, and to rise to a state of independence, is paramount to
every other object. Thus his foolish heart postpones
the certain enjoyment of the present, for the precarious
and excessive indulgence of the future. He deceives
himself by imagining that time and the increase of his
wealth will make him more liberal.
jfAMES RICIURDS, A. M. 19 j
How many are there who follow his example ; who
eannot enjoy, to-day because they are laying up lor to-
morrow,* and when to-raorrow comes, their enjoyment is"
still postponed for the same reason. All is prospect
with them, and were they to live to the age of Methuse-
lah, the scene would not change. To swell their estatesj
with the deceitful dream of one day enjoying them, con-
stitutes the sum of their desires and exertions.
4. We call your attention to another view of the rich
man. He is increasing in wealth, while it fills him with
eare, puts him upon resolutions to guard against loss^
and provide for future enjoyment. But attend to the
self-confident and presumptuous language he employs.
" I am resolved what to do. I will pull down Diy barns
and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits
and my goods." You hear not, « If the Lord will, I
shall live, and do this or that." He forgets his depen-
dence on God, for the accomplishment of his purposes,
and what is commonly connected with it, he forgets the
precarious tenure of that life, on which all his schemes
and enjoyments are suspended. He looks forward to
the future, as if the events of it were under his control ;
and calculates as confidently upon success, as if his own
exertions were sufiicient to command it.
Neither death nor disappointment make any part of
his plan. In all the height of self-flattery, he fixes on a
period when he shall be able to say, " Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease,
eat, drink and be merry." Then nothing is to be want-
ing of all that he desires. Secured from the chances of
misfortune, and freed from his present cares and labours,
he is to pass the remainder of his days in a course of un-
restrained indulgence, and of unmingled delight,
A a
*9i ^EW-JERSEY PREACHER.
This is (he prospect which his own imagination pre-
sented. But what was the sequel ? In the midst of this
dseani, God said to hin), " thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee." Awful reverse ! In a mo-
ment his sky is overcast ; the gilded prospect of the
morning disappears; all his expectations are cut off, and
his hopes are forever turned to despair. He dies,— and
that soul, whose immortal desliny he had forgotten, is
su?nmoned to the bar ofjudgmenr. It comes before God,
whose mercy it had abused, and whose power and jus-
tice it had defied. Where now is that wealth which he
had accumulated in this world, or which he was so anx-
ious to accumulate ? Will it fill him with confidence iu
the presence of his Judge ? Will it soothe the anguish of
throbbing guilt ? Will it purchase for him a moment's re-
prieve from the wide opening pit of hell ? Alas ! riches
profit not in the day of wrath : the remembrance of
them to the lost soul, will sting it with keen and eternal
remorse. Who can look at this picture without saying,
miserable end of a self-deluded mortal ! Fool, indeed, to
make this world his portion, while all that is honoura-
ble in a virtuous course, all that is valuable in the im-
mortal soul, all that is pure and exalted in heaven is
sacrificed. But pause a moment, brethren. — On whom
does this censure fall ?
We are astonished at the man who is wholly intent on
the pursuit of gain, while he neglects the salvation of
his soul, *' a good all price beyond." But are none of us
treading in his steps ? The heart is deceitful above all
things, and a covetous heart, perhaps, the most deceitful
of all. On no subject do men more frequently mistake
their own character. We often see those over whom
this vice reigns with the most unlimited sway, apparent-
JAMES RICHARDS, A.jVI. IJis
ly as unconscious of the fact, as if their souls were bapti-
sed with the purest cliarity. They may even become a
proverb for their covetousncss without suspecting that
this disposition has ever found its way into their hearts.
But how is it witli us ? Are we so far absorbed in the
world as to have neither time nor inclination to attend
to the great duties of religion ? Do we plead the multi-
plicity of our worldly cares as an excuse for neglecting
the great and solemn concerns of our souls ?
Then are we covetous. We indulge an inordinate de-
sire for the guod things of this world, and we are not
willing to cast our care on divine providence in the hum-
ble discharge of our duty. We are not willing to seek
the kingdom of God and his righteousness first of all, leav-
ing it to the Lovd to supply us with wliatever is needful,
according to his good promise. We tread in the steps of
the rich worldling, whose heart was supremely set upon
the acquisition and enjoyment of the present life.
But supiwsc we do not neglect the duties of religion
altogether — ^jet if we attend to them only as our world-
ly interest and convenience will admit— if we subordi-
nate them to tlie pursuits and aequisiiions of the world,
we are among the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.
I will go farther. Suppose we are scrupulously atten-
tive to all the external duties of religion, yet if our souls
are not in them, what will it avail? If our hearts are
not in heaven but on earth, arc we not earthlj ? x'he
Pharisees abounded in the rites and forms of religion,
while they devoured widows' houses and gave other signs
of the most deep rooted covetousiiess. Whoever toils
chielly for the body, not for the soul, is like tlie man in
the parahie, who i.iid up treasure for himself, but was
not ricJi towards God. What shall be said of those.
J9)3 ^-CW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Viiho, t]iougli possessed of abundance, have seldom or nevr
er any thing to spare for the poor ; whose well known
covetous'ness chills the heart of every applicant ? What
Bhali be said of the litigious man, who has always some
right in dispute, and who has a thousand times more
fioncern for his earthly inheritance, than to secure a ti-
tle to the promised rest ? What shall be said of the de-
vouring usurer, who in defiance of the laws of God
and society, grinds the face of the poor to satisfy his
greedy thirst of gain ? Are not these men under the
reirning power of covetousness ? Are they not in danger
of being arrested by God himself, in the awful language
of our text, *' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be re-
quired of thee : then whose shall those things be which
thou hast provided ?"
But admit that we could acquit ourselves of covetous-
ness as a reigning sin, and that, none of the characters
now mentioned, belong to us ; still, has not this temper
too manifest a hold of our hearts ? Do we not think
more about the world, and care more for the world than
we ought to do ? Do we not give less frequently, less
bountifully, and less cheerfully, than if a spirit of covet-
ousness was wholly eradicated from our hearts ? Alas !
brethren, covetousness is the sin of our times. It is a
sin in the church, and a sin out of the church ; a sin
which, under the deceitful names of prudence and cecon-
omy, chills the spirit of pie<y in many a bosom, and
vyhich daily loads with reproach that heaven-born reli- ,
gion, whose principle and end is charily.
What sliali we do to counteract its baneful and wide
spreading influence ? Let us deeply fix in our hearts, the
inunensc folly of seeking to become rich in this world,
when it is to be done at the expense of any moral duty,
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 197
and at the hazard of our immortal souls. Let us remem-
ber, that wealth is but a painted bubble, which though it
has a thousand charms for its votaries, can never make
us happy. It cannot satisfy the covetous soul itself. It
cannot bring peace to the troubled conscience 5 it cannot
draw the sting of death.
Let us bear in mind, that we brought nothing into the
■world with us, and that it is certain we can carry noth-
ing out ; that death will soon strip us of all our worldlj
acquisitions, should our days be protracted to the long-
est period, and that for aught we can tell, it may be nigh,
even at the door. Who ever felt more secure than the
rich man in the parable, when he was occupied with
the thoughts " of pulling down his barns and building
greater ?" And yet God said to him, " Thou fool, this
uight sball thy soul be required of thee."
We know not what a day may bring forth. Every
moment we are liable to be torn from our possessions,
and pass into eternity.
What madness is that, which causes our hearts to
cleave to this world ? Why are we so anxious to lay up
treasures on earth, rather than in heaven ? I beseech
you, brethren, by the mercies of God : I beseech you by
tlie hopes of an eternal heaven, and by the fears of an
enillcss hell, that you withdraw your affections from
this world ; that instead of heaping up silver as the dust,
and preparing raiment as the clay, you strive to become
rich towards God. Fear not to give alms of such things
as ye have ; but remember, that to do good, and to com-
municate^ is a sacrifice with wliich God is well pleased.
By and by you will be put out of your stewardship j O,
how desirable to find one who will receive you into ever-
lasting habitations !
198 IKEW-JEIISEY PREACHEK.
I press you the more upon this subject, beeajise it caH'*
not be doubted, if we held the world with a looser hand,
we should enjoy more real happiness while in the world,
and should not find the same impediments to our entrance
into the kingdom of God, when the business of this world
is over. On the wings of faith let us rise to that rich
and undefiled inheritance, whither Jesus the Saviour is
gone, and to which he will bring all his true disciples at
last •.—there ai*e treasures incorruptible and immortal;
treasures of increasing value, which can never be lost by
misfortune, or torn away by violence ; treasures which
will continue to enrich and to bless their possessors
through eternity.
Some, however, may be ready to felicitate themselves,
that they are in no way concerned in this subject.
"Whatever vices or follies they possess, they are not cov-
etous. They have no desire to hoard up wealth with a
Tiew to any future enjoyment. They spend liberally and
cheerfully as they go. The parable of the rich world-
ling, they conceive is in no degree applicable to them.
To such let me say, are not your hearts fastened upon
the world ? It matters not, whether it be honour or
pleasure, or gain which attract you. If you love the
world, you will perish with the world. The rich man
dreamed of one thing : you may dream of another : but
your dreams will be alike delusive, alike ruinous. He
who said to him, " Thou fool, this night thy soul shall
be required of thee," may suddenly and unexpectedly
pronounce the same awful language in your ears. De-
lay not then in detaching your affections from tlie. world.
Think often, and think solemnly of that dread eternity,
which will soon swallow up all your interests and con-
JAMES RICHARDS, A. M. 1^
cerns. Prepare to meet thy God, whose favour is life,
and whose loving kindness is better than life. Kiss the
Son, lest he be angry, and thoa perish from the way,
while his wrath is kindled but a little AMEN.
%
SERMON XI.
ON THE BENEFITS OF AFFLICTION.
Romans viii. 28.
J' And we know that all things work togetlier for good to them that love Go(fc*'
BY THE REV. THOMAS PICTON, A M.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of West-Field.
V<Kt.. I. B b
NEWJERSEY PHE VC HEU.
SERMON XI.
Rom. viii. 28. — " And we know that all tliing;s work together for good to thera
that love God."
1^0 numerous and so various are the afflictions of tlie
christian, that he is, sometimes, ready to say, with the
good old patriarch Jacob, " All these things are against
me." AVhen the hand of poverty presses heavily upon
liini, — when those, whom he once called friends, prove
treacherous, — when his real friends are torn away, by
death, fpom his arms ; — and when he himself is languish-
ing with disease ; is it surprising that he should, occa-
sionally, yield to dejection ?
But he is never left to remain without hope and cons€h
lation. In the midst of all his darkness, light will arise.
Amidst all his sorrows, sources of comfort are still left
in
open to him. AVhilst he is assured, that aJl things work
together for liis good, he has no reason to repine. Nay,
he finds daily cause to bless the sovereign hand, that
chastises in mercy.
The sentiment contained in the text has been the sup-
port and consolation of many believers, when dangers
threatened, and afflictions pressed. In order to afford
relief to a distressed heart, you must place hope before
it. It is of the utmost importance that this hope be well
founded, and the reason of it be perceived. Although
the Apostle speaks with the greatest confidence — " we
trnow that all things work together for good to them
2#4 NEW-JERSEV PREACHER.
that love God," — and although we might safely restthi»
matter vlioSly on his authority ; yei, as we may not, im-
mediately, perceive the J'oun elation of this hiessed assu>
ranee, I shall endeavour, in the
First place, to illustrate, in a few propositions, the
truth of this consoling sentiment: so that we may, at
length, arrive at the same degree of assurance, " that all
things work together for good to them that love
God." — For this purpose, let it be observed,
1. That the Almighty is the governor of the world,
and the disposer of human events.
No truth is more obvious than that there is a divine
providence, which governs the world. Even among the
ancient Heathen, this doctrine was universally admitted ;
except by the disciples of Epicurus, who abandoned
themselves to sensuality and libertinism. Some of the
heathen writers compare the Almighty to a pilot, sitting
at the helm, and steering the ship : others, to a general,
who marshals his hosts, and directs all their movements.
Some speak of him as one who guides a chariot whither-
soever he pleases ; and others represent him as ',. mighty
monarch, sitting on his throne, and giving laws to his
sulijccts: — all evidently intimating, that he has the di-
rection and management of human affairs. The altars,^
which they erected, and the Avorship, which they per-
former!, eleaily prove, that they helieved, not only in the
being of God, hut also that he interfered with the conceits
of mortals. — I mention this, to shew, that even the light
of natnrc gives strong intimations of a Livine Provi-
dence.
In the sacred volume^ also, we find this doctrine fre-
quently inculcated, and better explained. Therein, we
are taught to believe, that He, who created the worlds.
THOMAS PICTOX, A. M. m.
governs it by his providence : so that nothing happens by
chance to him. He, whose mind conceived, and whose
power executed, the vast plan of the universe, directs all
its movements, cither by his immediate and invisible en-
ergy, or through the intervention of secondary cau-
ses. His providence extends to the state and condition
of all his creatures. *' He covereth the heaven with
clouds. He prepareth rain for the earth, and maketh
grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to tlie
beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry,"
Psalm cxlvii. 8, 9. " He doeth according to his will in
the array of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth," Dan. iv. 35. And not even a sparrow falleth
on the ground without his knowledge : but the very
hairs of our head are all numbered. See Mat. x. 29, 30.
Since the providence of God is thus conversant about
the minutest affairs, it follows, of course, in the second
place, that he is intimately acquainted with the par--
licular state of every good man.
Although the divine providence extends to all crea»
tures, and all worlds, yet, in the holy scriptures, Ave are
taught, that it has a peculiar reference to the condition,
and actions, of intelligent beings. Man, the favoured
child of heaven, is an object of the Almighty's particu-
lar attention.
To us, whose powers are so limited, it may be diffl- '
cult to conceive, how the particular state of all human
beings, scattered over the face of the whole earth,
may be distinctly known at once. But let us remember,
that it is an attribute of Deity, whose knowledge is
boundless, and whose wisdom is infinite, AVhatever con-
ceptions we could form of the Supreme Being, wilhout
this powcr^ would represent him as liable to ignorance.
S96 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
uncertainty and error ; and, therefore, would be wholly
unworthy of God, the Creator, Governor and Judge of
the world.
Since he is, then, a Being of perfect knowledge, he
must be intimately acquainted with all our concerns.
« In him we live, and move, and have our being : and he
determines the bounds of our habitation." Nothing can,
therefore, happen to us Avithout his knowledge. He is
a witness to all our calamities. He beholds those tears
which are shed in secret. He hears those groans which
mortal ears never hear. He beholds the anguish of the
struggling heart. He sees the captive, in his dungeon,
from whom the light of heaven is excluded. He be-
holds the ship-wrecked mariner struggling for life. He
is present with the child of affliction languishing on a
sick bed, — so that, whatever evils befal the christian, in
this world of sorrow, the God, whom he serves, is per-
i^ctly acquainted with them all. —
I proceed to observe, in the third place, that the
God, who knows and orders all things, loves the chris-
tian.
Whilst sinners remain in their natural state, — far
from God, — under the control of sin, and the influence
of depraved hearts ; a Being of infinite purity and holi-
ness must regard them with abhorrence. As creatures,
they are viewed with complacency, but, as sinners^ with
detestation; for it is expressly said, that " God is angry
with the wicked every day." — But when the heart is
changed, by the power of divine grace, the sinner's guilt
is removed ; for " there is no condemnation to them that
are in Clirist Jesus." He passes from death unto life.
He is made a new creature, and a partaker of the divine
THOMAS PICTON, A. M. 20f
nature. lie is admitted into the family of Zion, and his
heavenly Father views him as a heloved child.
Now, in taking; a view of these particulars, collective-
ly, the truth of the Apostle's declaration in the text, m ill
evidently appear. — " We know that all things work to-
gether for good to them that love God." All the afflic-
tions of life, which the christian endures, are the
dispensations of providence. They are, wisely, order-
ed, by that gracious Being, who has all power in his
hands, — who delights in the hajypiness of the godly ; and,
therefore, they must, either in their present, or future,
consequences, produce real good.
The truth of the sentiment contained in the text, might
be further illustrated, and confirmed, by considering that
the promises, and attributes, of God are all engaged to
promote the welfare of good men : and, aJso, by consid-
ering that this life is a state of trial, and preparation for
the next ; and, therefore, that all things must, ultimate-
ly, be productive of good to the christian.
But, forbearing to dwell on these particulars, I shall
now proceed to consider, in the
Second place, in what manner affliction is productive
of good.
And, here, I must premise, that the whole force and
emphasis of the text seem to turn on a circumstance men-
tioned in the latter clause of it, namely, tliat afflictions
and troubles arc productive of good to those onhj who
lovE God. They, whose hearts glow Avith love ujifeign-
ed towards the blessed God, are the only persons, whose
minds are disposed to make a wise improvement of these
dispensations of providence. The incorrigible sinner,
although " often reproved, yet hardcneth his neck, until
be is suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy."
208 NEW-JERSEY PllEACUEtt.
Affliction, instead of melting his heart into contrition,
serves only to harden him in sin, and render him more
inexcusable at last. — But the real christian, whose heapt
and life are devoted to God, derives substantial and per-
manent benefits even from the chastisements of his heav-
enly Father. For, in the
1st Place, affliction brings him to abhor an6, forsake
sin. " Before I was afflicted," says the Psalmist, **I
went astray j but now have I kept thy word. It is good
for me that I have been afflicted ; that I might learn thy
statutes." When the christian labours under any afflic-
tion of body, or mind, he considers sin as the cause of
every woe. He knows, that natural evil was introduced
into the world, in consequence of moral evil. And, from
the weight of affliction which presses upon him, he feels
that it is an evil and bitter thing to sin against God,
Hence, he is brought to abhor evil, and cleave to that
which is good. — ^He is not only persuaded that sin, in gen-
eral, is the cause of misery ; but he is led to examine,
whether he is not guilty of some 'particular commission
of evil, or some omission of duty, wkich calls for the rod
of affliction. He iinds,^ perhaps, upon examination, that
his ways are not right with God. Some inordinate pas-
sion prevails. Some darling sin is too much cherished,
or some christian duty too much neglected. Hence, he
is brought to consider his ways. He humbles himself
under the mighty hand of God, and abhors himself in
, dust and ashes.
Affliction serves, not only to correct what is wrong in
us, at present^ but, also, to remind us of the iniquities
which are past, — to keep us humble under a sense of our
demerit ; and to make us more watcliful against tempta-
tions infuture. We have a striking instance of this ia.
THOMAS PICTON, A.Mr S09
king David. The unnatural rebellion of his son Absa-
lom,— the misfortune of his daughter Tamar, — the con-
duct of Shimei, in eursing him before his face, — and all
the troubles which befel him, in his kingdom, were con-
sidered and improved, by that trulj penitent man, as
solenm mementos of his awful wickedness, in the case of
Uriah the Ilittite. " Against thee," sajs be, " thee on-
ly have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. For I
acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever be-
fore me."
2. Affliction is productive of good to the christian, as
it serves to wean his affections from this ivorld, and di-
rect his viavs to a happier region.
If we enjoyed nothing but pure, unmixed happiness,
beneath the sun, we would, naturally, wish, that this
world were our permanent abode. Our affection would
be wholly set on things on the earth : and the bare idea
of resigning all these joys would chill our very soul.
Even as it is, — with all the troubles and afflictions, which,
fall to our lot, — we are prone to become inordinately at-
tached to earthly vanities. When we enjoy health and
affluence, — a goodflow of spirits,— .and agreeable friends;
we are too apt to form false estimates of human happi-
ness. We imagine, that our mountain standeth strong,
and that we shall never be moved. When our paths are
strewed with flowers, we sport and play with every tri-
fle. We are, almost, tempted to wish, that this world
were our home. We forget, that these pleasures ar©
fleeting,— that we ourselves are mortal,^<ind that, in a
few years, these bodies shall intermix with the clods of
the valley, and our immortal spirits ascend to God who
gave them.
Vol/. J. C c
ftia KEWJ^ERSEY PREACHER.
It is, therefore, wisely ordered, !)y Providence, t])at
we should, sometimes, experience affliction, and sorrow,
in order to correct these false notions. When we strug-
gle with the pains and ills of life, our affections are grad-
ully, weaned from the world. Sudden shocks of misfor-
tune teach us to repose confidence in God only. When
our hest earthly hopes are destroyed, we see the foUy of
building for happiness beneath the skies. When we lie
on the bed of affliction, we naturally reflect, that w©
KusL soon, lie down in the bed of dlist ; and we think
of that happy world, wherein none of the inhabitants will
say, "I am sick." When our dearest friends are torn
away, by death, from our embrace, we reflect on the
vanity of expecting pure and permanent happiness from
any earthly connection : and we look, with fond anxiety,
towards that delightful region, where we hope to meet
our departed friends. — When we are persecuted, for
righteousness* sake, we think, with the liveliest sensations
of joy, of that blessed abode, where "the wicked cease
i\*om troubling and the weary are at rest."
3. Affliction is productive of good to the christian,
inasmuch as it is one mean of improving his p'aces.
It is not enough, my brethren, that our heart and af-
fection b^ withdrawn from the vanities of life. If we
would be happy and useful christians, we must, also,
gro-M in grace. And afflicted christians, generally speak-
ing, have their graces in the most lively exercise. In
this respect, " sorrow is better than laughter ; for by the
sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better."
Affliction serves to conllrm the christian's/aifft. Far
from viewing trouble as a mark of his heavenly Father's
displeasure, he considers it as a token of love and af-
fection : " For, whom the Lord loveth, he chastcneth.
THOMAS PICTOK, A.M. 211
and scourge th every son wliom lie receivcth. If ye en-
dure chastening, God dealelli with you as with sons ;
what son is he whom the Father c has teneth not ?"— .And,
from divine assistance afforded in past trihulation, tlie
believer draws a fresh argument, that he shall, at length,
through riches of grace, triumph over every difficulty.
Affliction serves, also, to enlarge and confirm his pa-
tience. " We glory," says the apostle Paul, " in tribu-
lations ; knowing that tribulation worketh patienceJ*
** My brethren," saith another apostle, *< count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations ; knowing this, that
the trying of your faith worketh patience,^^ Whilst
others murmur and repine under affliction, the christian
can say, " It is the Lord, let him do whatsoever seera-
eth him good." Although it may appear, at first view,
that tribulation is calculated to produce impatience and
disquietude, yet it is evident, from frequent observation,
that affliction begets, under the influence of divine grace,
a calm, silent, humble resignation, which is strengthen-
ed and confirmed by daily exercise.
Again : affliction serves to animate the christian's
'zeal. When the world smiles, he is too apt to slumber
and sleep. But when God, in his providence, visits him
with the rod of correction, he is roused from his lethar-
gy. His whole soul is in action, and his chief concern
is to i»romote the glory of his God.
4. Pres^'nt afflictions must be productive of good to
the christian, inasmuch as they will serve to sweeten the
joys of heaven.
With what pleasure does the weary mariner behold
the desired haven, after a tempestuous and dan-
gerous voyage ! In like mannei-, the christian, who
is now struggling with misfortunes^ will be filled with joy
212 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
unspeakable, when he shall hid adieu to every evil. O,
how sweetly will he rest from all bis toils ! The transi-
tion, from pahif to pure pleasure^ — from poverty, to the
enjoyment of the heavenly in/ie?'itawce,— from the valley
of the shadow of death, to the light of everlasting day —
will be so great as to fill his soul with such exquisite sen-
sibilities as exceed all thought and description. Behold
the afflicted christian ; see him stuggiing with poverty
and wretchedness. See his body Avasted by affliction, and
his spirits almost broken by adversity. Behold him
stretched on the bed of death, and his whole frame con-
vulsed with agony. — ^Perhaps, you are ready to ask,
How is it possible that all these things work together
for his good ? Pursue his soul, in her flight to the ever-
lasting habitations, and you will be satisfactorily an-
swered. Behold him carried, by angels, into Abraham's
hosom. Before, he was afflicted ;^" but, now, he is
comforted." He is comforted, in viewing the striking
contrast between his former misery, and present happi-
ness. Before, he was, perhaps, despised : but, now, he
is introduced with acclamations of joy, to an innumera-
l)le company of angels, and the spirits of just men made
perfect. Before, he was poor and destitute : but, now,
he is put in possession of the inheritance incorruptible,
iindefiled and unfading. Before, he was assailed by
temptations : but, now, he is oat of the reach of every
adversary. Before, he was afflicted with pain : but,
noiv, he has bidden an everlasting adieu to pain, and
toil, and misery. He is come out of the great tribula-
tion. He shall hunger no more ; neither thirst any
more : for the Lamb, who is in the miiilst of the throne,
shall feed him, and lead him imto living fountains pi'
THOMAS PICTON, A.M. gift
waters ; and God sliall wipe away all tears from bis
eyes.
Thus have I endeavored to shew, that affliction, al-
though it may now seem grievous, is productive of real
good to the true christian, either in its present and im-
mediate effects, or in its future and everlasting conse-
quences.
Let us now briefly consider, in the
Third, and last place, what influence this doctrine
ought to produce on our views and conduct.
Its leading tendency is to produce contentment. If aU
things, and, especially, ajflictiony work together for
goody then ought we to suppress all murmur and re-
pining. Remember, O afflicted believer, that it is God
who allots thee thy portion. AVho art thou, then, tiiat
I'epliest against thy Maker, and why dost thou yd find
fault ? Has lie not a sovereign vigM to do what he will
with his own ? Son of affliction, lift up thy brow. It is
thy heavenly Father that chastises, and chastises in mer-
cy. His thoughts towards thee are thoughts of peace.
Although man regards not thy anguish, God sees thee,
and his gracious ear is ever attentive to thy cries. " We
have had fathers of our ilesh, who corrected us, and we
gave them reverence; and they verily chastened us after
their own j)leasuref but" God " for our projity that we
might be partakers of his hoiiness." Let the voice of
murmur be, then, forever silenced. Our heavenly Father
knows what is best for us, and it is our part, to bear
with patience. Believing that every afflictive dispensa-
tion is designed, by Him, for our good, let us, cheerfully,
resign ourselves to his will. We are in the hands of
a gracious God, who is merciful even in chastising. If
affliction slay our sin, and ({uickeu our christian graces 5
fa4 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
»
if it wean our hearts from this transitory worhl, and di-
rect our thouglits to a hetter state, as well as prepare us
for it ; we have reason to be, not only contented, but
ilianlxfiiL
In this life, we cannot, in many instances, discern the
kind intention of heaven, in afflicting us. The purposes
of God are often inscrutable. His thoughts are not
as our thoughts, neither are his ways as our ways. But,
as far as we are able to trace his designs, we see, that
every thing is ordered in wisdom and mercy. — Let us,
then, cheerfully leave with God, what we are unable to
explain. When we arrive in yonder bright region, we
shall see, and understand, what we are now unable to
unfold. We shall then see, that the way in which we
were led, though it may now appear circuitous, was the
right way. We shall see, and confess, with gratitude,
that every affliction, however painful, was blessed, to
promote our welfare.
«' Wherefore, comfort one another with these w ords.'*
SERMON XII.
ON RESIGNATION.
Psalm xxxix. 9.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it
BY JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M.
Pastor of the first Presbyterian Congregation of Elizabeth-Town,
NEW-JEESEY PREACttER.
SERMON XII.
Psalm xxxix. 9. — I was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because th6u didst it;
JCiyER since sin was introduced into our world, by the
apostacy of our first parents, trouble has fallen to the
lot of mortals. Some it is true have less than others ^
but none are exempted. Life is truly a chequered
scene — many sorrows are interwoven with our joys.
Now are we perplexed with cares and anxieties ; again^
we are disappointed and crossed in our pursuits ; at one
time we are called to undergo pain, and linger with dis-
ease, at another we are compelled to part with near and
dear friends. Numerous and various woes beset our
path through life. If we look abroad through the world
we may see innumerable proofs of the declarations
which Job made in anguish of soul, " Man is born unto
trouble as the sparks fly upward," Job v. 7. " Man
that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trou-
ble," Job xiv. 1.
But the afflictions which befal man in this life, do not
happen by chance. " Affliction cometh not forth of
the dust, neithei- doth trouble spring out of the ground,"
Job V. 6. Every trial which man experiences is sent by
the overruling providence of God. However second
causes may be employed in producing our trials, yet
God is the great first cause, without whom, not even
a sparrow falleth on tlie ground, and by whom the very
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218 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
hairs of our head are all numbered, Matt. x. 29, 30.
Second causes are but the instruments in his hands.
But, alas ! men are too apt to neglect this important
truth, and to look no further, in the disasters which be*
fal them, than second causes, or the instruments, by
which they are inflicted. While the providence of God
is thus neglected, our trials must be misimproved. But
while the world at large, atlieistically, look no further
than second causes, and discern not the uplifted hand,^
and the operations of the Lord, the true child of God, in
the exercise of grace, looks beyond all instruments, and
acknowledges the hand of the Lord. Thus David did*
When he penned the Psalm which contains our text, he
was suffering some severe trial from wicked men. But
notwithstanding they voluntarily and wickedly afflicted
him, he viewed them as the instruments, and looking
beyond theuiji eyed the hand of God in his trial. And
while he beheld the hand of God afflicting him, he was
filled with submission. " I was dumb, I opened not my
mouth ; because thou didst it."
In this conduct of David under his trials, we havemark-
ed out our duty in similar circumstances. It is our duty to
see and acknowledge the providence of God, and to be
submissive to his will, because he hath done it.
In speaking from the text I shall endeavour,
I. To illustrate the duty of resignation under trials.
II. To enforce the duty, from the consideration that
Our trials are sent bv the Lord.
I. Let us attend to an illustration of the duty of re-
signation to the will of God under trials.
Resignation is something very different from a stoical
insensibility under suffering. It by no means forbids
us to feel afflictions ; on the contrary, sensibility ta
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M. 219
offering is necessary to true resignation. Where there
is no feeling sense of trialy there can be no resignation.
TVhen God lays his hand upon us, he intends we shall
feelf that we may be led to make a useful improvement
of afflictions. And afflictions will entirely fail of having
the intended effect upon one who is insensible of them-
This is that despising the chastening of the Lord, which
the scriptures expressly condemn, Heb. xii. 5. This in-
sensibility under sufferings is also condemned by the ex-
amples of the scripture saints— They keenly felt while
they were examples of resignation. Job's heart was
filled with sorrow, Avhile he said, " The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of
the Lord," Job i. 21. For " he rent his mantle, and
shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground," verse
20 ; and uttered this sentence, breathing a spii'it of re-
signation. Again, he was sitting among the ashes,
keenly sensible of his grievous sufferings, when he sub-
missively said, " shall we receive good at the hand of
God, and shall we not receive evil ?" Job ii. 10. David
was most sensibly alive to his sufferings, when he uttered
the very submissive expression in our text, " I was dumb^
I opened not my mouth ;" for we hear him saying in the
same Psalm, " my sorrow was stirred," ver. 2; " I am
consumed by the blow of thine hand," ver. 10 ; « O
Lord, hold not thy peace at my tears," ver. 11. But we
have a still brighter and safer example, in Christ, who is
proposed to us as our example, that we should follow in
his steps. He most sensibly ydt his trials in the garden
of Gethsemane ; for we hear him saying, " My soul is
exceeding sorrowful even unto death," Matt. xxvi. 38.
And he prayed, " O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me," Matt. xxvi. 39 ; « and being in an
S^ NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
agony, lie prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was as
it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,'*
Luke xxii. 44 ; never was more sensihility to suffering
manifested ; but at the same time never was more resig-
nation displayed. " O my Father," is his language, " if
this cup may not pass away from me, except 1 drink it, thy
will be done," Matt. xxvi. 42. Hence we learn, that the
highest resignation is consistent with the most feeling
sense of suffering.
Again, I would remark, that resignation is perfectly
consistent, with an earnest desire to avoid afflictions, or
to have them removed. We cannot love afflictions, or
be reconciled to them, considered in themselves, apart
from the good effects which may result from them,
or the glory of God which may be promoted by them.
Human nature recoils at afflictions, and God never in-
tended that we should contradict those principles of our
nature which are not the effects of sin : and this repug-
nancy to afflictions is not the effect of sin. The exam-
ple of David in the Psalm which contains our text, is a
proof that a desire to avoid afflictions, or have them
removed, is consistent with true resignation. — For, im-
mediately after he had said, « I was dumb, I opened
not my mouth," he prayed, " remove thy stroke away
from me — hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto
my cry : hold not thy peace, at my tears. O spare me,
that I may recover strength before I go hence, and be
no more," ver. 10, 12, 13. The example also of our
Saviour in the garden proves the same — ^Avhile he was
saying, " thy will be done," still he prayed, " if it be
possible let this cup pass from me."
Thus it appears that it is consistent with true resigna-
tion to feel afflictions, to shew that we feel them, and to
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. M, gjjt
desire and pray that we may avoid tliem, or be delivered
out of them.
But while we feel and while we desire and pray that
the Lord would remove his chastising hand from us, true
resignation forbids us to reproach or censure God's deal-
ings with us, or to speak or think dishonorably of God,
however heavily he may lay his hand upon us. It for-
bids all impatience, fretfulness, and murmuring against
God, and calling in question, even in thought, his justice,
his wisdom, his goodness, or his faithfulness in his dis-
pensations.
True resignation requires that our wills be bowed
to the divine will. As has been observed, it is contra-
ry to human nature for any man to chuse suffering for
its ownsake ; yet we may chuse that the will of God
should be done rather than ours, even if it be his will
that we should suffer. True resignation requires this.
And when we have such a confidence in the wisdom, jus-
tice, goodness and faithfulness of God, that we can in
sincerity of heart say with our divine Redeemer, Father
not my will but thine be done : let thy will be done in
preference to mine, Avhether it accords with mine or not ^
and even though it be, that I should drink a bitter cup,
at which my nature shrinks back and trembles ; — this is
true christian resignation.
This is doubtless a very difficult duty, but it has often
been performed. And that same grace, which has enabled
others, possessed of the same nature with ourselves, to
perform this duty, is also sufficient for us and can enable
us to do the same. Our text presents a powerful motive
to influence those under trials, to feel and exercise resiar-
nation.—" Thou didst it."— This introduces the
222 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEIi.
Ilml. Branch of our subject, viz. to enforce the duty
of resignation, from the consideration that our trials are
sent by the Lord — « I was dumb, I opened not my
mouth ; because thou didst it."
The scriptures clearly teach, that the providence of
God is concerned in every event, which taketh place in
our world, insomuch that it maybe said of every event,
*' Thou didst it." — They teach us, " his kingdom ruleth
over all," Psalm ciii. 19. " I form the light, and cre-
ate darkness ; I make peace and create evil : I the Lord
do all these things," Isaiah xlv. 7. " Shall there be
evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it ?" Amos iii. 6.
<* Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? And one of
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered," Matt.
X. 29, 30. " The lot is cast into the lap : but the whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord," Prov. xvi. 33. These
texts clearly teach us, that God exercises a providence
over our world — that this providence extends to individ-
uals as well as to nations — that it extends to the smallest
as well as the greatest events: and even to those
events which may appear to us to be casual or acciden-
tal.— Seeing then that all our trials are sent upon us by
the Lord, what arguments may we draw from this con-
sideration to promote resignation ?
1. God is a being of perfect justice. He reigns in
righteousness. " Shall not the Judge of all the earth
do right ?" Gen. xviii. 25. We are his creatures, and
he is our sovereign, and has a right to govern us, and
dispose of us according to his sovereign pleasure. This
consideration assures us that God will do us no wrong ;
and that he hath done us no wrong in the heaviest trials,
JOHN M'DOWELL, A. "Si. «23
which he has laid upon us. Yea, there is mercy, in the
heaviest trial which any of us has ever experienced.
God would be just, he would do right if he were to strip
us of every earthly comfort — if he were to take away
all our property, deprive us of every mean of obtaining
a support, and turn us beggars ui>on the world — if he
were to suffer the tongue of calumny forever to blast
©ur character— if he were to take away our health and
leave us to drag out a wretched life under painful dis-
ease—and if he were to take away not merely one, but
every relative and friend we have in the world. For
we have forfeited every comfort, we deserve hell, and
God would do right to send us all there. He would have
done right if he had sent us all there many years since.
Every trial which God sends upon us, in this world, is
therefore not only right, but a mercy, even if it produces
no good effect upon our souls, as it is short of Avhat we
deserve. Tliis consideration, certainly ought to silence
every murmur ; to produce submission to the divine will ;
and even make us thankful to God in the midst of our
afflictions ; for the heaviest trials which he lays up-
on his sinful creatures in this world arc less than they
deserve. Besides, most generally, in the heaviest trials,
he grants us many precious blessings. We are too apt to
feel as though we liad lost all our comforts, when God
lays his hand upon but one that is dear to us ; when if
we were duly to consider, we siiould find that Avhilc he has
deprived us of one or a few, or impaired them, he has
eontinued a great many. Hence, in our heaviest afflic-
tions, God not only does right, but his judgments are
mingled with multitudes of tender mercies, which ouglit
to silence every murmur, and makf* us submissive and
thankful.
224 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEtJ.
3. God is a being of infinite love, *• God is love,'"
1 John iv. 8. Hence it is certain that he cannot delight in
misery tor its own sake. Agreeably to this, we are told,
*<he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of
men," Lam. iii. 33. If therefore he doth afflict, it must
be for some good end. He designs and promotes his
own glory and the general good by the afflictions which
he sends. This should be a motive to resignation to the
renewed soul, who aims supremely at the glory of God,
and in connection with this, desires the general good. We
know not what a great revenue of glory may accrue to
God, nor how much good our fellow men may receive
from our afflictions. By these trials we may be fitted to
be far more useful in the world than we otherwise would
have been— and perhaps our trials themselves may be
the means of the conversion of some precious souls. Has
God visited us with sore and unexpected judgments ?
Has he suddenly snatched away a dear friend ? Others
may hear and fear, and be excited to prepare for death.
These considerations, certainly, afford to the renewed
soul a powerful motive to resignation.
Further, God oftentimes afflicts even a careless soul,
not only for the general, but for his individual good ; to
bring him to repentance, when other means have fail-
ed to prodiMje this effect : — And afflictions have often
produced this effect. They had this blessed effect up-
on the prodigal ; and many a soul will have reason to
bless God through eternity, for the afflictions with which
they were visited while in a careless state. This should
excite submission even in the unrenewed, and lead them,
instead of repining, to endeavour so to improve their
afflictions that they may have reason forever to praise
God for them.
1
JOHN M'DO^VELL, A. M. SSS
But this consideration, that God is a being of infinite
love, ought to be a source of unspeakable consolation to
the real child of God, under the heaviest trials Mith
which he may be visited. The Being who afflicts him is
his peeonciled God and Father, and loves liim with a
most tender love. It belongs to the character of a good
Father, who loves his child, to seek his happiness, and
if he ever correct him, it must be intended for his good.
Most assuredly, therefore, God, who loves his children
far more than ever an earthly parent loved his child, will
seek their best interest, and if he afflict them, will do it
witli a view to promote their best good. The character
of God secures this to all his people. Are you then the
people of God ? His love presents a powerful argument
to enforce resignation.
3. God is a being of infinite wisdom. He sees the end
from the beginning; he perfectly knows the consequen-
ces of every event ; and he knows what is best for his
people. As his love to his people will ever lead him to
desire and seek their best good ; so his wisdom will ever
lead him to devise and pursue the best plans to promote
their best good..* An eai'thly parent, though he may ten-
dear-'iy love his child, and earnestly desire and seek his
best good ; yet he may mistake as to the best means to
o)t)tain the desired end ; but the Lord cannot err on this
sjubject. This also presents to the true child of God, a
r')owerful argument for resignation to the divine will. We
'^re short-sighted mortals ,• we know not what is best for
/ourselves, but are oftentimes ready to say with Jacob,
! " all these things are against me," Gen. xlii. 36 ; when
at the same time tlioy are all working together for our
good, and the good of others. It is well fur us that the
Lord reigns, and that he appoints our lot in life. The
Vol. I. E e
^2g NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
reasons of his dispensations, we very often know not
now ; but we shall know hereafter ; and we shall then
see that he led us by the right way, and shall adore and
praise him even for those hea^'y trials which here wrung
our hearts. Let us implicitly trust him for a future and
satisfactory explanation of those mysterious provi-
dences which we cannot now understand ', and let an
implicit confidence in his wisdom, lead us to acquiesce
with resignation in the afflictive dispensations of his pro-
vidence.
4. God is a being of infinite power. This is a further
security to the real believer that his trials will issue in
his best good; for God has almighty power to execute
the plans which infinite wisdom devises for the good of
his people. An earthly parent may devise the best
plans to promote the happiness of ii is child j but he may
want power to render his plans effectual. But the de-
signs of infinite wisdom cannot fail on this account. No
power in the universe can frustrate the plans of God.
Hence, again, the believer has reason to be resigned to
his will.
5. Once more, God is a being of infinite faithfulrJess— •
what he has promised his people he will peri'ovm.
** Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but his words si\iall
not pass away.'' He has made many precious promisees
to his people under afflictions. Let us attend to some of
them. *< My son, despise not the chastening of tLje
Lord : neither be weary of his correction. For whonij
the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son
in whom he delighteth," Prov. iii. 11, 12. " When thou,,
passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when
thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt j
JOHN M'DOWELL, A.M. SgjT
neitber shall the flame kindle upon thee," Isaiah xliii. 2.
« If ye. endure chastening, God dealeth with you as witli
sons. He chastened us for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the pre-
sent seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteous-
ness unto them which are exercised thereby," Heb.
xii. 7, 10, 11. " We know that all things work to-
gether for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose," Rom. viii. 28.
Such are the precious promises of God to his afflict-
ed children ; and he is a faithful God — his promises
cannot fail — he will fulfil them.
The heaviest trials of his children are therefore
blessings in disguise. Though grievous to the flesh,
they are salutary medicines to the soul, having a pu-
rifying effect upon it. They promote the work of
sanctifieation, and ripen the soul apace for eternal bles-
sedness. The faithfulness of God in connection with
his promises, certainly ought to give the believer
much consolation under bis trials, and lead him to
bear them with resignation.
In the conclusion of this discourse, let us be ex-
horted to examine ourselves, whether we be the
people of God, and have an interest in those precious
considerations which have been presented, for the sup-
port of the believer under trials.
Brethren, we have all need to be interested in
these supports ; for we live in a world of trial. We
have no security for the continuance of any earthly
comfort which we may now enjoy, however dear it
may be to us, and however necessary we may esteem
it to our happiness. We may. suddenly and unex-
228 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
pectedly be deprived of our dearest earthly eomforts.
Ofthis we have frequent proofs. We often see heavy
trials suddenly and unexpectedly fall upon others.
What, my hearers, would you do under such trials
as you have sometimes seen others experience, without
the supports and consolations of the gospel ? If you
have any feeling you must be wretched indeed. To
similar trials you are constantly exposed. Therefore
be exhorted to be reconciled unto God, that when tried
you may be supported and comforted, and your afflic-
tions be made blessJngs.
Further, you are not only exposed to have your dear-
est earthly comforts snatched from you in a moment ;
but you are liable every moment, without any previ-
ous warning, to be hurried awaj from life yourselves*
and hurried to the bar of God. Are you prepared?
If not, how awfully perilous is your situation ! The
eternal interests of your immortal souls may be sus-
pended on a single week— a single day — a single hour;
yea, on a single moment. And can you delay any
longer to seek in eaVnest after preparation for death ?
Awake, flee to Christ, be reconciled to God ; and
then, let death come when and where and how it may,
for you to die will be gain.
Christians, who may be now suffering trials, remem-
ber, it is the Lord's hand — the Lord hath done it. —
He is righteous — he is your Father, and loves you
with a most tender love — he knows what is best, and
will do what is best for you — his wisdom is infinite,
his power is almighty, and his faithfulness endureth
forever. — ^I^et these considerations resign you to his
will, and support and comfort you under your trials.
■ SEHMON XIII.
JUSTIFICATION, WITH SOME OF ITS PRE-
CIOUS FRUITS.
Rom. y. 1, 2.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lori
Jesus Christ : By whom also we have access by faith into this grace -yi'hereia
we staad, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
BY PETER STUDDIFORD, A. M.
Pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of North-Branct.
NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON XIII.
Rom. V. 1, 2. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ : By whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
JL HE probability of deliverance, from moral evil, from
the guilt ami dominion of sin, must be encouraging to
labouring and heavy-laden sinners ; but this encourage-
ment must certainly be much greater, when the manner
of this deliverance, itssuitableness to their condition, and
harmony with the divine perfections are considered, for
they are now begotten into a lively hope, that God is
willing to be gracious. The Apostle proves in the pre-
ceding part of this Epistle, the extreme depravity, as
also moral impotency of human nature, that tbe ap-
propriate nature of the remedy might be apparent to all
who seriously attended to the subject. If all mankind
are by nature dead in trespasses and sins, justification by
faitli in the Redeemer is a doctrine as rational, as it is
consolatory. It is worthy of God, and exactly suited to the
guilty, depraved and helpless condition of the human kind.
To be convinced of the correctness of this reasoning, let
us take a view of justification, and thebeneftts particular-
ized in this passage, as flowing from it.
There has been much unnecessary disputation about
the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek terms, employed
by the sacred writers for justification. Some contend
that they are expressive of holiness, communicated by
3S2 JSTIW-JERSEY PREACHER.
the justifying act; others, that this act is nothing more
than a judicial sentence, or declaration. If the corres-
ponding language of scripture is consulted, the last opin-
ion is undoubtedly correct, for it represents justification
as ^forgivingf removing, blotting out, and passing ly of
transgression. Look into the word of God, and you
behold the judge and his tribunal^ the criminal and his
adTocate. The accusation and the pleay the sentence of
acquittal, and the reason of it, are all before you. The
forensic use, or signification of the terms admitted, jus-
tification may be defined, that gracious act of God, as
Judge, which absolves from guilt, and confers a right to
eternal life, solely on accomit of the righteousness of
Christ received by faith. The attention is therefore nat-
urally fixed in contemplating this subject, on the benefit
granted, the condition of the grant, and on the graces
which renders it a reality.
First, on the benefit granted. This is justification,
which implies absolution from guilt, and a right to eter-
nal life.
1. Absolution from guilt. Man though originally good
and upright, is in consequence of the fall of our first pa-
rents, in a state of sin, and therefore of condemnation.
Death is the wages of sin. Justification is the only remedy.
By means of it transgression is pardoned, and the curse
due to it effectually taken away. But are all sins past,
present and to come, absolutely forgiven? All sins to the
moment of justification, but no further, for it is certainly
an absurdity to assert, that a judge pardons crimes be-
fore they exist, and crimes too of a very different nature
from those which the amnesfy, (the act that consigns
them to oblivion,) can with propriety be considered as
embracing. Sins afterwards committed, are the sins of
PETER STUDDIFORD, A.]\L £35
I
persons standing in a new relation. They Avere once
guilty condemned malefactors, but they are now children
of God, over whom the law has no longer the right or
power of condemnation. Theij are not now under the lata
hut under grace. Though the sins which they daily com-
jnit require to he pardoned, and what is required is grant-
ed, you must certainly admit, that the pardon now grant-
ed is not that of an offended judge, but that of a gracious
and reconciled parent. Besides, what consistency is
there in praying daily for the pardon of sins that are al-
already pardoned ? Conformity to the law is no doubt
still obligatory, and the neglect or violation of it, sub-
jects those who are justified to chastisement , or if you
please, punishment ; but this does net arise from the au-
thority of the law as a rule of life, but as a rule of obe-
dience inseparable from human nature. It arises also
from their connection with the family of God, whose
good pleasure it is, that his children should through tri-
bulations enter into glory. Sufferings are now as ne-
cessary for the promotion of their spiritual, as prudence
and industry are for that of their earthly, prosperity,
2. •! right to eternal life. Without this, absolution
«ould be of little advantage, for mere exemption from
sufferings, or punishment, gives no claim to favour. In-
deed the right to any blessing is a very different thing
from the possession of the blessing itself; but justifica-
tion as a judicial act gives nothing more than a right or
title to the favour of God. It does not communicate a
single grace or moral excellence. It produces a change
of state, of external condition, but not of nature. Guilt
removed, the very persons, who just before were condemn-
ed criminals, are now reconciled to God by the death of
Ms Son, and entitled to all the benefits of his mediation.
Vet. I. F f
234 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Secondly, the condition of the pmnt. The right ifl
confi rrcd solely on account of the righteousness of Christ,
for though justjlieatjon is a free and gracious act, the
merit of the surety is the foundation of it, that God
may be just in the justification of the ungodly. If
the Mediator had not fulfilled all righteousness for
them, how could they as transgressors be declared not
guilty? If he is not, as represented by the prophet Jere-
miab, the Lord our righteousness, what can be the
hopes of our guilty and helpless race ? The objection
that a performance in which we have had no agency can-
not be our own, is of no validity, for every one knows
that in law and equity a debt paid by the surety is the
very same thing as if it had been paid by the debtor
himself. Did the advocates of this doctrine pretend to
any agency in the obedience and sufferings of Christy
they would claim it by virtue of their own merit, for
human nature is as proud as it is depraved ; but con-
scious that Christ is all, they plead his righteousness and
his only, as the ground of acceptance with their offend-
ed Sovereign.
Lastly, the grace, -which renders this henejit a reality.
Jiistijied by fail h, we have peace with God» Faith is of
greater importance than is generally imagined. It has
already been shown that justification produces no change
of nature ; but without a change, the benefit cannot be
enjoyed. The justified therefore are renewed in the
spirit of their mind, are blessed witli an internal change,
asa consequence of the justifying act, and thus fitted for
the new relation in which they are placed. However, if
with this change they did not regard the righteousness
of the surety as the cause of their acceptance with God,
neither his merit, nor the sentence of the judge ground-
PETER STUDDIFORD, A. M. 235
.ed on it, Avould be of mucli account ; they are therefore
blessed with the precious gift, of faith. This is as ne-
cessary to a complete reconciliation with God as the
justifying act itself. And it is probably on account of
this necessity that it holds so high a rank in the word
of God. *' For by grace ye are saved through yai/Zi, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast." Thougli not the
eause of justification, there can be no justification with-
out faith. He that hath the Son hath life. Without
this appropriating grace he hath no life — he is dead in
trespasses and sins, and therefore an enemy to God.
The bencjits particularized in this passage as flowing
from justification are now to be considered. These are
fence roilh God — access to favour, and the joy fid expeC'
tat ion of future glory.
1. Peace rvith God. Prior to justification mankind
are not only in a state of condemnation, but of enmity,
the most deadly enmity to God and holliiess. No soon-
er, however, is sin pardoned and a right to eternal lif©
granted, than a change of heart takes place, so that
love to God and holiness now swells those bosoms in
which enmity so lately reigned. Sin spoiled of its sove-
reignty, and holiness becoming the predominant disposi-
tion, reconciliation is now a reality. Pardoned sinners
love as they are beloved with sincerity and ardour. In-
tellectual blindness and heart-alienation are superceded
by the enliglitened views, generous and elevated senti-
ments peculiar to the children of God. From being ene-
mies they are become friends of God, devoted friends to
that very Sovereign against whom they were so lately in
open rebellion. Blessed exchange ! invaluable friend- ,
ship ! for to this connection envy, jealousy aid disti'ust
236 NEW-JERSEY PREACIIEl?.
are entire strangers. Endless as eternity shall be its
duration. Roilin?^', but never ending periods encrease
the purity of its ilame, augment its ardour, and preserve
its accessions. Then shall the righteous shine forlh as
the sun in thekingdom of their Father.
2. Access to favour. This is evidently the meaning
of the phrase access hy faith into this grace wherein we
stand. Free admission to its smiles must greatly en-
lianee the value of friendship. Incessantly exposed to
vicissitudes of the most distressing nature, surround-
ed by numerous and powerful temptations, and of-
ten nine!! perplexed by indwelling corruption, the per-
suasion that the compassions of our heavenly Father are
upon us, that his inexhaustible bounty is open to our
relief, and his almighty arm stretched out for our pro-
tection, is to enjoy a happiness which this world can nei-
ther give nor take away. Indeed this privilege of
draAving near at all times to the throne of grace is in
the believer's estimation of more value than ten thousand
worlds. In every condition in which we are placed,
and Huder every occurrence that may arise £or penitence^
to confess the occasional deviations from rectitude inse-
parable from our present state of existence ; for ajpAction
to pour out its comj)laints — gratitude to return thanks for
the reception of innumerable unmerited blessings, and love
to pant after still greater conformity to infinite excellence,
is to be happy even whilst sojourning in this vale of tears.
Could sinners form an idea of t!ie blessedness of com-
munion with God, they Avould on bended knees day and
night supplicate him for mercy and for grace, for par-
don and holiness. To taste his love, as manifested in
the gospel, is to commence the life of heaven, for to
PETER STUDDIFORD, A. M. 237
know God ami Chnst Jesus whom he hath sent, is life
eternal,
3. The joyful expectation of future glory. Intercourse
with God naturally enlarges the mind, and elevates the
sentiments of the human heart. When the conceptions
and aspirations, the views and the affections of the soul
are holy and heavenly, they are earnests of future feli-
city. Grace nurtured by habitual eomnuinion with God,
is the forerunner of unceasing; glory. Indeed, in the pres-
ent state of human nature, however advanced it may be
in sanctity, the very best of men must content themselves
that they are privileged to rejoice with trembling. The
variations of religious experience in the same individual,
the necessity of having diffei-ent graces occasionally call-
ed into action, and the changing, yet wise and gracious
dispensations of providence, do not admit of unceasing
joy, of uninterrupted felicity. This world is the school
in which the christian is educated for heaven. His in-
terest, as well as the honour of his Sovereign, demands
that he should submit to self-denial, mortification, and
the assumption of the cross. He is, however, promised
strength proportioned to his day. He that soxveth in tears,
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and iveejieth, hear-
ing precious seed, shall doubtless conie again with rejoic-
ing. Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he will sustain
thee. Various are the trials to which the people of God
must submit ,• but their eneouragemenls are numerous
and powerful. If heaven did not occasionally open to
their view, their courage would languish^ their exertions
become enfeebled, if u.ot effectually paralized. Conscious
that after a few more struggles, sin and sorrow shall
cease, and sanctity and joy characterize their existence,
they go on with firmness in the way of the divine com-
23» NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
mandraents. In commiseration of their condition, piere-
ing winds are tempered, and storms that would otherwise
overwhelm them robbed of their greatest fury. Hope
steadily attends them, joy sometimes expands their bo-
som, when by faith they are enabled to claim as their
own, that inheritance, which is incorruptible, unfading,
and full of glory.
These are some of the precious fruits of justification.
And should they not make us anxious to know the state
of our souls, whether our iniquities are forgiven, and
•whether we are in possession of a title to life everlast-
ing I Without the knowledge, or at least a well ground-
ed hope of our justification, we must remain sti'angers to
the consolations and pleasures of religion, for we cannot
look to the future world witliout fearful, distressing ap-
prehensions. We are therefore called upon by duty and
interest to ascertain our true spiritual condition. The test
of examinaiton is plain, decisive, and within the reach of
every individual. The tree is known from its fruits. If
you are enemies to holiness and aliens from God — and
your hearts are never gladdened by the smiles of redeem-
ing love, you are still in your sins, in a state of condem-
nation, and therefore in danger of perishing forever.
But even by you, who are in this awful situation, this
doctrine must be regarded as consolatory, for it directs
you to the only, the effectual and the never-failing re-
medy. Though in consequence of your transgression,
despondence thickens around you, the consolations of jus-
tification pierce through the gloom, and call forth your
reliance on that compassionate Redeemer, who never
suffers any to seek him in vain. Indeed he invites — im-
portunes you to look unto him a-nd live. But remember
that proffered friendship, obstinately rejected, may be-
FETER STUDDIFORD, A.M. 23a
ceme indignant at such treatment j for God, the merciful
God has declared that his Spirit shall not always strive
with man ; and shouhl he once consign you to the blind-
ness of your minds and to the hardness of your hearts,
you are wretched without the remotest prospect of re-
lief. Dream not then of slighting, rejecting and yet ex-
periencing mercy. Come without delay to this once
crucilied but now exalted Redeemer, as to the only me-
dium of reconciliation ^vilhyour offended God, and as to
the only source of holiness and happiness. lie gore him-
self for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquilij, and
purify unto himself a peculiar jieople, 'zealous of good
works. Therefore intreat, earnestly entreat God for his
righteousness sake, to have mercy on you, to pardon
your iniquities, and bless you with hearts devoted to his
service, that you may rejoice in the hope of glory.
But if to the guilty this passage is encouraging, it
certainly must be more eminently so to those vho are in
actual friendship with God. Your aspirations, believers,
yoar faith, your hopes and your joys, are testimonials in
your favour that God will not withhold from you a sin-
gle blessing which your happiness demands. He will
open/or you rivers in high places, and fountains in the
midst of rallies, he rcill make the wilderness a pool of wa-
ter and the dry land springs of roater. He tvill give you
wine and milk without money and ivithout price. Jl new
spirit will he jmt within you, and cause you to ivalk in his
statutes. Proceed therefore in cultivating the senti-
ments and duties of your highly privileged relation.
Proceed in honoring your God, in doing good to vour
fellow creatures, and in the advancement of your own
240 NEW -JERSEY PREACHER.
sanctity, happiness, and dignity. Proceed Avith confi-
dence in this your course of duty, for yet a little while,
and you sliall receive a crown of glovij, that jadeth not
mvayf eternal in the heavens^ — Aj?»i£N.
BEHMOM XIV,
THE TRUE AND FALSE GROUNDS OF
RELIGION.
(IN TWO SERMONS.)
Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9.
But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Cluist. Yea, doubtless,
and 1 count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus ray Lord : for wliom I have suffered the loss of all things, &c, &ic.
BY JOSEPH CLARK, D, D.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of iNew-Branswick.
Vol. j. G g
\h,
NEW-JERSEY PREACHEH.
SERMON XIV.
Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. — ^But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for ■whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dung that 1 may win Christ, and be found
ifl him, not having; mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
wliich is, through the faith of Chi'ist, the righteousness^ which is of God by
faith.
JLF the christian religion be true, it follows, from the
very nature of it, that it is the only religion given under
heaven among men, whereby we must be saved. In the
whole strain of it, it excludes man from all hope of sal-
vation, from any other source, and expressly declares
that " No other foundation can any man lay than is laid,
which is Jesus Christ." This declaration should be
well weighed : for, on the supposition of its truth, men
who reject the gospel, reject their only remedy, and en-
sure their final and eternal ruin.
The passage that has been now read in your hearing,
was penned by one who was, in the highest degree, qual-
ified to be a witness of the truth of what he preached ;
and of its infinite importance, as tlie only way of salva-
tion. He was miraculously converted to the faith, and
called to preach the gospel. God evidently working with
him, during (he whole of his ministry, through mighty
signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God. The
miracles, that he and his fellow apostles wrouglit, were
wrought in the name and by the pewer of Jesus Christ, and
244 NEW-JKRSEY PREACHER.
.in no otlifr name, and by no other power. They were such
as transcend every thing that mere human power or dia-
bolical agency could possibly effect. This persuasion
wrought so powerfully on multitudes who were eye
and ear witnesses of these miracles, that they were con-
strained to acknowledge the finger of God in them, to
give up their opposition to the gospel, and to embrace
the faith which, before, had been the object of their
scorn and malignity. Heaven, in this way, gave indis-
putable evidence of the truth of the gospel, that it was
no cunningly devised fable, conjured up by art and
man's device ; but a revelation from God himself. Paul,
in particular, declares that, «« he received it not of man,
neither was he taught it by man ; but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." And being taught in a supernatural
way, confirmed in the faith by numerous attestations
evidently and immediately from God himself: and see-
ing in the gospel, committed to him, the clear accom-
plishment of the types and prophecies of the Old Testa-
ment, he could no more doubt of the truth of the gospel,
than he could doubt of his own existence.
Nor could Paul and the other apostles doubt of their
own call and appointment of God to " go forth into all
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ;"
and to declare in the uame, and by the authority of God —
" He that believeth shall be saved ; and he that believ-
eth not shall be damned V The certainty of these things
was put so completely past all doubt Avith them, that
they could say, ." necessity is laid upon us ; yea, woe un-
to us if we preach not tlie gospel."
To the evidence above stated, they hud also that of
their own expes'ience. They had felt the divine power
and elHcucy of the gospel on their own souls» They
JOSEPH CLARK, D.D. 2*5
knew ia whom they had believed, and from their own
experience, were thoroughly persuaded that, he was able
to keep that which they had committed to him. Noth-
ing makes us so acquainted with, and so fully confirms
us in the belief of any thing, as expei'ience. Experiment-
al acquaihtance with the nature, truth, and excellence
of the gospel, will make us both esteem, and speak high-
ly of it.
This was the ease Avith Paul ; he had been once a per-
secutor of Christians, an enemy of the gospel, a proud
Pharisee, trusting in his own righteousness, and highly
valuing his distinctions and privileges as a Jew and a
scholar of Gamaliel. " But, when it pleased God to re-
veal his Son in him," and lead him to the knowledge of
salvation by Christ, then, how do his views alter! The
gospel he had before despised, hated and laboured to
destroy, now becomes more dear and precious to him
than life itself. All his former attainments and legal
righteousness appeared to him as /oss, in comparison
Avith the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
his Lord. Nay, when set in competition with Christ,
« he esteemed all things hut loss, and did count them but
dung that he might win Christ, and be found in him, not
having on his own righteousness, which is of the law ;
but that wliieh is, through the faith of Christ, the right-
eousness which is of God by faith."
It cannot be denied that this is the language of one
that well understood the gospel, and had indisputable
evidence of its truth. It will, therefore, demand the
more serious attention from us.
In the passage before us, two things are expressed by
the apostle.
t» NEWJERSEY PREAtHElt.
I. That every thing short of the religion of Christy ,
can he of no avail to us, for the attainment of our salva-
tion, and should be entirely rejected as a ground of
confidence.
II. The distinctive characters of gospel religion.
In discussing these two points, I shall pay a particular
regard to the method and language, in which the apos-
tle has seen proper to treat them. And
I. That every thing, short of the religion of Christ,
can be of no avail to us, for the attainment of our salva-
tion, and should be entirely rejected as a ground of con-
fidence. '
Words can scarcely express this sentiment more strong-
ly than the apostle has done. He had been warning the
Philippians against the ensnaring doctrines of the Ju-
daizing teachers, who taught the young converts to
Christianity that, " unless they were circumcised, and
kept the law of Moses, they could not be saved." This
the apostle calls, *' Tuiuing them aside to another gos-
pel ;*' or, placing their hope of salvation on a differ-
ent ground from that on which the gospel had placed it.
The aim of these teachers appears to have been either
to draw the young converts off from their hope in Christ
altogetlier, or to confound law and gospel, grace and
works ; to mingle the free salvation of the Saviour,
with the merit of human obedience, and substitute the
observance of ceremonial rites in the place of evangelical
holiness. "
These teachers, not understanding, or not embracing
the gospel, were fain to glory in something beside Christ.
Lured by the pomp of external ceremony, they were for
making a Mr shew in the flesh ; and not persuaded that
their typical system Avas now abolished ; they, therefore,
enjoined on their hearers the observance of external
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 24r
rites, as necessary to salvation, that they might glory in
their flesh, escape the offence of the cross and do away
the soul-humbling doctrine of " trusting in Christ Je-
sus, putting no confidence in the flesh." Such corrup-
tions and perversions of the gospel the apostle abhorred.
He saw they aimed, immediately, to the overturning of
the doctrines of the cross ; and, with the honest zeal of
a faithful ambassador, he nobly declares — <' God for-
bid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ !"
The cross of Christ was, in the apostle's view, the on-
ly tree of life for perishing sinners. And, persuaded
that nothing short of true faith in Christ could avail men
to salvation, he conceived the doctrine of these teachers
to be in the highest degree, mischievous and dangerous
to tlie souls of men : and, therefore, in our context, he so
warmly exhorts the Philippians on this subject. ♦< Be-
ware of dogs, beware of evil workers, bcAvare of the
concision," — these sticklers for carnal ordinances and a
boasted self-righteousness, who to establish their own
systems, would subvert your souls, and overturn the gos-
pel of Christ : for, adds he, we the apostles and minis-
ters of Jesus Christ, that declare unto you the gospel,
as we received it of the Lord, « we are the true circum-
cision, which worship God in the spij it, and rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
His reasoning evidently goes to this, and is as if he
had said — " As to confidence in the flesh, or a depen-
danee on any tiling of our own, as the ground of our ac-
ceptance with God, I might say as much as any man.
Shew me a man among them all, that can urge strouger
pleas from his carnal privileges, Jewish prerogatives, op
external performances : or that can raise a louder boast
248 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
of his self-righteousncss than myself. If any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might tinist in the jiesh,
I more: circumcised the eighth day — of tlie stock of
Israel — of the tribe of Benjamin — an Hebrew of
the Hebrews ; as toiiching the laWf a pharisee ; con-
cerning cualf persecuting the church ; touching the
righteousness which is in the Jaw, blameless ! Few,
among all these teachers, can say as much as this
for tliemselves ; and none can say more. But what
can all this avail a guilty sinnner, for his Justilication
before God ? True, I once thought as highly of these
things as they now do, and as confidently expected to gain
heaven by my own righteousness. But, blessed be God,
he hath stripped me of my false hopes, and shaken me
from my false foundation j and taught me to rest my
eternal all, on that only foundation which he hath laid
in Zion. Here I see no room for boasting and glorying,
and trusting in the flesh. The salvation of sinners is
placed by God on quite another ground. So that
what things were gain to me ; or what I once es-
teemed gain to me, these I noxv count loss for Christ :
yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the
excellency of the knoivledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord :
for whom I hare suffered the loss of all things, and
do count them but dung that I may win Christ."'
What a proficient was Paul, in natural, ceremonial
and moral righteousness ! Behold tlse man ! How fair
his claims ! How well founded, as some might suppose,
his hopes of acceptance with God ! He had been no hy-
pocrite ; however ignorantly he might have acted, he
was sincere. But when his eyes were opened ; Mhen he
was brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Je-
sus: see him casting away alibis former grounds of
, JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. « 249
confidence ; renouncing <liem all as loss, and counting
them but dung, that he might win Christ. lie saw,
there was nothing short of true faith in Christ, and an
interest in him, that could avail him to salvation. And,
therefore the best his heart or hands could do, when
viewed as the ground of his acceptance with God, hu
iittcrljK disclaimed, and rejected with abhorrence, as
mere garbage, to be relished by those only who had no
just views or esteem of the gospel.
And, my brethren, if every thing, short of the religion
of Christ, was of no avail to salvation, in the view of
the apostle, who had the fairest advantages to judge in
this matter ; w hat warrant can we have to put our trust
any where else ? If he, from clear views of the truth, ut-
terly renounced all confidence iu the ilesh, or in any thing
that flesh can do, can these things be a proper ground of
confidence to us ? Surely reason and conscience nkust
constrain us to say, J\'*o, they cannot.
But it is proper, on this subject, that I should be
more parlicular ; and detail and examine the false
grounds of confidence, which the apostle enumerates,
and to which misguided multitudes, in one way or anoth-
er, are so attached. And,
1. The apostle lefused to glory, or put any confidence
in his being descended from a particular nation, tribe or
family.
In this, it seems, the Jews were fain to boast. They
were Abraham's seed ; of the stock of Israel, that ia-
voured nation, which the Lord those out from all the
nations of the earth, and distinguished by many [»eculiar
privileges. On these accounts, the Jews were ready
to conclude themselves the peculiar favoui-iles of heaven -,
A OL. I. 11 h
250 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
that is, entitled above others, to the distinguishing favor
of God.
But had not the apostle equal ground of boasting on
this score, with any of them ? He was of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin ; a tribe honored with
the first of Israel's kings, and that kept close to God,
when other tribes fell away to Jereboam's idolatry. He
was an Hebrew of the Hebrews ^ i. e. born a Jew, both by
the father's and mother's side, which some Jews were
not. So that, in this respect, he was not a whit behind
Ihe very chiefest of the Jews. And though he was far
from despising, or lightly esteeming national advanta-
ges ; yet when these things were boasted of, as entitling
to the divine favor, he rejected such confidence, as
groundless, and would know nothing, in this view, but
Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
As Gentiles, we indeed, cannot plead this boasted Jew-
ish distinction, nor abuse it, as a ground of false confi-
dence. Yet how many are there wht), in the same mis-
taken way with the Jews, plead their having been born
and educated in a christian land ; their acquaintance
with christian doctrines and duties ; their belonging to
a distinguished church, famed for its orthodoxy and pu-
rity ; or their having sprung from, and been trained up
by pious parents ! How delusive must all such confidence
be ! Such should remember that, as among the Jews,
" they were not all Israel that Avere of Israel ; so neith-
er, among christians, can external privileges give any
title to the divine favour, if we be not ourselves found in
Christ.
2. The apostle renounced all confidence in his obedi-
pncc and conformity to the ceremonial law.
JOSEPH CLARK, D. W. 25t
The rites of this law were all typical of Christ and
the blessings of the gospel J but eould never make the
corners thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.
The Jews appear to have had very mistaken views of
this law,' to have considered even an external conformity
to its precepts, as atoning for moral defects, and ren-
dering them acceptable in the sight of God.
It was this mistake that made the judaizing teachers
^ much insist on the observance of this law, as necessa-
ry to salvation. The apostle was fully convinced of
their error, and considered it as leading men from the
suhstance to the shadorv ,• from the true sacrifice for sin,
to that which can never take away sin, and therefore
building them on a false foundation.
This foundation he wholly renounced. He had him-
self, according to the strict prescription of the law, been
circumcised the eighth day, and scrupulously exact in
the observance of all its rites. But he now saw, these
were all but types ; that the substance was Christ ; that
the design of their observance, from the beginning, was
to lead to Christ ; and not to be rested in as, of them-
selves, meritorious and efficacious to salvation. Li
this view, he considered and rejected all his ceremonial
righteousness as loss and dung.
And, my brethren, does it not betray a like misplaced
confidence, when we build our hopes of salvation on our
external compliance with the ordinances and institutions
of the gospel ? These things, indeed it is our bounden
duty to observe. They are established by the authority
of our divine master, and for wise and good ends. But
when we plead, as the ground of our acceptance with God,
that we have been baptised into Christ ; that we have
put on the profession of the christian religion ; united
252 NEW-JEIiSEY PREACHER.
ourselves to the church in its most solemn ordinances,
anil are strict and punctual observers of all the duties of
its worship ; and think that, by a scrupulous observance
of these external duties, we shall recommend ourselves
to the favor of God, are we not guilly of the same er-
ror that the Jews were ? This, surely, is to let go the
Head, even Christ ; and, instead of using these gospel
institutions as means to increase our faith in, and con-
formity to Christ, it is substituting them in Christ's
stead ; and, contrary to their express design, making
them the foundation of our hope. Alas, brethren, if we
have no better foundation than this, our hope, at the
last, must prove as the giving up of the ghost !
3. The apostle had been a Pharisee, one of the strict-
est and most devout sect among the Jcavs, and the most
inviolably attached to the rites of the Mosaic law.
His zeal in the Jews' religion had outrun many
of his equals in his own nation. He was, touching
the law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, transported even
to persecuting the church. But now he rejected all hope
fr«m these things. Not all his strictness, as a Pharisee,
nor all his zeal, as a disciple of Moses, could give him
the least confidence towards God. However highly he
might once have thought of himself, as a zealous Pha-
risee, he now saw tliat he was the cfiief of sinners, and
acknowledged his only hope of dcriverance through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Happy were it for multitudes, did they see and re-
nounce their mistakes, in this way, as the apostle did.
The blind attachment ofsome to sects and names, to pecu-
liar opinions and fornjs — the spirit of intolerance which
proclaiuks ♦< Stand by tliysclf, come not near, for 1 am ho-
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 253
lier than thou," seems too plainly to betray a belief that,
to be of their party, is to possess a sufficient title to the
divine favour. There is a kind of zeal too, the result of
ignorance and spiritual pride, and, in the forms it as-
sumes, disreputable to religion, which will affect the name
of exalted piety, and advance its boasted claims to accep-
tance with God.
My brethren, we may belong, as Ave suppose, to the
purest and most orthodox denomination that ever exist-
ed ; we may be ever so strictly attached to their doctrines
and modes of worship, and have a zeal to promote these
that would lead us to compass sea and land to make
proselytes ; and yet be only so much the farther from
the kingdom of heaven, the more we rely on such party
attachment and zeal, as constituting the ground of our
hope of acceptance with God : for such reliance is, vir-
tually, a renouncing of Christ, and setting up something
of our own in his stead.
4. The apostle rejected all confidence in his moral at-
tainments.
lie had been a strict observer of the law, both moral
and ceremonial. "I was," says he, "touching the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless." That is,
he w as so in his own view, and in the view of others who
knew him. He was esteemed an honest, upriglit, moral
man ; and one that paid a scrupulous regard to all the
institutions of religion. None could impeach him with
a want of integrity ; he lived up to his knowledge, and
his practice corresponded with his profession. And if
this couhl have aftorded him a safe ground of confidence,
he might have rested (here, and trusted and gloried in
his own righteousness as well as otliors.
254 NiEW-JERSEY PREACtlElL
But alas ! lie saw that all tliis would not do. His Cyes
had been opened ; God, in his inflexible justice and spot-
less holiness, had been manifested to the view of his
soul ; the covering had been taken from the great deep
of his inbred corruptions ; the divine law, in its extent
and purity, had been set home, by the Spirit of God, on his
soul ; this had awakened bim to such a view of his moral
depravity and guilt as he, before, had never experienced ;
had slain all his vain hopes and refuges of lies, and
taught him that, " By the deeds of tlie law, can no flesh
living be justified in the sight of God." As a condemn-
ed man he had been shut up to the faith ; as a sinner
ready to perish, he had been led to see that salvation for
sinners was to be found no where else but in Christ. He
therefore gave up every other ground of hope ^ rejected
all trust in his own righteousness ; esteemed it but as fil-
thy rags ; and aspired after the righteousness which is by
the faith of Christ.
And, truly, my brethren, if there be any thing, short
of Christ, that can afford a ground of hope to sinners, it
must be moral virtue. This is inseparable from the na-
ture of all religion ; this possesses intrinsie excellence
in itself, and has, deservedly, commanded the veneration
of all ages and nations.
But that the best obedience to the moral law, that
guilty depraved man ever did, or does, or can perform,
can never be plead as the ground of his justification and
acceptance with God, will appear from the following
considerations. 1. This law, from its very nature, and
from the character of the lawgiver, requires perfect
obedience. This, no man, in his fallen state, ever per-
forms. The law reaches to the thoughts and intents of
the heart, n% well as to the outward conduct. Every
' JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 855
man, therefore, is daily a transgressor, in thought, 7vord
and deed. His best obedience is extremely impeiieet ;
so corrupt in the principle, from which it flows, and so
defective in practice that, the man of the best morals may
well cry, " If thou. Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O
Lord, who could stand ! 3. This law has its penalty.
Every transgressor, therefore, and for every transgres-
sion, falls under the malediction, or penalty of the law.
And what can he do to make amends for his transgres-
sion? His best obedience, even should he do all those
things that are required of him, is doing no more than is
his duty to do. Instead, therefore, of making amends
for past transgressions, the sinner is daily running
deeper and deeper in debt. 3. The law, in whatever form
and degree made known to man, must, in the day of final
account, be the rule by which he shall be judged. If he
then, when tried by the law, be found guilty of innumer-
able and awfully aggravated transgressions both in heart
and life ; if it shall appear that, through all his life, his
heart has been a sink of iniquity, and that all he has
ever thought, said, or done ; that all liis appetites, pas-
sions, affections, aims and views have been, more or
less polluted from this corrupt sink of sin ; how will the
sinner stand ? What rvill he, what can he plead in ar-
rest of judgment ? Will he plead his imperfect obedi-
ence ? This will not answer the requisition of the law :
and this the righteous judge cannot, and will not accept.
AVhat can hinder, then, but that, as a totally depraved,
guilty creature, and wholly unmeet for heaven, sentence
should go against him ? All hope of acceptance with
God, for our own righteousness, must, therefore, be for-
ever in vain ! For, as the apostle reasons, Gal. iii. 21, 22,
If there had been a hnv-givcr, z&Jdch could have given
256 ^EVV-JERSBY PREACHEH.
life, ver'ihj rigliteousness should have heen hy the law.
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the
promise, hy faith of Jesus Christ, might be given to them
that believe.
This doctrine the apostle well understood ; and fully
persuaded that there was salvation for guilty man in no
other way than through Christ; and that, in this way,
God could he just, and yet jiislify them that believe in
Jesus, he esteemed all his own righteousness, all his
gifts, all his learning, all his attainments ; yea, he es-
teemed all things but loss, for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, and did count them
but dung that he might win Christ !
Thus have I endeavoured to prove, as was pi'oposed,
that, every thing, short of the religion of Christ, can be
of no avail to us, and should be cnliroly rejected as a
ground of confidence.
I pass, for the present, the consideration of the nature
of this religion, that I may make some improvement of
what hath been said.
1. This subject teaches us that, men arc in great dan-
ger of running into Altai mistakes in matters of religion.
It is manifest that this danger existed in the apostle's
day. The superstitions, self-righteous spirit, and mis-
guided zeal of the Jews, on the one hand; the captivat-
ing charms of the infidel philosopliy of the Gentiles, on
the other ; the arts and assiduity of false teacliers ; the
genetal laxness in morals which then prevailed, and
the ever working depravity of the human heart, were
sources of danger, against which all the solicilude,. the
zeal, and the diligence of the apostle were employed to
guard the young converts to Christianity. But why all
this zoftl of the apostle ? AVhy did he use such unweari-
^
. JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 257
ed (liJigeucc to instruct and warn the cliurelies, and
guai'd tiicui from error, if lie bad not the fullest rea-
son to believe that, they were in great danger of erring
from (he true faith of tlie gospel; and that such errors
were of a fatal tendency ? And should not a like pious
concern engage all who love the truth, to guard against
the enerouehuicnls of error? Surely, the danger of err-
ing froifi the truth is not less now than it was in the
apo-dc's days. The heart of man remains, as ever, th-
eeilfid above all things.^ and deaperatchj iviclied.
All unrenewed men labour under a deplorable spirit-
ual hlindriess of mind. They are ignorant of the divine
pel foctions ; of the purity and extent of the divine law,
and of the great evil of sin. Tiiey possess, naturally, a
proud conceit of the sufficiency of tJicir own power; the
merit of their own righteousness, and, of course, see
but little either of the beajity or the necessity of the
way of salvation through Christ. And from their natu-
ral repugnance to the self-denying and soul-humbling
truths of the gospel, they will ever be in danger of lean-
ing to systems that flatter human pride and depravity,
and of being tossed to and fro, and carried aVoiit with
every xvind of doctrine hy the sleight of men and cunning
craftiness xcherehij they lie in ivait to deeeiTC. " Evil men
and seducers," we are told, <* will wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived." We are therefore to
expect that, they will be unwearied in their endeavours
to hcgiiile imslahle soulSf and turn tlieni aside from the
truth, as it is in Jesus. The danger, tlien, of erring from
the true faith of God's holy word is great, and the con-
sequence fatal.
This consideration should awaken parents to a more
serious diligenee in instructing their Jaunlies in the iivu
ToL. I. I i
258 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
principles of the oracles of God ; and excite our young
people to offer themselves more readily to catechetical
instruction, lest, when entering a world full of seduc-
tions, and assailed by the enemies of truth, they, through
ignorance, fall an easy prey to error. The danger
of erring should also excite all, who wish to know and
keep the truth, to study the word of God with a humble
and prayerful attention, that they may be rooted and
grounded in the truth, and not easily moved away from the
hope of the gospel. And it would be well if all minis-
ters of the gospel, like the apostle Paul, took due pains^
in their public ministrations, clearly to instruct their
people in the knowledge of gospel truth ; to guard them
against the seductions of error, and to establish and
build them up in their most holy faith.
2. Let all examine carefully, on what foundation they
are building their hope of salvation.
God alone is judge, on what foundation we may rest
our hopes with safety. No schemes of human device
can ever succeed in opposition to the plan of infinite wis-
dom and mercy. And the day that is coming will be, to
all, a day of decision on this important point. The fire
will try every man's xvorli, of what sort it is. God will
then thoroughly purge his floor, and gather none but the
true wheat into his garner. "What confusion will then
overwhelm deceived souls, when the great judge shall
pronounce ; " Thou art weighed in the balance and
found wanting !" When the rains shall descend, the
winds blow and the floods beat, ah, what sweeping will
there be among the sandy foundations of men's inven-
tion !
Sons of men, fly for refuge to the only shepherd and
bishop of your souls. — Seek your remedy where alone
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 259
God has provided it.— Build for eternity on that founda-
tion which God hath laid in Zion : for, be assured, " No
other foundation can any man lay, than that is laid j
which is Jesus Christ."
3. This subject may admonish true believers to adore
9, sovereign, gracious God, who hath brought them out
of darkness into his marvellous light, and made them
wise unto salvation.
Ye children of God, let your devout reflections often
dwell upon that distinguishing grace which hath made
you to differ. How highly favoured is your lot ! Had
not a sovereign God arrested you in your course of car-
nal security ; had he not, by his Spirit, discovered to
you your lost state by nature, convinced you of sin, and
brought you, from all your errings and wanderings, to
the shepherd and bishop of your souls j you would now
be lying in a state of spiritual darkness and unbelief.
Let God have all the glory that. Whereas tjou were once
hlindi you noio see. Bless his holy name for what he
hath done for your soul. Give thanks to him for what-
ever blessed experience you now have, or heretofore
have had, of his mercy and love in Christ, and for that
hope which is set before you in the gospel. See that
ye stand fast in the faith, rooted and grounded in the
truth, and not be easily moved away from the hope of the
gospel. Let the lives you now live in the flesh, be lives
of faith on the Son of God. Fe are complete in him.
Four life is hid with Christ in God. Look to him, by
faith, that of his fulness ye may receive, and grace for
grace. Labour to adorn, in all things, the doctrine of
God your Saviour. Thus living, ye shall neither be bar-
ren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
v
■26U NEW-JERSEY PRKACHER,
And now, to him that is ahle to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless hefore the presence of his
glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our
Saviour, he glory a»id majesty, dominion and power, both
now and ever. — AMEN.
SERMOR XV.
THE TRUE AND FALSE GROUNDS OF
RELIGION.
(IN TWO SERMONS.)
Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9.
But what things were gain to me those I counted loss for Chiist. Yea, doubtleai,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all tilings. Sec. &c«.
BY JOSEPH CLARK, D. D,
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congi^egation of New-BrUnswick.
NEW-JERSEY PREACHEK.
SERMON XV.
Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. — ^But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the loss
of all tilings, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is, through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
&ith.
XN a world where truth and falsehood hoth assume the
name of religion ; and where, from the depravity of the
human heart, error will often present itself as the most
pleasing and acceptable to men, we are in great danger
of erring from the truth. And the more we suffer our
enquiries, on this head, to be directed by the pride and
corrupt passions of the heart, the greater will be the
danger of building our hopes on a foundation that must
finally be swept away, as a refuge of lies. ''
These are considerations that should excite every
honest mind, to take heed what he receives for truth, in
matters of religion, and on what he founds his hopes of
acceptance with God. It is from these considerations
also that ministers of the gospel have a double Avork to
perform. They are to detect the fallacy and shew the
insufficiency a^ false religion, while they explain and en-
force the true. These are the two great objects of the
apostle, in our text ; from which, when this passage
was before under consideration, it was proposed,
264 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
I. To shew that every thing sliort of the religion of
Christ, can be of no avail to us, for the attainment of
our salvation, and should be entirely rejected as a ground
of confidence.
II. To consider the nature of that religion which the
gospel reveals.
For tiie illustration of both these points, it was pro-
posed to take up and consider the view which the apostle
gives of bothf in the passage under review. And, there-
fore, in shewing, under the first head, the insufficiency
of every thing short of the religion of Christ, as the
ground of our acceptance with God ; the false grounds
of confidence, which the apostle enumerates in the con-
text, were considered, both as plead by the Jews ; and
as, with some circumstantial diiference, they are plead by
mere nominal christians. A recapitulation of the false
grounds of confidence, enumerated in the former dis-
course, will not now be necessary. I, therefore, pro-
ceed,
II. To consider the nature of that religion which
the gospel reveals, as the ground of our acceptance with
God. ;.
'This the apostle has distinctly marked, and forcibly
expressed in opposition to all those grounds of false con-
fidence he had been combatting. Having entirely re-
nounced all such confidences for himself, he delarcs that,
the religion he aspired after — that in which alone his
soul could rest — and in comparison with wliieh lie es-
teemed all things else l)ut loss, was " That he might win
Christ, andhe found in Mm, not Jiaving on his oum righ-
teousness, ivhich is of the fare, but that ivhichis through
thefailh of Christ, the righteousness wliich is of God by
faith.*' This is the apostle's description of gospel-
JOSEPH CLARK, D.D. J65
religion. The better to understand which, let us attend
to its several parts.
1. The winning of Christ. " That I may win Christ.'"
It is manifest the apostle here uses figurative language 5
and has reference either to the prizes, set up for the vic-
tors in the Olympic games ; or, more probably, he al-
ludes to the cities of refuge among the Jews, to which
if the man-slayer reached, before the avenger of blood
overtook him, he was said to win the cffi/, and thereby
saved his life. The aptness of this latter figure is abun-
dantly manifest ; and the language used leaves little
room to doubt that the apostle had reference to it, when
he speaks of winning Christ. Taking this, therefore, as
the figure the apostle had in view, and the following
things are evidently implied in the soul's winning Christ.
1. A deep conviction of his own sin and danger.
As the man-slayer, in fleeing to the city of refuge,
was under an awful dread of the avenger of blood, until
he reached the city ; so the soul seeking to win Christ,
has an alarming conviction of his own sin and guilt.
Whatever slight views some may entertain of convic-
tions of sin and guilt, as essential to gospel religion ; the
word of God as well as sound christian experience,
teaches us that, none ever truly flee to Christ for refuge,
until they are convinced of the deep pollution of their
nature by sin, their exposedness to the just displeasure
of God on account of sin, their utter inability to save
themselves, and their entire unworthiness of the divine
mercy. These convictions may differ, in the degree felt,
in different persons, and in the manner of their manifes-
tation ; but whoever truly flies to Christ for refuge will,
in a greater or less degree, feel that, until renewed by
divine grace, he is « as an unclean thing ; dead in tres-
Vol. 1. K k
268 NEW-JERSEY PRElACHER.
passes and sins, and hy nature a child of wrathy Tlie
man-slayer dreaded the resentment of the avenger of
bleod, and fled, in haste, to his city of refuge ; the con-
vinced sinner trembles under the denunciations of God's
violated law, dreads the displeasure of the just and holy
sovereign of heaven and earth, against whom he hath
sinned, and, in this deplorable situation, flees to Christ.
The man-slayer mourned for the deed he had done ', the
convinced sinner flees to Christ, weeping and mourning
for his transgressions, and loathing himself for all the
abominations of his heart and life. The man-slayer
used every exertion to reach his city of refuge ; the con-
vinced sinner is in serious earnest in fleeing from the
wrath to come. He asfes, he seeks, he knocks, he strives
to enter in at the straight gate, to lay hold on the hope set
before him. In short, it is necessity, a felt, pressing ne-
cessity, that first excites the soul to flee to Christ. " The
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Apd
while, as sin-«ick souls, looking and fleeing to Christ,
under this felt necessity, they cannot be indiflTerent
about their success ; their cry is " Lord, save me, or I
perish !
2. Winning Christ implies tliat, the whole trust of the
soul, for salvation, is in Christ only.
The man-slayer, pursued by fear, and feeling his life
in danger, used his utmost exertions to reach the ap-
pointed city of refuge. And to none other would he di-
rect his course : for no where else had he any warrant
for his security ; no where else could he be safe from
the avenger of blood. So it is with the soul that
seeks to win Christ. He is assured, from the authority
of God himself, that. There is salvation in none other ;
that, there is none other name under heaven, given amongst
' JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. %67
men, tchereby ttfe must be saved ; that, he is exalted of
God to be a prince and a saviour, to give repentance and
the remission of sin ; that, we have redemption through
his blood, even theforgiveness of sins ; that he is the pro-
pitiation whom God hath set forth, through whom he can
be righteous and yet remit sin. Therefore, the soiil seeks
no other refuge ; but finds his whole hope and trust, for
salvation, in Christ Jesus, as the only foundation tvhich
God hath laid in Zion. To seek any otl*er refuge, he is
constrained to view as a most dangerous presumption.
And therefore, all his former false hopes and refuges
of lies he gives up and wholly renounces. What things
were before gain to him, he noiv esteems loss for Christ,
and counts them but dung that he may ivin Christ,
And to this sole trust in Christ Jesus he is led, not our
ly because Christ is tlie only appointed way of salvation
to sinners ,• but because he sees in Christ an infinite suit-
ableness and all-sufficiency for accomplishing this salva-
tion. Instructed by the word and Spirit of God, he is
led to view this Saviour as, the eternal Son of God ; the
brightness of the Father* s glory, and the express image of his
person,in whom divells all the fulness of the Godhead bo-
dily ; as having assumed our nature into union with his
own divine nali^re ; as having submitted to be made un-
der the laiv ; to be made a curse for us, that he might re-
deem us fromthc curse of the laic ; to bear our sins inhis
own body on the tree ; to suffer and die, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God. In this view
of the Saviour, his infinite power, and the all-sufficient
mtjrit of his atonement and righteousness are abundant-
ly manifest. So that, the soul in fieeing to Christ for
refuge, puts his whole trust in him, as one able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. This
268 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
\iew of the suitableness, the infinite power and merit of
Christ, as a Saviour, must have a powerful influence in
exciting the soul to flee to him, as the only refuge.
Add to this, the influence which a view of the loveli-
ness and love of Christ has upon the soul. When Christ
is revealed to the soul, in all the glory of his person, his
character, and his offices, there will be a shining in the
heart of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. Christ will appear to the soul
as, the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely,
And the love of Christ manifested in the whole of the
great work of redemption, will have an irresistible in-
fluence in constraining the soul to flee to Christ. How
astonishing the mercy and love of God in Christ ! How
overwhelming the love of Christ to sinners ! Ah ! this
is love that melts down the soul, that, while we were
dead in sin ; dead in law ; lying in all our pollution and
wretchedness, and deserving nothing but the everlasting
displeasure of God, Christ should so love us as to give
himself an offering to God for us! Herein is love, not that
we loved God, hut that he first loved uSf and sent his .Son
to be the propitiation for our sins I While we were yet
sinners Christ died for the ungodly ! Well might the
apostle say «« The love of Christ constraineth us." And,
constrained by this love, the sinner will seek to win no
refuge but Christ.
3. To win Christ is, to attain to a satisfactory evidence
of the soul's saving interest in Christ.
The man-slajer could not dismiss his fears, and feel
himself in entire safety until he actually reached his city
of refuge. So neither can tlic soul enjoy a settled peace
in believing until it has some satisfactory evidence of its
interest in Christ. There is a period, in christian ex-
' JOSEPH CLARK, D. U, 269
perienee, called the believer's day of espousals, when the
soul, despairing of help elsewhere, and renouncing every
other refuge, does freely give itself up to be Christ's,
and cordially receive and rest upon Christ alone for sal-
vation, as he is offered in the gospel. This is reaching
to the true city of refuge ; this is, in the language of the
apostle, to win Christ. The soul, having been tossed as
with a tempest, and not comforted, now reposes in
Christ as, a hiding place from the wind, and a covert
from the tempest, as the shadow of a great rock in a wea-
ry land, and as rivers of waters in a dry place. A
sweet peace ensues ; the burden of his sins roils off; his
guilty fears are allayed ; and, assured of the pardon of
his sins, and feeling the love of Christ shed abroad in his
heart, in a holy transport, he cries, my beloved is mine
and I am his .' Like believing Thomas, while his finger
was in the print of the nails, he no longer hesitates to
adopt the appropriating language, My Lord, and my
God ! Or with Paul he can say, I know in ichom I have
helieved, and am persuaded he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him. The seeking soul has now
found rest in Christ, and knows by happy experience,
what it is to win Christ.
The persuasion, thus attained, of a saving interest in
Christ is usually called the faith of assurance. Con-
cerning this assurance, it is here proper to observe that,
though it be the privilege of every child of God, yet,
from some unhappy constitutional gloominess of mind,
or from having their affections too much divided between
Christ and the world, some are long left to mourn the
want of this assurance. In lleeing to Christ for refuge,
how often does it happen that, awakened, convinced souls
are for a time, left to struggle with distressing doubts
270 :NEW.JERSEt PREACHER.
and fears, and sometimes to conflict with the angliish of
despair. Wlicn they seem to he just entering on the
threshold of hope, they are driven hack to their former
douhts. When they are ahout to say, I have found him
whom my soul loveth, they are left to complain, my be-
loved hath withdraxvn himself and is gone ; and the fear
arises, he xvill be favourable no more. Such complaints
are often heard from sincere, humhle souls, at almost
every stage of their christian progress.
However difficult it may be, in such a case, for the
soul to decide on its real state, yet if, on a careful ex-
amination, it is found that, the soul does repose its.
entire trust hi Christ ; is striving to follow him in all his
ways ; and is willing to give up all for him ; the hope of
our having obtained a saving interest in Christ, although
accompanied with many douhts and fears, should not be
rejected but cherished. Nor should the soul, in such
case, content itself to live in a state of uncertainty, nor
be deterred from labouring after the full assurance of
faith.
Thus much on the soul's winning Christ.
II. The next thing in the apostle's deiinition is, to be
found in Christ. *' That I may win Christ, and be
found in him."
Those who are strangers to gospel religion, may have
very low thoughts of this part of it. But Paul, who was
a fit judge in this matter, viewed it as of essential im-
portance. In describing to the Bphesians their state,
before they embraced the gospel, he tells them, Eph.
ii. 12, That at tliat time, ye were without Christy being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strajigers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world. To be without Christ, or
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 271
out of Christy then, is to be in a most deplorable situa-
tion. It is to be, in no covenant relation to Christ j iu
no spiritual union with Christ; and therefore, no sharers
in the blessings of his purchase.
The phrase, to hcfound in Christ, expresses more ful-
ly, the state of those who win Christ. To 7vin, the soul
goes out to, and under a deep sense of sin and guilt, cor-
dially accepts of Christ. To he found in him, expresses
the soul's being born in the image of Christ, its covenant
relation to him, its spiritual union with him, and its safe-
ty from condemnation.
1. To he found in Christ, is to be renewed and born in
his image.
While out of Christ, we bear no spiritual likeness to
liim. The old nature characterises us ; we are in sin,,
and under its dominion. From this state we must be de-
livered, and created anew in Christ Jesus. This doc-
trine the Saviour has inculcated in the most explicit and
forcible manner. " Verilij, verily I say unto you, e^Kcept
a man be horn again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
It is requisite, therefore that, we put on the new man
which, after God, is created in righteousness and true
holiness. The same mind mnst he in us, which was also
4n Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus, neitlier circumci-
sion, availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, hut a new
creature. Moreover, ivhom he did foreknow, them be
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son. Froih the above scriptures, it appears that, re-
generation is an essential doctrine of the gospel, and
that none can he found in Christ until they are born in
his image. No professed respect for religion ; no com-
pliance merely with its external duties ; no fervors of
mere animal feeling; no zeal however loud and active.
Q72 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
are of themselves sufficient to constitute us the spiritual
members of Christ's family. No, there must be a change
of heart ; an implanting in Christ ; a passing from the
state of nature, to a state of grace. This is the state so
highly accounted of by the apostle, and which he con-
sidered as essential to being in Chrifst. As he speaks,
3 Cor. V. 17, If any man be in Christ, he is a new crea-
ture ; old things are are passed away ; behold all things
are become new.
2. To he found in Christy expresses the souPs covenant
relation to him.
The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the
second Adam, and in him, with all true believers in Christ.
As Adam was the first, so Christ is the second covenant
head ; and while he delivers from the miseries incurred
under the first, he confirms to believers all the grants
and privileges promised in the ncAv covenant. Gal.
iii. 17, The covenant that was confirmed before of God,
in Christ. 2 Cor. i. 20, For all the promises of God
in him are yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of God, by
us. This covenant, of which Christ is the head, the
apostle styles, Heb. viii. 6, a better covenant, established
upon better pronjises. While out of Christ, therefore,
we remain in the condition of the apostate children of
Adam, and subject to all the ruin which the breach of
that first covenant brought on us. But on believing in
Christ, we pass from death to life ; from the condemna-
tion and curse of the first covenant, to be heirs of the
blessings^ promised in the new. That is, we are placed
in a new covenant relation ; we are now in Christ, in a
covenant relation to him. Eph. ii. 19, We are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the
saints, and of the household of God. Gal. iii. 26, Foryc
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 273
are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus.
Eph. iii. 6, We become fellow heirs, and of the same bo-
dy, and partakers of his promise in Christ, by the gos-
pel. Blessed state ! glorious change ! From being chil-
dren of wrath and heirs of hell ; to being the children
of God, and heirs, yea, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus !
3. To he found in Christ implies the believer's union
with Christ.
All those who have fled to, and accepted of Christ by
faith, become spiritually united to him. He abides in
them hif his Spirit which he has given them. He that is
joined to the Lord, is one spirit. If any man have not
the Spirit of Christy he is none of his. His spirit is dif-
fused through them all, and is both the common bond
which unites them to Christ, the Head, and into one bo-
dv, the church : and is also the common source of life
which supports the whole body, and each individual
member. This union is beautifully described by the Sa-
viour in the 15th cliapter of John : I am the vine, ye are
the branches : he that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do
nothing. Paul thus speaks of it, 1 Cor xii. 13, For by
one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, Avhether we be bond or free ;
and have been all made to drink into one spirit. Christ
tells his disciples, John xiv. 20, Ye sliall know that, I
am in my Father and you in vu\ ami I in you. Tlie love
of Christ to his people di'pw from him t]>at most com-
forting petition, in the 17lh chapter of Jolm. Holy
Father, keep througli thine own name those whom thou
hast given me — that they all may be one ; as thou. Fath-
er, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.
It is from this union that, the spiritual life, or life of
Vol. t. Ju I
274 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
grace, is maintained in believers. Gal. ii. 20, 1 am cru-
cified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. To what
high dignity is our poor nature raised, through Christ !
If David thought it an honor too great for a subject, to
be united to his king, by a marriage allianee ; what
must be the honor of the real believer ! He is united to
the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; to the head of all
divine influence. His life is hid with Christ in God. It
is from his being thus in Christf that he derives all his
spiritual life from Christ's fulness ; and has, moreover,
the assurance that this life shall be maintained in his
soul and consummated in glory. John xiv. 19, Because I
live, ye shall live also. I briefly add,
4. To be found in Christ, is to be in a state of safety.
As the city of refuge aflbrded safety to the man-slayer
who had reached it ; or as the ark afforded safety to Noah
and his family, from the overwhelming flood, then all
tliose who are found in Christ, possess a security that
cannot fail : for it is a security of heaven's own providing.
In Christ, they are set on high from the fear of evil.
Neither the condemning sentence of the law, nor the
avenging justice of God can reach and smite thera there.
Sprinkled by the blood of atonement, no curse can
light upon them. Once they were the children of wrath ;
but in Christ, they have escaped from the wrath to come,
and are wurrank^d to adopt the following exulting lan-
guage, '< Christ hath redeemed ns from the curse of the law,
bein^ made a curse for ns. — There is therefore, now, no
condemnntioii to them that are: in Christ Jesus. — Who
shall lay anij thin !>; to the charge of God'^s electa It is God
that jiislifetfi: who is he that condemneth 9 It is Christ
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 275
that diedf yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us."
Such is tlie import of being found in Christ. It is to
be born in his image ; to be brought into a relation to
him, as our new-covenant-head ; to be spiritually united
to him, and to be in a state of safety from all condemna-
tion. Each of these articles, it is evident from the
scriptures adduced, are essential features of gospel-re-
ligion, and of such high import that, the apostle might
well make so great account of being found in Christ, and
be willing to suffer the loss of all things that he might
attain to this.
III. The third and last part\pf the apostle*s descrip-
tion is in these words. « Not having on mine own right-
eousness, which is of the law j but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
i^ith."
Here it is taken for granted that, man stands in abso-
lute need of righteousness. That where there is not
such a righteousness as the law requires and God can
accept, man can have no hope. The reason is, man is a
creature made under law to God, and in the day of final
account, must be judged by the law under which he is
placed. To be acquitted of (he charge of guilt and pro-
nounced righteous, or as the scriptures express it, to he
justified, man must have either in himself, or in his sure-
ty, a righteousness equal to the demands of the law ;
that is, a perfect righteousness : for the law knows noth-
ing of mercy and forgiveness ; it is a pui'c law, not an act
of grace. And God, the righteous law-giver and judge,
cannot depart from his just claims of perfect obedience :
for such a departure would be equal to the acknowledge
276 NEM^JERSEY PREACHER.
inent either, that his Jaw was, in itself, unreasonable;
or that he had ceased to be just. A perfect righteous-
ness, then, is necessary for the sinner's justification
before God.
Let it be observed further that, to the salvation of
man, it is also requisite, he possess a meetness for the
enjoyment of God. Nothing unclean can enter heaven.
This meetness is usually styled /loZmess or sanctijication.
It commences in regeneration, and is imperfect, even in
the best of men in this life : for as the apostle observes,
*« We are here sanctijied but in j)a?*t." But it is a work
of grace, in believers, which increases and grows until
they are fm^iUy presented unto God without spot or wrin-
kle or any such thing. Every believer, therefore, so far
as he is holy, that is, conformed to God, in the spirit
and temper of his mind, and in the conduct of his life, is
righteous ; he has the righteousness denominated sanc-
tification. In our text, the apostle must have respect
to righteousness, in both the senses above explained.*
And so fully was he convinced of the insufficiency of his
own doings, and of his entire dependence on free grace
for every thing essential to his salvation that, his own
nghtcoiisness xvltich is of the law was rejected by him, as
of no avail, and the righteousness which is of God hj
faith, was embraced as his sole ground of confidence.
The former of tliese, therefore, he would not have on :
but with the latter, that which is of God by faith, he
desired to be clad. I shall speak to both of these.
1. His own righteousness which is of the law.
* Imputed righteousness is doubtless tlie principal thing in the view of the
apostle in the text ; but as sanctification is a benefit inseparable from justif]ca^
tion, it may be considered as included in the apostle's desciiption.
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 27^
This will need little explanation. As obedience, or
conformity to the law, is termed righteousness, he must
mean, his own personal obedienee to the law ; that is, to
any law which God hath enjoined, whether moi^al, or
ceremonial, or even to the institutions and precepts of
the gospel. Such obedience or righteousness, was indeed
his own, because performed by himself personally, and
not by another for him. The explanation may be carri-
ed further, so that, by his own righteousness, he may
intend, any obedience of his to the law, performed in his
own strength, by the efforts of mere unrenewed nature,
and without the aids of divine grace. Thus performed,
the righteousness may be called his own. But it was
such a righfeousness as he would not have on. That is,
lie would not look for any shelter or security from it ;
be would not place any reliance on it ; nay, he wished
to have no esteem for it, as constituting any part of gos-
pel religion. It was not the ivedding garment in which
he could ever hope or dare to appear before God. It
was not that breast-plate of righteousness, provided in
the panoply of God, which every christian is enjoined to
put on.
There are two strong reasons why the apostle did,
and why all should renounce any dependence on their
own righteousness. First, because all such dependence
is vain. It is a rigliteousness, certainly not perfect, l)ut,
ah, how miserably defective ! so mixed with sin, even in
the very best of men, that it cannot possibly be accept-
ed, by a holy God, for our justification. And if it be
performed in no better strength than our own, without
the aids of God's holy spirit ; if its spring and motives
be no higher than the carnal mind, ivhieh is enmittf
against God : if it be the production, merely of our un
278 NEW-JERSEY PREACBEK.
renewed, uasauetified natures, then there ean be no holi-
ness in it, it is not that righteousness which is denomi-
nated sanctiiication. Secondly : another reason for re-
nouncing all dependence on our own righteousness is, that
all such dependence is an opposition to the gospel plan of
salvation. Salvation, on the gospel plan, is through free
grace, without money or price on our part. The gospel
linds us, wretched and miserahlc and 'poor and Mind and
nakcdf in forlorn and helpless circumstances, and offers
us salvation freely, and wholly through Christ. Whereas
salvation by our own righteousness, is a plan founded on
totally distinct principles ; a plan, in Avhich Christ and
his merits, and the necessity of divine influence, either
make no part at all 5 or, at best, they are taken in as
sharers with the efiicacy of our own works. To rely on
such a plan is, to place our lu)pe of eternal life on a cov-
enant of works, and not on the covenant of grace through
Christ. It is, as the apostle says of the unbelieving
Jews, a being ignorant of God's righteousness, and a go-
ing about to establish our own righteousness, refusing to
submit ourselves to the righteousness of God. And yet
how many, even among professing christians, discover a
strong attachment to the old covenant of works. If they
profess some dependence on Christ ; their main reliance
appears to be on their own power, and the efiieacy of
their own works of obedience. Such was not the faith
and spirit of Paul. This eminent apostle had not so
learned Christ. In this view of gospel religion, Christ
is the onlij name, the all and in all. He would know
none other, on none other foundation would he build.
Therefore, he would not have on his own righteousness^
which is of the law; but.
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 279
2. That Avbich the apostle did aspire to, and on which
lie could freely and confidently trust his eternal all, was
that righteousness ivhich is through the faith oj-' Christ,
the righteousness rvhich is of God by faith.
This is the righteousness, and this only, that can jus-
tify and save a sinner. Possessing this, he knew that,
he should never be made ashamed. Two things are
here to be noticed. 1. The righteousness itself. 2. How
it is received by the sinner or becomes his*
1. The righteousness itself.
It is called God's righteousness, or the righteousness
wbich is of God. We have the same language, Rom.
i. 17 ; and in sundry other places in the gospel is the right-
eousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
The scriptures, as was before observed, use the term
righteousness, as it relates both to our justification and
our sanctiiication. So I shall now consider it. The
righteousness, by which we are justified, is the imputed
righteousness of Christ. This righteousness is, Christ's
perfect obedience to the pcecepts and penalty of the di-
vine law. Such an obedience Christ has performed.
Being made under the law, substituted in the guilty sin-
ner's place, and without sin in himself, he fulfilled all
righteousness ; his ohedienec was without spot ; and his
propitiatory sufferings rendered it a righteous thing with
God to forgive sin. For Christ came into the world, not
to ohey and suffer on his own account. Of this he had
no need, nor was he under any obligation, seeing he Avas
without sin, and is, moreover, the Lord and lawgiver of
all creatures. But he submitted to this wholly on ac-
count of, and for the salvation of his believing people.
He obeyed, he suffered, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us unto God. Horn. iii. 2i, We are justified
280 NEW-JERSEY PKEACllER.
freely by liis grace, through the redemption that is ia
Christ Jesus. To redeem is to recover from captivity,
bondage and wretchedness, by paying down a price. Sin-
ners, by nature, are in bondage to the law, sold under sin;
but Christ redeemed us from the curse of the latVf heing
made a curse for us. It is said, Rom. x. 4., Christ is the
end of the law y for righteousness, to every one that be-
lieveth. Now the end of every law is, that it be obeyed ;
and if transgressed, that its penalty be suftered. This
Christ hath accomplished. That is, he hath fulfilled
the great eud of the law by his obedience and suffering.
And in doing this, he hath satisfied the law, paid down
the ransom, and thereby brought in an everlasting right-
eousness for all them that believe in him. This is the
righteousness which, according to Rom. iv. 6, God
imputeth without works. Hence says the prophet,
Jcr. xxiii. 6, This is the name by which he shall be call-
ed, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNP:SS. And it
is said, 1 Cor. i. 30, Christ Jesus is made, of God, unto
us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemp-
tion.
By this righteousness of Christ, imputed unto us, ^ve
are justified. And this righteousness is of God ,• because
it is of God's appointment; because it was wrought out
for us by the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ;
because God hath declared himself well pleased and
satisfied witii this righteousness, and because he imputes
it to tlie believing sinner, and will accept it for his
justification. On whomsoever, therefore, this righte-
ousness is found, the condemning sentence of the law
cannot light. In the Saviour's righteousness he stands
complete. He has the robe, the wedding garment, that
JjOSEPII CLAliK, D.D. 2M
will admit him to the guest-chamber, iii the courts
above !
The righteousness of God, by faith, is also imparted
righteousness, or sanetification. It is the spirit of grace,
implanted in believers, with the fruits of this spirit
brought forth in their tempers and lives.
In this sense the Avord righteousness is so often used
in the scriptures that it is needless to cite passages in
proof. Of this "righteousness every real christian par-
takes. The stamp they bear is, Holiness to the Lord.
And it is not merely an external, but a real holiness ; not
a holiness, the mere result of our own natural strength ;
or of a good education, but the fruit of the implanted
spirit of grace, which is in all goodness and righteous-
ness and truth. To render his people holy is one great
object of Christ in the plan of our salvation, Titus ii. 14,
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. Our Avhole sanetification, or
inherent righteousness, is the purchase of Christ's blood
and the work of his Spirit. It is communicated, or shed
on us abundantlii, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
This rightousness cannot, indeed, answer the demands
of the law for our justification before God ; but it is that
righteousness or holinesss xvithout ivhich no man shall see
the Lord.
The apostle, therefore, could not rest in any thing
short of the impuled an<l imparted righteotisness of God.
lie was neither a legalist, nor an antinomian. He look-
ed to be jusii/tcfl/nxii/, hy God's grace, through the re-
demption that is in Jesus Christ ; to be ivashed, to be sanc-
tijied, to he justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
Vol. I. M m
282 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
hi) the Spirit of our God. Humbled and stripped of all
self-dependence, he trusted in Christ Jesus his Lord ;
and looking for the aids of divine grace, through him, he
applied himself with diligence and earnestness to the put-
ting off the old man, with his deeds, rvhich are corrupt,
and to the putting on the new man, which, after God, is
created in righteousness and true holiness. In this way,
his life was one unceasing endeavour, to increase in the
fruits of righteousness ivhich are, by Jesus Christ, to the
praise and glonj of God.
Such, then, is the righteousness the apostle desired to
have on, while he resolved to renounce wholly his own,
Happy resolve ! Noble exchange ! To give up dross and
dung, for the pearl of great price ! To renounce the
vilest poverty for gold tried in the fire ! To cast away
his filthy i^gs, for robes, pure and white ! To reject all
dependence on poor unrenewed nature's strength 5 and
live in constant dependence on the merits of the Saviour,
and on the aids of divine grace. I am,
2, To enquire, how this righteousness is received by
the sinner, or becomes his.
And this is, in one word, by faith, through the faith of
Christ, that is, by a gospel faith. He that is a stranger
to the faith of Christ, possesses not the righteousness
which is of God. This faith is the full and free assent
and consent of the soul to God's revealed truth ; or, in
other words, it is the receiving of the record which
God liath given of his Son. In the religion of the gos-
pel, this faiJh has a high rank. It is there revealed as
of divine origin ; it is the gift of God ; of the operation of
God ; it unites to Christ ; by it we become the chTldrea
of God ; it puts in motion all the gracious affections : for
it 7vorketh by love and purifeth the heart ; it supports
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 283
under the severest trials ; renders the soul superior to
discouragement, in seasons of the greatest difficulty,
and is its grand stimulus to all holy obedience. So
essential is it to our acceptance with God, that we
are told, in Heb. 11. 6, Without faith it is impossible to
please him. And in Mark xvi. 16, He that believeth
and is baptised, shall be saved j but he that believeth
not, shall be damned.
In the article of justification, faith stands opposed to
works ; that is to our own works of obedience to the law.
Rom. iii. 20, 28, By the deeds of the law, there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight — therefore, we conclude,
that a man is justified hy faithy without the deeds
of the law. Those who are looking for salvation, in
some other way than through the faith of Christ, are
opposed to this order of things. And by rejecting the
doctrine of the totally depraved, guilty, undone state of
man, as a fallen creature ; by persisting to plead for
man's sufficiency in himself, for the purposes of his sal-
vation ; and relying on the merit and efficacy of their
own works of obedience, they see but little beauty in,
or need of Christ, wliy they should desire him ; nay,
they are opposed to the gospel plan of salvation, and re-
ject the only remedy which God hath offered to sinners.
How manifest is it that, in this way, the guilty creature
sets himself up against the sovereign mercy of God j
He will be his own physician ; he is offended with the
doctrine of entire dependence on the mere mercy of God
in Christ. Notwithstanding his apostasy, with its ef-
fects on his state, he claims the credit of possessing in
himself sufficient power and skill to procure his own
deliverance, and work out for himself a sufficient meet-
ness for heaven. Such a temper of mind can be no oth-
erwise considered, than as in direct hostilifv to the re-
2S4 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEli.
ligion of the gospel. Instead of desiring, seeking, and
humbly receiving the righteousness Avhich is of God by
faith, it refuses to submit to this righteousness.
The above reniai-ks are made, Avith a view, to shew
more clearly, how the believing sinner does receive this
righteousness. Aud I know not how, better, to shew
this, than in the following manner. Brought out of
darkness into God's marvellous light, he bows to the tes-
timony of God in his word, without conditions, or ex-
ceptions. He submits to become reconcilcAl to God hij the
death of his Son. He gives up all trust in, or depen-
<lence on himself 5 acknowledging his perishing necessi-
ty, and intire unworthiness. With his whole soul, he
reviews and rests upon Christ alone for salvation, as he
is offered in the gospel ; and looking for acceptance
^vith God, and help from God, wholly through Christ,
the language of his heart is, "Lord, to whom shall I go,
thou hast the words of eternal life !" This is faith. It
is a submitting to, and cordially acquiescing in, God's
own terms ; it is humbly and thankfully receiving what
God hath provided, and freely otfers to perishing sin-
ners. And he, that tlnis belie veth, shall be saved ; shall
l)e justified from all things, from wliich he could not be
justified by the law of Moses, nor by any other law.
This is the divine plan. And on this plan, it appears
that faith no more merits salvation than works do. But
God haith so constituted tlie method of our salvation, that
Christ and the benefits of his redemption, when receiv-
ed by fai<h, should become ours. Ours, roilhont money
and 'ivithont pince. John i. 12, As many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even (o them that believe on his name. Rom. iv. i, 5, Now
to him that worketh is tlie reward not reckoned of grace>
' iOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 285
but of debt J* but to bim that worketh not, but believeth
on bhu that justifietb tbe ungodly, his faiih is counted
for righteousness. And in Rom. x. 10, With the heart
man believeth unto righteousiu^ss. That is, a believing
in Christ, with all the heart, secures to the sinner a per-
fect, saving righteousness. It unites him to Christ, and
thereupon, Christ's righteousness becomes bis. And, in
this view, is the doctrine so much insisted on in the
scriptures that, wc are justijied hy faith, and not hy the
deeds of the laxv. No, not of any law : for, as the apos-
tle reasons. Gal. iii. 21, 22, If there had been a law
given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the laM. But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise, hy faith of
Jesus Christ miglit be given to them that believe. This
is saying that, the sinner can look to no law for life j,
that the rigliteousness, hy which alone he can be justifi-
ed, is through the faith of Christ: a righteousness which,
according to the gracious plan, or [U'omise of God, is
given to them that believe.
It is through the faith of Christ, also, that the sinner
is made partaker of inherent righteousness, or sanctili-
cation. In regeneration, the faiih of the operation of
God is implanted in the soul. This faith, from a clear
view and deep conviction of the truth, operates in the
soul as a principle of sanetiiieation. Our liord prays,
John xvii. 17, Sanctify them, through thy truth, thy
word is truth. This prayer teaches us that, the truths
of God, received by faith, have a purifying effect on tbe
soul ; that the soul, being thus brought to view the glory
of the divine perfections, the excellence of the divine
law, the great evil of sin, the beauty of holiness, and the
' rich displays of God's mercy in the gospel, is led to hate
J6ar
2«6 ^ NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
and strive against sin ; to love and labour after holiness^
and thereby to grow in grace and increase in the fruits
of righteousness. In this way, then, fvaih wovketh by
lore and puvifieth the heart.
Believing sinners, also, derive holiness or sanetifica-
tion in the way of direct application, by faith, to Christ
the living head. They are comjilete in him. Their life
is hid with Christ in God. Though of themselves they
can do nothing ; yet, though Christ strengthening them
they can do all things. The supplies of the Spirit of
grace are derived from Christ, by faith, to th€ souls of
believers. Christ is the object of their habitual trust
for sanctification. As the apostle speaks. The lives theij
norv live in thejlesh, they live by the faith of the Son of
God. In this way, they receive of the Saviour's fulness
and grace for grace. And thus grow up into him in all
things, and finally attain to a perfect meetness for God's
heavenly kingdom. It is to this end that the throne of
grace is made accessible ; that, repairing thither, in the
conlideuce of faith in the great high priest over the
house of God, they may obtain mercy and find grace to
help them in time of need. Thus, by faith is the sinner
made partaker of God's righteousness. Having, thus
far, considered the nature of gospel-religion, according
to the view which the apostle hath given of it in our text,
I shall now close the subject, by making some inferences
from the whole.
1. From the view that has been taken of this subject,
we are naturally led to infer that, gospel religion alters
men's views of God, and reconciles them to his true cha-
racter.
This religion commences by God's shining into the
heart, to give the light of the knoxcledge of his glory in tht
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 287
face of Jesus Christ. The shining of this light into the
soul bows it to God, and it is led to -^dore and love God
in that very character which he hath given of himself in
his word. The wicked know not God. Unregenerate
men are displeased with, nay, they cannot endure the
view which the scriptures give of God's perfections and
government. And this is the fruitful source of those nu-
merous corrupt systems of religion which have appeared
in the world. Men are opposed to revealed religioH be-
cause it gives such a view of God as their proud corrupt
hearts revolt at. They pretend not to deny the existence
of a God; but, then, they arc fain to form such a
view of his character as, at least in some degree, resem-
ble^ their own, and suits theii* Avishes. He must not be
so much displeased with sin, as the scriptures represent
him. He must be all mercy ; possess no vindictive jus-
tice. He must good-naturedly put up with their tramp-
ling on his laws, and their slighting and despising the
offers of his grace. A little external morality, or, at
most, a few formal professions of repqjtitance, must be
accepted with him, as a sufficient passport for them to
eternal felicity. But gospel religion totally alters the
view s of the soul in this respect. They who possess this
religion, are taught spiritually and savingly to knorc the
onhj true God and Jesus ^rist -ivhom he hath sent. God,
as revealed in his.w(pLl, appears altogether glorious;
And they,"VKm*fti»Hiijg lheqi^£^*:e?^amL conrbuff^'^d* at
their former enmity against God, now mo5t heartily give
up all their opposition, and become reconciled to God by
the death of his Son.
2. From this subject, the inference fairly follows
that, the religion of the gospel is a soul-humbling reli-
gion.
288 NEW-JERSEY PREACIIElR.
It prostrates the sinner in the dust, not only from the
view of his past sins, witli their dreadful demerit ; but
from the conviction that he feels of the awful moral de-
pravity of his nature. AVhatever may have been the case
before, he can now no longer entertain slight views of
the evil of sin. His pride is brought down ; his high
looks and lofty imaginations are laid low. He is strip^-
ped of all dependence on his own power, or on the n»er-
it of his own works. He feels that, he is wretched and
miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. This religion,
by teaching him the absolute necessity of dependence
on Christ for justification and sanctification, takes from
him all ground of boasting. He dares not so much as
lift up his eye« to hea,ven, but, from every view of his
situation, is constrained to cry, God, he merciful to me a
sinner ! Ah, how much of that which with many in our
world, passes for religion, would be viewed with shame
and rejected with abhorrence, did men truly see their
own guilt, vileness, weakness and unwortlilness, and the
glory of the plan of salvation through Christ. On
this plan, the sinner is laid low indeed, and the Lord
alone is exalted. To every self-righteous professor,
this religion speaks, as in 1 Cor. iv. 7, Who maketh thee
to differ from another ? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive ? Now if tkou didst receive it, why-
dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it ? And in
Rom. iii. 27, Where is boasting then 2 It is excluded.
By what law? Of works ? Nay; but by the law of faith.
3. From this subject we are led to infer that, to those
who possess gospel religion, Christ is precious.
They have not those low thoughts of Christ which
are entertained by many in the world, who notwith-
standing, call themselves, christians. Ah no : to think
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 289
and to speak as some do of Christ, they cannot but view
as treason against the King of kings ! Christ is the
Lord, their righteousness and strength. He is, to them,
the chief among ten thousands, and the one altogether love-
ly ! He is their trust, their ho]pe, their life, their all I To
you who believe, says the apostle, he is precious. God
forbid that I should glomj save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christf expresses the very feelings of their hearts.
They adore and love him for what he is in himself, and
for what he hath done and is doing for the salvation of a
lost world. To Christ Jesus they trust their dearest
interests ; to him they commit their departing spirits 5
and through him and from him they look for their eter-
nal all. To such, therefore, the name of Jesus is, as
ointment jwured forth. His honor, the interest of his
kingdom, and the prevalence of his truths, are objects
near to their hearts. They are grieved when Christ is
dishonored, Avhen his truths are opposed, or when the
interests of his religion appear to be neglected. With
this religion in lively exercise, they can join with the
apostle in the text and say, We esteem oil Ihingsbut loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Chmst Jesus, our
Lord.
4. From this subject, it follows that, gospel religion,
above all others, furnishes the best security for a holy
life.
The character given of it is that, it is a doctrine ac-
cording to godliness. An objection is often brought for-
Avard against the doctrine of justiliculion by faith, that
it tends to licentiousness. Now this objection must be
made either from a misunderstanding of the docti-ine, or
from a wish to disci'cdit it because of a preconceived
fondness for an opposite system. Let any one sei-ious
Vol.. I. N n
29Q. NEW JERSEY PREACHElt.
consider the sentiments it inspires ; the views that it
gives of God, of his law, of the evil of sin, and of the
btauty of holiness ; let him consider the feelings that,
from its very nature, it excites in the soul, the necessi-
ty that it teaches of man's sauctillcation, and of his hear-
ty co-operation therein ; let him consider the help so
freely and abundantly offered, the powerful motives urg-
ed, and the consttaining influence which the mercy and
love of God, manifested in the gospel, has to lead men
to holiness ; and then let him say, whether the doctrines
now contended for, do not manifestly tend to constrain
men, to lixe soberly, righleoiisly, and godhj in this jiresent
7Vorld ; to call and quicken their attention to all the
duties they owe to God, to their fellow men and to
themselves. Should the appeal be made to fact and ex-
perience, the truth of the inference advanced will be
a])undantly coutirmed. The most distinguished for pie-
ty an{l godliness have ever been found among those, who
have most strictly adhered to the doctrines that have now
been advocated,
I shall now close this discourse by a very brief exhor-
tation. 1. To those who have hitherto but too little
considered, on what they are building their hopes of
acceptance with God. Let me say to such that, no foun-
dation will abide the day of trial but that which God
liath laid in Zion. All others will be swept away as re-
fuges of lies. But lot eveiy man t.ike heed how he
))nilds on this foundation.- AYe are here in danger of
fatal mistakes. Whatever professions of faith in Christ
we may make ; if our faitli be not of tlie operation of
God ; if it be not a faitli that receives and rests upon
Cluist alone for salvation, as he is ofiercd in the gospel j
if it do not work by love and purify the heart, our pro-
JOSEPH CLARK, D. D. 291
fessions will stand us in no stead ; but, numbered with
the enetnies of the gospel, we must fall undci* the awful
denunciation^ " Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever-
lasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels !" Ex-
amine tjourselves, therefore, whether ye he in the faith ;
•prove your own selves : knoxv ye not your own selves,
horv that Jesus Christ is in i/om, except ye he reprobates.
2. Let true believers bless the Lord for the glorious
foundation he hath laid for your faith and hope in the
gospel of his Son ; that he hath called you by his grace,
and made you partakers of a living faith in the Lord
Jesus. How changed is your state from Avhat it once
was ! Now are ye the sons of God ; adopted into his fa-
mily ; made heirs of God, yea, joint heirs with Christ
Jesus. All things are yours : for ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's. While you adore him for his dis-
tinguishing love to you, and for all your consolations that
abound by Christ ; see that ye walk worthy of the voca-
tion, wherewith ye are called ,• labour to adorn, in all
things, the doctrine of God your Saviour. Testify, both
to yourselves and others, the savingnatureof your faith,
by your works. Let not a vain world deceive and mis-
lead you. Live not after the flesh ; but grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and forever, AMEN-
SERMON XVI.
ON A DEATH-BED REPENTANCE.
Matt. XXV. 10.
And, while they -went to buy, the bridegroom came ; and they that were read}',
went in with him to the marriage ; and the door was shut.
BY SAMUEL S. SMITH, D. D. L. L. D.
NEW-JEl^SEY PEEACHER.
SERMON XVI.
Matt. XXV. 10. — And, while they went to buy, the bridegi-oom came ; and
the\ that were ready, went in with hini to the mairiage ; and the door
was shut.
U NDER the simple ami familiar images of this para-
ble, are conveyed truths the most interesting to mankind,
the most awful to sinners. Sincere repentance and the
habits of a holy life, are, through ihe redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, the only preparation which can justly be
relied on for a peaceful death, and a happy immortality.
But sinners, mistaking the nature ofrepentaoce, as if it con-
sisted merely in the tears extorted by the terrors of their
last hour ; or in the bitter reproaches which they make to
themselves for the folly and madness of their worldly pur-
suits, w hen the world itself is seen to be perishing from
their embrace ; mistaking the nature of heaven, as if it
consisted in a happiness independent on the regeneration
of the heart, resolve to enjoy the world, while they
have powers to taste its pleasures, or to pursue its
interests, and to postpone their preparation for eternity,
till, at length, they leave it to the dreadful hazard of a
death-bed. To destroy this most dangerous and fatal
error, and to preserve men always awake to their ever-
lasting interests, so that neither death nor judgment shall
find them unprepared, is the great object of our blessed
Lord in this parable. For this end he pictures to us the
surprize and consternation of foolish virgins who were
employed at a marriage to be in waiting for the bride-
29C NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
groom ; but who, having neglected their duty, were not
in readiness to receive him at his coming, and were in
consequence, excluded from the honors and joys of the
nuptial festival.
The structure of the fable is founded on an eastern
custom of celebrating marriages at a late hour in the
evening. The bridegroom and his attendants were re-
ceived at the house of the bride by a train of virgins
bearing lamps or flambeaus in their hands. In the case
here imagined, a part being wise and attentive to their
duty held themselves in readiness to fulfil their office
whenever their Lord should appear ; the rest being
thoughtless and improvident, left their lamps unfurnish-
ed with oiJ, trusting that they should have time to re-
plenisb them after the first signal had announced the ap-
pi'oach of tbe bridegroom. But, while they were buried
in profound forgetfulness, a sudden cry was made fi'om
every side ; — behold ihc bridegroom comelh ; go ye out to
meet Mm! Then appeared the folly of tbose who, in the
season of preparation, had neglected their proper duty.
While they were seeking in vain to repair tbeir error,
and, in the hurry and confusion of their spirits, were
continually committing only new mistakes, the bride-
groom had already come and entered into his apartments ;
those who were ready entered along with him, and the
door was shut. After which, tltere Avas no more ad-
mission eilbcr for attendant, or for guest.
"With what force and trutb docs this beautiful fable
represent to us the inlinite danger of delaying our re-
pentance, and preparation for eternity till the moment
when God is calling us by the voice of death to appear
in his presence. The bridegroom hastens <o Iiis joys,
and docs not wait to give time for the foolish virgins to
SAMUEL S. SMITH, U. D. L. L. D. 297
repair tlieir neglect. He commands the door to be clos-
ed and no more listens to <hc entreaties by which they
solicit to be admitted to his presence. Such is the ter-
rible state of an impenitent sinner on his deatli-bed —
The season of repentance and the season of the divine
mcrcij, both, are past.
Attend, my brethren, to these interesting ideas.
1. The sinner, on his death-bed, will want time for
that great change which must pass upon his heart in re-
pentance.—Do Ave not perceive that all important im-
provements either in our intellectual powers, or our
moral habits, are the effect of long and assiduous culture?
Leaving out of our view, what in the regular and com-
mon course of divine providence, ought not to be expect-
ed, every extraordinary operation of the divine power
upon a sinner's heart, can we believe that a change so
great as that which is produced by repentance in the
entire systems of our views, of our affections, of our pur-
suits and habits, and in one word in our whole nature,
should be the sudden and unprepared effect of the sur-
prise and terror of our last moments ? To what purpose
would be that long season of discipline, those multiplied
and daily repeated means of grace, afforded by God to
cultivate the heart for heaven, if after they have been
abused and raispent, their end can be attained in one
critical instant at the close of life ? No, this does not
accord with the moral constitution of man, nor with the
established order of the moral woild. God in the ordina-
ry course of things, seconds by the gentle influences of
his Holy Spirit, the convictions and [jcrsuasions which
his word and providence are calculated to produce upon
the heart. But, shall we forever look for iniiaeles in
favour of those only who have wasted opportunities, and
Vol,. I. 0 o
298 NEW-JERSEY PRBACHEB.
means, and time, and wantonly resisted the merciful
operations of the spirit of God in their prober season "?
Let it he rememhered also, that peculiar difficulties op-
pose themselves to this change. It is not merely the
renovation of a heart which, though not enlightened, is
not an enemy to the truth ; which, though not holy,
is still innocent, and offers no obstacles to divine grace.
It is the regeneration of a heart corriqjted as well as
hlind : Avhich hatelh the light, neither cometh to thelight,
lest its deeds should he reproved : it is the conquest of pas-
sions which oppose their whole force to the law of di-
vine trufh : it is the eradication of perverse and sinful
habits which have struck their roots deeji into the whole
mass of our nature. Are these works which can be ef-
fected in a few moments ? Victoroies which are easily
obtained ? Ask the experience of all the truly penitent.
What struggles, what conflicts, have they been obliged to
maintain with a blind and hard heart before it could
discern the beauties of holiness, or be penetrated with
the love of tlie Redeemer ! What a long and distressing
warfare with a stubborn and rebellious will, before it
would submit to the grace of the gospel ! with a sensual
imagination contiuiiully assembling before the soul the
ensnaring images of vice ; with irregular passions con-
tinually bullying them into sin ! How often have they
been obliged to return foiled fi'ora the contest; and,
after they seemed to have made some progress towards
an entire victory over their lusts, have they been again
overcome in the moment of temptation, and had all their
labours to begin anew ! Yes, it is only after many long
and arduous coniiicSs (hat tlie pious have been able to
conquer the domlniiJU oi'sin in t!ie soul; and to attain at
last to tbe kingdom of heaven.— Can you then, O sinner !
^
SAMUEL S. S>nTII, D.D. L.L.D. 290
presume on aecomplishing iliis great work in the rapid
instant whieli you may s<ill enjoy on a deatli-l)e(l ; in the
short and tumultuous interval hetween the attack ol'
diseases and their fatal period ? Were the mind in
the most favouralde state for exerting her full pow-
ers, how little could he done in that hi-ief time for
eternity ! But urged hy extreme disease upon her des-
tiny, and overwhelmed hy her fears, she is still less
able to accomplish so great a change. Her distract-
ed thoughts incessantly hurry her from her work to
her danger, and again from her danger to her work.
All her efforts are feeble and confused. She besieg-
es heaven in all the importunity of prayer. It is her
only, and now almost vanishing hope. But, ah ! she
expires without being able to attain the consolation of
hope.
To such hazard is the delay of repentance till the
close of life exposed, even if you could enjoy the ut-
most you can promise yourselves, the warning of a
death-bed. But this warning, fruitless as it common-
ly is, you mciy not enjoy. Death often lies in ambush
for his prey, and in the moment of the deepest secu-
rity, suddenly seizes upon it. AYill you then risk your
everlasting salvation on the delusive, the hopeless
promise of a death-bed repentance ? Will you reply to
all the invitations, the admonitions, the remonstran-
ces of religion, I resolr'C to repent before I die7 Death
may arrest you Avhile you are forming the resolntion.
Your next step may be to the tribunal of your judge.
The same moment may sound the alarm of the
coming of your Lord, and forever close the door
against you. — This is the first danger of postponing re-
300 JsEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
pentance till Ihc approach of death ; ihc sinner will
want time to accomplish so great a work.
2. As he will want timCf he Avill also want ihejwieers
necessary to attend to it as becomes the important and
arduous nature of this duty.
The work of eternity is to be done ; and what can be
expected in the few days, or perhaps the few moments
in which the last fatal disease commonly finishes its
dreadful course, from a weali and fainting mind ; from
a confused and faltering reason ; from a heart in which
the sources of Ife are almost extinguished 9 Perhaps acute
pain takes from the wretched sufferer all power of
thinking except upon his miseries. Perhaps, sunk in a
profound lethargy, he rather dozes than lives ; and his
flighty thoughts resemble the wanderings of a dream.
If the fever seizes on his brain wliat wild and incoherent
fancies fill and distract his mind ? How can we reason
>vith him on his duties, and his eternal interests, who re-
ceives false impressions from every object around him ?
How can he know his Saviour who knows not the friends
who are weeping by his bed-side ? All then is chaos and
confusion in the soul ; and the powers of reformation and
repentance are lost with the powers of reason and re-
flection.
To some who hear me I may, perhaps, confirm this ar-
gument from their own experience. Have you, at any
time, been brought, by the hand of God, near to the gates
of death ? Urged upon your destiny, as you thought, and
trembling before the justice of heaven, what composure
of mind did you then possess for the great work which
was before you ? Wlial clear discoveries could you attain
of divine things? What tunudts agitated your breast!
AVhat fruitless struggles did you maintain w ith an impeni-
3AMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L.D. 30.1
tent heart witlioiit being able to make it relent ! "What ef-
forts did you make to break through tlie prolbund dark-
ness Avhich eovered your soul without being able to see
any light! What con ftssions did you make of the past
sinfulness of your life, but without being able to appease
conscience ! With what earnestness did you assail the
throne of grace, but without being able to calm your
terrors. What resolutions did you make of amendment,
if God should spare you to recover from that bed ! Ah!
this is commonhi all the J"!' nit of a death-bed I'cpent-
ance : it consists only in resolutions for the timeiocome,
wliich the dying sinner does not live to execute ; wliich
if he did live, he would probably forget with returning
health. Did you not then do as much for your salva-
tion as, in the same circumstances, you are likely ever to
do again ? What was its fruit ? Ah ! what would have
been the fearful destiny of (lie soul, if she had then been
called to her judgment ? And, Mill you again hazard
your everlasting interests on that desperate hope — th«
hope of repentance on a death-bed, from the wreck of
Avhich you have but just escaped ? Your Lord will then
come to call you to judgment^ not to extend to you 7iew
mercies ; to receive your accountf not to repair the er-
rors of a mispeiit life.
To all these representations, will tlie sinner oppose the
power of God which is able to change the heart in a mo-
ment and is not liuiited to any order of means or of lime ;
and the mercy of God which is ever ready to hear the
cries of the miserable, and the perishing ? The almigh-
ty power, the infinite gooxhiess of God we cannot denv.
They are truths precious to every sincere christian.
But in drawing such expectations from them, you would
30% NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
make them tlic grounds of the most unwarranted and
dangerous conclusions. Fop,
3. The- impenitent sinner, in the last moments of a
mispent life, will have no reasonable foundation of
hope in the divine j)oiver and mercy.
The moral order of things, not less than the natural,
has its fixed and certain laws. Moral changes are usu-
ally tlie slow effect of culture, and of time — of the grad-
ual developement of truth, and the application of proper
motives to the heart. And is it reasonable to expect
that God will depart from this order only in favour of a
sinner at the close of a life spent in despising or abus-
ing the means of grace which he has afforded him ? But
is not repentance, you ask, the gift of God ? May it not,
therefore, be imparted at any moment ? This question,
I will answer by another. Is not every blessing of di-
Yine providence equally the gift of God ? But, are those
blessings ever bestowed independent of the natural means
with w hich he has been pleased to unite them ? Is it not
God who bestows on you the abundance of harvest ?
But, will you ever reap if you have not sorvn ?
Whatever degree of influence may be ascribed to the
grace and power of God in the regeneration of the heart,
can we believe that he will extend that grace, or exert
that power in favour of some sinners only to encourage
so many others to contemn the established means of
their salvation, and to hazard their eternal interests on
the desperate contingencies of their last hour ? The
power of God, indeed, cu7i do every thing. But has he
not imposed limits to the exercise of his own power-—
the limits of ivisdom — the limits prescribed by the order of
the universe^
' SAMUEL S. SMITH, D. D. L. L. D. 303
If the divine power affords no reasonable ground of
hope to the impenitent sinner at this awful crisis, as lit-
tle, perhaps, is he enlitled <o draw it even from the divine
mercy ; that attribute so much abused by men to the en-
couragement of their crimes — that attribute from which
they have formed almost unlimited expectations in their
last ijioments ; that at(ri])ute which is supposed to ha
able to refuse nothing to the tears and miseries of an un-
happy soul.
Men deceive themselves by the sentiments of compas-
sion in their own breasts, by the strong sympathies
which they often feel for their fellow sinners, and their
fellow sufferers. Private compassion and public justice
move on different principles. In the administration of
human laws, how often do we see the sympathies of the
man oJdiged to yield to tire duties of the magistrate ?
The plans of the Divine Mind, and the operations of
divine providence are formed on vieAvs infinitely beyond
the reach of human understanding. They embrace the
whole universe. And the destiny of each individual is
linked, by more immediate or remote relations, to innu-
merable millions of other beings. All must be govern-
ed by the same immutable laws, and no personal consi-
derations, however interesting they may appear to us,
can alter their invariable course. Do we not see the
wheels of providence move on with constant and undevi-
ating regularity and never arrested by any of those calam-
ities which most deeply touch our smypathy? Is all the
anguish of afranlic mother who sends her shrieks to heav-
en over her infant expiring in agony, and who alternately
implores its mercy, Jind accuses ilsjustice, suificient to
suspend the inexorable stroke ol'dealh? If heaven were
governed by those principles of pity which can refuse
304 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEH.
nothing to tlie cries of despair, and from which the self-
love of sinners expects such miracles on a dying bed,
would iire and tempest, would pestilence and death every
where spread such cruel ravages among the human
race ? Would Abraham have interceded in vain for the
guilty cities of the plain ? Nay, would not hell itself
be unpeopled, and i(s unquenchable fires be extinguish-
ed? But those di'cadful lires never eease to burn; and
its misei'able prisoners are held, and will be forever
held, the hopeless victims of eternal justice.
Even the divine l>enignity and compassion, therefore,
afford no reasonable ground of hope, at tliis late hour, to
an impenitent sinner who has despised the means, and
wasted the season, of salvation. Will God, by the facil-
ity of his compassions enter into your plans, O sinner !
and, after you have indulged only your own pleasures,
crown with eternal life the miserable remnants of a soul
and body which have been exhausted among sinful joys ?
Will he save you at the last moment only to encourage
so many others to destroy themselves ? With what con-
fidence will you be able to turn your dying eyes to his
eternal tlirone to solicit for that mercy which you have
always rejected, or abused while it was offered to you ?
Remember, that when mercy has exercised itself to its
appointed limits, justice assumes the throne and meas-
ures with the line and the plummet* the sinners Avhom
its thunders are about to destroy.
I might argue from the habits of confirmed holiness
which are necessary to enable tlie redeemed to relish the
pleasures, and fuiiil the duties of that pure and immor-
tal state of luiliness and love where they shall dwell for-
* Isuiali xxvii. 17. 2 Kiiitrs x.xi, 1.3.
SAMUEL S. SMITII, D. D. L. L. D. 305
ever. I might argue from the lahours, (lie saerillces, the
Self-denials by which the pious at las! attain (o the king-
dom of heaven ; whereas you affect to live in pleasure and
then hope to be transferred almost from Ihe m?(lst of
your crimes to the regions of purity and glory. 1 might
argue from the good works which follow the dead who
die in the Lord, and on which, the Saviour Judge shall
pronounce his sentence of benediction, and eternal life,
Mat. XXV. 35. But what are the works which follow the
sinner, who has been impenitent till his last moments,
but the rvorJxS of his passions; but his J'ollies and his
sins ■?
Your time will not permit me to pursue these illus-
trations; and, after remarking that the case of the (hief
upon the cross, (which has been so often appealed to on
this subject,) affords no reasonable ground of hope to
those who have all their lives enjoyed and abused the
grace of the Saviour;— and that the parable of the la-
bourers has no reference to a death-bed repentance, but
to the late reception of the Gentiles into the church of
God, I shall conclude the series of these melancholy
proofs, with the awful and unqualified denunciations of
the spirit of God. — Beeause I have called, and ye refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but
ye have set at nought all my counsely and rvould none of
my reproof f I also will laugh at your calamity; I will
mock ivhen your fear eometh ; when your fear cometh as
desolation, and your destruction comelh as a whirhvind;
when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall
they call upon me, hut I will not answer; they shall seek
me early, hut they shall not find me.
Do you say that this doctrine represents the divine
nature, all uierciful and gracious, in th€ most austere
Vox. I. P p
306 NEW JERSEY PREACHEK.
and gloomy light ? — It represents it in that light only in
which it is exhibited in the whole word of God, and in
the whole course of providence. — Our most wise and
merciful Creator has furnished to men the means of im-
provement and the means of happiness ; and if they ne-
glect the one, or abuse the other, is his goodness obliged
to repair their errors and to save them from the natu-
ral consequences which, by an inevitable law, he. has
made to follow their crimes ? No, he justly leaves the
fool to reap the fruits of his folly.
Has he not in his mercy provided a Saviour? Is not that
Saviour and his salvation ft'cc/y offered to men? Has he
not instituted means of grace abundantly sufficient for
our salvation, if they are faithfully improved ? The en-
joyment of these mercies, at once acquits the goodness
of God, and leaves the sinner without excuse ; the mis-
improvement of them leaves him, with aggravated guilt)
to suffer the just punishment of his iniquities.
It is a false and dangerous idea in religion, that after
God has richly furnished to us the means of salvation,
he is to save the sinner at last, independently of the use
of those means, and notwithstanding their most criminal
abuse. No, the course and the laws of nature progress
with unsfoniiKy in themo/'«?, not less tlian in the natural
world. If men Itavc despised the rules of temperance and
sobriety, will all their regrets and self-reproaches restore
their health, or relieve the pains and the anguish which
their vices have planted in a broken constitution ? If
you have negleeh'd the means of improvement in you(h,
will any inspiration impart to you the virtues or the
knowledge whicii will qiiHlify you to hold a respectable
station in fitsine life ? If so much time, and so
much jKiiiis, if so many labours, and so many self
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D.D. L.L. D. 307
denials, as we see, are necessary to enabled us to
act a part with dignity and propriety on the brief theatre
of the present world ; are none, nay, are not infinitely
more required to prepare us for a glorious and immortal
existence ? This world is our schooU our discipline for
eternity. And as youth impresses its character on our
maturcr years, so the character which we bear with us
hence, shall form the basis of that endless progression
wliich shall commence when we enter on a future state
of being.
These reflections, while they vindicate this doctrine of
religion from unreasonable severity and gloom, and de-
monstate its analogy with the course of providence, urge
us to the most faithful and earnest improvement of
our precious time. This invaluable season, and this onhj
season of our salvation^ is hastening to pass away. It is
consuming while we speak. And when once the sum-
mons of death, or the trumpet of the archangel, shall
proclaim that time shall be no longer, that the Judge is
approaching, if you have no oil in your lamps, while you
goto buy, or, in all the agony of prayer intreat of hea-
ven. Lord ! Lord ! open to us — then, the door shall be
shut.
Do you ask if this is not robbing the last moments of
men of their only remaining consolation ? No, it is in-
viting them never to expose it to such a desperate hazard ;
it is inviting them to place it, in proper season, on an
immoveable foundation ; on the rock of ages; it is
destroying an idea fatal to true religion, and the happi-
ness of mankind. For if sinners can flatter themselves
with enjoying their pleasures in tlie full career of health,
and, when they can enjoy them no longer, of obtainmj
salvation from the indulgence of heaven in the last r.rit
Sttt NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
leal moment of a mispent life, will not their hearts fov--
ever repel all the persuasions, or the terrors which the
gospel can address to them lo bring them to repentance ?
Do you ask then, what are all those appearances of a live-
ly and sincere repentance exhibited by dying sinners in
Iheir last moments ; their tears, their prayers, their
agonies of mind, their self-reproaches for the past,
their resolutions for the future ? Are they of no
avail with a merciful God ? I have already shewn
that the divine government and the sympathies of mor-
tals move on different principles. If that which touches
our compassion could move the purposes of God
most just and holy, or change the laws of the moral
world, >vho would not he saved ? Few can preserve
their insensibility to the last moment of life. How-
ever they may liave lived, all tremhle, all pray, all re-
solve, and repent, when they see before them the opening
grave, and the tribunal of judgment. Then we have heard
tliose who never prayed before, pour out their souls
with a frightful earnestness at the throne of grace:
hut they uttered ratlier the cries of despair than the
prayers of |KMiitence and faith. Those who in the
days of their prosperity only scoffed at the ordinances
of religion, now call for them whh importunity, soli-
cit the prayers of its ministers, and of all good men,
und seem disposed to rest too much upon them, be-
cause thev find nothing; in themselves on which to rest,
^.ature is dissolving ; and, having no anchor of hope in
the drevuiful slorm, they endeavour lo east their souls,
in this moment of anguish and despair, on their conn-
p > and . prayers.^^^Thc'y seize them as a perishing
).'«»•: jer, one miserahlc and almost hopeless plank in
SAMUEL S. SMITH, D. D. L. L. D. 509
the universal wreck of soul and body. Good God !
Low awlul is the situation ! — struggling in the ago-
nies of death — distracted with the terrors of remorse
and guilt — overwhelmed with fearful apprehensions of
a judgment to eonie — to be forsaken of thee .' .'—-Jiut
Ihou hast numbered and finished thy mercies /
SERMON XVII.
WARNING AGAINST SELF-DECEPTION.
(IN TWO SERMONS.)
Matt vii. 24, 25, 26, 27.
'^ Therefore, whosoerer heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will
liken unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock : and the rain de-
scende(i, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon thathous^,
aiid it fell not ; for it was founded upon a rock," &c.
BY THE REV. UZAL OGDEN, D.D.
Newark.
ISrEW-JERSEY PI^EACHER.
SERMON XVII.
Matt. vil. 24, 25, 26, 27. — "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine
and iloeth them, I -nill liken unto a wise man which built his house upon a
rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, and it fell not ; far it was founded upon a rock. — And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doetli them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand ; and the raia
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that
house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it !"
XT is a serious and melancholy truth, that many, both
Jews and Christians, have been justly chargeable with
hypocrisy, dissembling with God ; and also, with self-
deception, indulging fallacious hopes of salvation.
Did not God thus complain of his people Israel ?—
" They draw near unto me with their mouth, and with
their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far
from me," Isa. xxix. i3. And, saith the prophet Eze-
kiel, " They come unto thee as the people cometlj, and
they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy
words, but they will not do them. For, with their mouth
they shew much love, but their heart goeth after covet-
ousness. And, lo ! thou art unto them as a very lovely
song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play
well upon an instrument ; for they hear thy words, but
they do them not," Ezek. xxx. 31, 32.
The hypocrisy of these people, especially in the time
of <he prophet Isaiah, seems to have been very g«^neraL
« For every one," says he, " is an hypocrite and an evil*-
Vol, 1. Q q
ai6 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
That the solemn, interesting, and affectionate caution,
or warning, contained in these words, may, if possible,
be dulv regarded by us, I shall,
I. Consider, what is meant by " hearing the sayings
of our Lord, and doing them."
II. I shall attend to the wisdom and happiness of such,
as shall *' hear these sayings, and do them."
III. I shall notice what is meant, by " hearing the
sayings of Christ, and not doing them." And,
IV. I shall shew the folly and unhappiness of such
conduct.
I. I am to consider what is meant by <* hearing the
sayings of our Lord, and doing them."
And here, let it be asked, can any thing less be meant,
by *• hearing the sayings of Christ and doing them,"
than truly to receive and embrace Iiim, as the promised
Messiah ; " that prophet which should come into the
world ?" or a due reception of the gospel of Christ; a
iirm belief of all his doctrines; a sincere and universal
observance of all his precepts and ordinances ; a conli-
Ht'ut reliance on his promises ; an holy fear of his thrcat-
enings ; a due regard to his exhortations, warnings, and
admonitions ?
The man who believes not the doctrines of Christ,
cannot, in the sense of the text, be said to " hear thcni."
"Nov can it justly be said that he " does the sayings of
our Lord," who lives in the violation of his commands,
and is regardless of his ordinances ; who relies not on
his promises ; who fears not his threateniugs ; who re-
gai'ds not his exhortations, warnings, and admonitions.
For instance, Christ declares, tliat *« he who believes
not in him, shall be damned," IMark xvi. 16 — tliat he
"^vho regards not lils commands, cannot be his disciple-
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. Sir
V
" He that hath my commandments, and keepelh them,
says Christ, " he it is tliat lovethme," John xiv. 21 — is
my disciple indeed. And, says Christ also, he that rc-
gai'deth not my exhortation to repentance, or " repent-
eth not, shall perish," Luke xiii. 3. And if we rely not
on the promises of Christ, how can we be saved by him ?
So much, then, is implied in " hearing the sayings of
our Lord and doinir them." And would we obtain sal-
vation by Christ, we must, through the aid of the divine
Spirit, thus hear and do, and perseveringly, even ** unto
the end" of life ; for " he who putteth his hand to the
plough and looketh back, is not fit for the kingdom of
God," Luke ix. 62. " He who is faithful unto death,
shall receive the crown of life," Rev. ii. 10. And, in
the sense of the text, he who »< heareth the sayings of
Christ and doeth them," so receives him by faith, that
Christ gives him " power to become a son of God :" and
lie is •• born, not of blood ; nor of the will of the liesh ;
nor of the will of man, but of God," John i. 12.
Such a person is then " born again," not only of wa-
ter, "but of the Spirit." He is so in Christ, that he is
a new creature ; ** he has put off the old man which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; he is renewed
in the spirit of iiis mind, and has put on the new man,
which, after God, is created in righteousness and true
holiness," Eph. iv. 22. And, such a person, having the
spirit of Christ, by it he is led and governed ; and, I)ei!ig
•' born of God, he sinneth not, but keepeth himself, and
the wicked one touchcth him not," 1 J(Jin v. IS.
In these tilings tlie religion of the gospel consists : and
the wisdom and happiness of our being cliristians, indeed,
of " hearing the sayings of our Lord and doing tliem,"
I shall now,
II. Proceed to notice.
/
316 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
That the solemn, interesting, and affectionate caution,
or warning, contained in these words, may, if possible,
be duly regarded by us, I shall,
I. Consider, what is meant by " hearing the sayings
of our Lord, and doing them."
II. I shall attend to the wisdom and happiness of such,
as shall " hear these sayings, and do them."
III. I shall notice what is meant, by " hearing the
sayings of Christ, and not doing them." And,
IV. I shall shew the folly and unhappiness of such
conduct.
I. I am to consider what is meant by " hearing the
sayings of our Lord, and doing them."
And here, let it be asked, can any thing less be meant,
by <• hearing the sayings of Christ and doing them,"
than truly to receive and embrace him, as the promised
Messiah j " that prophet which should come into the
world ?" or a due reception of the gospel of Christ; a
firm belief of all his doctrines ; a sincere and universal
observance of all his precepts and ordinances ; a confi-
dent reliance on his promises ; an holy fear of his thrcat-
^uMigs ', a due regard to his exhortations, warnings, and
admouiiions ?
The man ^^ho believes not the doctrines of Christ,
cannot, in the sense of the texU be said to " hear them."
Koi- can it justly be said that he ** does the sayings of
our Lord," who lives in the violation of his commands,
and is regardless of his ordinances ; who relies not on
liis promiees ; who fears not his threatenings ; who re-
gards not his exhortations, warnings, and admonitions.
For instance, Christ declares, that " he who believes
not in him, shall be damned," ]Mark xvi. 16 — that he
■who regards not his commands, camiot be his disciph''
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. 517
V
" He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them
says Christ, <♦ he it is that loveth me," John xiv. 21 — is
my disciple indeed. And, says Christ also, he that ic-
gai'deth not my exhortation to repentance, or " rcpent-
eth not, shall perish," Lnke xiii. 3. And if we rely not
on the promises of Christ, how can we he saved hy him ?
So much, then, is implied in " hearing the sayings of
our Lord and doing them." And would we obtain sal-
vation by Christ, we must, through the aid of the divine
Spirit, thus hear and do, and perseveringly, even *' unto
the end" of life ; for " lie who putteth his hand to the
plough and looketh hack, is not lit for the kingdom of
God," Luke ix. 62. *« He Avho is faithful unto death,
shall receive the crown of life," Rev. ii. 10. And, in
the sense of the text, he who '< heareth the sayings of
Christ and doeth them," so receives him by faith, that
Christ gives him " power to become a son of God :" and
he is •» born, not of blood ; nor of the will of the llesh ;
nor of the will of man, but of God," John i. 12.
Such a person is then " born again," not only of wa-
ter, " but of the Spirit." He is so in Christ, that he is
a new creature ; *' he has put off the old man which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; be is renewed
in the spirit of his mind, and has put on the new man,
which, after God, is created in righteousness and true
holiness," Eph. iv. 22. And, such a person, having tlie
spirit of Chi'ist, by it he is led and governed ; and, being
** born of God, lie sinneth not, but keepeth himself, and
the wicked one touebeth him not," 1 John v. IS.
In these things llie religion of the gospel consists : and
the wisdom and liappiness of our being clirisiians, indeed,
of " hearing the sayings of our Lord and doing them,"
I shall now,
II. Proceed to notice.
*
S18 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
I shall not, however, attempt to describe all the blessed-
ness tliat uill attend those of real reiij^ioj, in life and at
death; in time and through eternity ; all tlie evils they
will he delivered from, and all the good they will enjoy;
but pay attention only to the happiness thai will &i!tn4
the sincere christian, as mentioned in the text. And
even such a character may expect trials a^sd afSituons.
On him " the rain may descend ; against him the liouds
may come and the winds may blow."
1. He may, by the providence of God, be called to
drink, and deeply to drink, of the cup of affliction.
He may particularly be grievously afflicted by disease;
by poverty ,• by calumny ; by o{)pression ; by personal
insult and violence ; by bonds and imprisonment ; by per-
secutions ; by banishment ; by various tortures and suf-
ferings, and by the death of relatives and friends.
** Man^ are the troubles of the righteous," says the
Psalmist, Psal. xxxiv. 17. But in all these troubles, the
real christian, though he feels, he does not murmur, nor
despair. His hopes of support, under these trials, and
deliverance from them, in due time, is in *• the Lord Je-
hovah, in whom is everlasting strength ;" and he will
deliver him out of all his troubles.
" The sorrows of hell," says David, " compassed me
about. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried
unto my God. He heard my voice out of his temple, and
my cry came before him, even to his ears. He sent from
above ; he took mc ; he drew me out of many waters.
He brought me forth also into a large place ; he deliver-
ed me, because he delighted in me," Psal. xviii. 5, 6,19.
But the righteous will not only be delivered from their
trials, but their afflictions shall be sanctiiied to them —
shall be a blessing to them—-" shall work together for
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. S»
their good." *< For our light ailliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us," says St. Paul, " a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory," 2 Cor. iv. 17.
And so far were the primitive christians from sinking in-
to despair, when afflicted, that they exulted in their suf-
ferings ; gloried in them, knowing they would terminate
to their advantage, « We rejoice," says St. Paul, *< in
hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also ; knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope ;
and hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost
which is given us," Rom. t. 3, 4, 5.
And does not history inform us of many christians, in
ancient and modern times, who remained unmoved ; who
were comforted and supported under all their trials and
sufferings. When in dungeons and chains for the reli-
gion of Christ, have not many « sung praises to God?"
And have not others exulted even in the flames ; — in
holy triumph, sealed their faitli with their blood ? Then
it was, indeed, that the Lord heard them ! that the God
of Israel did not forsake them," Isa. xli. 17. Then it was,
that they experienced the truth of this divine promise —
" When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee ; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt
not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Saviour," Isa. xliii. 23.
2. The sincere eljristian may, also, be tried by the
Avithdrawings of the divine presence : by the hiding of
God's countenance. The pious man, then, may appear
to be forsaken of his heavenly Father; with the Psalm-
i
32p NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
ist he may say, " I am troubled ; I am bowed down
greatly ; I go mourning all the day long," Psalm xxxviii.
6. — And, with Job he may exclaim — «' Oh ! that I knew
where I might find him !" " Oh that I were as in
months past, as in the days when God preserved me ;
when his candle shined upon my head, and when, by
his light I walked through darkness," Job xxix. 1, 2.
But, in such a state of distress, the man of true re-
ligion does not despond ; for the divine promises com-
fort and sustain him ; he believes that " God will lift
upon him the light of his countenance j" he is confident
that though " a woman may forget her sucking child,
and have no compassion on the son of her womb," yet
that God will not forget him, Isa. xlix. 15. He knows
« that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord ;
that he deligliteth in his way 5 that though he fall, he
shall not utterly be cast down, because the Lord will up-
hold him with his hand," Psal. xxxvii. 23, 24. He is
assured, that " though weeping may endure for a night,
joy shall come in the morning," Psal. xxx. 5. And how
is he consoled by the following language of Isaiah :—
" Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth
the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and
hath no light ? — let him trust in the name of the Lord,
and stay upon his God," Isa. I. 10.
3. The real christian may, likewise, be assaulted by
the powers of darkness ; " lest he should be exalted
above measure," there may be given unto him as was
given unto St. Paul, " a tliorn in the Uesh, the messen-
ger of satan to buffet him ;" but the faith of the man of
piety " fails not," though thus tried ; he is assured, that
<' the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of
temptations ;■' that " God is faithful, and will not suffer
^.
tJZAL OGBEN, D.D. 321
him to be tempted above wliat be sball be able to bear ;
but, witb the temptation, will make a way of escafje,
that be shall be able to bear it," 1 Cor. x. 13. Ami tlie
man of piety, is assured, also, tbat, on beseeching
the Lord, that ♦* this thing may depart from him," he
will, happily, experience tljat tlie ** grace of God is
sufficient for him;" that the strengtb of God will be
perfected, (eminently displayed) in giving deliverance to
him in bis state of ♦* weakness," 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8, 9.
4. As " it is appointed unto men once to die," the sin-
cere christian cannot escape the tempest of <leatb, and
though convinced that by its power he shall fall, yet, he
meets the king of terrors with calmness and serenity,
without terror and dismay ; for he *' knows in whom he
believes ;" he knows that his hope of eternal hap^iiness
is founded on the rock, Christ Jesus, and, therefore, his
heart faints not ; he knows, that " when the eartbly
house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, he will have
a building of God, an house not made with hands, eter-
nal in the heavens," 2 Cor. v. 1. He knows, too, that
** blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from hence-
forth ; that they rest from their labours, and that their
works follow them," Rev. xiv. 13. In that solenm hour,
when " he shall walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, he will fear ilo evil; because God will be with
him; because the rod and staff of God shall comfort
him," Psal. xxiii. i. In death, then, will no! the man
•
of piety experience the truth of the apostolic declara-
tion— that God will give him " victory over sin, the
sting of death, through our Lord Jesus Christ?" 1 Cor.
XV. 57.
Vol. I. Rr
f
322 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
5. Nor will the real christian escape the awful hurri-
cane, if I may so speak, of judgment ! Then, on him, in-
deed, as well as on the whole assembled world of men,
will ** the rain descend, and against them will the floods
beat and the winds blow !" August, solemn, and trying,
indeed, will be this mighty tempest ! Then " shall every
man's work be made manifest ; for that day shall declare
it," 1 Cor. iii. 13. Then, shall it be known, « what
manner of spirit we are of!" Then will hypocrisy drop
its mask, and every one appear in his genuine character i
* Then will it be known to all, on what foundation we
have erected the superstructure of our hopes of salva-
tion ; whether on the sand, or on a rock !
But, the real cliristian, having received Christ Jesus
by faith, as his God and Saviour, resting with firmness
on this foundation, he will not only remain unmoved,
when « the heavens shall pass aAvay with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat," Pet. iii.
10 — but, with holy transport, will cry aloud, « Come,
Lord Jesus ! come quickly !" * Come, take me to thy-
self! Come, put me in possession of that kingdom, which
was prepared for thy redeemed, from the foundation of
the world !' Matt. xxv. 34.
'Such is the wisdom, and such is the happiness, of be-
ing chi iytians indeed ! of " liearing the sayings of Christ
and doing them ;" of indulging only scriptural hopes of
salvation ; of buihiing our expectation of eternal blessed-
ness on tlie rock Christ .Tesus, and not on-thc sandy foun-
dation of ignorance, dohision, or error ! But, are tliere
not many who thus build ? and may if not be useful to
present tlie chaiactcrs of such to view ? This I shall
do, when.
UZAL OGDEN, D.B. 223
III. I shall notice what is meant by « hearing the
sayings of Christ, and not doing them." But for want
of time, I must here draw a line, and defer the sequel
of this subject to the after part of the day.
May what hath now been delivered, be treasured up ia
our minds, and on us have salutary eifects !
■.%\
SERMON XVIII.
WARNING AGAINST SELF-DECEPTION.
(IN TWO SERMONS.)
Matt. vii. 94,25,26,27.
.Therefoi-e, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine -<> •^-f^:";;.^;,f,
liken unto a wise man ^vhich huilt his house upon a rock : and the ra^n
^^endetand^he floods came, and the .inds hie. and heat upon thatho.se,
and it fell not ; for it was founded upon a rock, t,cc.
BY THE REV. UZAL OGDEN, D.D.
Newark.
k-
NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON XVIII.
Matt. vii. 24, 25, 26, 27.-" Therefore, whosoever heareth these sajnngs of mine
and doeth them, I will Uken unto a wise man which built his house upon a
rock: and tlie rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.— And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
hkened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand ; and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that
house, and it fell, and great was tlie fall of it I"
J.N diseoursin,^ on these words in the fore part of the
day, after some introductory remarks, I mentioned, that
I shoukl,
I. Consider what is meant by "hearing the sayings
of our Lord and doing i hem." That,
II. I should attend to the wisdom and hiappiness of
such as shall *' hear these sayings and do them." ^
III. That f should shew what is meant by " hearing
the sayings of Christ and not doing them." And,
IV. That I should shew the folly and m .happiness of
such conduct.
Time permitted me to attend to only th e two first of
these particulars. I now resume the subjet ;t, and, there-
fore, proceed,
III. To notice what is meant hy " hearip j; the sayings
of Christ, and not doing them."
, Those who act thus, are, unquestionably, tmsound pro-
fessors of Christianity; they are such as hi. aid not their
hopes of heaven upon the rock Jesus Chris { ; hut, upon
a sandy foundation ; upon delusion, ignoran* !e, or error..
And, how many are there of this character !
ag8 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
1» The gospel of Clirist was designed for the benefit
of mankind in general ; for ♦< Christ was to be a light
to lighten the Gentiles, as well as to be the glory of
God's people Israel," Luke ii. 32* In the Saviour prom-
ised to Abraham, " all the l\imilies of the earth were to
be blessed," Gen. xii. 3. " All the ends of the earth are
invited to look unto Clirist, that they may be saved,"
Isa. xlv. 32. And therefore it was, that " the poor were
to have the gospel preached to them ;" " the poor,"
the unlearned, as well as the learned. It was necessary,
then, that the fundamental pj-ineiples of the gospel
should not require profound learning, deep investigation
to understand them, but lie level to the meanest capa-
city ; especially, that the conditions of salvation should
be plain, and easy to be understood by the most illiterate
of men. And is not this, indeed, the case ? May not
" he that runs," read the way to eternal life ?
But, yet, how grossly has the gospel been misunder-
stood by many ? What gross errors were entertained
by numerous christians, even in the first age of Chris-
tianity, respecting God and Christ ; his doctrines, pre-
cepts, and the conditions of salvation ?
Did not Irenfeus, of the second century, write even five
volumes to confute the errors and heresies which had
then been broached in the churches ;* and, with regard
to the terms of salvation of the gospel, have not great
numbers extremely erred, even from the days of the
apostles, to the present period ? And, therefore, have
they not been rearing their hopes of heaven upon a fal-
lacious, sandy foundation ?
* Du Piu's Eccles. Hist. Cent, il.
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. 329
In the apostolic age, one error of tliis kind, seems to
have been but too prevalent. ** He that believeth and
is baptized," said Christ, " shall be saved ;" meaning,
undoubtedly, " he that believes me to be the promised
Messiah, and, in all respects, submits to my dispensation
of grace ,• believes my doctrines ; obeys my precepts,
and regards my exhortations and requisitions, " shall
be saved." But, regardless of the genius, end, and de-
sign of the gospel, did not many erroneously conclude,
that faith only in Christ, was all that was required to
cause them to be heirs of salvation ? And thus, while
they expected salvation by Christ, they were regardless
of his precepts and authority ; of that repentance for sin,
and purity of heart and life, which the gospel demands.
Thus they lived in sin, wliile they flattered themselves
they were the children of God ! and, in this manner,
they «* turned the grace of God into lasciviousness !'*
Jude, i. But how was such conduct opposed by St. Paul ?
♦' What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin,
that grace may abound ? God forbid ! How shall we,
who are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?" Rom. vi.
1, 2. And was not this gross error, of salvation by faith,
without works, or while men indulged themselves in sin,
most forcibly opposed, also, by St. James ? " What
doth it profit, my brethren," says he, " though a man
say he hath faith and have not works ? Can faith save
him ? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of
daily food, and one of you say unto them, be ye warmed
and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which arc needful to the body, what doth it profit ? Even
so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea,
a man may say, Thou hast faith and I have works.
Shej me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew
Vtili. I, S 8
339 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEK,
tliee my faith by my works. Thou belie vest that there
is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe
and tremble. But, wilt thou know, O man ! that faith
Tvithout works is dead ?'*
The apostle then shews how influential faith was on
the 5>ractiee of Abraham and Rahab, and concludes his
arguments on (his subject, by the following striking
similitude. " For, as the body without the spirit, is
dead ; so faith without works is^ dead also," James it.
14, &e.
But, unhappily, this erroneous doctrine, of salvation
by a fruitless faith, did not become extinct in the apos-
tolic age. ft hath existed in the church, even to the
present day ; and those who now embrace the error, arc
styled Antinomians. This sect teach, that, in believers
God seeth no sin, however sinful may be their conduct.
That celebrated Antinomian, Dr. Crisp, an English di-
vine of the last century, thus expresses himself :^^ —
" Though believers do act rebellion, yet the loathsome-
ness, and abominableness, and hatefulness of their rebel-
lion, is laid on Christ : he bears the sin as well as the
blame and shame of it. The only reason why God can
dwell with those believers who act thus, is, because all
the filthiness of their sin is transferred to Christ."*
*' The freeman of Christ hath this freedom, that Christ
doth all his work for him, as well as in him. Chri&t
doth all for him that God requires to be done."f " To
take delight in the holy service of God, is to go a whor-
ing from God. A man may riot be exhorted to any du-
ty, because he hath no power to do it. If Christ will
let me sin, let him look to it ! Upon his honor be it !":]:
* Dv. Daniel Williams's Discourses, Vol. jii. p.ige 186. f lb. p. 288.
t lb. p. 2:)4.
tJZAL OGDEN, D. D. S^
So far, indeed, does the Dr. disclaim all obedience,
that he will not admit even faith to be a condition of
salvation, and asserts, tliat there is not any condition ia
the gospel covenant. '* There is not," sajs he, " any
condition in this covenant. Observe, I jiray yon, and
yon will perceive, that man liath no tie upon him to per-
form any thing whatever, in the covenant, as a condition
that mnst be observed on his part ; and there is not one
bond or obligation npon man, to the fnlfiHing of the cov-
enant, or to the partaking of its benefits."
He then considers a person stating to him the follow-
ing objection : — " Thougli works be no? the condition of
the covenant, yet, we hope you will allow that faith is
the condition of it !" He replies — >'* I must needs tell
you directly, that faith is not the condition of the cove-
nant."* <' Faith," he adds, "justifies the unbeliever;
that is, that faith which is in Christ, justifies me who
have no faiih of my own."f
2. But while the Antinomians, by disclaiming good
works, and even faith, as requisite to salvation, and
therefore, are raising their hopes of heaven npon a sandy
foundation ; are there not some who, as fatally deceive
themselves, by relying wholly, or in part, on their worli*
of righteousness, for eternal life ?
Does not the Socinian, for instance, deny the deity of
Christ; his atonement for human guilt; a change of
heart, through the energy of the divine spirit, and de-
pend wholly upon morality for salvation 2 Though it is
declared, that *» Christ Jesus of God, is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanetifieation," if we
shall obtain <» redemption ;" and that " by the deeds of
" Dr. Daniel "Williams's Discourses, Vol. in. p. C6. | lb. p. 25i.
332 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
the law, no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God,''
Horn. iii. 20.
3. Are there not those, also, who deceive themselves,
by expecting that they can commend themselves to God,
and enjoy his favor, by their pilgrimages, processions,
penance, and sufferings which ihey inflict on themselves ?
And, in the church of Rome, are there not multitudes
of this character ?
4. The ordinances and devotional parts of religion,
were instituted as means of grace, and can, justly, be no
further valued, than as they contribute to the end pro-
posed by them. But, through ignorance, are there not
some who place I'eligion in the observance of these things,
and thus, fatally impose on themselves ; though it is de-
clared, that <* the kingdom of God is not (i. e. true reli-
gion consists not in) meat and drink ; but (in) righteous-
ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost?" Rom.
xiv. 17.
5. The hjTiocrite, by endeavoring, through a series of
years, to deceive others, may, at length, deceive himself,
imagine that he is, indeed, what he appears to be, and,
therefore, indulge a hope of salvation. But, as the eye
ef God penetrates the disguise of the hypocrite, will not
iiis false hope «• perish, be cut off, and his trust be as a
spider's web ?" " He shall lean upon his house," says
Job, " but it shall not stand ; he shall hold it fast, but it
shall not endure," Job viii. 14, &c.
6. Through a false zeal, may not men unjustly con-
clude they are the heirs of salvation ? While St. Paul,
for example, was persecuting the church of Christ, he,
Yerily thtiight he was doing God service, and deemed his
conduct higlily merifosious. And Avill not even the
Ijdfartyr's hope of salvation be vain, if he sucriiices his
UZAL OGDEN, D.D. 333
life through obstinacy, pride, false zeal, without neces-
sity, or Ibr tlie support of error ?
7. A state of lukewarmness is, perhaps, generally a
state of deception. Because men conclude they are or-
thodox in their profession of faith, and cannot be charg-
ed with outward sins, though they are devoid of active
goodness, how apt are they to persuade tliemselves they
are real christians ? Did not the whole lukewarm church
of Laodieea indulge fallacious liopes of salvation ? Did
they not flatter themselves that '♦ they were rich, and so
increased with goods, that they needed nothing ?" But,
in fact, were they not <» wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked," Rev. iv. 17 — wholly desti-
tute of the graces and virtues of the gospel ; in a state
of sin and condemnation ?
8. God is merciful : ♦' he hath no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but rather he would turn from his
way and live," Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And are there not
those who have no other hope of salvation but the mer-
cy of God j who expect, that though they live and die in
sin, he will not cast them off forever, and sentence them
to eternal misery ; though God has explicitly declared
^^that «< he will not at all acquit the wicked ;" that " the
soul that sinneth, it shall die ?" Ezek. xviii. 4. Though
God has declared also, that he is a God of Justice, as
well as mercy ? Psal. Ixxxix. 1*. And, of God, did not
a celebrated poet justly say, that " a God all mercy, is
a God unjust ?"*
9. AVhen men are called to preach the gospel and ad-
minister its ordinances ; to minister in holy things, and,
of necessity, to live a lile of apparent holiness, are they
not inclined, though strangers to the power of godliness..
* Dr. Young.
>'-3* ^•EW-JERSEY PREACHER.
to believe, that they are entitled to salvation ? But, docs
not our Lord warn men against such self-deception, in
the following words, wliich also declare, that many will
be thus deceived? "Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (preached) in thy
name, and have cas< out devils in thy name, and, in thy
name have <lone many wonderful works ? And then will
I profess unto them — I never knew you ! Depart from
me ye that work iniquity ?" Matt. vii. 22, 23. But while
multitudes, in these several ways, deceive themselves,
and raise the superstructure of their hopes of heaven
upon an unstable foundation, are there not some wli©
live from year to year without any hope of salvation,
though they ''name tlic name of Christ," and though
they are not of the number of those who despair of the
mercy of God, through the number and magnitude of
their sins ; but w ho bestow not a thought on their salva-
tion ,• \Yho. like Gallio, " care not for the things of reli-
gion ;*' and, wlio " eat, drink, and ai*e merry," without
reflecting, that <* to-morrow they may die," and eter-
nally perish ? But, are not such persons a disgrace to
ehristj.'jnit^' — a reproach to human nature ? And, will
they not fall the unjjitied victims of the wrath of God ?
Would it not liave been better for them, that they had
never heard of the name of Christ ? Butfor them, would
it not, indeed, have been mucli " better, had th ey never
have been born ?"
It remains for me,
lY. To shew the folly and unhappiness of " hearing
the sayings of Christ, and not doing them."
Christ eame from heaven to eartl*, clothed with di-
vine authority, and, at his entrance on his njediatorial
oiTidCf *• the licavens were opened; the Holy Ghost dc-
U2AL OGDEN, D. D. 333
scended in a bodily sliape, like a dove upon him, and
a voice (same from heaven uitich said, Tliou art my
beloved Son ! In thee 1 am well pleased !" Luke
iii. 21, ^2.
And as Christ came with a message of grace io sinful
men; as he did not eomc to *' condemn tlie world, bsit
that the \vorld through him might be saved," John iii.
17 — one Mould be tempted to imagine, that all men,
both Jews and Gentih^s, with open ears, would have
<* heard his sayings ;" and, wllh joyful and grateful
hearts, would have embraced his salvation !
But, unhappily, at first, a crucified Sav iour w as " un-
to the Jews a stumbling block, and to tbe Greeks fool-
ishness," 1 Cor. i. 23 — and, therefore, Mas Christ re-
jected by many of them. But, my brethren, we are
not numbered with unbelievers ; we are of those who
" say unto Christ, Lord ! Lord !" AVe " hear his say-
ings," and have laid ourselves under the most free and
solemn obligations to " do them."
And what can be urged in (uir favor, if our prac-
tice shall contradict these our sacred obligations ? For
such conduct shall we not be justly chargeable with
folly, and in the extreme ? Can any possible good en-
sue from it ?
But, for such dissimulation, such solemn mockery
of God, shall we not incur great guilt ; suffer great
loss, and endure great misery ? For, will God be mock-
ed with impunity? Is it not "a fearful ibing to fall
into the bands of the living God?" Ileb. x. .31.
Are not the blessings of grace here, and the happi-
ness of glory hereafter, of luispcakablc value ? and are
not the miseries of wickedness, in (his world, and the
336 ISEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
everlasting punishment of it in the world to cc/'me, most
justly to be feared and dreaded ?
The folly of trifling with religion, and of bartering
away the soul for any earthly considerations* was put
in a most striking point of view by our Savit?ur, when
he said, " what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain
the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Mark viii. 36,37.
But, how distressing will it be in the hour of deaths
to those whose eyes shall then be opened to discern
the awful truth, that they have been erecting the su-
perstructure of their hopes of salvation upon an un-
scriptural foundation ? And, may not all their efforts
to retrieve their error be fruitless ? Then may not the
*•' Spirit of God cease to strive" with them ? Then
may not the gate of mercy be closed against them ?
Then may not God *- swear in his wrath, that they shall
not enter into his rest ?"
How awful, indeed, is the language of God to such
sinners, as shall procrastinate repentance until the
day of death ! ** Because I have called, and ye refused j
I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ', but
ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none
of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your fear cometh ; when your fear
Cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind ; when distress and anguish come upon you !
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer !
they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me !"
Prov. i. 24, &c.
But, how great will be the consternation, horror, and
wretchedness of those, in the day of judgment, who shall
have indulged false hopes of salvation, and have died in
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. SSf
their sins ? Beholding witli Iieart-felt anguish their fa-
tal error, will it not be too late to correcf it ? Then,
will they not feel ^he full force of the declaration of our
Lord in the text ? Then, will they not he convinced, that
the deceitful hopes they indulged of heaven, will termi-
nate in tiieir eternal ruin ? — that great, inconceivably
great, will be their destruction ?— that they shall have
no other opportuniiy <o build for eternity? "Great,"
then, indeed, will be the fall of their false hopet of sal-
vation ! Happy for them would it be, could their exist-
ence then vanish with these hopes ! But, no ! In vain
will they " say to the mountains and rocks, fall on us,
and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb !" Rev. vi. 16.
Hauled they will be, before the judgment seat of Christy
to ** give an account of their deeds done in the body ;"
and as they have dissembled with him ; rejected his
grace 5 " filled up the measure of their iniquities," and
deceived their own souls, will they not be banished the
presence of Christ, and condemned to *< everlasting fire,
with the devil and his angels ?'*
Such is the folly, and such is the unhappiness of << hear-
ing the sayings of Christ, and not doing them !" Such
are the dread eff^^^s of vice and irreligion— -of living
" without God and Christ in the world !" — of having
the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof!"
2 Tim. iii. 5.
I shall now conclude this subject, with some reflec-
tions.
1. How great is the privilege we enjoy of " hear-
ing the sayings of Christ !" Before his incarnation.
Were there not "many prophets and rigliteous men,"
who, in vain, <• desired to see the thing^s wliich we see.
Vol. I. T t
338 iJEW^ERSEY PREACHER.
and to hear those things which we hear ?" Matt. xiii. 17.
And, at present, are not these things unseen, anu un-
heai'd, by much the greater part of the human race ?*
3. How grateful should we be to Christ, that, of his
great goodness, he has become the rock of our salvation ;
indeed, that he *' gave himself for us j" that he died
bimself, that we might not perish forever !
3. If salvation shall not be ours, shall not we alone be
Oiilpable ? For, through the grace of God, may we not
all « do the sayings" of Christ ? — rest our hopes of sal-
vation upon him ? " Hew then sluill we escape," if we
shall dissemble with Christ; deceive ourselves, and "neg-
lect his great," rich and free " salvation ?"
4. But, wherefore should we neglect this salvation 2
or, wherefore suffer ourselves to entertain delusive hopes
respecting it ? "Who is there of us, that would, ef choice,
erect a house upon a sandy foundation, and especially,
when, in consequence of such conduct^ he might be buri-
ed in its ruins ? A house, however, thus destroyed,
might be rebuilt, and on a permanent basis. But, if the
fabric of our hopes of heaven that we shall erect, sLall
be demolished, can it be rebuilt ? Must we not inevita-
bly perish in its ruins ? Will fiot " the fall of it be great,"
indeed? How careful then, should we be, that in this
particular we do not deceive ourselves ? Should not each
one of us adopt the language of David, and say ? '• Search
me, O God, and know my heart ! try me, and know my
thoughts ! and see if there be any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting !" Psal. cxxxix. 23. And
should we not duly regard the following admonition of
* It is supposed by some theie are about 400 Hiillions of the human race
in a state of heathenism.
UZAL OGDEN, D. D. 3^9
St. Paul ? ** Be not deceived ! God is not mocked ! for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ! For
he that soweth to the flesh, shall, of the flesh, reap cor-
ruption ! But he that soweth to the Spirit, shall, of the
Spirit, reap life everlasting !" Gal. vi. 7, 8.
6. Will it not» then, he wise, my brethren, faithfully,
and without delay, to enquire into the state of our souls
— into our conduct, temper and dispositions ? — Whether
** we are bow ing (o the flesh or the Sjjirit ?" — Whether
we are ** doing the sayings of Christ ?" — Whether the
gospel has on us its intended effects? — Whether, by it,
we are reconciled to God, through faith in Christ ?— •
Whether we are regenerated, sanctified, by the divine
spirit? — Whether >ve are obedient to the divine com-
mands ? — Whether, in all things, our will is submissive
to the divine will ? — Whether *' our affections are placed
on things above?" — Whether ** our conversation is in
heaven ?"— And, whether we are qualified for celestial
enjoyments ?
Happy are those of us who can answer these interro-
gatories in the affirmative ! Such will rejoice and " give
glory to God" for their blessed state ! Firmly they will
still adliere to, and rest on Jesus Christ, the Rock of
their salvation ! No tempest, either of temptation or af-
fliction, shall cause their feet to slide ! They will be
" stedf%st, unmoveable, and always abound in the work
of the Lord," and especially, as they perceive, that
*' their labor will not be in vaiu in the Lord !" 1 Cor.
XV. 56. And, resting on the Rock, Christ .Tesus,
with what security, firmness, and even holy joy, will
they meet all the storms, trials and tribulations of
life ; knowing that they will remain secure, and that
these storms, trials and tribulations, will redound to
■34ft NEW-JERSEY PIlEACHEil.
their honor and benefit ; will unite them more closely
to Christ, and shew them, more sensibly, their df pen-
denee upon him ? For, is it not declared, tliat " bles-
sed will be the man who shall endure temptations, and
that when he shall be tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him!"
But, are there any present of a diflTerent character ;
who are building not on " the only sure foundation,
Jesus Christ ;" but " on wood, hay and stubble," which
shall not endure, but *« sliall be burned ?" Let such re-
joice, that yet they may be wise builders ! — ^that the
superstructure of folly and delusion which they have
erected hath not been demolished, and to their utter
destruction ! But let such no longer be thus exposed
to ruin ! "Without delay, let them begin to build for
eternity ! Let them remember, that " other foundation
can no man lay, than that which is lain, \V*hich. is Je-
sus Christ !" 1 Cor. iii. 11. Let them remember, that
when overtaken by death, they may not have time nor
ability to build on this sure foundation ! And let them
remember, also, that, in time only, can they raise this
spiritual edifice ;— as it is declared, « that the night
comcth, wherein no man can work !" and that " now
is the accepted time ! that now, only, is the day of
salvation !"
May God bless what hath been said, agreeably to his
>vord, for Christ's sake !— AMEN !
SEHMOM XIX.
ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE WORLD.
2 Pet iii. 11.
**'Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of pci*sons
<^ht ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness !"
BY THE REV. THOMAS PICTON, A. M.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of Westfield.
NEW-JEESEY PREACHEIl.
SERMON XIX.
2 Pet. iii. II. — " Seeing then tliat all these things shall be dissolved, -what snaiw
ner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godUiiess !"
» » HAT a sublime and grand spectacle was presented
to all intelligent witnesses, when the Almighty laid the
foundations of the earth ! By the word of his power,
this fair and vast fabric was reared : — at first, indeed,
** without form, and void ; and darkness covered the
face of the deep." At the divine command, it began,
however, to assume, by degrees, a more pleasing aspect,
and a more definite form. The land was sepiirated fi'om
the waters, and each stocked with innumerable tribes of
animals. A mighty sun, was kindled in the firmament, to
govern the day ; and the moon and stars to inile the night.
So grand and illustrious was the scene, when, from cha-
os, a new world emerged, — arranged, adorned and beauti-
fied in all its parts — ** that the morning stars sang to-
gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy !"
Equally grand and sublime, but infinitely more awful,
will be the dissolution of the Avorld ; when "the heav-
ens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent boat ;" when " the earth also,
and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.'* Of
that great event, Avhieh will afford an illustrious display
of the divine power, the apostle is expressly treating,
in the paragraph, from which tbe text is taken : and on
this solemn and awfvil subject, I propose to address, t©
34t NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
you, a few considerations, in the present discourse.
With this view, let us proceed to consider,
I. Tlie proofs wliieh we have of the final dissolution
of the world ;
II. The immediate cause, which will produce this
mighty effect ;
III. The order of this event, in the general course of
things, which will, then, take place : and,
IV. The jrractical effects, which the contemplation of
this subject ought to produce on our present views and
conduct. — " Seeing that all these things shall he dissolv-
ed, 7vhat manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
connersation and godliness .'"
We proceed to collect,
1. The proofs and evidences of the final dissolution of
this world.
And, here, it may he proper to remark, in entering on
this subject, that the light of nature can afford us but
little aid, in our enquiries on this point. Our natural
reason is, however, sufiicient to satisfy us, that such an
event, as we here contemplate is not impossible: for,
surely, the power of an infinite and almighty Being, who
formed the universe and still supports the frame of na-
ture, is fully equal to the accomplishment of this work.
If He was able to create the world, there can be no
doubt but that He is also able to destroy it. Nay, with-
out having recourse to miraculous power, reason must
allow the possibility of such an event on natural princi-
ples, and from jiatural causes, as we shall presently
Perhaps we may advance a step further, and say, that
the light of nature renders the dissolution of the world
a jrrobable event. Whithersoever we turn our eyes, we
J.
THOMAS PICTON, A. M. 245
sec that all things are subject to decay. The verdure,
which, in the summer-months, clothes the iields, fades,
from year to year, at the approach of winter. The foli-
age on the trees, in like manner, withers and decays.
Plants and animals, of all kinds, arc subject to death.
Even the sun itself, according to the opinion of some
philosophers, is continually exhausted, and requires a
constant supply of fuel to repair its waste. — And can it
be thought probable, amidst this general change and de-
cay throughout nature, that the world, in its present
form, will be eternal'^ Do not the death of all living
crcatHres, and the decomposition of vegetable substan-
ces ; strongly intimate, on the contrary, that the period
is certainly advancing, when " the great globe itself
shall dissolve ; and like the baseless fabrick of a vision,
leave not a wreck behind ?"
Whether it was from some obscure hints of this kind,
drawn from natural reason, or, as is more probable, from
tradition originally derived from the sacred books, cer-
tain it is, however, that many of the ancient Heathens
entertained an expectation of the dissolution of the
world ; and that this great catastrophe would be produc-
ed by a general conjlagration. The doctrine of the
S\toicks naturally led to this belief. Fliny thought there
\vas a tendency in nature to such an event, and wonder-
ed that it had not, long ago, happened. The words of
Seneca, on this subject, are very remarkable, and not
unworthy of being here repeated. " The time will come,"
says he, <• when the world will be consumed ; when the
powers of nature will be turned against herself ; when
stars will rush on stars, and the whole material world,
which now appears resplendent with beauty and harmo-
ny, will be destroyed in \jpe general confiagration. Xa
Vol, I. • U u
346 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
this grand catastrophe of nalure, all animated beings
shall perish together."
The light, which natural reason throws on this sub-
ject, is, indeed, but faint and feeble. We cannot, there-
fore, be surprized, that the Heathens shouUl be perpetu-
allj led into the grossest absurdities, which need not be
now mentioned.
There is, however, another^ and a far better, source of
evidence from which we draw the proofs of Ihe final dis-
solution of the world, even the testimony of the sacred
scriptures. Let us, then, in further prosecuting this in-
quiry, attend *' to the law and to the testimony." And
<* what saith the scripture," on this awful subject ? It
assures us in many places and in direct terms, that the
earth, in its present form, will not be perpetual, but
shall be dissolved. *' Of old," says the PsaJmist, *» hast
thou laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens
are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou
shalt endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old like a gar-
ment ; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and the^i shall
te changed. To the same purport are the foil Wing
words of Isaiah : " Lift up your eyes to the heavensi and
look upon the earth beneath ; for the heavens shall rV^-
ish away like smoke, and the earlh shall wax old likc\ «
i
garments and they that dwell therein shall die in lil4e
manner." *' Till heaven and earth pass," says our SaT^-
iour, " one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from\
the law till all be fulfilled."
The holy scriptures not only inform us, in general
terms, that the heavens and the earth will pass away.
but also that this awful event will be produced b
means of a general confagrafion. Thh is, perhaps, i
where more clearly and distinctly stated, than in t
THOMAS PICTON, A.M. 347
paragraph, from wliich the text is taken. «< But the
heavens and the earth which are," now, saith the
apostle, «» are kept in store, heing reserved unto Jive
against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungo«lly
men. The day of the Lord will eome as a thief in the
night; in whieh the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt withfei'vent heat;
the earth also, and the works whieh are therein, shall
be burnt up. Seeing then that all these tilings shall
he dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness ; looking for, and
hasting unto, the coming of the day of God, wherein,
the lieavens being o?i^rc, shall be dissolved, and the ele-
ments shall melt zcith fervent heat T* This paragraii>!.< is
introduced, by the apostle, for the purpose of fortifying
christian converts against the attacks of Ihose who scoff-
ed at religion. With this view, he represents to them
the absolute certainty, and the awful manner, of the
dissolution of the world. No shadow of doubt can re-
main, that this was the real design of liie apostle, when
we attend to the connection of these words — fo the oppo-
sition w hieh is kept up in the beginning of the pas««ge,
between the^?*sf destruction of the world, by the ileluge,
and the .second by a conjlagration, and, especially, when
we attend to the jdain import of the expressions used.
" The day of the Lord," and "the daij of judgment of
ungodly men," arc phrases of such precise and determi-
nate meaningf that they cannot fail to mark the great
and tremendous event, to which the apostle plainly re-
fers. Here is, then, one direct, positive and unequivocal
proof, that all these things, which we now bciiold in
this worhl, shall he dis-olved ; <!iat '• the earSh, and
the works which are therein, shuil be burnt up."
348 " NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
There are many other passages, both in the Old Tes-
tament and in the JSTew, which, either immediatehj relate
to the time of this event, or, at least, plainly aUvde to it,
I shall select only a few of them. Speaking of the final
judgment, the Psalmist says, " Our God shall come, and
shall not keep silence ; a Jire shall devour before him,
and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." " Be-
hold," says the prophet Malachi, *« the day cometh that
shall hum as an oven ; and all the proud, yea, and all
that do wickedly, shall be stuhhle : and the day that
cometh shall burn them ?(]), saith the Lord of hosts, that
it shall leave them neither root nor branch." To tlie
same purport is the language of St. Paul, who observes,
that " the Lord Jesus shall, then, be revealed from heav-
en, with his mighty angels, in Jlaming Jire, taking ven-
geance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
On these proofs, which have been adduced, I now rest
the matter ; being fully satisfied, whatever weight should
be allowed to the evidence arising from statural reason,
and the consent of the heathen, that the rvord of God, at
least bears plain and explicit testimony of that great day,
in which this world shall be burnt up, and exhibit a
huge heap of smoking desolation.
The holy scriptures do not, indeed, expressly declare
in what manner this mighty confiagration shall be kind-
led. We may, therefore, rest assured, that the know-
ledge of the fact is, infinitely, more important to us,
than of <he manner, in which it shall be accomplished.
Inasmuch, however, as several conjectures have been
formed on this point, I shall,
\i. Inquire, very brieily, into <he immediate cause,
which will, probably, produce the final conflagration
THOMAS PICTON, A. M. SiQ
Various liave been the sentiments of learned, specu-
lative and pious men, on this subject. Many have
supposed that this grand catastrophe of our world will
be produced by natural causes ; and, with regard to
these again, there has been a diversity of opinion. Some
have imagined, that the cause of the final dissolution of
our world is laid deep in the bowels of the earth j that
the central jire, which tliey suppose lodged therein, will
burst forth, with a tremendous explosion, and lay the
globe in flames and ruin. Others have imagined, that
the executioner of the divine wrath on our world will
be some one of the comets ; which, in its Atscent, may
draw the earth into the sun, or in its ascent from the
sun, being intensely heated, may pass so near the earth
as to exhale the vapors, inflame the air, dry the seas,
and consume this terraqueous ball. "Without having re-
course, however, to these, or any other natural causes,
which have been assigned, we may find, in the mighty
power of God, with whom all things are possible, a suf-
ficient cause for the production of this eff*ect. And up-
on the whole, seeing the scriptures are entirely silent,
on this point, it becomes us not to indulge a licentious
imagination, and unbecoming curiosity ; but humbly re-
fer tlie whole matter to God, to be accomplished, in the
manner and by the means, which infinite wisdom, and al-
miglity power, may see fit to adopt.
Let us, now, endeavor,
III. To determine the order of this event, in the
general course of things, which Avill, then, take place.
It is evident, that our knowledge, on tids point also,
must be very imperfect, since the order assigned for the
conflagration, by which the world shall be dissolved, is,
perhaps, not clearly and absolutely determined in scrip-
350 NEW-JERSEY PKEACHER.
lure. — We know, in general, that it will be closely con-
nected with the appearance of the Great Judge, the re-
Sitrrtclion of the dead, and the final judgment ; although
it maj' be difficult to ascertain the precise order, in
which these monientous events shall succeed one anoth-
er. It appears probable, however, that the general con-
flagration will not take place, until Christ shall have
made his appearance in the clouds of heaven, and the
dead shall have been raised incorruptible. We are ex-
pressly told, by the apostle Paul, that some believers
will be found alive on the earth, at the coming of our
Irijrd; which plainly intimates, that the dissolution of
the world will not then have taken place. " For this
Xfe say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall
n-ftt prevent them who are asleep," that is, shall not be
glorified before them. " For the Lord himself shall de-
seend from heaven Avith a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with tlie trump of God ; and the dead in
Christ shall rise first : then we who are alive and remain,
shall be caught up, together with them, in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air." Elsewhere, he observes,
"Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twink-
ling of an eye, at the last trump; (for the trumpet
shall sound.) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed." From an attentive perusal
of these passages, compared with some others, it ap-
pears, that the coming of Christ, — the shout of the
tirehangeJ, — the resurrection of the dead, at least, of dead
saints, — the glorious and happy cliange of living saints
ij5<«> the image of theii' Lord, and, probably their meeting
xvith him in the regions of the air, will precede the gen-
THOMAS PICTON, A. M. 551
ei*al conflagration. Whether the grand scene of th&
final Judgment will he opened before the dissolution of
the world, or aftcnvanlSy is not expressly stated. In the
paragraph, from whith the text is taken, the apostle re-
presents these two great events as very nearly connected;
for he observes, that *' the earth is reserved unto Jire,
against the day of judgment." From the apostle's add-
ing, that this fire is also for " the perdition of wigodly
men," as well as from Paul's representation of it as ♦• a
fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries^" it
is highly probable, that the wicked, who shall be fouad
alive, on the earth, at that awful period, shall, by tlie
righteous judgment of God, perish in the flames, antJ,
thereby, receive some foretaste of " the vengeance of
eternal iire."
Let us now hasten to consider,
IV. The practical effects^ which the contemplation of
this subject ought to produce on our present views aad
conduct.
1. *« Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved,**
how ridiculous is it, that we should set our hearts on
earthly vanities ! What are all our present possessions!
They even " perish w ith the using." At best, they are
but " uncertain riches." In a thousand diflerent ways,
they may " make themselves w ings, ani! i\j avcny, as 'da
eagle, towards heaven." Soon, at the furthest, we must
bid a final adieu tu all that we now call our ow n : ** for
as we brought nothing into this world, so it is certaia
that we can carry nothina; out of it."
But, brethren, extend your view s a little furtliei*. Let
the awful scene of the last day pass before your eyes.
See the earth in flames, and all tlie works w hftl! are-
therein burnt up. Ah ! where are now your possessions?
353 NEW-JERSEY PREACHES.
They are lost, in an undistinguished mass, enveloped
with smoke and darkness. Your houses and lauds are
fuel for the devouring element ; and your silver and
gold " melt with fervent heat." Let the prospect and
frequent contemplation of this scene moderate your at-
tachment to earthly vanities.
2. This subject inspires us with exalted ideas of the
mighty power of God. If, at the creation of the world,
when the Almighty said, *' let there be light," his infi-
nite power was manifested, no less illustrious will be the
display of it, in the dissolution of the world. Whether
this great event shall be accomplished by means of natu-
ral causes, or by an immediate and miraculous act of
God, the evidence of his mighty power will be the same.
Who would not fear ; who does not tremble before a Be-
ing, " at whose presence the hills shall melt like wax,"
and who will *' set on fire the course of nature ?" " AVho
can stand before his indignation ? and who can abide in
the fierceness of his anger ;" when " his fury is poured
out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him ?"
3. This subject leads us to adore the patience of God.
Has he the power, in his hand, not only to take away
the breath, that is in our nostrils, but to crush the world,
and to demolish the Avhole fabric of nature ? and does
he still bear with a rebellious race, one generation after
another : and not only hear with them, but continually
do them good ; causing liis sun to rise, from day to day,
and nature to carry on her various operations for their
benefit ? Surely, his thoughts are not as our thoughts,
nor his ways as our ways. From this amazing patience
of God, perhaps, indeed, there are, in our days, as well
as in the days of St. Peters some seoftVrs, who take occa-
sioH, when we speak of the second advent of Christ, to
THOMAS PICTOX, A. M. 35^
•say, where is tlie promise of his coming ? For since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation." But, beloved, let them
scoff, and deride ; we know, that " he, who cometh, will
come, and will not tarry." The Lord is not slack con-
cerning his promise, as some men count slackness ; but
is long-suffering to us ward, not willing that any should
perish, but tliat all should come to repentance." Where-
fore, '* account that the long-suffering of our Lord is sal-
vation :" it does not proceed from the want of power, or
forgetfulness of his promise ; but from a desire to pro-
mote the salvation of hi« people, and to afford unto all
an opportunity of securing their final deliverance.
4. The subject on which we have been meditating,
leads us to reflect on the exceeding sinfulness of sin<.
This is the cause of all the evils, which we feel, and
fear. And, because this earth has been the scene of
great iniquity, the Almighty and holy God has deter-
mined to purify it by lire. la order to viudicate the pu-
rity and equity of his own character, and to exhibit his
displeasure against sin, as well as to accomplish, per-
haps, some other great purposes, he will, finally, over-
ihrow this world, and the wicked, who shall be found
alive in it, with a sudden and awful calamity. IIov/
heinous must be the guilt of sin, that shall lead the Al-
mighty to blot out such a fair portion of his work ! Let
lis, then, my brethren, be triily and deeply humbkul, foe
the iniquity that is past, and dread to indulge ourselvcsj
for the future, in tlie habitual commission of any evil.
5. This subject teaches us tlie importance, and neces-
sity, of prepni'in^ for the great evciils, which will then
take place. Iict us ever reKiember, that the dissolution of
the world w III J«e atfefv!»:d, and very aeai-ly con'tccted, with
Voiv, r. Ww
354 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEll.
the resun'ection of the dead, and the final judgment.
The hour is coming, in which all that are in their
graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall
come forth ; they that have done good unto the resur-
rection of life ; and they that have done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation." " For we must all appear
hefore the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one may
receive the things done in his hody, according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or had." " What manner
of persons ought ye, therefore, to he, in all holy con-
versation and godliness !" " Seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot and blameless."
How inexpressibly terrible will that great day of the
Lord be to the wicked ! In vain will they call on the
rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb ,• for " there is no darkness,
nor shadow of death, Avhere tlie workers of iniquity may
hide themselves." Oh! be persuaded, then, my fellow-
sinners, in this your dai/, to lice from the wrath to come,
and to lay hold on the hope, that is set before you, in the
gospel.
And let professing christians, in the view of this
great day, frequently examine, whether their hopes be
built on a sure foundation ; even on Christy the rock
of ages, and the only foundation, which God hatb laid in
Zion. Let us, always, remember, dear brethren, that
ti every man's work shall be made manifest, and tried
by fire." Let the contemphiiion of the great events,
which will then take place, dwell in oi;r thoughts, and
inlluence our daily conduct. And when the solemn
period shall arrive, in which the world siiall be dissolv-
THOMAS PICTON, A. M. 355
ed, and nature herself be convulsed and expire, may
we, then, find our safety, and our happiness in God !
Preserved by his power, and infolded wi(hin the arms
of his love, may we ascend to the heavenly Paradise,
" unhurt amidst the war of elements, the wrecks of
matter, and the crush of worlds !" — AMEN !
^
SERMON XX.
THE EXCELLENCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE
OF CHRIST.
riiii. iii. s.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for tlic excellency of the know-
ledge of Christ Jesus ray Lord.
BY THR REV. ENOCH BURT, A. M.
Pastor of tUe Presl)yterian Congregation of liamingtoiu
NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON XX.
Phil. Si. 8.— Yea doubtless, and I c ount all things but loss for tlie excellency af
the knowledge of Christ Jesus ray Lwd.
\JF all the earl mioisters of the gospel, none appear
to denounce in such hold and eloquent strains, all person-
al merit in the sight of God, and to exalt on the throne
sovereign grace, as the great apostle of the Gentiles.
For the honor of a crucified Saviour he was a power-
ful champion. He seems to have delighted in losing
sight of himself, that Christ might appear to be all and
in all.
And from no other could this sentiment have come with
more fitness, and by no other, could it have been delivered
with a more convincing and persuasive eloquence. Tlie
words of our text carry with them irresistible conviction,
that his whole soul was absorbed in the divine myste-
ries of tlie cross, and in the most forcible manner recom-
mend to all, the precious knoivkdgc of Clirist Jesus
our Lord.
This sentiment advanced by any one, who was inspired
by the Holy Ghost, would have been equally the truth of
God, and as such, infinitely worthy of our attention; but,
flowing from the lips of this great apostle, it strikes the
iiiind with peculiar force.
For Peter, and Andrew, for James, and Jolin, poor,
and illiterate fisherman, and despised Gallilcans, — for
Matthew the Publican, whose verv olnce was esteemed
3.60 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
disreputable, for Simeon the Canaanite — for these, I say,
to have declared that they counted all things hut loss,
for the knowledge of Christ, would, at that age particu-
larly, have been saying comparatively little — for in the
eyes of the world, what had they to boast of?
But for a Paul, whose natural parts were superemi'
nent, and whose acquired knowledge equaled any of his
day. For a Paul, who was brought up at the feet of Ga-
maliel, a celebrated doctor in Israel, and thoroughly
versed in the Jewish religion. For, a Paul who could say
of himself, "If any one hath whereof to boast, I more,
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of
the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as
touching the law a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecut-
ing the church — touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless.^* For such an one, uniting in him-
self the gifts of nature lavishly bestowed, with the most
profound erudition of his times — in a word, every thing
that could secure the respect and admiration of his co
temporaries, in the literary world, and laise him to emi
nence.-— For such an one to exclaim — << What things were
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea doubtless
and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the^
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" — must have carried
with it, to those who knew his eharactei", an irresisti
Ide force, and may well claim from us a fixed attention^
What is this knowledge of Christ, then, which the holy
apostle thus exalts above every thing else ?
And Avherein consists its distinguished excellency ?
These two considerations, will compose the substance
ofthe ensuing discourse.
And whilst we are thus engaged, O thou divine Spirit !
who inspiredst this holy apostle with au unconquerable
ENOCH BURT, A. M. CM
love to JesMS, and his cross— condescend to warm oup
souls with the same heavenly iire ; that we like hiui
may count every thing but loss, for the knowledge of
his name.
I. I shall endeavour to show, in what Uiis knowledge
consists, ofrcliich the apostle speaks. — And it all may be
expressed in these few Avords — an understanding, and
reception of the ivhole scheme, and science of salvation.
But to he a little more particular. It embraces, in the
first place, an acquaintance with the character, and offi-
ces of Christ. A knowledge of the character of Christ lies
at the very foundation of true religion, which is all ex-
pressed by helieving in him, and obeying his precepts.
But in order to faith, some knowledge of the object of
faith is absolutely necessary — For, Rom. x. 14, " how
shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard.*'
"Without this knowledge, faith would be nothing more
than a blind, and irrational act. The knowledge of
which the apostle is speaking in the text, contemplates
the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first places in the character
of a divine person, joined in the most strict and indisso-
luble union with the nature of man. This the apostle
exhibits, as you will see in his epistle to Timothy, as the
first part of the august mystery of salvation, 1 Tim,
iii. 16, "without controversy, great is the mystery cf
godliness — God was manifested in the llesh."
He delighted to acknowledge and exalt his divinity,
whilst he never lost sight of his humanity. Though
when he looked back a few years, he contemplated in
his Master the infant of days, wrapt in swadling clothes,
and lying in a manger ; yet he also looked, back still
further, even into the fathomless abyss of eternity, ami
oontemplatesl him. as the original possessor uTiln'. fhronc
'^'OT,. K X X
:|gr
Z62^^^m NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
of the universe ; as the Alpha, and Omega, the begin-
ning, and the end, Heb. i. chap. And this knowledge of
his divinity, composed an essential part of that, for
which the apostle counted every thing but loss.
Vain, then, is the pretended spiritual knowledge of
those, however they may pride themselves in it, who ac-
knowledge not his divinity, 1 John ii. 23. Another es-
sential part of this knowledge, consists in an acqiiaint-
anee with the ojjices, which Christ sustains and executes
as Mediator : without this our knowledge of him will
be extremely imperfect, nay, essentially difficult. The
apostle knew the Lord Jesus Christ, as the great pro-
phets of his church, from whom his people derive all in-
struction, and light. He knew him as the great high
priest of his people — the atoning sacrifice for sin — whose
blood had typically been shed from the foundation of the
world.
t
He knew him, as the great intercessor of his church
in the heavenly temple, whom every Jewish high priest
prefigured, when in the earthly temple, standing before
the mercy seat, he presented with incense the supplica-
tions of the people, Heb. ii. chap. He knew him also
as the fcJTJg of Zion, all powerful, to rule, defend, and
guccour. This view of Christ in his character, and o^-
ces, composed a part, and a necessary part, of that know-
ledge of him, which the apostle so highly valued.
But to this must be added also, a correct knowledge
of the doctrines of the cross. I mean the great, and lead-
ing doctrines of the gospel, which are the total depravity
of man — the ahsoliite sovereignty of God, in the dispen-
sations of his grace — the eternity of future enjoyment to
the righteous— -am\ o^ future misery to the wicked, — Faith
without works, the only terms of acceptance before God.
V
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 863
The final perseverance of everij one, ivliom God effectU'
allif calls, bij his Spirit, to the knowledge and obedience
of the truth. By the total depravity of man, I mean,
that state of spiritual death, in which, the scripture uni-
formly testifies, that all mankind hy nature lie. Men
are hy nature totally opposed to all that is spiritually
good, and prone to all that is evil ; at enmity with God ;
not subject to his law ; children of wrath, in a state of
eondeumation ; without hope, and without God in the
world. And they can be brought nigh to God, only
through the blood of the cross, Rom. iii — Ephes. ii.
By the sovereignty of God, in the dispensation of his
grace, I mean that distinguishing grace of God, by
which, according to his eternal purpose — Ephes. i—- .which
he purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began :
he in the fulness of time effectually calls, by his Spirit,
through his word, to the knowledge and obedience of tlu;
truth, those whom he had before chosen in Christ Jesus,
imparting to them, as his gracious act, repentance unto
life, faith in his Son, and a living principle of new and
holy obedience ; thus making them partakers of a divine
nature, and conforming them to the imageof their Lord
and Saviour, to which they were predestinated in the
counsels of eternity. By the eternity of future enjoy-
ment to the righteous, and of future suffering to the
wicked, I mean that immutable and everlasting state of
retribution which succeeds this state of trial and proba-
tion, in which, he that believes in Christ Jesus, shall en-
ter into, and enjoy life eternal ; whilst he that believes
not, shall, according to the letter of the divine words, go
away into eternal punishment. Matt. xxv. 46.
T^y faith without works, the only terms of acceptation
with (iod, I mean, a lunnblc and hearty trust in Christ
364 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Tor salvation, without the least respect to personal good-
ness, merit, or ^Worthiness, but an utter renunciation of
them all before God, Rom. x. 3, 4 — Gal. ii. 16. And
finally, by the jtersetierance of the saints, 1 mean the ab-
solute certainty, of every one who is truly born from
above, of the Mord, and Spirit of God, being kept, by the
mighty power of God, through faith unto salvation j and
,^n the fulness of time being introduced into the beatific vis-
ion and full fruition of God in eternity, Rom. viii. 29-^39,
John X. 27 — 29. These are the great and leading doc-
trines of the cross, which compose another part of that
precious knowledge, of which the apostle speaks, and
a part too in which he gloried. These divine doctrines
^vere all precious to his soul, and these he enforced upon
others, with an eloquence and zeal, worthy of an apostle
of Jesus Christ, and a martyr to the truth.
Religion, my brethren, I mean the eliristian religion,
is a rational thing, and without knowledge in vain do we
pretend to it. Enthusiasm may be founded in ignorance,
but true religion cannot. The understanding must be
enlightened. And whence shall we derive this necessary
light, but from the scriptures, and the fundamental doc-
trines of the cross ? Isaiah viii. 20 — <♦ To the law and
the testimony, if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in (hem." Forever be dis-
carded, and banished from the christian church, as per-
nicious to man and dlshonoraide to God, the deistical
doctrine, that it is little or no matter what a man be-
lieves, provided Iiis praetiee be good. This was not the
creed of the great apcsJle of the Gentiles, else, why did
he, with a zeal truly divine, so earnesdy eonfend for the
fai(b once delivered to (he saints, and (hat too in the-
face of at'ontcnding world.'ami even iu the face of death
ENOCH BURT, A. JM. 365^
itself. No, my bretliren, he deemed it important to be
firmly grounded in the doctrines of the faith, as the ne-
cessary preparative for being rooted and grounded in the
faith itself. Is any one prepared to say, that it is of no
importance from what sentiments and feelings our ac-
tions proceed ? This would by no means be admitted in
temporal things ; how can it be in spi^-itual^
How is it possible to obtain those corrupt sentiments
of God, and the Saviour, and correspondent affections
toward him, whilst at the same time we are believing
that, with respect to him', which is false ? I repeat it,
then, that in order to know Christ Jesus the Lord, we
must have some aeqwaintanee with his character, with
his offices, and the great and leading doctinnes of the cross.
Parents and guardians of youth, can you fail of per-
ceiving here, how much is incumbent upon you, and how
jnueh you are able to perform, toward those committed
to your care, and who look up to you for instruction ?
May you not, and are you not, bound by every sacred
consideration, to impart to their understandings this
knowledge of the character, offices and doctrines of Christ,
of which I have been speaking, and which forms, as you
have seen, the very basis of an cnliglitencd and saving
faith ? And in how many instances this early instruction
has proved to be the true seed of everlasting life, God
only knows. We have reason to believe that in many in-
stances the Eternal Spirit has built upon it the saving
knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord.
But again, the knowledge of which the apostle speaks,
in the text, has another and very important part, witli-
out which, all beside will be in vain. It is the know-
ledge of Christ Jesus as his Lord ; that is, as his Sa-
VIOLR.
3e$ NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
We may, in <lie sense I have hitherto been speaking,
know him as tlie Lord ; we may have an enlightened un-
derstanding of his character, and offices, and doctrines ;
we may even be able, from this knowledge, to vindicate
his name, his cause, his doctrines against the revilers of
the truth, and yet know nothing of him as our Lord and
Saviour. The great apostle knew him as his Lord and
Saviour. Hear his language — " I know in whom I have
believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him." And what was it that he had
committed to his faithful hands ? It was his soul — his
immortal interest — his everlasting all. He knew the
glories of his person, revealed to him by the Holy
Ghost. He had tasted the sweetness of his love and
grace. He was experimentally acquainted with the pre-
cious doctrines of his Lord, and they were the comfort
and support of his soul. And this experimental know-
ledge is what we must add to all the light of the under-
standing, would we possess what the apostle so highly
valued. The former is an understanding of the science
of salvation, but this latter is a reception of it. It is
this which efTt'cts, melts, purifies, and sanctifies the
heart. It is this which makes a Saviour precious to the
soul, and confers a divine glory upon all the doctrines of
his grace. It is this which humbles and abases the sin-
ner, and exalts the Saviour. In a word, it is this, which
transforms the soul, and all its affections and desires ;
and after the example of the holy apostle, while behold-
ing the spiritual glory of the Lord, leads it to lose sight
of itself, that God and Christ may be all, and in all.
Thus have I, my brethren, showed you, in what that
knowledge consists, for which the apostle was willing to
barter every thing beside. Do you know by experienee
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 3fi7
what it is ? If you do, you will be able to anticipate me,
in some measure, whilst I am pursun^q; tbe second head
of this discourse, the object of which is, to show the
transcendent excellency of this knowledge : and if you are
yet unacquainted with it, may the Lord grant that a
view of its excellency may lead you most earnestly to de-
sire and seek after it. Its transcendent excellency will
appear in the illustration of the tliree following particu-
lars : — the object of this knoivledge ; the nature and ef-
fects of it; and its ultimate end. Its excellency appears
in the transcendent excellency of its object. It is the
knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, and through him,
the knowledge of the holy and ever-blessed Trinity. It
looks primarily to him ; but in him is exhibited the
eternal godhead, in all its adorable perfections ; for in
him dweileth all the fulness of the godhead, bodily. What
object can be found, throughout creation, so excellent as
this ? Even in the creature, whether inanimate, irra-
tional, or intelligent, we find depths which the human
intellect cannot fathom. But what are these, compared
to the immensity of the godhead. Ah ! " who by search-
ing can find out God ? Avho can find out the Almighty to
jierfection ? It is higher than heaven ; what can we do ?
— Deeper than hell ; what can we know ? It is longer
than the earth, and broader than the sea." This know-
ledge, whose excellency we are illustrating, has the glo-
rious God, infinite in all his perfections, for its object.
It respects him as the Creator, the Governor, but espe-
cially, as the Redeemer and Judge of men. It is this
divine knowledge wliich employs the researches of an-
gels. In the stupcn«h)U3 work of redemption, new sub-
jects of investigation are opened to these holy intelli-
genees, into which they are eoutinually prying with an
368 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
boly euriosify. Whilst Tvisdom, power, and love, infinite
and incomprehensible, open still deeper and deeper, their
exhaustless treasures ; whilst depths profoundly, infi-
nitely deep, still lie unexplored, and thus shall lie for-
fever, 1 Pet. i. 12 — Ephes. iii. 10.
Say, then, my brethren, must not this knowledge be
transcendently excellent, since it hath an object no less
excellent than God, exhibiting his adorable perfections
with insufferable brightness in the face of the glorious
Immanuel, God with us, and the stupendous mystery of
redeeming love ?
But, secondly, this divine knowledge is transcendently
excellent in its nature and effects, which are holy and
heavenly ; and in this respect it is infinitely superior to
every other. Its nature is to purify the heart, and sanc-
tify the soul, in all its powers ; whilst its effects are ex-
hibited in a holy and heavenly life. AH other wisdom,
compared to this, is weakness and folly ; for all other
knowledge, however great its degree, leaves its subject
still in spiritual darkness, bondage and corruption. "For
the world by wisdom knows not God ;'* but this divine
knowledge enlightens the soul, gives it a view of its spir-
itual bondage ; and not only so, it also rescues from it.
And in addition to all this, it sheds abroad through the
whole soul a heavenly peace.
To perceive, in this particular, my brethren, the su-
preme excellency of this divine knowledge, we only need
to have a correct view, and a lively sense of our fallen
state. By nature, however, we may boast of freedom ;
we are slaves to sin and Satan, and by them held in cruel
bondage. And although our chains may for a while sii
light upon us, yet the time will come when we shall feel
their weight. Sinner, hast thou not sometimes feU
^ ENOCH BURT, A. M. S6»
them ? hast thou not often found in thy own breast the
sad proofs of thy captivity, when liurried on in the wild
career of sin and folly, by unhallowed desires, corrupt
affections, or furious passions ? When conscience has
raised her voice, and thy own judgment decided in her
favor, hast thou not found a something within, which re-
sisted thy obedience to the calls of reason, of duty and
conscience, bidding thee to give to God thy affections and
thy service ? All this is nothing more nor less than the
reigning power of sin in the soul. But whilst sin and sa-
tan thus maintain their empire in the soul, it is far from
God, and far from hope. Is not that, then, supremely
excellent, which delivers from so grievous a bondage,
and overthrows the kingdom of so base a tyrant ? In
this the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, displays a
part of its excellency. No other knowledge can give to
the soul this spiritual victory — this holy freedom. True
it is, that there is a rational pleasure in improving the
mind in human knowledge ; and to seek this improve-
ment according to the opportunity which providence af-
fords us, is a duty enjoined upon us, both by nature and
the God of nature. But in vain shall we seek in that,
a deliverance from our spiritual bondage. Though by
it the intellectual powers may be enlarged, and the views
of the mind extended, yet it hath no power to slay the
tyrant sin, or overthrow his empire in the breast. This
divine conquest can be obtained only through the pre-
cious knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. The whole
circle of human science cannot effect it. Were we mas-
ters of all the wisdom that the world could ever boast
of, from the beginnhig of time to the present ,• — nay
more, could we travel through the works of nature ;
could we penetrate their essences : could we solve all
Vol. r. Yy
870 ^EW-JERSEY PREACHER,
their phenomena, yet, unless this was sanctified, through
the precious knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, it
would still leave us slaves and captives — slaves to sin,
and captives of satan. Philosophy might indeed teach
us lessons of morality ; but by these, the strong man
armed is not to be dispossessed ; nor by means like these,
can his kingdom be shaken, John i. 12, 13. We have
seen this truth confirmed by the most vigorous exertions
of Pagan erudites and Heathen philosophers. What
was ever eifected toward the reformation of the heart,
by all the far-famed learning of Egypt, Greece, and
Rome ? So far from reforming those parts of the world
in which they resided, or into which they travelled :
so far from begetting in the multitude a love of virtue
and holiness, and a hatred of sin, their respective and
most eminent philosophers were unable to reform even
their own hearts, or regulate their lives, but almost
without exception were the slaves of vile affections, and
in spite of all their boasted wisdom, held in captivity by
sin and satan. Thus weak and vain, even in the most
important article, is the wisdom of the world. Here,
then, is displayed the supreme excellency of the wisdom
of God — the precious knowledge of Christ Jesus the
Lord. This hath a power and efficacy peculiar to itself,
It penetrates and renews the heart, and sanctifies the
soul ; nor can sin or satan hold their dominion in the
heart that possesses it. It was by this that a few poor
and illiterate fishermen reformed, and conquered the
world, wherever they went, disseminating this precious
knowledge, attended by the Spirit of grace. The chains
of satan fell from his captive subjects ; the shades of
spiritual deatli and corruption were dispersed, and the
unliappy slaves of sin were made the joyful servants of
ENOCH BUUT, A. M. 37t
righteousness, and the Lord*s freemen. And, my hrclh-
ren, this divine knowledge is at this moment as effica-
cious as ever. Its poMer is not in the least impaired.
It is each day repeating its heavenly conquests. Each
revolving sun witnesses its extending influences and life-
giving power : and it is through its all-powerful efficacy
that the empire of sin and satan shall eventually he en-
tirely overthrown on the earth, and the kingdom of ho-
liness universally estahlished. And happy, thrice hap-
py and blessed are all they, who with a love and zeal
worthy of so important and benevolent an object, engage
Avith all the soul, to send into every land, among every
kindred, and tongue, and people, this heavenly know-
ledge : and divinely blessed are all those, who for them-
selves seek, above all things, and obtain this inestimahle
treasure. Say, my bretbren, do you not begin to per-
ceive, nay, to feel its transcendent excellency, and to
pant for its obtainment.
Another property which discovers the excellency of
this knowledge, is, that it restores jwace lo the troublcit
conscience. God is the God of peace; Christ Jesus is
the Prince of peace, and the Holy Spirit which proceed-
cth from the Father and the Son, is the Spli'it of peace.
To possess, then, the true knowledge of God, is to pos-
sess divine and everlasting peace ; and this is i<s only,
its native source. The peace Avliich the knov.ledge of
Christ Jesus imparts to the soul, consists in a deliver-
ance from the burden and guilt of sin, and in a sense of
the divine favor ; and witliout both of these, no true
peace can be enjoyed in the soul. A sense of sin must
necessarily carry with it a sense of guilt ; and a sense of
guilt before God, the holy and righteous Law-giver and
Judge of the world, must of necessity disturb the peace
ars NEWJERSEY PREACHER.
of the sinner, and afflict Iiim with the most fearful ap-
prehensions. An offended, an angry God, and an accus-
ing conscience, are enemies from Avhich the sinner can-
not fly, and against wliose assaults, the united wisdom
and power of the world cannot defend him. The phi-
losopher, the stoic, the epicurean, employ their powers
in vain to heal a wounded spirit, pierced with conscious
guilt, and the anticipation of future wo. The most in-
genious arts here fail. The most costly sacrifices are
of no avail. Stoic iudiffereuce and apathy, with all their
boasted powers, cannot render the soul insensible of the
gnawing of that w orm which never dies ; nor can the
softest strains of human eloquence soothe its anguish.
Nothing but the precious knowledge of Christ Jesus the
Ijord, can pluck out the barbed arrow, and heal the
wound. And here, my brethren, we discover at once its
divine excellency, and the comparative worthlessness of
every thing beside ; for what can that be worth, svhicU
leaves the possessor, after all, the wretched victim of
self-reproach and endless anguish ?
And thus will all the wisdom, the wealth, and honors
of the world leave him. It is no created power whicl^
inflicts the wound, and no created power can heal it.— .
God alone, infinitely holy, just and good, is the object of
the sinner's fear and terror, and in him alone can he find
true and solid peace and consolation, and this only through
the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord : and without
this, neither men nor angels can save the soul from pres-
ent forebodings of wrath, and from endless wretchedness.
"Well might the holy apostle, then, count every thing but
loss for the excellency of this knowledge ; for without it,
what would he have been, in all his attainments in which
he once gloried 2 Of nhat avail would it have been to
ENOCH BURT, A. M. S78
him, to have called Abraham his father — to have been
of the stock of Israel — of the tribe of Benjamin — an He-
brew of the Hebrews, and after the strictest sect a Phar^
isee, and to have been able to boast of a zeal for his reli-
gion which led him to persecute, even into strange cities,
those whom he conceived hostile to it ? Of what avail
vould it have been to him, to have had the applause of
an adoring world, and to have been raised to the summit
of worldly honor and fame ? — I say, of what avail would
all this have been to him, had he at the same time beea
destitute of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord ?
But possessed of this, he was indeed possessed of all
things in the sublimest sense. It was a reflection like
this, which led him to exclaim with an holy triumph — .
<« What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ ; yea, doubtless, and I count every thing but loss,
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord." And can it fail to convince us of its transcen-
dent excellency ? But Anally, in the ultimate end of this
knowledge, we are led to behold more fully, if possible,
its consummate excellency. Its end, like its author, is
truly divine. It condueteth to heaven. Its ultimate end
is immortal felicity and glory. It secures to him
who possesses it a kingdom, a throne, and a crown
of glory — an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and
which fadeth not away, eternal in the heavens. All this
it shall in due time put into the full and everlasting pos-
session of its possessor. Say, tlien, my brethren, what
can be compared, in point of excellency, with this pre-
cious knowledge ? Here is an object suited to the na-
ture and boundless ambition of the soul. To discover
more clearly its superlative value, let us now for a mo-
ment contrast it with all that the world calls great and
37i KEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
noble, and we shall find it distinguished by these two
striking characteristics, viz. soul-satisfying and eternal.
Choose whatever you will besides, and you choose as a
portion, an unsatisfying good. To say nothing of the
hazard of disappointment — of the risk of failing in the
attainment of whatever the world holds up to its vota-
ries, which those best know who have been most eager
in the pursuit, these objects of pursuit, when obtained,
are in their very nature unsatisfying. The whole world
cannot fill the grasp of an immortal soul. It pants fo*
a good infinitely greater, and of a nature similar to its
own, which is spiritual, and this it can find no where but
in God, the eternal Father of spirits. Contemplate the
man of pleasure ; you imagine, perhaps, you see in him
the happy man, contented, and satisfied with his portion.
You behold the man of Avealth and affluence, pleasantly
gliding along, with all his canvass spread, tilled with the
gale of prosperity, and for the moment you are ready to
congratulate him, as the subject of an enviable happi-
ness. You behold another soaring aloft on the wing of
fame, and rapidly approaching its summit, whilst anoth-
er suddenly raised to the pinnacle of honor, grasps a
crown, ascends a throne, receives a kingdom ; and you
are, perhaps, tempted for the moment to exclaim, what
more can they desire ? These, my brethren, are the
things Avhicli tlie world calls great and noble ; but ah !
what are they in reality but gilded bawbles ; how little
they can do toward satisfying the soul, those can best
tell who have possessed them. Hear the testimony of
one of the wisest of men on this subject, who in his own
person proved them all ; — Tanity of xanilks ; all is nan-
ity. Could we but penetrate this outside show, this spe-
cious garb, and look into the chambers of the soul, how
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 375
should we be amazed to find, beneath this fair semblance
of happiness, restless and unsatisfied desires, fretful im-
patience, insatiable ambition, tormenting envy, perplex-
ing cares, corroding anxiety, and distressing fears.
These are the inseparable though secret attendants of
all that the world has to bestow. But not so is this
heavenly knowledge : it satisfies and fills the soul : it im-
parts to it a portion of the felicity of God himself: it
makes the possessor, though in the eyes of the world an
object of pity and compassion, supremely happy. You
may behold him indeed poor in this world's goods, and
pity his hard lot, whilst at the same time he feels that
he possesses a treasure greater in value than ten thou-
sand worlds, and this too not the fruit of a disordered
imagination, as the lunatic on the dunghill may fancy
himself on a throne, but a divine reality which he knows,
which he feels to be a substantial treasure. You may
contemplate him without earthly friends or connections,
and descending from ignoble blood, whom a proud and
disdainful world passes by with scorn ; but though he
may have neither friend, nor brother, nor sister, nor
father on the earth, yet hath he, indeed, a father in the
heavens, and a friend and brother on the tlirone of the
universe, who disdains not to acknowledge this relation,
Heb. ii. 11— and by whom he shall soon bo advanced to
a throne and a kingdom, compared with which the
thrones and kingdoms of earthly monarclis are more in-
significant than the molehill. Though in the eyes of
men his birth be mean and his blood ignoble, yet, not-
withstanding, the blood-royal of heaven flows in his
veins ; for he is indeed ♦» born of God :" he is an " heir
of God, and a joint-heir wi(h Christ Jesus ; to an heav-
enly inheritance, incorruptible, uudefiied, and that fadeth
37S NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
not away,"— an inheritance of felicity and glory, and
the earnests of which he sometimes here enjoys, when
his God and Saviour condescends, in the fulfilment of
his gracious promise, to pay to his soul the visits of his
grace, John xiv. 33.
Thus you see, my brethren, that the excellency of this
knowledge surpasses every thing else, inasmuch as it
satisfies the soul : and now to give it at once an infinite
value, an incomprehensible excellency, we add, that it
is eternal, and in this respect, the contrast is infinite be-
tween it and all that the world can boast of ; all its
treasures, all its goods, every thing that is allied to
earth is of finite duration, but this endureth forever. And
here, my brethren, I should exhort you in vain to strive
to comprehend its unrivalled excellency ; for who can
comprehend eternity ? The time will come when all the
boasted wisdom of the world will be lost, nay, when the
world itself shall be no more. But this heavenly wis-
dom shall continue, shall increase, so long as God, its ob-
ject and its author, lives. The crown which it shall
place on the head of its happy possessor, shall grow
brighter and fairer, and shine with increasing splendor,
when the crowns of earthly potentates shall have crum-
bled into dust, or have been lost amidst the ruins of a
dissolving world. The sun may cease to shine, the moon
and stars may lose their brilliant lustre, and fade away,
but the possessor of this heavenly knowledge shall for-
ever shine in fairer skies, Dan. xii. 3 — and with brighter
lustre, whilst the eternal Light of lights, Isaiah Ix. 19, 20.
Rev. xxi. 22, 23 — the uncreated Sun of suns forever
sheds his most refulgent beams upon his head. Chris-
tian, dost thou hear it ? dost thou indeed believe it ? To
what art thou born ! To what glory art thou ordained !
ENOCH BURT, A. M, 57>
Look around thee, now, and see whether earth hath
ought for thee to covet, or contend for, who art destined
to possess a kingdom of glory. This is your certain
heritage, confirmed by charter, sealed with the blood of
the Highest, O ye sons and daughters of the Lord Al-
mighty.
Sinner, this is the soul-satisfying inheritance, which
to-day is offered to thee, by the King of heaven. Whilst
thy soul is saying, who will shew me any good ? he ig
replying to thee, " Behold in the precious knowledge of
my name, a sovereign good, a treasure so immensely
great, as to leave in the soul no unsatisfied desire.
Come, thou Spirit of light and truth, teach us all its
excellency ; excite us to seek it before silver, and to
search for it as for hid treasure ; that so, according to
thy word, we may «* understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God." And then shall we al-
so say, with the holy apostle, both now and forever, that
we count all things but loss for the excellency of th©
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. — ^AMEN.
Vol. t. Z z
SERMOI^ XXI.
THE BENEFITS RESULTING FROM BEING
FOUND IN CHRIST.
FhiL iu, 9.
That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the Caith of Christ, the righteous-
cess which is of God by faith.
BY THE REV. ROBERT FNLE Y, A. M.
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation of Baskingridge.
NEW-JEPSEY PT^EVrHEll.
SERMON XXI.
Fliil. iii. 9. — ^That I may be found in him, not having mine own righteous,
ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christy
the rigliteousness whicii is of God by faith.
J. HE methods which men take to make their eon-
science easy are very various. The law of God being
interwoven with our nature, judgment and eternity are
sometimes realities to the most inconsiderate. Some-
thing therefore must be done, and men in every age and
nation have sought a ground on which to build their
hope of happiness. The Heathen rely upon their su-
perstitions. The ancient Jew rested on the name of
Moses. The despised tribes of Israel still believe that
they have Abraham to their father, and are strong in
the hope of heaven. The men of this world depend on
their charity, their equity, and their being free from
gross violations of (he law of God. But the true chris-
tian, renouncing all tilings else, depends upon the merits
of the Saviour. He denies himself, and after his best
obedience, counts all things but dross and dung in com-
parison with Christ. Of this we have a striking and in-
structive instance in the words before us. The apostle
boldly afHrms that he had claims as strong as any other
man to legal righteousness ; and that if any man had
whereof to boast, he had more. Early brought into re-
lation with God, in the covenant of circumcision ; de-
scended from that stock; whose were the jjjromises j rig-
382 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
orous even as a Pharisee in fastings and prayers ; and
possessed of a zeal warm and glowing, he might have
made some pretensions to that righteousness which is of
the law. Instead of this, he renounced his righteous-
ness, (and well he might,) as filthy rags. He east it all
away, as one would cast the useless dross, or the offen-
sive dung. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ
his Lord engrossed all his thoughts, and his desires were
ahsorhed all in one, *< that he might be found in him."
Our text contains,
I. A renunciation of human righteousness as a means
of life, and the reason of that renunciation,
II. A desire to be in Christ, and the benefits of being
found in him.
I. A renunciation of human righteousness, and the
reason of that renunciation.
The inspired writer describes it as a garment, uncom-
fortable in itself, and not pleasing in the sight of God.
He distrusted it and sought a better ; because it was of
the law. He had been alive without the law once, but
the commandment came, sin revived, and he died to all
self-confidence. He died because the law had ceased to
be a way of life — because even a perfect obedience to its
precept could not cleanse his heart nor atone for sin—
and because its demands were beyond his power.
1. Tlie law lias ceased to he a xvay of life, and there-
fore obedience to it can never avail to eternal happiness.
There was a time and state wherein obedience had the
offer, r.nd human merit tite assurance of eternal bliss.
Then were all the rich promises of God tendered to
mankind through the covenant of w orks. <• Do this and
live," was the counterpart of that fearful threatening ;
« In the day thou catest thereof thou shalt surely die."
ROBERT FIXLEY, A. M. S8d
Perfect righteousness was the gate which opened into
the upper paradise. But the hvw being broken, through
disobedience, the covenant was dissolved on the part of
God, and all the promises of peace, Joy, hope, and ever-
lasting life that were annexed to it, were withdrawn. It
remains only the Unv of sin and death, discovering to
man the greatness of his guilt, and threatening him with
misery and endless pains. It still contains its curses and
all its terrors ; but not a single promise for him that is
out of Christ. The dreadful mount of God where the
moral law was repeated, as a rule of life, was a lively
representation of the covenant of works in its broken
state. The thunders and lightnings, the clouds, the thick
darkness, and the sound of the trumpet which waxed
louder and louder, were not mixed with any voice, or
circumstance of comfort. So terrible was the sight, that
Moses said, " I exceedingly fear and quake." The in-
structive scene was designed to teach us, that he who
flees to Sinai for a refuge, comes to a mount that burns
with fire, and which if he only touch, his deceitful hopes
shall be thrust through with a dart. In our weak and
miserable condition, we need a gentle light to lead us,
and words of peace and promise to support our tainting
.hearts. But in all the law and its righteousness, there
is no word nor voice of consolation ; nothing that declares
to man, tliis is the way, walk therein an(J thou shalt live
forever.
2. The lazv cannot rcnciv the heart, nor make atone-
ment for sins. We do notv#ow stand upon the same
ground that Adam did before the fall, in seeking for sal-
vation. Nothing was demanded of him, but to perse-
vere in the course of 'rectitude in which he was created.
The restoration of th^ lost image of God is cuw requir-
J84 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
cd, and satisfaction in order to the remission of sins that
are past. The law eannot cease to command the sinn«r
to make to himself a new heart, nor be satisfied with an
obedience short of that which man could have paid itt
his first estate. But how shall a sinner restore his na-
Jture ? The whole head is sick. The whole heart is
faint. The whole man is polluted and destroyed, nor is
there any virtue in legal righteousness, to cure the sick*
ness or repair the ruin. The disease is of such a nature
that no earthly balm can heal it, and the stain so deep,
that neither flood nor sea can wash it out. We have de-
stroyed ourselves, and there is no help from earthly
power. Every awakened sinner is sensible of this. He
finds a law in his members that wars against the Jaw ©r
his nlind, and brings him into bondage. His earnest
strivings only make him feel the more, how guilty and
how vile he is, and how dead in trespasses and in sins.
Nor does the wratli of God cease to terrify him, till by
the renewing of his heart through grace, he receives the
spirit of adoption.
Neither does the righteousness of the law propose any
method of satisfaction for sins that are past. God not
only now requires a perfect conformity to his will ; but
he did so from the beginning of our lives. T/ioit shall
love the Lord thy God with all thif hearts is, and ever was,
the tenor of the law. If, therefore, in our striving fop
salvation, we could attain to perfection, still posseieing^
the iniquities of our youth, we should be strangers t»
true peace. Justice would not cease to say, " Pay me
what thou owest." Man is laid in prison, whence h©
eannot come till he has paid the whole debt. The divine
law and justice are inexorable, not as being angry or im«
placable ; but as being eternal and immutable in their
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M. 3%$
Mature. The punishment tJiat is due to every sin, was
pri^portioiied l>y |)errect wisdouj. It can tlieieibre be no
nioi r- rcMuUcd without a propitiation, than the unchang-
ing God can alter.
3. The la7v d^nunnh more than fallen man can give*
It insists on universal and perfV ct obedience, while in
many things we all offend and conse short of the glory
of God. We arc debfors to do the whole law, and yet
transgress in fhought, in word, and deed. If we owe ten
thousand talents they must ail be paid. If the law pro-
nounce curses on every offence, it will see that they are
executed : and every sin " shall receive its just recom-
pense of reward." Well, therefore, may the awakened
sinner cry, W^hither can I go ? What shall I do ? Well
may the terrors of the Lord affright him, till he obtains
a sight of the righteousness which is of God through
faith. The dread of God's offended majesty, the fear of
death, and the solemnity of the world to come, urge him
to such a trial of his strength as to convince him that he
must perish under a law tliat rcfjuircs perfection. —
Amazed at the discovery of his sinfulness, he cries with
the apostle, " wretched man that 1 am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death." To give ease to the
guilty bosom, satan has put it into the hearts of some to
believe and teach ; that (lirough the coming of Christ
the law is new modified, f nd softened in its demands,
requiring not as before, a j erfect obedience, but an evan-
gelical or sincere obedience, that is, such an obedience
as the sinner can pay. T/nis is one of the devices of Ihe
enemy of souls, (o keep nien from Christ. For tliough
it is true that tlie world is/pUioed under a new law : yet
it is far from being a new modeling oT human righte-
ousness. It is the law of* the Spirit of iile which makes
Vol. I.
3 A
m NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
US free from the law of sin and death. It was then with
the greatest reason, tbat the apostle renounced his own
righteousness, desired to be unclothed, and clothed upon
■wiih the Saviour's merits.
II. A desire to be in Christ, and the henefits of hei'ig
found in him. Happy is the man who shall find himself
in Christ at death.. Happy he who in the tlay of judg-
ment slmll appear in him. Tliere are some who suppose
that the words in which the apostle expresses his desire
are only a figure, Christ being compared to the arl. in
which Noah and his family were saved. Gen. vii. 23 ;
OP to the city of refuge whither the man-slayer iled and
remained in safety, Deut. xix. 3, 4. Nor can it be doubt-
ed that the scripture, in representing the security of the
believing sinner, sometimes compares the Saviour to the
ark in which Noah was preserved, and to the city of
refuge where he was kept secure that fled from the
avenger of blood, 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21 — Heb. vi. 18. But
though there is great beauty in these figurative repre-
sentations of the Saviour's power to protect, and of the
soul's security Avhen interested in him, yet this is far
from all that is meant by the apostle in his desire " to
be found in Christ." He repeats the sentiment in his
epistles so frequently, with such variety of expression,
and utters it with such pleasing vehemence, that we are
constrained to believe that he trusted in Christ as a cov-
enant head, and that he had placed his l>ope in him as
his righteousness and strength t. He delights, therefore,
to speak of being hapH:icd int > the death of Christy and
of having fiit on Christ, of be ng crucified and dijingwith
him, of being buried 'icith him and in him rising to nexv-
ness of Jiff, and the well founded hope of heaven. The
Son of ma^i having been vvor ded for sin, and taken up-r
ROBERT FINLEY, A. U- ^
en Lim the oLastisenicnt of the sinner's peace, having
bren smitten of God, and endured the si^nution of the
broken Jaw, was made by the appointment of God a cov-
enant Ijead, to cover by his righteousness, and save by
bis olood, every one that believes in him. This great
point will come uj) more fully to our view, while we are
consichM-ing the benellts of being found in Christ. The
bctieiit is double.
1. Tlicreby believing sinners are made partakers of
« the riglili'ousness which is through tiie faith of Christ."
2. "Of the righteousness which is of God through
faith."
If he may {)artake of these, his fears are gone, and his
soul is safe.
1. Tlu'i'chv hdicvins: shiners are made jmrtakei's of the
rii^hteousncss ivliicli is liirou^Kh the faith of Clivist. Afraid
to trust an> longer («> himself, he tuined his eyes on
every side f >r some better hope, nor was any seen, till
Christ appeared »* the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that helievetli." Great is the excellency
of fiith. To it are attributed all the powers of the new
bii'.'h, of justification, and of growth in grace. Inso-
iimcli that without faith it is impossible to please God.
Nor is it that God hath li\ed on this method of dispen-
sing mercy, by an arbiti'ary constitution. The w ay was
chosen because tliere is no other, by which nien can be
'saved. Saints of ancient years and late days have been
saved on no other terms. In faith Abraham saw the Sa-
viour's day and was glad. In faith Job viewed tlie Son
of God, and in him the resurrection of the dead. David
beheld through frti7/i the body whirh was prepared for
our surety, in which he was to endure tlie wiath that
was due to sin. The prophets spake oi'faiUi in aMedi-
3SS NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
atoi'*s deatli, and were filled with hope and joy while
they apprehended him as bearing their iniquities in his
own body on the tree. Jesus preached that God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whp-
soever believeth in him might not perish, but have ever^
lasting life. Faith is therefore a great and vital princi-
ple which runs through the scheme of man's redemption,
the want of wliich leaves the soul in darkness and ia
death. Nor is the faith of the scripture a charm, a
watch-word of party, or an enthusiastic feeling, produc-
ing its e/Tect by mechanical operation on the human
mind. It is more : it is unspeakably more. For though
faith simply sympaihizSng with a suffering Saviour, may
imelt the heart to tenderness and love ; or exploring the
terrors and glories of the world to come, may excite in
the soul of man a feeling of amazement or vehement de--
sire ; yet in all this there is nothing of that quickening
and purifying power which is attached to it in the word
of God. The faith of which we speak is nothing less
than that by which, and in the exercise of which, man
receives the Spirit of Ciirist to make him alive from his
spiritual death, and unile him to Christ. " God hath
sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, whereby
ye cry abba Father,'* Gal. iv. 6. " I am crucified wilh
Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live hi
the faith of the Son of God," Gal. ii. 20. That Spirit
of Christ, that seed incorruptible is placed in the heart,
in the moment, when the sinner urged by the law, flee-
ing in vain from its sentence, and sinking in despair,
cries to the Saviour, <• Lord, help me, I perish ;" that
is, in the moment when with his heart he believes in the
Son of God for salvation. Christ, by his obedience to
ROBERT PINiLEY, A. M. 3S9
the precept, and tlirougb sufferin;; the full penalty of the
law, hath thereby abolished the covenant of works. —
Henceforth the soul that was dead in sin is made alive
to God by "the law of the Spirit of life," and is made
righteous by union to Christ, in such a great and sover-
eign constitution as that by which the posterity of Adam
would have stood in him and obtained security through
his righteousness ; or by such a constitution as that
wherein they *' sinned in him and fell with him in his
^rst transgression." *• For as by one man's disobedi-
ence many were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous," Rom. v. 19. The
apostle, therefore, having no righteousness of his own,
rejoiced greatly in the discovery of the Saviour's merits,
and wished with intense desire to be found in him at
death, and to appear in him in the day of judgment.
The second benefit of heing found in Christ , is, that
therehij we partake of the righteousness 7vhich is of God.
The righteousness which is by faith was planned in the
wisdom of the eternal councils, wrouglit by the labours
of the Son of God, and is fully equal to the demands of
the law of God.
1. The scheme was laid in heaven and formed in infi-
nite icisdom. " But of him are yc in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us, wisdom and rigliteousness, sanc-
tilication and redemption," 1 Cor. i, 30. None but God
had power to dissolve the covenant of works and brinir
in the better rigliteousness revealed in the gospel. It
was his own law, w hich he alone could alter. None had
wisdom to propose a new way, and it was liis sovereign
right to accept or to refuse a substitute, even if it had
been proposed. But which of the morning stars that
sang together when the world was foi-mcd could have
as© NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
conceived the plan ? Even now that it has been display-
ed in the sight of both worlds, the angels desire to look
'kttOf rather than fully understand, that wondrous
scheme where truth and mercy meet together. Christ
in himself precious to the sinner, is still more precious,
because he is the elect of God.
2. It was wrought bij the oiihj begotten Son of God,
'iVlio rvas the brightness of the Father^s glorij. Faith tri-
umphs, the sinner knows whom he has helieved, and he
rests in hope, while he beholds the Lord of angels, em-
ployed in the work of his redemption, and crushed in the
wine-press of divine wrath, and filling up the vast out-
tine sketched by redeeming love. How certain is our
salvation, since we obtain the forgiveness of our sins,
througli the blood of one " who is the image of the in-
visible God, the first born of every creature ; by whom
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are
in eartli, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
or dominions, or principalities or powers, and who is be-
fore all things, and by whom all things consist. Col. i,
14 — 17. We admire, we adore, we believe and are con-
fident ; we rejoice sometimes with joy unspeakable and
full of glory, when we see him who was in the form of
God, assuming the form of a servant, and made under
our law, that he might redeem us that were under the
law. «' It is God that justifieth," even Jesus who is the
Lord oar righteousness, God over all, and blessed for.
ever.
3. It isfuUij equal to the demands of the law of God.
The sacred writers delight to tell us, that whatsoever
justice required at the sinner's hand, the Saviour paid,
and whatsoever t he law demanded, Christ fulfilled. «» For
lie hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
JIOBERT FIKLEY, A. ^f. 591
we might be made the righteousness of God in Lini/* 2
Cor. V. 21. The Holy Ghost assures us, «' There is now
no condemnation to them tliat are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after tlie fiesh, but afler the Spirit- For the
law of the Spirit of life hath made us free from the law
of sin and death. For wliat the law could not do in that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the larv might
be fulfilled in us," Rom. viii. 1 — 4. Not only is some-
thing done, but all things are prepared, and the invita-
tion freely given, may be confidently accepted. If jus-
tice demands the sinner's blood, the Saviour sliews his
own. If God requires a spotless obedience, the Savi-
our answers, ** Lo I come to do thy will ; thy love is
in my heart," Psal. xl. Well, then, might our sacred po-
et sweetly sing the feelings of the believing sinner.
But speak, my Lord, and calm my fear;
Am I not safe beneath tliy shade ?
Thy vengeance will not strike me here.
Nor satan dares my soul invade.
Yes, Tm secure heneath thy blooil,
And all my foes sliall lose their alrtiT
Uosannah, to my dying God,
And my best honorj to his name.
IMPROVEMENT.
1. Let ns huihl our hope of heaven on a crucified Sp^-
iBionr. Other fonndation can no man lay than that which
is laid in the gospel; and woe to that man who in the
day of trial is not found in Christ. The vain hopes of
men will he IWown away like chaft', and their refuges of
lies shall disappear when God shali come in judgment.
• 392 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
Neither hay, nor wood, nor stubble, nor gold, nor pre-
cious stones, can endure the fire that shall ivy all things.
No mention will then be made of sincere but imperfect
obedience ; nor of doing as well as we can and commit-
ting the rest to the mercy of God. If such things as
these could have availed, Christ had never wept before
the gates of Jerusalem, nor in the garden been exceed-
ing sorrowful, nor on the cross endured the pains of the
second death. Could any human righteousness, however
sincere, have reached to the forgiveness of sins, angels
had never seen their Lord expiring, nor the sun hid his
face, while Jesus was forsaken of his Father. Seeing,
then, that Christ is slain as our passover, let us labour
to be sprinkled with his blood, lest the destroying angel
iind us. Men cannot be saved simply because Christ has
died. They must receive him, and rest ujwn him alone
for saJvaiion as he is o^ered in the gospel. To profess
a reliance on his merits, and yet neglect to apply to him
for righteousness and atonement, what is it, but to mock
God and deceive ourselves. The very death of Christ
may and must increase the condemnation of thousands
*« who going about to establish their ovn righteousness,
have not sul}jnilt«id themselves to the righteousness of
God." For this is the condemnation, that light has come
info the world, and men have loved and chosen darkness
rather than riji;ht ; nor will they come to Christ that,
they may liave lift;."
^. Let vs examine ourselres rvhethcr our faith he true,
and such as God requires. The laith of the gospel is not
a fancy. The fiiilh of Christ is not a cold speculation,
neither is the apprehension of the Saviour a dead and
lifeless act. Faith in Chi-int may seem a fancy, to those
who have never seen the holiness of God, which like a
ROBERT FINLEY, A. M; 39*
devouring fire will consume the unbelieving and impeni-
teht. It may appear a visionary system to those who
were never convinced of sin. It may be dead in those
who have only learned Christ as a name or head of par-
ty. But to those who have seen and felt that they were
sinners, exposed to the wrath and curse of God ; to whom
God has appeared a judge, and his name vengeance; to
such, faith in a Saviour ** bearing our sins in his own
body on the tree," becomes a reality — a reality, 0 ! how
pi'ecious ! To <hem it is " the substance of things hoped
for," the pardon of their sins, " and the evidence of
things not seen," the opening door to heaven. There is,
indeed, a wide difference in men's constitutions, educa-
tion, and modes of thinking. But can there be a consti-
tution so cold, an education so defective, or a mode of
thinking so unhappy, as to hinder the faith which is pro-
duced by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, from
melting the heart with love, kindling up the honorable
zeal of a renewed mind, and raising the heart to God ? Or
can that which unites to Christ, and is accompanied with
the spirit of adoption remain a dead, inactive principle ?
Impossible. As well might the sun remain and yet cease
to warm, as the soul be made partaker of true faith, and
yet know nothing of what the apostle felt when he wrote,
*« Whom having not seen ye love, in whom, though now
ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy un-
speakable and full of glory," 1 Pet. i. 8. It will over-
come the world in some measure, and give the victory
over sin.
Lastly, Let all tahc encouragement to seek that salva-
tion ivhich is of grace through faith. It is a broad land
of wealth unknown, where millions may obtain mer-
cy, peace, and eternal reconciliation. None so old, so
SB
-m
3Sl NEW-JERSEY PREAdHEt!,
stubborn, so sick or discouraged with sin as not to find
here a remedy suited to their case. There is help
laid on one that is mighty and al)h' to save unto the ut-
termost; and it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Whosoever will, let him come and take
of the water of life freely. It was dearly purchased
with blood ; bat it is offered without money and without
price to all who need it. The door, though straight,
stands open night and day to every one that wishes to
etiter. O ! could X dispel the fear of the weak and
trembling, and help them to believe it would give them
peace. Could I bring to Christ the laboring and heavy
laden, he would give them rest. O ! could I reach a
true conviction to the careless heart, and lay it pierced
at the cross, I might then open the Saviour's bleeding
wounds, and pour upon the mourning sinner the streams
of life and joy. Let the ends of the earth look to him
and be saved. Let sinners come as a cloud ; there is
room ; and Avhen then have come there still is room. We
testify in the name of Christ that the crimson sin shall
be purged away, and the scarlet dye shall be washed
out, in the fountain that was opened for sin and unclean-
iicss. The Saviour stood on earth, and cried, "If any
man thirst, let him come to me and drink." From heav-
en he declares the same saying, that he has no pleasure
in the sinner's death.
Hark ! wandering sinner, he calls to you. Hark I
wretclied child of man, lie calls to you. Wherefore go,
and fear not to go. Christ died for sin. He died to
melt the sinner's heart. He died to be a refuge and a
righleousncss. Ills wounds are open whither you may
flee. Flee with beUeving speed. The robe of his righte*
ROBERT FINLEY, A. 5f. ^
<»usness is prepared to cover you, and place you spotless
l>elore your God. May eaeh of us be found in Christy
not haying our own righteousness, wliicli is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righte-
eusness which is of God by faith.
Uoto him th^t loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and hath made us king!^ and priests un-
to God and his Father, to him be glory and dominido
forever and ever. — AMEN.
}
SEJRMOH XXII.
DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED.
Prov. xiv. 32.
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness-
BY THE REV. SAMUEL FISHER,
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation at Morris-Tovn.
NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON XXn.
Prov. xiv. 32.— The wicked is driven away in his wickednesS»
X HIS world is peopled with a multitude of inhabitants;,
of various descriptions, and possessing various charac-
ters. If we look abroad through the earth, and take a
survey of mankind, we shall perceive almost as many
shades, in the characters of men, as there are different
individuals in the human race. But notwithstanding this
variety, the scriptures inform us, that, in the sight of
God, who « seeth not as man seeth," there are two
classes, which comprehend every individual.
Tliese classes are denominated the righteous and the
wicked. However various their characters may appear
in the eye of man, in the sight of God a clear line of
distinction is drawn between them. In his view, it is
impossible that these classes should be blended together;
they are always distinct and separate. That change
which is wrought in the heart, by the Holy Spirit, and
which in scripture is called the new birth, forms thedis-
criminating line. Those who have been born again, in
whose hearts a principle of holiness has been implanted
by the Spirit of God, are termed the righteous; and those
who still remain in their natural state, are termed the
7vicked. This is a distinction of no trifling import.—
When viewed in connexion with its consequences, it will
appear of unspeakable importance to every individual of
the human race. The righteous are tlie friends of God,
400 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEli,
but the wicked are his enemies. The righteous are des-
tined to eternal life, but the wicked to eternal death. —
Hence, it is important that, in this life, we be able clear-
ly to ascertain to which of these classes of persons we
belong, that we may know the destiny Avhich awaits us
in the life to come.
To aid in this enquiry, and to stimulate all carefully
to engage in it, I design, in the sequel of this discourse,
J. To point out some things, which characterize the
wicted. And,
II. To show what is implied in their being ** driven
away in their wickedness.'*
In the first place, I am to point out some things which
characterize the wicked ; or which distinguish them
from the righteous.
" The scripture hath concluded all under sin." No
truth is more clearlv demonstrable, from the word of
God, than that every son and daughter of Adam is, by
nature, totally alienated from God, " by wicked works."
And even those, who are the subjects of renewing grace,
have still the remains of sin and corruption dwelling in
them ; for, saith the word of God, « There is not a. just
man upon earth that doeth good and sinncth not." There
is, therefore, a sense, in which all are wicked. But the
term wicked., in the text, is put in opposition to the term
■righteous, and signifies all those, who still remain in their
natural state. Hence, by the wicked we are to under-
stand those who have never been renewed by the Spirit
of God, and consequently are not united to Clirist by a
true and living faith. Such persons possess an unsub-
missive temper — a carnal mind, which is *' not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Tliey have
no love for the true character of God, but are supreme-
SAMUEL FISHER. 40i
ly devoted to self. Being " after the ilesli, they mind
the things of the flesh.'*
Unrenewed persons manifest that they are justly dc^
nominated the wicked.
1. By tlieir feelings and conduct towards God.
They may, indeed, imagine that they love God ; bilt
this arises either from self-deception, or from ignorance
of his true character ; for the declaration of God's word
is undoubtedly true, that " the carnal mind is enmity
against God." Carnal men do " not like to retain God
in their knowledge." They may imagine God to be al-
together such an one as themselves, and thus feel pleas-
ed with his character. But let them view the character
of God, as manifested in his works, and as described in
his holy word ; as the righteous Sovereign of the uni-
verse, as holding the destinies not only of nations, but
like^visc of individuals, in his own hands ; as ruling in
the hearts of men, and making one vessel to honor and
another to dishonor, as wisdom dictates, and they will
soon discover that, so far from loving God, their hearts
are full of enmity towards him.
The various dispensations of divine Providence arc
well calculated to make sinners acquainted with them-
selves, and to discover the enmity of their hearts towards
God. When the course of events corresponds with the
desires and pursuits of their selfish hearts, they, no
douht, can acquiesce Avith cheerfulness. There is no
reason why they should not ; for they pursue, without
interruption, the desires of their hearts. So long as God
suffers sinners to be joined to their idols, they will have
no difficulty in persuading themselves that they lovo
him. But when, in his righteous sovereignty, he is
pleased to touch their idols ; when he deems it b^st to
VoiA I, 3 C
400 NEW-JERSEY PREACIIEll.
but the wicked are his enemies. The righteous are des-
tined to eternal life, but the wicked to eternal death.—
Hence, it is important that, in this life, we be able clear-
ly to ascertain to which of these classes of persons we
belong, that we may know the destiny which awaits us
in the life to come.
To aid in this enquiry, and to stimulate all carefully
to engage in it, I design, in the sequel of this discourse,
J. To point out some things, which characterize the
wicked. And,
II. To show what is implied in their being ** driven
away in their wickedness."
In the first place, I am to point out some things which
cbaracterize the wicked ; or which distinguish them
from the righteous.
*' The scripture hath concluded all under sin." No
truth is more clearlv demonstrable, from the word of
God, than that every son and daughter of Adam is, by
nature, totally alienated from God, " by wicked works."
And even those, who are the subjects of renewing grace,
have still the remains of sin and corruption dwelling in
them ; for, saith the word of God, " There is not a just
man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not." There
is, therefore, a sense, in which all are wicked. But the
term 7vieked, m the text, is put in opposition to the term
mghteons, and signifies all those, who still remain in their
natural state. Hence, by the wicked we are to under-
stand those who have never been renewed by the Spirit
of God, and consequently are not united to Christ by a
true and living faith. Such persons possess an unsub-
missive temper — a carnal mind, which is " not subject
to the laAV of God, neither indeed can be." Tiiey have
no love for the true character of God, but are supreme-
SAMUEL FISHER. 401
ly devofed to self. Being " after the flesli, they mind
the things of the flesh.'*
Unrenewed persons manifest that they are justly de-
nominated the wicked.
1. By their feelings and conduct towards God.
They may, indeed, imagine that they love God ; bilt
this arises either from self-deception, or from ignorance
of his true character ; for the declaration of God's word
is undoubtedly true, that " the carnal mind is enmity
against God." Carnal men do " not like to retain God
in their knowledge." They may imagine God to be al-
together such an one as themselves, and thus feel pleas-
ed with his character. But let them vicAvthe character
of God, as manifested in his works, and as described in
his holy word ; as the righteous Sovereign of the uni-
verse, as holding the destinies not only of nations, but
likewise of individuals, in his own hands ; as ruling in
the hearts of men, and making one vessel to honor and
another to dishonor, as wisdom dictates, and they will
soon discover that, so far from loving God, their hearts
are full of enmity towards him.
The various dispensations of divine Providence are
well calculated to make sinners acquainted with them-
selves, and to discover the enmity of their hearts towards
God. When the course of events corresponds with the
desires and pursuits of their selfish hearts, they, no
doubt, can acquiesce with cheerfulness. There is no
reason why they should not ; for they pursue, without
interruption, the desires of their hearts. So long as God
suffers sinners to be joined to their idols, they will have
no difficulty in persuading themselves that they love
liiin. But when, in his righteous sovereignty, he is
pleased to touch their idols ; when he deems it best to
VoiA I. S C
40? NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
thwart their plans, and to frustrate their undertakings,
the enmity of their hearts soon makes its appearance.
They murmur against their heavenly parent, and refuse
suhmission to his righteous dealings. The language of
their hearts, if not of their lips, is, that he is an hard
master.
There are various ways in which the wicked manifest
the opposition of their hearts to God. Sometimes they
do it by violating his holy laws ; thereby casting con-
tempt upon his character, as a sin-hating God. Instead
of remembering '• the Sabbath day to keep it holy," they
do not hesitate to profane it, in the pursuit of pleasure
or worldly gain. They profane God's name, and treat
his religion and its ordinances with contempt. Thus,
though in words carnal men may acknowledge God, in
works they deny him.
3. The wicked manifest their true characters, by the
treatment wliich the blessed Saviour, and the glorious
plan of salvation by him, receive at their hands. Won-
derful was that love of God which prompted him to give
the only begotten Son of his bosom to ransom a ruined
world. Infinite was that condescension, in the Son of
God, that led him to become " obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross," that he might open a door for
the pardon of sinners, and their reception to the favour
of God. But notwithstanding this love and condescen-
sion ; notwithstanding (his Son of God is the only Sa-
viour ; yea, the only Mediator between God and man,
by whom we can have access unto the Father, as our re-
conciled God and Judge ; and notwithstanding this com-
passionate Saviour is every day pleading with sinners to
come unto him and live, they turn a deaf ear to his calls,
they refuse to listen to his invitations, and say, by their
%
SAMUEL FISIIER. '^ 483
oonduct, *« We will not have this man to reign over us."
His love, his condescension, his sufferings, have no in-
fluence upon them. They even *' mock the pangs in
which he died." Though, in the view of all holy beings,
Christ is the " chief among ten thousand, and altogether
lovely," yet, in the eyes of the wicked, " he hath no
form noi" comeliness" that they should desire him. O
sinners, do I appear in your eyes as <* one that mock-
eth," when I utter such things ? But where is the evi-
dence of a different temper and conduct ? Jesus, the Sa-
viour, has long been extending the arms of mercy towards
you : have you run to his embrace ? Long has he beefl
pleading with you, in tender accents, to give him your
hearts : have you devoted yourselves to him ? Far oth-
erwise ! You treat with neglect, if not with contempt.
Lis dying injunction, and thereby manifest most clearly,
that you are not of the number of his obedient followers.
*^If ye love me," says he, " keep my commandments."
3. The wicked manifest their true characters, by their
feelings and conduct towards their fellow-men. Though
pride and a regard to personal reputation often operate
as powerful restraints to prevent the outbreakings of
vice, yet, as the wicked are actuated entirely by selfish
motives, they often overleap those barriers, which Prov-
idence places in their way. Hence dishonesty, fraud,
violence, and a desire to deceive and overreach their
neighbours, are striking traits in the character of the
wicked. They are utter strangers to that heavenly max-
im, which ought ever to regulate our intercourse with
our fellow-men. " All things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them." The
breasts of the wicked are the harbor of all those angry
passions, which so often disturb the peace of society.
IbG NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
denly. God bears long Avith sinners many times, that
they may have a space for repentance. But when they
abuse his patience, and persist in their sinful courses, he
is often induced to drive them away in a sudden and aw-
ful manner, witliout a moment's warning. When they
are saying to themselves ♦' peace and safety, then sudden
destruction cometh upon them.'* And we read in the
wcrd of God, " He that being often reproved, hardeneth
lijs neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy."
But what aggravates the banishment of the wicked
most of all, is that they will be driven away in their wick-
edness. This is an awful consideration ; for their sins
will render it utterly impossible for them ever to be ad-
mitted into heaven. If they could but be delivered from
sin, in death, they might hope for a happy immortality.
But being driven away in their wickednesSf they must iii-
cvitably sink down to hell, where all the workers of in-
iquity will be forever banished. How important, then,
O wicked man, to forsake thy sins immediately, before
death overtakes thee ! The same character which you
sustain, when driven away, you will forever possess.
This leads me,
3. To speak more particularly of the circumstances,
connected with the banishment of the wicked.
And here let it be seriously considered, that the wick-
ed, at death, will be driven from all hope of happiness,
either in this life, or in the life to come. As all the
treasures which they have laid up for themselves are
eonUaed to this world, it will, undoubtedly, be hard part-
ing. But part they must. The wicked youth whose
heart has beat high with expectation, who has neglected
his God, au J pursued the phantom of happiness through
SAMUEL FISHER. iOV
all tbe giddy round of youtliful dissipation, though a
thirst for worWly pleasures may entwine itself around
every fibre of his soul, must nevertheless, be torn from
them all, and be dragged like a convicted felon to tii«
judgment seat, and from thence to the place of execu-
tion. The tears of weeping parents will, then, be utter-
ly unavailing ; for notliing can ward off the deadly blow.
The epicure, whose only happiness consists in pam-
pering his bodily appetite, and in pleasing his palate,
will be driven from his rich repast, and the choice vi-
ands which adorned his table will then only serve to ag-
gravate his wo.
The beastly drunkard will be driven from the eup of
intoxication. The inebriating draught will no longer
serve to drown the sorrows of his soul ; but, on the con-
trary, will add fuel to the flames of despair. The miser
will be driven from his hoarded treasures. The de-
bauchee will be driven from the scenes of his impurity.
The gambler will be driven from his midnight revelry.
The profane swearer will be driven away with his very
curses upon his tongue. The aged sinner, even now
bending over the grave, will be driven from the poor
remnant of life to which he still clings, and though an
hundred years old, will die accursed. Sinners of every
description must soon be driven from all that is dear to
them in life. But if this was all, they would be com-
paratively happy. But, all ! no. A dreadful curse aAvaits
them in the world to come. When they leave this world
they must aj)pear before the bar of an angry God, to re-
ceive their final doom. And where, then, must they be
driven ? They must be driven from tlie presence of God,
*• in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right
hand there are pleasures for evermore."' They will be
M8 NEW-JEHSEY PREACHER;
driven from the favor of God, and from the throne of
mercy. Never, never more will the enchanting sound
of mercy's voice salute their ears. This heavenly mes-
senger will bid them an eternal adieu. In this world
they are permitted to associate with God's people, and
to enjoy much good society ; but they will be driven
from all this. Never more will they listen to the ac-
cents of friendship. And all those tender sympathies
which unite together kindred souls will be forever past
and gone. Even the compassionate Saviour, whose soul
is tenderness itself, and who, now, with melting accents
pleads, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest," then, armed with the
sword of justice, will pronounce the dreadful doom—
« Depart ye cursed !'* But O ! where, where must they
depart ? Into happiness ? Into the society of the bless-
ed ? Ah, no ! Into hell ! into everlasting fire ! amongst
devils and damned spirits, for whom this fire was pre-
pared ! " where their worm dieth not, and their fire is
not quenched." Being driven away, in their ivickedness,
they will be completely fitted for hell. They will be
driven from the land of hope, into the regions of ever-
lasting despair. Supported by hope, men will encounter
great difficulties, and undergo severe pain and distress
with fortitude. The blessed martyrs, who laid down
their lives for the religion of Christ, supported by the
hope of soon being present with the Lord, went b>ld1y
to the stake, and endured the flames of martyrdom even
with exultation. But those who are driven away in their
wickedness, will not have one ray of hope to cheer the
gloom of their infernal prison. " Toitured with keen
despair they lie, yet wait for fiercer pain."
SAMUEL FISHER. 409
These are some of the circumstances under which
those must depart who are driven away in their wiclied-
ness.
In view of this solemn subject, who will still venture
to persist in sin ? O, wicked man ! O, wicked woman !
awake from your sinful slumbers ! you stand upon a
precipice — an awful precipice. The fatal gulph yawns
wide to receive you. Seize the kind hand of mercy which
the Saviour extends, or you will soon sink into eternal
despair ; " for the wicked is driven away in his wicked-
ness."
O merciful Saviour, spare the rebels, and make theni
♦he trophies of thy victorious grace ! — ^AMEN.
VoT>. Ij . T, 1>
• M x;
SERMON XXIII.
TRIUMPH OF THE RIGHTEOUS,
ProT. 3QV. 32.
But the righteous hath hope in iiis death.
BY THE REV. SAMUEL FISHES,
Pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation at Morria-Tovin.
NEW-JERSEY PBEAC HEU.
SERMON XXIII.
Prov. xjv. 32. — But the righteous hath hope in his death.
A HE benevolence and compassion of our heavenly Pa-
rent are most illustriously displayed in Lis Loly word. —
The precious truths which are there revealed, if cor-
dially received by our fallen race, are eminently calcu-
lated to promote their temporal and eternal welfare. —
Has the pencil of inspiration drawn a striking portrait of
the natural man ? It is to teach us the horrors of that
state into which we have plunged ourselves by sin. Is
the wonderful plan of salvation, by Jesus Christ, unfold-
ed in the scriptures ? It is to induce men to seek an in-
terest in his atoning sacrifice, that they may become
partakers of that blessedness which he has purchased
for all those who are his disciples indeed. Do the scrip-
tures warn us of the fatal consequence of persisting in
sin ? It is to excite us to break off from sin, by repent-
ance ; and transgression, by turning to the Lord. Do
they speak, in raptures, of that glory which shall be re-
vealed in tbose wbo die in the Lord ? It is to animate
us, by the cheering prospect, to fight manfully the good
fight of faith, that, in the end, we may lay hold on eter-
nal life. To promote this benevolent object, was, un-
doubtedly, the design of the wise man, in the text. In a
concise, though forcible manner, he brings up to our
\iew, in this verse, botJi the righteous and the wicked,
with regard to the prospect before them. To the char-
41^ 3SEW -JERSEY PREACHEK.
acter and destination of the wicked, I have attended in
the preceeding discourse. Pursuing the plan of the wise
man, I propose, now, to speak of the character and pros-
pect of the righteous, that, if possible, some may be ex-
cited to walk in the ways of wisdom^ whose ways are
ways of pleasantness, and all whose paths are peace.
In pursuing the subject, therefore, I propose,
I. To speak of the character of the righteous.
II. Point out the nature and objects of their hopg.
And,
III. Shew the foundation on which their hope rests.
" But the righteous hath hope in his death."
First, then, I am to speak of the character of the
righteous.
Whoever examines with care the sacred scriptures,
>vith a view to become acquainted with the truths which
are there revealed, will undoubtedly perceive a line of
discrimination, distinctly drawn, which divides the whole
human race into two distinct classes. On the one side
are those who remain in their natural state ; while, on
the other, are those who have been born of the Spirit of
God. The latter are termed the righteous ; the former,
•the wicked. By the righteous, therefore, in the text,
we are to understand those who have been renewed ia
the temper of their minds. We are not to suppose, how-
ever, that this renovation of heart, by the Holy Ghost,
takes place on account of any superior goodness perceiv-
able in them before their regeneration ; for we read ia
the word of God, that " it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
By nature the righteous are no better than others. Ia
this respect, " they are all gone out of the way ; they
are together become unprofitable ^ there is none that
SAMUEL WSHfiB. 415
*Ioeth good, no not one." But being united to Christ by
faiih, « as the branch is united to the vine," they are in
this sense identified with him, and are justified on tlie
ground of his righteousness, which is imputed to them.
It is on this ground that they are termed the righteous,
in distinction from those who continue in impenitence.
This distinction is not merely speculative. The holy
principle which is implanted in the renewed soul will
have a practical influence upon the life. Hence the Sa- ii
viour says, concerning his professed disciples, « By their j|
fruits shall ye know them." fl
1. The righteous will discover their true characters ^
by their feelings and conduct towards their heavenly
Parent.
Having had the image of God reinstamped upon their
souls, they will take delight in his holy character. They
will be pleased with every thing revealed of God, either
in his works, or in his word. It will aflTord them the
most exalted satisfaction, to reflect that he is on the
throne of the universe ; and that in righteous sovereign^
ty, he does his pleasure, « in the army of heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the earth." Knowing the pep-
fections of his nature, they will rejoice to be in his hands
and altogether at his disposal. Though, in consequence
of remaining sin, they will find that their resignation is.
not perfect ; yet so far from justifying themselves on
this account, it will be their constant grief that they are
not entirely resigned to the will of God. They will sin-
cerely endeavor to yield obedience to all God's com-
mandments, and to honor him by a careful observance
of those ordinances and institutions which he has enjoin-
ed. They will have no desire that the plan of divine
§«ve.rniacnt should be altered, or the requirements of tht)
4U5 ^^EW-JERSEY PREACIIEn.
law abated. However imperfect their obedience may
be, they can, in heart, unite with the apostle and say,
** The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just,
and good." They can clearly perceive that, were all the
creatures of God to yield a perfect obedience to his laws,
iinmingled felicity would reign throughout the universe.
2. The righteous will manifest their true character
by their treatment of the Saviour.
Having been brought to realize their ruined condition
by nature, they will look to Christ, and to him alone, for
help. They will esteem him to be excellent, the chief
among ten thousands, and altogether lovely. They will
be disposed to receive him, in all his offices, as a Saviour
in every respect suited to their case. Renouncing self-
dependance, they will look to Christ for righteousness
and strength, and on him alone they will depend for ac-
ceptance with God. The plan of salvation made known
in the gospel, will meet with their cordial approbation.
3. That faith which unites the believer to Christ, will
■work " by love, it will purify the heart, and overcome
the world." There is a manifest distinction between the
righteous and wicked, both in principle and conduct. If
we are truly of the number of the righteous, even the
men of the world will be able to take knowledge of us
that we have " been with Jesus." Christ says of his dis-
ciples, that they are not of the world, because he has
chosen them out of the world. Accordingly, they are
exhorted, " Come out from among them, and be ye sep-
arate." And again, « Be not conformed to this world."
It is absurd for persons to pretend to be of the number
of the righteous, while they live in a daily conformity to
the world. God has drawn a line of distinction between
the righteous and the wicked, and this distinction will
SAMUEL FISHER. 417
be manifest in the life. ITcnec the apostle John saith^
« Every man that hath this hope in Iiini, purifieth him-
self, even as he is pure." The holy principle by which
christians are actuated, will Icatl them to " do good un-
to all men," as they have opportunity, " especially unto
them who are of the household of faith." Their bene-
volence and compassion will extend even to their bitter-
est foes. In their daily walk they will endeavor to imi-
tate him, who was "holy, harmless, undefiled and sepa-
rate from sinners." Thus living they will have hope ia
death. Which leads mc, as proposed,
II. To point out the nature and objects of their hope. ;
Hope, in the common acceptation of the word, is defin-
ed to be, " the expectation of future good." It includes
the prospect of deliverance from evil, as well as the fu-
ture possession of positive happiness. Hope has, un-
doubtedly, a most powerful influence upon the whole hu-
man race, whether its foundation be substantial, or not.
It is hope that enables mankind in general, to encounter,
Avith so much alacrity, those various difficulties, which
beset them in their journey through life. In hope of
gain, men are induced to traverse sea and land, and
cheerfully to endure almost every hardship. In hope of
pleasure the sensualist deems no sacrifice too great. In
hope of obtaining that honor, which eoraeth from man,
the aspiring and ambitious will eringe and bow to the
meanest of their fellow worms ; and think it no hard-
ship to be obliged to compass sea and land, if they can
but make one proselyte to thtir interest.
Influenced by the same principles, the warrior endures
labour and fatigiie, and ruslies upon the embattled foe
fearless of de^.lh and unniiiidful of (hat solemn tribunal
before whicli his temerity miiy siulilcnly hapten bim.
Vol. I. o E
418 NEWJERSEY PREACHER.
The people of God, likewise, are greatly influenced hy
hope, in this their state of trial. Supported hy hope,
they are enabled to endure with patience the trials und
afflictions which await them here. But the hope of the
christian is infinitely superior to that of the wicked. It
rests upon a more solid foundation, and aspires to a more
pure and substantial felicity. The hope of the wicked often
ends in confusion and disgrace even in this world ; but if
it does not, it will perish at death. Buf the good man's
hope, is a "hope that maketh not ashamed." It implies
1. The expectation of a full and complete deliverance
from the afflictions of life, and from sin itself, the pa-
rent of them all. "Blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord, yea, saith the Spirit, tliat they maj rest from their
labors.'* Pain and sorrow will forever cease and all
tears will be wiped from their eyes. The hopes of the
wicked will be blasted in death. Their sins still cleaving
to them, their pains and sorrows will not cease to tor-
ment them. But the hopes of the righteous grow strong-
er in death. In this life, they are engaged in a con-
stant struggle between sin and holiness, and they have
no promise that the warfare shall cease till death. But
when that momentous period shall airive, the struggle
will end, their sanctifieation will be complete, and sor-
row and sighing Avill forever flee away. " Sin, their
worst enemy before, shall vex their eyes and ears no
more.'' The very nature of that crown of righteousness,
which the Lord the righteous judge will give them, at
that day, implies perfect freedom fi-om sin.
3. The hope of the righteous, even in death, includes
the full expectation, that their body shall he ransomed
from the power of tlie grave. In tlie resurrection of
Christ, believers have the fullest assurance that they
SAMUEL FISHER, H%
sliall'iiot always sleep. Though their bodies, when the
soul ceases to animate them, must moulder into their
original dust, and continue for a season in a state of se-
paration ; yei not one particle, which is essential to their
identity, will ever be lost, oi* misplaced. He, who is their
Omniscient and Almighty Friend, faithful to his pro-
mise, will continue to «♦ watch over their dust till he
shall bid it rise." The wicked will, indeed, be raised
up, at the last day, as well as the righteous ; but their
resurrection, so far from being an object of hope, will
truly be an object of terror. Saith the prophet, "They
shall come forth to shame, and everlasting contempt."
Yea, the Saviour himself has declared that they shall
come forth *' to the resurrection of damnation." But
as the resurrection of the just is to life and glory, it is
an event of lively hope and earnest expectation. In
view of death, the believer can say: " If our earthly
house of (his tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build--
ing of God, an house not made with bands, eternal in
the heavens." Therefore,
3. The hope of the righteous, in death, includes the
full expectation of eternal blessedness in the world of
glory. The prospect of the wicked, on the borders of
the grave, is awfully gloomy and portentous. ** All is
dark and comfortless." The objects, on which their
Lopes have been placed, they behold vanishing away.
Yea, their hopes themselves are about to expire, and be
succeeded by the blackness of despair. But it is far
otherwise with the righteous. Their soul's anchor being
fastened to that, which is within the vail, abeam of ce-
lestial glory darts across the dark valley of the shadow
■of death and iilumiuates their path. When they enter
^ NEW JERSEY PREACHEi?.
the gate of death, liopc forsakes them not, but proves a
constant and cheering companion, till she is swallowed
up and lost in the full fruition of heaven. Such, my
brethren, is the nature and such are the objects of the
Christianas hope. How important, then, that they be built
upon a stable foundation. Let us then,
III. Enquire into the ground of tliese hopes.
And here let it be observed, in general, that Christ is
the foundation on which the righteous build their hopes.
There is no other foundation on which they can build
with safety. Saith the word of God : " Other founda-
tion can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ." This is a sure foundation on which believers
jnay safely build their hopes of a blessed immortality.
Paul, in his Epistle to the Colossians, speaking of the
privileges of the gospel, which God had revealed to the
saints, says : " To whom God would make known, what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Cientiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
The folly of the wicked is manifested, in their building
their hopes upon a foundation, which will certainly fail.
The very objects, on which their hopes are built, are
«hort-lived and must soon perish ; and consequently
their hopes must perish with them. Therefore, saith
the word of God, " The expectation of the wicked shall
perish." <• Their hope shall be as the giving up of the
Ghost." But the hopes of the righteous, being built
upon Christ, the rock of ages, will never fail. They
have a sure prospect, that their hopes shall be re-
alized. 1. Because they are built upon the merit of
Christ.
The best saints upon earth are, iu themselves, wholly
imworthy of the least favor. On the ground of their
SAMUEL FISHER. *2l
own merit, they could have no hope of ever possessing
those infinite favors, to which they aspire. But their
hope is in Chi'isl. United to him by faith, they have
an interest in his atoning sacrifice. The merit of his
death being inilnite, the foundation of their hope is sure.
By his sufferings and death he has wrought out a perfect
righteousness, which is amply sufficient for all those,
who put their trust in him.
But admitting that Christ is worthy, that the merit
of his death is infinite; that the atonement, which he
has made is all-sufficient ; — yet perhaps it may be ask-
ed : what reason have believers to expect, that they shall
have an interest in that sacrifice ? Which leads me to
observe,
2. The hope of the righteous, that through the
merit of Christ, they shall inherit eternal life, is
grounded on the jiromise of Christ. Many and pre-
cious are the promises which he has made to this ef-
fect. I will direct your attention, my brethren, to a
few of them. Says the compassionate Saviour : •' Come
unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest." Yea, continues he : " Though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as sncw: though
they be red like criuison, they shall be as wool.'* " Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth.'* Therefore, saith the Saviour, " Whosoever
liveth and bclicveth in me shall never die." "And
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life : he that
cometli to me, shall never hunger : and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst." Speaking of the righteous
under the denomination of his sheep, Christ says, " My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me: and I give unto them eternal lifej and they shall never
k^i NEW-JERSEV PREACHER,
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand." And sailh the word of God lo l>clievers : " All
things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,
or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or
things to come : all are yours ; and ye are Ckrisfs, and
Christ is God's. These cheering declarations serve to
confirm the hopes of believers, and to beget in them a
full persuasion that they shall ere long inherit the pro-
mised blessings. But their assurance is made « doubly
sure",
3. From a consideration of the faithfulness of himj
who promises them life. The faithfulness of Christ is
a firm pillar of the christian's hope. He is styled in
scripture the "faithful and true witness;" and such his
church has ever proved him to be. " Hath he said, and
shall he not do it? orhatli he spoken, and shall he not
make it good ?" Paul encourages his Hebrew brethren
to persevere in their profession, from the consideration
that "he is faithful that promised." And says the
same apostle to Timothy : " If we believe not, yet he
abideth faithful ; he cannot deny himself." In the deal-
ings of Divine Providence, these precious declarations
are abundantly confirmed. Though he often visits his
children with the rod, and punishes their transgressions
with stripes ; yet his loving-kindness he will not take
from them ; nor suffer his faithfulness to fail. Thus
we see how firm is the foundation of the good man's
liope. It rests on the merits the iiromise, n,nd faithful-
ness of Christ. With what propriety then might the apos-
tle Peter exhort his suffering brethren to " commit the
keeping of their souls to him', in well doing, as unto a
faithful Creator.-^ Their lives are his constant care ;
and even their death is precious in his sight. There-
SAMUEL FISIffiR. 4^
d^re, ihough tlie " wicked are driven away in their
wickedness;, yet the righteous hath hope in liis death."
From the view which we have now taken of the pre-
-sent and future prospects hoth of the righteous and
wicked, must not every reflecting mind perceive, and
will not every candid person acknowledge, that the con-
dition of the righteous is far preferable in every point of
Tiew, and particularly with regard to the nature anil
gi'ound of their hopes. The hopes of the wicked, as
we have seen, are placed upon objects, which in them-
selves are perishing and must soon fade away. But ad-
mitting that all these worldly hopes could be realized, to
what would they amount? The mind would still be un-
satisfied. What is the condition of that world to which
the wicked look for enjoyment, even in the estimation
of the wicked themselves? I will quote a description of
it, from the pen of an infidel, whose splendid talents
made him an object of envy to many infidels of inferior
note. *' Who can without horror," says Voltaire, " con-
sider the wliole earth as the empire of destruction ? It
abounds in wonders: it abounds in victims ; it is a vast
field of carnage and contagion ! every species is, without
pity, pursued and torn to pieces through the earth, and
air, and water ! In man there is more wretchedness than
in all other animals put together. He smarts continu-
ally under two scourges, which other animals never feelj
anxiety, and listlessness in appetence, which make him
weary of himself. He loves life, and yet he knows that
lie must die. If he enjoys some transient good, for which
he is thankful to heaven, he suffers various evils, and is
at last devoured by worms. This knowledge is his fa-
tal prerogative : other animals have it not. He feels it
every moment rankling and corroding in his breast.
424 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
Yet lie spends the transient moment of his existence, in
diifiising the misery which he suffers ; in cutting the
throats of his fellow-creatures for pay ; in cheating, and
being cheated ; in robbing and being robbed ; in serving,
that be may command ; and in repenting of all that he
does. The bulk of mankind are nothing more than a
crowd of wretches, equally criminal and unfortunate ;
and the globe contains rather carcasses than men. I
tremble, upon a review of this dreadful picture, to find
that it implies a complaint against Providence ; and I
wish that I had never been horn.*^*
If such are the feelings and such the prospect of world-
ly men ; who, in view of it, would not exclaim with Ba-
laam : ♦' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my
last end be like his." Very different is the situation of the
righteous. They have the promise of the life that noio
iSf as well as of that which is to come. But they do,
by no means, expect perfect happiness here. They view
this world, as it was designed, a world of trial ; and as
such they improve it. The scriptures assure them that,
however varied or distressing the circumstances which
attend their journey through life, to those who love God,
all things shall work together for good. Buoyed up by
this precious hope, they are comforted, under the most
trying and distressing scenes. With their eye fixed upon
tlic glory of God, in which they know that all the events
of time will terminate, their breasts are unappalled by
those shafts of adversity, which they are called to en-
counter. So far from being terrified at the thought of
dying, they frequently, even long for the time, when
this mortal shall put on immortality, and death be swal-
lowed up in victory. Why should a christian fear to
* Simpson's plea, pnge 201. Wiatt's Edition.
SAMUEL FISHER. 421-
die ? Moses died — but bis deatb was an immediate pass-
port to glory. Of tbis we are assured ; for, upon tbe
jnouQt of transfiguration, Moses appeared in glory. In
view of tbat glory, wbo would not wish to be like Moses?
But, my brethren, the same glory is the object of every
believer's hope. It is indeed a precious hope ! It is a faith-
ful companion to all the children of God ; for while " the
wicked is driven away in his wickedness, the righteous
hath hope in his death."— AMEN.
ToL. I. 3 F
.0?^, :..:.....
SERMON XXI Y.
WISDOM RESULTING FROM ISUMBESING
OUR DAYS.
Psalra xc. 12,
Sa teaehi us to number our days, that we may apply GUir hearts unto wisdom.
BY THE REV. AlMZI-AIlMSTRO^^G, A. M.
Pastor of die Presbyterian Congregation of Mendhaia.
^'
NEW-JET?SEY PUEACHEH.
SERMON XXIV.
Psabn xc. 12.— So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom.
J^l ONE of us expect to continue here forever. By un-
questionable evidences we have been convinced, even from
our early childhood, that the time Avill come when we
must leave these earthly scenes, and, the number of our
days being run out, we must lie down in death. Nor do
any of us ever indulge the expectation that the period of
our earthly cares and enjoyments will be lengfliened out
to an hundred years to come. Yet how little influence
does this sure conviction usually have upon our thoughts
and purposes.
^ It is an observation of an ancient sage, daily verified,
that " though all men expect to die, and are looking for
a state of existence beyond the grave ; yet they are busy
in providing for this life as though it were never to have
an end, and for the life to come as though it were never
to have its beginning."
We all feel a deep and lively interest in that existence,
and in those intellectual endowments, which God has
given us : and if truly wise, we would make it our es-
pecial care so to order and improve this beginning of our
existence in the present life, as not to be increasing a
load of miseries upon it ; and so that we might seem, to
ourselves at least, to exist for some worthy purpose, and
for some desirable object and end. It was for this, that
Moses addressed unto God his prayer in the Avords of
430 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER,
our text. '^ So tcaoh us to lunnber our days, tbat we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom." The psalm is en-
titled, " A Prayer of Moses, the man of God," and is
supposed to have been composed by him on that awful
occasion, when the oath of God cut off the expectations
of the faithless Israelites in the wilderness, and condemn-
ed them never to entej' the promised land. The life of
man had been gradually shortening since the days of
JVoah, and on this occasion seems to have been reduced
at once to the standard of three score years and ten,
where it has ever since continued. In addition to this,
that whole generation of the children of Israel, except
Joshua and Caleb, were put under the curse of God,
sanctioned by his oath, to end their days in the wilder-
ness within the space of forty years. Some would die
sooner, most of them before that time should expire,
but not one of them should live beyond it. This led
Moses devoutly to pray to God, tbat as the only remedy
left them in their case, he would teach them so to con-
sider the number of their days, and to be warned by the
jbounds God had set to their years, that they should feel
the importance of a diligent improvement of them in the
ways of wisdom, and not be left to waste them in im-
profitable employments, or in unavailing complaints.
We, too, have our bounds set us. The appointment of
God has limited the period of our continuance here ; and
though none of us know how soon we may die, yet we all
know that every passing year takes one from the little
circle of three score and ten, beyond which none of us
can hope for much enjoyment in our worldly pursuits or
pleasures.
In numbering our days, we must therefore count the
few years that lie between us and seventy, as the full
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A. M/ 431
complement of all we may expect. And probably the
greater part of those of us who have not yet attained it,
will never reach that extent of life. But we must expect,
that from year to year, and from month to month, our
miinbers will be lessened, and we must go down sueces-
sivelv to the ecrave.
Shall not these considerations lead us to apply our
hearts unto loistlom 1 I do not, indeed, expect that any
considerations or any means will ever wholly remove
from any of us all our folly or madness on this side the
grave. But surely it might he expected of us as rational
creatures, so solemnly circumstanced as we are in re-
gard to death and eternity, that we should have some
purpose worthy of life, and some object that would make
the continuance of our existence desirable. Nor can we
well answer to our own understanding and judgment,
and much less to our consciences, if we are wearing out
life in any inferior purpose, or wasting day after day of
our existence, without an object or an end.
Let us devote the present hour to a candid seJf-recol'
lection and examination of oursetres on this interesting
concern. Let us sevei'ally recollect the purposes by which
our lives are guided, and the ends for which we live ;
and consider whether they are such as are worthy of
rational and immortal beings, such as we ourselves cau
be satisfied witli.
They who live only for mischief, whose chief purpose
is to distress and troiihle their fellow-creatures, and who
glory in volhUing the 7vorld tvilh their crimes, cannot en-
dure reflection. And they whos<' chief object is the en-
joyment o^ sensual pleasures, often render themselves al-
most as incapable of reflection as the beasts of the field,
^vith wboai they hold an iaigloriou-s competition. I do
432 # NEW-JERSEY PREACIIEPt.
not now address my discourse to such, but only to sober-
miuded people, who mean to live honestly, and wish to
live creditably amongst their fellow-men. Of these there
is at all times a very considerable portion, especially of
those who approach to, or have passed the meridian of
life, who from disappointments, from the straitness of
their circumstances, or from want of a native energy of
mind and disposition, readily give over all ambitious
prospects, anil aim at nothing more than by their daily
cares and labours, with perhaps the assistance of a little
patrimony re«^eivpd by inheritance from those who have
gone before theio. to provide for their daily wants, and,
if they have a family dependent on them, to rear and to
support their family in an honest and creditable way.
As members of society these are useful people j and as
they are honest and industrious, they are worthy of res-
pect. But as intelligent beings, can they be contented
to live for no other purposes than these ? It is a dull and
tedious round of cares, and labours, and anxieties, and
at length they must lie down in death. Is life worth
possessing ? Is their existence endeared to them for
only such purposes as these ? Would it not make even
life itself a hurderif if they knew they were bound to con-
tinue it in such a form and manner forever ? There is
in the human mind a native power of generous, expand-
ing thought, and of noble expectation, that must make
it sick of life, and feel existence itself a burden, if such
must be its only end and object. It is not however my
wish to make such people sick and tired of life ; but to
call their attention to an object and purpose that will
afford scope and employment for their noblest powers of
thought and expectation, and that may call into life that
pulse of immortality, which lies stifled and languid in
AMZI AR:\ISTR0NG, a. St 43S
their breasts. I know the rich and the powerful often
look down with a kind of pity and contempt on sucli peo-
ple, and wonder what can make life desirable to them.
\''et they have as deep and true an interest in that pre-
cious treasure of existence, which God lias given them,
as those who affect to despise them j and to pervert or
waste it, is as great a loss, and must be followed by as
deep misery. Would they apply their hearts to learn
tvisdom — to kno7v and to fear the Lord ; and were their
daily cares and labours relieved by frequent intercourse
with heaven ; did they daily commune with God by
prayer and praises, and by devout meditations in his
word ; and could they feel themselves to be 4he heirs
and expectants of the kingdom of their Father above,
and to be training up those entrusted to their care in the
same hope and expectation, they would then feel that
life is worth possessing — that existence is indeed that
precious blessing which our great and good Creator de-
signed it to be.
There are those of this class of people, and I hope not
a few, whose chief purpose is, amidst all their cares and
labours, to serve and honor their Lord ; whose end and
object is to learn, and to obey his will : and while he in-
spires them with the blessed hope of heaven, through the
sacrifice of the cross, they feel that they possess a treas-
ure in that existence which God has given them, for
which kingdoms and worlds would be a poor and despis-
able exchange. Every year, as it rolls round, brings
them nearer to their rest from their labours, and to the
full commencement of their eternal joys. They number
their days, and applying tiieir hearts to wisdom, they
clieerfully bid them roll on, and bring the wished for liour.
There is another chiss of people who perhaps thijiik
ToL. I. 3 G
434 NEW JERSEY PREACHER.
they can enjoy life without these comforts, and prize ex-
istence without these hopes. With enough in their pos-
session to give vigor to their activity, and afford an oppor-
tunity for their usefulness among men, they are active and
diligent in business, and endeavor to satisfy themselves
with the idea that they are doing well for themselves And
theirs, and filling up their places usefully and honorably
in society, in whatever relates to the present life.
It is true, these are just grounds of self-approbation j
and every reasonable man will enjoy a satisfaction in the
consciousness that he acts his part well in life. But is
this enough to satisfy an immortal mind ? When they
consider that they are endowed with powers and affec-
tions to love supremely the ever good and glorious God,
their Maker and Redeemer, and to be active and useful
in his service ; and that they are capable of being for-
ever happy in a participation of his love and favor, and
of his life-giving presence ; and in the consciousness of
this, hegin to number their days, and consider how little
time remains for them to shew their love and obedience
to God, before their everlasting destinies shall be fixed
by the righteous Judge, can they feel that they arfr
living to any good purpose, and be contented in the idea
that they are doing well for this life only ^ This would
be to reduce themselves to the level of beasts of burden.,
many of whom fill up their places well, and are of real
use and service in the world. But the immortal mind
disdains such degradation ; and whenever it gets relief
from the fatigues and hurry of business, it aspires to
something more noble, and more congenial to its native
powers, and to ils oi'igiual destination. And if it be des-
titute of the feelings of true piety, and a stranger to the
hope of a blessed immortality, it must feel life to be a
burden, and cxiblcncc itself not worth possessing, for the
AMZl ARMSTRONG, A. IVI 4^i
mere purpose orivorldly businesSf which death will soon
interrupt, and lor the enjoyment of a few social pleasures
and endearments, which are liable at any moment to he
finally broken up, and must inevitably soon end forever.
Could these people enjoy a consciousness that they
serve their day and generation according to the will of
God; and did they thus affectionately discharge these
social and relative duties with a pious respect to the di-
vine command, as well as of good will to men, their
course of business and of cares would wear a different
aspect, and seem w orthy of their time and talents. And
did they know what it is to commune with God and with
Christ, and to feed upon the divine promises, and have
the soul enriched with the knowledge of God's revealed
will and purposes, their seasons of retirement and their
hours of leisure would be sweet and precious. And were
their hopes fixed on the heavenly inheritance, they would
then have before them an object and end on which their
minds might rest with a delightfiTl complacency ; and
while every day should be filled up with its duties and its
comforts, they might sincerely rejoice in the progress
of time, and welcome the approach of death.
Lord, " So teach us to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts unto wisdom."
I need not dwell upon the cliaraeter and circumstances
of those whose chief purpose it is to acquire honors and
dlstinclions among men ; or to amass to themselves riches,
and accumulate property for their posterity : for although
a suitable attention to these concerns is not to be con-
demned ; yet when the mind is chiefly confined to such
purposes, and men allow themselves to regard no other
object or end, hut gain or fame, it creates a sordidness
in the soul, that chills every generous thought, and
■frowns upon every noble aspiration, and reduces it to
43fi NEW-JERSEY PREACIUE.R.
that mean and cowardly stale, that either a continual
grudging, or a trembling apprehension and Icar, take?
away all power of enjoyment.
The gay, the rain, the Iiuvuriotis, and the idlCf who
seem to have no higher ohject than to remove themselves
as far as possible from ratiunaliJy, and to prevent anx-
ieties by banishing thought and leiieciion, are with dif-
ficulty persuaded to give any altcnticn to the calls of wis-
dom. But if ever the time come, that they begin seri-
ously to think and ponder on their state, they will find
it to be wretched beyond description.
If there be anoiher class of people deserving a parti-
cular notice in the review of this interesting subject, it
consists perhaps of those, who are chiefly engaged in the
])ursuit of knowledge, and make it the great object and
end of their lives to explore the paths of human science
and to store their minds with those treasures of know-
ledge, which genius and persevering industry can ac-
quire. There is something truly gratifying to the ration-
al mind, in searching out the causes and effects of things,
and investigating the efficacious laws of nature. Nor
is it unworthy of sueli a mind to thirst after a knowledge
of what has been in times past, and what is now trans-
acting on the great tlicatre of the Avorld. But what
purpose is all this learning and knowledge to serve ? Intel-
lectual enioymeiils, it is true, are more congenial to the
nature of the rational mind than any others. But if it
is only a present and temporary enjoyment, that is pro-
cured by all this labor and stndy, how are the immortal
powers of the mind to be ^benefited by all this? Can the
soul of man, with all its coneiousness of being destined
loan everlasting existence, be satisfied with such attain-
ments which are all soon to be blasted, and to perish in
^eatli ? They may boast, as some have done, that by
AMZI ARMSTRONG, A.M. 437
these acquireracnts the mind is fortified against the pow-
er of pain, and the influence of fear. And yet the severity
of acute disease vill often put all their hoasted philoso-
phy to flight ; and the agonies of death, when only heheld
in their effects upon another, have made the wisest of
them stand aghast and tremble. Whatever satisfaction
and support the mind may derive from philosophical
knowledge, in the present state of things^ yet in the com-
parison of the present and the future, God has put such
an immense difference between them, that all the best
attainments of mere philosopliy are but as the small dust
of the balance against the weighty and all-important con-
cerns of that which is to come. Would they bend the
energies of their minds to knowledge Avilh a view of ap-
plying it to the great concerns of that change, which
must take place at death, and make it serve the purpose
of preparing themselves, and helping to prepare others,
for these vast and eternal concerns, their study and la-
bor would then be turned to some good account. And if
they were daily growing in the liiiowledgc of God and of
Christ, this would make life worth possessing. Let them
once begin to number their days, and consider seriously
the shoi'tness and uncertainty of life, and the certainty
and the solemnity of that great change that will take
place at death, and they will soon perceive the vanity
and unprofitableness of all that knowlege, that helps not
to prepare for these great events, and the necessity of
applying their hearts to a truer wisdom, and more en-
during knowledge.
And now, after this review and examination of the
most favourable circumstances in human life, where we
might expect, if any where, to find sources of solid and
durable satisfaction, and just grounds of self-gratulation;
and after finding them all barren and joyless, whenever
458 2{EW-JERSEY PREACHER.
we begin to number our days, and to think seriously of
death and of eternity ,• may we not fairly conclude, that
without religion^ without sentiments of true piety toward
God, and the hope of a lasting interest in his favor, no
situation in life can afford enjoyments worthy the immor-
tal mind, or reconcile the judgment and conscience to a
calm and patient enduring of a life, which has not reli^
gion for its chief purpose and the comforts, the duties,
and the hopes of religion its great object and end. This is
the true wisdom of men. As the scripture has said, "The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : a good un-
derstanding have all they that keep his commandments."
This conclusion is so clear and obvious, that I am per-
suaded it must, at every fair opportunity, commend it-
self to every man's conscience and judgment. And I
liuow not how people, that allow themselves any oppor-
tunity for reflection, can get clear of it as they usually
do : unless it be by that deceitful and insincere proposal
of putting it off, only to some future day, when they will
give it, they think, all the serious consideration it de-
mands. But how unreasonable is this ! For besides the
awful uncertainty there is whether that day will ever
come, and whether, if it should, they would then find
themselves any more disposed to attend to the voice of
wisdom ; is it not most unreasonable and absurd for them
contentedly to abide and w ilfully to persist, even a single
day, in that situation and conduct, which they them-
selves deliberately and unequivocally must condemn as
both dangerous and nmvise ■? It is all evasion and insin-
cerity, by which they contrive to put off the conviction
which numbering their day.'i cannot fail to bring with it,
and endeavor to excuse themselves from applying their
hearts unto wisdom.
AMZr AUMSTRONG, A.M. 4S8
Is it not enough, my friends, that any of you have al-
ready wasted away the third, the half, or perhaps marc of
the full extent of the life of man, and have never yet
pursued any purpose, or set before you any object or end,
that your own judgment or eonseience can approve as
worih living for ? Make an estimate of the days or years,
that you may yet expect to live. You cannot reasonably
calculate on much beyond the appointed three score years
and ten. It is probable that the most of us will never
live to see that period. Some of us may die soon ; eve-
ry year will thin our ranks ; and no one knows but his
turn may come next. So solemnly circumstanced, even can
any of you be contented to spend another year, or even
another day, in that which can yield no lasting profit, or
Solid consolation ? If any can — tuen be warned-—
The holy scriptures condemn us all of apostasy and
pebellion against God, and our consciences are wit-
nesses that the condemnation is just ; and the same
scriptures require us to return to our allegiance, and by
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Je-
sus Christ, to begin, and continue a life of religion in
obedience and piety before him whom angels fear and
archangels worship. Every day therefore that you neg-
lect this, you spend in violation of your duty to God ;
you hold yourselves his enemies, and you reject his sa-
cred authority. Nay more, the scripture has also warned
us, and the oath of God and the blood of Christ make it
Sure to us, that after the short period of probation al-
lowed us in the present life — if, ^vhen death comes, we
be still found among the enemies of God, and the despi-
sersof the cross of Christ, we must then appear before
the dread tribunal of the eternal Judge, to receive the
awful sentence from his lips, and depart under the curse
of kis wrath, into everlasting fire preiiciredfor the de^l
440 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER;
and his angels. This is the appointed wages of sin, and
this the fearful destination of them that forget God.
Oh, apply your hearts without delcuj unto wisdom: all her
ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon
him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return
unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him, and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Let me now address an exhortation to such, as have
ohcijed the voice of wisdom* and have given themselves to
seek and to serve the Lord. If you have done this in
truth and sincerity, it is thus far well. But remember,
you too have your appointed time, and God hath set
bounds also to your days. If it behoves you to shew your
love to God in the world, and to labor for the prosperity
of religion, and for the salvation of your fellow men ;
if you would be well prepared for death, and fitted to
enter on the joys on high ; you have no time to lose —
no days or hours to waste in trijling or unimportant
purposes. The day is spe^iding, and with some of you
lin\vca*\y far spent. The n%/it approaches. And your
Saviour himself said, concerning his work on earth, " I
must work the work of him that sent me while it is day;
the night cometh, wherein no man can work." If you
have any thing yet to accomplish, set about it without
delay ; and do that which thy hand fmdeth to do, with
thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor know-.
ledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.
" So teach us to number our days, that we may apply
our hearts unto wisdom."— AMEN.
SEllMON XXT.
JOY IN liEAAEX OVER A REPENTING
SINNER.
Luke XV. 7.
T say unto yon, that likewise joy sliiill l)c in heaven over one sinner that ve-
pLMiteth, more lh;in over ninety and nine just persons, which need no re-
pentance.
BY TEIE TIY.Y. ENOCH BURT, A. U.
Pastor of llie Preshyterian Congregation of Lamin<jton.
Vot. T. .: 11
NEW- JERSEY PREACHER.
SERMON XXV.
Luke XV. 7. — I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which
need no r^ientence.
JIt is well known that the Puhlieans, and the openly
profane and profligate, were regarded by the self-right-
eous Pharisees with scorn and supercilious contempt.—
These proud and haughty teachers of the law, were so
far from mingling with them, and making them the sub-
jects of tlieir instructions, that they considered him as
polluted, and as having forfeited the benefits of the cov-
enant, who so much as touched them. Unhappy Phari-
see ! and contemptuous Scribe ! why did you never con-
sider that while you were thus pursuing these miserable
men with your contempt and scorn, your anathemas and
thunders, and thus driving them either to despair or to
still greater lengths of impiety, that the spiritual pride
which your conduct betrayed was far more odious and
detestable in the sight of God, and will receive from him
a more fearful punishment, than those very practices
and crimes for which you despised and detested those un-
happy men ? The conduct of the compassionate Saviour
was very different from theirs. He invited Publicans
and sinners into his presence, and tendered to them his
heavenly instructions, that he might thereby turn their
feet from the path of ^struction into the way of life
and peace — that he might make thcin the eternal sub-
jects of those intinite blessings which he came to pur-
Ail Xr.V.'-JTLlloEY PREACjIKT?.
clmse fo2' -tlic'l'.lilef oT plnrfTh-. It -was r,l one of <T?esc
si^asons at wliit-li 1 ' 'Am^ of
men, thu^ '■■•" . ■ iijst
I. ; : i ! ,vith the nuk uadbogan to exclaim, '• Bc-
Iiokl this man, T/lio notwUSsatanUin/^ all his prfelcndcd
sanclitv, tissoelatcs v,\Cii those inraaious eliaractvFs as
Ills favorite co!i!;)rj^io!is. Be!toI<l hini a glotton, a wine-
hibher, a frier.r? of Ptibl leans an . •':."' The bk'sseit!
Saviour, who lost no favoimlrle opponiinity orenligbten-
inf^ tlie tlarkencd mind, by conYejlng divine instruction,
took oceasion, from Ihcir mii!*!anrs, to dclivc!* to them
the parable of tlsc lost sheep, of which {!j{; text is the
conelsisioii — bayjns;, <• Wiial man of you havina; an huii-
drcd sheep, if I: one of them, doth not leave the
jiinely and nine la ibe v»ildei'ncs3, and go after tliat which
5s Josl until he find it : and v.Isca he hnih found it he
lavTih it on his shonidcrs. rr joicin?^' : and when he coni-
cth horjie, he ealieth <o;^'ethci- In-s friends and neighbors,
sajing unto them, rejoice with me, ibr i liave f( uiul (Ijc
Khccp whii'h was Jo's!. I skt unto you likewise, joy shall
be in heaven, over one siunev that rcpevJeth, more than
over ninety and nine jiist peri-'ons wiiich need no rcjJCiiT-
anec."' 'Fhis eoniii(!cration of itself amplv jnstiiled his
conduct in visiting*, nnd in payinj^ special attenlloji to tlie
binful, polluted, anil niisrrable, whilst it invited them
still nearer to liiin, ii-ut clothed his r.ialicious enemies
•\vitli shame. TIec Fame divine ti'uth is uo^Y addi-essed
to us, miserable sinnei-s, invili::;;- us to iv.vr, from our
sins. Jesus is even now sajini^^to us, to persuade onr
I'eijeUions Iiearts, T!:crc f.^joy ii^euceii orer one slnvcr
iJicl irpenleni.
Firal, i sliiill endeavour to illustrate and establish iJiis
precious ti'uth : and.
ENOCTI BURT, A. M. 41:.
Secondhi, consitlcr tlic cfToct it sbould have upon our
lioas'ts ami Jives.
r. Tlicre is iov in lieavon over one sinner that rencnl-
elli. God the cver-hlcssed TvinUn rtjoiee ; tlie iiohj
an,s:ds rejoice ; and the spii'ils of Ihcjv.st made pei-foct,
rejoice. Goil the Faflier rejoiceth in the repen(ancc of
a sinner, lie views him returnins^ from his Viandei*inji;s,
V itii a divine complacency. 'J'o be convinced ol" this,
liskMi to iiis own most gracious declarations, wliich stand
as so nvdny precious invitations to the returninf^ peni-
tent. »' As I Jive, saidi (he Lord God, I Isave no pleas-
ure in tlic dea<h of Iho wicked, but <hal the wicked turn
from Iiis way and live. Tiiin ye, iuvn ye from vrjur-
evil ways ; for v, Iiy \uil ye die, O Jiouse of Israel,''
Ezek. sxxiii. 11. 01; ! that ilicy were wise, that they
understood (his. that they would consider their latter
ond, Ueut. xxxii. "iO. Is the sinceri(y of CJod questioned
in tlicse precious declarations which he halh made, as
so r.ian^' tokoss of his iov in (lie repentance of a sinner?
B'hold then all his acts of love and mercy, sjpeakip.;^ the
same lan.2;uag;e, atid unequivocally attest inj^* his sin:crity.
Iladi h^ not almndantly witnessed it in the unspeaicablo
jj;ift of his only begotten and well beloved Son ?
Say. O sinner, had the Father willed thy dca>h — had
he (aken pleasjiie in thine iri^pcnitcnce, would he have
delivered up the darling' of his bosom, as a sacrifice for
sin? Mad h.e i!Ot dol;;^iite(i in thy reper.Jancc, would he
have devoted his chief delight, and the deliglst of all (he
heavenly hosts, to sue!) unutterable woes as thy Saviour
endured ? Oh, no ! This conduct of God speaks a lan-
guage impossible to be misunderstood and testiOes in the
most afTectijig manner, his joy over the repenting sinner.
446 NEW-JERSEY PREACHER.
Again : had lie not delighted in thy repentance, why
hath he so long lengthened out thy course, and afforded
thee so many precious aids and opportunities to repent ?
Instead of permitting the thread of life to run so long,
Tvhy hath he not cut thee down in the midst of thine im-
penitence and folly, and plunged thee into woe ? Art
thou not a living witness for him, that he delighteth in
m«rcy, and is ready to view with an holy complacency
thy repentance ? Did he not rejoice in the repentance
of a sinner, would he have interposed for thee, when
there was but a step between thee and the grave, whilst
thou wast unprepared to die ; thus saving thee from
sinking suddenly into hell ? Why hath he affoided thee
those kind admonitions — those friendly warnings of thy,
danger ? Why hath he sometimes, through his provi-
dence, by his Spirit, brought thy conscience to a stand,
leading thee to reflect on thy state and on thy future
prospects, and making thee feel for the moment that it
was high time for thee to make thy peace with God ?
Why hath he sent warning after warning, and call after
call, unless he had rejoiced in the repentance of a sin-
ner ? Yes, sinner, these are so many indubitable proofs
that God delighteth in mercy, and rejoiceth over the re-
turning penitent. They are so many pledges that he
indeed stands with open arms, to receive the returning
prodigal ; nay, that upon his return he will even hasten
to meet him.
What a powerful motive is this, to excite to repent-
ance ? God is not only exhibting to us, his readiness to
receive the penitent offender, but is also pleased to man-
ifest a peculiar joy at liis return.
God the Son, rejoiceth in the repentance of a sinner.
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 447
If not, why so many expostulations, and entreaties,
and wliy those lamentations which he uttered over those
that were about to be destroyed ? Wlio can hear his la-
mentation over Jerusalem, when he saw the hour of her
awful visitation near at hand, and doubt for a moment,
whether he rejoieeth over the returning penitent ? " O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! thou that killest the prophets and
stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together as a hen dotli gather
her brood under her wings, and ye would not," Luke
XV. 34. Who can behold him at the descent of Mount
Olivet, amid (he acclamations of the multitude, weeping
over this self-ruined and devoted ci(y — and hear Lim
venting the compassions of his heart, in abrupt senten-
ces, broken as it were by the rising of holy grief — *' If
thou hadst knoivn, even thou — at least in this thy day'—
the things which belong to thy peace ! — But now — they
are hid from thine eyes^^' Luke xix. 42 : I say, who can
witness in the Son of God, these tears and words of com-
passion and grief over the perishing, and doubt at the
same time whether or not he would rejoice over the re-
turning sinner ?
Unless it be to him matter of joy, what mean all his
gracious invitations ? « Come unto me all ye that la-
bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt.
xi. 28. He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,
John vi. 37. Ho, every one that thristeth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy,
and eat, yea come buy wine, and milk witliout money
and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread, and your labour fur that which
satisfieth not ; hearken diligently un(o me, and eat ye
that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fat-
«S NLWJERSEY PliEACHEll.
ncss. Incline your ear and come unto me, hear aiul your
soul shall live," Isa. Iv. 1 — 3. The Spirit and llie bride say
come, and let him that hearcth, say come, and let him
that is aihirst, come, and >v!)osocvcr -ivill let him come,
and take (lie Avater of life frceJy, Thcs. xxii. 17. What
more, O sinner, could the Saviour say to convince thee
l!iat lie would indeed rejoice in tlty repentance. But he
not only testifies to tliis, by all those gracious words
Avhich proceed from [lis lips, but also by all his conduct,
which witli the most convincing and persuasive elo-
jjueuce has been from the beginning, and is still pro-
claiming the same truth. Was it not to invite sinners
to repentance, that he left the iiumsions of glory, the
heaven of heavens, the bosom of the Father ? Behold
liim on this gracious errand, leaving the eternal throne,
laying aside his radiant crown, and royal robes, and de-
scending in haste, tijrough all the shining ranks, of che-
i'ubim and seraphius, and angelic orders, to make his
appearance on earth, in a stable at Bethlehem ! Again
behold liiitu who by Iris wisdom and power, had formed
the worlds, Ileb. i. 2, and arched the hnavens, and laid
the founiiations of the earth in the empty air, Isa. xliv. 24,
Zech. xii 1 ; learning tlie carpenter's art of one of his
creatures, and toiling at the laborious ocenpatlon, Mark
vi. 3; and then say, whether the. Son of God, who thus
luuiibled himself, to prepare the way for tliy repentance,
will not rejoice in iUy penitential teai's. Behold him, in
wliom heaven deliglited, whom angels adored, and who
juovcd ar.iidst tlicir shining ranks, condescending to min-
gle wifli the poor, tlie afflicted, tlic polluted ciiildreu of
n»en, that he might instruct, and bring tljem to repent-
ance ; and say, will he not rejoice, when the sinner, con-
vinced of his folly and ingraiitude, yields to his euirea-
ENOCH BURT, A. ]M. 449
ties, iand with penitential sorrow supplicates his mercy ?
See this Lord of glory, this King of angels, suhuiitting
to the reproach, the contumely, the persecution of worms
of the dust, when he could in an instant have slopped their
impious hreath, and ascended glorious in justice to
his native heaven, and eternal throne; and all this, that
the sinner might be entitled to repentance, with the
assurance of receiving pardon, and eternal life ; and will
he not now look down with a peculiar complacency on
the returning sinner, and rejoice over his repentance 2
And finally, can it be possible that after the bloody sweat
of Gethsemane, and the agonies of the cross, we can
doubt whether the Saviour will rejoice in the repentance
of a sinner? It was this to which he looked forward
when he endured those dreadful sufferings, and will he
not rejoice in their fruit ? Was it not that the sinner,
who deserved to die eternally, might be saved from
wrath through him, and God glorified in his justification,
that he poured out his soul unto death, and will he not
rejoice when he sees the waters of repentance flowing—
when he perceives the heart humble, broken, and contritCf
and ready to receive his rich grace ? Yes, my brethren,
the Saviour indeed rejoices in the repentance of a sinner j
for in it, he sees a part of the fruit of the travail of his
soul; in it he beholds the increase and prosperity of
that church, and kingdom, which he purchased with, and
founded in, his blood ; whose interest ever lies near his
heart. Every returning penitent is a new trophy of
his grace, and star in his crown of victory ; and in this
new accession to his empire, and his spiritual glory, he
cannot fail to rejoice. He sees in it the eternal promise
of the Father fulfilling, the complete measure of which
in prospect eneonraged him in all his labors, his toils,
VoT-. I. 31
4^0 JsEWJERSBY PREACHER.
and conflicts, in his agonies in the garden and his tor-'
tares on the cross. This was no inconsiderable part of
the hope, and the glory, which was set hefore him, in
view of which he endured the cross, despising the shame,
and he is now waiting on his throne for its full accom-
plishment, Heb. xii. 2. Can he fail to rejoice, then, in
that, which is thus fulfilling, the important design
of his advent, his toils, his sufferings ? Impossible !
Sinner, whoever thou art, be assured that thy repent-
ance will create joy in the presence of the Divine Re-
deemer. And dost thou find in this no motive to repent-
ance ? Hast thou not sufficiently afflicted, wounded, and
pierced him, by thy sins, to be willing now to cause him
to rejoice over thy repentance ? Did he once weep and
sink in floods of sorrow, that thou mightest eternally re-
joice, and will thou not now create joy in his presence, by
weeping and mourning for thy sins, which thus over-
whelmed him with afliiction ? Say, shall such a motive
be addressed to thee in vain?
But again, there is not only joy in the presence of God
the Father, and of God the Son, over the repenting sin-
ner ; but tlie Holy Ghost also^ rejoiceth in his return.
This is manifest from the important and benevolent
part which he performs in the mystery of redemption,
and from the lively interest which he takes therein. Is
it not his gracious office to enlighten the darkened mind,
and impart conviction to the thoughtless sinner ? Is it
not by him, that the hard and obdurate heart is made to
relent, and from this flinty rock the waters of godly
sorrow, made to flow ? And will he not then rejoice in his
own vvot'k ? Will he not take pleasure in the lasting effects-
of his gracious influences ?
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 45J
Did he not rejoice in the repentance of the sinner, why
dofh he so long wait upon him wi(h his heavcnl\ influ-
ences ? Why dotli he follow him, though continually re-
sisted, and provoked, week after week, month after
month, and year after year ? Why doth he so often pre-
sent his kind solicitations, and his faithful warnings ?
Why dotli he not in just anger give up the sinner speed-
ily, to his own chosen way, to sleep securely in his wick-
edness until awakened by the flames of wo ? Is it not
because he rcjoieeth not in his death, but in his repent^
anoe and salvation.
Have not some of us, my brethren, been the subjects
of these reiterated admonitions ? Have we not been fol-
lowed by him, through all the mazes of our folly, and
forgetfulness, and in spite of all our ungrateful resist-
ance ? Hath he not at times, almost persuaded us to
break off our sins by righteousness, and our iniquities
by turning to the Lord ? Hath he not at times, almost
melted our frozen hearts, by turning our thoughts to a
Saviour's dying love, and the manifold mercies of our
God ? Or made them quake and tremble at the voice
of the infinite justice, and holy indignation of a sin aveng-
ing God ? And when these kind monitions, and faithful
warnings have been stifled, and resisted by us, has he
not in compassion repeated them again, and again, and
perhaps even at this moment, is whispering to our con-
sciences ? Why then all this persevering labor of the
Holy Ghost, unless he rejoieeth in the return of the
sinner, and views with an holy complacency, his repent-
ance. Where not tliis the case, would not his patience
long since have been exhausted, and we left in awful
stupidity, no more to think of the joys of heaven, or the
452 NEW-JCRSEY PREACHER.
miseries of liell, until we had lost eternally the former,
and plunged into the latter?
Can we require further evidence of the truth that the
Holy Ghost rejoiceth over one sinner that repenteth I
And shall that be a matter of no concern to us, which
thus givethjoyin the presence of the holy and ever-
blessed Trinity ! To what adamantine hardness must
sin have reduced that heart, which can resist a motive
to repentance, such as this. But there is joy in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth, not only in the presence
of the eternal Godhead, but also, in the jn'esence oj his
holy angels. All the angelic legions are filled with joy,
when the sinner by sincere repentance escapes the toils
of Satan, bursts tlie chains of the prince of darkness,
and becomes the willing subject of the King of Zion^
their adorable sovereign.
With Avhat holy pleasure did they fly from heaven to
earth, to announce the glad tidings of the Saviour's birth I
AVith what extacy did they raise their immortal voices in
the heavenly anthem, glory to God in the highest, peace
on earth, and good will toward men !
If such was their exceeding joy in view of that which
was to open the way of salvation, and invite the sinner
to repentance, and forgiveness ; what must be their joy
when they behold him leaving his sins ; shaking off the
yoke of satan, and flying to the blood and merits of his
Kedeemer, for cleansing, and forgiveness ! Yes ! they
exclaim, with love and joy, another captive soul has es-
caped as a bird from tlie hand of the fowler, satan hath
lost another subject, in spite of all his malicious devi-
ces ! Behold him, already encircled in the arms of the
everlasting covenant, and beginning to taste its saving
Wessings ! Bcliold him, safe from the power of all hh
ENOCH BURT, A. M. 45^
spiritual foes, and from the dominion of his own corrup-
tions ! Bchohl him, embraced by the hand of omnipo-
tent grace, from which neither earth nor hell, shall be
able to pluck him ! Behold him, a few moments since,
a child of wrath, a captive of satan, lost to hope, lost
to heaven, and lost to God ; now a child of God, a joint
heir with Christ, to an heavenly inheritance, who will
soon walk Ihe golden streets of the new Jerusalem.
Yes, with an holy excess of joy, these exalted spirits
contemplate the poor prodigal, coming to himself, and
saying, <* I will arise and go to my father, and say to
him, father, I have sinned against heaven, and before
thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son."
Sent forth by the Lord of glory, to minister to those
who shall be heirs of salvation, Ileb. i. 14, they feel
the most lively interest in the success of those precious
means and ordinances, established in the church below,
for the training up of subjects for the cliurch triumphant;
and whilst they drop the tear of pity over the poor, infat-
uated creature, who manifests no more concern for the
life of his soul, than for the reptile which he treads un-
der his feet, their countenances brighten >vi(h joy.
Avhen they behold the beginnings of an unfeigned sorrow
for sin, and an anxious concern to be delivered from it.
With an holy anxiety tliey wait to see the issue of those
faint emotions, which the sinner discovers, whilst the
blessings of <he everlasting gospol, and the Saviour,
with all his infinite fulness, is tendered to him. ^i'hey
"watch to see what effect a Savioui "s love seems to have
upon the hitherto impenitent, and unfeeling heart ; or
with Avhat sentiments it seems to hear the terrors of the
law proclaimed. Interesting tlioughf ! Perhaps at this
very moment some of those holy spirits are hovering
4H IS:EW JERSEY PREACHER-
around us, whilst a gracious God is inviting us, by his
word, to turn to him from our transgressions. Nay,
more than a pcr/toj^.s, undouhtedly many of them, assem-
ble Avith us in the house of God, to be spectators of our
worship and our conduct, as far as created spirits are
able, discovering the manner and degree in which our
minds are afiTected, 1 Cor. xi. 10. Yes, sinner, they are
now waiting that they may liave the unspeakable joy of
bearing to their holy society above, the blessed news of thy
repentance. O ! could they but see thee now, manifest-
ing a heart humbled at the foot of the cross, relenting
for thy sins, and sighing after thy Saviour, whilst at the
game time informed by him, from whom they come forth
to minister, that thy repentance was sincere, of which,
on the event, they would soon receive infallible intelli-
gence.* How w ould they with triumphant joy stretch
tlieir wings, and mount the skies, that the ten thousand
times ten thousand, might share in their joy over thy re-
pentance ! How long, O sinner, shall they thus wait, be-
fore they be permitted to fly with the joyful tidings !
Tliink not that this is merely ideal. Have we never read
the vision of Jacob's ladder, w hich extended from earth
to heaven, and on which the angels of God were contin-
ually botli ascending and descending. Gen. xxviii. 12.
Had tills vision tlien, no meaning ? or was it, indeed, de-
signed to instruct us, as well as the Patriarch of old ?
Uaquestionably it was ; and this no doubt is its true lan-
guage, That Uirough Christ Jesus, communion, and in-
* It is not supposablc that any created spirit can of itself discern intuitively
the arts of anollier, but since angels are sent forth by Christ to minister to
those who shall be heirs of salvation, Ileb. i. U, and since they rejoice over
one sinner tliat rcpentetb, Luke xv. 10, may we not believe that tliis Siibject-
matter of their joy is mmt'diateltj communicated to them.
ENOCH B URT, A. M. Aar^
Tercbnrse, is opened between heaven and carlh, and tliat the
angelic hosts, who wait the orders of tlieir king, and
minister to his church on earth, are continually, in the
execution of this delightful ofRce, passing, and repassing,
from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven, John
i. 61 — and saith the Saviour himself. There is joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth, Luke xv. 10.
Yes. They rejoice indeed in the repentance of a sin-
ner. For they now view him as a future memher of
their immortal society, already partaking in a measure
of their spirit, soon to be admitted to their endless feli-
city.
They rejoice in the repentance of a sinner. For they
see therein the advancement of that glorious kingdom,
for the increase and prosperity of which, they minister
with an holy pleasure, and unwearied assiduity.— And
they look forward, to its increasing splendor, until it
shall reach the exalted summit of its glory. They re-
joice in the repentance of a sinner, for in it they behold
new victories won by their adorable sovereign, whom
they oqce attended, and strengthiened, in the garden, and
around whose cross they hovered with astonishment, and
wonder, when he paid the infinite ransom, for the peni-
tent sinner, and laid in his blood the broad foundation
of his kingdom and glory. They rejoice in the repent-
ance of a sinner ,• for in it they behold, not only the mys-
tery of grace, more and more unfolded but also, the
glory of God the ever-blessed Trinity advanced, and his
infinite grace exalted.
And say, O sinner ! whilst angels lament over thine im-
penitence ; whilst they stand ready to rejoice over thj
repentance .; canst thou thyself remain indifforcnt, aod
■iSfi " NEW-JEESEY PREACHER.
stupid ? Once more, there is joy in heaven over one sin-
ner that repenteth, in the presence of the spirils of the
just made perfect, amidst the church triumphant. Once,
themselves, the vassals of sa(an, held by him in cruel
bondage, but long since rescued from his power, by the
all-conquering grace of their Saviour, with what holy
pleasure must the joyful tidings be received by them, of
another heir of glory born ; of a brother or a sister in the
human family, from a child of satan, being recently
made a child of God. Whilst on earth, their souls de-
lighted to witness new conquests of their Saviour's
grace, to see the boundaries of his church extending, and
her spiritual glory continually increasing. With what
sublimer joy then will their hearts exult, in the heaven-
ly glory, at hearing of these fresh conquests of divine
grace, over sin and satan ! If when on earth, when
they could know only in part, the awful state of the sin-
ner, out of Christ, or the inconceivable felicity, and
glory of the sons of God, they were filled with joy at
the thought of one soul escaping from spiritual death,
and the thick shades of death eternal, into the embraces
of the Lord of life, and the light and glory of his
kingdom; Avith what an extaey of joy will they now,
knowing by sweet and constant experience, how to esti-
mate the inheritance of the saints in light, hear the glad
tidings of a new heir, just born of the Spirit of God, to
possess it with them ; and whose happy arrival at the
gates of the new Jerusalem, they already anticipate. IT
the hopeful conversion of friends, dear to them as their
own soul, of children bound to their heart by ten thou-
sand ties, filled their soul when on earth with a joy
the tongue could scarcely uf ter ; \vi(j» what transport,
must a glorified immortal hear of, and perhaps witness.
ENOCH BURT, A. Af. 43?
that friend, whom at his departure IVom tlie flesh he
lefl behind, impenitent, and under condemnation, turn-
ing to God, hy sincere repentance, and about to receive
the tokens of his love.
Perhaps, the hour of his dissohition, though bringing
with it, to his own soul, the lively hope of glory, was
nevertheless, imbittered by the thought, that this friend
whom he was about to leave, he should never see again^
but at an awful distance, at the left hand of his judge ;
perhaps, the last look, was a look of painful, ofjinal
adieu.
Who then but a glorified immortal can conceive, with
what joy he will be iiUed, at the tidings, or sight, of
such an one, returning to God, through sincere repent-
ance, and secured in the arms of everlasting love ?
With what divine rapture will he anticipate the houlr>
approaching, when they shall meet on Mount Zion above,
eternally to recount together, with ceaseless joy, the
wonders of redeeming love.
How many parents, now in glory, closed their eyes oii
this state of probation, in painful anxiety for those
children whom they left behind, thoughtless and impen^
itent, exposed to all the temptations of a seducing
Avorld, and in imminent danger of being thereby eternally
lost ! Whilst with them in the flesh, how earnestly diti
they seek to God, for his grace to soften their hearts,
and save their souls ; but still, in the hour of death,
were constrained to leave them in the hands of a merci-
ful God, without having received, from him, one com-
forting evidence that their supplications for them were
heard, and fearing, lest they should never behold them
iu the society of the redeemed. O ! who can conceive,
then, with what emotions, they shall hear of, and, for
Vol. I. 3 K
AH NZW-JERSEY PREACHER.
aught they know, witness the answer of all their pray-
ers, in the sincere repentance, ^nd conversion of llieir
children, and with what unknown pleasure they look for-
ward to the happy moment, when they shall again re-
ceive them, not to a temporary, but an eternal embrace,
in a world, which sin and death can Eever enter.
Surviving friends, yet in the gall of bitterness and under
the bonds of iniquity, whose departed companions have
gone to the mansions of bliss, and are now rejoicing in
the paradiseof God, with what tenderness and force does
this reflection address you ? Think not that because death
hath removed them from your sight, and their Saviour
received them to his glory, that they must necessarily,
on that account, live wholly unmindful of you. True,
they are no longer the subjects of pain and sorrow, but
holy compassion still dwells in their breasts ; and if this
i^rould draw tears from the hlessed, they would drop
them over you, while they hear not of your repentance,
and return to God. Perhaps they are sometimes per-
mitted by God to be spectators of your conduct, when
employed by him, as ministering spirits; and that glori-
fied immortals are sometimes thus employed, as well as
angelic natures, the scriptures seem to intimate,* Rev.
xix. 10, and xxii. 9.
Can you think of it but with tenderness, and concern :
How often did they exhort you ! how often did they pray
* I see no good reason for concluding that this messenger must necessarily
have been of an angelic nature ; he calls himself, not only afello-w sevTant,
■which an angelic nature might in truth do, but he adds, *' I am of thy brethren,
the prophets," by wliich he sec ins to claim a kindred nature to the apostle,
as well as a relation to him in office. If it be objected, that it is contrary to
the laws of the spiritual w orld, that dci)arted saints should revisit the earth,
is not this fully refuted, by the real appearance of JMoses and Elias Ott
the Mount ? Matt. xvii. S, and that of Saimiel, to Saul, I Sam. xxTiii. 12 — 2ft
ENOCH BURT, A. M. . 453
for you, while together on the earth, that you might,
with them, be led to walk in the fear and love of God
below, that so you might, with them, walk the streets of
the new Jerusalem ! And now, they are there ! waiting to
hear of your Iiaving entered the path, which leadeth
thither. They are ready to rejoice over you, whilst ad-
vancing towards them, and with exultation to anticipate
the joyful moment of meeting in the paradise of God.
And can you remain unaffected, at a consideration like
this? But the spirits of the just made perfect, not only
thus rejoice over thej'cpentance of a sinner, once united to
them by tender and endearing ties, but also, over eve-
ry returning cliild of Adam.
It is the spirit of the gospel to embrace, in the arms
of universal benevolence and charity, all mankind. In
heaven, this spirit is perfected, in every member of the
church triumphant. Oh ! how different in this respect
is that holy society, from the corrupted society of earth.
In that blessed world the joy of one, is the joy of all ;
and all, with one voice, exult at the tidings, that anoth-
er soul is born to God, wlicther in the East, or the West,
in the North, or the South.
From every quarter under heaven is the church trium-
phant collected, and though on earth its members be
distinguished by country, by language, by name, by cli-
mate, by colour; in heaven they are all one, and with
one heart, and voice, they rejoice in tlie view of every
new accession to their holy community. Impenitent
sinner, whoever thou art, wilt thou not permit this bless-
ed society to rejoice over thee, by sincerely repenting of
thy sins, and turning unto God, and thus becoming an
heir of their glory, and a future member of their im-
mortal society ?
460 NE^V-JBRSEY PREACHER.
Once more, there is joy in the assembly of tlie just
made perfect in the heavens, over one sinner that repent-
eth, inasmuch as they rejoice above all things, in the
increasing glory and exaltation of their adorable Re-
deemer. And in every returnine: sinner the> behold his
glory advanced, the riches of his grace magnified, and
his most worthy name, as King of Zion, celebrated by all
the heavenly hosts, in higher strains. >Vhilst on earth,
they regarded him indeed as the chief among ten thou-
sands and altogether lovely and deserving ; but oh ! it was
only the shadow of his beauty and glory which they there
beheld. Now, standing in his presence, and his lovely
face unveiled to their immortal eyes ; admitted now to
know, even as they are known, and to see, even as they
are also seen, 1 Cor. xiii. 12, their ravished souls re-
,ioiee to see him crowned with all possible glory ; and
new tongues, loosed on earth, to speak his j)raise in the
church militant, and preparing to celebrate it, in more
exalted strains in the church triumphant. Thus is there
abundant joy in heaven over one sinner that repentethj
joy in the presence of God, of his holy angels, and of
all the spirits of the just made perfect. Though it be
an event which the world deems scarcely worthy of its
notice, it is one which fills all hearken with joy, and
strikes anew all the golden harps of paradise.
What effect should this truth have on our hearts and
lives'^ Sinner, what effect should it have upon thee?
^vliat. but to arouse thee from thy fatal lethargy, and
excite thee, without delay, to break off all thy sins by
repentance. Think for a moment where tjjou standesf,
an object of concern to God, angels, and devils, who
all view thee, with a deep interest ; and canst thou sfill
remain unconcerned thyself? Art thou npt amazed at
ENOCH BURT, A. M. «l
thy own stupidity? Didst thou ever imaj^ine that thou,
a worm of the dust, wast of so much consequence, as to
be viewed with such interest, \>y txvo vast worlds, IJca-
vetif and HtlL Ah ! it is because thou art immortal.
It is because thou hast a sonU which can never cease to
live, and is of more value than ten thousand worlds.
God, and angels, behold thee with compassion, and
stretch toward thee the hand of mercy, whilst thou art
ready to sink down to flames. Devils are strivinj; to
sieze thee, as their lawful prey, and bear thee to the
blackness of darkness, and are as yet for a moment re-
sisted only by the out-stretched arm of grace ! O sin-
ner, thou art indeed condemned already, but mercy even
yet extends to thee her golden sceptre, and all heaven is
ready to rejoice over thee, at thy rising and embracing
it. Seize then the precious moment, on which perhaps
thine everlasting all depends : cast thy soul at tlie feet
of the long neglected, but compassionate Saviour, im-
ploring from him the grace of repentance, and his pardon-
ing mercy : lest having called and intrcated in vain he
suddenly rouse his wrath to flame, and permit hell to
triumph in tliy destruction !
Fearful, trembling, desponding soul. Is there joy in
heaven over one sinner tliat repenteth ? Astonisliing, de-
lightful tliought! let it calm your fears, let i( raise
your hope, and encourage your approach to the Saviour.
He is exalted to be a prince and a Saviour, to give re-
pentance, and remission of sins. He rejoicetlt to be-
stow these immortal blessings on the meanest, and most
unworthy child of Adam, who falls at his feet, lament-
ing his sins: for this purpose he entered our world, suf-
fered and died, and rose again, and ascended on high.
Go to him, then, however great your sins or peculiar
-tfe: :n^ewjersey preacher.
their aggravations. Pour out your heart before him,
and he assured you shall obtain your suit. I am war-
I'anteil to assure you, on the best of authorities, even
tliat of hiinseir, that so far from rejecting you, he will
even rejoice over yon; nay, thst your return to him, as the
gi-eat shepherd^ and bishop of sowls, will I>e hailed with
joij hii all the heavenly hosts. However mean, and des-
picable you may appear to yourself, though feeling un-
w orthy the notice of any of his creatures, yet this very
hrokenness of heart, and contrition of spirit, wrought in
your soul by the agency of his spirit, and the love of
Christ, he will view with an holy complacency ; nay, he
doth already thus regard it, and all heaven rejoices over
i(. Come then to Jesus; dismiss your desponding fears,
and rejoice also in God your Saviour. Is there joy in heav-
en over one sinner that repenteth ? Christians, what effect
should the thought have upon you'^ Must it not stir you to
an holy diligence, and activity in works of piety ? Must it
not inspire you with an holy circumspection, and watch-
fulness over your hearts and lives ? Must it not constrain
you continually, to whatever has a tendency to impress
the thoughtless mind, and to lead the convinced sinner
to true repentance? Must it not sacredly guard you
against whatever would lead others to security in sin, or
tend to harden the impenitent ? Remember, christians,
you are by divine grace, and your holy profession, plac-
ed on an eminence, for this very purpose, that an unholy
world may behold you and by the light which you reflect,
be led to repentance, and to glorify your Father in heav^
en ; and in promoting this, will you not take a lively in-
terest ? Do you possess the spirit of Christ ? Do the tem-
per, and aiTections of iieaven, dwell in your breasts ? Must
\'0U not rejoice, then, in forwarding that, which raises
ENOCH BURT, A. JH. ^6S
still higher the unspeakable joys of all the holy inhab-
itants of heaven ? Whilst God is proclaiming his love, in
the unspeakable gift of his Son ; whilst Jesus the Son, is
showing all his bowels of compassion; whilst the eter-
nal Spirit is wooing by his sacred influences ; whilst an-
gels are ministering ; whilsr all heaven, with one voice,
is calling on the sinner to repent — will you not also be-
come co-workers, and by your every act, call u{>on the
sinner, to come, and taste that the Lord is gracious ? that
your soul may rejoice, and heaven resound again with
alleluia to the dying, risen, and glorified Redeemer, for
another conquest of his grace. O christians ,' where is
there a work, in which your heart and hands can engage
equal in dignity, importance and value to this ?
There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.
What a rejlection is this, for its, who are ministers of
Christ! Let it ever dwell within us, through all our la-
bors ; amidst the trials, the difficulties, and discourage-
ments which attend them, let the remembrance of this,
refresh our spirits, and renew our activity, and zeal.
If all heaven rejoices over one sinner that repenteth,
can our ministry be accounted lost, and our labour vain,
should the whole fruit of it be the saving conversion of
a single soul ^ No ! since for that soul Jesus died, and
over it he rejoices, with all his holy angels.
Shall we remit our labours, because iniquity abounds,
and the world reproaches ? Shall we be led to suit our
instructions to the corrupt taste of the world ? Shall we
confine them to places, and persons, which the world
account honorable ? Shall we be prevented from, vis-
iting, with the messages of grace, the obscure cottage,
the poor African, and the chief of sinners, whom a
self-approving world despise, because proud pharisee*
464 NEW-JERSEY PREACHEK.
account it disgrace, and reproach us for It, as the com-
panions of the low, the degraded, the polhited ? No !
for to such Jesus himself went, notwithstanding these
reproaches ; he spake to them words of mercy, because
they were sinners. — Let us go, and do likewise — answer-
ing every reproach, in the words with which he silenced
his revilers, saying, there isjoif in heaven, over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just per-
sons, xvhich need no repentance. Yes ! since for sinners Je-
sus died — since he seeks them still — since over their
repentance He, with his Father, and tiie Eternal Spirit,
Avith all the hohj angels, and the church triumphant, ^re-
joice, 7ve vnll rejoice also ; and follow his example, with
unremitted zeal, and self-humiliation, seeking to find
them out, and by the preaching of the cross, and love of
Christ, to bring them back to God, through sincere re-
pentance.
Blessed Jesus ! fill us with thy Spirit— make us faith-
ful unto death, and successful in our labors— that, having
through thy grace turned many unto righteousness, we
may through grace, shine forth as the firmament, and
as the stars, forever in the kingdom of our Father.
AMEN.
INTJ OF THE TIKST TOLUME,
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
This book is under no circumstances to be
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