Sermons on various subjects

THE

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

PRESENTED BY

?elig.ioua__S.oflie_ty._Qf_ friends
17 Jan. 1917

SERMONS

ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS;

BY

THE REVEREND JOHN CLOWES, A. M.

SECTOR OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, MANCHESTER, AND LATB FELLOE
OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

NEW-YORK

PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS,

AND SOLD BY

GALLAUDET AND WELLS, NO. 163 WATER-STREET;
T. & W. Merceio, printers, 93 Gold-street,

1815,

ji

KOTE? BY THE EDITORS.

THE editors of this little volume feel as if
they could do nothing more likely to promote
the cause of Christianity, or true vital piety,
than to lay before the public the following Dis-
courses. It seemed a matter of serious regret,
that so rich a treasure of heavenly things, in
which every true disciple of Jesus may find in-
struction worthy his attention, should not be
appropriated to general use. These Discourses
cannot have a higher recommendation than their
own intrinsic merits. To praise them simply,
would not be doing them justice ; for, in general,
whether the style or subject matter be taken
into consideration, every candid critic will al-
low, that they must have been the efforts of a
Christian and a scholar, of no common attain-
ments. In the arrangement of the subject, they
are clear and simple : in the exposition of the
text, luminous beyond example. Passing by
points of doctrine, they aim at nothing but to
inculcate pure and vital religion ; and this is

IV NOTE, BY THE EDITORS.

enforced with such a peculiar energy and beau-
ty, as cannot fail to affect the heart, interest the
feelings, and open the understanding of the
reader.

The editors have, further, to observe, that the
publication of Sermons is, generally, too much
confined to the particular denomination to which
the writer belongs. But so far as respects the
following Discourses, this never ought to be the
case. There is nothing discoverable in them
of party spirit or sectarian prejudice ; and it is
Confidently believed, that the pious and good of
every denomination, who shall read the follow-
ing Sermons with candour and attention, must
feel their hearts glow in unison with that of the
writer.

It may be proper to state to the public, that
these Sermons were not written with a view for
publication, nor have they ever been revised
for that purpose.

JVexv-Tork, September, 1S15.

CONTENTS,

Page
ON Brotherly Love, considered as a
proof of the Christian's growth in

grace 1

II. Ditto 9

III. Ditto 19

IV. The Lord Jesus Christ the great

Householder 29

V. On the Spiritual Vineyard of the

Lord's planting 39

VI. On the Hedge round the Vineyard . 49

VII. Ditto 61

VIII. On the Wine-Press 71

IX. On the Tower 81

X. On the Letting out the Vineyard . 91
XI. On the Householder's going into a

far Country 105

XII. On the Fruit which the Vineyard

produces 117

XIII. On the Time of the Fruit . . .127

XIV. On the Servants sent to receive the

Fruits of the Vinevard . . .13*^

VI

CONTENTS.

(Sermon XV.

On the Servants being beaten,

Page

ki led,&c

147

XVI.

On the ervants more than the

first .

159

XVII.

On (he pei severing Obstinacy of

the unfaithful Husbandmen .

169

XVIII.

On the Householder's Son

177

XIX.

On seizing the Son's Inheritance

187

XX.

On the Fate of the wicked Hus-

bandmen .

197

XXI.

On the Marks and Characters of

true Faith

205

XXII.

On Casting out Devils . . .

217

XXIII.

On Speaking with new Tongues

225

XXIV.

On Taking up Serpents . . .

235

XXV.

On Drinking deadly Things . .

247

XXVI.

On Laying Hands on the Sick .

•25?

BROTHERLY LOVE

CONSIDERED AS THE

SIGN AND PROOF

OF THE

/CHRISTIAN'S GROWTH IN DIVINE GRACE;

IN THREE SERMONS.

SERMON L

1 John iii. 14.

We know that we have passed from death unto lift,

because we love the brethren*

It was the blessed privilege of the beloved apostle ana
his fellow-believers, to have this happy testimony in
their own minds, that they were passed from death unto
life. They knew this to be the case, by a conviction
wrought within themselves : they had an indisputable
sign and proof of it, which they could not question :
they were persuaded hereby, that their lot would be
eternally happy ; that they were restored to the favoui
of God i tljat they were one with God, and God with
B

2 BROTHERLY LOVE,

them; of consequence, that death, misery, and condem-
nation, were no longer 4o be dreaded by them, because
they were passed far away from such things, and born
into another kingdom. Thus their souls were kept in
peace through ail the troubles and disquietudes of this
lower world ; and having hope in God, and being at rest
in him, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable, and full of
glory.

Let it not however be supposed, that these blessed
privileges were intended to be confined to St. John and
the first disciples of Christianity. They belong alike to
all those who profess the same holy religion, and obey
its heavenly doctrines. They belong therefore to us, to
you and to me, and to every true believer in Jesus
Christ ; and it is a grace granted to every one of us, if
we are wise enough to discover it, to be enabled to say,
" We know that we have passed from death unto life."

That this is the case, will appear plain from the con-
sideration of these two particulars, to which I could
earnestly wish to engage your present most serious at-
tention.

First. The nature of the passage here spoken of by
the apostle, from death unto life.

Secondly. The sign or proof of our having made this
passage, viz. because we love the brethren.

First, then, let us consider the nature of the passage
spoken of by the apostle, from death unto life.

It is a matter little thought of by the generality of
Christians, that there is such a passage from death unta
life, ; and still less is it considered, that {his passage is to

BROTHERLY LOVE. 3

be made by us in this world ; otherwise it never can be
made ; and least of all is it in general apprehended, how
the thoughtless and impenitent never discover this pas-
sage, but abide in the regions of death, whilst the peni-
tent and sincere believer both discovers the passage^
and walks therein, until he arrives at the regions of eter-
nal life and peace.

The generality of Christians therefore think of no
other death but the death of the body, and of no other
passage to life but the passage through the grave of tlie
body; and thus, alas! too many, it is to-be feared, n-
gleet to look for that passage till it is too late to find it.
and never pass from death unto life, because, being blind-
ed by the delusions of sin, they did not believe .such a
thing possible or attainable here below.

But, beloved, that there is a passage from death unto
life, is plain from the concurrent testimony of the Word
of God throughout ; and that this passage is such, as that
we may both discover it, and may make it, during our
abode in this world, is equally plain from the declaration
of the apostle in my text, speaking of himself and oi
other believers, " We know that we have passed from
death unto life."

From this declaration it is manifest, not only that
there is a passage from death vnto life, but that men like
ourselves also had made the passage, and knew that they
had made it, even during their abode in this world.

To the same purpose, but in different words, the apos-
tle Paul bears this testimony, " Giving thanks to the Fa-
ther, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the in

4 BROTHERLY LOVE,

beritance of the saints in light ; who hath delivered ti£
from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into
the kingdom of his dear Son."*

Here St. Paul speaks, both in his own name, and ia
that of his fellow Christians, of a " deliverance from the-
power of darkness, and a translation into the kingdom
of Jesus Christ," which they had experienced, even
whilst they were living in the body here below ; which
is the same thing as what St. John calls the " passing
from death unto life."

The first Christians, therefore, it is most manifest, not
only knew, and were assured, that there was a passage
from death unto life, even to be found in this world ; but
they also discovered this passage, and made it during
their abode here below, and were moreover assured, to
their unspeakable comfort, and by the most incontro-
vertible signs and proofs, that they had made this pas-
sage.

And yet these were men like unto ourselves : they
were subject to the same infirmities ; they had the same
corruptions to struggle with ; were exposed to like temp-
tations with ourselves : neither had they any other or
higher helps than we Christians have at this day. The
Almighty did not favour them more than he doth us : his
grace was not stronger or more powerful in their bo-
soms, than we might find it to be in ours : heaven was
not nearer or more open to them, than it is to us ; and
yet we find they were enabled to attain unto this most

*Coloss. i. 12, 13.

BROTHERLY LOVE. 5

happy of all human conditions, to know that they were
passed from death unto life.

What I would therefore here contend for, and wish to
press upon your present most earnest consideration, is
this, that what those first Christians once attained to, i?
still attainable by us, if we will but be as faithful to oui
God and his word, and as true to our own best inter-
ests, as they were. We may therefore pass from death
imto life, even during our abode in this world, as certainly
and fully, as ever St. John, St. Paul, or any other of our
Lord's first disciples did. We may have the same signs
and infallible proofs, which they had, that we are so
passed. We may thus attain, if we be so disposed, unto
the same grounds of heavenly hope, assurance, and com-
fort, in our acceptance with God.

For the religion of the blessed Jesus, let it be well
noted, is the same religion at this day, that it was seven-
teen or eighteen hundred years ago. The minds of
men, as to their belief in it, and their reception of it, m$y
indeed be changed, but itself cannot change. Its doc-
trines are still the same, and will remain so to eternity.
Its power upon the human soul, if it be rightly received,
is also still the same. It is capable, therefore, of ef-
fecting now, what it effected in old time. It can still open
heaven to the true beJiever ; it can still transform man
from earthly to heavenly ; it can still deliver from the
power of darkness, and translate us into the kingdom of
its divine Author : it can, in short, still enable us to say,
if we are not wanting to ourselves, what was Sefidl to
B2

6 BROTHERLY LOVE.

their unspeakable bliss, by them of old time, ft We know
that we have passed from death unto life."

I am well aware, however, that this will hardly be
believed by the carnal and the careless. All such are
unwilling to allow, that the powers of heaven are so
near them, or that as much fruit of those powers will be
expected from them, as from the saints of old. Thus
they set limits to the operations of God, which God him-
self hath not set, and which he hath declared he never
will set. They say, for instance, " Apostles might look
for extraordinary advancements in divine grace ; they
might overcome the world and the flesh ; they might be-
come the sons of God ; they might, by the purity oi
their lives and the power of their faith, pass from death
unto life ; but this is not to be expected in our days :
it was never intended we should experience such in-
fluences of divine grace, or bring forth such fruits there-
of in our hearts and lives."

Thus do the carnal and the careless labour to reason
themselves out of the real excellency of their religion,
and all its benefits, by supposing those benefits to be
confined to those few who first received the gospel of
Christ. But, beloved, permit me, by way of conclu-
sion to this part of my present subject, to caution you
most earnestly against suffering your minds to be betray-
ed into such unworthy, false, and dangerous sentiments
of your religion and its divine Author. For this pur-
pose, ponder well with yourselves the genuine design of
the Gospel of Christ, and the unchangeableness thereof.
Its intention is, and needs must be the same now, that H

BROTHERLY LOVE, tf

was at its Jirst preaching and establishment. The pow-
ers and privileges which it presents to the true believer,
are also the same. As, therefore, it formerly operated
on the minds of apostles, confessors, martyrs, and thou-
sands of other holy disciples, to convert them to Jesus
Christ, to turn them from sin and vanity, to transform
them from earthly to heavenly, to purify, change, re-
deem, and renew their sinful natures, and thus to make
them pass from, death unto life ; even so also it would
operate at this day, if men's minds were but in a like
state to admit and comply with its operation.

Believe then this to be the real truth, and that of con-
sequence you are now called, and every believer in the
Gospel is called, to experience the same blessed effects
from it, that the apostles themselves experienced. I do
not say that you are to look for the gift of working mira-
cles, as they did ; nor to go about the world to convert it
by your preaching, like St. Peter or St. Paul : but this
you are certainly to look for, viz. to believe in and to
love Jesus Christ, the incarnate God and Saviour, as they
believed in and loved him ; and in this belief and love
to your brethren, as St. Peter and St. Paul loved their
brethren ; and thus to be meek, humble, patient, con-
tented, and charitable, as you read the Lord's first disci-
pes were ; and to overcome the devil, the world, and
tht flesh, as they did ; and hereby to pass from death
unt life. For, search and consult your own minds, and
see vhether you can discover there any reason why you
shoul be less holy than St. John, or any other of the
Lord first disciples, were. Is it not in your power t

S BROTHERLY LOVE.

love God, and your ne;ghbour, as they did '? Cannol
you repent and believe in Jesus Christ, as well as they 1
Cannot you, therefore, grow alike in the divine grace,
and attain unto a like measure of true Christian virtues 1
Make but the experiment, and make it with sincerity,
and believe me, or rather believe God, you will soon be
fully convinced, that the measure of holiness to which
the saints of old were called, and attained, is the very
same to which you also are called, and may attain.

Away then with all vain reasonings. Repent, and be-
lieve the Gospel. Turn unto Jesus Christ, the mani-
fested Jehovah, and keep his commandments ; and you
will then soon experience, that heaven is still open. God
is still near and powerful, and his grace still operative
as in old time ; whereby you will, sooner or later, be
enabled, to your unspeakable bliss, to say with the
apostle, "We know that we have passed from death
unto life.^

SERMON II.

1 John iii. 14.

We know that we have passed from death unto lift
because we love the brethren*

IN the foregoing discourse we endeavoured to point out
the nature of the passage/rom death unto life here spoken
of, as being a passage to be performed during our abode
in this world, and to which all Christians are alike called
universally.

We shall now proceed further to shew the nature of
this passage, and then consider the sign or proof here
mentioned by the apostle, of our having made this pas-
sage, viz. because rve love the brethren.

It must be very plain to every considerate person, that
by passing from death unto life, is not meant any bodily
passage, or any change of place or situation with respect
to the body.

For if the body was to move ever so far in any direc-
tion, upwards or downwards, it would not be possible for
us to depart further from death, or to approach nearer w-
o life than we were before ■,

10 BROTHERLY LOVE,

The case is, the terms life and death, as used in holy
scripture, are applied to denote, not any particular state
of the body, but particular states of the soul or spirit,
with respect to God and the things of his eternal king-
dom.

According to this application of the terms life and
death, to pass from death unto life, denotes a change
wrought in the internal state of the soul or spirit, so tha*
whereas it before lived in a state of spiritual death, it now
begins to live in a state of spiritual life.

As for example. It is written in holy scripture, " man
doth not li-ve by bread only, but by every word that pro-
eeedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, doth man live."*
And in another place " If thou wilt enter into life, keep
the commandments. "t By which words we are plainly
taught this truth, that not to partake of the word of the
Lord, or not to keep his commandments, is a state of spiri-
tual death ; but, on the contrary, that to partake of the
•word of the Lord, or to keep his commandments, is a state
of spiritual life. Whensoever then the soul or spirit of
man, which heretofore had no knowledge and love of the
Lord and of his Word, begins now to perceive an inward
sense of love and regard thereto, and takes delight in the
ways of God, and the keeping of his commandments, such
a soul or spirit is said to pass from death unto life.

So again. The apostle speaks of being " dead in tres-
passes and sins."j; To live therefore in trespasses and
sins against God is a state of spiritual death ; of conse*

* Deut. viii. 3. Mat. iv\ 4. Luke iv. 4.
fMat. six. 17. 4Epbecii. !.

BROTHERLY LOVE# If

quence to cease from trespasses and sins, and to begin to
lead a new life, is a state of spiritual life ; and this change
wrought in the soul from a state of trespasses and sins to
a contrary state of purity and holiness, is therefore a pas-
sing from death unto life.

So again. " She that liveth in -pleasure (saith the
apostle) is dead while she liveth ;"* that is, the soul or
spirit, which indulgeth in the mere pleasures of the car-
nal, worldly, and sensual life, and knoweth no better and
higher enjoyments than these, is in a state of death ; to
come out of this state then, so as to begin to be made
sensible of other and superior pleasures to those of flesh
and blood, viz. the eternal pleasures of righteousness,
wrhich flow from the knowledge and love of God, this is to
begin truly to live ; and the change wrought hereby in the
state of the soul or spirit, is a real passage from death unto
life.

To mention one other instance, which may serve to
set this matter in a still clearer light. When the repent-
ing prodigal returns unto his father, we are informed of
the glad and welcome reception which his father gives
him, how he ordered the fatted calf to be killed, saying,
let us eat and be merry ; for which he gives this very ex-
traordinary reason, " This my son was dead, and is alive
again. "t Here every enlightened person may plainly
see what is meant in holy scripture by being dead and
being alive, or by death and life. When the prodigal
had no regard to his father, or his father's house, and feK

» 1 Tim. :>. 6. t Luke x. v. 24. 32.

'42 IROTffERLY LOVE.

no desire of returning thereto, " but was wasting his sub*
stance in riotous living," he is then said to be dead,
though he was living at the same time in all the gratifi-
cations and enjoyments of riot and luxury, of this world
and the flesh : but as soon as ever he is weary of these
wretched satisfactions, and begins to feel a warmth of
penitent affection kindled towards his father, with a desire
to return to him and to his house, he is then said to be
alive, though at the same time he ceased to live to his
former bodily and carnal enjoyments.

Here then, if we be so disposed, we may all see clear-
ly what is meant in holy scripture by death and life, and
by passing from one to the other. Death is to live with-
out God and his Word, or, what is the same thing, to have
no love towards God, and no delight in him and in his
commandments. Life on the contrary is to live with God,
and to partake of his Word, that is, to have love towards
God, and to find delight to our souls in the way of his
commandments. To pass from death unto life then, in
this particular instance, is to come out of a -state of tie
love towards God, and no delight in his Word, into a
state wherein we both love and delight in God, and in
the purities of his Word and commandment.

Again. Death is a state of wilful sin and impeni-
tence ; life therefore is a state of repentance of ceasing
from sin. Death again is a state of false pleasures and
Satisfactions, such as are those of this world and the
flesh, when separated from the pleasures of righteousness.
Life therefore on the other hand is a state of real plea-
sures-and satisfactions, such as are those arising from

•BROTHEELV L®VE: 13

Uie love of God. In these instances, therefore, to pass
from death unto life, is to pass through repentance, from
the vain and false gratifications of the corrupt part of our
nature, which is carnal and worldly minded, to be made
sensible within ourselves of the pure and eternal delights
flowing from the love of God, and the communications of
his peace to our minds and consciences.

And would we know, beloved, the real, deep, and
scriptural ground of all this, it is as follows. There is
but one true and real life, and one true and real fountain
of life, and that is God, and his Word and kingdom.
Whatever then is not connected with God, his Word,
and kingdom, this, in the language of holy scripture, is
said to be dead, or in a state of death. Devils, therefore,
or infernal spirits, though living in a state of most exqui-
site feeling and sensibility, are still said to be dead, and
to dwell in the regions of death ; the reason is, because
by love they have no conjunction with God, his Word,
-and kingdom, from whence alone life cometh. In like
manner impenitent and ungodly men are said to be dead,
and to dwell in the regions of the shadow of deaths
though possibly they may be living at the same time in
the highest state of worldly gratification and fleshly sen-
sibilities, ami the reason is the same, viz. because by the
impenitence and impurity of their lives, they separate
"themselves from conjunction with God and his life. We
talk indeed of other life besides the life which is of God,
and of other death besides that which consists in separation
-of the love from God. Thus we talk of the life of vega-
• tables, and of the life of animals, which are incapable of
C

M BROTHERLY LOVE.

loving God, and of being thus conjoined with him. We
say also of men that they are living, or alive, when we see
them alive and active in the love and pursuit of the things
of this world, animated with the prospects of ambition,
gain, glory, or sensuality. We say also of the same
men, that they are dead, when we see them cease to
live in the body, notwithstanding their beginning to
live instantly in another world, in a state of feeling and
perception far superior to what they experienced here
below. It is however well to be attended to, that
though in common language we apply the terms of life
and death, in these subordinate 'and lower senses, yet, as
used in holy scripture, they have a higher and infinitely
more important signification. What man therefore fre-
quently calls life, God calls death, and what man calls
death, God, on the contrary, calls life. The reason is,
God calls nothing life, and allows nothing to be alive,
but what is connected with himself, the only life, by a
living principle of love and understanding ; and there-
fore in his sight, and according to his language, the mere
natural, animal, and unregenerate life of man, let its
feelings, perceptions, and delights seem ever so exqui-
site, it is but death, or the shadow and image of true life,
as having no conjunction by love and wisdom with the
eternal and only source of the true life, according as it
is written, " To be carnally minded is death, but to be
spiritually minded is life."*

* Rom. viii. 6.

BROTHERLY LOVE, ] ;>

The continual call of God therefore unto man, in his
Word, is to come and enter by repentance, by faith and
obedience, or, in other words, with his life's love, and
understanding, and operation, into conjunction with him-
self, the fountain of life, that so he may live for ever ;
this conjunction alone being true life, and worthy of the
name.- In his natural state, we know, man has no such
conjunction, for in his natural state, by reason of heredi-
tary and actual evil, he has no true love towards God,
but loves himself and the world better than God, and his
neighbour. In his natural state therefore he is dead, or
in a state of death, from which state he cannot possibly
be delivered but by returning to God, ana entering into
conjunction with him, through his Word, or command-
ment.

Nevertheless, though man may be by nature in a state
of death, yet it is his own fault if he continues therein, and
absolutely dies for ever. For God giveth every one of us
power to come out of this death, and enter into the re-
gions of life, in as much as he giveth every one of us
power to know and to love Him, and to know, and love
and practise his Word, and thus to re-enter into conjunc-
tion with him, which is eternal life.

For let us search now, and examine ourselves, whe
ther we have not all of us this power from God in out-
inner man ; and we shall assuredly find that we have it.
For cannot we think of God, if we be so disposed, as
often as we please ? Cannot we think of sin, that is op-
posite to God, and therefore separates us from God ?
Cannot we think of holiness^ that is from God, and agree-

10 BROTHERLY LOVE.

able to God, and therefore unites us with God ? Can-
not we therefore say thus to ourselves, " I will hate an I
renounce sin, because it separates me from God ; and i
will love and practise holiness, because it joins me witr
God ?" And cannot we thus assure ourselves, that a .
*e depart from sin, and enter into conjunction with
God, we shall pass from death unto life ? Only let us
be at the pains to examine ourselves, and make the ex-
periment, and we shall certainly find that we are in
possession of the blessed power and privilege here de-
scribed.

I should now proceed to consider the sign and proof
given in the words of my text, of our having passed from
death unto life, viz. because we love the brethren : but the
present time will only permit me to conclude what has
Been already said, with this brief but affectionate ex-
postulation.

Are we, beloved, of the happy number of those who
have made the passage from death unto life, or are we still
walking in the valley of the shadow of death ? Let us
examine ourselves well in this important matter. Are
we returned unto God ? Do we begin to find a love towards
God, and a real delight of heart in him and his ways ? Are
we for this purpose turned, or in the desire to turn, from
all known evils, because they are opposite to God ? Do
we cease to delight in the sin and vanity of this world and
the flesh ; and do we consider well, that they who live in
the fond indulgence of mere carnal and earthly pleasures,,
are dead whilst they live ? Is it thus become the chief
affection; satisfaction, and endeavour of our lives, to enter

BROTHERLY LOVE. 17

into conjunction with God, his Word, and kingdom, by
well-doing, that so we may live for ever ? Some such few
questions as these, seriously proposed, and sincerely an-
swered, will soon bring us acquainted with the state of
our souls, how far we are passed from death unto life.

And blessed shall he be who upon such an examina-
tion shall find that he is not still abiding in the regions of
death and misery, Blessed shall he be whose conscience
bears him testimony that he hath begun to love his Go&
and Redeemer, and to delight in the paths of life and righte-
ousness. He is on the highway which leadeth to the
New Jerusalem. He hath departed from the city of
Destruction, and is about to enter into the City cf the
Lord of Hosts. Mount Zion is directly before his face*
and though his body be here upon earth amongst men,
yet his spirit is travelling in the midst of angels to take
possession of the promised inheritance, the land of ever-
lasting life, which is the blessed portion of all those thai
fear God and keep his commandment*, AMEN"

ca-

SERMON IIL

1 John iii. 14*

We know that we have passed from death unto life^
because we love the brethren*

XiAVING already endeavoured to shew, in the tw6.
foregoing discourses, what is here implied, and to be un-
derstood by passing from death unto life, I shall now-
proceed, as was proposed, to consider, lastly, the sign or
proof here mentioned, of our .having made this passage*
viz. because we love the brethren.

This sign or proof however, cannot possibly be un-
derstood, until it be first known who are here meant by
those whom the apostle calls the brethren. May I there-
fore bespeak your serious attention to this previous con-
sideration, from which it will plainly appear what is im-
plied and understood by loving the brethren.

Now the apostles and-first Christians, we know, called
all those the brethren, or the brotherhood, who were united
together in one common faith and love, that is, in faith
and love towards their common God and Saviour Jestte

20 BROTHERLY LOVE,

Christ, operating in newness of life, according to the
commandments.

Wherever they saw this operative faith and love, there
they acknowledged a brother ; and they respected, reve-
renced, honoured, loved, and cherished him, as one be-
gotten again of the same heavenly Parent with them-
selves, and making one of that great and holy familyj,
body, or kingdom, whose head is the great Redeemer,
the manifested God, the Lord Jesus Christ ; herein fol-
lowing the spirit and example of their divine Master, who.
had taught them, " My mother and my brethren are they
who hear the Word of God, and do it."*

It was not, therefore, any outward condition or cir-
cumstances, with regard to this world, which determined
this brotherhood. Rank and riches were no qualifica-
tions to be admitted into the holy fraternity ; neither did
poverty and meanness of birth exclude any. The single
question respecting any one, was this, Doth he believe in
Jesus Christ, the God who hath lately appeared amongst
us to take away our sins ? and doth he manifest his
faith by love, or by a life according to the command-
ments of this God ? If so, he is a brother, be he rich or
poor, be his birth honourable or dishonourable in the
eyes of men.

And as the conditions of men, with regard to their
outward worldly circumstances, was of no account, in
forming this brotherhood amongst the first Christians, so-

* Luke viii. 21 See also MaU. xiii. 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, and Mark"
ft 31> 32,33, 34, 35.

BROTHERLY LOVE* 21

neither was the love, which influenced the members of
this brotherhood, grounded in, or determined by, any
mere natural affections, such as arise from natural rela-
tionships, friendships, and partial worldly attachments
one towards another. f

There is a principle, we know, which often is called
love, and passes for Christian love and charity amongst
men, which has no higher source, no deeper ground, than
that of mere animal instinct, or natural similitude, or
worldly associations, for the sake of worldly interests^
comfort, or convenience.

This, however, was not the principle which operated
to produce brotherly love amongst the apostles and first
Christians. These holy persons were wrought upon by-
higher and more heavenly motives herein, than any
which arise from mere worldly connexions or relation-
ships-of flesh and blood. In this respect was verified
what is written of them, that they were " born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor cf the will of man,
but of God."* Their attachment, therefore, towards
each other, was a divine and holy attachment. It had
its ground and source in the great Father of all spirits.
It was an holy principle of heaven-born charity, which,
being eternal and stable as its origin, was not subject to
those variations, changes, and caprices, which ever ac-
company mere human and natural affections, let them, be
ever so near and tender.

* John I &r

':L2 BROTHERLY LOVE.

We are not, however, to suppose, that this love and
attachment of the first Chrisiians towards each other, was
merely spiritual, unattended with work and operation,
which is the fruit of charity ; for it was a principal les-
son of their love, " not to love .in word and in tongue
only, but in deed and in truth."* They reverenced each
other, therefore, as children of heaven and immortality i
but this was not all : from this reverence they were led
to exercise every outward act of benevolence one tor
wards another ; their lives were continually employed
in doing good; and it was their supreme joy and de-
ligjbc to be serviceable in the smallest respect to any, who
bore the stamp and image of the God whom they wor-
shipped.

From this short view, then, of what the apostles and
first Christians understood by the brethren, or brother-
hood, and of the nature and operation of their love to-
wards the brethren, it will now plainly appear to every
considerate person, what is meant and implied by this
sign or proof of passing from death unto life ; viz. because
we love the brethren.

T.o lave the brethren, is to love that in others, which
is of God, that is, the divine image and likeness ; or, in
other words, all those living and heavenly graces, vir-
tues, and excellencies, which proceed from a sound and
pure faith and love towards the Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ. But this is not all. To love the brethren
further implies, that our love becomes operative in good

* I Joha iii.. 18.

BROTHERLY LOVE. 23

works, or in producing its proper outward fruits : it im-
plies, therefore, an external life of active benevolence,
corresponding with that internal and heavenly principle
from which it proceeds. He who loves the brethren,
therefore, not only reveres the divine image and likeness
in his fellow-creatures, but labours also continually to
cherish, comfort, strengthen, and bring it forth to all, ac-
cording to his utmost ability and the best lalents which
God has given him.

Let me bespeak, beloved, your most particular and
earnest attention to this mark and character of a true
Christian, or of one who hath passed from death unto
life, that so you may examine by it the state of your
hearts and lives.

There is nothing we are so apt to deceive ourselves
in, if we are not well upon our guard, and well enlight-
ened with the genuine light of truth, as love towards the
brethren ; often calling that brotherly love, which is no
•such thing, but which is possibly the very reverse ;
whereby we do essential mischief to our eternal in-
terests.

Thus, for example ; the mere natural man sometimes
fancies that he has brotherly love, because he has much
natural tenderness and affection towards some particu-
lar persons, to whom he is united by particular natural
ties, either of blood, of friendship, or of worldly in-
terest.

But such natural affection, it is well to be observed, is
a thing totally distinct from what is called, in the Scrip-
-lures, brotherly love, or .charity j and therefore we fce-

M BROTHERLY LOVE.

quently find, that very wicked persons have as much, or
possibly more, of such natural affection, than real regen-
erate Christians ; according to those words of our Lord,
e< sinners also love those that love them, and sinners also
elo good to those that do good to them."*

Natural affection, therefore, is a principle totally dis-
tinct from the affection of Gospel charity, or brotherly
love. For natural affection is a mere animal instinct,
common alike to the just and to the unjust, to them
that are passed from death unto life, and to them who
know nothing of such a passage ; yea, natural affection
is even common to man with the beasts that perish ; for
we find that the beasts, even those which are most fierce
and savage, are attached, by strong natural sympathies,
towards their young and towards one another.

Do not, however, misunderstand me, as if I here meant
to censure or debase the principle of natural affection,
sympathy, and tenderness, whether amongst men, or
amongst beasts. This is far from my design and mean-
ing. Such principles and affections have their uses in
their proper times and places, and when kept in due or-
der of subordination to higher affections and principles.
All I wish here to observe, and to lead you to observe,
is this, that natural affection is not Gospel charity ; natu-
ral tenderness is not brotherly love ; natural feeling and
sympathy is not spiritual grace and evangelical virtue.;
and thstf, of consequence, before we can attain to that
measure of Christian purity and perfection, implied by
loving the brethren, we must attain to some higher -an4

* Luke vi. 32, 33

ERGTHER.LY LOVE* 25

more heavenly principle than that of mere natural af-
fection, tenderness, feeling, and sympathy.

But methinks I hear you ask, What then is this higheT
and more heavenly principle, which is distinct from mere
natural affection ? It has been already shown, in what
was observed concerning the first Christians. It is to re-
gard that in others, which is born of' God, and to call that
a brother. It is to regard, therefore, in one another, the
divine image and likeness, and to love and cherish it ac-
cordingly. It is to be determined in our likings and dis-
likings, our affections and disaffecticns, no longer by
mere natural or temporal principles, such as are those
of the flesh and of this world ; but by spiritual and eter-
nal principles, such as regard the family, body, and king-
dom of Jesus Christ.

Behold here the great mark of distinction between the
love which influences the mere natural man, and that
which influences the real and heaven-bom Christian ! —
The mere natural man loves according to blind and par-
tial instinct. The Christian loves according to an en-
lightened and universal principle of charity. The mere
natural man calls him brother, to whom he is attached
by blood, by natural friendship, or by interest. The
Christian calls him brother, to whom he is attached by
spiritual bonds of faith and love, in the same God and
Redeemer. What the natural man. therefore, loves in
another, is somewhat merely of the flesh, or of this
world. What the Christian loves in another, is some-
what of the Spirit, and of another world. The natural
-nan love? the outward person, or personal qualities, of

6

2G BROTHERLY LOVE.

another. The Christian loves the inward spirit, or spi-
ritual qualities, that is, the divine image and likeness.
Thus the love of the natural man is grounded in mere
nature, and has no higher origin and end. But the love
of the true Christian ascends high above nature : its
source is from heaven and the God of heaven ; and its
end, like its origin, is eternal, being rooted in the eter-
nal principles of justice and judgment, of order and up-
rightness, of sincerity and truth ; which constitute the
•eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ, and being active, ope-
rative, and fruitful in good works, according to such prin-
ciples.

To conclude : Let me earnestly recommend to you,
beloved, to try and prove your Christian faith, and the
ground of your Christian hopes, and whether you are
passed from death wito life, by the marks and characters
of brotherly love, as above described.

This is a sure test, which will not deceive you ; and
without this, there is no other test on which you may
safely depend. It is not, you may be well aware, a
mere nominal faith or profession : it is not because you
belong to this or that body of Christians, as distinguish-
ed from others by a name or a form : it is not because
you have much warmth of natural affection, tenderness,
and attachment towards particular persons ; still less is
it because you have a natural zeal for holy things, and
can put up holy prayers to God with your lips, and can
talk learnedly about God and the things of his kingdom :
it is not, I say, for any or for all of these things, that
you can hope for acceptance in God's sight ; for all these

BROTHERLY LOVE, 27

qualifications may be the qualifications of very wicked
persons, who have no part in the holy family, brother-
hood, and kingdom of Jesus Christ, and therefore are
not passed from death unto life.

There is, then, but this one single qualification, which
can be a safe and solid ground of your hope and trust,
viz. brotherly love. But be sure examine yourselves well
concerning this qualification, and take heed that you be
not deceived respecting it. Mark especially the dis-
tinction above pointed out, between mere natural affec-
tion and Gospel charity. Natural affection is of itself a
mere dead thing before God, and receives all its true life
from charity. Kowbeit, charity, or brotherly love, does
not destroy natural affection : it only quickens, sanctifies
it. and makes it eternal : it also renders its operations
mere regular, constant, and orderly. Ask yourselves,
therefore, over, and over, some such questions as these :
What is it that I love in another I Is it the divine image
and likeness, oris it only something of nature ? Do I
love my neighbour, not because he is rich, not because
he is learned, not because he is esteemed and honourable
in the eyes of men, not because he is agreeable to my
own natural temper and complexion, and still less be-
cause he is united to me by the bonds of blood and re-
lationship ? but do I love him because he loves God ;•
because I see in him a Godlike spirit and temper ; be-
cause he is humble, just, sincere, upright, faithful, fear-
ful of offending God, and seeking to attain unto a God-
like nature ? Do I therefore regard, chiefly and princi-
pally, in my fellow-creatures, the divine ima^e and like-

28- BROTHERLY LOVE.

ness? and is it become the continual labour and delight
of my life, and of all my actions, to administer, in some
way or other, according to my talents, to the bringing
forth, perfecting, comforting, and cherishing such divine
image and likeness ?

And inasmuch as I cannot love what is of God, unless
I be of God myself; inasmuch as I cannot have any re-
spect for God's image and likeness in another, until I my-
self am formed into his image and likeness ; is it lastly
become my daily labour and endeavour to be made a
i.hild of God myself, that so I may the better love his
children as my brethren ?

Some such few questions as these, seriously proposed
and answered, would soon enable us to determine our
slate of advancement in the divine favour, and how far
we were passed from death unto life. May we all, then,
through the divine grace and mercy, be led to this seri-
ous examination of our hearts and lives, that so we may
all attain unto the unspeakable comfort of knowing that
v» ;e are indeed passed from death unto life !

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

THE GREAT HOUSEHOLDER:

SERMON IV,

Matt. xxi. 33,

Hear another parable ; there was a certain householder
which planted a -vineyard, and hedged it round about>
and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and
let it out to husbandmen, and went into afar country.

1 HERE are several particulars iri these words which
demand particular consideration. There is mention made
of a householder, of planting a vineyard, of hedging it round
about, of digging a wine-press in it, of building a tower >
of letting it out to husbandmen, and of going into a far
country.

Each of these particulars, we must be forced to con-
fess, is lull of wisdom, and each contains a wisdom pe

:ulhr to itself. God cannot speak any thing superfluous .
i)2

30 THE HOUSEHOLDER,

or in vain. Whatsoever comes from his mouth mus;
needs have in it a deep and distinct meaning, and a mean-
ing of use to man. Man, therefore, who is wise, will
consider this meaning, and knowing that the word of
God is the word of eternal life, he will deal with it ac-
cordingly. He will meditate upon it, and digest it well
in his own mind, He will be sure that he comprehends
and understands it aright. If he finds any difficulty
herein, it will only increase his earnestness to have the
difficulty removed. He will be more urgent in prayer
to the God of the word, that his eyes may be opened to
see wondrous things out of his law.* And the God of
the word will net fail to hear his prayer, and to open his
eyes, according as it is written, " Then opened he their
under staridings, that they might understand the scrips
tares."!

The first particular in the above words which demands
our attention is the householder, and to the consideration
of this particular I mean to confine myself in my present
discourse.

The Lord calls himself a householder in regard to the
spiritual house, his church, and as having the supreme
rule, government, and direction in all things relating to
that spiritual house.

This spiritual house, the church, is that congregation
of men throughout the face of the whole earth, who are
influenced and guided by eternal principles of justice and
of judgment, derived from the word of God, agreeable to

* Psalm cxix. 13,
7 Luke xxiv, 45,

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 3f

the Lord's description, where he says, " My motfier and
?ny brethren, (that is, my family or household,) are these
which hear the word of God a?ul do it.*

It is not wood and stone therefore which constitutes a-
church, properly speaking ; neither is it any particular
ceremony or form of worship ; nor yet any particular
doctrine, or form of speculative faith : all these things
may exist in all perfection, and yet there may be nothing
of God's church : the reason is, God's church consists of
spiritual and living principles of eternal mercy, good-
ness, charity, and truth, derived from his word, and ope-
rative in the lives of those who hear and keep it.

The whole race of mankind throughout the earth may
be considered as divided into two great families, one
consisting of all such as fear God, and keep his com-
mandments in heart and life ; the other consisting of such
as do not fear God and keep his commandments in heart
and life, but only in word and gesture.

The eye of man cannot at all discern between these
two families, so as to distinguish in all cases the one from
the other, or who belongs to the one, and who to the
other ; but the eye of God discerns them clearly, and
distinguishes them most minutely ; I know, saith he, my
sheep ;| and seen by that eye, they are as different as
light and darknec*?, or as heaven and hell. They are
the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left.

The family of those who fenr God, and keep his
commandments in heart and life, is called his churchy or

* Luke viii. 21.
i Johns. 16.

32' THE HOUSEHOLDER,

household. My sheep, saith Christ, hear my voice.* This
family, howsoever separated as to place or distance, is
closely united as to mind or spirit ; and howsoever di-
vided by external forms and ceremonies of worship, or
by external articles and confessions of faith, is yet inter-
nally one family, undivided, by virtue of a pure love to-
wards God and towards each other.

The cause, as well as the centre, of this undivided
union of this holy family, is God himself, and his life.
The reason is, each member of this blessed family re-
spects God and his life in the highest The will of God
is their will, and the wisdom of God is their wisdom ; and
by this one will and one wisdom they are intimately
united with God, and thereby with each other, agreea-
ble to what is expressed in the prayer of Christ, where
he says, speaking of this family, i'hat they all may be
one, as* thou , Father, art in me, and 1 in thee, that they
also may be one in us ]

For as in the natural body of man there is an infinite va-
riety of organs and of members, which are yet all united in
one, by partaking of the one common, life of the soul or
spirit, even so it is in the spiritual body of Christ, which
is his church or household. The members of this body
am of an infinite variety ; but inasmuch as they all par-
take of the one common life of God, as their soul or
spirit, therefore they form one single and undivided
body-

* John x. 27.
f John xvii, 21

THE HOUSEHOLDER* >3

Here then we may see how the Lord Jesus Christ is
the great householder, and why he calls himself by that
significative name. He has the supreme rule, govern-
ment, and direction, in this his church or household, by
virtue of that one common life of love and wisdom, which
the members thereof receive from him. For inasmuch
as the will of Jesus Christ is the will of the church, and
the wisdom of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of the church, it
must needs be that Jesus Christ must be all in all in the
church, and thus have all power, dominion, sovereignty,
and guidance therein.

Not that it is to be understood as if this power, do-
minion, sovereignty, and guidance of Jesus Christ was
arbitrary or compulsive. This is not the case ; nor doth
Jesus Christ ever exercise, or is willing to exercise, any
such arbitrary and compulsive authority. He leaves all
his children/ree, and he wills them to continue so. He
doth not require any forced service, but the service of a
perfect freedom. " The princes of the Gentiles, saith he,
exercise dominion over them, and they that are great ex-
ercise authority upon them ; but it shall not be so among
you."* They who serve him from compulsion, from
that moment separate themselves from his femily, and
become those hirelings, of whom it is written, k' The
hireling flceth because he is an hireling, and careth not
for the sheep."} The reason is, none can be of the fa-
mily of the blessed Jesus, but they who serve him from
a principle of love, and the service of love is the service
of pure liberty and freedom. Therefore the Lard saill^

* Matt xx. 25.
f John x. J'3.

34 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

in another place, " If tne Son shall make you free, theK
are ye free indeed."*

But though the dominion of Jesus Christ, as the great
householder of his church and family, is not arbitrary or
compulsive, yet it is not hereby to be understood as if it
was not most full and complete. Its fuhie^s and com-
pleteness consist in this, that there is a fuiness and com-
pleteness of all blessing, of all protection, of ail de-
liverance from evil and error, and of all establishment in
heavenly virtues, graces, and powers, continually com-
municated from the divine householder to the household.
All power, saith the blessed Jesus, is given unto me in
heaven and in earthy by which he doubtless meant all
power of blessing, of protection, and of deliverance.
The members of his household are made partakers of
this divine power, and become sensible of its wonderful
efficacy, according as it is written, To as many as receiv-
ed him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. ,|
Uniting themselves to the will and wisdom of
their most high and holy Lord, they perceive herein a
fulness of all heavenly consolation and guidance. Se-
parating themselves from whatever is contrary to that
will and wisdom, they are convinced they have deliver-
ance from all evil and error. Whilst the life and love of
God is their life and love, they know that no mischief
can befall them,. Whilst the wisdom and truth of God

* John viii. 36.
t Matt, xxviii. 13.
\ John i. 11L

THE HOUSEHOLDER* 36

js their wisdom and truth, they know that no delusion can
.deceive and mislead them.

Not that this household of God, though under the im-
mediate keeping and protection of the divine House-
holder, is to be understood as being totally exempt from
sorrows and from perplexities, for it endures many : but
then herein are fulfilled the words of its God, "In the
■world ye shall have tribulation;"* and again, " Ye shall
be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."]
The sorrows and perplexities, therefore, of this heavenly
household, are distinct from the sorrows and perplexities
of those who are not of that household; and they are-
distinct in this, that sooner or later, the trouble of the
former is turned, by the divine householder, into joy,
and their perplexity into the clearness of satisfactory
conviction respecting the providences of God. As the
sorrow and perplexity of the world therefore worketh
death, so the sorrow and perplexity of those who are of
the family of Jesus Christ, worketh life and peace, or,
as the apostle expresseth it, " Their light affliction^
which is but for a moment, worketh for them afar more
^excee'ding and eternal weight of glory."^

What hath been here said concerning the church or
household of God in general^ is true of, and may easily
be applied to the church in every individual. Every
individual man becometh a church or household of the
jnost high God, in proportion as he knowcth and loveth

* John xv i. 33.
-f John xv:. 20.
4.2 Cor. iv. 17.

3w THE HOUSEHOLDER.

that God. And so far as every individual becometl*
such a church or household, so far he experienceth of
the blessing, protection, guidance, and deliverance of
the divine householder. For so far the divine house-
holder is all in all to him. He no longer obeys his own
will, and consults his own wisdom, but he obeys the
will, and consults the wisdom of the God who dwells
with him. The will and wisdom of God become thus
by degrees his will and wisdom. Herein he finds sure
deliverance from evil, error, and misery, and at the
same time a gradual elevation into the sphere of the
divine blessing, protection, and guidance. From that
moment all is sure to go well with him ; he rises above
the regions of disappointment and uncertainty; and
though he may still experience .trouble and trial for his
further purification, yet, inasmuch as he trusteth all
bis concerns to the care of the great householder in him-
self, his very troubles and trials are converted into
means of eternal good.

To conclude. A question of infinite magnitude will
naturally arise in every sincere mind, from what hath
been said, viz. Do I belong to the general church and
household of God .? and am I a church and household in
particular? This question, important as it is, cannot per-
haps be answered better than by these further questions :
Have I a sincere respect unto the divine householder in
myself? Do 1 desire to submit my own will, to be ruled
by his will, and my own wisdom to be directed by his
wisdom ? Is this become the ruling principle of my re-
ligion, thus ever to seek the life of God above all things.
1

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 37

and to exalt it to dominion in myself? Have I ceased
from the vain hope of being saved, because I am a nomi-
?ial member of this church, or of that, according to the
distinctions of men ? And do I know that there is no
salvation but in the church of Jesus Christ ; and that the
single condition of being admitted into this saving church,
is to renounce evil, because it is contrary to Jesus
Christ, and to love and practise what is good, because it
is from Jesus Christ, and leadeth to conjunction with
him ? Do I ground thus my expectation of acceptance
with God, not so much in mere words, and forms, and
ceremonies of worship, as in the sincerity of my worship ,
not so much in the confession of my lips, as in the parity
of my life ; not so much in mere speculative opinioiis, as
in a hearty and operative love towards %}od and my
neighbour ?

Blessed is he, whose heart shall give him a satisfactory
answer to these questions ! Blessed is he, who shall have
the infinite honour and happiness of belonging to the
holy family and household of Jesus Christ ! Blessed is
he, who is able to call Jesus Christ his householder, and
to trust in him accordingly !

And may we all be wise to secure to ourselves thf?
blessing ! AMEN,

OX THE

SPIRITUAL VINEYARD

or THE
LORD'S PLANTING

SERMON V

Matt. xxi. 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it'
round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and
built a tower, and let it ont to husbandmen, and
went into a far country.

IN the preceding discourse, I endeavoured to shew
what we are here to understand by the term householder,
and how this significative name is applied to the Lord, to
denote his entire dominion and rule in his household, the
church.

I shall now proceed to consider the next particular
which presents itself in these words of the parable, viz.
the planting a vineyard, and point out the lesson of holy

40 THE HOUSEHOLDER

and edifying instruction, which the Lord intended herein
for all his true disciples.

There is much mention made of vineyards, of vinesT
of grapes, and of wine, in the sacred Scriptures ; but
perhaps few people consider, as they ought, that by
these things are signified, and meant to be expressed,
spiritual and heavenly things relating to the Lord and
his church.

That vineyard hath such a spiritual signification, must
be evident to every one who will read, with any degree
of serious attention, the 5th chapter of the prophet Isai-
ab, where the prophet begins with saying, " Now will I
sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved, touching his
vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very
fruitful hill."* And after describing several particulars
concerning this vineyard, and -especially concerning its
unfiuitfulness, he concludes his parable with these words:
" The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel y
and the men of Judah his pleasant plant ; and he looked
for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness ,
but behold a cry"}

From this passage, it must be very plain to every in-
telligent mind, that by vineyard is here signified and de-
scribed the Lord's church, as to those spiritual and liv-
ing principles which constitute the church ; and there-
fore, when this vineyard became unfruitful, or when those
spiritual principles were perverted and abused, it is said,

* What is here rendered a very fruitful hill, is in the original-
yyp'i* Ifcarp ~whi<;h is literally, In a horn the son of oiL
f Verse. 7.

PLANTING A VINEYARD.- 41

*\ He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for
righteousness, but behold a cry"*

Agreeable to this spiritual sense and signification o
the word vineyard, it is written again in the same pro-
phet, speaking of the pure and uncorrupted church, " In
that day answer ye her, A vineyard of pure wine, I Je-
hovah do keep it, I will water it every moment :' | and
again, speaking of the church in its state of trial and
trouble, " In the vineyards there is no- singing nor rejoic-
ing :v\ and again, speaking of the church perverted and
desolated, " Jehovah will enter into judgment with the
elders, for ye have burned up the vineyard :"§ and again*
in Jeremiah, " Many shepherds have destroyed my vine-
yard; they have made it a wilderness :"jj and agreeable
to the same sense of the word, the Lord calls himself a
vine, saying, " I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman."**

From this spiritual sense and signification then of the
word vineyard, as used in the sacred writings, it will ap-
pear very manifest to every thinking person, what is
meant by planting a vineyard, as ascribed to the house-
holder in the words of my text. The householder, it has
been already shewn, denotes the Lord Jesus Christ as the
supreme head and ruler of his church ; and by his %lan&

■-. 7.
[jap. xxvii. 2, 3.
1 Ciiap. xv i. 10.
\ Chap, iii. 14.
|| Chap; xii. 19.
** Jo;r xv. 1.

E 2

ig THE HOUSEHOLDER

lag a vineyard therefore nothing else can possibly" be
signified or understood, but the implantation of spiritual
truth from him and his word in the church, whereby spiri-
tual good, which is the saving good of holy love and cha-
rity, may be produced and rendered fruitful and ope-
rative.

May i bespeak your most serious attention to this par-
ticular of the parable, according to this its spiritual sense -
and interpretation S

The church of God cannot possibly exist, either gene-
rally or individually, without the knowledge of God, and
the knowledge of God cannot possibly be derived from
any other source than his holy word, as it is written,
The Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh know-
ledge and understanding.

The true vine therefore is the genuine truth of God's
holy word, and the true vineyard are all they who re-
ceive this truth, and suffer it to grow in their hearts, and
bring forth fruit in their lives.

Jesus Christ brought this vine down from heaven,
when the eternal Word was made flesh; and he willed it
to be planted throughout the earth, when he said unto
his apostles, " Go teach all nations, and preach the gospel
io every creature."* From that time it grew and flourish-
ed and became a great tree in the earth, and the men of
he vineyard did eat plentifully of its heavenly fruits,
and were nourished thereby in the wisdom, peace, and
righteousness of an immortal life.

Jesus Christ doeth the same at this day — his Gospel

;r Matt, xxviii.19. Mark xyj. 15.

PLANTING A VINEYARD. 43-

is still the same heavenly vine that it was seventeen hun-
dred years ago — the truth of God cannot change, or be
affected by the vicissitudes of time : wheresoever there-r
fore there is a believing heart, there the heavenly vine is
still planted, and there also it still bringeth forth its hea-
venly, blessed, and eternal fruits.

But do not all Christians alike receive the truth of
God ? Is not the Gospel preached to all ? And are not all
therefore the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, having the
true vine implanted in them, and partaking of its fruits 1

I answer — All Christians alike -receive the knowledge
of God in their understandings , and so far as they do this,
so far the heavenly vine is implanted in them, and they
become in some sense the vineyard of God ; but it doth
not follow from hence that all Christians partake alike
of {he fruits of the vineyard.

We know, from the unerring testimony of the word of
God, that there is the vine of Sodom? as well as the vine
of Sibmah;] — there is the strange vine,^ as well as the
noble vine ;§ — there is also the empty vine ;j| as well as
the fruitful vine ; ** — and therefore, though every one
is in some sense a vineyard of God, as having the hea-
venly vine of the knowledge of God implanted in his
vjnder standing, yet the nature and the fruit of this vine is

* Deut. xxxii. 32,
f Isaiah xvi. 8, 9.
\ Jer. n. 21.
\ Jer. ii. 21.
•| Hosea x. !.
'* Isaiah xisij. 2.

4i THE HOUSEHOLDER

different with all, and will depend altogether upon other
circumstances.

In some .cases this vine may be wholly barren and
without fruit — in other cases it may yield fruit of a poi-
sonous an>l noxious quality, which are the wild and sour
grapes* spuken of by the prophet, and the grapes of
gall t described by Moses — in other cases it may yield
good grapes, from whence is produced that heavenly vine,
of srhich the Lord speaks to his disciples, when he saith,
I will drink no more henceforth of the fruit of the vine, mi-
til that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
m.%

But methinks I hear you ask, What is the cause of
this ili (Terence in the fruits of the vineyard? If the same
f heaven be implanted in all, how comes it to pass
that 't doth not bring forth the same fruit in all, both
in quantity and quality ? Can the vine of Sibmah be
ch anged into the vine of Sodom, or can the choice vine be-
come the strange vine ?

I answer — The nature and fruit of the vine must ever
depend upon the nature of the soil or ground in which it
is implanted, and upon the culture thereof — or to speak
plainly, and without a metaphor, the knowledge of God and
his truth, implanted in man's understanding , will always
take its quality and fruitfuJness from the love of God and
Ms goodness, as operative in man's will and in his life,

<*
* Isaiah v. 4 Ezeb. xviii.,2,
f Deat. xxxii. 32.
- tyatt. xxvi. 29,

PLANTING A VINEYARD. 45

The knowledge of God without the love of God is
totally barren, and can produce no fruit — the love of
God is the only soil in which the truth of God can pos-
sibly grow and flourish — •" If a man love me," saith the
blessed Jesus, " he will keep my words :"* the reason is,
the love of Jesus delights in the words of Jesus, and
therefore cherisheth and keepeth them ; but if this love
be wanting, there is then nothing left by which the words
or truth of Jesus can be kept ; the consequence is, they
become barren, and unfruitful, and dead.

Here then we may see a reason why the choice vine
may become a strange vine, and instead of bringing forth
good grapes, may bring forth wild grapes. If the know-
ledge of God be not cherished by the love of God ; or in
other words, if the manifestation of the truth of God in
man's understanding, be not cherished by the desire of
heavenly good in his will, the consequence must certain-
ly be, that the knowledge and the truth will be perverted
and corrupted through the natural evils predominant in the
mind. In this case there will either be no fruitfulness at
all, or a fruitfulness in much evil and iniquity, as it is
expressed in the prophet, " He looked for judgment, but
behold oppression ; for righteousness, but behold a cry."t
and thus the noble vine will be turned into a strange vine,
as it is written in another prophet, " I had planted thee
a noble vine, wholly a right seed ; how then art thou
turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto
weY'J

* John xiv. 23.
f Isaiah v. 7,
+ Jer. ii. Zf.j

4G THE HOUSEHOLDER

To conclude. What hath been now said, beloved r
demands your most serious consideration as Christians,,
and as men. In each of you hath been planted, by the
great householder, the heavenly vine of evangelical truth
and knowledge.

Your hearts are the respective vineyards in which this
plant of heaven and immortality was intended to grow,
and bring forth its blessed fruits, that you may eat
thereof, and live for ever.

You have no one concern either in time orin eternity,,
which will admit of the smallest comparison with that
which respects this vine.

If f flourishes am! bears its proper fruit, all then will
go well with /ou ; you will feed upon that fruit; you
nourished by it in your inner man, with all the
graces and virtues of an heavenly and everlasting life,
the great h ft will bless it to you with his contin-

! ; and in the language of the inspired pen-r
man, -; irour threshing shall reach to the vintage, and
the vintage shall reach to the sowing time."*

The contrary, however, must come to pass, if this,
your heavenly vine,, doth not flourish — in this case your
spiritual life must perish with thai which can alone sup-
port it ; if your vine becomes a dead branch, ye will
become dead branches also, and in you will be fulfilled
that terrible prophecy of old, " 1 hey shall also build
houses, but not i ihabit them ; and they shall plant vine"
yards, but not drink the wine thereof."!

f Zeph. i. 13.,

PLANTING A VINEYARD. 47

*But you ask, How then shall we so live, that our vine
may flourish, and not die?

Infinitely important as the question is, it has been al-
ready answered in what was observed above. Live so,
that your knowledge of God may not be left destitute of
the life and the love of God. To the truths of the Gos-
pel which you have received, join the devout practice
thereof, that so the evangelical powers and sanctities ma-
nifested in your understandings, may influence also your
■wills and your actions. For this purpose take heed of
resting your salvation on mere thought or belief alone^
independent of work. Remember, that it is the supreme
love or ruling desire, which constitutes the man, and eve-
ry man is, m the sight of God, what he principally loves
or desires to be. If then you are wise to join holy love to
holy knowledge, and heavenly desires and doings to heaven-
ly thoughts — -if you are wisa to live the life of Christ, as
well as to understand the doctrine of Christ, your vine
will then assuredly live and flourish ; " the hills shall be
covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof
shall be like the goodly cedar trees ;"* it shall give its
fruit, and its fruit shall nourish in you that everlasting
life of righteousness, joy, and peace, which the great
householder implanteth and supporteth in all those who
cultivate his vineyard by keeping his commandments.

AMEN,

* .Psalm ljax. 10;

©N THE

HEDGE ROUND THE VINEYARD,

AS DENOTING A DISTINCTION OF PRINCIPLES IN THE
REGENERATE LIFE.

SERMON VL

Matt. xxi. 39.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it
round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and
built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and
went into afar country*

IN the two preceding discourses I have endeavoured to
shew what we are here to understand by a certain house-
holder, and what by his planting a vineyard ; I shall now
proceed to shew further what is the lesson of instruction
intended for us in these words. He hedged it roimcl
about,

F

5© THE HOUSEHOLDER.

That the hedge here spoken of has a spiritual signifi-
cation, must be very plain to every intelligent mind, not
only on account of its reference in this place to a spir-
itual vineyard, which is the Lord's church, but also be-
cause it is frequently applied in such a spiritual sense in
other parts of the sacred scriptures.

Thus saith the Lord in Isaiah, speaking of the church,
which through evil of life was become desolate, / will
take away the hedge thereof,* denoting its entire de-
struction. Thus also in Ezekiel, speaking of lying or
foolish prophets, the Lord saith, Ye have not gone up
into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the. house or
Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord ;|
where it must be very manifest that hedge was a spir-
itual signification, because applied to the house of Israel,
which is the Lord's church. So again, speaking of the
scarcity of goodness and truth in the church, the Lord
Saith, / sought for a man among them that should make up
the hedge, and stand in the gap before me, for the land,
that I should not destroy it; but I found none.%

From these, and many other similar passages in the
sacred scriptures, where mention is made of hedges, it
must be very evident that somewhat spiritual relating to
the Lord's kingdom, or church, is intended to be ex-
pressed thereby.

* Isaiah v. 5.
f Ezek. xiii. 5.
j Ezek. x%u. 8&.

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 51

What that spiritual somewhat is, which is signified and
expressed by hedges, will appear very plain to the most
ordinary understanding, from the consideration of a na-
tural hedge, its end and use.

Every one knows that a natural hedge has two uses ;
Jt is intended as a boundary of distinction or separation,
and it is intended also as a boundary of defence and
security.

This is the case also with the spiritual hedge, with
which the vineyard or church of the great householder
is encompassed. It is principally for these two pur-
poses, first, for distinction or separation, and 2dly, for
defence or security.

I propose to consider the spiritual hedge, under both
these views, and 1st, as it serves for distinction or sepa-

n in the heavenly vineyard.

II has been al i n h in speaking oi
householder and of his household the ehurch, how all
mankind are divided into two great families, one con-
sisting of those who fear and serve God in heart and
life, the sfket of those who do not fear and serve God at
all, but only in words -and m gt^l-V8'

The spiritual hedge, in the most general sense of it, is*
what divides or separates between these two families,
thus distinguishing between the Lord's vineyard and
what is not the vineyard, so that they may be clearly
known and discerned, the one from the other.

This hedge of distinction and separation is known
only unto God, and not at all unto man. The reason is,
because i\ relates only to the spirits of men, or to the

52 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

internal man, and not so much to the natural or external
man, and God alone is acquainted with the state of men's
spirits, or of their internal man, according as it is writ-
ten, / know my sheep.

As to the external man, the hedge of distinction in the
heavenly vineyard is not so manifest. The true mem-
bers of the Lord's living body, the church, appear out'
wardly like those who are not of the church ; they are
engaged in the same outward callings and professions ;
they have the same bodily wants and necessities to pro-
vide for ; they join in the same forms and ordinances of
external worship.

In like manner they who are not of the church, ap-
pear outwardly like those who are of the church ; they as-
semble together in the same place to adore the same
God ; they assume the same external appearances of re-
verence and devotion ; they join in the same prayers,
read the same holy scriptures, partake of the same sacra-
ments, and repeat the same professions of belief in one
eternal God.

Bui notwithstanding this want of distinction and dis-
crimination in externals, between those who are not of
the church, and those who are of the church ; notwith-
standing the wolf may assume the sheep's clothing, and the
sheep may be outwardly associated with the wolf, so
that they cannot be known asunder by man ; yet, in the
sight of God, and according to the eternal distinctions
of the spiritual mind in regard to God and his kingdom,
the hedge of discrimination in the heavenly vineyard is

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 5o

drawn so clearly and precisely, that the boundary can
never be mistaken.

The Lord, it is therefore written, knoweth the way of
the righteous.* " He discerneth between the right-
eous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God, ar.d him that serveth him not/'t His all-pierc-
ing eye is fixed perpetually upon man's internal
mind ; he looketh, not so much at the external act, as at
the intention in which it originates ; he sees the objects
in which man's affections centre, and he judges of him
accordingly ; he doth not so much regard words,1* verbal
professions, external forms and ceremonies, bodily gestures,
and such like outward semblances of devotion, for all
these things, he knows, may be nothing more than the
"whitening of the sepulchre, or like the fruit of the true
vine artificially tied on the thorn and bramble ; but what
God principally regards at all times is the heart of man,
or in other words, his ruling love, his fixed and deliberate
principle of thought and action, the great end of life,
whether temporal or eternal, which he hath chosen for
himself. When man therefore offers up prayers and
praises, God iooketh how muoh there is of life and love
in those things ; when man reads or hears the holy
scriptures, God notes his secret purpose in so doing, and
how his will is affected thereby ; when man repeats pro-
fessions of faith, God's eye is upon the real persuasion
oi his understanding in those professions. Thus it

* Psalm i. 6.

f Mai. iii. 18.

F 2

^4 THE HOUSEHOLDER,

is thai the divine householder separates between the
pure and the vile, between the clean and the unclean,
and draws a hedge of manifest and eternal distinction
round about his vineyard.

But there is yet another sense in which the hedge of
the spiritual vineyard may be understood, as a boundary
of separation and distinction, to which I could wish to-
turn your present attention, because of its peculiarly edi-
ting importance.

The sense I mean is in regard to every individual
■man, considered as an individual church or vineyard of
Ihe Lord.

It has been already shewn, in speaking of the vine-
yard planted by the great householder, that every rege-
nerate man becomes a church or household of God in
particular, answering in all respects to the 'church or
household of God in general.

Of consequence, as in the general vineyard there is
a hedge of distinction and separation, so it is also in the
particular vineyard; and every real member of the
church, whether he is aware of it or not, must of neces-
sity, as being an individual vineyard of the great house-
holder, be encompassed by such a hedge.

Possibly, beloved, you may never have before con-
sidered this subject, nor have thought about this spiritual
hedge in your own minds. It is time then that you
should now consider it, because, as being an eternal truth
declared in the word of God, is must needs be infinitely
interesting and instructive to you, as to your eternal
concerns.

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 55

Know then, and be forever persuaded, that if you are
vineyards of the Lord in particular, or, in other words,
if you have received his word of eternal life into your
hearts and understandings, your minds are in this case
encompassed with an eternal hedge of separation and
distinction , whereby you are manifestly and everlasting-
ly discriminated from those who are not of the vine-
yard.

By virtue of this hedge, the mark of the eternal God
is in your foreheads , and you are sealed to be his for eter-
nity. You are the blessed sheep of his heavenly fold,
and are for ever separated from those who are not his
sheep. " They are not of the world," saith the Lord
of the vineyard of his true disciples, " even as I am not
of the world."* Thus also he saith of you, " Ye are not
of the world." Ye are separated from its vanities and
vices, from its delusive pleasures, and fleeting uncer-
tainties, from the dazzling splendour of its enchanting
glory, and the no less dangerous fear of its frowns and
reproaches. And ye are born into another kingdom, ye
belong to another family, ye are the members of ano-
ther household, ye have higher ends of life, more blessed
hopes and expectations, than this world can supply you
with. As to your outward man, ye must indeed still for
a time remain and act in the world, and for a time ap-
pear like those who are not of the vineyard ; but as to
your internal man, ye are chosen out of the world, ye are
encompassed within the hedge of my vineyard ; I know

• JoUn zvii. 1$.

60 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

you to be my own, and will preserve you as a sepa-
rate and distinct people.

But this is not the only sense, in which, as being
vineyards of the great householder in particular, you
are encompassed individually with the spiritual hedge
of separation and distinction. There is yet another
sense, and this is an infinitely instructive one, in which,
according to the words in my text, you may be thus said
to be hedged round about.

If the Word of God had its right and full effect upon
your minds and lives, you must needs have perceived
somewhat of this separation and distinction effected in
yourselves. As for example; you were once merely
natural men, and had only natural minds, whilst you
wTere seeking natural things alone, and loving this world
more than God and heaven; but now, if you have re-
ceived the Word of God, and are thereby become his
vineyard, ye are become nezv and spiritual men, and
have your spiritual mind opened and formed, and are
desiring and seeking after spiritual things.

I say, then, in this case, ye must have perceived in
yourselves somewhat of distinction and separation. Ye
must have seen how the new man in yourselves is dis-
tinct from the old man. Ye must have observed the
boundaries of each principle: ye must have discrimi-
nated between them, marking their essential differences
and disagreements : ye must have noted how they are
contrary, the one to the other ; how the one delights in
wisdom, the other in folly; how the one loves God

THE HOUSEHOLDER* 57

and its neighbour, the other only itself and the world;
how the one is an heir of salvation and eternal life, the
other of condemnation and eternal misery. Thus ye
must have seen and perceived the hedge of separation
and distinction in your vineyard, between the new mind
and the old, between the clean and the unclean, between
,{ the man of God, thoroughly furnished unto every
good work," and " the man of sin, who opposeth and
exalteth himself above alJ that is called God, or that is
worshipped."

I could now proceed to point out further boundaries
af distinction and separation, which take place and form
a hedge in the vineyard of the great householder, both
generally and individually ; but leaving these to be the
subject of your own meditation, I shall conclude my
present discourse with a few remarks on what has been
already said.

And, 1st, If all mankind be divided into two great
families, of which one is the Lord's vineyard, and the
other is not the vineyard ; and if these two families be
totally distinct and separate from each other, being
divided by an eternal hedge or boundary ; how careful
and concerned ought we to be, to which of these two
families we belong ! How anxiously, how scrupulously
ought we to examine and consider with ourselves, on
which side of the hedge we stand ; whether on the side
within the vineyard, or on the side without the vineyard,
from a firm and full conviction, that o.ir state in eternity
will depend upon the sincerity of such examination and
consideration!

58 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

And, 2dly, If, as vineyards of the Lord in particu-
lar, we are each of us encompassed individually with
a hedge of distinction and separation in our own minds,
whereby we are not only divided from the world, but
are also divided from ourselves, having the principles
of our own minds separated and discriminated, the one
from the other ; if this, I say, be the case, (and the
Word of God assures us that it is,) how ought we then
to be continually looking at this eternal hedge in our-
selves ! How ou£ht we to examine it, lest at any time
it should be broken down, and our vineyard laid W3ste !
How anxiously ought we to pray and labour, that it may
be preserved entire, and if at any time it be broken, that
it may be quickly and effectually repaired !

Without a hedge, it is most certain, there can be no
vineyard, and without distinction and separation there
can be no church. Whensoever the people of God be-
come mixed and confounded with those who are of the
world, they will soon cease to be the people of God.
It is so likewise in an individual sense. No one can
possibly be a living member of Christ, unless he dis-
tinguishes in himself, between what is of Christ, and
what is not of Christ, and sees clearly this distinctionc
This is the great and sole difference between the mere
natural man and the spiritual; the natural man makes
no such discrimination of principles in himself, and
therefore remains a natural man; but the spiritual man
both makes the discrimination, and notes it well when
he has made it.

THE HOUSEHOLDER. 59

May the God of eternal mercy, the great house-
holder, give us all grace to act herein according to the
dictates of his own eternal wisdom, that so we may con-
tinually rejoice, not only in seeing and confessing that
we are the vineyard of his planting, but also that he
hath hedged it round about ! AMEN.

0N

THE HEDGE

ROUND ABOUT THE VINEYARD,

AS DENOTING SPIRITUAL DEFENCE.

SERMON VII,

Matt. xxi. 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it
round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and
built a tozver, and let it out to husbandmen, and
zoent into a far country.

IT has been already shewn what we are here to under-
stand by a certain householder ; what by his planting a
vineyard ; and what by his hedging it round about.

The householder is the Lord ; the vineyard is his
church; and the hedge with which it is encompassed, is

•hat boundary of separation and defence, whereby the,
G

62 THE HOUSEHOLDER

vineyard is distinguished from what is not the vineyard,
and, inconsequence of such distinction, is protected and
secured.

It has been already shewn further, in what way and
manner the hedge about the vineyard is a boundary of
separation and distinction. It remains now to be consi-
dered in what way and manner it is a boundary of de-
fence and protection.

The subject, it must be confessed, is of the utmost
importance, and will be regarded as such by every think-
ing mind ; and yet, perhaps, there is no subject which
is in general so little attended to, even by those very
persons who are most interested in the consideration
of it.

Every one may see, that without defence, the church
of God, whether regarded generally or individually, must
needs perish. Where there is no protection, there can
be no salvation.. The enemies of the church are conti-
nually active to destroy, and they will destroy, if they be
not guarded against. Can a city stand in the siege, with-
Guiw&Us ? Or can a vineyard be secure without a hedge ?
No more can the church withstand its various adversa-
ries without the means of withstanding them.

But though all this be seen clearly, and is obvious to
the most ordinary understanding; yet few comparative-
ly, even of those perhaps who are within the church, con-
sider aright wherein its defence consisteth. They confess
that it cannot stand without protection ; but they do not
know, so as to apprehend distinctly, what is the nature
of thai protection. Some satisfy themselves with think-

THE HEDGE. 63

jng and saying, that this protection is of the divine provi-
dence, and that God himself is the defence of his church.
But such persons do not perhaps consider, that the divine
providence never operates but in and according to divine
order, and that God himself never acts but by and through
appointed means of acting.

It is true indeed, and must be eternally true, that
without God and his providence, the church cannot be
protected ; no, not for a moment : but it is equally and
alike true, that God and his providence cannot protect
the church without the means of protection. For, let me
ask, what is the reason why any churches, since the
foundation of the world, have grown corrupt, and perish-
ed, a9 we know hath been the case with many ? What
brought destruction formerly upon the church at Jerusa-
lem, the church at Alexandria, the church at Jlntioch, and
others. God and his providence, we may be very sure,
must have been operative to the uttermost, to prevent
such destruction ; and could the divine operation alonz
have been effectual, not a single church would have suf-
fered injury. The real cause, then, of the ruin of these
churches was, not because they wanted the protection of
God and his providence, but because they were left
without those means of defence, that hedge of the spiri-
tual vineyard, without which God and his providence
could not defenda

But to bring this matter nearer to ourselves. It has
been already shewn, in speaking of the spiritual vine-
yard, that every individual person, who receives the
truth of God, and his word, in his heart and understand-

64 THE HOUSEHOLDER

ing, is an individual church, and may be considered as
such. But Jet me ask now, What is the reason why
some of these individual churches fall to decay, and come
to destruction, whilst others stand firm and secure ? —
What is the reason why one man yields to temptation,
and another does not yield to it ; why one is overcome of
tvU, and another overcomes it ; why some have power
and strength to have victory, and to triumph against the
devil, the world, and the flesh, whilst others are so weak
and powerless, that, instead of spiritual victory and tri-
umph, they are the continual subjects of spiritual capti-
vity and imprisonment ? — God and his providence are
alike watchful over all, and willing to protect all ; and
therefore the cause of the difference in the above cases
cannot be imputed to God : it must then be imputed
solely to this — that some men are provided with the
means of spiritual defence, whilst others are not provided
with them.

From these considerations, a question of infinite mag-
nitude will naturally arise in the mind of every serious
person, who has any real concern about his eternal well-
being, viz. What are the true means of spiritual protec-
tion and defence ; and how may we so order our lives
and conversations as to acquire those means ?

Weighty as this question is, it has its full and com-
plete answer in the words of my text, well understood,
respecting the hedge of the sjnritual vineyard, as I shall
now proceed briefly to shew.

It has been already seen, how, by the hedge of the
,-piritual vineyard is meant a boundary of separation and

THE HEDGE. 65

distinction, to divide it from that which is not the vine-
yard.

This boundary of separation and distinction, whether
considered generally or individually, implies, that the
church notes and marks well in itself, the distinct quali-
ties of good and evil — that it discriminates carefully be-
tween what is of God, and what is not of God — that it
separates, with the nicest discernment, between the clean
and the unclean, between the precious and the vile —
that, in short, it ascertains and establishes in itself,
the eternal limits of the kingdom of heaven, as founded
in the eternal laws of justice and judgment, goodness
and truth ; and the eternal limits also of the opposite
kingdom of darkness, as founded in all the ignorance, er-
ror, and mischief of unsanctiried thoughts and impure af-
fections.

Behold here, then, the true and the only means of the
church's defence and protection, whether it be regarded
in a general or in a particular view !

It is to keep it hedged about with this hedge of eternal
separation and distinction, that so it may not be mixed
and confounded with that which is not the church, but be
kept at all times in the most perfect state of distinction
and discrimination.

You are surprised to hear, that separation and distinc-
tion can be any cause and means of spiritual defence and
protection. It is necessary, then, that I be a little more
particular in explaining myself.

Know, then, and be fully assured, from the authority
of the word of God, that there is but one cauge or ground
G2

66 THE HOUSEHOLDER

of all spiritual weakness and infirmity, and that is, an
evil love and an evil life ; or, in other words, evil and
corrupt affections, joined to foolish and unwise thoughts,
which have no higher origin, and regard no higher end,
than the world and the flesh.

On the other hand, know, and be alike fully assured,
from the same high authority, that there is but one cause
or ground of all spiritual strength and stability, and that
is, a righteous love and a righteous life ; or, in other
words, righteous and pure affections, joined to all heaven-
ly knowledge and truth, which have both their origin
and their end in the eternal God, the Father of the spi-
rits of all flesh.

If you examine the subject ever so attentively, and
with ever so deep a reach of thought and understanding,
you will never be able to discover any other source or
cause of spiritual weakness and of spiritual strength, than
the above.

Here, then, you may see clearly, if you are so dis-
posed, the truth of what was just now asserted, that spi-
ritual separation and distinction are the sure and only
means of spiritual defence and protection.

For separation and distinction alone tend to remove
all evil love, all impure affections, all foolish thoughts,
and thereby all spiritual infirmity. On the other hand,
they tend to exalt and to establish all holy love, all hea-
venly affections, all wise and sanctified thoughts, and
thereby all spiritual strength and stability.

If you inquire, therefore, what is the true cause why
any church, at any time, has become weak, and has thus

THE HEDGE. 67

perished for want of defence, you will never be able to
discover any other than this : — It has not attained to, and
preserved due separation and distinction — it has not been
careful to keep its spiritual principles of life and love
unmixed and unconfused — it has suffered the earthy and
worldly principles to enter in and defile the heavenly —
it has let the selfish and carnal affections of an unholy
love pollute the celestial and spiritual affections of the
love of God. Impurity hath thus been mingled with
purity, folly with wisdom, earth with heaven, weakness
with strength, darkness with light, death with life. —
There has been no discrimination, no separation, no pu-
rification ; of consequence, there could be no defence j
and the spiritual vineyard being thus left without a hedge,
it must needs follow, that " all they that go by would
pluck off her grapes : the wild boar out of the wood
would root it up, and the wild beasts of the field de-
vour it.'"*

On the other hand, if you inquire. what is the true
cause why any church, whether in a general or indivi-
dual sense, has at any time prospered, and been defend-
ed and protected against its spiritual foes, you will never
be able to discover any other than this : — It has attained
to, and maintained, due separation and distinction of spi-
ritual principles in itself — it has " set to each its bounds,
that it cannot pass" — it has divided, with exact discrimi-
nation, between the heavenly and the earthy, the spiri-
tual and the natural, the wise and the unwise, the living

* Psalm Ixxx. 12, 13.

68 THE HOUSEHOLDER

and the dead — it hath not suffered in itself any abomina-
ble mixtures of the pure and impure ; but noting all its
affections and thoughts, what is their distinct nature, ori-
gin, and end, and arranging them accordingly, it has
brought them all into the subordination of order. Thus
it has provided for itself an eternal hedge of defence and
protection ; whereby it is made that blessed church, of
which it is written, " The gates of hell shall not prevail
against it."* ■

To conclude. Do you wish, beloved, (1 address you
as a church in general, and also each as a church in par-
ticular ;) do you wish that your spiritual vineyard should
be ever secure and protected, and thereby bring forth its
proper fruits of eternal peace and comfort in your own
minds ? Remember then well, whence true protection
cometh, that it is from the great almighty Redeemer
alone, through the means of spiritual separation and dis-
tinction I Remember also, that in all mixture there is
weakness ; in all confusion there is infirmity. Nothing
causeth strength but arrangement and order ; and arrange-
ment and order cannot have place without previous sepa-
ration and discrimination. Begin then with noting well
the several principles of life and love in yourselves, ac-
cording to the light which is given you from above. And
when you have well noted and marked them, so as to
know each distinctly from the other, then give to each
its proper place and arrangement.' Let the love of God
and of your neighbour be above all, and distinct from

* Matt. xvi. 18.

THE HEDGE. 69

all. Let every other love administer and be subordinate
thereto. Observe the same regulation as to your know-
ledges. Let the knowledge of God be accounted dis-
tinct from, and more excellent than every other know-
ledge ; and take heed that every other knowledge be
kept in a state of inferiority and subjection thereto.
Worldly knowledge will not hurt you, nor worldly affec-
tion, only so far as you suffer them to mix themselves
with heavenly knowledge and heavenly affection. If
they so mix themselves, you are undone ; your Spiritual
life must perish in the mixture, as a vineyard without a
hedge. But if you are wise to keep them unmixed, so
as always to distinguish them asunder, and to set the
heavenly above the earthy, the spiritual above the natu-
ral, the pure above the impure ; all then will go well
with you, and your vinexjard will be preserved and
flourish.

Remember, then, the hedge of the spiritual vineyard,
and you will then always dwell safely under the divine
protection, and be enabled to sing continually that blessed
song, " The Lord is my light and my salvation : whom
then shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life :
of whom then shall I be afraid ?"* AMEN-

* Psalm xxvii. L

ON THE

SPIRITUAL WINE-PRESS,

AS DENOTING AN EXAMINATION OF THE MOTIVES WHICH
GIVE BIRTH TO ACTIONS.

SERMON VIII.

Matt. xxi. 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-

% holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it

round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and

built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and

went into a far country,

IT has been already considered, what is here meant by
a certain householder, what by the vineyard he planted,
and what by the hedge with which he hedged it round
about. I shall now proceed to shew further, the edify-
ing lesson of wisdom and instruction intended for us in
the next operation ascribed to the householder, respect-
_ ing his vineyard; where it is said, He " digged a wine-
press in it.

72 THE HOUSEHOLDER

That the winepress here spoken of, as well as the hedge
already explained, hath a spiritual signification, and is
to be understood spiritually, is very plain, not only from
its relation to the vineyard, whereby is meant the Lord's
spiritual church, but also because it is spiritually applied
in other parts of the sacred scriptures.

Thus, in Isaiah, speaking of the church which the
Lord had planted, it is written, " My well-beloved hath
a vineyard in a very fruitful hill ; and he planted it with
the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it,
and also made a wine-press therein."* Thus also in Joel,
speaking of the church which was overflowed with wick-
edness, " Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe :
get ye down, for the press is full, the vats overflow, for
their wickedness is great."! So again, in the prophet
Hosea, speaking of the church which was become deso-
late, " The floor and the wine-press shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall deceive them. "J Lastly, in Je-
remiah, describing the church's destruction through the
prevalence of evil and of false doctrines, " The spoiler
is fallen upon thy vintage : I have caused wine to fail
from the wine-presses; none shall tread with shouting ;
their shouting shall be no shouting."§

In all the above passages, it must be very plain to
every thinking mind, that by wine-press, somewhat spiri-
tual, relating to the Lord's spiritual church, is intended

* Isaiah v. 1, 2.
f Joel iii. 13.
\ Hosea ix. 1, 2.
\ Jer. xlviii. 32, 33.

THE WINE-PRESS. 73

to be expressed ; otherwise, how could it ever have
been mentioned in the word of God, which can only-
treat of things spiritual and divine ?

But though the reason of every serious mind may
see evidently, that somewhat spiritual must needs be
signified by a wine-press, whensoever mention is made
of it in the Word of God ; yet it will not, perhaps, be
so easy to see what that spiritual somewhat is, which is
signified. None can see this, but they who well con-
sider the subject in their own minds ; and none will
well consider the subject, but they who, from a sense
of the infinite importance of the things of God, are led
continually to say, with the holy man of old, " Teach
me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep
it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall
keep thy law ; -yea, I shall keep it with my whole
heart."*

Howbeit, since it is of the utmost importance that
the Word of God should be clearly seen and under-
stood ; and since I am fully persuaded, beloved, there
are many amongst you, who are desirous to see and un-
derstand it, that so you may profit by it in your lives,
and attain unto the blessedness and purity of that wis-
dom which is from above; I shall gladly endeavour, in
my following discourse, to open to your view the true
-ense and signification of the wine-press spoken of in
my text, and thereby lead you to all that spiritual in-
struction and edification which the word was intended
to convey.

v Psalffl cxis. 33, 34,

H

74 THE HOUSEHOLDER

Every one can see what is the use of a natural
wine-press, and from hence the serious and thoughtful
mind will at once clearly discover what is meant by
the spiritual wine-press.

The natural wine-press, we know, is necessary to-
separate the juice of the grape from its grosser and
more impure parts. Hence the true nature and quality
of the grape is discovered and made known. Hence
also wine is produced, which is a substance altogether
different from the grape itself. Thus by means of the
wine-press we are enabled to discern and to distinguish
the good grape from the evil grape, the sweet from
the sour, the ripe from the unripe, which were not
before distinguishable. And thus also we are further
enabled to procure a liquor of excellent and extraordi-
nary quality, and of singular use to the life of man, if
it be properly and moderately applied.

Beloved, let not nature, or rather the God of nature,
give us instruction in vain. Let us hearken to the
voice of the wine-press. Let us ponder the lessons
of the eternal wisdom which it teacheth, that we also
may be wise and live.

Who cannot see, if he be so disposed, from the use
of the natural wine-press, what is meant by the spi-
ritual wine -press? Who cannot discern, that the spiri-
tual wine-press is nothing else but serious consideration
and careful examination of our works in the sight of
God, and by the light of his Word, that so we may
discover their real and true quality, whether they are
apod or ovil ?

THE WINE-PRESS. 75

Let me bespeak your most earnest attention to
this meaning and use of the spiritual wine-press.

It has been already abundantly shewn, that by
the vineyard is meant the church, both generally and
individually. The fruits of the vineyard then, or
grapes, must needs mean the works of the church, or,
what is the same thing, the works of those who consti-
tute the church. But the fruits of the vineyard may
be of divers qualities. They may be sweet and pure
grapes, or they may be sour and wild grapes ; and
no one can distinguish from their outward appear-
ance what is their quality, whether they be sweet
and pure, or whether they be sour and wild.

It is the same with man's works — they also are of
different qualities — some men do good works, which
are really good in the sight of God ; — others do works
which appear like good works outwardly, but are not
so inwardly — they are good in the sight of men, but
they are not good in the sight of God : and therefore
it is written of these works, " I have not found thy
works perfect before God."*

But how now shall we know the difference between
a work which is really and inwardly good in the sight
of God, and a work which is only outwardly good in
the sight of men ?

The question is of infinite concern to all who are
seeking salvation and eternal life, inasmuch as salva-
tion and eternal life can belong only to those whose
works are good in the sight of God.

Rev.

76 THE HOUSEHOLDER

Howbeit, the answer to the question is plain — Bring
your works to the spiritual wine-press, as you bring
your grapes to the natural wine-press. The natural
wine-press, you know, separates the pure juice of the
grape from its grosser parts, and thereby discovers its
(rue quality- Even so the spiritual wine-press of seri-
ous consideration and attentive examination of your
works will separate the spirit of them from their exter-
nal appearances, and will thus soon discover to you
what is their inward quality, whether they are good,
or not good, in the sight of God.

This is what the Lord meant when he said, " Every
one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither Cometh to
the light, lest his deeds should be reproved ; but he
that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may
be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."*

Beloved, you are every day doing some kind of
works, or bringing forth some kind of fruit in your spi-
ritual vineyard. These works, or this fruit, must be
either good or evil ; they must therefore either be such
as will save you, or such as will condemn you ; they
must be either bringing you nearer towards God and
heaven, or separating you further from God and hea-
ven.

But have you ever been at the pains to discover the
internal nature and quality of these your works ? Have
you ever, for this purpose, brought them to the spiritual
wine-press? Do you know thereby whether your
works be of God, and wrought in God, or of your-

* John iii. 20, 2 1.

THE WINE-PRESS. 77

selves, and wrought in yourselves, without God ? Do
you discern what is within in your works, what spirit it
is, whether it be the spirit of heaven, or the spirit of
hell ; whether it be light or darkness, good or evil, life
or death ?

If you have not as yet made any such examination
of your works, nor any such discovery of their inter-
nal spirit, wo then be unto you ! for ye have every
reason in the world to suppose, in this case, that your
works are inwardly evil, howsoever they may appear
outwardly good. At least ye must needs be in igno-
rance of their quality, and of consequence cannot
know but ye may be hatching cockatrice eggs, and wea-
ving the spider's web, of which it is written, " He that
eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed,
breaketh out into a viper."* For without serious exami-
nation, how is it possible you should tell whether the
viper be in your works or not ? how can you discern
whether your grapes be of the vine of Sibmah, or of
the vine of Sodom ? whether they be of the clusters of
Eshcol, or grapes of gall, whose clusters are bitter ?

But widely different will be the case with you, if ye
are wise to dig the wine-press in your spiritual vine-
yard, and to use it according to the blessed purposes
for which it was intended. In this case you will at
all times be enabled to see and know the true quality
of your works, and what is in them. Whilst by seri-
ous examination you bring them to the light, that you
may know of a truth whether they are wrought in God
or not, God will assuredly manifest to you their inter ^

* Isaiah lix. 5.

H 2

78 THE HOUSEHOLDER

nal spirit. You will know thus of a certainty what :
in them, whether the lamb or the viper, the dove or
the owl, the angel of heaven, or the spirit of darkness.
You will no longer mistake the sour grape for the sweet
grape, the pure for the wild, but will discern clearly,
to your unspeakable jo}- , what fruit your vine yield-
eth.

But this is not all : — by means of the natural wine-
press, it has been shewn, there is produced wine,
which is a substance totally distinct from the grape,
and of which it is written, " that it maketh glad the
heart of man."* This extraordinary effect is not con-
fined to the natural winepress ; it belongs, in a super-
eminent sense, to the spiritual wine-press also. Make
but the experiment, and you will be convinced, to your
unspeakable joy, of the truth of this observation.
Bring all your deeds to the light, by serious explora-
tion and examination, that they may be made manifest
that they are wrought in God. In this case, you will
find a separation will be effected between the mere ex-
ternal work, and the internal spirit or principle from
whence it proceeds. This internal spirit or principle,
thus discovered, is the spiritual wine produced from
your grapes, which will indeed make glad your hearts ;
for who will not be made glad of heart by the disco-
very, that his works are wrought in God? who will
not rejoice to see that his vine thus bringeth forth good
grapes ? Thus all your works will bring their blessing
with tbem, because from all your works, thus explored

k Psalm civ. l&

THE WINE-PRESS. 79

and examined in the sight of God, you will be ena-
bled to extract from your spiritual drinking and nour-
ishment that heavenly wine, of which it is written,
" Ephraim shall be like a mighty one, and their heart
shall rejoice as through wine : yea, their children
shall see and be glad ; and their heart shall rejoice in
die Lord,"* AMEN.

* Zech. k. 7.

ON THE

SPIRITUAL TOWER,

AS DENOTING THE ELEVATION OF TRUTH^ AND THE
PROTECTION THENCE DERIVED.

SERMON IX.

Malt. xxi. 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged
it round about, and digged a wine-press in itT
and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen,
and went into a far country.

IN the foregoing discourses it has been shewn what
is here to be understood by a certain householder,
what by the vineyard which he planted, what by his
hedging it round about, and what by iiis digging a wine-
press in it.

I shall now proceed, as was before in tended,' to the
consideration of tbe next particular respecting this

32 THE HOUSEHOLDER

vineyard, viz. the building a tower in it, and endea-
vour to lay open the lesson of heavenly wisdom and
instruction which this circumstance involves.

It has been already shewn, that the whole of this
parable, together with all its parts, hath a spiritual
signification, in which it has reference to the Lord and
his church, both generally and individually. This is
ihe case also in respect to the lower, which is here
said to be built in the vineyard by the householder.
Like the hedge and the wine-press before spoken of,
it hath likewise a spiritual sense and meaning ; and
unless it be understood accordingly, it is impossible
to see any reason why the building thereof should be
recorded in this divine and instructive parable.

Much mention is made of towers in other parts of
the sacred writings, by which it may plainly appear,
to every considerate mind, that somewhat spiritual, re-
lating to God and his kingdom, is implied therein.

Thus the psalmist saith, " The Lord is my rock
and my fortress, and my deliverer ; my buckler, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower ;"* where
the word tower cannot possibly be understood in a na-
tural, but in a spiritual sense. Again, it is written in
Isaiah, speaking of the effects of the Lord's coming,
" The day of the Lord shall be upon every high tow-
er :"t where it must be manifest, that by tower is
meant something spiritual respecting the Lord's church,
inasmuch as no other tower could possibly be affected

* Psalm xviii. 2.
f Isaiah ii. 15.

THE TOWER, 33

by the Lord's coming. This is expressed still more
fully and strongly in Micah, speaking of the blessings
which would flow -to the church from the Lord's ap-
pearing, where it is said, " And thou, O tower of the
flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto
thee shall it come, even the first dominion ;"* where it
must be very evident, that by tower of the flock some-
what spiritual, relating to the Lord's church and king-
dom, must needs be expressed and described. Several
other passages might, if needful, be adduced from the
sacred scriptures, where the word tower is used accord-
ing to a spiritual sense and signification ; but the above
will, I trust, be sufficient to prove, that the word, as
applied in the parable under consideration, is to be in-
terpreted spiritually, and not naturally.

What the word tower implies in a spiritual sense,
can only be discovered from considering the use and
design of a natural tower. This use and design is
twofold ; the natural tower is both for observation and
for defence : by its height it gives an opportunity of
taking a large and comprehensive view of the country
around, and thereby of discovering the approach of an
enemy ; and by it* strength it affords protection and se-
curity against an enemy when he approaches.

This is precisely the case with the spiritual tower,
only with this difference, that the spiritual tower is for
spiritual observation and defence ; enabling its inhabi-
tant to take a large and comprehensive view of spiritual
regions, and thereby to note the approach of spiritual
enemies, and to guard against them.
* Micab iv. 8.

84 THE HOUSEHOLDER

The spiritual tower therefore is constructed of alf
those interior truths of the word of God, whereby the
soul hath elevation into a higher or interior state of life,
and in consequence of such elevation, is enabled both
to discover its interior evils, and also to fight against
and overcome them.

Permit me to call your most earnest attention to the
very important nature, use, and design, of the spiri-
tual tower as thus opened and explained.

Perhaps you have never heretofore considered the
subject, nor been rightly affected by its extraordinary
weight and consequence. Perhaps you have never as
yet examined your own minds, with the view of dis-
covering whether the spiritual tower be built in you or
not. Perhaps you have never seen the danger of not
building this tower, and how in this case your spiri-
tual vineyard is liable at all times to be laid waste by
those interior evils, which can never be detected, and
thereby guarded against, but by means of this tower.
And lastly, perhaps, you have never been at the pains
to examine the nature of those interior truths of the
word of God, which are necessary for the construction
of this spiritual tower, and without which it cannot
possibly be either constructed, or preserved.

It is high time then assuredly, that you should now
give a serious attention to these subjects, under an aw-
ful apprehension that they are immediately connected
with your eternal well-being. For unless this had
been the case— unless the building of the spiritual
tower had been absolutely necessary for your eternal

THE TOWER, 8j

salvation, there would never have been any mention
made of it in the Word of God.

It is impossible, however, that you can form any just
idea or apprehension of the spiritual tower, unless you
are previously acquainted with the nature of those in-
terior truths of God"s Word, whereof it is constructed.
May I bespeak your attention, then, in the first place,
to this consideration.

Your own reflection may teach and convince you, if
you will make a proper use of it, that man's salvation
depends solely on his reception of the truths of God's
Word in his heart and life. Where there is no recep-
tion of those truths, there can be no salvation, because
there are no means, in such case, whereby God can
operate salvation, which consists in the removal of evil
from man, and the implantation of good. But where
there is a due reception of the truths of God's Word,
in the heart and life, there salvation is a certain con-
sequence, because there God operates to me extirpa-
tion of all evil, and the implantation of all the saving
good of his own mercy, love, and truth.

Your own reflection may teach and convince you
further, if you be disposed to make use of it, that re-
ception of the truths of God's Word is twofold, exter-
nal and internal. Some people receive those truths
only externally, that is, in the memory, and not so much
in the life ; whilst others receive them internally ; that
is, in the life through the memory.

What I wish now more particularly to observe, and
to press upon your observation, is this. Reception of
the truths of God merely in the memory, and not in
I

86 THE HOUSEHOLDER

the life, is of no avail to the building the spiritual
tower, of consequence is of no avail to salvation. The
reason is, because the spiritual tower implies an eleva-
tion of the intellectual mind, whereby it is enabled to
see and discern its interior spiritual evils, and to fight
against them ; and this elevation cannot have place
whilst the truths of God are merely in the memory,
and not in the life. For elevation of the intellectual
mind, implies conjunction with God, and pre-emi-
nence thereby, over those things which are not of God;
and this conjunction and pre-eminence cannot possi-
bly be effected by religious truths, whilst they remain
in the memory only, and do not pass thence into the
life, or practice.

No external reception then of the truths of God is
sufficient for building the spiritual tower of divine ob-
servation and aefence. To raise this incomparable
and most excellent superstructure, it is needful that
truth should be received internally. Would you know
what is meant by the internal reception of truth? It is
the truth of God operating in the heart, and produ-
cing thence its salutary influences on the life. It is the
truth of God, elevated out of the memory into a higher
or inner sphere of the mind, being received with delight
in the affection thereof, and thus tending to raise man
out of the love of evil into the love of good, out of
earthly vanities into heavenly realities ; out of the
sinfulness, miseries, and corruption of his own natural
life, separate from God, into the sanctities, blessed-
nesses, and purities of that spiritual and eternal life of
<*yangelkal love and charity, which is- the gift of God

THE TOWER. 87

m Jesus Christ, to every one who repenteth and be-
Iieveth the Gospel.

♦ Behold here the means, and the only means, of
building that spiritual tower, whence alone cometh
protection and salvation to the spiritual vineyard!

Would you then, beloved, rind this toiler built in
yourselves, and be made partakers of all its infinite
blessings and benefits? Do you wish for such a place
of elevation and defence in your own minds, where
you may contemplate the great eternal things of God's
kingdom, and at the same time discern all the ap-
proaches of your spiritual adversaries, and be secured
against their assaults? Stir up then your minds, and
pray to God to assist you, in the first place, to a dili-
gent and a due consideration of the vast importance of
such a spiritual tower. Reflect seriously writh your-
-elves, that your salvation depends upon this building,
jiuch as without it you can neither see the interior
evils of your natures, nor fight against them so as to
remove them : in which case your vineyard will be
continually exposed to depredation — " ail they that
^o by will pluck off your grapes, the wild boar out of
the wood will root it up, the wild beasts of the field
will devour it."*

When you are thus convinced of the absolute neces-
sity of a spiritual tozcer, for the preservation of your
vineyard, then beg of God, that is, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in the next place, to give you a just and right
apprehension of those interior truths of his Word, orA

* Psalm Ixxx. 12. 13.

33 THE HOUSEHOLDER

what is the same thing, of that internal reception oj
truth, without which the spiritual tower cannot be
built. For this purpose, accustom yourselves to re-
flect frequently and seriously on the utter. vanity and
unprofitableness of a mere external reception of truth
in the memory only, whilst it doth not enter into the
life, that is, into the life's affection. Be often asking
yourselves these questions, What can truth profit me,
if I do not obey the truth ? What can it avail me to
know the laws and mysteries of heaven, if my life is
not affected and changed thereby ? How can God save
me, if I do not love him ; and how can I love him, if
I do not endeavour, in all humility and sincerity, to
form the whole internal spirit and temper of my life,
as well as my external actions, according to the purity
and wisdom of his precepts ?

Such examination of yourselves, attended with sin-
cere prayer to the great Redeemer, will soon lead you
to an internal reception of evangelical truth; and by
such reception, the spiritual tower of internal observa-
tion and defence will presently be built. Your vine-
yard will thus abundantly flourish, and its blessed
fruits will be preserved from injury. Having your
minds elevated into the interior light of heaven, you
will be enabled to discern your interior evils, which
otherwise you could never know, and by discerning,
you will shun and escape them.

Your tower, thus, will both discover to you your
enemy, and at the same time defend you against his
assaults. But this is not all—the higher your tower h

THE TOWER. 89

built, the nearer you will be to God and heaven ; and
the further removed, of consequence, from the vanity
and misery of this world. Into this tower you will be
enabled to run at all times of alarm and danger, ac-
cording as it is written, " The name of the Lord is a
strong tower, the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."
Thus, by building your spiritual tower, you will
find the salvation of God; and with that salvation, all
the blessings of the eternal love, righteousness, joy, and
peace, will be brought nigh unto you. AMEN.

>

ON THE

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD,

OR, THE

DUTIES OF THE SPIRITUAL HUSBANDMAN.

SERMON X.

Matt. xxi.» 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain house-
holder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it
round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and
built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and
went into a far country.

HAVING already in the preceding discourses endea-
voured to point out the divine wisdom and instruction
contained in the former part of this parable, relating
to the vineyard which was planted, to the hedge with
which it was encompassed, to the wine-press which
was dug in it, ajid to the tower which was built there-
in, we now proceed to consider the further lesson of

92 THE HOUSEHOLDER

truth and weighty admonition, intended for us in these
words : And Let it out to husbandmen.

These words have manifest reference to the charge
committed to the natural husbandman, who is intrust-
ed, we know, with the care of a natural field or vine-
yard, that by proper culture he may render it fruitful,
which it could not be without such culture.

In allusion to such a charge, our blessed Lord
would remind us of our duties as spiritual husbandmen^
to whom is intrusted the care of a spiritual field or
vineyard, that by proper culture it also may be ren-
dered fruitful, which is a thing impossible if such cul-
ture be wanting.

No words can sufficiently express the importance of
the obligations laid upon us, as called to act in this
high and holy character of spiritual husbandmen. Every
temporal interest, all of mere human greatness, glory,
and happiness, disappears, and becomes as nothing,
when set in competition with the trust reposed in us
by ihe great Householder. If we are unfaithful in
this trust, we are undone for ever ; our eternal all is
lost, and it had been better for us not to have been
horn : but if we are faithful, every blessing is then
ours ; an eternity of glory will await us, and we shall
give praise for ever to that God who hath called us
into being.

Such then being the importance of the obligations
laid upon us all as spiritual husbandmen, I am persua-
ded you will give me a patient hearing, whilst I en-
deavour to press upon you; the measure of those obli^

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD, 93

A consideration of the duties of the natural hushand-
man will perhaps enable us, in the easiest and most
familiar manner, to comprehend our duties as spirit
tual husbandmen, and therefore God, in his holy word,
sends us to the ploughman for instruction, and adds this
weighty motive to engage our attention thereto, " For
his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach
him."*

Let us go forth then to the field for information ; let
us behold there the labours of the husbandman, and
learn how we also may best cultivate the ground of
our hearts, so as to bring forth fruit unto God.

Two things are especially observable respecting the
conduct of the natural husbandman; first, what he can
do towards the culture of his land, and secondly, what
he cannot do.

And, 1st, oehold what he can do.- — You see in his
hand a plough, with which he is turning up the ground
to receive the seed intended to be sown therein. You
next observe him casting in the seed, and afterwards
harrowing the earth to cover it in, that so the seed
may not perish because it had no deepness of earth. Pre-
sently when the seed springeth up, you behold him
clearing it of the weeds, which would otherwise grow
up and choak the tender plants. And, lastly, when
the full corn is ripened in the ear, you see him putting
in the sickle, binding it up in sheaves, artd gathering it
into his barn, that it may be ready for future use.
This then is what the husbandman can do towards

* Isaiah xxviii. 23 to 29.

94 THE HOUSEHOLDER

making his ground fruitful. He can prepare the earUi
to receive seed. He can cast in the seed when the
earth is so prepared. He can next harrow the earth
so as to cover in the seed. He can further, when the
seed puts forth the tender blade, pluck up the weeds
which might obstruct its growth. And, lastly, he can
reap his corn, and gather it into his barn.

Let us now see what this natural husbandman cannot
do in the way of this his husbandry.

And, 1st, it is plain that by all his skill he cannot
make a single grain of seed wherewith to sow his
ground, but must be content to use the seed provided for
him. In the next place, he cannot prevent storms and
tempests, which may endanger his harvest : neither can
he cause a fruitful season, and yet without such a sea-
son, it is impossible his seed can grow and multiply. He
can neither compel thesimto shine, nor the mind to blow,
nor the rain to descend ; and yet both sun, and wind,
and rc.in, are alike absolutely necessary to the fructifi-
cation of his ground. Howbeit, although these things are
out of his power, he can nevertheless believe that they
are in the power of God, and he can cheerful iy hope and
trust, that whilst he is diligent in doing what he can do,
those other things, which he cannot do, will be ordered
in the best manner for his advantage.

Having thus then taken a view of the ability end
inability of the natural husbandman, let us now turn
our eyes to the spiritual husbandman, and note the
striking marks of similitude between the two charac-
ters.

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 95

The spiritual husbandman hath also his ability and
mability ; or, in other words, there are some things
which he can do, and which are therefore required of
him, towards making his ground fruitful in the things
of God's kingdom ; and there are some things which
he cannot do, and which are therefore not required of
him. Let us first see what he can do.

Like the natural husbandman , he can prepare his
ground, that is, his heart and affections, by sincere re-
pentance and conversion to God, to receive the incor-
ruptible seed of the word of God. He can further, if
he be so disposed, take this seed and cast it into his
ground; in other words, he can learn the truths of
God's word, believe them, and be affected by them,
He can next harrow in this seed, so that it may have a
proper depth of earth ; or, to speak without a meta-
phor, he can meditate on the holy truths which he hath
learnt, and digest them in his will and understanding,
that so they may enter deep into the interiors of his
mind. He can further, when the seed springs up, keep
it clear from the weeds which would otherwise choak
the tender plants ; the reason is plain ; he can control
and subdue his corrupt passions, his earthly and sen-
sual affections, his pride and covetousness, and self-
will, which are the great destroyers of the plants of
heaven in the human bosom. Finally, when the full
corn is ripened in the ear, he can put in his sickle, and
bind it up in sheaves, and gather it into his barn for fu-
ture use ; for who cannot see, that by thenk/ul recollec-
tion and humble acknowledgment of the divine graces

j

i)6 THE HOUSEHOLDER

and mercies which have been received and rendered
fruitful, the pious mind doth as it were gather and store
them up in the inmost recesses of its spirit, where they
remain as a reserve for future occasion and use ?

This then is what the spiritual husbandman can do
towards promoting the fruitfulness of his spiritual
ground in the things of heaven. Let us now see what
he cannot do to secure this blessed end.

And here we shall find his powers and faculties li-
mited, like those of the natural husbandman. As for
instance ; by all his art and contrivance he cannot
make a single grain of spiritual seed wherewith to sow
his ground, but must be content to receive what is pro-
vided for him ; in other words, he cannot produce from
his own thought and intelligence a single spiritual
iruth, but must take this seed of eternal life from the
word of God, its only proper source and origin. In
the next place he cannot, any more than the natural
husbandman, prevent storms and tempests, viz. the
storms and tempests of spiritual trouble, trial, and
temptation, which may endanger his growing hopes :
neithef can he cause a fruitful spiritual season, and yet
without such a season, it is as impossible for his spi-
ritual seed to grow and multiply, as it is for the na-
tural seed without a fruitful natural season. The sun,
the wind, the rain of the divine benediction, are as
needful in one case as in the other, and all that either
the spiritual or natural husbandman can do in such
case is, cheerfully and patiently to hope and trust, that
whilst he is doing his duty and all that he can do, a

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 97

uierciful and gracious God, in his kind providence,
will order for his blessing the things which are out of
his power, and which lie cannot do.

Such then is the ability, and such the inability, of
the spiritual husbandman, and such therefore is the abU
lity, and such the inability of us all, inasmuch, as in
our true and proper character before God, and as seen
of him, we are all of us such husbandmen, being all
alike called, and all sent into the world for this great
end, to cultivate in our hearts and lives the seeds of
heaven ; being all of us alike in possession of immense
and inconceivable faculties for that purpose ; and what
is no less observable, being all alike unable to accom-
plish this blessed purpose, and to give full effect to
those faculties, without the continual blessing of a most
gracious and merciful God.

From this view then of our state and circumstances
as spiritual husbandmen, it will be easy to discover, if
we be so disposed, what is the measure of our several
duties, as called to act in that important character.

Some of these duties flow from our ability, and some
from our inability. — Let us first see what those duties \
are which flow from our ability.

These may be all summed up and comprised in this
first and fundamental of all duties, viz. to use faithfully
and diligently the powers which God continually giveth
us, and which he doubtless giveth for this single pur-
pose, that we should use them, and that in using them
we might find the blessing, and God the glory. For
can it be supposed that the righteous God, when he
K

98 THE HOUSEHOLDER

giveth us the faculties to receive his holy word into
our hearts and lives, that it may there grow and bear
its heavenly fruit, doth not require the use of those fa-
culties ? Have we the power to read ? Have we the
power to believe ? Have we the power to digest ? Have
we the power to practise the precepts of the eternal
truth, and thereby become fruitful in the divine life,
and be formed in the divine image and likeness ; and
will not the Father of these powers most reasonably
look for the application and increase of them ? Let us
hear what he himself saith on this subject, " Son, go
work to-day in my vineyard ;"* and* on another occa-
sion, " Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money
to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury."!

A most poisonous and destructive persuasion is at this
day prevalent in the Christian church, which would
lead men to believe that things are going well with
them in the way of salvation, although they never in
any way exert the powers which God giveth them to
promote their salvation. How many, for instance, do
we see easy and unconcerned about their spiritual state,
who yet are living in the daily neglect of the abilities
they possess to improve that state 1 With faculties to
read the word of God, they never read it. With fa-
culties to comprehend the eternal truth, they never
comprehend it. With faculties to practise the precepts
of revealed purity, sanctity, and wisdom, they never
practise them. With faculties thus to attain to the

* Matt. xxi. 23.
f Matt. xxv. 27.

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 99

pure love of God and of their neighbour, and to live
separate from sin, and to be born again and become the
sons of God, they are strangers to ail these blessings,
and live at an infinite distance from the privileges
frbich the Father of mercies intended them by the gift
of those faculties. And yet, notwithstanding all this
total annihilation of the powers of salvation intrusted
to them, they are blind enough to imagine that they
are still in the way to bliss, especially if, in the mean
while, they can repeat a creed, or utter the sound of a
prayer, or plead, in behalf of their negligence, the
blood and the merits of the Redeemer. But can any
imagination be more delusive ? Can any be more
groundless ? For what is salvation, and what is eternal
happiness, but an effect of our reception and cultiva-
tion of the Word of God in our hearts and lives ? Can
man be saved and made happy without the Word of
God ? And can the Word of God save him and make
him happy, unless it be implanted and become fruitful
in him ? And can it be implanted and become fruitful
in him, without some exertion on his part, of the abi-
lity which God giveth him for that purpose ? Let the
lot of that slothful servant, who hid his Lord's pound
in a napkin, determine these questions.

Suffer me, then, to press earnestly upon your atten-
tion and practice, this first and principal duty of spiri-
tual husbandry, viz. to exert faithfully and diligently
the spiritual powers which you have received, and re-
ceive contmifally from the great Lord of the harvest.
Think, what will this Lord say, when he comes and

iO© THE HOUSEHOLDER

finds that you have been " standing in the market-place
all the day idle ; that, instead of entering into the vine-
yard, and sowing heavenly seed, and watching its
growth and fruitfulness in your minds, you have only
been sowing to the flesh, amongst the cares, and plea-
sures, and vanities of a' perishing world. Will not he
expostulate, and expostulate justly, with every such
careless husbandman, and say, How is it that I hear
this of thee ? Give an account of thy husbandry, and of
the things committed to thy charge. I gave thee my
living word for thy salvation ; but how is it that thou
hast rejected it, or, what is the same thing, hast ne-
glected to read and to profit by it ? I gave thee also
the power and faculty whereby thou mightest receive
and understand my word, mightest cherish it in thy
heart, and thereby render it fruitful in thy life. How
then has it come to pass, that thou hast no fruit to shew
of these my heavenly gifts ; but hast hid the talent,
which I committed to thee, in the earth ? What strange
infatuation can have blinded thine eyes, that thou
shouldest not see, that to reject my gifts and the use of
them, is to rejectee and my salvation? "Cast ye,
therefore, the unprofitable servant into outer darkness."

But, lastly, there are other duties required of the
spiritual husbandman, which flow from his inability.

We have already seen in what this inability of the
spiritual husbandman consists, viz. that when he hath
done all in his power towards making his vineyard
fruitful, he must still confess that the seed is not his,
and that he cannot preserve it from storms and tern-

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 101

pests, and make it fruitful, of himself; but that both
the seed, the preservation, and the fruitfulness, are
from another, viz. from God, and the continual dew of
his blessing.

But what is the language of this inability, and what
doth it teach us as spiritual husbandmen ? Surely this
lesson of unutterable wisdom; to be humble, and put our
trust in God, and to acknowledge that he is the true
Husbandman* and that we are only husbandmen under
and from him. Surely the consideration, therefore, of
what we cannot do, is alike instructive and edifying as
the consideration of what we can do. For whilst we
learn, from what we can do, to estimate and exert
aright the spiritual powers which we have received,
we learn, from what we cannot do, to adore and rely
upon the omnipotence of God, and thereby unite our
powers with that omnipotence. Whilst our ability
teaches us the duty of exertion, our inability, with
equal energy, presses the no less profitable duty of
submission. Whilst the view of our strength lets us see
and feel a sort of independence in ourselves, the view
of our weakness makes us see and feel our continual rfe-
pendence upon God. In short, whilst, from what we
can do, we are instructed to use our best endeavours,
as of ourselves, to make our spiritual vineyards fruit-
ful ; from what we cannot do, we are further instruct-
ed, that " we are not sufficient of ourselves to think
any thing as of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is

* See John xv, I,

K2

102 THE HOUSEHOLDER-

from God ; and that therefore our wisest rule of acting
is, whilst we act as of ourselves, to act in entire reli-
ance upon and from Him who hath said, "Without me
ye can do nothing." Thus even our infirmities were
intended to be our instructors ; and our very wante,
and dangers, and troubles, with an invincible elo-
quence, enforce upon us experimentally the divine
precept, "Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be do-
ing good : commit thy way unto the Lord, and he will
bring it to pass."*

Let us then study diligently, and practise faithful-
ly, as wise husbandmen, the double lesson taught us by
the powrers we possess, and by the powers we want :
and, combining the united instruction resulting from
this double lesson, let us collect thence, for our daily
direction, the following summary of all Christian duty,
which it teaches ; viz. that if we wish to become
faithful husbandmen in our Lord's vineyard ; if we
wish his holy word to grow and multiply in our bo-
soms, and bring forth, after its kind, the heavenly fruit
of righteousness, wisdom, and peace ; if we wish thus
to recover in ourselves the divine image and likeness,
and attain unto all that blessedness of true religion,
which Jesus Christ intended for us, when he prayed
" that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me,
md I in thee, that they all may be one in us ;"t we
must then co-operate with our God towards the accom-

* Psalm xxxvii. 3. 5.
\ John xTii, 2r.

LETTING OUT THE VINEYARD. 103

plishment of these blessed ends. For this purpose,
we must use freely the powers which he has given us,
as if they were our own ; but then we must use them
at the same time as his, and in dependence upon him ;
we must be active in fulfilling the evangelical duties of
repentance, of self-examination, of watchfulness, and
of sincere obedience, as if these duties depended en-
tirely upon ourselves ; but then we must guard against
the vain confidence of our won activity, by ascribing
it unto God.

Thus we must learn to unite our derived powers with
their primitive powers, nature with grace, body with
spirit, and thereby ourselves with Jesus Christ ; not
according to the mistaken ideas of a false quietism, but
in the exertion oi' evangelical virtue ; not according to
the wildness of a blind enthusiasm, but in the calm so-
briety of an enlightened wisdom. We must therefore
be zealous for our God and for eternal life ; but we
must take heed that our zeal be oj God, as well as for
him : we must watch alike against the extremes of
that self-exertion which would preclude humility, and
of that humility which would induce supineness. In
our low estate, we must not forget that " charity hopeth
all things ; but in hoping all things, we must not suffer
hope to slumber in carelessness ; as, on the other hand,
in our high estate, when hope is realized in possession,
we must be alike upon our guard against that presump-
tion, which too often overtakes us when we fancy things
an at the best with us. In short, whilst we acknow-
ledge that we can do nothing without Jesus Christ, we

104 THE HOUSEHOLDER, &C.

must be careful of abusing this acknowledgment to our
destruction, by doing nothing with him : and whilst
we are diligent to " work out our own salvation with
fear and trembling," as of ourselves, we must believe,
with the apostle, that " it is God who worketh in us
both to will and to do of his good pleasure."* AMEN-

* Phil. ii. 12, 13.

ON THE

HOUSEHOLDER

GOING INTO A FAR COUNTRY,

OR THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE APPARENT DISTANCE AN©
NEARNESS OF GOD.

SERMON XL

Matt. xxi. 33.

Hear another parable : There was a certain
householder which planted a vineyard, and
hedged it round about, and digged a wine-
press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to
husbandmen, and went into a far country.

-OAVING already endeavoured to explain and en-
force the lessons of heavenly instruction, contained in
the former part of these words, is they relate to a
certain householder, to the vineyard which he planted,
to the hedge with which he encompassed i*, to the
wine-press which he digged in it, to the tower which

106 THE HOUSEHOLDER

he built in it, and to the husbandmen to whom he he
it out ; I shall now proceed to a consideration of the
last particular, viz. he went into afar country.

These words, it is plain, are spoken of the househol-
der ; and inasmuch as by the householder, according
to what was shewn in a former discourse, is represent-
ed and signified the Lord God the Saviour, as head and'
ruler of the church ; therefore in their spiritual sense
and application they have relation to this divine house-
holder, this planter and supporter of the true spiri-
tual vineyard.

But it will be asked, How can it be said of God
with any degree of truth or propriety, that he went in-
to afar country ? Is not God always and every where
present ? Is it possible for him to remove afar off
from any part of his creation ? Is he not alike near
unto all men, and all things, at all times ? And must
not sudden destruction of necessity come both upon
men and things, if God was to be separated or remo-
ved from them ? In what sense then can it be said of the
omnipresent God, that he went into afar country?

I shall endeavour to give these questions such an
answer as their great importance demands ; and since
the answer may tend in some measure to open the
depths of the divine wisdom contained in the words
under consideration, may I bespeak your most serious
attention to a subject in which the true knowledge of
God and of yourselves is so intimately involved. —
And, 1st. We rind in many passages of the sacred
writings, that nearness and distance are applied to God,

lH A FAR COUNTRY 107

rind to the things of God ; or, in other words, that
God, and the things of God, are represented some-
times as nigh at hand, and at other times as afar off.

Thus it is written in the book of the Psalms, " The
Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart ;"*
and in another place, " The Lord is nigh unto all
ihem that call upon him."f

Again it is said in the same book, " Why art thou
■so far from helping me ?"J and in another place, " O
Lord, be not far from me ;"§ and in the prophet Je-
remiah, " Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar

It is not however to be supposed, from this mode of
expression, that distance, according to the common or
literal sense of the word, is at all applicable to God, or
to the things of God.

For let a man travel with his body ever so far, in
any direction whatsoever, in the regions of space, he
will not be a jot nearer or further off from God, at the
end of his journey, in respect to distance of space,
than he was when he first set out.

When therefore the sacred scriptures speak of God
as afar cff, it is to be understood that they speak only
according to appearance, or because it so appears unto
man, not because God in reality is at any time afar off.

* Psalm xxxiv. 13.
f Psalm cxlv. 18.

I Psalin x«.ii. 1.

\ Psalm «ii. 11.

II Jer. xxiii. 23.

108 THE HOUSEHOLDER

This mode of expressing things according to appear-
ance, is common in the sacred writings, and is fre-
quently applied in other cases in respect to God.

Thus God is often said to be angry and wrathful
against the wicked ; not that he is really angry and
zcratnful, (for it is impossible that such affections can
have any" place in a holy God,) but because to the
wicked he appears angry and -wrathful, in consequence
of the opposition and contrariety which must ever of
necessity subsist between a sinful creature, and the
pure and holy Creator.

Would you know then the true ground and reason
why God is spoken of in the sacred scriptures in re-
spect to distance and nearness, as of space and place,
and is represented sometimes as being afar off, and at
other times as being near ? It is owing entirely to the
appearance thereof in respect to man, according to
which appearance God is ever seen by the good as a
near and present God, and by the wicked as a distant
and absent God.

The real truth is, that, in regard to distance of place
or space, God, his kingdom, and the things thereof,
are alike near unto, and present with all men, at all
times, in all places, and in every state of their lives.
The most wicked and careless sinner, in this sense,
has God and heaven as near unto him, and as present
with him, as the most righteous and watchful saint. No
human heart ever was, is, or can be, separated from
God by any thing like distance of space. The omni-
present Creator is, and ever must be, most near unto

IN A FAR COUNTRV. 109

all, because he is in all, and the life of all, and there-
fore it is as impossible for any human spirit to be re-
moved from him, as to space or place, as it is impossi-
ble it should be removed from its own life.

It was according to this idea, that our blessed Lord,
when he appointed the seventy disciples to preach
the Gospel, strictly charged them to declare even to
those who should reject their divine mission, " Not-
withstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of
God is come nigh unto you"*

But though God, his kingdom, and the things there-
of, are alike near unto the righteous and unto the wick-
ed, unto him that feareth God, and unto him that fear-
eth htm not, yet herein a mighty difference is to be
observed.

The righteous, (by whom are to be understood the
regenerate) see and feel in themselves this nearness of
God and of the things of his kingdom. They are
made sensible in their own hearts, and in their own
understandings, of the divine presence with them, and
know by happy experience that the kingdom of God
is nigh unto them. They no longer, therefore, look at
heaven, and at the Lord of heaven, as at distant ob-
jects, as at things absent and afar off; but they look
at them as at objects which are of all others most near
to and present with them, because intimately connect-
ed and conjoined with the very essence of their life.

Bat the contrary is true of the wicked, that is, of

* Luke x. 1 !

L

110 THE HOUSEHOLDER

the unregenerate. Notwithstanding the real nearness
of God and of the things of his kingdom to them, yet
they still view them as at an immense distance, and
they cannot help so viewing them whilst they conti-
nue wicked or unregenerate. Though they are told
ever so often that the kingdom of God is nigh unto the?ni
yet they will not believe it. Though they hear of an
eternity, of an eternal world, and of eternal beings
therein, yet they fancy all these things most remote and
absent, and treat them accordingly. The real presence
of God therefore is unseen and unknown to them, not
because he is not as near to them as he is to the right-
eous, but because their minds are not in the same state
to see and perceive his nearness.

For if you inquire the reason why the same omni-
present God, and the same eternal kingdom of his hea-
ven, are thus seen differently by different persons, ap-
pearing to some most near, and to some most distant,
you cannot possibly find any other reason than this,
that the hearts and affections of some are turned from
themselves and the world towards God, whereas the
hearts and affections of others are turned from God to-
wards themselves and the world ; and all spiritual
nearness or distance depends entirely on the state of
the heart and affections.

That this is the case— that a change in the state of
the heart and affections causes different apprehensions
of God and the things of eternity, you may be con-
vinced by every day's experience.

Take., for instance, a <»rnal and thoughtless man,

IN A FAR COUNTRY. Ill

who is in the full enjoyment of bodily health and ani-
mal spirits, and whose affections all centre in the riches
and pleasures of this world and the flesh ; and talk to
such a man of the nearness of God and eternity, and
he will most probably make a mock of all your infor-
mation, at least he will not feel it to be true.

But suppose this same man to be laid in a bed of
sickness, or to be pressed down by any heavy afflic-
tion ; — suppose the vigour of his carnal and worldly
enjoyments to be for a while suspended ; and that in
this state you speak to him of God and heaven ; — he
will now most probably feel the force of all that you
tell him, — he will perceive and confess the real near-
ness of those things now which he had heretofore view-
ed as afar off', — he will be surprised that he had not
seen them so before, and will be exceedingly amazed
to think that the perishable objects of this world and
the flesh should be possessed of such a delusive and
enchanting power, to hide from the eyes of a reason-
able being the awful and near realities of an eternal
world.

And what shall we say is the reason why this sick
and afflicted man sees God and his kingdom nearer in
his affliction, and on his bed of sickness, than he saw
them in his prosperity, and in the pride and vigour of*
his health ? We must be forced to confess it can be
owing to no other cause than this, that the state of hi-
heart and affections was changed by his sickness and
affliction, and that this change alone made the differ-
ence of his views : God and heaven were certainly em

J 12 THE HOUSEHOLDER

near to hira in the former days of his health and pros-
perity, as in the latter days of his malady and trouble \
but he did not at that time see and perceive their
nearness : — the reason was, because his heart and af-
fections were then turned from God and heaven, to
delight more in other objects ; and the spirit of man
can only see that object in which it delights.

Behold here then, beloved, the true and eternal cause
of that distance, which in the sacred Scriptures is so
frequently ascribed to God ! Behold also the lesson of
deep and weighty instruction, contained in the words
of my text, in regard to the great householder, where
it is said, that " he went into a far country !"

To go into a far country, when spoken of God, it
has been already shewn, must relate to the state of
man's affections, in which God appears to him as afar
off. This is the case with every man in his natural or
unregenerate state, which is the state of the husband-
men here described under the first planting of the spi-
ritual vineyard. In this state, the affections are mere-
ly natural, worldly, and carnal ; the things of God and
of his kingdom are apprehended very darkly and im-
perfectly ; the riches, honours, and glories of this world
affect much, and therefore appear to be very near and
present; whereas the riches, honours, and glories of
the eternal world affect but little, and therefore appear
to be distant and afar off.

But doth the great householder always thus dwell in
a far country? Do the spiritual husbandmen always
thus behold him as afar o/f, and perceive him as a dis~

IN A FAR COUNTRY. 113

cant and absent God, and his kingdom as a distant and
absent kingdom ? Doubtless not. It is the voice of
religion ; it is the voice of God himself — " The Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and sa-
veth such as be of a contrite spirit.*'* And again, " If
a man love me, he will keep my words ; and my Fa-
ther will love him, and we will come unto him, and
make our abode with him."t And again, " Draw nigh
unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you")

Whilst man, indeed, hath his heart unbroken, living
only to himself and to the world, unconverted to Gcd,
and unregenerate, he must of necessity see heaven and
the great householder as at a distance. But let this
state now be reversed ; let bis heart be broken by af-
fliction and godly sorrow ; let us suppose him a sincere
penitent at the throne of mercy, awakened to a sense
and perception of his eternal concerns, supplicating
pardon for sin, and grace to live a new life ; let us sup-
pose a removal hereby of his evil affections, and that
the good affections of heavenly love and wisdom are
implanted, by an earnest seeking of these eternal rich-
es ; let us suppose that the powers of worldly and sel-
fish love are hereby weakened, and that he begins to
be made sensible of the superior power and life of an
omnipotent Redeemer ; let us suppose that he thus be-
gins to walk steadfastly and watchfully in the ways of
regeneration, looking for the appearing of God and

* Psalm xxxiv. 18,
t John xiv. 23,
\ James iv. 8.

L2

114 THE HOUSEHOLDER

-his kingdom in his own mind, according to the Scrip-
tures ; — how will he now see that near, which he had
before seen only afar off! How will God, heaven, and
eternity, appear present and at hand, which had before
seemed absent and at an immense distance from his-
view !

Would you then, beloved, attain unto this extraordi-
nary blessedness and most high privilege, for which
you were created, and which is your peculiar birth-
right as reasonable creatures, even the privilege of see-
ing the face of your God, and of beholding him ever
nigh unto, and present with you, with all the riches of
his kingdom 1 Labour then to come into a spirit of
irue repentance, and, by repentance, into regeneration
,of heart and of life. Remember, that evil alone, that
is, an evil and unrighteous love, separates God from
you, according as it is written, "Your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you.5'* Remember further,
that the face of God can never be seen but in and by
the good of his own love, and the truth of his owa
wisdom ; just as you can never see the face of the sua
but in and by the light of the sun. Cherish, then, ia
your bosoms, this heavenly good and truth ; — let them
prevail and have dominion over all the false and ap-
parent goods of the world and the flesh, with their de-.
Jusive persuasions. Look continually in humility,
feifb, and obedience, unto the manifesied God, tfcte

* Isaiah Iix. %

IN A FAR COUNTRY. 1 15

Lord Jesus Christ, from whom alone all this saving
good and truth come. You will then soon behold him
present with and nigh unto you.. Every step you thus
take in the regeneration, will bring you nearer to God
and heaven : every separation from evil will make the
face of the Almighty shine brighter upon you : you
will thus no longer see him as at a distance, and under
the dark veil and covering of an earthly nature ; but
you will see him as a God at hand, in the clear bright-
ness of his majesty ; and in you will be fulfilled the
blessed prophecy, " He will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the
veil that is spread over all nations ; and it shall be
said, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and
he will save us. This is the Lord ; we have waited
for him ; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation,"*
AMEN.

* fsAiah xxv, 7. 9,

ON TtfE

SPIRITUAL FRUIT,

WHICH

THE VINEYARD PRODUCES,

SERMON XII.

Matt. xxi. 34.

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent
his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it.

vl E have already considered the lessons of divine in-
struction, contained and conveyed to us, in the former
part of this parable, where it is written, " There as
a certain householder which planted a vineyard, and
hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it,
and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and
went into a far country.

ll& THE HOUSEHOLDER.

May I now bespeak your serious attention to the
further lessons of instruction and edification contained
and conveyed to us in the subsequent words of the pa-
rable, "And when the time of the fruit drew near, he
sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it."

There are three several particulars in these words,
which demand particular consideration.

1. The fruits of the vineyard.

2. The time of the fruits drawing near.

3. The servants of the householder, who were sent,
that they might receive the fruits of it.

I shall endeavour to explain and enforce each of
these particulars in such a manner, as may best con-
duce to open to our understandings the treasures of
that eternal and inexhaustible wisdom, with which
this, and all other parts of the sacred scriptures are s©
abundantly stored for our use.

And, 1st, respecting the fruits of the vineyard.

There is much mention made of these fruits in the
sacred writings, and it is again and again declared,
that every man's eternal state will depend altogether
upon the fruits, which his vineyard yieldeth.

If there be 710 fruits, there can be no blessedness in
eternity ; if the fruits be few or small, the blessedness
in eternity will be proportionably diminished ; if the
fruits be abundant and excellent, so will the blessed-
ness be in that life which shall never have an end.

Thus it is written in the prophet, " They shall eat

FRU5TS OF THE VINEYARD. 119

the fruit of their doings,"* by which is signified, that
every man appropriates to himself a life agreeable
to his fruits. And again, " Ye shall know them by
their fruits ;"| plainly declaring, that every man is what
\us fruits are, and that the man and his fruits are the
same thing. And again, " Bring forth, therefore, fruits
meet for repentance, "J (or, as it may more properly
be rendered, worthy fruits of repentance ;) whereby is
manifestly intimated, that the sincerity, and conse-
quently the efficacy of repentance will depend, on its
fruits.

For the same reason the Jig-tree in 1he gospel was
cursed, because it bare no fruit, having nothing but
leaves, to denote the sinful and miserable state of those
human minds, which are barren of true spiritual fruit,
and have nothing to shew but mere external appear-
ances and semblances thereof.

Such, then, being the case in regard to fruits, it is
an awful question, which every sincere Christian will
seriously ponder, and to which he will require a satis-
factory answer in his own mind, What is the fruit of
the true spiritual vineyard? and doth my vineyard
bear such fruit ?

He will be exceedingly afraid of making any, even
the smallest mistake in this important inquiry. He
will recollect that his salvation depends upon it ; that
his eternal well-being is connected with it. He will

* [saiab iii 10.
f Matt, vii. 16.
t Matt. iii.

120 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

therefore never rest tiil he hath acquired full and com-
plete satisfaction, in his own mind, on a subject which
of all others doth most nearly concern him.

But what will be the result of this inquiry? What
will he discover to be the nature and kind of that ge-
nuine fruit of the vineyard, which is salvation and
eternal life? Surely he will recollect the words of
Jesus Christ on the interesting subject, " He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit;"* and in these words he will find deliver-
ance from error and delusion, and at the same time the
fullest satisfaction of mind arising from the brightness
of the light of eternal truth.

By these divine words he will be taught, that the
genuine fruit of the vineyard, or, of the true church,
*is an effect of its abiding in Jesus Christ, and of hav-
ing Jesus Christ abide in it. He will see, there-
fore, with the greatest clearness of conviction, that
no man can bear fruit of himself; consequently
that all. fruit is produced by and from the great re-
deeming God, whilst man looks unto and abides in
him as the true vine, of which he himself is but a
branch.

But what is the fruit which the true vine yieldeth ?
What is the genuine effect of man's abiding in Jesus
Christ, and of having Jesus Christ abide in him?

Let us hear the inspired apostle on this subject,
where he saith, " The fruit of the spirit is love, joy.

* John xv. 5

FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 121

peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance."*

Behold here, beloved, the fruits of the true vine-
yard, what they are, and whence they are. Contem*
plate their* in their origin, and contemplate them in
their end, that so ye may become of the happy num-
ber of those who bring forth these fruits to perfection.

In their origin these fruits are Jesus Christ himself,
because in their origin they partake of his spirit and
of hi: life. From this origin they descend into the
members of the true church, as the juices of the vine
into the branches, and there they manifest themselves
under various forms and effects, according to the de-
gree of life into which they enter.

Their first descent is into the human will, and here
they produce, as the apostle expresseth it, Love, joy,
peace, long -suffering, gentleness, goodness. Before
these heavenly fruits appear, the human will is filled
merely with the love of itself and of this world, to-
gether with all the violence, restlessness, hatred, and
animosity, which ever attend those evil loves. But on
the manifestation and growth of the heavenly fruits, an
entire change taketh place, and man is made sensible
of a pure love towards God and his neighbour, together
vvith the peaceable and blessed effects of that love.

Their next descent is into the human understanding ,
and here they produce what the apostle czMeth faith,
by which we are to understand all heavenly know-
ledge, intelligence, and wisdom, derived from and

* Gal. v. 22, 23.

M

122 ' THE HOUSEHOLDER*

connected with the love of God, and of our neighbour.
The human understanding, till these heavenly fruits
appear, is full of error and delusion, arising from the
false principles which take their birth from, and are
ever connected with an evil love ; but on the descent
of the heavenly fruits, the eternal truth manifests the
splendour and beauty of her divine countenance, and
at her arising, like that of the morning sun, all the
mists and clouds of error and delusion are suddenly
dissipated.

But the fruits of the true vine are not confined only to
man's will and understanding. They make yet a fur-
ther descent, and appear under another form, whilst
they enter into, and manifest themselves in man's out-
ward life, that is, in his words and works.

In this descent, or in this degree of man's life, the
fruits of the true vine discover themselves in all since-
rity of speech, and all uprightness and usefulness of
conduct and conversation. The member of Jesus
Christ must needs speak and act from Jesus Christ, be-
cause he must needs speak and act from the divine love
and wisdom manifesting their heavenly fruits in his
will and in his understanding. He finds it impossible
therefore either to be vain or to be insincere in his
words and actions. He leaves to the children of this
world to be cunning and artful, to be deceitful and
temporizing, to be hypocritical and unjust in their lan-
guage and in their dealings; whilst he himself, recol-
lecting in whom he abides, and who abides in him,
.must needs in all his words and in all his works be ac-

FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 1 ~>o

tuated by the eternal spirit of that justice an J judg-
ment which are from God, and which are God, and
thus bring forth those fruits of use and benefit to his
fellow-creatures, in the faithful discharge of all the du-
ties of his station, whatsoever it be, of which fruits the
Son of God saith, " Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disci-
ples."*

Behold here then, beloved, the genuine nature and
kind of the fruits of the true vineyard ! They descend
from Jesus Christ, and they are Jesus Christ, because
they are so much of his life and spirit manifested and
brought forth in all such pure and obedient minds as
abide in him, and have him abiding in them.

Would you know then whether you are bringing
forth these fruits of the true vineyard ? Would you
know whether you are living brandies thus of the true
vine, or, on the contrary, are the " branches cast
forth and withered, which men gather, and cast into
the fire, and they are burned ?"t Examine yourselves
well then by this simple but most sure and certain rule.
Do you abide in Jesus Christ, and doth he abide in
you? Do you labour that the spirit and life of this
great God and Piedeemer may be made manifest in
you? Are you convinced that merely of yourselves
you cannot bring forth any saving fruits, and that all
which you call your own virtue, your own merit, your
o-wn wisdom, and your own good works, are only so far

* John xv. 8.
f John xv, 6.

124 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

good, as they partake of the virtue, the merit, the wis-
dom, and work of the incarnate God? Is it thus be-
come your religion ? Is it become the one ruling end
and desire of your lives, to become humble and obedi-
ent before Jesus Christ, that so, working together with
him in every principle of spirit, mind, and body, you
may bring forth fruits to his glory, and to your own
eternal peace ?

Such examination will tend to deliver you from
abundance of error and of folly, and at the same time
to establish your minds in all the power and comfort
of the eternal truth. Convinced of the great danger
of being barren and unprofitable branches of the true
vine, you will see the necessity of looking earnestly
unto the Redeemer, and of labouring together with
him, to become fruitful in every good thought, word,
and work. Convinced of the equal danger of not dis-
tinguishing between apparent and genuine fruits, be-
tween those which are merely from yourselves, and
those which are the effect of your abiding in Jesus
Christ, you will no longer deceive yourselves with ap-
pearances of virtue, those specious semblances of good,
which, like painted fruits, have nothing of fruit be-
longing to them but the outward show, being desti-
tute of the internal juices and flavour thereof. You
will see, that nothing can stand you in any stead, but
the fruit o/God, that is, his love and wisdom ruling irx
and becoming your love and wisdom ; and that every
thing in you, and every thing which proceeds from

FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD. 125

you, if it is not from God, and wrought in God, must
needs perish, and end in your confusion.

You will not, however, on this account, become like
stocks and statues, doing nothing of yourselves, and
expecting that God, without your exertion, should pro-
duce fruit in you and by you. No ; you will per-
ceive this to be the extremity of delusion ; you will
therefore exert yourselves ; you will love what is
good, you will think what is good, you will do what
is good, freely, as of yourselves ; but then you will
believe that the power to do so is continually from
God, and is God's; and therefore, whilst you act of
yourselves, you will act with and from God. Thus all
your exertions, all your labours, all your works, will
tend to bring you nearer to God, and to join you clo-
ser with him. All your fruits you will acknowledge
to be his fruits, and not your own : and by this- ac-
knowledgment, all your fruits will become blessing,
and life, and peace, and salvation to you, because they
will fill you more and more with the fulness of Him,
who is the all of blessing, the all of life, the all of
peace, and the all of salvation to his church, and to
every member thereof. AMEN.

A(

0N THE

TIME OF THE FRUIT,

OR

SPIRITUAL SEASONS.

SERMON XIII.

Matt. xxi. 34.

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent
his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it.

HAVING already, in the preceding discourse, endea*
voured to shew what we are here to understand by the
fruit of the spiritual vineyard, I shall now proceed to
a consideration of the next particular herein presented
to our attention, viz. the time of the fruit drawing
near.

Every one knows, that the natural vineyard hath its
distinct times or seasons, through which it is necessary
lopass, before its fruit can be formed and (\il\y ripen-
ed for the husbandman's use.

128 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

Thus there is the time or season of planting ; there
is also the time or season for blossoming ; there is next
the time or season for the first forming of fruit ;
and lastly, there is the time or season in which the
fruit is fully ripened, and gathered .(or use.

These times or seasons, in regard to the natural
vineyard, are distinguished by the several names oi
the portions of the year, called spring, summer, and
autumn.

Every one further knows, or may know, that these
times or seasons are perfectly distinct the one from the
other, both in their progress and in their effect. Thus
the time or season for the vineyard's blossoming, is
perfectly distinct from that in which the fruit is form-
ed ; as this again is distinct from the season in which
the fruit fully ripens : and thus also the blosso7ni?ig, the
formation of the fruit, and its ripening, are perfectly
distinct effects and operations, the one from the other.

Every one, lastly, knows, or may know, concerning
the natural vineyard, that the latter time or. season can
never be arrived at, without passing through the for-
mer. Thus it is impossible that any fruit should be
formed, until the vine hath first yielded its blossoms ; as
again it is impossible that the fruit should be ripened
and gathered, until it be r\r$i formed.

But though all this be known in regard to the natural
vineyard, yet it is to be feared, it is in general little
known, that the same is true also in regard to the spi-
ritual vineyard ; and that this vineyard likewise hath
its several particular times or seasons, through which it

THE TIME OF THE FRUIT. 129

must necessarily pass, before it can produce fruit fit
for the husbandman's use.

Thus, as the natural vineyard hath its zi-inier, its
springs its summer, and its autumn, so hath also the
spiritual vineyard; and as the natural vineyard is first
planted, then blossoms, next forms its fruits, and lastly
fully ripens them, the same distinct processes have place
likewise in the spiritual vineyard.

Possibly, beloved, you have never heretofore con-
sidered this subject with that attention which it de-
serves. Possibly you are surprised to hear of these
spiritual times or seasons, and wonder that such things
should be, or, if they are, that you have not noted
them.

Permit me, then, at this time, to call your observa-
tion more particularly to this subject, as to a matter of
the utmost concern to your spiritual and eternal inter-
ests. For it is not, believe me, a point of mere specu-
lation and curious inquiry ; it is not one of those indif-
ferent or uninteresting questions, which are calculated
rather to amuse than to edify : but it is a subject con-
nected closely with your eternal well-being ; it is in-
corporated with your spiritual life ; and therefore you
cannot be in ignorance about it ; but you must be in
ignorance about yourselves, and about what is perpetu-
ally passing in yourselves, and thus be proportionably
lacking in that knowledge which is able to make you
-wise unto salvation.

You will find no sort of difficulty in apprehending
what is meant by spiritual seasons, provided you are m

130 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

a disposition to allow and believe what the sacred scrip-
tures so abundantly teach you, viz. that the Lord
Jesus. Christ, as the sun of righteousness in the spiritual
or eternal world, shineth upon all human- minds, and
imparteth to them his blessed heat and light, which
bi s his divine love and wisdom, just as the natural sun
of this world shineth upon all parts of the habitable
globe, and imparteth to them its natural heat and

it is a great natural truth, well known to philoso-
phers, that the varieties in the natural seasons are ow-
ing solely to this one circumstance, viz. that the earth
changeth its aspect in regard to the sun, so as not al-
ways to receive the sun's rays in the same degree of
fulness and of power.

Thus, when the earth is in such an aspect as to re-
ceive the sun's light alone, without its heat, it is then
the season which we call ivintfr : 'in which season, we
know, nothing grows or vegetates, but all temporal
nature is in an apparent state of torpidness and of
death.

Again, when the earth is in such an aspect in regard
to the sun, as to receive a portion of its heat, together
with the light, it is then the season which we call
spring ; and in this season, we know, the plants of the
earth begin to spring forth and blossom, and all na-
ture assumes a new face of cheerfulness and of joy.

So again, when the earth still further changeth its
aspect, so as to receive a further increase of the sun's
heat, it is then the season which, we call summer ; and
m this season, we know, the plants of the earth begin

THE TIME OF THE FRUIT. 131

to bear their fruits, and what was before blossom, now
changeth its appearance and form, and is presented to
the eye of the beholder under an altogether new state
of being.

Lastly, when the aspect of the earth is again chang-
ed in regard to the sun, so as to admit of a more equal
temperature of heat, it is then the season which we
call autumn ; and in this season, we know, the fruits
of the earth are brought to their full perfection of ex-
cellence for the use of man.

Thus it is, beloved, that the God of nature instruct-
ed us by the natural seasons of this world, concerning
the laws of those spiritual and eternal seasons, which
have their origin in himself, and which constitute the
various states and processes of the regenerate life in
the faithful here on earth.

For suppose now, that instead of the natural sun of
this world, we think of the spiritual sun of righteous-
ness in the eternal world ; and instead of the heat and
light proceeding from the natural sun, we think of the
heat and light, which is the divine love and wisdom,
proceeding from the spiritual sun ; and instead of the
earth and its various productions, that we think of hu-
man minds with the infinite varieties of affections and
thoughts therein contained — who cannot see, in this
case, that similar changes mutt needs exist and have
place, according to the different aspects of each mind
in regard to the spiritual sun, and that these changes
may with the utmost propriety be cailed spiritual sea-
sons ?

As for example, and to appjy the case to ourselves—

132 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

Are any of our minds in that aspect in regard to the
sun oi* righteousness in the eternal world, as to receive
the beams of his light only, without his heat, or in
other words, to be enlightened with the knowledge of
him in our understandings, without being enlivened with
the love of him in our wills — who cannot see, that this
is a spiritual state or season, which may with the great-
est propriety be called spiritual winter, inasmuch as
all things in our minds, during this unhappy state,
must needs be torpid and dead, having nothing of the
life of heaven in them ?

Again — Have any of our minds been convinced of
the danger of resting in this barren and unprofitable
state of a mere knowledge of holy things, without a cor-
responding life and love ? And have we in conse-
quence of this conviction laboured, by sincere repen-
tance before God, to join charity to our faith, and obe-
dience to our persuasions ? Doth the truth of God be-
gin thus to be united with the pure affection thereof,
and to be received by us with its holy and heavenly
delights ? Who cannot see, that this state or season of
our minds may most properly be called spiritual
spring, that blessed season in which all things begin
tQ blossojn forth their various beauties, and to shew the
signs of a vigorous and internal life operating within
mem ?

Again — Is our love for the things of God and his
kingdom become still stronger and more elevated ? Do
we feel, by virtue of a deeper repentance, and a more
internal purification of heart, that the rays of the hea-
venly and eternal sun shine upon us with a fuller radi

THE TIMS OF THE FTUJIT. 133

ance, and a more quickening warmth I In other words,
are our wills inflamed with the heat of the divine
goodness, which njve to the Lor I and to eaci; otl er,
as ojir understan nigs are enlightened with the lighl of
the divine truth ? an<! t&rough their conjoined influences
do we begin to bring forth the fruit of good works in
our several stations and callings ? By what fittei name
shall we call this blessed and fruitful season of mind,
than by that of sjnrituai summer, in which the blossom
of mere intellectual knowledge begins to disappear,
and to give place to the more solid and profitable fruit
of heavenly righteousness, love, and peace, manifest-
ing itself in all the good works of an holy and useful
life?

Lastly — Have we continued for some time under the
kindly rays of this summer sun ? Are we arrived, through
further gradual advancement in the heavenly life of re-
generation, at that equal temperament of spiritual in-
fluences, in which all the faculties of the mind are re-
stored to and preserved in their due and proportionate
vigour and exercise ? In other words, are our wills,
our understandings, and our works, all conjointly
brought under the regulations of an heavenly love and
life, so as to partake of, and to bring forth respec-
tively their united fruits in a full and perfect ripeness ?
Who cannot see, that this last and crowning season is
that spiritual autumn of the godly and regenerate rnind,
in which the effects of the preceding seasons are all
terminated and fulfilled in their lasting usefulness, and
fruit is thus brought forth to perfection -
v

134 THE HOUSEHOLDER,

Behold here then, beloved, a view of those spiritual
seaso?is, answering to the natural ones, which the
words of my text have led me to present to your seri-
ous attention and consideration.

Permit me now, by way of conclusion, to ask you a
few questions naturally flowing from the subject under
consideration. — In which of these spiritual seasons,
think you, are your own minds revolving ? What is
your particular aspect in regard to the sun of heaven ?
Is it still the gloom and cold of winter with you ; or
do you begin to be made sensible of the joys and
warmth of spring, of summer, of autumn? In other
worus, are^you resting still in a mere speculative faith,
which hath no influence upon your affections, your
thoughts, and works, to turn them unto God ; or are
you begun to labour in sincere repentance to join to
your faith heavenly virtue, and by that conjunction to
experience a progressive advancement, through the
several seasons of the spiritual life, till you arrive at
the perfect fruitfulness? One or other of the above
seasons must of necessity be to each of you your pecu-
liar or ruling season, and it certainly is of importance
for you to know which it is.

May then these questions lead you to a serious ex-
amination of the state of your own hearts in regard to
the holy God and his eternal kingdom ! May they
lead you to look up to, and to be affected by that spi-
ritual and eternal sun, whose blessed rays are for ever
shining upon you, whether you think of it or not ! May
they lead you to see the danger of resting in any spi-

THE TIME OF THE FRUIT. 135

ritual season, short of that concluding and crowning
season, in which your fruit may be fully ripened for
the great Householder's use '. May they lead you, if
it be yet winter with you, to look for the joy of the
heavenly spring ; if it be spring with you, to advance
onwards towards the fuller joys and delights of the
heavenly summer ; if it be summer, not yet to stand
still, but to press forwards to the full and complete
fruitfulness of the heavenly autumn ! May you thus,
advancing in the knowledge and love of things eternal,
be led to rise above and out of the perishable times
and seasons of this world, that so you may be found re-
volving in those eternal seasons, which have their ori-
gin in the everlasting Jehovah, and which, like him,
will endure for ever ! Finally, and to speak without a
metaphor, you may be led hereby in true repentance
to the great redeeming God, whose name is Jesus
Christ, and who has his kingdom in the centre of all
human minds, to receive from him, not only the know-
ledge, but also the love of himself, and so to cherish in
your bosoms the blessed rays of this his eternal mercy
and truth, that when the time of fruit cometh, and the
great Householder sendeth his servants to receive of the
fruit of your vineyards, it may be found in great abun-
dance, to his glory, and to your own eternal bliss !

AMEN.

ON THE

SERVANTS SENT

TO RECEIVE THE

FRUITS OF THE VINEYARD ;

OR THE

REQUIREMENTS OF HEAVENLY TRUTHS

SERMON XIV.

Matt, xxi, 34,

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he tent
his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it.

IN the two preceding discourses it has been considered
what we are here to understand by the fruits of the
vineyard, and by the time of the fruit drawing near. I
shall now proceed to consider the further lessons ef
heavenly admonition and instruction suggested by
these latter words, " He sent his servants to the hus.-
bandmep, that they might receive the fruits of it
N2

138 THE HOUSEHOLDER,

The plain and obvious sense of these words, as ap-
plied to God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, the great
Householder, is this, that he sent to claim the fruits of
the vineyard to himself, as properly belonging to him-
self more than to the husbandmen ; inasmuch as the
vineyard being his, the fruits of the vineyard must of
necessity be his also.

By the servants whom he sent, we may understand
(in reference to God, the great Householder) all those
heavenly teachers and instructors, enlightened by his
holy Spirit of truth, whom he hath sent in all ages of
the world, to enlighten and to reform mankind. Of
consequence, by the servants here spoken of, are fur-
ther meant the heavenly truths themselves, which were
taught by those instructors; inasmuch, as all divine
and heavenly truth is, in a peculiar sense, the ser-
vant of the eternal Jehovah, being sent forth from him
»o execute and fulfil bis adorable counsels of mercy
and love in regard to man.

Let me entreat, beloved, your particular attention
to this design and purpose of the Almighty in sending
his servants, according to this sense of the word, to
claim to himself the fruits of the spiritual vineyard,
which is his church, that so you may see how his
counsel herein is grounded in his most unutterable
mercy and love towards mankind.

It is well known, that all men, whether they be good
or evil, whether they be righteous or wicked, bring
forth some kind of fruit in their spiritual vineyards.

For every man's fruits are his works, and all men
do some kind of work of other, according to tjieji.

SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS. 139

particular calling, genius, or temper, be it good or
evil.

It is further known, that an evil or wicked man can
bring forth a fruit, or do a work, which to all out-
ward appearance shall be like the fruit or work of a
righteous or good man; as for example ; a wicked man
can give alms to the poor, he can be diligent in the
labours of his calling, he can perform outward acts of
devotion towards God, and the like.

But notwithstanding all this be known, yet it is not
perhaps so well considered, that though all men bring
forth fruit, and though the fruit or work of a wicked
man, and of a righteous man, may be much alike as to
its external appearance, yet in the internal quality
thereof, in the sight of God, there is an immense dif-
ference, which difference depends entirely upon the
end regarded in the fruit or work.

As for example ; if God and his word be the end
regarded, the fruit is then good fruit, and the work a
good work ; and it is so far good, but no further, as
God and his word are regarded in it.

But on the contrary, if God and bis word are not
regarded herein, — if man brings forth fruit, or works
a work, only with a view to himself and the world,
that is, for the sake of his own honour, gain, or repu-
tation ; who cannot see, that in this case the fruit
must needs be corrupt fruit, and the work an evil
work, whatsoever be its external form or appearance.

For who cannot see, that in this latter case there is
nothing of God and his Word in the fruit or work ?

140 THE HOUSEHOLDER

And if there be nothing of God and his Word there-
in, there can be nothing good therein, inasmuch as
it is an eternal truth, that there is none good but God.
an J therefore nothing can be truly good, but so far as
Gnu is in it.

Nay, who cannot see further, that in this latter case,
where man brings forth fruit, or doeth a work, merely
with a view to himself, that is, to his own honour,
gain, or reputation, the fruit must needs be inwardly
corrupt, and the work inwardly evil and full of abo-
mination, howsoever pure and splendid it may appear
outwardly, inasmuch as the self of man alone is in it,
and the self of man separate from God is most evil,
corrupt, and abominable ?

Be it remembered then, as an everlasting truth, that
no good fruit can be produced, or no good work can be
wrought by man, but so far as God and his word are
regarded in it ; all other fruit, or every other work,
must needs be evil, because it is full of evil within,
and may be fitly compared in this case with that natu-
ral fruit, which appears beautiful without, but within
is eaten with worms, or full of rottenness and putri-
dity.

Is it needful to add, that fruits or works of this
description must needs be unblessed to man, and that
there can be no real blessing in them, but so far as
they are produced from or wrought in God ? For if
God be the one only fountain of all true blessing, then
ho\v plain is it to be seen, that no work or deed of
man's can .have any real blessing or blessedness in it,

SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS. 141

but so far as the blessing and blessedness of God is in
it ; and that the blessing of God cannot be in it, but so
far as God and his word are regarded in it as the great
end for which it is wrought or done !

Behold here then, beloved, the true and eternal rea-
son, why God in all ages /ms sent, and in all ages will
send his servants to receive from the husbandmen the
fruits of the spiritual vineyard !

The reason is this : — Unless the fruits be thus given
back by the husbandmen unto God, the great House-
holder, under the humble acknowledgment that they
are his fruits, and producedy*rom him, they can never
by any possibility become good fruits, or bring any
blessing with them to the spiritual husbandmen.

God therefore in all ages, infinitely willing to pro-
mote the eternal happiness of his creatures, hath re-
vealed to man by his servants the word of his eternal
truth, to this great end, that man might no longer live
unto himself alone, and bring forth fruit unto himself
alone, whereby both he and his fruit must needs be
unblessed and unholy, being separated from God and
his life, but that living unto God, and bringing forth fruit
unto him, both he and his fruit might become eternally
blessed and holy, being united to and filled with
the life of the eternal God, who is the only fountain of
all blessedness and of all holiness.

For let us inquire now, what .is it which this eternal
God hath spoken and revealed to man in all ages by
the word of his truth ? Is not the sum and substance
thereof contained in these few words of his rightly un-

142 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

stood ; " Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unt©
the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the
glory due unto his name ; worship the Lord in the beau-
ty of holiness.'1*'

But who now, let us ask, fulfils this great requirement
of the merciful God? Who are they that give unto the
Lord glory and strength, and that worship fain in the
beauty of holiness ?

Surely none can do this, but they who regard God
in all their works, acknowledging him therein as the
end and the all thereof, under the conviction that what-
soever is good and wise., and blessed in themselves, or
in their works, is from God, and from him alone.

Sure y to think of giving God glory and strength, or
of c orshipping him acceptably in any other way to the
ne. t of this, is the error of errors, the vanity of van-
it .j n d " the abomination of desolation, spoken of
by the prophet, standing in the holy place "t For how
can God be truiy g lor i tied and acceptably worshipped,
but in and by man's works, so far as they are wrought
in God, and he is regarded in them? Doth not Jesus
Christ say, " Herein is my Father glorified, that yc
bririg forth much fruit V\ But what is this much fruit
by which the Father is glorified, but those good and
Useful works in which he is regarded as the origin and
the end, and which are therefore acknowledged, in all
humility of thankfulness and adoration, to be from him,
and to be his ?

* Psalm xx ix. 1, 2.
f Matt xiv. 15.
^ Joha xv. 8,

SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS. 143

Besides, do not the works of man constitute the man,
am] is not every man what his work is, inasmuch as
his whole soul and spirit, his love and wisdom, his
will and understanding, all his faculties, in short, both
of mind and body, must needs be in his work ? To se-
parate God then from man's work, by not regarding
God therein, or, what is the same thing, by regarding
other ends more than God — what is this but separating
God from man? and if God be separated from man,
what is there left, by which either man can be blessed,
or God can be glorified ?

Would you then, beloved, avoid this error of errors,
this monstrous inconsistency and enormity in the ser-
vice and the worship of God? Would you fulfil the
blessed intentions of the revelation of God, and be-
come partakers of all that inconceivable blessedness
which he hath from eternity purposed to all those who
shall receive and obey his truth? Learn, then, this
short but weighty lesson, when he sends his servants (as
he certainly will send) to receive the fruits of your vine-
yards, not to send them away empty. — Understand
me well — The servants whom he sends, are the truths of
his holy word ; and the truths of his holy word require,
not so much for his glory, as for your blessedness, that
you should bring forth much fruit ; or, in other words,
that you should abound in good zv >rks. They require
further, in order that your works may be good, and
thereby be blessed to you, that you should regard and
acknowledge him therein, as the all of their goodness,
and consequently the all of blessing, which can possi-

144 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

bly be in either you or your works. If you despise or
disregard, this requirement of the truth of God, your
religion must then needs be altogether a vain and dead
thing, and whatsoever may be the profession of your
lips, you cannot glorify God, or save yourselves there-
by. But if you fulfil this requirement, your religion
will then be full of life and blessing, and it will com-
municate life eternal, and blessing eternal to you, be-
cause it will be lull of God, and will bring down the
life and blessing of God into all that you think or do.

But you ask, How shall we fulfil this requirement,
so that we may be partakers of all its blessedness ? I
answer — Only be sincere in regarding the Lord Jesus
Christ in your works. Learn to make him and his
word the end of all that you intend, think, and do. In
}rour daily callings and employments, and in whatso-
ever you do, keep your minds perpetually open to his
blessed influences, under the constant acknowledgment
that ail your power to be well employed, and to do
the smallest good work, is from him. But, since you
cannot regard Jesus Christ as the end of your works,
only so far as you remove other inferior ends, such as
your own vain glory, and worldly gain, let this be your
chief and principal care, to watch against and separate
these lower ends, that they may never at any time ex-
alt themselves above that great and eternal end, on
which your everlasting peace and salvation depends*

If you will be faithful and obedient to these few
plain gospel rules, you will then soon bring forth fruit
in your vineyards to the glory of the great Householder :

SERVANTS SENT FOR FRUITS. 145

your fruit also will be good fruit, because the goodness
of God will be in it ; and it will be blessed fruit, be-
cause it will be full of the blessing of God. And thus,
when he sendeth his servants to receive this fruit from
you, you will acknowledge it to be his, and give it to
him willingly and thankfully, and he will be infinitely
delighted therewith, and will give it you back again
with this inconceivable and divine benediction, " Well
done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been
faithful in a few things, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. AMEN.

ON THE

SERVANTS BEING BEATEN,
KILLED, &c.

OR THE

REJECTION AND DESTRUCTION OF DIVINE
TRUTHS.

SERMON XV,

Matt. xxi. 35.

And the husbandmen took his s&rzants, and beat
one. and killed another, and stoned another.

1 HE preceding verse, with which this is immediate-
ly connected, runs thus : — " And when the time of the
fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband-
men, that they might receive the fruits of it."

It has already been shewn, in discoursing on these
latter words, what is here meant by the servants,
whom the householder sent to the husbandmen to receive

143 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

the fruits of the vineyard; and that according to the
spiritual interpretation of the parable, these servants
signify the teachers of heavenly truth ; and not only
the teachers of heavenly truth, but also the heavenly
truths themselves which are taught, inasmuch as all
truth is in a supreme sense the servant of the great Je-
hovah, sent forth to minister to, and accomplish his
divine purposes with respect to man.

From this sense of the word servants, it will now
plainly appear how we are to understand the words
of my text, where it is written, " The husbandmen
took his servants, and beat one, and killed another,
and stoned another."

According to the spiritual interpretation of the pa-
rable before us, in its relation to spiritual husbandmen,
and the Lord's spiritual vineyard, which is his church,
these words can mean nothing more or less than this,
that the men of the church, or the spiritual husband-
men, took the heavenly truths, which were sent to
them from heaven by the great Householder, to re-
ceive the fruits of their vineyard ; and when they had
taken them, instead of applying them to the blessed
purposes for which they were sent, they did violence
to them, killed them, and destroyed them.

Let me entreat, beloved, at this time, your most par-
ticular attention to this impious and dreadful conduct
of the spiritual husbandmen, which perhaps is more
common, than we are many of us aware of, and in the
guilt of which we ourselves may possibly be involved,
when we are least thinking of any such enormity.

THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 149

It is not possible, however, to know wherein the guilt
ant! enormity of this conduct consists, unless it be pre-
viously kitown in some degree what is the nature of
the life of truth, and how the life of truth may be taken
away. Let this then be the previous subject of our
consideration.

And, first, in regard to the life of truth.

This is a subject, it is to be feared, at this day but
little considered by the generality of those who call
themselves Christians, and it is to the want of such
consideration we may impute, in a great measure, the
errors of judgment and the evils of practice , which so
much abound at present in the Christian world.

Few perhaps are well aware that truth has any par-
ticular life in it — fewer still perhaps are aware in what
the life of truth consists — and perhaps fewest of all are
rightly informed that truth, deprived of its life, ceases
to be truth, and is a mere" dead and unprofitable thing.

Howbeit, the general ignorance and inattention of
mankind cannot change the nature of things. Though
man, through a careless and criminal thoughtlessness,
may not know it, yet it is eternally and unalterably
true, that truth has a life in it; and also, that its life
may be taken away from it; and further, that when its
life is taken away from it, it ceases to be what it was be-
fore, and becomes a mere lifeless and offensive carcase.

You are perhaps, beloved, some of you, amongst
the number of those who have not heretofore given
this subject the attention it deserves. You are surpri-
O 2

159 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

sed to hear of the life of truth, and of taking away its
life, and wonder what is meant by these expressions,
It is high time, then, that you should now learn what
these expressions mean, because of their close connec-
tion with that which ought to be dearer to you than any
thing in the world besides, viz. your religion, your
eternal life ; or, in other words, the true knowledge
and worship of God, in your own hearts and lives.

Would you know then what is meant by the life of
truth ? I will endeavour to explain it to you.

The life of truth, and the only life of truth, is love
and charity, love to God, or the Lord Jesus Christ,
and charity one towards another.

All the truths of the Word of God, from the begin-
ning to the end of the Bible, are full of this life ; the
reason is, they proceed from God, or Jesus Christ, who
is the purest and most essential love, and therefore
they must necessarily themselves partake of this love,
and be filled with it.

Accordingly Jesus Christ declares, " The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life ;"* and in another place, " I am the way, and
the truth, and the life ;"f plainly intimating hereby,
that his word, which is the truth, is in the fullest and
closest connection with his life, and his life cannot
be, or mean any thing else, but his love.

And as all the truths of God's word are thus full of
♦!he life of love and charity, so are they intended to

* John vi. 63.
.7 John xiv. 6»

THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 151

convey or communicate that ever-blessed life unto
man, by making him full of love and charity also-
This indeed is the one great end, and the only end of
the revelation of the truths of God, to purge man from
his evil, perverted, and defiled love, that so he may
be renewed and reformed in the pure and holy love of
God, the supreme good, and thus find again the king-
dom of heaven, the paradise of righteousness and
peace in his bosom ; and therefore Jesus Christ saith,
in another place, " I have declared unto them thy
name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith
thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in
them."*

This, then, is what is meant by the life of truth.

You will now easily be able to apprehend what is
meant by taking away this life.

If love and charity be the life of truth, then it is
plain, that to take away the life of truth, is to deprive
it of love and charity.

But you ask, How is it possible to deprive truth of
love and charity ?

I will endeavour also to explain this matter to you,
entreating your most earnest attention as to a subject
of the utmost importance.

It has been already observed, that every truth of
the word of God is full of the life of heavenly lo\e and
charity ; and that it is sent or given to man, in order fo
communicate to him that heavenly life,

* John xvii. 26,

152 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

It is not possible now for man to deprive truth of its
heavenly life, whilst it remains in its divine source or
fountain, which is the Word of God ; for in that, its
source, it must needs ever be united with its life ; just
as the light of the sun, in its source, is ever united with
its heat.

But it is possible for man, we know, to taie the
truths of God out of the Word, and receive them into
his own mind, or memory, as every one doth, whenso-
ever he either hears or reads the word of God ; and
here it is, that the truth is in danger of being deprived
of its life.

For are there any, who, in hearing or reading the
Word of God, are in no desire of profiting by what they
hear or read ? Are there any, who thus hear and read
in a state of heart unconverted to God, and impeni-
tent ? Are there any, who, in consequence hereof,
have their hearts full of a love contrary to that which
is in the truth of God's word ; as for example, full of
the inordinate love of himself and of this world, full of
the inordinate love of pleasure, of gain, or of vain glo-
ry, or any other foolish and unreasonable affection,
which is opposite to the pure love of God and of his
neighbour ? Are there, in short, any, who thus eat the
bread of their God* with unclean hands* and unsancti-
tied hearts ? How plain is it to see, in this case, that
v/hatsoever truth from the Word of God enters into

* Numb. xxi. 6,

THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 153

their minds or memories, it will quickly be deprived
of all its life of love and charity !

For how plain is it to see, that, in this case, the evil
and unrighteous love, which is in the man's heart, will
soon destroy the good and righteous love, which is in
the truths that he has heard and read ! Just, for in-
stance, as if a sheep or a lamb was to be taken into a
den of lions or wolves, who cannot see, that the lions
and wolves would quickly destroy the life of the sheep
or lamb, and tear it in pieces.

Truth, thus deprived of its life, it is further to be ob-
served, becomes a mere dead carcase, and, like all
other carcases, is extremely loathsome, offensive, and
useless ; and such is the truth of all those, who say
they have truth, and yet have not charity, and the
works of charity ; or, in other words, who say they
have the knowledge of God, and yet are destitute of
the life and the love of God, living in vanity, thought-
lessness, and worldly-mindedness. Whatsoever the
intellectual attainments of such persons may be, or
howsoever they may imagine themselves to be in the
faith, or in the truth, there is reason to fear, that in the
sight of God, they are seen like unto those whited se-
pulchres, of which the Lord speaks, " which indeed
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead
men's bones, and all uncleanness."*

Behold here then, beloved, how, and in what man-
ner, the life of truth may be taken away and destroyed,'

* Matt, xxiii. 27.

154 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

It cannot be taken away and destroyed in its foun-
tain, any more than the life of God can be destroyed
in its fountain ; but it may be taken away and de-
stroyed, when it is separated from its fountain, and re-
ceived into the mind or memory of man : and it is
in danger of being so destroyed by every unreasona-
ble and vain affection of man's heart ; by every inor-
dinate love or lust; by every wrong attachment or cri-
minal inclination ; by every perverse thought, and false
persuasion of the impenitent, unconverted, and unre-
generate mind. These are the cruel lions and wolves
which destroy and devour the innocent sheep and
lambs of heaven. These are the wicked and ungodly
husbandmen, which " take the servants of the great
and good Householder, and beat one, and kill another,
and stone another. These, in short, are those abomi-
nable scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, in all ages
and places, of whom it is eternally true, what was de-
clared of old by the Lord of life, " Therefore also,
said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and
apostles ; and some of them they shall slay and perse-
cute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed
from the foundation of the world, may be required of
this generation."*

Beloved, I am persuaded you would all of you trem-
ble at the thought of being of the number of such mur-
derers, and of having the blood of the prophets reqwred
at your hands. I am persuaded also, you are thank-

* Luke xi. 40, 50.

THE SERVANtS BEATEN, &C. 1^5

nil to be warned of your danger, and will be yet fur-
iher thankful to be taught how you may escape such
dreadful guilt ; and instead of taking away the life of
truth, or doing violence to it, may rather preserve and
cherish it, as the source of life eternal in your own
bosoms.

Under this persuasion, I beg leave, in all earnest-
ness of affection, and with that zeal which becomes a
sincere minister and defender of the truth, to press up-
on your observation and practice, the following brief
admonitions, with which I shall conclude this dis-
course.

Whensoever, from henceforth, you hear or read the
Word of God, bethink yourselves well of the holy life
which it contains, and is filled with ; and as you value
your eternal well-being, take heed of depriving it of
that holy life.

For this purpose, be sure never to hear or read the
Word of God, or any doctrine of truth thence derived,,
but in an humble and penitent state of heart before God,
under the real acknowledgment of your m^ny evils,
and of the necessity ot receiving new life, or new
love, before you can enter into the kingdom of hea-
ven : otherwise, when you are not aware of it, the
evils of your hearts, which are unrepented of, and
consequently unremoved, will assuredly take the truths
which you hear and read, and beat one, kill another,
and stone another.

Let it therefore be your most earnest and constant
prayer to God, that you may be delivered from thh

156 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

most dreadful of all blood-guiltiness ; remembering well
the divine caution and admonition, " Touch not mine
anointed, and do my prophets no harm ;"* and under
the full conviction, that to destroy in your own he;<rts
the life of truth, which is the life and the love of God,
is as great an offence against God, and as destructive
and hurtful to your own souls, as to kill a prophet, an
apostle, or an evangelist.

If you will attend well to these few admonitions,
you will soon be made sensible of their salutary effect
upon your hearts and lives. The truths of the Word
of God will then always find your minds in a fit and
prepared state for their reception. There will be no
longer any beating, any killing, any stoning of these
heavenly messengers ; but instead of such outrage, you
will give them the welcome of affection and friendship,
as to the servants of God. Nor will your welcome of
friendship and affection be unrewarded ; for they, in
their turn, will give unto you what they are commis-
sioned from their great Lord to give, and what they
bear constantly in their bosom, viz. the pearl of great
•price, the hidden manna, the fruit of the tree of life ; or,
to speak plainly, and without a metaphor, the holy
and eternal life of God, which is the life of heavenly
love and charity. They will make this their life to
be your life, and their God to be your God ; and thus
opening in you the everlasting kingdom of divine
righteousness, peace, and truth, by effecting your cor-

* Psalm cv, 15.

THE SERVANTS BEATEN, &C. 157

junction with Jesus Christ, in his life and love, they
will convince you experimentally of his promised bles-
sing to all who should receive aright the truths of his
Word, where it is written, " He that receiveth you,
receiveth me ; and he that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me."* AMEN.

*M?tt.x.40,

ON THE

OTHER SERVANTS MORE THAN THE
FIRST ;

OR THE

REPEATED MESSAGES OF GOD TO MAN.

SERMON XVI.

Matt. xxi. 36.

Again he scut other servants more than the first,

and they did unto them likewise.

X HESE words are in immediate connexion with the
two preceding verses, which run thus : " And when
the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants
to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits
of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another."

It has already been shewn what we are here to ut>
derstand by the servants, whom the " householder sent
to the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of the vine-
yard j" and further, what we are to understand by trie

]60 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

" husbandmen taking the servants, and beating one,
and killing another, and stoning another."

The servants, spiritually considered, are the truths of
God's Word, which are ever sent by the great House-
holder to the spiritual husbandmen, for the sake of pn>
curing and receiving spiritual fruit, inasmuch as none
can produce spiritual fruit, that is, fruit unto God, but
by and through the truths of the Word of God.

To beat, to hill, and to stone these servants, then,
denotes the various ways by which unfaithful husband-
men, in all ages and places, do violence to, and de-
stroy the heavenly truths of God's Word. This, it
was shewn, is principally done by destroying the life
of truth, which is the life of love and charity ; and
truth is thus deprived of its life, whensoever it is re-
ceived into the understanding alone, and doth not en-
ter into and influence the will, the affections, and the
life of man.

Notwithstanding the violence thus done to the first
servants sent by the good Householder to receive the
fruits of the vineyard, we find him still urgent with
the same blessed motives, and to the same adorable
ends ; again he sent other servaiits more than the first.

And notwithstanding this repeated and increased
mercy and kindness of the good Householder, we rind
the unfaithful husbandmen still persisting in their ob-
stinate rejection of, and outrageous violence against
the heavenly messengers sent unto them ; they did
unto them likewise, that is, they beat one, killed another^
ecnd stoned another.

OTHER SERVANTS SENT.

161

Two considerations of the utmost importance arc
here suggested to our notice.

First, The persevering kindness of the good Househol-
der ; and

Secondly, The persevering obstinacy of the unfaithful
husbandmen.

May I bespeak your most earnest attention to each
of these considerations! And, first, To the persevering
kindness of the good Householder.

Again he sent other servants more than the first.

From the beginning of the creation this scripture
hath been fulfilled respecting the great Creator, and
there hath been no age or time in which he hath not
been sending other servants more than the first, to re-
ceive the fruits of his spiritual vineyard, the church.

Immediately after the fall of our first parents from
that blessed life and order of heaven, in which they
were created, the good Householder was not forgetful of
the work of his hands, but by the dictates of his holy
Spirit in their hearts, sent these his heavenly messen-
gers and servants to call them back again into that pa-
radise which they had forfeited, that so both he and
'hey might again enjoy the blessed fruits of it.

Again, when the world was further lost in wicked-
ness, by a further miserable departure from the law
of the love of God in their hearts and lives,, which
ended in the destruction thereof by a flood ; the righ-
teous Noah was another servant sent by the heavenly
Householder, to make known his eternally holy and
blessed will to the spiritual husbandmen, and thus re-

. c*ive again the finite of the spiritual vineyard,,
V 2

162 THE HOUSEHOLDER,

To the labours of this servant succeeded those ot
divers others, for the same biessed purposes. Who
hath not read how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, "and the-
patriarchs, in their respective generations, were so
many heavenly messengers from the holy God to de-
liver his people a message of mercy and truth, re-
specting the fruit of their vineyard ?

Who hath not heard also of Moses and Aaron, and
an innumerable company of holy priests and Levites
under the old law, to whom the divine Householder
revealed further his holy will for the fructification of
his church, when the thunderings and lightnings from
Mount Sinai proclaimed the majesty and the sanctity
of the law of tha Ten Commandments, which have re-
mained in all ages, and still remain unto this day, to
call man back again unto his God, that his vineyard
may be rendered fruitful in all heavenly righteousness,
joy, and peace ?

But the time would fail me, to tell of all the other
servants who had their commission from the great
Householder, for the same blessed ends and purposes.
You have all read of Gideon, and of Barak ; of Sam-
son, and of Jephthah ; of Samuel also, and David, and
the prophets ; and you cannot but know how these al-
so were other servants of God, mort than the first ;
ient by him, in their generations, unto the spiritual
husbandmen, to declare to them that law of eternal
life, whereby both they and the fruit of their vine-
yards might be received back again into the bosom of
the everlasting Lord, and thus be blessed in the par-
ticipations of his unutterable mercy and truth,

OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 1G3

But why need we thus look back to the records of
the old world, to be convinced of this continual perse-
vering will and blessed purpose of the divine House-
holder respecting his vineyard ? Surely there is suffi-
cient evidence nearer home, and in our own time, in
confirmation of this great truth ; and we need but look
each of us into our own minds and consciences to be ful-
ly persuaded, that the God of infinite mercy will never
cease to send other servants more than the first, to re-
call and recover back unto himself the fruit of his spi-
ritual vineyard, that so it may be eternally blessed
unto the spiritual husbandmen.

For let me ask — Who amongst us, at one time or
other, hath not received a message from the holy God
in his mind and conscience, speaking to this effect, —
" Give me the fruit of thy vineyard ?" Yea, who
amongst us hath not heard this message often repeatedf
and thus been visited by other servants of the great
Householder, more than thefirst ?

Let us examine this matter attentively, because our
everlasting well-being is involved in it.

How often have we heard our duty towards God
enforced and explained ! How often have we been
called to repent, and to turn with our best affections
unto God, that so we may love him with all our heart,
and mind, and soul, and strength ! How often have
we been admonished by words from without, and also
by dictates from within, that we were not created for
this perishable vvorid only, but for the everlasting en-
joyment of God in another and an eternal world ; and

164 THE HOUSEHOLDER,.

that, therefore, the best and only wise use we can make
of our present lives in this world, is to prepare our
souls for that eternal enjoyment, by giving back unto
God all that we receive from him S How often have
the lessons of heavenly truth and wisdom been thus
sounded in our ears, and repeated calls given us to de-
vote ourselves to the living God, and to enter into a
covenant of righteousness and peace with the Father of
spirits ! How often have we been warned of the dan-
ger and delusion of sin, and been shewn the necessity
thereby of setting a watch over our own hearts i How
often, in short, have we been taught, that our trues;
wisdom is to be acquainted with God, and that our
highest blessedness is to become again his images and
likenesses, by a thorough conformity of our lives to the
words of his truth, and the dictates of his eternal Spirit
within us 1

We have not, perhaps, been visited personally with-
this message, by immediate servants from God, such
as lighteous Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or the pa-
triarchs of old. We have not been with Moses upon
Mount Sinai, and beheld the visible glory of the
Almighty, and heard him speak to us face to face. We
have not, perhaps, seen in our streets one of the old
prophets, preaching repentance, and calling unto new-
ness of life. But what then ? We have heard the
same heavenly lessons, and the same heavenly lan-
guage, which were once spoken by Noah, by Abra-
ham, by Isaac, by Jacob, by the patriarchs, by Mo-
ses, and by the prophets : and what matters it. who ox

OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 165

what the instrument is, by which the will and the wis-
dom of God is made known to us, provided it be but
made known ? If all the patriarchs, prophets, and
apostles, that ever lived upon earth, were to preach
daily in our streets, they could only deliver to us the
same message of truth and wisdom, which we have
already received, and heard a thousand times repeated
in our ears.

Behold here then, beloved, the merciful and perse-
vering kindness of the good Householder, and how in
all ages, and amongst all people, he hath earnestly
sought to recover to himself his lost vineyard, that so
the spiritual husbandmen might be delivered from the
sin and misery of living unto themselves alone, and by
rendering back unto God that which, of right, helong.-
eth to him, might become everlastingly blessed in the
further participations of bis unutterable mercy, truth,
and peace !

And may this consideration lead us i<? reflect wor-
thily upon that astonishing mercy and iove of our
heavenly Father, which is thus earned to gather to
himself, both us and the fruit of our vineyards ! May
it lead us further to reflect aright upon the impor-
tance and the sanctity of those repeated messages of
truth, which he is continually sending to us for this
blessed purpose! May we henceforth be enabled to
see, that wheresoever truth is, there a servant of
God is ; and wheresoever a servant of God is, there
God himself is! May we thus be led to receive and
venerate the truth, as we would receive and venerate

iQ& THE HOUSEHOLDER.

the God of truth, and to be as much afraid of rejecting
and destroying the message, as we would be afraid of
rejecting and destroying him who sends it, and whose
it is! — But, oh! above all, may we be led to remem-
ber, what it is, which hath in all former ages, and
which doth also in our age, alone reject and destroy
the truth, viz. that it is the vain and foolish love of our-
selves, of the world, and the flesh, more than of God
and our neighbour ; and that therefore we can in no
other possible way, cherish and keep alive the truth
in ourselves, but by renouncing vain affections, that
so the love of God and of our neighbour may prevail
and rule in us.

To conclude — You have now heard another mes-
sage from God — another servant hath this day been
sent unto you from the great Householder, to receive
the fruit of your vineyards — Oh, consider not the in-
strument by whom this message is sent, but rather
•consider him, from whom it is sent, and whose servant
jt is— consider his gracious purpose in sending it, and
the infinite and astonishing mercy and love which is in
it— consider what an hoiy and awful message hath now-
entered into your ears— the Creator and Redeemer of
the world ;:ukes a demand upon you; a demand of
the fruit of your vineyards ; a demand which you
cannot refuse him, without destroying yourselves; and
which, whensoever you are wise enough to grant it to
him, will prove your salvation. He only asks for that,
which it will be death to you to keep from him, and
which he will give you back again with life eternal*

OTHER SERVANTS SENT. 16?

when be sees you obedient to his heavenly message.
Oh, then, let the mercy and the wisdom of that mes-
sage now find a place in your hearts, that so you may
be led to answer the just demands of a merciful and
righteous God. Let it never be said of you, that when
the heavenly Householder " sent other servants unto
you more than the first, you did unto them likewise."
Rather let it be said of you, " Blessed are they who
hear the word of God, and keep it."* AMEN.

* Jjuke ri, 28.

*N THE

PERSEVERING OBSTINACY

OF THE

UNFAITHFUL HUSBANDMEN.

SERMON XVII.

Matt. xxi. 36.

And again he sent other servants more than the
first, and they did unto them likewise,

IN the foregoing discourse was pointed out the perse-
vering kindness of the good Householder, in sending
other servants more than the first, to receive the fruit oP
his vineyard.

I shall now proceed to consider, as was further pro-
posed, the persevering obstinacy of the unfaithful hus-
bandmen, to whom these other servants were sent, as
expressed in these latter words of the text, They did
unto them likewise.

The lesson of spiritual instruction intended for our
use by these words of the parable, appears to be this ;
*hat whosoever* in consequence of evil of life, rejects

17© THE HOUSEHOLDER.

and destroys in himself one truth of God and heaven,
rejects and destroys in himself all the truths of God
and heaven.

I say, in consequence of evil of life, by which is to be
understood the government of an evil love ; for every
man's life is such as his governing love is. If the go-
verning love be good, that is, towards God and the
things of his kingdom, then the life will of necessity be
good; hut if the governing iove be evil, that is, to-
wards the world and the flesh, then the life must of ne-
cessity be evil also.

Let me call your particular attention to this consi-
d' 'ion, how evil of life, that is, an evil governing
Iov< , rejects and destroys in man, not one~ only, but all
tbi truths of God and heaven.

Il is generally supposed, that a man who is in evil
of life, can receive and believe the truths of God, and
thereby have faith, as fully and as perfectly as another
man who is in the good of life.

But this supposition, if it be carefully examined,
will be found to be altogether groundless, and without
foundation.

It is indeed true, that an evil man, or one who is in
evil of life, can see the truths of God as well as a good
man, or one who is in the good of life ; but then it is
well to be considered, that there is a great difference
between merely seeing the truth, and what is called in
the sacred '. riptures receiving and believing the truth.

An ev n may see the truth, but then he doth not
receive and believe it. The reason is, the truth enters

OTHER SERVANTS BEATEN. 171

into and manifests itself in his understanding or thought,
but then it doth not enter into and affect his will and
intentions ; and whatsoever doth not enter into and af-
fect man's will and intentions, cannot be said to enter
into, or make any part of the man ; inasmuch as the
:cill and intention is the whole of man ; and the under-
standing, separate from the will and intention, makes
-properly no part of the man.

A man, who is in evil of life, may say, that he be-
lieves in God, and in the revelation of God : he may
profess with his lips, that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that good men go after death to the former, and
wicked men to the latter : he may assent also to most
other spiritual truths discoverable from the Word of
God ; and on this account he fancies that he believes
them, and would be much offended with any one who
-hould endeavour to convince him to the contrary.

But if it be true, as the Scripture testifieth, that man
-believeth with the heart, and that he can only believe
with the heart, then it is equally true, that this man,
who is in evil of life, notwithstanding all his profes-
sions, cannot believe. The reason is, because his heart
is not in his belief; and if his heart be not in it, he
himself is not in it ; for the heart or the love, as was
before observed, is what properly constitutes the man.

If, therefore, the mind of a man, who is in evil of
life, could be inwardly examined and seen into, as it
is examined and seen by the all-piercing eye of God,
it would most assuredly be found, that he dotli not be-
lieve in a single truth of the Word of God ; but that

172 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

he violently rejects and destroys them all in himself,
as they enter into his understanding, notwithstanding
the appearance to himself that he receives and admits
them all.

And would you know, beloved, the deep reason and
eternal ground of this, and why an evil man cannot
possibly believe the truths of God ; it is because evil
and truth are two opposites, and are therefore continu-
ally acting in contrariety the one to the other : for
evil is from beneath ; truth is from above : evil is from
the evil one, that is, the devil ; truth is from the good
one, that is, from God : evil, wheresoever it enters,
creates hell, and misery, and darkness ; truth, where-
soever it enters and is received, makes heaven, and
happiness, and light : evil, therefore, is the destroyer
of man ; truth is man's saviour: evil is a thing most
defiled, most deformed, and hateful ; truth is a thing
most pure, most beautiful, and lovely. Between two
iuch opposites, -it must be plain to see, there can be
no possibility of agreement; and hence it is, that in
whatsoever heart of man the love of evil bears rule,
and hath the ascendancy, there truth, with all its hea-
venly family of intelligences, graces, and virtues, must
of necessity be expelled, persecuted, and slain.

The Lord speaks of this internal and eternal oppo-'
sition subsisting between evil and truth, where he saith,
" Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved ;"*
and in another place, " No man can serve two masters,.

*Jobaiii.20.

OTHER SERVATS BEATEN. l?o

for cither he will hate the one and love the other, or
else he will hold-to the one and despise the other,
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."*

Behold here then the true and eternal reason, why
they who are in the love of evil, or, what is the same
thing, in whom an evil love hath the rule of ascendan-
cy, cannot possibly receive the truths of God, but must
needs reject, destroy, and slay them all in their hearts
and lives, like the unfaithful husbandmen described in
the parable.

The reason why they must needs reject, destroy,
and slay them all, is this :

Jill truths relating to God and his kingdom are one,
and are united together in a unity which is indivisible.
They may be compared in this respect to one heaven-
ly and beautiful form or body, which, though compos-
ed of innumerable parts and organs, is yet but one form
or body : this is the case with all the truths contained
in the word of God, or the sacred scriptures : they ap-
pear indeed as if they were diverse, scattered, and dis-
united, and as if they had little or no connexion with
each other ; when yet the fact is, there is the closest
relationship, harmony, and oneness, subsisting between
them, whereby they not only are one, but also act as
one, and are accordingly received or rejected as one.

As for example — a good man, that is, one who is
in the love of good, which is the love of God and of
his neighbour, by virtue of the good in which his mind
is principled, rejoices in hearing or reading the truths

* Matt. vi. 24.
Q.2

174 THE HOUSEHOLBER*

of the word of God, because he finds them in agree-
ment with, and highly congenial to the principle of
good in his own mind. I say then, that this good man,
so hearing and reading, receives not one only, but all
the truths of the heavenly volume, in consequence of
their unity and indivisibility ; and whether he thinks
of it or not, be is in the all of truth, and the all oi
truth is likewise in him, opening, creating, and form-
ing in him its own heaven of righteousness and peace.

On the contrary, an evil man, that is, one who is in
ihe love of evil, which is the inordinate love of him-
self and the world, more than of God and his neigh-
bour, though he may seem to himself to receive some
truths from the word of God, when he hears or reads
it, yet in reality he receives none. The reason is, his
evil is contrary to the whole truth, and truth cannot be
received in part only. Inasmuch, therefore, as he re-
jects and destroys the whole, he must of necessity re-
ject and destroy all its parts.

Much of serious and instructive reflection, beloved,
will be excited in your minds by what has been said,
if it be duly attended to.

You will learn from it, how much reason you have
to tremMe at, and to be upon your guard against, the
love of evil, or an evil Jove, which thus in its very na-
ture is contrary to all the truths of God, and therefore
will infallibly slay them all in your minds, so far as it
Is suffered to have the pre-eminence.

You will therefore see the necessity of making it a
subject of your continual prayers to God, to discover
to you more especially what your governing love i?^

OTHER SERVANTS BEATEN. 175

whether it be in good or in evil, under a serious ap-
prehension, that your reception or your rejection of
heavenly truth will depend altogether upon this ruling
principle in your minds.

But you will not be content in this case with only
praying to God. Recollecting that your salvation de-
pends upon this discovery, and under a just alarm lest
the folly of the unfaithful husbandmen should be your
folly, you will not fail to search into and examine most
diligently your own minds by the light of God's word,
touching the most secret purposes, ends, and intentions
of your lives, whether they be towards God, or from
God. You will never rest till you thus know what
you are, or what is the same thing, what your love is :
and you will be afraid at any time of hearing or of
reading the truths of God, unless you have good ground
to believe, that you have first discovered and put
awTay that in yourselves, which would defile or destroy
them.

Thus, you may have the most comfortable satisfac-
tion to hope, that you will never be found amongst the
number of the unfaithful husbandmen. The God of
mercy will assuredly make known to you that evil
love in yourselves, which is the sole destroyer of his
truth, whensoever he sees you desirous to know it.
He will also remove and separate it fro-; you, when-
soever he perceives you willing to have it removed
and separated. And so far as an evil love is removed
and separated, so. far a good love will assuredly enter
and be implanted ; and with this good love will be re-
ceived at the same time the affection^ the intelligence,

176 THE HOUSEHOLDER. *

and the perception of all heavenly truth, because ou
this love is ever inscribed, the divine blessedness,
where it is written, " Blessed are your eyes, for th^y
see ; and your ears, for they hear."* AMEN

* Matt. xiii. 16.

ON THE

HOUSEHOLDER'S SON,

»
WITH THE

REVERENCE DUE TO HIM, AND THE MANNER IN
WHICH HE IS STILL CRUCIFIED,

SERMON XVIII,

Matt. xxi. 37, 38, 39.

But last of all he sent unto them his Son, saying.

They will reverence my Son.
But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said

among themselves, This is the heir : come, let

us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
And they caught him, and cast him out of the

vineyard, and slew him.

A HE Son here spoken of hath manifest allusion to
the Son of God, who was sent into the world by his '
Father, the great Householder, to receive the fruit of
his spiritual vineyard, the church,

178 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

You have often been taught from this place, that by
God's sending his So?i into the world, is meant his own
descent and divine manifestation in the flesh, or human
nature, to be a Redeemer and Saviour ; and that under
this manifestation his name was called Jesus Christ,
who is therefore the most high God, differing from the
eternal Father only in this, that he is the Father mani-
fested, and united to the human nature, which he as-
sumed.

I shall not, therefore, take up your present time with
any further confirmations or elucidations of this great
Gospel truth, but shall rather call your attention to a
few observations respecting the atrocious conduct of the
unfaithful husbandmen in rejecting and slaying this Sow
of the great Householder.

it might certainly have been expected, and nothing
could be more reasonable than the expectation, that
wf en I iie Son of the most high God appeared upon
earth, he vvonid have been received there by all ranks
an,; -orders of people, with a spirit and temper agree-
al le to the declaration of the great Householder,
" They will reverence my So?i."

M it be* considered who this Son was, what was his
extraordinary birth and character, and what the bles-
sed :.i;ent of his appearing, viz. to make his creatures
eternally wise and happy ; who would not have con-
cluded, that his creatures would have received him
accordingly, and that with one heart and one mind
they would have sung hosannas to this .Son of Davia1,
this prince of cr erlafting peace ? Who would not have

householder^ 60X SEXT. 179

concluded, that the world henceforth would learn
righteousness ; that all would go and be taught of this
eternal wisdom to walk in the paths of peace ; and
that mankind, receiving power from him to become the
sons of God, would thus.have entered again into that
paradise of innocence and bliss from which they were
fallen ?

Who, at least, could have conceived it possible that
the Maker and Saviour of the world, when he appear-
ed in it, should have been treated with the slightest
degree of indignity by that world which he had made,
and which he came to save ? Could it have entered
into any human heart to imagine, that on such an oc-
casion the prophetic words of tuis mighty Son would
have been fulfilled, which he before spake respecting
himself, when he said, " They caught him, and cast
him out of the vineyard, and slew him."

And yet notwithstanding all this appearance of impro-
bability and impossibility, such inconceivable indignity
and barbarity was exercised towards this Son of the
great Householder. So far from being reverenced, as
might have been reasonably expected, we behold him
derided, rejected, and slain. So far from being exalt-
ed as a God, he is degraded below a man ; the Sa-
viour of the world is thought not able to save himself;
the Lord of the vineyard is cast out of it ; and the
wicked husbandmen are foolish en< ' ' *

the vineyard will tome to th
herit mce, by the destructi
make it either their inheritanc

180 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

You are astonished, beloved, as well you may be,
at this unparalleled folly, and outrageous injustice of
the Jews t)f old. You wonder how they could thus
divest themselves of every principle of reason and hu-
manity. You are shocked at that blindness which could
not discern the glories of a manifested God ; and you
are more shocked still at that hardness of heart, which
was insensible to the tenderness of redeeming love,
and which refused obedience to tbe calls of that mer-
cy, which would again have opened heaven and para-
dise.

Possibly too you congratulate yourselves, and the
Christian world in which you have had the happiness
to be born, that you are not of the number of such
murderers. You rejoice to think, that the world is
now grown better and wiser than at the time when
tbe Son of the great Householder was sent into it, to
receive the fruits of his vineyard ; and you conceive
therefore that it is impossible for the husbandmen now
to do what the husbandmen did then, viz. cast him out
of the vineyard, and slay him.

You certainly do well to be astonished, and to be
shocked at the folly and wickedness of the Jews of
old ; and you cannot possibly excite in your minds too
much horror at their atrocious proceedings in regard
to the Son of God who appeared amongst them.

But, when you congratulate yourselves and the Chris-
tian world, that you are not involved in Jewish guilt —
when you conclude that the world is now grown so
*nuch better and wiser, that it is impossible the Saviour

householder's son sent. 1S1

of it should be again cruGiiied and slain ; in this I must
beg leave to suggest caution to you, lest, flattering
yourselves with false appearances of the world about
you, as if it was better and wiser, and more innocent
than it really is, you should fall into a careless and
dangerous security, which may be fatal to your best
interests.

I shall beg leave, therefore, on this occasion, to pro-
pose to your most serious consideration and examina-
tion, these few important but alarming inquiries.

Is it not a notorious fact, that in the present Chris-
tian world, so called, the high and holy name of Jesus
Christ, together with his sacred word and command-
ment, is much reproached and blasphemed ?

Have we not iately seen a great and numerous peo-
ple, who constituted a very considerable part of what
is called the Christian world, absolutely rejecting the
authority of the Gospel, and saying of Jesus Christ, in
the language of the most terrible apostacy, " We will
not have this man to reign over us ?

In our own nation also, are not the principles of ir-
religion and infidelity gaining ground upon us ? Do
we not find, amongst all orders and classes of people in
our land, a miserable relaxation of the bonds of reli-
gious influence ? And hath not the consequence been a
rejection of the Householder's Son ; a denial of the di-
vinity and supremacy of that Saviour, to whom alone
Ahe vineyard of right belongeth ?

JBut to brwag the inquiry nearer to our own bosoms.

R

182 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

The apostle speaks of those, who, through the pre-
valence of evil, falling away from the convictions of
truth which they had received, " crucify the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame."*

From this declaration of the apostle's, we are cer-
tainly warranted in this conclusion, that all evil cruci-
fies the bon of God; that every inordinate lust, therefore,
every unbridled passion, every temper and affection of
the human heart, which is not under the government
of heavenly wisdom, doeth all that at this day to the
Saviour of the world which the Jews of old did, when
they said, " Crucify him, crucify him."

We cannot indeed, at this day, takeaway the bodi-
ly life of Jesus Christ : we cannot nail him to a cross
of wood, as the Jews of old di^when they crucified
him between two thieves : but what then ? we can do
what is alike enormous, and alike destructive of our
eternal welfare ; we can destroy in ourselves his spi-
ritual life ; we can by our vain affections and toolish
imaginations nail him to a spiritual cross : and which
are we to suppose is the greater sin, to destroy the
body, or to destroy the soul ? to crucify Christ in per-
son, or Christ in spirit ?

Here then let the inquiry be continued, a d let it
be asked, What is the present temper and spirit of our-
selves, and of the world about us ? Do we see those,
who call themselves Christians, living by a Christian
temper and spirit? Do we live by such a temper and
spirit ourselves ? Are our lives under the direction of

*Heb. vi. 6.

^householder's SOX SENT. 133

Che wisdom of Jesus Christ, or are they influenced by
a contrary wisdom ? Have we, in short, the life of
Christ, or do we reject that life, by obeying the dic-
tates of the contrary life, which is according to the spi-
rit of that nature and kingdom, which Christ came to
destroy in us ?

God forbid, beloved, that I should pat you upon vain
and scrupulous inquiries, or suggest vain and ground-
less alarm— but God forbid also, that you should not
be alarmed where there is just cause, and that you
should not be directed to those inquiries which are ne-
cessary to lead you to a right knowledge of yourselves,
and of the world in which you live. For surely, it is
only by alarm proportioned to its cause, and by some
such questions as the above, seriously proposed, and
as seriously answered, that we can come to know ei-
ther the state of the world about us, or our own state ;
consequently that we can determine how far at this
day we are, or are not, acting the part of the unfaith-
ful husbandmen of old, of whom it is written, that
when the Householder sent his Son to them, they
caught him. and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew
him.

Let us not shrink then from these salutary inquiries,,
which have a tendency thus to open our eyes to a just
knowledge both of ourselves, and of our fellow-men.
It may be, the investigation will bring many things to
our view, which are not as they ought to be, and which
therefore will not be pleasant to see manifested. We
4iall discover possibly that the Christian world is no';

184 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

altogether so Christian as the name implies. We shall
find in it much evil and enormity, contrary to the holy
spirit and temper of him, whom it professes to follow
and serve. We shall perhaps make the same discove-
ry respecting ourselves — we shall see, to our surprise,
that the religion of Jesus Christ has never yet had its
full effect upon us ; that there is a life still in ourselves
contrary to the life of the Son of God, whose disciples
we call ourselves. We shall thus learn that it is pos-
sible at least, that the Son of the Householder may at
this day be caught, cast out of the vineyard, and slain,
as he was by the unfaithful husbandmen of former
times.

But shall we on this account suspend such salutary
inquiry, because it may discover evil to us, which we
before were not aware of? Surely this is a poor rea-
son for our neglecting the use of our eyes and senses.
For if the evil really exists, it is certainly better and
safer that it should be known, than that it should lie
concealed. If it be known, it may then be avoided,
and we may be upon our guard against its infection
and its poison : but if it be not known, it may destroy
us before we are aware of it.

Let us then, if we wish not to be numbered amongst
the unfaithful husbandmen, and to contract the terrible
guilt of casting out and slaying the Son of the great
Householder, offer up our most fervent prayers to that
Son, that he would give us the spirit of judgment and
understanding to discern aright both the state of the
world about us, and the state also of our own hearts ;

householder's son sent. 185

that so, seeing the danger to which we are exposed,
when we are least aware of it, of crucifying the Son of
God afresh, we may be led to shun this most tremen-
dous of all human evils ; and thus, cherishing the holy
and blessed spirit of that Son in our affections and lives,
may attain to all the holiness and happiness of which
the great Householder spake, when he said, " They
will reverence my Son." AMEN.

R2

OS

SEIZING THE SON'S INHERITANCE j

OB THE

DENIAL THAT ALL HEAVENLY LIFE AND POWER
IS RECEIVED FROM GOD, AND IS THEREFORE
HIS PROPERTY.

SERMON XIX.

Matt. xxi. 38.

But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said
among themselves, This is the heir ; come, let
us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance*

WE have already, in the preceding discourse, con-
sidered the conduct of these wicked husbandmen, in
tbeir rejection and destruction of the Son, who was
sent unto them by the good Householder.

But there is yet another circumstance of their atro-
cious conduct, which well deserves our most serious
consideration, and which is expressed in these latter
words of the text, Let He seize on his inheritance,

188 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

There are perhaps few persons, who have given this
circumstance due attention ; few, who have consider-
ed aright either what is meant by the Son's inheritance
here spoken of, or by the husbandmen's seizing up-
on it.

We are all of us, in a greater or less degree, too apt
to read the sacred Scriptures carelessly. We cafch at
the sight and sound of the words, and are content,
without thinking of the sense which they involve ; with-
out reflecting, that every expression of the Word of
God is divine, and must therefore" needs contain in it a
divine meaning.

How often, for instance, have we all of us read and
heard these words of my text, spoken by the wicked
husbandmen, " Let us seize on his inheritance !" But
have we all of us been led as often to consider with
ourselves what these words imply ? Have we disced
vered their instructive and divine meaning ? Have we
dived into the deep, to fetch up the pearls of wisdom
there concealed ? or have we been satisfied with the
strawy which float on the surface ?

Perhaps we cannot all of us give a satisfactory an-
swer to these questions. There is, then, the greater
need of present attention, whilst we enter upon a, more
particular consideration of the subject under these tw©
general views.

First, Wrnt the term inheritance, here applied to the
property of the Son of the great Householder, involves.
Secondly, What was the crime of the unfaithful hijs-
landmen, in thinking to seize upon it

SEIZING THE INHERITANCE. 189

First, then, let us consider what the term inheritance,
as applied to the property of the Son of the great
Householder, involves.

There is much mention made of inheritance in the
sacred Scriptures, as applied to God, or, what is the
same thing, as applied to the Son of the great House-
holder ; and according to such application, the word is
universally used to denote his people Israel.

Thus it is written in the book of Kings, speaking of
the children of Israel, " They be thy people, and thine
inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt."*
And in the book of Psalms, u Blessed be the nation
whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he hath
chosen for his ozcn inheritance, ,"t And again, in the
prophet, " Blessed be Egypt, my people ; and Assy-
ria, the work of my hands ; and Israel, mine inheri-
tance ."J

In the words of my text, the term inheritance is ma-
nifestly applied in reference to the vineyard, which
the Householder let out to the husbandmen ; but it has
already been abundantly shewn, that by the vineyard
here spoken of, is spiritually signified the Lord's
church ; and as the Lord's chiirch consists of his peo-
ple, therefore inheritance, in this passage, must needs
relate to his people also.

From all this evidence then it is very plain, that the
term inheritance, as applied in my text to the pro-

• I Kings viii. 51.
f Psalm xxxiii. 12.
J Isaiah xi*. 25.

190 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

perty of the Son of the great Householder, has rela-
tion to all man's living principles, powers, and facul-
ties, whether of mind or of body, whereby lie is capa-
ble of being made a church, or people, of the Lord
his God.

Let me bespeak, beloved, your most earnest atten-
tion to this sense of the word inheritance, which pos-
sibly you have never heretofore considered.

Your own experience and observation will abun-
dantly teach you, that you possess divers faculties and
powers, both spiritual and natural, which, taken toge-
ther in the complex, constitute what you call your life.
Thus you have the faculty or power of willing or
choosing, of thinking, of determining, and of acting ;
and this, both in a spiritual and in a natural way.

In a spiritual way, you can will or choose what is of
God and eternity ; you can think also, as often as yon
please, about God and eternity ; and ycu can deter-
mine and act accordingly : and in a natural way, you
can will or choose what is of this world, or what re-
lates to your temporal life here below ; and you can
also think, determine, and act, in reference to this your
temporal life and habitation. Under this article of
natural powers, may also be reckoned your time and
your fortunes ; for these also, like your talents, make a
part of what you commonly call yourselves.

Nothing can be more wonderful and astonishing than
these powers and faculties which you enjoy, in com-
mon with the rest of mankind ; and the due conside-
ration ©f them must needs lead every thinking person

SEIZING THE INHERITANCE. 191

io exclaim, with the inspired penman, " I am fearfully
and wonderfully made."*

But there is one circumstance relating to these pow-
ers and faculties, which is not in general so much at-
tended to, as the powers and faculties themselves : I
mean, who is the proprietor of them f or, to whom do
they properly belong? and yet this is certainly a point
of the utmost importance to be determined.

The careless and unthinking mind, grounding its
judgment in mere appearances, says, My powers and
faculties are my own, and no one has any property in
them but myself. Is not my life my own? Is not
my fortune my own ? Is not my time also my own?
Do not I will, do not I think and act by and from my-
self only? Who then has any right or property in
these things but myself?

But what saith the judgment of the eternal wisdom?
Let us hearken to its voice, and no longer be deluded
by appearances and folly.

" Know ye that the Lord he is God ; it is he that
hath made us, and not we ourselves ; we are his peo-
ple, -and the sheep of his pasture."!

And we are then the workmanship and the people
of God ? Surely in this case all our powers and facul-
ties are God's also, and he must ever remain the sole,
proprietor of them. He hath indeed given them to us
for use and for our bliss, but still they must remain

* Psalm cxxxix. f4\
+ Psalm c. 3.

192 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

for ever his, and are only ours from him. We can ut
more will, or think, or act, by a power properly our
own, than we can raise ourselves from the dead ; and
therefore every time that we exercise a single faculty j
whether of mind or of body, whether in regard to our
time or our fortunes, we exercise only a gift which we
receive from him, who, to impress deeper on our
minds this lesson of eternal wisdom, hath said, " With-
out me ye can do nothing."*

Having thus, then, endeavoured to shew what we are
\q understand by the inheritance spoken of in my text,
it will now plainly appear in the second place, what
was the crime of the unfaithful husbandmen, in think-
ing to seize on this inheritance.

The word in the original, which is here rendered
seize upon, denotes to withhold, or keep back by vio-
lence ; and the idea manifestly suggested is this, that
the wicked husbandmen began to persuade themselves,
that their life, with all its various powers and facul-
ties, was their own, independent of God, and that
therefore they were no longer bound to acknowledge
God as the source of their life, with its faculties and
powers.

Thus they kept back or withheld this inheritance
from God, instead of restoring and returning it to him,
as in justice they were obliged to do. Like that un-
wise king of old, whom the Lord rebukes by the pro-
phet, they said, " My river is mine own, and I have

■* John xv 5

SEIZING TUB INHERIT ANCK. 193

made it for myself."* They continued therefore to
have life, and to exercise the faculties of life ; but then
they separated God from that life, and from those fa-
culties: when they looked into themselves, they saw
and acknowledged nothing but themselves, nothing
that was superior to, or above themselves, from whence
they themselves existed and subsisted : they did not
see and acknowledge the life of God in themselves :
they did not consider, that all that was called theif
own life, was only a derived life, a life which they re-
ceived continually from God : the consequence was,
that withholding this inheritance from God, they ban-
ished at the same time God and his life, with all the
blessing, virtue, wisdom, and sanctities thereof, from
themselves ; or, as it is expressed in the verse immedi-
ately succeeding my text, they caught the right heir
of the inheritance, and " cast him out of the vineyard,
and slew him."

Behold here, beloved, and tremble at the crime and
folly of these unhappy husbandmen, who were wicked
and weak enough to suppose that their life was their
ewn, and not God's ; and who, in consequence of this
wild imagination, no longer acknowledging God and
his life in themselves, separated their own life and
all the faculties thereof from the influence, govern-
ment, guidance, and presence of that divine Being, in
whom alone it originated, and by whom alone it
could be made blessed.

* E*ek. xxix. 3.

S

194 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

But whilst we see and tremble at the crime and fol-
ly of these unhappy husbandmen, let us take heed
that the same be not chargeable upon ourselves.

We are all of us exposed to the danger of being de-
luded by the same foolish and pernicious imagination.
We all of us receive life, with its innumerable powers
and faculties, continually from God ; and if we are
not well upon our guard, we shall be tempted to as-
cribe them to ourselves, and not to God, and thus seize
upon God's inheritance. There is a secret, but most
infernal principle of self-love, lurking in everyone of
us, vvhich will not fail to be frequently suggesting to
us, that our river is our own, that our talents are our
own, that our fortunes are our own, that our time is our
own, in short, that every thing we possess is our own,
and not God's, and that it is of no great consequence
whether we call it God's or our own.

But, beloved, let me most earnestly warn you against
the fatal tendencies of such a false and dangerous per-
suasion. Believe it therefore to be the persuasion of
none but of those wicked husbandmen, who say
amongst themselves, " This is the heir, come, let us
kill him, and let us seize upon his inheritance. Be-
lieve it therefore to be a persuasion directly opposite
to all the wisdom of God, and tending to destroy in
your minds the all of religion, the all of holiness, the
all of happiness, because the ali of the real sense and
acknowledgment of God. For what sense or ac-
knowledgment can you have of God, unless you are
sensible of, and acknowledge him in yourselves, <ts

SEIZING THE INHERITANCE. 195

the continual source of your life and all your faculties?
To, say you acknowledge God, and yet to separate
him from yourselves, by not ascribing to him your
life, your talents, your fortunes, your time, and what-
ever else makes a part of yourselves — what is this but
acknowledging God with your lips, and denying him
in your hearts ? What is it, but being Christians in
theory, and atheists in practice ?

Beware then, beloved, of such flagrant, such mis-
chievous inconsistency : and if you wish effectually to
avoid the crime and folly of the wicked husbandmen
in the parable, who thought to seize upon their Lord's
inheritance, let me recommend to your most serious
attention and observance these few practical lessons.

Learn to confess and acknowledge the great and
glorious God continually in yourselves, as the eternal,
never-failing source of your life and all its faculties.
Look no longer at a God who is only without you, but
look at a God who is also within you. Remove not
your heavenly Father -at a distance from you, by re-
garding him as unconnected with your life ; but bring
him near to you, and make him ever present with
you, by believing in him as the continual source of
your life and of your every faculty. Consider your
life thus as a derived life, and therefore not your own,
so much as God's ; and consider also your talents,
your fortunes, your time, and every thing else, as
things belonging properly to God, and only commit-
ted to you for use. Learn thus practically to ascribe
all you have unto the divine Giver ; render unto G04I

196 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

the things that are God's, and be afraid of keeping any
thing back from him, remembering the crime of the
wicked husbandmen, and also the like crime of Ana-
nias and Sapphira of old, of whom it is written, that
they kept back part of the price.* Lastly, as an en-
couragement to you to attend to and observe these
precepts, never forget, that they constitute the whole
of vital religion and of all true blessedness ; inasmuch
as the whole of vital religion consists in the above
real acknowledgment of God, without which no vital
religion can exist ; and as to true blessedness, how
can any inheritance be blessed, if God is not in it ?
What is your life, what are your best faculties, what
are your most splendid talents and fortunes, but so ma-
ny sources of misery to you, if you separate God and
his life from them ? To make these things real bles-
sings, you must join God to them, and you cannot join
God to them, but so far as you ascribe them unto
God ; and consider them as his property more than
your own. Learn once to do this, and you will then
taste true blessedness ; for then the blessing of God
will be in all that you possess, and being made sensible
of this blessing, your chief and only concern will be
to add unto it, by learning more and more to sing that
heavenly song, " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory, and honour, and power, for thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were
created."! AMEN.

* Acts v. 2, 8.
f Rev. iv. Ik

ON THE

FATE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN -:

OR

MAN'S DESTRUCTION IN APPEARANCE FROM GOD,
BUT IN REALITY FROM HIMSELF.

SERMON XX.

Matt. xxi. 40, 41.

When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh,
what will he do unto those husbandmen ?

They say unto him, He will miserably destroy
those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard
unto other husbandmen, who will render him
the fruits in their seasons.

i HESE are the concluding words of that parable
concerning the householder and his vineyard, which
has been the subject of the foregoing discourses.

They contain an inquiry of singular importance to
all serious minds, viz. " What will he do unto those
feusbaadmen ? or, in other words, what will be the con-
S 2

198 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

sequence of a mi spent life ? What will be the eftecf.
and the fruit, of acting the part of wicked and unfaith-
ful husbandmen, who reject the counsels of God ?
What will the end be with all those, who are so blind-
ed by the pleasures of sin and folly, of this world and
the flesh, as to neglect the great and awful concerns of
eternity ?

Important and edifying as this inquiry may be, it re-
ceives a full answer in the succeeding words of the
text, " They say unto him, He will miserably destroy
those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard unte
other husbandmen, who will render him the fruits in
their seasons.

May I bespeak your present most serious attention to
this instructive and momentous answer !

It is very remarkable, that the Lord here asks the
question, " When the Lord therefore of the vineyard
cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen V*
but he doth not give the answer. The answer is given
by those around him, " They say unto him. He will
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out
ihe vineyard unto other husbandmen, &,c.

It must be obvious to every thinking mind, that some
^reat secret or mystery of wisdom is involved in this
circumstance ; otherwise it will be difficult to assign a
reason, why the Lord himself should not pronounce de-
struction to the wicked, rather than leave it to be pro-
nounced by others

Permit me to point out to you what this great secret
6r mistery of wisdom is, which is herein involved,

FATS OF THE HUSBANDMEN, 19$

[t appears to be this — The destruction of wicked
husbandmen doth not come at all from the Lord of the
vineyard, but solely from themselves, being the cer-
tain consequence and sure effect of their own wicked-
ness. Nevertheless, though their destruction doth not
in reality come from the Lord, yet in appearance to
themselves it comes solely from him, and they cannot
help but charge him as the alone cause of it.

Behold here then the true reason, why the Lord ash
the question concerning the lot of wicked husbandmen,
but leaves it to others to give the answer I

He asks the question, because it is a question of in-
finite moment, comprehending in it the weightiest con-
cerns of man, and therefore such a question as all ought
to be prepared to answer, inasmuch as there is nothing
wanting but a proper answer to this question, to make
every one live according to those maxims of eternaJ
wisdom, which will make him wise unto salvation.

But he leaves it to others to give the answer to this
question, for this plain and eternal reason, because
they were sure to answer it according to the appear-
ances presented in their own minds, and it was better,
in respect to the bulk of mankind, for whose use and
instruction the question was asked, that it should be
answered according to appearance, than according to
the reality.

I will endeavour to explain this matter, so as to
make it easy of apprehension, and at the same time to
bring home to, and impress on your minds all that
ksson of deep and instructive wisdom, which it in-
volves,

200 THE HOUSEHOLDER*

Every attentive reader of the word of God must
needs see, and be forced to confess, that God cannot
be the author of destruction, inasmuch as he is ever re-
presented, in his own holy word, to be the purest good-
ness, the most essential mercy, the creator, and the pre-
server of what he creates ; which characters are ut-
terly inconsistent with the idea of his destroying, or
causing destruction to any creature.

Every attentive reader therefore of the word of God
must needs see, and be forced to confess, that whenso-
ever mention is made of the destruction of man, that
very destruction implies that man is the cause of it ; or,
in other words, that man destroys himself, and his de-
struction cannot be chargeable on any but himself.

But this will more plainly appear if we consider the
nature of man's destruction, as it is represented to us
in the word of God.

Whensoever that holy book speaks of man's destruc-
tion, it always speaks of it in reference to his spiritual
part, or his immortal soul, inasmuch as this part con-
stitutes properly the whole of man ; and the body, or
corporeal part, is comparatively as nothing.

But in what doth the destruction of man's soul, or
spirit, consist ? Mow is this destruction effected ? And
what is its immediate cause ?

Let us hearken to the same eternal source of truth
and instruction. " If a man," saith the blessed Jesuss
" abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is

FATE OP TUB HUSBANDMEN. 201

withered ; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned."

Behold here both the nature of man's destruction,
and also the copse of it ! It consists solely in man's
separation from the great Redeemer, by not abiding
in him, and in the life and order which proceed from
him ; and it is of consequence caused by man's abuse
of the freedom which God has given him, in that he
turns bis heart and affections/rom God, instead of turn-
ing ihem towards God ; and thus takes up his abode
out of God, instead of taking up his abode in God.

For as there is but one life or salvation for man, and
as this one life or salvation consists in man's joining
himself with God, by returning or re-entering with his
will and affections into the life and order of God, ac-
cording to those words of the great Saviour, " Abide in
me, 'and I in you :" so there is but one death or de-
struction also for man ; and this death or destruction
consists, and must needs consist, in this one single cir-
cumstance alone, that man doth not return or re-enter
into the blessed life and order of God, and thereby
abide in the great Redeemer, as he was intended to
do ; in which case, he must certainly cast himself int©
the regions of disorder ; and where disorder is, there
God cannot be ; and where God cannot be, there nei*
ther caa life or salvation be, and, of course, there must
death and destruction be, with all their attendant mi-
series.

Behold here, then, the eternal reason why God can-
not possibly, in any sense of the werd, be the author

202 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

of man's destruction, and why man's destruction must,
needs in all cases be imputed to man himself.

For who cannot see, that God, in his infinite mercy,
is ever, and ever must be, desirous i* bless and save
eternally all his creatures ? Who cannot see, that with
this view, and for this blessed purpose, he is ever stri-
ving to turn and draw all men to himself, that they may
abide in him, and he in them, for everlasting blessing
and salvation ? Who therefore cannot see further, if
he be so disposed, that no man can be destroyed pos-
sibly, but by his own fault ; or, in other words, by his
abusing his free-wiil, in not complying with the inten-
tions and operations of God ; in not drawing nigh unto
God in his own mind, and abiding with him in the life
and order which he hath established ?

Nevertheless, though man's destruction thus cometb
from himself, and not from God, yet it will of neces-
sity appear to the destroyed man as if it came from
God, and not from himself. This is the sure conse-
quence of that evil, which leads man to destruction.
For all evil is blind, and judges in all cases from ap-
pearances, and not according to truth and reality ; and
the appearance to an evil man must needs be, that God
destroys him, in like manner as it appears to him, that
God is angry and wroth with him ; though in God
there is no more of anger and wrath, than there is of
destruction.

This then is the reason, why, in the Word of God,
destruction is sometimes imputed to him, as well as
wratb and anger. For the Word of God, in its letter,

FATE OF THE HUSBANDMEN. 203

js written according to the appearances in which man
is ; inasmuch as, if it was not so written, man could not
comprehend it, and therefore it would be of no use
to him. Nevertheless, it is the part of true wisdom
to draw aside the veil of those appearances, which co-
ver the sacred realities of the eternal truth, and thus
to enter into the bright light of the sanctuary, agreea-
ble to those words of the Redeemer, " Judge not ac-
cording to appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
To conclude. Doth man's destruction, then, come
from himself alone ? Doth it consist in his separating
his will and affections from God ? Is the seed of de-
struction, therefore, contained in every perverted love,
in every false desire, in every wrong inclination of the
heart, which doth not originate in God, and tend to-
wards God ? What consideration can so forcibly press
upon us the great necessity of attending continually to
the hidden tendencies and workings of our own minds ?
The very idea, that it is possible for us to destroy our-
selves, is of so awful and alarming a nature, that none
but the most thoughtless and abandoned can surely be
unaffected by it. And if self-destruction consists in liv-
ing separate from God in heart and thought, what wise
man will not be at the pains at least to ask himself,
whether he be living or not in such a state of separa-
tion ? If there be destruction, again, in attachments
to perishable objects, in perverted and misplaced af-
fections, in ways of life that are not agreeable to the
life and order of God, and even in (what some peo-
ple, alas ! think safe and innocent) a trifling and vain

204 THE HOUSEHOLDER.

conversation, an indeterminate and unthinking care-
lessness about the things of God ; what wise man will
not then inquire diligently, whether he is at any time
wandering from God in such attachments, such affec-
tions, and such ways of life ? In short, if all destruc-
tion be nothing else but the disorder of our minds and
lives, whilst we depart from God ; and if all salvation
be nothing else but a restoration of heavenly order in
cur minds, whilst we return to God, and abide in him ;
what thinking person will not then be led in all ear-
nestness to guard against every possible disorder of
mind and life, and to cherish and cultivate every prin-
ciple of heaven and of order ? Who will not then
pray continually, with the holy man of old, " Wash
me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
r«new a right spirit within me ?" AMEN.

THE

MARKS AND CHARACTERS

OF

A TRUE FAITH.

IN SIX SERMONS,

SERMON XXL

St. Mark, xvi. 17, 18.

And these Signs shall follow them that believe /
in my name shall they cast out Devils ; they
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take
up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

IT was sound and sober advice of the Apostle to his
Corinthian brethren, " Examine yourselves whether
ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves."* Every
sincere Christian, who is in real earnest about his
salvation, will find himself frequently led to follow

*2Cor. xii.5.
T

206 ON TRUE FAITH.

this advice. He will consider well whether he be a
true believer, or not; he will know and perceive that
there is the greatest danger of being mistaken in this
matter; he will search out therefore all the marks,
signs, and characters of a real faith ; he will- examine
himself attentively by these marks, signs, and charac-
ters ; thus he will endeavour to prove himself, whether
he be a real, or only pretended disciple of Jesus
Christ; for he will be taught, that at this day there
are Christians so called of both these descriptions ; and
that it is no easy matter to distinguish between the one
and the other: being impelled, however, with the most
ardent desire to avoid all delusion in a matter of such
infinite importance, and to be found in the number of
Jthe faithful and true servants of God, he will never
rest till he hath separated between the true and the
false, the real and the pretended, the sincere and the
hypocritical, and thus come to a foundation of solid
comfort in his own mind, by being established in a
true gospel faith.

I trust, beloved, that in the number of those to whom
I am now addressing myself, there are many who
have been led to the above serious examination, and
this from an earnest concern about their eternal peace.
It is for the sake of such, that I have now chosen the
words of my text, for the subject of our consideration,
inasmuch as they contain a declaration, from the
mouth of truth itself, of the indisputable marks, signs,
ami characters of a true faith. Every one, therefore,
hath here a sure and certain standard whereby to ex-

ON TRUE FAITH. 207

jtmme himself; and every one, who will examine him-
self sincerely, may discover of a certainty whether
he be a believer or not; whether he hath real faith, or
hath only the name and appearance thereof.

H These signs shall fullow them that believe ; in my
name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with
new tongues ; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall uot hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

But methinks I hear the carnal mind object — What !
Is this the only mark and sign of true faith, to do all
these miracles? Is it not possible to be a believer
without working such wondrous works ? The Apos-
tles and first Christians had indeed this power, in and
through the name of Jesus Christ, but was this power
intended to be given unto Christians in all ages.9
Shall we at this day think of " casting out devils, of
speaking with new tongues, of taking up serpents, of not
being hurt by drinking deadly things, of restoring the
sick to health and life?" Surely these signs of a true
faith are not now to be looked for; they were intend-
ed only for the infant church of Christ ; we have no-
thing to do with them, and our faith may still be true
and saving, though it is not distinguished by any of
the above characters.

I am well aware that such objections have been
rai-ed, and are still raise!, against the signs of a true
faith, pointed out in my text, as applied to Christians
in later ages, and therefore before we proceed to con-

203 ON TRUE FAITH.

aider the nature of those signs, it may be expedient to
say somewhat in answer to the above objections.

And first. Every serious considerate person will
find a full and satisfactory answer to the above objec-
tions, in the decisive and peremptory manner in
which our Lord expresses himself on the occasion.
«* These signs (says he) shall follow them that be-
lieve." Observe; in these words of our Lord there
is no limitation of time or persons ; he does not say,
these signs shall follow my first disciples, those that
first believe in my name; he does not say they shall
be confined to the Apostles, or to the early ages of
Christianity; but he says in general, " These signs
shall follow them that believe;" by which is certainly
implied, them that believe in all ages, in all times and
places ; for surely, if he had not meant this, he would
have said so; he would have fixed a time when these
signs should have ceased; he would have declared ex-
pressly, These signs shall follow the faith of such and
such persons, during such and such a time, but then
my followers are no longer to look for, or to expect
them ; then these signs shall cease. Our Lord, how-
ever, has fixed no such time ; he has not confined these
signs of a true belief to any particular set of persons,
and therefore we must be forced to conclude, that he
intended them to remain as everlasting signs and tests
of faith, unto the remotest ages of his church.

But secondly — In the above objections it is urged,
if these are to be considered as the signs ot a true !aitn.»

ON TRUE FAITH. 209

then every believer in Jesus Christ must be endued
with the power of working miracles, and this surely
the Lord could never intend to be any mark or charac-
ter of a true faith.

To this I answer — If our faith be not a faith capable
of working miracles, it is then no faith at all ; it hath
nothing at all divine in it ; it is merely human, from
ourselves, and not from God. Hereby therefore we
m -y know and try our faith of what sort it is, whether
it be from above or from beneath, from heaven or from
ourselves. If it be from beneath, or from ourselves,
it will have no miraculous virtue in it ; but if it be from
above, or, from heaven, that is, from the Lord of hea-
ven ; if it be a faith in and from the name of Jesus
Christ, it will then assuredly be a miracle -working
faith ; it will do many wonderful works, and this as
sure as there is truth in these words of the Lord, " He
that believetii on Me, the works that I do shall he do
also, and greater works than these shall he do, because
I go unto my Father."*

But it will be asked, what are these miracles ? what
are these greater works, which must be the fruits of a
true faith in and from the Lord Jesus Christ ?

The question is of unspeakable importance to every
Christian. The answer to it is short, but if well at-
tended to, will be found most edifying.

Miracles and wondrous works are considered in
general only in relation to what is bodily or materia^

* John xiv. 12.

T 2

(21Q ON TRUE FAITH.

and through a superficial attention, or rather indo-
lent inattention to the true sense and meaning of
what is miraculous, we are accustomed never to
pronounce any thing a miracle, but when we observe
some extraordinary change wrought in the bodies of
men, or in the world of matter.

Thus we should think it a great miracle to see a
blind man made to see, a lame man to walk, a deaf
man to hear, a dumb man to speak, a dead man to
live ; or to see a mountain raised from its foundation
and cast into the sea, or to see the sea itself divided
•' and the waters thereof standing on an heap," as was
the case when the Israelites went through the Red Sea
on dry ground.

These, I say, we call great miracles and wondrous
works ; and indeed so they are, and bear indisputable
testimony to a divine supernatural power, without
which they never could be wrought.

Let it, however, be well remembered, without any
disparagement to these miracles wrought upon Ihe 60-
dies of men, and upon the outward material world,
that there are also miracles, or wondrous works of an-
other sort, viz. such as are wrought upon the spirits of
men, and take place in what may be called man's spi-
ritual world.

As for example — if it be a great miracle that a man
blind as to his bodily sight is made to see, it is surely
a miracle equally great, that a man blind as to his
spiritual sight is made to see ; the same is true of
the lame, the deaf, the dumb, the dead j the miracle

ON TRUE FAITH. 21 I

13 equally great, whether performed upon those who
fall under this description as to their spirits, or as to
their bodies. So in respect to removing mountains^
and dividing the waters of the deep ; it is fuii as great
a miracle and as wondrous a work, and as sure a
proof of Omnipotence, to remove in man's heart the
mountains^ of pride, of vanity, of. self-Jove, and the
love of the world ; and to divide in him the waters of
spiritual trouble, affliction, and temptation :| These 1
say are tuli as great and signal miracles as when done in
a natural way, and are as sure indisputable feigi.s of
the power of God, without which it is not possible
ihey should be effected.

From this view then of the real and true nature of
miracles, it will appear piain to every considerate
person, that all true faith, as being a divine gift, and
attended therefore with a divine power, must needs be
emlued with a miracle -working virtue, and that, if it
had not such a virtue in it, it could not be any blessing,
or convey xny real good unto the soul of man, inas-
much as nothing can be a blessing, or convey goo.- to
man, but what helps him to a change of nature, giving
him new eyes, new ears, a new tongue, new feel, a
new life, which cannot possibiy be effected but by a
supernatural and consequently miracle-working power
from above.

* See Isaiah ii. 14. xli. 15. xlii 15. Jerem. xiii 16. Ezek vi 2, 3,
zxxviii.8. 20, Micah i 4, vi. I, 2. Hab. iii. 6, lii, and many others.

t See Isaiah xliii. 2. Lam. iii. 54, Psalm lxix.2. exxiv. 4, o, and
•ther places.

212 ON TRUE FAITH*

Let it therefore no longer be imagined, that Chris-
tians at this day are not to look for a miraculous pow-
er as the sign and test of a true faith, for if we have
not this sign and test, we cannot have a surer proof
that our faith is not true ; if we have never yet " cast
out devils ;" if we have never yet " spoke with new
tongues ;" if we have never yet escaped " hurt from
drinking deadly things;" if we have never yet " laid
hands on the sick, and they have recovered :" If, I
say, we have never yet experienced the power of
faith in and from the Lord Jesus Christ, in working
these miracles in our own hearts and lives, (which are
the real and most substantial miracles, and what our
Lord calls greater works than what he himself did) we
have then every reason in the world to be convinced
that we are lacking in the true signs and characters of
a Gospel faith.

I am well aware, that this idea of faith and its ope-
rations will be charged by some as tending to eiuhu-
siasm and fanaticism, and will be deemed a wild de-
parture from the soberness of Gospel wisdom. This
charge is to be expected from all those who have been
accustomed to regard faith as a mere act of the un-
derstanding only, assenting to some particular system
of doctrines and opinions, not as a divine power ope-
rating from the Fountain of heavenly life and love*
and tending to "form that life, and bring forth the
blessed fruits of that love, in all who receive it and
live accordingly.

ON TRUE FAITH. 213

But a like charge may, with equal reason, be urged
against a belief in any of the great doctrines of the
Gospel ; as in the doctrine of the purification, renew-
al, and regeneration of the human soul ; in the doc-
trine of the resurrection ; in the doctrine of the opera-
tion of divine grace on the minds of men ; all which
imply a divine and heavenly-working power, and at
the same time some marvellous and miraculous change,
wrought thereby on the human spirit.

Let us not, then, be deterred by names, from ac-
knowledging and holding fast by the realities of Gos-
pel truth.

It may be deemed enthusiasm by some, to believe
our Bibies, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is our God
and Saviour ; but shall we, on that account, reject two
such important articles of our faith ? In like man-
ner, it may be deemed enthusiasm and fanaticism to
call faith a supernatural power, and to expect from it
supernatural effects ; but shall wc, on this account, de-
grade our faith and its operations into what is merely
natural and human ? Sound and sober reason surely
requires, that we should rather labour to form 10 our-
selves just notions of the extraordinary and divine ex-
cellence of this ** gift of God"* to us ; remembering
well, that we are exposed to far greater mischiefs by
lessening the high value thereof, than by over-rating
it ; and that it may tend alike to enthusiasm and fa-
naticism, to believe too little, as to believe (if such a
thing can be J loo much.

* Ephes. ii. JT.

214 ON TRUE FAlTtf*

A faith merely natural and speculative', composed
of opinions and forms of words, and consisting merely
in an assent of the understanding to some particular
code of doctrinal tenets, but void of heavenly life
and heavenly power, hath too long prevailed in the
church, to the lamentable extirpation of all solid wis-
dom, piety, and good lite. Many suffer infinite hurt
hy such a faith as this, and are betrayed by it into
the most dangerous spirit of disorder, enthusiasm, and
fanaticism, without suspecting its mischiefs. For en-
thusiasm, fanaticism, and every other disorder of the
mind, it is well to be noted, take their rise either
from some mistaken ideas of the nature of God, or
from a defect of obedience to the commandments of
God. They are the natural offspring either of a
blind understanding or of a corrupt heart, or of both
united. They can therefore only be remedied and
removed by a right faith, and a conformity of life
thereto.

Would we then avoid such enthusiasm, fanaticism,
and every other disorder of heart and understanding,
and attain to a true sobriety and purity of Gospel vvis-
dom, let us pon-ier well the heaven.y nature and ope-
rations of a right Gospel faith ; let us be careful to
acquire just ideas of its intrinsic and divine excel-
lence; let us set no limits to its marvellous and viira-
cu'qus power ?,m\ efficacy, because no such limits are
warranted in holy Scripture, which declares " ail things
possible to him that beiievelh.',*
* Mark is. 23.

•N TRUE FAITH. 215

For this haopy purpose, let us now proceed to con-
sider the genuine signs, marks, and characters, of an
evangelical faith, as the Lord himself hath declared
them unto us ; first praying most earnestly, and in all
humility and contrition of heart, according to the spi-
rit of that prevailing prayer of old, " Lord, I believe ;
help thou mine unbelief !"* and also of that of the
apostles, " Lord, increase our faith. "t AMEN.

* Mark ix. 24.
t Luke xvii. 5,

ON TRUE FAITH.

SERMON XXII.

St. Mark, xvi. 17, 18.

These Signs shall follow them that believe ; in my
name shall they cast out Devils ; they shall
speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover.

HAVING shewn in the preceding discourse on these
words, that they were not intended to be confined to
the early times of the Gospel, but are to be considered
as an infallible mark and test of true faith amongst
Christians in all ages and places, without exception, I
shall now proceed to explain the nature of each parti-
cular sign here mentioned by our blessed Lord as cha-
racteristic of the true believer.

And first. " In my name shall they cast out devils."
I am well aware that many at this day, who call
themselves Christians, will think it strange to hear of
U

218 ON TRUE FAITH.

this sign of a true faith, and will be greatly surprised
when they are told, that they cannot be real believers,
unless in " the name of Jesus Christ they cast out devils."

This surprise and strangeness however can only be
©wing, either to their not having considered, or not
having believed, the doctrine of the Word of God re-
specting devils ; for when once this doctrine is rightly
received and understood, it will then appear most plain
and true, that every true believer in Jesus Christ must
needs in his name cast out devils.

Before then we proceed to a farther explanation of
the sign before us, it may be expedient to consider
what the holy Scriptures teach us on this subject con-
cern'ng devils.

Now we Jearn from the oracles of truth, that devils
are wicked and lying spirits, who have their abodes
in the kingdom of hell and darkness, where they live
for ever separate from God in unutterable misery.

We learn further from the same source of truth, that
these devils, or wicked spirits, are near unto man ;
that they have power to tempt and assault. him ; that
they h;«ve their abode and delight in all man's evil af-
fections ; that therefore they dwell and unite them-
selves with all who live in evil ! and that it is their great-
est sa#sfaction*.(if we may call it a satisfaction) tode-
stroy the souls of men by leading them into
sin, arid turning their hearts and understandings from
God and heav< n.

Thus oiir Lord, in the parable of the tares of the

as sowing tares amongst the.

wlaeiit • 'fc tne entity (saith he) that sowed them is the

ON TRUE FAITH* 219

devil*;" by tares are here signified all wicked and
false suggestions in the hearts of men ; by wheat, all
good, and holy influences of love and truth from Jesus
Christ.

Again, in another place, he represents the devil as de-
priving man of the Word of divine truth whereby he
should be saved — " then cometh the devil (saith he)
and taketh the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved. "t The word here is ihe holy
truth of God, which the devil bpposefh in man, be-
cause it is opposite to, and destructive of him, and his
kingdom.

To the same purpose St. Peter represents the devil
" walking about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he
may devour ;"| and St. Paul styles him " the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the
children of disobedience ;"§ and accordingly St. John
saith, that " whosoever committeth sin is of the
devil ;"|| and hence come various exhortations and ad-
monitions, as where it is said, " Neither give place to
the devil •*'** and by another apostle, " resist the
devil and he will flee from you. "It

Agreeable to this testimony of holy scripture, our
church teaches us to pray, that we may be delivered

* Mat- xiii.
f Luke, viii. 12.
| 1 Pet. v. 8.
$ Eplies. ii. 2.
|| 1 John, iii. 8.
** Ephea iv. 27.
ft Jaiues, ir. 7.

2Si ON TRUE FAITH.

lc from the craft and assaults of the devil ;" and in
the office of baptism, when the child is signed with the
sign of the cross, it is added, " In token that hereaf-
ter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of
Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his ban-
ner against sin, the world, and the devil."

From all this weight of evidence then we are plain-
ly taught, not only who and what devils are, but also
that there is a nearer communication between them
and our hearts, than many of us are apt to imagine, in-
asmuch as from the above scriptures it is most evident,
that they have power to assault us with their evil in-
fluences and false delusive persuasions ; they have
power also to destroy us, if we do not watch against
and resist them ; they have power finally to make us
their children, by leading us to forget God, and to de-
light in evil as they themselves do.

This is a subject, alas ! which in general is little
considered by many, who still profess to believe in the
holy scriptures, and who join in the daily prayers of
the church against the craft and assaults of the devil.

The case is, there is a mighty difference between re-
ceiving a doctrine, and giving a blind assent to it, on
the testimony of others, and being convinced of it by
a testimony in our own hearts, arising from a real and
thorough persuasion of its truth, as we come to live by
the practice of it.

Let me then, beloved, earnestly recommend to you,
as a matter of the utmost importance to your eternal
peace, no longer to receive this doctrine concerning
devils, merely on the testimony of others, but to come

ON TRUE FAITH. 221

into a practical belief and conviction of it in your
own hearts and lives. For this purpose let me coun-
sel you to believe and consider well, that wherever
evil is, there also the devil is, there also hell is ; for
whether we speak of evil, of hell, or the devil, it is
the same thing, inasmuch as it is not possible they
should ever be separated or put asunder. There can-
not therefore be mentioned a single bad passion, lust,
or affection of man's heart, but what is influenced by,
and in connexion with, the devil, or the spirits of dark-
ness. Are we proud ? are we covetous ? are we
wrathful ? are we sensual ? are we impatient ? do we
hate and despise our neighbours ? do we love our-
selves better than others ? do we love this world and
the flesh better than God and his righteousness ? are
we envious, malicious, liars, adulterers, blasphemers,
or the slaves of any other unchristian affection ? We
cannot have a surer proof, whilst we delight in such
things, that our hearts are one with our great adversa-
ry, and that he dwelleth in us, and ruleth us by the
spirit of his abominations.

From this scripture account then of the nature of
devils, and of their near communication with man, it
will appear plain to every considerate person, how
this sign followeth all the believers in Jesus Christ,
" in my name they shall cast out devils."

For it is an essential character of true Gospel faith,
that it wurketh by love ;* and love, we are assured by
eur Lord,, consisteth in keeping the commandments it

* Gal it. v. 6.

f John xiv. 21. 23.

U 2

222 ON TRUE FAITH.

and the great law of the commandments is, to depart
from evil ;* and to depart from evil, is to depart from,
to renounce, and to cast out devils, inasmuch as we
have just now shewn, evil and the devil are one, and
therefore if evil be cast out, by renouncing and depart-
ing from it, the devil must needs be cast out at the
same time.

There is indeed what is by some called faith, (bu*
it is to be much lamented that it is so called) which is
not attended with this power of renouncing, rejecting,
and casting out of evil, that is, the devil ; thus some
say they have faith, and that they believe in Jesus
Christ, who yet live in much sin and evil, never ex-
amining themselves concerning it, much less making
opposition to it. It is greatly to be feared, there are
many who call themselves Christians, who yet rest
content with such a fruitless and dead faith as this ;
who will name the holy name of Jesus Christ with
iheir lips, and yet in their hearts and lives deny him,
being lovers of themselves and of the world, despisers
of others, living in divers vanities and false pleasures,
the slaves of evil affections, being proud, covetous,
wrathful, sensual, impatient, unmerciful, and the like;
giving hereby a melancholy proof, that they were ne-
ver yet truly converted unto the living God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, in their hearts, and that they therefore
want the sign of a true faith as delivered by Jesus
Christ, " In my name shall they cast out devils."

But, beloved, permit me to warn you most earnesf-

* Jeb xxyjiL 28. Peal* xxxiv. 13, 1*

ON TRUE FAITH. 223

\y against the folly, unprofitableness, and dangerous
tendencies of such a faith as this. For this purpose
consider well, and digest thoroughly in your hearts,
this essential sign and character of a true and saving
faith, " In ray name they shall cast out devils. " Learn
to reduce this into practice : believe and be persua-
ded that devils, or evil spirits, dwell in every evil, law-
less, and unsanctified affection and lust : make it ha-
bitual to you to examine yourselves, and search out in
your hearts such lusts and affections ; consider every
desire and thought of your minds, whether it be ac-
cording to the love of God and your neighbour, or
contrary thereto ; if it be contrary thereto, then as-
sure yourselves it is from the devil, and that the spi-
rits of darkness are therein : here then begin with set-
ting up the standard of a divine faith ; here enlist-
yourselves under the banner of Jesus Christ ; here
take unto you the whole armour of God ; here approve
yourselves faithful soldiers by fighting the good fight of
faith ; for by this will it be clearly seen whether your
faith is of God and a true faith, or whether it is of
yourselves only, that is, no faith at all.

If it be of yourselves only, it will leave you the
slaves and servants of sin and concupiscence, and you
will attain to no dominion over evil, because you will
make no resistance thereto ; but if it be of God, that
is, of Jesus Christ, you will be enabled, through this
high and holy name, to overcome all evil ; you will
gain the victory over every selfish, sensual, worldly,
and sinful affection, that is contrary to the pure love

224 ON TRUE FAITH*

of the Lord and of your neighbour ; by charity you
will conquer and cast out all malice and haired, by
humility you will cast out pride, by contentedness you
will cast out covetousness, by meekness wrath, by
mercy unmercifuiness, by the love of God the love of
yourselves and of this world; you will thus sit with
Jesus Christ on his throne ; you will have power and
dominion from him over all your enemies ; you will
in short cast out devils, and be convinced thereby to
your everlasting comfort, that you are true followers
of the lamb; thus through the omnipotent power of
him who loveth you, ye will be enabled sooner or la-
ter to join in this song of the ever blessed, " Now is
come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our
God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night."*

And may the most merciful Lord, the great Creator,
Redeemer, and Lover of the souls of men, give us all
grace to examine well our hearts and lives concerning
tin. si ■■■> of a true faith, that so we may make no mis-
takes in a matter of such importance to us.

* Rev. xii. 10

ON TRUE FAITR

SERMON XXIII.

St. Mark xvi. 17, 18.

These Signs shall follow them that believe : in rny
name they shall cast out Devils / they shall
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover.

HAVING already shewn, in the two preceding dis-
courses, how the signs of a true faith, here mentioned
by our Lord, were intended to be applied to all Chris-
tians alike in all ages, and what is to be understood by
the first sign, viz. casting out devils ; I shall now pro-
ceed to a consideration of the second sign, as signified
in these words, " In my name they shall speak, with
new tongues."

I am well aware that this sign, like the foregoing, is
considered by the generality of Christians at this day,
as belonging only to the apostles, and first teachers of
Christianity, who alone, as- it is cojumorjly supposed^

226 ON TRUE FAITH.

could cast out devils, and speak with new tongues ; but
that this sign was intended as a distinguishing charac-
ter of true faith amongst Christians of all ages, and
therefore ought to be expected and looked for by all
the followers of Jesus Christ, as a sure proof and test
of their being his followers, will appear plainly from
these two considerations*

First, What is here io be understood by a new tongue;
and

Secondly, How and why a true faith in Jesus Christ
fiiiist of necessity lead every believer to speak with a
new tongue.

First, then, let us inquire what is here to be under-
stood by a new fongue ; and may the blessed Spirit of
Him who si nified to us this sign of a true faith, di-
rect al! our hearts and minds in this inquiry !

We find frequent mention made in holy Scripture,
of . new heart, which man is said to receive by re-
generation.

Few consider aright what is meant by this new heart,
ami yet there is nothing else wanting to make us see
clearly what is meant by a new tongue.

For, as the heart of man becomes new, only by re-
ceiving and being formed by a new spirit, which is
the spirit of love and charity from God, even so the
tongue of man becomes new, by speaking from and
according to a new spirit.

Every man's tOnstie, ive weH know, speaks from
sonjp inward spirit or principle, or other, in his heart,
according to those words of the Lord, " Out of the

ON TRUE FAITH. 227

abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh."*' If
this spirit, or principle, then be that of the old or un-
regenerate man ; if it be only according to this world
and the flesh ; if it hath never been brought into sub-
jection to the Holy Spirit of God; the tongue in this
case must needs be unrenewed, and may properly be
called an old tongue, just as an unrenewed man is call-
ed an old man : but if the spirit or principle, from
which the tongue speaks, be that of the new and re-
generate man ; if it be under the influence of love and
charity, righteousness and truth from God ; the tongue
in this case must needs be a renewed tongue, and may
properly be called a new tongue, just as a renewed
heart is called a new heart.

Here, then, every enlightened eye will be enabled
to see clearly what is meant by a new tongue. A new
tongue is that which speaks from a new heart, and ac-
cording to the spirit of a new heart. A new tongue,
therefore, is that which speaks from God, and under
the influence of a divine spirit from God, because a
new heart is from God, and under the influence of his
spirit : a new tongue again always speaks the truth, and
nothing but the truth, because God is truth, and speak-
ing from God, it must of necessity speak the truth: a
new tongue again speaks no evil, because evil is contra-
ry to God, and therefore the tongue which speaks from
God, cannot possibly speak evil ; a new tongue again
always speaks with a view to edification, because

* Mark xii. 34.

223 <*ST TR¥E FAITH.

speaking from a heart devoted to God and seeking his
glory, it must ever be influenced by some good end
and design in whatever it speaks : finally, a new tongue
ever speaks the language of love and charity, of sound
wisdom and discretion ; "No corrupt communication
proceedeth from it, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hear-
ers ;" it is ever obedient to the spirit of God in the
keart ; it never speaks but from and according to the
dictates of that spirit ; the tongue of the old man, we
know, speaks according to and from the spirit of the old
man, which is his own spirit, and not the Spirit of God ;
but the tongue of the new man, which is the new tongue,
speaks from and according to the spirit of the new man,
which is the spirit of love and wisdom from God ; and
therefore all its speech and language and words and
discourse are new, partaking of a new spirit and a new
qu-^ily from God. Let it not however here be understood
as if the new tongue was always speaking about God
and holy things ; for if occasion requires, it can speak
about the things of this world, as well as the tongue of
the old man ; but then herein is an essential difference
between the old tongue and the new tongue ; the old
tongue speaks about the things of this world from a
worldly spirit, which is the love of this world ; where-
as the new tongue, when it speaks about worldly things,
speaks not in and from a worldly spirit, but from a re-
newed spirit, even that spirit which overcmeih the

ON TRUEFAITH. 229

Having thus then considered what we are to under-
stand by a new tongue, I shall now proceed to shew,
secondly, how and why a true faith in Jesus Christ
must of necessity lead every true believer to speak with
a new tongue.

It has been already shewn, in a former discourse,
how a true faith operates to casting out devils, that is,
to the removing from the heart and life of man all those
evils which are contrary to love and charity, by lead-
ing men to renounce and reject such evils.

A true faith then must of consequence lead every
sincere believer to speak with a new tongue, inasmucjh
as whoever sincerely renounces evil in his heart, be-
cause it is contrary to God and his neighbour, he re-
ceiveth a new heart, from God : and who oever hath
a new heart, as we have just now seen, he must of ne-
cessity speak with a new tongue.

Let me entreat, beloved, with ajl possible earnest-
ness, your most serious attention to this consideration.

The slightest knowledge of the gospel may serve
to convince you, that you cannot be true believers un-
less you are renewed in the spirit of your hearts; and
that you cannot be renewed in the spirit of your hearts,
only so far as you search out and examine those evils
m your hearts, which are contrary to the love of God
and of your neighbour, and having discovered them,
are sincere in renouncing them.

In such case, the Lord will create in you a new
heart, and a new tongue will then follow of course ; you
will speak a new speech, a new language, new words,
X

23© ON TRUE FAITH.

and new discourse ; because you will ever^peak from
a new heart, that is, from a new spirit in your heart.

Behold here and adore the gracious designs of Je-
sus Christ and his gospel towards man !

Man's tongue, as well as his heart, is, in his fallen
©r natural state, exceedingly corrupt, inasmuch as it
partakes of the corruptions of his heart : in the lan-
guage of the Apostle, it is set on fire of hell ;* it is the
servant of sin, of vanity, and concupiscence ; it is thus
at enmity with Ood and his righteousness, and it
is frequently the unhappy cause of separating man
further from heaven : but no sooner does the spirit of
Jesus Christ and his gospel enter the heart of the true
believer, than it exerts its blessed influence immedia-
tely on the tongue also ; as it creates in man a new
heart, so it helps him to speak a new language ; all his
words are then words of love, of charity, of peace and
righteousness ; his tongue is no longer set on fire of hell,
but it is under the influence of the holy Spirit of God ; ]
thus the enmity between God and the tongue is de-
stroyed, and man with his mouth glorifies God, edifies
his neighbour, and advances his own salvation.

Speech, language, or discourse, was intended as
one of the noblest privileges of our natures ; as that
which distinguishes us in a particular manner from the
brutes ; it was designed to be a source of most delight-
ful satisfactions ; we are hereby enabled to communis

* St. James iii. $.

ON TRUE FAITH* 23 1

cafe our thoughts one to another for mutual entertain-
ment and edification.

But let it well be remembered, that this privilege
of our natures, so distinguishing and so important, may
become a curse to us, as well as a blessing, if we are
not careful to use it aright,

Our Lord hath intimated this to us in these most an r-
iul words, " By thy words thou shalt be justified, and
by thy words thou shalt be condemned."* Oh ! terri-
ble declaration to all those who are careless about their
words, from what ground and from what spirit they
proceed ! But oh! blessed and comfortable declaration
to all those who are careful to examine well the spring
and fountain of their speech, that so it may be brought
under obedience to the Spirit of Jesus !

" By thy words thou shalt be justified." It is the
blessed privilege of the true believer, that he can thus
speak words which justify, inasmuch as putting away
all evil from his heart and life, he speaketh with a
new tongue from a new heart, that is, from God ; all
his words therefore are words which justify him, that
is, which tend to purify and make him more righteous
in the sight of God ; inasmuch as they come from
God, and they lead him to God ; they speak the glory
of God ; they are edifying to others ; they are a source
of infinite delight to himself; for having respect to God
and the good of his neighbour in them, he finds in all
his words an unction of heavenly peace and comfort to
his own mind.

* Matt. xii. ft.

232 ON TRUE TAITH.

But it is otherwise with those who do not well ex-
amine and consider from what source or fountain their
words proceed ; of such it is awfully true, " By thy
words thou shalt be condemned," inasmuch as speak-
ing only from themselves and their own spirit, all their
words, even though they be good and holy words,
partake of the evil unregenerate spirit of their hearts,
and thus separate them further from the purity and
peace of the holy Spirit of God.

To conclude. — It is written in the Prophet, " In that
day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the
language of Canaan ;"* and in another place, " Then
wiil I turn to the people a pure language."! From
these, and many other similar passagesof scripture, we
learn, that it is the great and blessed intent of God and
religion to man, to enable him to speak a new language,
or, as it is here called, the language of Canaan, and a
pure language ; or, as it is expressed in my text, " To
speak with a new tongue."

This blessed end of the dispensations of God to
man, was represented and confirmed by that memora-
ble sign of cloven Jiery tongues which appeared to and
sat upon the Apostles at the day of Pentecost, whereby
was signified, that under the administration and going
forth of the power and spirit of the manifested Jeho-
vah in the person of Jesus Christ, operating in the
hearts of men, the tongue or language of man should
partake of its divine efficacy, and should be a tongue

* Isniah *ix. 18.
j Zeph. iii. 9.

ON TRUE FAITH. 233

»r language animated with the fire of heaven, that is,
with an heavenly love and charity.

Oh ! then that we were all diligent to fulfil this de-
sign of God and his holy religion to us, that so we
might become partakers of all its blessedness ! Oh ! that
for this purpose we did but seriously consider, wheth-
er we have this sign of a true faith ; and as seriously
lay to heart that we cannot possibly be true believers
only so far as we have this sign, and begin thereby to
speak, with new tongues, the language of Canaan, the
pure language !

This new tongue, this language of Canaan, tlrispure
language, we have already shewn, is from God,. that is,
from the grace and Spirit of God in the new heart of
the sincere Christian. Do we wish then to speak
with thhnew tongue the language of Canaan, the pure
language ? do we wish to know this sign of a true
faith ? do we wish thus to be justified and not condemn-
ed by our words ? do we wish that all our words and
discourse may be of God, and lead us to God? let us
then follow this plain Gospel rule, and we cannot pos-
sibly any of us fail of this infinite blessedness ; let us
search out and put away from our hearts and lives
that spirit of selfish and worldly Love, which is oppo-
site to the love of Jesus Christ and our neighbour; let
us shun all sin as contrary to God and his command-
ments ; let us believe in and apply to Je«us Christ as
our God, and Redeemer, and Regenerator : let us form
our iives by his Spirit : we shall then soon find our
tongues, our speech, and language iniluenced thereby ;
X 2

234 ON TRUE FAITH,

for having our hearts ever turned from ourselves to Je-
sus Christ, we shall soon find Jesus Christ and his love
in our hearts ; our hearts will thus become new, and
ruled by a new spirit ; and in proportion as our hearts
are thus renewed, we shall attain to the infinite bles-
sedness of speaking with new tongues the language of
Canaan, and a pure language..

ON TRUE FAITH

SERMON XXIVe

St. Mark xvi. 17, 18.

These Signs shall follow them that believe : in
my name shall they cast out Devils ; they shall
speak with new tongues ; they shall take up
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing f
it shall not hurt them : • they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover.

HAVING already considered the two first signs of a
true faith here spoken of, viz. the casting out devils,
•and the speaking with new tongues, I shall now pro-
ceed, as I proposed, to a consideration of the third
sign, viz. the taking up of serpents, and shew how this
•sign ever follows the true believer in the name of the
Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The nature and meaning of this sign cannot be
known, unless it be understood, first, what is here meant
by serpents ; and, secondly, what is meant by taking up
serpents.

236 ON TRUE FAITH.

These two inquiries, then, shall be the subject of
my present discourse ; and may the God of mercy,
who giveth understanding, and who openeth the eyes
of man to see the wondrous things of his law, open the
eyes of all amongst us, that we may be enabled to dis-
cern herein that light of eternal life and truth, which
may be profitable to our salvation !

Every serious and attentive reader of the holy Scrip-
ture must needs have observed, that the various princi-
ples, parts, and powers, which enter into the constitu-
tion of man, are in those holy records not only com-
pared to various animals here on earth, but are also
called by the names of such animals.

Thus our Lord himself is frequently called a Lamb,
and the Lamb of God* to denote his holy innocence :
he is also called in other places a Lionj to denote his
great power and might. And thus all his true follow-
ers are called sheep, and also latnbs,^ to denote their
purity, goodness, and innocence, which they receive
from the Lord.

On the other hand, the devil, we find, who is of a
nature opposite to the Lord and to innocence, is called
a bear and a wolf,§ by reason of his continual desire

* See Isaiah xvi. 1 ; liii. 7. Jer xi 19. John i. 29 ; and the
Revelations throughout.

f See Gen. xlix. 9, 10 Hosea v. 14 ; xiii. ?, 8. Rev. v. 5;
a. 3.

{ See Isaiah liii 6. Psalm lxxix. 13 ; c. 3. John x. through-
out ; chap, xxi 15, 16, 17.

§ See Lam. hi. 10. Isaiah ii. 7. Amos v. 9. Jer. v. 0. John
x. 12.

ON TRUE FAITH. 237

(o destroy what is good : 'at other times, he is de-
scribed by the names of poisonous and subtle ani-
mals, and is called a serjient, a dragon, an adder, and
the like,* to denote his poisonous artifice and cun-
ning subtlety, whereby he deceives and destroys men's
souls.

In like manner, all wicked men, who may be called
devils in human forms, are named by similar names
with the devil himself. Thus John the Baptist, and
also the Lord, call the Sadducees and Pharisees a ge-
neration of vipers ;] and thus, when our Lord speaks
of Uerod, who sought to kill him, he calls him a fox :
" Go ye," saith he to the Pharisees, " and tell that fox,
Behold 1 cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and
to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. "J
Thus, also, the carnal and sensual are frequently
named dogs : " Many dogs" saith the Psalmist, " are
dome about me ;"§ speaking of his temptations and as-
saults from the wicked. " Beware of dogs, "j| saith
the Apostle ; speaking of the sensual a"nd carnal-mind-
ed, who opposed the purity of his doctrine. And in
the Revelations, where mention is made of the holy
city, the new Jerusalem, it is written, " Without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and murderers^

* See Gen. iii. 1. 13. Psalm xci. 13 ; cxl.2. Isaiah xxvii, fr
Rev xii. 3, 4. 7. 9. 13 ; and many places.
f Matt. iii. 7 ; xii. 31. Luke iii. 7.
| Lake xiii. 32.
\ Psalm xx ii. 16.
|| Philip, iii. 2.

238 Off TRUE FAITH.

and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketk a
lie ;"* where dogs denote those who immerse their af-
fections in the delights of sense, or of the carnal nature.

Numberless other examples might here be adduced,
would the time permit, of this method of speaking
used in the holy Scriptures, or Word of God, whereby
the spiritual principles, parts, and powers^ which en-
ter into the constitution of man, are not only compared
to, but are also called by the names of such animals,
as in their natures correspond to such principles, parts,
and powers Those, however, which have been al-
ready mentioned, will, I trust, be sufficient for our pre-
sent purpose.

From this method of speaking, then, so familiar and
common in the ho'y Scriptures, every enlightened eye
wiii be enabled clearly to discern what we are to un-
derstand by serpents in the words of my text. The
seruent, we ail know, is an animal of a very subtle and
cunning nature ; in many cases poisonous ; which is not
elevated above the earth !ike other animals, but creeps
or crawls on the ground, and hides itself in holes and
clefts of the earth, from whence it frequently darts
forth to the terror and destruction of man and other
creatures.

Hence this animal most fitly denotes the sensual
man, or the sensual part and principle in the life of
man. For this sensual part or principle, we all know
by experience, is of a very cunning and subtle nature,

* Rev., xxii. 15.

ON TRUE FAITH. 23$

deluding and deceiving man by appearances and false
persuasions, as it is written of the serpent which tempt-
ed and deceived Eve, that " he was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the Lord had made ;"* it
is also in many cases poisonous, infecting and destroy-
ing the spiritual or heavenly life in man ; it creeps
likewise on the ground, is in close connexion with
earthly and worldly things, delighting itself with them,
immersing itself in them, and thence causing much ter-
ror, and often bringing destruction to man's superior
parts and principles, that is, to the inner man : thus
its operations are still the same that they were in old
time, in the days of our first parents, who were sedu-
ced hereby, and lost paradise ; it is ever tempting us
to eat of the forbidden fruit, to forget God and his
kingdom, to love this world only, and the things there-
of, whereby it causeth in many of us also the loss of
paradise.

But this signification of the word serpent will more
plainly appear, if we proceed to consider, secondly,
what is meant by taking up serpents.

From this expression, " They shall take up ser-
pents" it must be very evident to every considerate
•and attentive mind, that our Lord, by serpents, could
never mean real natural serpents, such as we see in
this natural world ; for according to such meaning,
what could be the signification of taking up serpents?
How could this be any sign of true faith ? What end
"ould it possibly answer for any one to have this

*Qen. Hi. 1.

340 ©N TRUE FAITH.

sign ? How few also would have it in their power t©
give this testimony of their faith ? Besides, had the
Lord here meant real serpents, he would surely rather
have spoken of treading them down, or of escaping hurt
from them, than of taking them up.

It must then needs be, that our Lord by serpents
here meant to denote some part or principle in the
life and constitution of man ; and that it is the sensual
part or principle which is here denoted by serpents,
will be most manifest from a right consideration of our
Lord's expression in relation thereto, " They shall
take up serpents."

For to take up any thing signifies to elevate, to ex-
alt, to raise from a lower to a higher stale ; to take up,
in this sense, as applied to real serpents, can have lit-
tle or no meaning ; but when applied to what is signifi-
ed by serpents, viz. the sensual part or principle in the
life of man, it will then be found to have a meaning
full of importance, full of holiness, worthy of God to
dictate, worthy of man to receive, expressive of the
real power of a divine faith, and therefore highly pro-
per to be enumerated amongst the true signs and cha-
racters of such a faith.

" In my name they shall take up serpents."

May I beseech your most earnest attention to the
meaning of this expression, they shall fake up, as ap-
plied to the sensual part or principle of the life of man,
signified by serpents !

It is the great end of the Gospel not to destroy the
sensual principle in man, but to save anil bless it, by

OH TRUE FAITH. 24i

eievatiug, by exalting, by raising or taking it up
through the influence of the spiritual principle ; and
this happy end is effected, when man submits his sen-
sual part, with all its affections, to the rule and domi-
nion of the spiritual part, and its affections.

We all know that man's life consists of many parts
Or principles ; they may in general be divided into
two ; the sensual and the spiritual ; the sensual is the
lowest and outermost ; the spiritual is the higher and
innermost.

These two parts may be either divided or united ;
they are divided when man lives a sensual life alonet
without living a spiritual life ; they are united when
man lives at the same time a spiritual life, and thereby
hath rule and dominion over the sensual life ; when
they are divided, then the sensual life is hurtful, and
brings destruction and condemnation to man, and is in
this respect called a serpent, cunning and subtle, aad
poisonous, and creeping on the ground ; but when they
are united, that is, when spiritual lite hath rule and
pre-eminence over the sensual life, then the sensual
life is no longer hurtful ; its poison is taken away from
it ; its cunning and subtlety are made subservient to
higher wisdom ; it becomes beneficial and biessed to
man ; and in this case it may be said to be taken up>
that is, to be eleyated, exalted, and raised from a low-
er to a higher place.

As for example — The appetite for eating and drink-
ing is a sensual appetite, appertaining to the sensual
life of man ; if this appetite be separated from what W
Y

242 ON TRUE FAITH.

spiritual, it then becomes hurtful to man ; it renders
man carnal and gluttonous ; it immerses his spirit in
abominable filthy lusts ; it is thus a poisonous serpent
which deceives and destroys man ; but if this appetite
be placed under the rule and guidance of the spiritual
principle in man ; if, according to the apostle's advice,
man eats and drinks to the glory of God ; if he con-
sults herein the dictates of sober reason and religion :
in this case the appetite for eating and drinking is ele-
vated, it is exalted, it is the serpent taken up, and thus
it is no longer poisonous and prejudicial, but blessed
and profitable unto man.

And what is here said of eating and drinking, may
easily be applied to all the other sensual appetites,
and is equally true concerning them : whensoever they
are separated from what is spiritual, that is from the
love and wisdom, the grace and Spirit of God ruling
over them, directing, regulating, elevating, and blessing
them, they are then hurtful and deadly ; they are then
so many serpents, dragons, and poisonous animals, con-
tinually raising up their heads, shooting forth their fa-
tal stings, and infecting with their deadly venom the
spiritual and heavenly principles of man's internal and
everlasting life : but whensoever on the contrary they
are brought under the rule and dominion of spiritual
life, that is, of the love and wisdom, the grace and Spi-
rit of God in man, then their former evil state is total-
ly reversed ; through the power of heavenly faith and
love, they are then elevated; they no longer look
dewnwards towards the world and the flesh, but they

ON TRUE FAITH. ~4o

look upwards towards God and heaven ; they are in-
deed still serpent*, but then they are serpents taken i/p,
serpents deprived of their poison ; thus they declare
and manifest in man the mighty power of Jesus Christ,
and are continual signs and proofs of that power, inas-
much as none but Jesus Christ, through a divine faith
m him, can thus raise them up, deprive them of their
poison, and make them thereby profitable and bles-
sed unto man.

To conclude. We read, in the book of Exodus,
this remarkable relation concerning Moses, when he
was expressing his doubts to the Lord respecting his
testimony being received by the children of Israel :
" They will not," saith he, " believe me ; for they
will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And
the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand?
And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the
ground : and he cast it on the ground, and it became
a serpent ; and Moses fled from before it. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take
it by the tail : and he put forth his hand, and caught
it, and it became a rod in his hand."*

Behold here a confirming testimony of what hath
been just now observed in relation to the power of a
divine faith in taking up serpents ! By the rod of
Moses, is here signiiied the power of such a faith. By
this rod becoming a serpent when it was cast on the
growid, is signified, that when the divine power in

*Exod.iv. 1 to 5.

244 ON TRUE FAITH.

man is immersed and buried in things of this world
and the flesh, it becomes merely sensual. By the
serpent becoming a rod again, when Moses caught it
by the tail, is signified, the elevation of the sensual
principle through the power of a divine faith. Thus
was it to be made known unto the children of Israel,
that the Lord had appeared unto Moses, and that he
was to lead them out of Egypt into the good land of
Canaan.

May we also, beloved, seek for, and be convinced
by the same sign, respecting our Moses, the Lord Je-
sus Christ, our great leader and deliverer from spiri-
tual E^ypt to the heavenly Canaan ! The rod is in
his hand ; a divine power over us, and in us, to elevate
us to himself, to raise up all our affections from things
below, and to gather us into his kingdom. If. we
cast this rod to the ground ; if we bury our affections
merely in the things of time and sense, it will then
become a serpent; we shall be mere sensual men,. ac-
cursed, and separated from the divine presence, crawl-
ing on the ground, fuli of subtlety and of all deadly
poison : But if we will take up this serpent; if we
will suffer the sensual affections to be ruled and ele-
vated by the spiritual ; the serpent will then become
a rod again in our hands, even a rod of divine pow-
er, by which we shall have dominion over the lower
things of time and sense ; using, and yet not abusing
them.

Thus shall we be convinced of the power of our
God, having this infallible sign of a true faith ; and

ON TRUE FAITH. 245

by blessed experience we shall be taught thus what
was meant of old by the brazen serpent, which Moses
was commanded to lift up in the wilderness ;* and also
what was meant by the seed of the woman bruising the
serpent's head ;| and further, what our Lord meant,
when he said to all his true disciples, " Behold, I give
unto you power to tread on serpents, and on scor-
pions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and no*
thing shall by any means hurt you.1'!

For this purpose, may we consider well, whether
the serpent be taken up in us, and become a rod, or
whether we want this sign of a true faith ! And may
we all be led, by such consideration, to humble our-
selves, with all our affections, principles, and powers,
more deeply before our God, that so we may be made
sensible, in a more lively and blessed manner, of the
elevating and exalting power of his pure and holy love
and truth in us !

* Numb. xxi. 8, 9. John iii. U,
f Gen. iii. 15.
\ Luke x. 14.

Y£

ON TRUE FAITH.

SERMON XXV,

St. Mark, xvi. 17, 18.

These Signs shall follow them that believe f
in my name shall they cast out Devils $ they
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take
up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

WE have already considered the three first of these
signs, viz. " the casting out devils, the speaking with
new tongues, and the taking up serpents, and shewn how
these signs in all ages, and with all people, have ever
followed a true faith in the name of the Lord God and
Saviour Jesus Christ ; we shall now proceed to con-
sider, as was proposed, the /ourtfi. sign here pointed at
fey our blessed Lord, " If they drink any deadly thing,
it sh 11 not hurt them," and shew how this sign h
ever fulfilled in the true believer.

24S ON TRUE FAITH*

None however can understand what is meant b^ this
sign, unless it be first known what is meant here by
any deadly thing, and by drinking thereof. May I
therefore bespeak your serious attention, whilst I en-
deavour to explain to you the real meaning of these ex-
pressions ; and may I hope further that you will not
fail to pray earnestly in your own minds for divine il-
lumination herein, without which it will not be possi-
ble for you to comprehend the depth of that heavenly
wisdom and instruction which the words before us
contain !

It may seem, at first hearing, and to the merely na-
tural mind it will continue to seem so, as if by the
deadly thing, of which the Lord here speaks, nothing
else was intended to be meant, but somewhat that
brings death to the body, as all sorts of poisonous sub-
stances do ; and that a true faith was to prevent the
fatal effect of such natural poisons.

But, beloved, permit me to intimate to you, that
there are deadly things of another sort, besides those
which affect the body; there are spiritual as well as
natural poisons ; and the spiritual life may be infect-
ed and destroyed by the one, as the natural life may
be infected and destroyed by the other.

For as by the word serpent, according to what was
shewn in a late discourse, is meant not only a natural
serpent, in its outward natural form here on earth, but
also a spiritual serpent, that is, some spiritual evil prin-
ciple in man corresponding thereto; so by the deadly
flwwg, here spoken of by our Lord, is meant not only

ON TRUE FAITH. 249

natural poison, or that which affects the body of man,
but also spiritual poison, or that which affects the spirit
of man.

But it will be asked, " What is to be understood by
spiritual poison ? Every one understands well what
natural poison is, by its terrible effects on the body ;
but has spiritual poison the same sensible and terrible
effects on the soul ? Can there be any deadly thing
which can infect and destroy the spiritual life of man,
as we see natural poison infects and destroys his na-
tural life? If there be such a deadly thing existing,
tell us, what is it, or what are we to understand by it,
that so we may be on our guard against it ?"

I am well aware, that many questions of this kind
will be suggested, concerning that spiritual deadly
thing, or that spiritual poison, of which we are speak-
ing : they will however all of them find a full and sa-
tisfactory answer in our own minds, whensoever we
do but rightly consider and apprehend the true nature
of man's spiritual Life, what it is, and in what it con-
sists.

Whilst we think of man only in respect to his bodi-
ly life, we shall not be able to form an idea of any
other sort of deadly thing, but what affects his bodily
life ; but if we would think of man in respect to his
spiritual life, that is, the eternal life of his spirit ; if we
would consider and comprehend aright what this spi-
ritual life is, and in what it consists, we should thea
see clearly, that it is subject to death also as well as
the bodi'y life, and that whatever occasions its death
is a deadly thing, a spiritual poison, so much more tcr

250 ON TRUE FAITH.

rible than any natural poison, as the loss of spiritual
life is more to be dreaded than the lose of bodiiy life.

We shouid then also, in some measure, be enabled
to apprehend the particular nature,, qualities, and pro-
perties of such spiritual poison ; we should perceive
whence it originates, how it operates, and what is the.
proper and only antidote against it ; we should see how
all natural poisons have their birth and origin in this
spiritual poison, and were intended to warn man of its
fatal effects and consequences.

We should, in short, then plainly see into the full
sense and meaning of this sign of a true faith as de-
clared by the Lord, " if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them ;" for we should see, how the
impenitent, the unconverted, and unbelieving, are for
evtt drink ip; deadly things, and are hurt thereby to
the alter destruction of their immortal spirits ; whereas
the truly penitent, converted, and believing follow-
ers of Jesus Christ, in and through the power of his
mighty name and heavenly Spirit guiding, governing,
and preserving them, though they drink of deadly things,
yet their immortal or spiritual life suffers no injury
thereby.

Much might here be said, if occasion required, and
if time would permit, concerning the origin, nature,
malignancy, and variety of spiritual deadly ihings, or
poisons} much more, possibly, than many would give
credit to. At present, however, I shall beg leave to
turn your attention to a remarkable expression here
used by our Lord, in describing the sign under corrsi-

ON TRUE FAITH. 251

deration, which may serve to give us further light on
this important subject.

It is observable, that our Lord, in describing this
sign, makes no mention of eating any deadly thing ;
but only says, " If they drink any deadly thing."
Now, if only mere natural poison was here to be un-
derstood, there can no reason be assigned, why men-
tion should not h ve been made of eating as well as of
drinking ; inasmuch as we all know that man's bodily
life may be poisoned and destroyed, as well by what
lie eats, as by what he drinks.

What considerate person, then, cannot here plainly
see, that some lesson of deep instruction was intended
by the Lord, and that this instruction must have rela-
tion to spiritual deadly things, or spiritual poison ?

I shall endeavour to unfold to such as are desirous of
apprehending and profiting by it, what this instruc-
tion is.

Every one who is at all acquainted with the nature
of spiritual life, must needs know, that spiritual life re-
quires its nourishment, that is, its meat and drink, as
well as bodily life.

He may therefore further know, if he be so disposed,
that spiritual life has its hunger and thirst, and eats and
drinks as well as bodily life : and accordingly, much
mention is made in holy Scripture of such spiritual
hunger and thirst, as well as of such spiritual eating and
drinking.''*

* See particularly Matt. v. 6. Luke vii. 21; and John vl.
tlirou^h. oat.

252 ON TRUE FAITH.

But though all this be known, or be easy to be
known, yet few consider what constitutes the real dif-
ference between spiritual eating and spiritual drinking,
or in what they are distinguished ; and yet this is of
importance also to be known.

Now spiritual eating hath respect to the will princi-
ple in man : spiritual drinking hath respect to the
principle of the understanding. We all know, that
man's mind consists of these two parts or principles :
but then we do not enough consider what is the proper
food and nourishment of each ; how the one hungers,
the other thirsts ; the one eats, the other drinks; the
one receives continually spiritual meat, whilst the other
as constantly receives spiritual drink.

It will be sufficient, however, for our present pur-
pose to know, that drinking hath respect to the princi-
ple of the understanding in man; and therefore, when
our Lord said, " If they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them," he meant to allude to the deadly
poisonous thngs, which affect man's understanding.

Suffer me, by way of conclusion, to press upon you
the important signification of this sign of a true faith,
according to the sense of the expressions thus opened
and explained.

Deadly things, we have already shewn, are all such
things as tend to destroy spiritual life in man. Spiri-
tual life is love towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and to-
wards one another, operating in all good thoughts,
words, and works. To drink deadly things, then, is
to imbibe or receive those false principles and persua*

ON TRUE FAITH. 253

iions of evil in our understandings, which are oppo-
site to and destructive of such spiritual life. These
false principles and persuasions are many and various,
being continually suggested to the mind, under an in-
finity of forms, by the devil, the world, and the flesh.
If man could see how he is ever beset by them, and
what danger he is in from them, he would be all as-
tonishment. For they encompass him about on every
side : they are the bees of the Psalmist, of which he
says, " They came about me like bees :"* they are
also the locusts, which St. John saw " ascending from
the bottomless pit."t Solitude itself is no security
against them ; and yet, in society, and in conversa-
tion, they generally abound most. Bad books are full
of them ; and in reading such books, we dwell as among
scorpions : and yet there is no book so good, but, if
we are not watchful, we may incur danger herein.
Even the holy Scriptures themselves have been, and
may be so perverted, as to become instruments of be-
getting the deadly things, whilst the corrupt mind of
man hath collected and doth still collect thence false
doctrines and mistaken principles to his destruction.
What shall I say more ? The church of Christ itself
is not free from the fatal poison ; for even in the
church, tenets and opinions are often taught and circu-
lated, contrary to the truth, and highly prejudicial to
the spiritual life of man.

* Pialm cxviii. 12.
+ Rev. i%. 3,

z

254 on true PAmr,

Herein, however, is a remarkable difference, well
to be attended to, in regard to the effect of these deadly
poisonous things on different persons. The impenitent
and unconverted, who live merely to themselves and
the world, without any concern about their spiritual
life ; these all drink greedily of the deadly poison ;
they receive it into the very essence of their life ; it
there diffuses its fatal influences ; it infects and de-
stroys, by degrees, all the principles of the life of hea-
ven, which is the true love of God and of their neigh-
bour ; it is to them what the Psalmist calls the poison
of asps :"* they become dead thereby to all true life,
and iive merely a sensual, selfish, and worldly life,
which, in the language of holy Scripture, is spiritual
death ;| and thus, for want of a true faith in Jesus
Christ, they are hurt by the deadly thing to the utter
destruction of the soul and spirit.

But it is otherwise with those blessed ones, who, by
virtue of a true repentance and conversion to the God
of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, have their minds
ever open to his salutary influences, and experience the
preserving and healing power of his Spirit in their own
hearts and lives. If these even drink the deadly thing,
it doth not hurt them. All false principles and persua-
sions which have admittance to their minds, all false
doctrines, all false opinions, even though received for
a time, yet lose their poisonous qualities, and are
soon cast out again. Such true believers are they

* Pualm cxl. 3.
f Rom. iii. 15.

OS TRUE FAITH* c2oi)

whom the prophet calls the " sucking child, which
should play on the hole of the asp ; and the weaned
child, which should put his hand on the cockatrice
den.'"* For, having their souls ever open, by a true
faith and good life, to the light of truth, which is the
light of the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, and fra-
ming their lives accordingly, they have the seal of God
in their foreheads ; and thus are preserved, by virtue of
that seal, against all the power o( the wicked one.

May we then labour, beloved, to experience the sa-
lutary influence of such aright evangelical faith ! May
we labour to possess this true sign of a true belief in
the holy and high name of our God, the Lord Jesus
Christ ! For this purpose, may we be careful to come
to this our God, in the spirit of a true repentance, and
sincere searching out and departing from all evil of
iniquity, which is the love of ourselves, of this world,
and the flesh ! Our Lord doth not say, if they eat any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; because, to eat
the deadly thing, is to love and live in sin ; and this
must needs hurt every one, inasmuch as sin destroys
all spiritual life ; and no one who lives in sin, can
possibly be a true believer. May we then, in since-
rity, put away all sin, looking unto the manifested God
the Redeemer, Jesus Christ ; and then we shall soon
experience all the comforts of this sign of our faith,
" If they drink any deadly thing," &c,

* Isaiah xi. 3-

ON TRUE FAITH.

SERMON XXVI.

St. Mark, xvi. 17, 18.

These Signs shall follow them that believe ; in my
name shall they cast out Devils ; they shall
speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents ; and if they drink any deadly things
it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands o?t
the sick, and they shall recover.

IN the preceding discourses on these words, it has
been already shewn what is to be understood by the
four first of these signs, and how in all ages, and with
all persons, they ever attend, and are expressive of, a
true faith in the name of the Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ.

If what was said concerning those four first signs,

has been well considered and digested, the nature,

meaning, and import of the fifth and last sign will

thence plainly appear, and it will be clearly seeru,

Z2

iOS ON TRUE FAITH.

how, in the name of the same Lord and Saviour, the
true believer will " lay hands on the sick, and they
shall reeover.,>

Whilst we look no deeper into the holy Word of
God than the outward letter, and discern no higher
life in man than the life of flesh and blood, we shall
naturally be led to suppose, that by the sick here spo-
ken of, our blessed Lord meant only the sick in body,
and that by laying hands on them and their conse-
quent recovery, he intended only to point out the effi.-
cacy of his power in curing bodily disorders.

But if our eyes were opened to see through the veil
of the letter into the spirit of the holy Scriptures ; if
at the same time we are enabled to discern in our-
selves a better and higher principle of life than that of
mere flesh and blood, even the immortal and most pre-
cious life of our souls or spirits ; we should be capable
of apprehending, that when our Lord said of true be-
lievers, " They shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover," he designed to point out to us a power
which should serve nobler ends, and accomplish high-
er purposes, than that of curing the infirmities of mere
bodily life only.

We should then see clearly what is here meant by
laying on of hands ; what by the sick ; and what by
their recovery ; and this sight would be exceedingly-
blessed to us, and would tend to quicken and strengthen
our faith in that holy God and Saviour, who thus con-
tinually works mighty signs and wonders in all those
that truly believe in his great and holy name. May

Gtf TKUE FAITH. • 253

1V1 our eyes then be now opened to see into the true
spirit and meaning of God's holy Word ! May they be
further opened to discern in ourselves that hidden but
invaluable life of our spirits, which is infinitely above
the perishable life of rle9h and blood ! May we thus,
be prepared to consider and apprehend the true sense
of this last sign of a real Gospel faith, " They shall
lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

And first, may we rightly consider and apprehend
what is here meant by laying on of hands! — This has
been a sis:n in all ages to denote a communication of
virtue and power ; thus our Lord and his Apostles
used this sign continually both in blessing the bodies
and the souls of men ; they laid their hands on some,
and they were healed of bodily diseases ; they laid
their hands on others, and they received the Holy Ghost,
and were cured of spiritual diseases.

By the sign then of laying on of hands, as applied
to a true faith, is meant, a communication thereby of
divine virtue and power from the great Omnipotent, the
Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the blessed
privilege of the true believer, that he enjoys continual-
ly such a communication : his faith is a divine princi-
ple in him derived from the great redeeming God,
and ascending again up to that God, and operating in
conformity to his laws : it keeps open therefore the
door of his heart ever towards God ; all holy and hea-
venly influences enter daily and hourly at that door ;
and in this sacred communion he discovers the true
source of all human power and virtue : a power of h*^

260 OH" TRUE FAITH.

own, a virtue self-derived, he here discovers are things
of no value in the sight of God : his faith therefore
operates in the name of Jesus Christ alone, and he re
fers all power, all virtue, and all excellency to this
their only true and proper source : thus does the true
believer fulfil this sign of laying on of hands in the name
of Jesus Christ.

But for what ends is this divine power received, or
what is this laying on of hands to effect? We are pre-
sently informed, " They shall lay hands on the sick."
By the sick, it is very plain, are here meant, not only
the bodily, but the spiritually sick, or such as are dis-
eased in their souls through sin : our blessed Lord and
his \posties did indeed cure the bodily diseases of
men, by the laying 071 of hands ; but then it is well to
be observed, that the cure of bodily diseases was only
intended as an external sign and proof of that internal
power and virtue, opened in and through the great
Redeemer, which was to cure the diseases of the soul ;
and every enlightened eye will regard it According to
this its real and heavenly intention.

But it may be asked, " What are the diseases of
the soul, and who are the spiritually sick ? — Alas ! can
we any of us be ignorant of this ? Have we never ex-
amined our own hearts and lives ? Did we never dis-
cover by such examination the symptoms of spiritual
disease and malady ? Are all the powers and princi-
ple - p.f life, in all their several degrees, sound, perfect,
and in us? Do we love the great and holy

God as freeiy, as purely, and as effectually, as we

ON TRUE FAITH. Z61

ought to love him ? Do we love our neighbours as our-
selves, and shew forth this our love in deed and opera-
tion ? Do we find no obstructions to this love and its
fruits ? No selfish affections, no worldly interests,
no carnal concupiscencies, that thwart, pervert, or de-
file the love of heaven ? Surely none can have examin-
ed himself sincerely herein, but he must have found
that all is not right with him ; he must therefore
have discovered the root of disorder; he must be
forced to see and confess, that both himself and all
mankind are by nature spiritually sick, and can only
be restored to health by the laying on of the hands
©f a true and effectual faith in Jesus Christ.

Behold here then a further sign and character of a
true believer in the name of the Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ! He hath not only communication with
heaven, that is, with the God of heaven, by virtue of
heavenly faith in Jesus Christ, but he also applies
this communication, and the powers and influen-
ces thereby bestowed, to the state of his own soul ;
he rectifies by it all the principles of his life in
their several degrees ; he examines into the nature
and kind of all his disorders, that is, his depar-
tures from heavenly order and uprightness ; he applies
medicines to each, according to their several necessi-
ties ; he strengthens what is weak ; he purges and
separates what is impure ; he cuts off what is unsound;
in 9hort, bringing his whole life into conformity to the
laws of Jesus Christ, which are the laws of heaven and
heavenly order, h« draws down the healing virtues

262 ON TRUE FAITH.

thereof into his own soul, and his own life, and thus
gives a sure infallible proof and sign of his faith by
" laying hands on the sick."

But this is not all — Did the believer's faith do no
more than open communication with heaven, and draw
down the healing virtues thereof, and apply thein to
his spiritual disoiders, without effecting a cure, it
would in this case be a fruitless and imperfect faith ;
leaving him as it found him, a poor, infirm, diseased,
and sickly being. Too many, alas! amongst those wh»
call themselves Christians are in this state ; they look
up to heaven at times for divine virtue and power ;
they receive medicines foe the removal of all their dis-
orders ; but then they do not so use and apply those
medicines as to render them effectual ; they mix
other things with them, which counteract and oppose
their heaiing operation ; just as in the case of bodily
disorders, we see people sometimes take physic, who
disappoint all the good effects thereof by an indiscreet
mixture of other and contrary things with it, or by ir-
regularity of life.

Not so the true and sincere believer in Jesus Christ :
in him is fulfilled this sign in all its fulness, " He
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
He does not rest satisfied with opening the communi-
cation between God and his own soul, and applying
the healing medicines of the Gospel to cure his dis-
orders, but he is careful that those medicines
may have their full effect ; that they may ope-
rate t<? his entirt reGQvery of the, health, strength^

ON TRUE FAITH. 263

and perfection of a divine life ; that his love to God
and his neighbour may be sound, constant, regular,
cheerful, active, fruitful, and operative ; that all hin-
drances may be removed, all sources of malady and
disease extirpated, which tend to weaken, to disorder,
ox to pervert the influences of heaven and heavenly
life : in applying therefore these medicines, he takes
good heed not to mix therewith any thing which may
disturb their salutary operations ; he observes such rules
of spiritual sobriety, order, cleanliness, separation, and
regularity, as may ensure success to his applications j
he knows that the healing grace and mercy of Jesus
Christ has such a power and virtue in it, that nothing
can prevent its efficacy, if it be suffered to operate
freely and fully ; but he knows also, that notwithstand-
ing such power and virtue of divine grace, its efficacy
may be retarded, if not totally perverted and prevent
ed, by the indiscretion of man ; these considerations,
at the same time that they teach him to place the full
est confidence in God, teach him also to be very watch-
ful and circumspect over himself; and thus, he ap-
plies the gospel remedies, and he applies them success-
fully ; he " lays hands on the sick, and they recover."
Oh blessed privilege of a true faith, which is thus
operative to the removal of all disease and disorder of
sou!, and to its full recovery and establishment in a
divine and heavenly life ! Oh happy believer, who is
thus enabled to hold intercourse with heaven, to draw
down thence heavenly virtue and power, and to reco-
ver thereby the sound and perfect ima£e,life, and like-

264 ON TRUE FAITH,

ness of heaven, to the utter extirpation of the disorder-
ed image, life, and likeness of vanity and ungodliness !
Oh most holy and all-powerful virtue, flowing conti-
nually from the heavenly humanity :of the glorified Re-
deemer, the blessed Jesus, which is thus given forth for
the healing of the nations, and the restoration of health,
and strength, and peace unto the people !— Grant, O
merciful God, to us thy sinful children, the true wisdom,
to apply to Thee sincerely, constantly, and effectually,
for this thine healing virtue. May our hearts be ever
©pen to the reception thereof ? May we be enlight-
ened to see and apprehend our great need of it, from
a conviction of our manifold disorders ! And may this
conviction lead us to use the blessed medicine, that
we may never by our irregularities pervert its efficacy,
but by the order and sobriety of our lives may so cherish
and assist its influence, that it may work to our per-
fect and final recovery from all sickness, to the health,
strength, and comfort of an heavenly life ! AMEN.

THE END.

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