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THE 


WORKS 


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II EV.  ANDREW  FULLER, 


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IN  EIGHT  VOLUMES, 


VOL.  VII. 


NEW-HAVEN: 


rRISTED  AND  PPBLISHKD   BT  S.  COlfVKRSE. 


1824. 


sJ^.w:^ 


SERMONS 


osr 


VARIOUS  SUBJECTS. 


CONTEiNTS. 


SERMON  I. 
The  Nature  and  Importance  of  Walking  by  Faith. 
We  walk  by  faith,  uot  by  sight.— 2  Cor.  v.  7.  ....  9 

SERMON  11. 
Th^  Qualifications  and  encouragement  of  a  Faithful  Minister  il- 
lustrated by  the  Character  and  success  of  Barnabas. 
He  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  faith  ;  and 
much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord — Acts  xi.  24.      -        -        -  39 

SERMON  in. 
The  instances.,  the  evil  Nature,  and  the  dangerous  Tendency  of  De- 
lay, in  the  Concerns  of  Religion. 
Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  sayinj;;,  This  people  say  the  time  is 
aot  come,  the  time  that  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  built. — Hag.  i.2.  57 

SERMON  IV. 
The  Blessedness  of  the  Dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 
And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are 
the  dead  which  die  in  the  LorJ,  from  henceforth  :  yea,  tailh  the  spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labours ;  and  iheir  works  do  follow  them. — 

Rev.  xiv.  13. 69 

SERMON  V. 
The  Nature  and  Importance  of  a  Deep  and  Intimate  knowledge 

of  Divine  Truth. 
For  when  for  the  time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that  one 
teach  you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God  ;  and 
are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk,  ana  not  ol  strong  meat.  For  every 
one  that  useth  milk  is  unskilful  in  the  word  of  righteousness  :  for  he  is 
a  babe  But  strong  meat  belongeth  to  them  that  are  of  full  age,  even 
those  who  by  reason  of  use  have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both 

good  and  evil.— Heb.  V.  12 — 14- 85 

SERMON  VL 
The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Rewards. 
Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not  mocked  :  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  also  reap.     For  he  that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption,  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit 
reap  life  everlasting. — Gal.  vi,  7,  8. Ill 


vi  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  VII. 
God's  Approbation  of  our  Labours  necessary  to  the  hope  of  success. 

If  the  Lord  delight  in  us,  then  he  will  bring  as  into  this  land,  and  give 
it  ug. — Ntmb.  xiv.  8.  _..--..--     127 

SERMON  VIII. 
Tlie  obedience  of  Churches  to  their  Pastors  explained  and  enforced. 

Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves ;  for 
they  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  give  account :  that  they  may 
do  it  with  joy,  and  not  with  grief:  for  that  is  unprofitable  for  you. — 

IIeb.  xiii.  17. 131 

SERMON  IX. 
Christian   Patriotism  :  or,  the    Duty  of  Religious  People    toward 
their  Country. 
And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  1  have  caused  you  to  be  car- 
ried away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it ;  for  in  the  peace  there- 
of shall  ye  have  peace. — Jer.  xxix.  7.      ...---        163 
SERMON  X. 
Jesus  the  True  Messiah. 
Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire  :  mine  ears  hast  thou  open- 
ed: burnt-offering  and  sin-offering  hast  thou   not  required.     Then  said 
I,  Lo,  I  come  :  in  the  volume  of  Lhe  book  it  is  written  of  me;  I  delight  to 
do  thy  will,  O  my  God :  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart. — PsA.  xl.  6 — 8.  177 

SERMON  XI. 
Solitary  Reflection :  or,  The  Sinner  directed  to  look  into  himself  for 
Conviction. 
Commune  with  your  own  heart  upon  your  bed, and  be  still. — PsA.  iv.  4.  197 
SERMON  XII. 
Advice  to  the  dejected:  or.  The  Soul  directed  to  look  out  of  itself 
for  Consolation. 
How  long  shall  I  take  counsel  in  my  soul,  having  sorrow  in  my  heart 

daily .'— Psa.  xiii.  2. 197 

SERMON  XIII. 
The  Prayer  of  Faith  ;  exemplified  in  the  Woman  of  C^anaan. 
Then  Jesus  went  theiicf,  and  departed  into  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Si- 
don.  And  behold  a  woman  of  Canaan  came  out  of  the  same  coasts,  and 
cried,  unto  him,  saying,  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Loid,  thou  Son  of  David ; 
my  daughter  is  grievously  vexed  with  a  devil.  But  he  answered  her  not 
a  word.  And  his  disciples  came  and  besought  him,  saying.  Send  her 
away  ;  for  she  crielh  after  us.  But  he  answered  and  said,  I  am  not  sent 
but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  honste  of  Israel.  Then  came  she  and  wor- 
shipped him,  saying.  Lord,  help  me !     But  he   answered  and  said,  It  is 


CONTENTS.  vii 

not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread  and  cast  it  to  dogs.  And  she  said, 
Truth,  Lord  ;  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  mas- 
ter's table.  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  O  woman  !  great 
is  thy  faith  ;  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  And  her  daughter  was 
made  whole  from  that  very  hour. — Matt.  xv.  21 — 28.         -         .        -     227  , 

SERMON  XIV. 
The  Future   Perfection  of  the  Church,  contrasted  with  its  Present 
Imperfections. 
Christ — loved  the  church,  and  gave  h  imself  for  it :  that  he  might  sanc- 
tify and  cleanse  it  with  the    washing   of  water   by  the  word;  that    he 
might  present  it  to  h-mself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be   holy  and  without  blemish. — 

Ephes.  v.  25— 27. 241 

SERMON  XV. 
The  Gospel  the  only  Effectual  Mean  of  Producing  Universal  Peace 
among  Mankind. 
Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the 
great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,    And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the 
fathers  to  the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers,  lest 
I  come  and  smite  the  earth  with  a  curse — Mal.  iv.  5, 6.        -        -  259 

SERMON  XVI. 
The  Reception  of  Christ   the  Turning  Point  of  Salvation. 
He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the  world 
knew  him  not.     He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not. 
But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name. — John  i.  10 — 12.         -    282 
SERMON  XVII. 
On  Justification. 
Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 

Christ  Jesus.— Rom.  iii.  24.      -- 299 

SERMON  XVIII. 
On  Justification. 
Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,   through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus. — Rom.  iii.  24.        -------        -    313 

SERMON  XIX. 
On  Justification. 
Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 

Christ  Jesus.— Rom.  iii.  24. 325 

SERMON  XX. 
The  B'liever^s  Review  of  his  Past  and  Present  State. 
But  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometimes  were  far  off,  are  made 
oigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ.— Ephes.  ii.  13. 339' 


yiit  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  XXI. 
The  JVature  and  Importance  of  Love  to  God. 
Take  good  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  that  ye   love  the  Lord 
your  God.— JosHBA  xxiii.  11.        -         -        -        .        -        -        -  353 

SERMON  XXir. 
Conformity  (o  the  Death  of  Christ. 
Being  made  conformable  unto  his  death. — Phil.  iii.  10.        -        -        365 
SERMON  XXIII. 
The  Life  of  Christ  the  Security  and  Felicity  of  his  Church. 
I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead  ;  and,  behold,  1  am  alive  for  evermore. 
Amen  ;  and  have  tlie  keys  of  hell  and  of  death.— Rev.  i.  18.         -         -    375 
SERMON  XXIV. 
Christianity  the  Antidote  to  Presumption  and  Despair. 
My  little  children,  these  things  write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not.     And 
if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the   Father,  Jesus  Christ  the 

righteous. — l.JoHjrii.  1. 383 

SERMON  XXV. 
The  Sorrow  attending  Wisdom  and  Knowledge. 
And  I  gave  my  heart  to  know  wisdom,  and  to  know  madness  and  folly. 
I  perceived  that  this  also  is  vexation  of  spirit.     For  in  much  wisdom  is 
much  grief;  and  he  that  increaseth  knowledge,  increaseth  sorrow. — 

EccLES.  i.  17,  18. 397 

SERMON  XXVI. 
The  Magnitude  (f  the  Heavenly  Inheritance. 
For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to 
be  compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us.  For  the  ear- 
nest expectation  of  the  creature  waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons 
of  God.  For  the  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but 
by  reason  of  him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope  :  because  the  crea- 
ture itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the 
»lorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  For  we  know  that  the  whole  crea- 
tion groaneth,  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now  :  and  not  only 
thev,but  ourselves  also,  which  have  the  first-fruits  of  the  spirit,  even  we 
ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  lor  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  re- 
demption of  our  body.— Rom.  viii.  13— '23.         407 

S'^.RMON  XXVII. 
The  Principles  and  Prospects  of  a  Servant  of  Christ. 
But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most  lioly  faith,  pray- 
in"'  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for 
+h6  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  unto  eternal  life. — Jvdk  20,  21,        423 


THE 

NATURE  AND  IMPORTANCE  OF 
WALKING  BY  FAITH. 

SERMON  I, 

[Preached  before  the  Northamptonshire  Association,  held  at  Nottingham,  Juiae 

2, 1784.] 


2  Cor.  v.  7. — We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight. 

Much  is  said,  concerning  faith,  in  the  holy  scriptures,  especially 
in  the  New  Testament  ;  and  great  stress  is  laid  upon  it,  especial- 
ly by  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  This,  I  appre- 
hend, is  not  very  difficult  to  be  accounted  for.  Ever  since  the  fall 
of  man,  we  have  been  entirely  dependent  on  the  mercy  of  God, 
through  a  Mediator.  We  all  lie  at  his  discretion,  and  are  behold- 
en to  his  mere  sovereign  grace  for  all  the  happiness  we  enjoy. 
We  have  nothing  on  which  we  can  rely  for  the  possession  or  con- 
tinuance of  any  good,  but  the  word  and  will  of  God.  The  only 
life,  therefore,  proper  for  a  fallen  creature  in  our  world,  is  a  hfe 
of  faith  ;  to  be  constantly  sensible  of  our  dependence  upon  God, 
continually  going  to  him,  and  receiving  all  from  him,  for  the  life 
that  now  is,  and  that  which  is  to  come. 

Believers,  and  they  only,  are  brought  to  be  of  a  spirit  suitable 
to  such  a  kind  of  life.  The  hearts  of  all  others  are  too  full  of 
pride  and  self-sufficiency  ;  but  these  are  contented  to  be  pension- 
ers on  the  bounty  of  another,  can  willingly  commit  their  all  into 
Christ's  hands,  and  venture  their  present  and  everlasting  concerns 
upon  his  word.     The  just  shall  livehy  faith. 

Self-remmciation,  and  confidence  in  another,  are  ideas  which 
seem  ever  to  accompany  that  of  faith.  The  Apostle  speaks  of  being 

Vol.  VH.  ? 


10  Ox>J  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermow  T. 

jusiifitd  by  faith  ;  that  is,  not  by  our  own  righteousnes,  but  by  the 
righteousness  of  another :  of  living  by  faith  ;  that  is,  not  by  our 
own  earnings  so  to  speak,  but  by  the  generosity  of  another  :  of 
standing  by  faith  ;  that  is,  not  upon  our  own  legs,  as  we  should 
say,  but  upon  those  of  another  :  and,  here,  of  Tualking  by  faith  j 
ivhich  is  as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  '  We  walk,  not  trusting  our 
own  eyes,  but  the  eyes  of  another  :  we  are  blind,  and  cannot 
guide  ourselves  ;  we  must,  therefore,  rely  upon  God,  for  direc- 
tion and  instruction.'  This,  my  brethren,  is  the  life  we  must  live, 
while  in  this  world,  and  this  the  manner  in  which  we  must  walk 
in  our  progress  toward  the  heavenly  state.  Great  is  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  God  in  so  ordering  it  ;  great  glory  hereby  re- 
dounds to  him,  and  great  good  accrues  to  us. 

All  I  shall  attempt  will  be,  to  explain  the  nature,  and  shorv  the 
IMPORTANCE,  of  the  Christian''s  tvalk  by  faith.  Both  are  necessa- 
ry, the  one,  that  we  may  form  just  ideas  of  what  we  have  to  do  ; 
and  the  other,  that  we  may  feel  our  hearts  excited  to  do  it.  O  may 
the  same  Spirit  who  indited  the  sacred  passage  breathe  upon  us 
that  these  ends  may  be  accomplished  ! 

1.  Let  us  inquire,  What  is  intended  by  the  sacred  writer, 
when  he  says.  We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  Faith  and  sight,  it 
is  easy  to  see,  here  stand  oppdsed  :  as,  indeed,  they  do  in  many 
other  parts  of  scripture  ;  especially  in  that  remarkable  definition 
of  faith,  wherein  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews  calls  it  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen.  But  what  kind  of  sight  it  is  opposed  to,  may 
deserve  our  attentive  inquiry. 

And  here  before  I  proceed  any  fjirther,  in  order  to  make  the 
way  clear,  I  will  advert  to  a  notion  which  has  been  too  generally 
received,  but  which  appears,  to  me,  uuscriptural  and  pernicious  : 
what  I  refer  to  is,  that  faith  is  to  be  considered  as  opposed  to 
spiritual  sight,  or  spiritual  discernment.  It  is  true,  I  never  heard 
of  any  person,  either  in  preaching,  writing  or  conversation,  who 
said  so  in  express  words  ;  but  expressions  are  often  used,  which 
convey  the  same  idea.  When  the  terms  faith  and  sense  are  used, 
it  is  common  with  many,  to  understand,  by  the  latter,  sensible  com- 
munion with  God.  So  it  is  common  to  hear  a  life  of  faith  opposed 
to  a  life  of  frames  and  feelings.     Those  times  iu  which  we  have 


Sermon  1.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  j  j 

the  most  spiritual  discernment  of  God's  glory,  sensible  communion 
with  him,  and  feel  our  love  most  ardently  drawn  out  to  him,  are 
thought  to  have  the  least  of  the  exercise  of  faith.  It  is  common 
to  say,  '  There  is  no  need  for  faith  then  ;  at  those  times  we  live 
by  sense :  but  that,  when  all  our  graces  seem  dead,  and  we  can 
see  no  evidence  from  whence  to  draw  the  favourable  conclusion, 
then  is  the  time  to  walk  by  faith."  The  meaning  is,  then  is  the 
time  to  believe  all  is  well,  and  so  rest  easy,  whether  we  have 
evidence  that  it  is  so,  or  not. 

Thus  we  have  often  heard  several  passages  of  scripture  applied, 
or  rather  miserably  misapphed  ;  for  instance,  that  in  the  last  chap- 
ter of  Habakkuk  :  Although  the  Jig-tree  shall  not  blossum,  neither 
shall  fruit  he  in  the  vines,  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and 
the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat,  thefock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold, 
and  no  herd  in  the  stalls  :  yet  icill  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  Jot/ 
in  the  God  of  my  Salvation.  As  if,  by  the  fig-tree  not  blossoming, 
&c.  was  meant  the  Christian  graces  not  being  in  exercise  ;  and 
that  then  was  the  time  to  walk  by  faith,  to  rejoice  in  the  God  of 
our  salvation !  That  passage  also  concerning  Abraham,  who^ 
against  hope,  believed  in  hope,  has  been  understood,  as  if  to  be 
strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  like  Abraham,  was  to  main- 
tain an  unshaken  persuasion  of  the  goodness  of  our  state,  wheth- 
er we  have  evidence,  or  no  evidence. 

So  also  that  passage,  in  the  fiftieth  of  Isaiah,  has  been  frequent- 
ly brought  for  this  purpose  :  Who  is  among  you  that  feareth  the 
Lord,  that  obeyeth  the  voice  of  his  servant,  that  wulketh  in  dark- 
ness, and  hath  no  light  ?  let  him  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 
stay  upon  his  God.  As  though  a  state  of  darkness,  there,  meant 
a  state  of  mind  wherein  a  person  could  discern  no  evidence  what- 
ever  of  his  being  a  good  man  ;  and  as  though  such  were  there  en- 
couraged to  make  themselves  easy,  and  leave  the  matter  with  Goil, 
not  doubting  the  goodness  of  their  state.  Our  Lord's  rebuke  to 
Thomas  has  been  understood  in  the  same  manner  :  Because  thou 
hast  seen  me  thou  hast  believed :  blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen, 
and  yet  have  believed.  As  if  a  blessing  should  rest  upon  those, 
who,  destitute  of  all  discernible  evidence  of  their  Christianity, 
nevertheless  believe  it  with  an  unshaken  confidence.     If  this  i"?  to 


4  ON  WALKING  BY  FAlTH.  [Skrmon  I. 

Walk  by  faith,  then  faith  must  stand  opposed  to  sjnritual  sight,  or 
spiritual  discernment. 

I  doubt  not  but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  to  live  upon  frames  t 
which  ought  to  be  guarded  against.  If  I  imagine,  for  instance, 
that  God  changes  as  I  change  ;  that  he  admires  me  at  one  time, 
and  not  another  ;  or  that  his  great  love,  from  whence  all  my  hope 
of  salvation  springs,  rises  and  falls  according  to  the  state  of  my 
mind  ;  this  is,  doubtless  to  dishonour  God,  as  it  strikes  at  the  im- 
mutability of  his  love.  So,  if  I  derive  my  chief  consolation  from 
reflecting  upon  what  I  am,  instead  of  reflecting  upon  what  Christ 
is,  this  is  to  dishonour  Christ,  and  may,  very  properly,  stand  op- 
posed to  living  by  faith.  But  this  is  not  the  common  idea  of  living 
npon  frames.  It  has  been  usual,  with  many,  to  account  that  man 
to  live  upon  frames,  who,  when  he  is  stupid  and  dark  and  carnal, 
cannot  be  confident  about  the  safety  of  his  state  ;  and  him  to  live 
by  faith  who  can  maintain  his  confidence  in  the  worst  of  frames. 
Allow  me,  brethren,  to  offer  three  or  four  plain  reasons  against 
this  notion  of  the  subject. 

1.  Faith  is  the  only  means  of  spiritual  discernment  and  com- 
munion with  God  ;  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  opposed  to  them. 
Our  best  frames  are  those  in  which  faith  is  most  in  exercise  ;  and 
our  wors-t,  when  it  is  the  least.  Faith  is  the  eye  of  the  mind.  It 
is  that  by  which  we  realize  invisible  and  spiritual  objects,  and  so 
have  fellowship  with  God.  Yes,  it  is  by  this  grace  that  we  behold 
the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from 
glory  to  glory,  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

2,  If  faith  is  opposed  to  spiritual  discernment  and  communion 
with  God,  then  it  must  work  alone  ;  it  must  never  act  in  conjunc- 
tion with  any  of  those  graces  wherein  we  feel  our  hearts  go 
out  to  God  ;  for  this  would  be  to  confound  faith  and  sense  together. 
But  this  is  contrary  to  fact-  When  we  have  most  fliith  in  exer- 
cise, we  have  mosi  love,  most  hope,  most  joy  ;  and  so  of  all  the 
graces  :  all  sweetly  act  in  harmony.  Thus  the  scriptures  rep- 
resent it  as  ever  accompanied  by  other  graces  ;  especially  by  love 
purity,  and  lowliness  of  heart.  It  is  expressly  said  to  work  by 
love;  and,  it  should  seem  never  works  without  it.  It  is  also  said 
to  purify  the  heart.     The  exercise  of  faith,  therefore,  and  the  ex- 


Sbrmom  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  5 

ercise  of  holiness,  can  never  be  separated.  Equally  true  is  it, 
that  it  is  ever  attended  with  loTcliness  of  heart.  There  are  two 
instances  of  faith  recorded,  which  our  Lord  particularly  commend- 
ded,  saying,  he  had  not  seen  such  great  faith,  no  not  in  Israel :  the 
one  was  the  case  of  the  woman  of  Canaan,  and  the  other  of  the 
Roman  centurion  ;  and  both  these  were  attended  with  great  hu- 
mility. The  one  was  contented  to  be  treated  as  a  dog-,  and  the 
other  thought  himself  unworthy  that  Christ  should  come  under 
his  roof.  A  confidence  unaccompanied  with  these,  if  it  m';y  be 
called  faith  at  ail,  seems  nearly  to  resemble  what  the  Apostle 
James  called  yaf /A  without  works  ;  which  he  pronounced  to  be 
dead  being  alone. 

3.  If  faith  is  to  be  understood  in  this  sense,  then  it  not  only 
works  without,  but  contrary  to  other  graces.  Tne  scriptures  en- 
courage a  spirit  of  self-examination  and  godly  jealousy.  These 
are  modest  and  upright  graces,  and  constitute  much  of  the  beauty 
of  Christianity.  Examine  yourselves,  whe.lh'.r  ye  he  in  the  faith ; 
say  the  inspired  writers  ;  try  your  ownselves  ! — Let  us  fear,  lest  a 
promise  being  left  «s  of  entering  into  his  rest,  any  of  us  should  seem 
to  come  short  of  it. — Let  us  pass  the  time  of  our  sojourning  here  in 
fear.  But  always  to  be  contident  of  the  safety  of  our  state,  let 
the  work  of  sanctification  go  on  as  it  may,  is  not  only  unfriendly  to 
such  a  spirit,  but  subversive  of  it.  Hence,  it  is  common,  with  some, 
to  call  every  degree  of  godly  jealousy  by  the  name  of  unbelief, 
and  to  impute  it  to  the  enemy;  yea,  to  shun  it,  and  cry  out  against  it, 
as  if  it  were  itself  a  devil !  This  is  not  the  most  favourable  symp- 
tom of  an  honest  heart.  Surely  an  heart  truly  upright  would  not 
wish  to  receive  comfort  itself,  but  upon  solid  evidence  :  and  where 
it  was  taught  to  call  such  a  fear  by  the  name  of  unbelief,  1  know 
not ;  I  think  I  may  say,  it  never  came  from  the  word  of  God.  If 
the  veracity  of  God  were  called  in  question,  no  doubt  it  would  be 
unbelief;  but  the  question,  at  those  times,  with  a  sincere  mind, 
is,  not  whether  God  will  prove  faithful  in  saving  those  that  trust 
in  him,  but,  whether  he  be  indeed  the  subject  of  that  trust.  His 
doubts  do  not  respect  God,  but  himself  Love  and  fear  are  th^ 
two  great  springs  and  guardians  of  right  action.  When  love  is  ia 
exercise  we  do  not  stand  in  need  of  fear  to  stimulate  or  guide  us 


14  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  { 

but,  when  we  are  not  constrained  by  the  former,  it  is  well  to  be 
restrained  by  the  latter. 

4.  Faith,  in  that  case,  must  be  unsupported  hy  evidence.     God's 
word  affords  us  no  warrant  to  conclude  ourselves  interested  in  his 
promises,  and  so  in  a  state  of  safety,  unless  we  bear  the  charac- 
ters to  which  the  promises  are  made.     We  have  no  right,  for  in- 
stance to   apply  to  ourselves  that  promise.  Fear  thou  not,  for  I 
am  with  thee  :  he  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God:  1  will  strength 
en  thee,  yea  I  will  help  thee,  yea  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right 
hand  of  my  righteousness,  unless   we  bear  the  character  of  the 
party  there  addressed.     This  is  expressed  in  the  foregoing  verse, 
But  thou  Israel  art  MY  sKRVAJiT,  he.     If,  from  the  real  desire  of 
our  hearts,  we  yield  not  ourselves  servants  to  God,  no  impress- 
ion of  this  passage  upon  our  minds  can  warrant  us  to  conclude, 
that  God  is  indeed  our  God,  or  that  we  shall  be  strengthened,  help- 
ed, or  upholden  by  him.     So  also  no  man  has  any  right  to  con- 
clude himself  interested  in  that  promise,  I  have  loved  thee   with 
an   everlasting  love,  therefore  with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn 
thee,  unless  he  be  so  drawn  from  the  love  of  sin,  self,  and   the 
world,  as  to   love  God  better  than   any  of  them.     But,  if  we  are 
to  hold  fast  the  confidence  of  our  safety,  whatever   be  the  con. 
dition  of  our  mind,  or  the  evils  in  our  conduct,  then  we  are,  in 
that  instance,  to  believe  without  evidence.     If  the  work  of  sanc- 
tification  be  the  only  spiritual  evidence  of  our  interest  in  Christ, 
then,   in  proportion  to   that   work   increasing  or   declining,  our 
evidence  must  be   strong  or  weak.     When  we  degenerate  into 
carnality  and  indifference,  it  must,  of  course,  diminish.     To  say, 
then,  that  those   are  the  times  in  which  we  exercise  most  faith 
is  the  same  as  to  say  we  exercise  most  faith  when  we  have  least 
evidence  ;  and  consequently,  it  must  be  a  kind  of  faith,  if  it  be 
faith  at  all,  that  is  unsupported  by  evidence.* 

*  All  true  faith  must  have  truth  for  its  foundation.  That  faith  to  which 
the  scriptures  promise  salratioa,  is  founded  upon  evidence ;  and  that  ev- 
idence is  the  TESTIMONY  of  God.  Hence  it  is,  with  great  propriety  by  the 
Apostle,  defined, //ie  belief  of  the  truth.  This  definition  includes  more  than 
many  aeem  to  apprehend.  To  believe  the  truth  in  reality,  is  cordially  to 
credit  the  account  which  God  has  given  of  himself,  of  us,  of  sin,  of  Christ, 
of  earth,  of  heaven,  &c.  Whoever  thus  realizes  divine  truth  must,  of  neces- 
sity, feel  its  iafluenoe.     The  same  Apostle  tells  us,  that  those  who  receive  the 


SermomI-I  on  walking  by  faith.  jrj 

There  are  but  two  cases,  that  I  recollect  in  the  whole  system 
of  true  Chrijitian  experience,  which  so  much  ns  seems  to  resem- 
ble this  notion  ;  and  these  are  in  fact,  essentially  different  from  it. 
One  is,  that  of  the  most  emment  Christians  having  a  general  and 

word  as  it  is,  find  it  effeotually  to  work  io  them.  Hence  wc  are  said  to  be 
mnctijied  tfirough  the  truth,  to  know  the  truth,  and  to  be  made  free  by  it.  f 
OHnnot  believe  God  to  be  that  amiable  and  gracious  being  which  his  word 
represents  him  to  be,  without  loving  him.  I  cannot  believe  myself  to  be 
that  vile  and  wortblefs  being  that  God  represents  me  to  be,  without  abhor- 
ring myself  in  dust  and  ashes.  If  I  really  credit  what  God  hath  said  of  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  it  is  impossible  but  that  I  should  hate  it,  and  per- 
oeive  its  dreadful  demerit,  and  plainly  see  »yself  righteously  condemned  for 
being  a  subject  of  it.  If  I  really  believe  the  record  that  God  has  given  ot 
bis  son,  that  is  the  same  thing  as  to  think  of  his  excellencies,  in  measure  as 
God  thinks  of  them  ;  and,  in  that  case,  I  cannot  but  embrace  him  with  all  my 
heart,  and  venture  my  everlafting  all  upon  his  atonement.  If  from  my 
heart,  I  believe  what  God  hath  said  of  the  vanity  of  this  world,  and  tJie  sub- 
stantial bliss  of  that  to  come  ;  if  I  realize  the  emptiness  of  all  the  enjoyments 
of  the  former,  and  the  eternal  weight  of  glory  pertaining  to  the  latter ;  I 
shall  necessarily  labour,  not  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  which 
endureth  unto  everlasting  life. 

If  this  be  a  just  notion  of  faith,  then  it  will  follow,  1.  That  all  unconverted 
men  are  truly,  and  in  the  most  literal  and  proper  sense  of  the  word  cnbeliK- 
vfiRS.  Whatever  they  may  pretend,  they  do  not  realize  what  God  has  reveal- 
ed of  his  character  or  their  own,  of  the  nature  of  sin  and  its  dreadful  de- 
merit, of  the  excellence  of  Christ,  of  the  vanity  of  this  world,  and  the  solid 
bliss  of  the  next.  Nor  can  this  their  unbelief  be  removed  but  by  their  becom- 
ing entirely  new  creatures,  by  a  work  of  the  Almighty  spirit  of  God.  2.  That 
a,  mere  cold  assent  to  things,  covimonly  called  believing  the  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, unaccompanied  %vith  love  to  them,  or  a  dependence  on  Christ  for  salvation, 
is  very  far  from  being  true  sailing  faith.  Let  but  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  be 
really  and  heartily  believed,  as  Godhai  revealed  them,  and  as  before  said,  it 
will  be  impossible  but  that  we  should  feel  a  determination  to  venture  upon 
Christ  alone  for  salvation,  with  all  the  proper  effects  of  living  faith.  But 
persons  m^y  profess  to  believe  those  doctrines  when  they  do  not,  or  may  be- 
lieve them  partially,  but  not  as  God  has  revealed  them.  Yea,  a  person  may 
think  these  his  professions  to  be  true,  and  these  his  notions  to  be  just,  and  yet 
b«  an  infidel  at  heart.  The  Jews  professed  to  believe  Moses,  and,  no  doubt, 
verily  thought  they  did  ■,  but  our  Lord  told  them,  Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye 
wauld  have  believed  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me.  We  are  under  a  necessity,  there- 
fore of  concluding,  that,  where  these  effects  are  not  produced,  the  faith  of 
such  persons  is,  in  a  great  decree,  pretended,  and  not  real :  and  in  that  degree 
in  which  it  VB  real,  it  i^  very  svperfiriaf :  it  reachos  only  to  flie  shell  of  truth 


g  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermok  T. 

ivell-grounded  persuasion  of  their  interest  in  Christ,  even  at  such 
times  wherein  they  may  not  experience  those  evident  and  sensible 
exercises  of  grace  which  they  do  at  other  times.  But  then  it  is  to 
be  observed,  grace  has  more  ways  than  one  of  being  in  exercise  : 
the  grace  of  love  for  instance  ;  sometimes,  it  is  exercised  in  the 
most  tender  and  affectionate  feelings  of  the  heart  towards  Christ, 
longing  to  be  with  him,  and  to  enjoy  him  in  the  world  to  come  ; 
at  other  times,  it  works  more  in  a  way  of  serving  him,  and  pro- 
moting his  interest  in  the  present  world.  This  latter  may  not  so 
sensibly  strike  the  person  himself,  as  being  an  exercise  of  love  ; 
but,  perhaps,  other  people  may  consider  it  superior  evidence. 

The  industrious  peasant,  sitting  in  his  evening  chair,  sees  his 
children  gathering  around  him,  and  courting  his  affections  by  an 
hundred  little  winning  ways.  He  looks,  and  smiles,  and  loves. 
The  next  day  he  returns  to  his  labour,  and  cheerfully  bears  the 
burden  of  the  day,  in  order  to  provide  for  these  his  little  ones, 
and  promote  their  interest.  During  his  day's  labour,  he  may  not 
feel  his  love  operate  in  such  sensible  emotions  as  he  did  the  eve- 
ning before.  Nay,  he  may  be  so  attentive  to  other  things,  as  not 
immediately  to  have  them  in  his  thoughts.  What  then  ?  he  loves 
his  children  :  indeed,  he  gives  proof  of  it,  by  cheerfully  enduring 
the  toils  of  labour,  and  willingly  denying  himself  of  many  a  com- 
fort that  they  might  share  their  part  ;  and  were  he  to  hear  of 
their  being  injured  or  afflicted,  he  would  quickly  feel  the  returns  ol 

at  farthest.  The  essence  and  g'lory  of  the  gospel  is  by  them,  neither  discera- 
ed  nor  believed.  3.  That  all  that  co7iJidence  which  is  unsupported  by  evidence^ 
held  fast  by  so  many,  is  not  faith  ;  but  presumption,  or  delusion.  If  faith  is  the 
belief  of  the  truth,  then  whatever  I  believe  ought  to  be  a  truth,  and  a  truth 
supported  by  evidence,  prior  to,  and  independently  of,  my  believing;  it.  This 
is  certainly  the  case  respecting  the  excellency  and  all-sufficiency  of  Christ. 
He  is  what  he  is,  whether  [  believe  it,  or  not.  However  I  may  disallow  him, 
he  is  chosen  of  God,  and  precious.  Whatever  real  excellence  I  at  any  time, 
discern  or  believe  to  be  in  him,  I  only  believe  the  truth,  and  what  would 
have  been  the  truth  if  I  had  never  believed  it.  Faitli,  therefore,  draws  aside 
the  vail,  and  discovers  things,  in  some  measure,  as  they  are.  So,  if  that  per- 
suasion which  I  may  have  of  my  interest  in  Christ  have  any  right  to  the 
name  of  faith,  it  must  be  a  truth,  and  a  truth  capable  of  being  proved  by 
scripture  evidence  at  the  time, 


Sermon  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  I7 

glowing  affection,  in  as  strong,  and  perhaps  stronger,  emotions  than 
ever. 

Thus  the  believer  may  have  real  love  to  God  in  exercise,  ex- 
citing him  to  a  cheerful  and  habitual  discharge  of  duty,  and  a  care- 
ful watch  against  evil,  and  yet  feel  little,  or  none,  of  that  desirable 
tenderness  of  heart  which,  at  other  times,  he  experiences.  He  has 
grace  in  exercise,  only  it  does  not  work  in  the  same  way  as  it  does 
at  some  other  times  ;  and  he  in  general  enjoys  a  conscious  satisfac- 
tion, that  the  more  he  knows  of  God,  his  holy  law,  and  glorious  gos- 
pel, the  more  he  loves  them.  During  this,  he  may  have  an  abiding 
satisfaction  that  things  are  right  with  hirn.  But  this  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing  from  a  person,  at  ail  events,  maintaining  the  safety  of 
his  state  ;  yea,  and  reckoning  himself,  in  so  doing,  to  be  strong  in 
faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  while  carnality  governs  his  spirit,  and 
folly  debases  his  conversation. 

The  other  case  is,  when,  on  a  failure  of  evidence,  from  a  reflec- 
tion on  past  experiences,  the  believer  has  recourse  loan  immediate 
application  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  casting  himself  direcrly  on  his 
mercy,  and  relying  on  his  word ;  seeing  he  has  said.  Him  that 
Cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  This  case,  no  doubt,  of- 
ten occurs.  The  believer,  through  the  prevalence  of  carnality, 
with  some  other  causes,  too  often  tinds  his  evidences  for  glory  so 
obscured,  that  past  experiences  will  afford  but  small  consolation. 
At  such  a  time,  his  mind  is  either  easy,  and  carnally  disposed  ;  in 
that  case,  a  few  painful  tears  will  do  him  no  harm  :  or  else  his 
heart  is  depressed  with  perplexity  and  gloom  ;  in  that  case,  nothing 
is  better  than  immediately  to  go  to  Christ,  as  a  poor  sinner,  for  sal- 
vation. This  is  the  shortest,  and  it  is  commonly  the  surest  way. 
It  is  not  best,  in  such  a  state  of  mind,  to  stand  disputing,  whether 
we  have  believed,  or  not :  be  that  as  it  may,  the  door  of  mercy  is 
still  open,  and  the  Redeemer  still  says.  Him  that  coiiieth  io  me,  I 
vnllin  noioise  cast  out.  It  is  best,  therefore,  to  make  a  fresh  ven- 
ture of  our  souN  upon  him  ;  that,  if  we  have  never  before  trusted 
in  him,  we  may  now. 

This  is  no  moie  than  he  has  a  loarrant,  at  any  time,  to  do,  let 
things  be  as  they  may  with  him  :  for,  though  internal  qualifications 
are  necessary  to  our  concluding  ourselves  interested  in  Christ,  yet 

Vol.  VII.  3 


18  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH  [SBRBCorri 

it  is  not  so  in  respect  of  application  to  him.  The  perplexed  soui 
need  not  stay,  before  he  ventures,  to  inquire  whether  he  be  fit  to 
come  to  Christ.  It  is  not  required  that  he  should  prove  his  saint- 
ship  before  he  applies  for  mercy,  though  it  is,  before  he  claioas  an 
interest  in  gospel-blessings.  All  that  is  necessary  here  is,  that  he 
be  sensible  of  his  being  a  vile  and  lost  sinner  :  and  that  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  a  qualijication,  giving  Jihn  a  right  to  come,  but  as  a 
stale  of  mind  essential  to  the  act  itself  of  coming. 

Many  a  Christian  has  found  sweet  rest  to  his  soul  by  such  a  direct 
application  to  Christ ;  and  surely  it  would  be  much  better  for 
Christians  who  go  almost  all  their  life  in  painful  perplexity,  lest 
they  should  be  mistaken  at  last,  if,  instead  of  perpetually  poring 
on  past  experiences,  they  were  to  practice  more  in  this  way.  This 
would  furnish  them  with  present  evidence,  which  is  much  the  best 
and  what  God  best  approves  ;  for  he  loves  to  have  us  continue  to 
exercise  our  graces,  and  not  barely  to  remember  that  we  have  ex- 
ercised them  sometime  or  other,  heretofore.  This,  in  some  sort, 
may  be  called  walking  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight  ;  and,  in  this  case, 
faith  may,  in  some  sense,  be  opposed  to  spiritual  sight.  It  is  oppo- 
sed to  that  discernment  which  we  sometimes  have  of  being  true 
Christians,  from  a  review  of  past  experiences.  But,  then,  this  is 
ever  attended  with  present  spiritual  discernment  of  Christ's  excel- 
lence, and  a  longing  desire  after  interest  in  him  ;  and,  herein,  es- 
sentially differs  from  what  we  have  been  opposing.  Confidence,  in 
the  one  case,  is  nothing  else  but  carnal  security,  tending  to  make 
men  easy  without  God  :  confidence,  in  the  other,  is  an  actual  ven- 
ture of  the  soul  afresh  on  the  Lord  Jesus,  encouraged  by  his  gra- 
cious testimony.  The  subject  of  the  one  considers  himself  as  an 
established  saint  ;  the  other,  as  a  poor,  lost  sinner,  and  deals  with 
Christ  for  salvation,  just  as  he  did  when  he  first  applied  to  him. 
To  the  one  we  say,  Be  not  high-minded,  but  fear :  to  the  other, 
Fearnot,  thou  shali  not  be  ashamed;  none  ever  trusted  in  him,  and 
was  confounded. 

In  what  sense,  then,  do  we  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight  ?  I 
answer,  in  general.  Walking  by  faith  is  a  going  forward  in  the 

WAYS  OF  GODLINESS,  AS  INFLUENCED,  NOT  BY  SENSIBLE,  BUT  BY  Ilf- 
v'lSIBLE  OBJECTS  ;    OBJECTS,  OF    THE    REALITY  OF  WHICH  WE  HAVS 


Sermon  1.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  j9 

no    EVIDENCE  BPT    THE    TESTIMONY  OF  GoD.       Bul.   perhaps,    faith 

may  be  considered  as  opposed  to  sight,  more  particularly,  in  three 
senses  ;  namely,  to  corporal  sight,  to  the  discoveries  ot  mere  rea- 
son, and  to  ultimate  vision. 

1.  To  walk  by  faith  is  opposed  to  walking  by  corporal  sight.  In 
this  sense  we  shall  find  it  plentifully  used  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
to  the  Hebrews,  concerning  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  oth- 
ers. Thus  Abel,  by  faith,  offered  a  more  excellent  offering  than 
Cain.  God  had  said,  in  effect,  once  for  all,  that  he  would  never 
speak,  nor  bespoken  to,  in  a  way  of  friendship,  by  any  of  the  hu- 
man race,  but  through  a  mediator.  This  was  intimated,  partly 
by  man's  being  debarred  from  all  access  to  the  tree  oi  life,  partly 
by  the  promise  of  the  woman's  seed,  and  partly  by  the  institution 
of  sacrifices.  Cain  overlooked  all  these,  and  approached  God  with- 
out an  expiatory  sacrifice  ;  as  if  there  had  been  no  breach  between 
them,  and  so  no  need  of  an  atonement.  This  was  an  instance  of 
daring  unbelief.  Abel,  on  the  contrary,  took  God  at  his  word,  per- 
ceived the  evil  of  sin,  and  the  awful  breach  made  by  it;  dared  not  to 
bring  an  offering  without  a  victim  for  atonement;  had  respect  to  the 
promised  Messiah  ;  and  thus,  by  faith  in  the  unseen  Lamb,  offered 
a  more  excellent  offering  than  Cain. 

Thus  also  it  is  said  of  Noah,  By  faith  he  being  warned  of  God  of 
THINGS  NOT  SEEN  OS  i/etyMOved  With  fear,  prepared  an  ark  to  the 
saving  of  his  house  ;  by  the  which  he  condemned  the  world,  &c.  No 
doubt,  the  world  were  ready  to  despise  Noah,  while  building  his 
ark,  as  an  enthusiast,  whose  faculties  were  probably  deranged,  who 
put  himself  to  a  deal  of  trouble,  and  wanted  to  put  other  people  to 
as  much,  merely  through  a  notion  that  ran  in  his  head,  that  the 
world  should  be  drowned.  Why,  was  there  any  thing  in  the  world 
that  looked  like  it,  or  seemed  to  portend  such  an  event  ?  Nothing 
at  all :  all  things  seemed  to  continue  as  they  were  from  the  cre- 
ation. What,  then,  could  induce  Noah  to  do  as  he  did  }  Noth- 
ing but  the  testimony  of  God,  which  he  credited,  and  acted  accor- 
dingly. 

So  also  it  is  said  of  Abraham,  when  called  to  go  into  another 
country,  by  faith  he  obeyed,  and  went  out,  not  knowing  whitjii  k 
HK  WENT.     A  pretty  errand  it  would  seem,  to  bis  friends  nnd 


20  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon •(. 

neighbours.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  these,  observing  him  pre- 
paring for  a  journey,  might  inquire  whither  he  was  going.  '  Go- 
ing? I  am  going  to  a  land  which  the  Lord  is  to  show  me.'  'And 
have  you  ever  seen  this  land  ?'  '  No  :  I  neither  know  the  coun- 
try, nor  a  step  of  the  way  to  it.'  'A  fine  tale,  indeed  !  but  seri- 
ously, what  in  the  world  can  move  you  to  such  an  undertaking  ?* 
'  1  rely  upon  the  testimony  of  God.  He  hath  said,  Get  thee  out 
of  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  unto  a  land  that  i  will 
SHOW  THEE  :  I  take  him  at  his  word,  and  act  accordingly.' 

These  were  cases  in  point  for  the  Apostle  to  quote.  The  He- 
brews seemed  hardly  contented  with  an  unseen  High-priest,  an  in- 
visible religion.  They  had  been  used  to  priests  and  sacrifices  that 
they  could  hear,  and  see,  and  handle,  with  their  bodily  senses. 
Like  their  fathers  by  Moses,  therefore,  they  were  ready  to  say  of 
•Tesus,  '  We  know  not  where  he  is  gone  ;  come,  let  us  make  us  a 
captain,  and  return  to  Judaism.'  '  Judaism  !'  says  the  Apostle, 
'  methinks  true  Judaism  would  condemn  you.  All  your  forefa- 
thers acted  upon  a  principle  which  you  seem  about  to  abandon. 
They  walked  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  They  lived,  they  died,  in  the 
faith,  even  in  the  faith  of  thai  very  Messiah  of  whom  you  make  so 
light.' 

In  this  sense,  it  is  easy  to  see,  faith  and  sight  are  to  be  taken,  in 
our  Lord's  rebuke  to  Thomas,  when  he  says,  Blessed  are  they  that 
have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  '  You 
think  you  have  acted  very  prudently  ;  but  what  must  the  Chris- 
tian word  do,  in  after  ages,  if  they  act  upon  your  principle  ? 
Christianity,  in  the  whole  of  it.  will  depend  upon  testimony  :  who- 
ever receives  it  attcr  your  death,  yea,  in  your  life  time,  besides 
3'ourselves,  must  receive  it  upon  your  testimony.  Blessed  are 
they  that  shall  cordially  so  receive  it ;  and  blessed  had  you  been, 
Thomas,  to  have  set  them  the  example,  by  believing  the  testimony 
6f  your  brethren.' 

2.  Faith  may  be  considered  as  opposed  to  the  discoveries  of 
mere  reason,  unassisted  by  revelation.  In  this  sense  it  seems  to  be 
used  in  referen  e  to  Sarah.  Through  faith  she  received  strength 
to  ronceitw  seed,  and  was  delivered  of  a  child  rohen  she  was  past 
age,  because  she  judged  him  faithful  who  had  promised.     How  Sa- 


Sermon  I.l  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  21 

rah  should  have  a  son,  was  not  only  indiscernible  by  the  corporal 
eye,  but  by  an  eye  of  reason  ;  since  it  must  be,  if  at  all,  entirely 
beside  the  common  course  of  nature.  She  had  nothing  to  rely 
upon,  in  this  case,  but  the  promise  of  God. 

We  do  not  suppose  faith  and  right  reason  to  be  opposites  :  that 
be  far  from  us.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  is  more  evident,  than 
that  Christianity  is  entirely  a  rational  system;  and  it  is  its  glory 
that  it  is  so.  We  should  never  have  been  required  to  give  a  rea^ 
son  for  the  hope  that  is  in  us,  if  there  had  been  no  reason  to  be 
given.  But,  though  nothing  in  revelation  be  contrary  to  right  rea- 
son, yet  there  are  many  things  which  our  reason  could  never  have 
found  out,  had  they  not  been  made  known  by  the  Supreme  Intelli- 
gence. The  plan  of  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  particular, 
contains  a  set  of  truths  which  the  eye  had  never  seen,  nor  the  ear 
heard,  nor  had  they  entered  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive,  had  not 
God  revealed  them  to  us  by  his  Spirit.  For  all  the  pleasure  that 
we  enjoy,  brethren,  in  contemplating  these  glorious  truths,  we  are 
wholly  indebted  to  the  testimony  of  God.  Indeed,  so  far  are  they 
from  being  discoverable  by  mere  reason,  that  every  blessing  con- 
tains in  it  abundantly  more  than  men  or  angels  could  have  asked  or 
thought !  It  staggers  our  reason  to  receive  it,  even  now  it  is  told 
us.  At  every  pause  we  must  stand  and  wonder,  saying,  Is  this  the 
manner  of  man   O  Lord! 

Not  only  was  our  reason  incapable  of  finding  out  many  truths 
before  they  were  revealed  ;  but,  even  now  they  are  revealed 
they  contain  things  above  our  comprehension.  It  is  one  thing  to 
say,  that  scripture  is  contrary  to  right  reason,  and  another  thing  to 
say,  it  may  exhibit  truths  too  great  for  our  reason  to  grasp.*     God 

*  May  not  the  great  disputes  which  have  taken  place  concern ing/ai/A  and 
reason,  as  if  the  one  were  opposite  to  the  other,  have  arisen,  in  a  s^reat  degree, 
from  usingthe  term  reason  without  defining  it  ?  The  word  reason,  like  the  word 
understanding  lias  two  senses.  1.  It  signifies  ihejitness  of  things.  So  the  apostles 
used  it,  when  they  said,  //  is  not  reason  that  ive  should  leave  the  word  of  God, 
and  serve  tables :  that  is,  it  is  not  Jit,  or  proper.  2.  It  signifies  our  power  or  ca- 
pacitif  of  reasoning.  So  it  is  said  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  his  reason  returned  to 
him:  that  is,  his  power  or  capacity  of  reasoning.  Now,  it  is  easy  to  see,  that 
these  are  two  essentially-different  ideas  :  the  one  is  perfect  and  immutable,  re- 
maining always  the  same:  the  other  is  shattered  and  broken  by  sin,  and  liable 


22  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [SehmosT. 

must  have  told  us  nothing  about  his  own  existence,  and  infinite  per- 
fections, if  he  had  told  us  nothing  but  what  we  could  comprehend. 
In  this  case,  it  becomes  us  to  know  our  littleness,  and  to  bow  our 
understandings  to  the  Supreme  Intelligence.  It  is  the  most  ra- 
tional thing  in  the  world  so  to  do.  If  God  has  said  any  thing,  we 
ought  to  rest  assured  that  so  it  is.  In  these  cases,  we  ought  to 
trust  his  eyes,  so  to  speak,  rather  than  our  own,  and  be  content  to 
walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight. 

3.  Faith  may  be  considered  as  opposed  to  ultimate  vision.  The 
saints  in  glory  are  described  as  seeing  Christ  as  he  is  ;  as  knowing 
even  as  they  are  known  ;  and  as  being  citizens  of  a  city  where  there 
shall  be  no  ni^ht,  and  where  they  shall  need  no  candle^  neither 
light  of  the  sun  nor  light  of  the  moon,  for  the  Lord  God  shall 
BE  THE  LIGHT  THEREOF.  Our  knowledge  of  things  there  will  be 
immediate  and  intuitive,  and  not,  as  it  is  here,  through  the  medium 
of  the  word  and  ordinances.  The  sacred  scriptures  are  to  us. 
(with  reverence  be  it  spoken,)  like  a  letter  from  a  distant  friend  ; 

(o  a  thousand  variations  through  blindness  and  prejudice.  No  divine  truth  can 
flisagrec  with  the  former  ;  but  it  may  be  both  above  and  contrary  to  the  latter. 

If  people  Were  to  talk,  in  matters  of  science  and  philosophy,  as  some  have 
aflfected  to  talk  in  religion,  they  would  be  treated  as  fools,  and  deemed  un- 
worthy of  attention.  A  philosopher,  for  instance,  tells  an  unlettered  country- 
man, that  it  is  generally  thought,  that  the  earth  turns  round,  every  day,  upon 
its  own  axis,  and  not  the  sun  round  the  earth.  The  countryman  replies,  *  I 
don't  believe  it.'  '  Very  likely,'  says  the  philosopher,  *  but  why  not?'  '  It  is 
contrary  to  my  reason.^  '  Contrary  to  your  reason,  that  may  be ;  but  I  hope 
you  do  not  think,  that  every  thing  contrary  to  your  reason  is  contrary  to  right 
reason  !'  Were  men  of  the  greatest  understanding  but  to  consider,  that  there 
is  a  far  greater  disproportion  between  some  truths  respecting  the  existence  of 
a  God  and  their  capacities,  than  between  any  truths  of  human  science  and  the 
capacity  of  the  most  ignorant  rustic,  they  would  be  ashamed  to  disbelieve  a 
truth,  because  it  is  not  according  to  their  reason. 

It  is  right,  and  stands  commended  in  scripture,  to  apply  our  hearts  to  under- 
standing ;  but  it  is  wrong,  and  stands  condemned  in  scripture,  by  the  same 
pen,  aad  in  the  same  page,  to  lean  to  our  own  understanding.  So,  I  appre- 
hend, it  is  right  to  ahhere  to  right  reason,  and  to  use  all  means  to  find  out  what 
it  is  ;  but  it  is  wrong  and  presumptuous  to  set  up  our  reason  as  a  standard 
competent  to  decide  what  is  truth  and  what  is  error  ;  for  that  is  (he  same  thing 
as  supposing,  that  our  ideas  of  fitnes"!  and  unfitness  always  accord  with  the  re- 
al fitness  of  thing" 


Sermon  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  23 

but  when  we  come  face  to  face,  ink  and  paper  shall  be  needed  no 
7aore.  However,  for  the  present  it  is  otherwise.  We  are  yet  in 
the  body  ;  and,  while  such,  as  the  Apostle  observes  in  the  verse 
preceding  the  text,  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord,  and  must  be  glad 
of  these  helps.  Let  us  make  much  of  this  letter,  and  be  thankful 
that  we  can  walk  by  it  through  this  world,  as  by  a  light  in  a  dark 
place,  till  we  come  to  a  better,  where  we  shall  no  more  walk  by 
faith,  but  by  sight. 

Thus  f;\r  I  have  dwelt  chiefly  upon  the  terms;  but,  that  we  may 
obtain  a  more  comprehensive  view  of  the  thing  itself,  (namely,  of 
a  Christian's  walking  by  faith,)  let  us  take  a  view  of  a  few  of 
those  circumstances  and  situations,  through  which  he  has  to  pass, 
during  the  present  life.  It  is  in  these  that  faith,  as  well  as  every 
other  grace,  is  exercised.  Allow  me,  then,  to  request  your  at- 
tention, brethren,  to  four  or  five  observations  on  the  subject. 

1.  There  are  many  dark  seasons  in  God'' s  providential  dealings 
with  us,  in  which  we  can  see  no  way  of  escape,  nor  find  any  source 
of  comfort,  but  the  testimony  of  God.  God's  friends  are  not  dis- 
tinguished, in  this  world  by  an  exemption  from  trying  providences  ; 
he  views  that,  methinks,  as  too  trifling  a  badge  of  distinction. 
They  shall  be  known  by  what  is  far  more  noble  and  advantageous  - 
namely,  by  patience,  obedience,  submission,  and  divine  support 
under  them.  Moreover,  as  we  profess  to  be  friends  ef  God,  and 
to  trust  the  salvation  of  our  souls,  with  all  our  concerns,  in  his 
hands,  he  sees  it  proper  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  our  professions, 
and  the  stability  of  our  hearts.  He  brings  us  into  such  circum- 
stances, therefore,  as  shall  try  us,  whether  we  will  confide  in  him 
or  not. 

Christ  has  told  his  followers,  once  for  all,  thai  all  power  in  hea- 
ven and  earth  is  in  his  hands  ;  that  he  is  head  over  all  things  to  the 
church;  that  he  will  surely  do  them  good;  that,  however  things 
may  seem,  all  things  shall  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose  ;  that,  as 
to  temporal  things,  let  them  but  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good,  and 
they  shall  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  they  shall  hs  fed  ;  and,  as  to 
eternal  things,  if  they  have  a  few  light  afflictions,  they  shall  last 
but  for  a  moment  and  shall  work  for  them  a  far  more  exceeding  and 


24  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH  [Skrmox  [. 

eternal  weight  of  glory.  These  promises  seem  easy  to  be  believ- 
ed, when  things  go  smooth  and  pleasing  ;  and  it  is  very  natural 
for  us,  in  a  day  of  prosperity,  to  talk  of  these  things,  and  try  and 
comfort  those  with  them  who  are  labouring  in  adversit3^  But  the 
greatest  trial  is  when  it  comes  home  to  ourselves.  Then  it  is 
well,  if  we  fall  not  under  the  reproof  of  Eliphaz,  Thy  words  have 
upholden  him  that  was  falling ,  and  thou  hast  strengthened  the  feeble 
knees  :  hut  now  it  is  come  upon  thee,  and  tho%i  faintest ;  it  toucheth 
thee.,  and  thou  art  troubled.  Then,  if  ever,  is  the  time  for  us  to 
walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight. 

We  create  to  ourselves  darlings,  and  place  much  of  our  happi- 
ness in  their  enjoyment.  God  not  unfrequently  takes  these  first 
away,  as  being  most  his  rivals.  If  one  child  is  more  beloved  than 
all  the  rest ;  if  he  must  be  clothed  with  a  coat  of  many  colours, 
the  coat  must  quickly  be  returned  without  the  owner  ;  yes,  the 
period  must  soon  arrive,  when  it  shall  be  said,  Joseph  is  not ! 
These,  with  a  few  more  strokes  of  the  kind,  will  try  Jacob's  faith 
to  the  uttermoiit ;  and  he  will  find  it  hard  work  to  reconcile  prom- 
ises with  providences.  '  Thou  saidst  I  will  surely  do  thee  good  : 
hut  all  these  things  are  against  me.''  Ah,  he  fails  !  He  fails,  like 
Asaph  in  a  similar  condition,  who  could  not  see  how  God  could  be 
good  to  Israel,  when  zvaters  of  a  full  cup  were  wrung  out  to  them. 
The  Shunamitish  woman  will  set  us  a  better  example  than  either 
the  Patriarch  or  the  prophet.  Is  it  well  1  said  Eli«ha's  servant 
when  her  child  lay  dead  in  her  house.  She  replied,  It  is  wkll. 
This  was,  in  effect,  saying,  '  Whether  I  can  see,  it  or  not,  I  know 
he  doeth  all  things  well.'  This  is  believing  when  we  cannot  see^ 
taking  God  at  his  word,  against  all  the  rebellion  of  sense  and  feel- 
ing. This  is  what  Jacob  should  have  done  ;  butO  that  Jacob  had 
failed  alone !  If  to  resemble  him,  in  this  instance,  would  consti- 
tute us  Israelites,  we  should    most  of  us    be  Israelites  indeed  ! 

We  are  often  very  thrifty  in  devising  plans  for  futurity,  and  apt 
to  promise  ourselves  great  degree*  ot  happiness,  when  they  are 
accomplished.  Here  it  is  common  for  God  to  throw  confusion  upon 
our  schemes,  and  cause  things  to  run  in  a  different  channel  from 
what  we  expected.     Job,  while  in  prosperity,  ^.\i  like   a  bird  in 


3i:rmon  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  25 

her  well-feathered  nest,  and  thought  within  himself,  '  I  shall  live 
to  enjoy  numerous  years  of  uninterrupted  prosperity,  to  see  chil- 
dren's children,  and  then  go  down  to  the  grave  in  peace  ;  or,  as 
he  himself  afterwards,  in  the  bitter  hour  of  reflection,  ex- 
pressed it,  I  said,  I  shall  die  in  my  nest,  I  shall  multiply  my  days 
as  the  sand  /'  Well,  so  he  did  at  last ;  but  there  was  a  melancholy 
chasm  in  his  life,  which  he  never  expected.  Such  there  are, 
more  or  less,  in  all  our  lives  ;  and,  in  such  situations,  it  is  well  if 
we  do  not  think  hard  of  our  best  friend.  Some  have  been  ready 
to  ask,  '  Is  this  love  ?  Is  this  his  doing,  who  has  said,  I  will  surely 
do  thee  good  ?'  Yes,  and  you  shall  see  it  in  the  end,  as  Asaph  did  ; 
who,  after  he  had  been  to  God's  sanctuary,  and  saw  things  as  they 
were,  went  home,  it  seems  and  penned  the  seventy  third  psalm, 
beginning  it  all  in  ecstacy,  saying,  Truly  God  is  good  to  Israel  ! 
Christians,  how  criminal,  how  cruel,  that  he  that  never  failed  us  at 
any  time,  should  be  so  mistrusted  as  he  is  !  It  should  seem  to  sug- 
gest, as  if  he  were  such  a  God  that  we  cannot  trust  him  out  of 
sight '. 

How  amiable  is  that  spirit,  how  happy  is  that  heart,  that,  in  eve- 
ry situation,  places  unbounded  confidence  in  Jehovah's  word. 
Such  may  be  hedged  up  on  every  side,  and  encompassed,  like  Is- 
rael at  the  Red  sea,  with  seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties  ; 
yet,  even  here,  they  will  follow  Israel's  example,  they  will  cry  un- 
to God,  and  rely  upon  his  mercy.  If  means  can  be  used,  they  will 
use  them  ;  if  not,  they  will  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord.  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  said  the  Lord,  that  they 
go  forward.  '  Go  forward  !'  they  might  have  replied,  '  what,  leap 
at  once  into  the  jaws  of  destruction?'  But  nothing  of  this.  At 
first,  indeed,  their  faith  seemed  to  fail  them,  but  they  soon  recover- 
ed themselves.  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  said  the  Lord, 
that  they  go  forward  ;  they  went  ;  a  way  was  made  in  the  sea,  and 
a  path  in  the  mighty  waters.  Well  may  it  be  said,  By  faith  Is- 
rael passed  through  the  Red  sea.  Minds  thus  disposed  might  defy 
the  united  sources  of  worldly  sorrow  to  render  them  unhappy.  Let 
poverty  stare  them  in  the  face,  let  pinching  want  stretch  over  them 
her  miserable  sceptre,  they  have  been  known,  even  here,  by  faith, 
to  break  forth  into  songs  of  praise.     Thus  sang  good  Habakkuk  : 

Vol,  VII.  4 


26  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  1. 

(and  this  evidently  appears  to  be  his  situation,  and  not  a  state  of 
spiritual  declension  :)  Although  the  Jig  tree  shall  not  bLissom^ 
neither  sh'ill  fruit  be  in  the  vines,  the  labour  of  the  olive  shaL  fail 
and  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat,  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off"  from  the 
fold,  and  no  herd  in  the  stalls  ;  yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will 
joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  Thus  also  sang  the  church,  even 
in  her  captivity,  when  her  country  was  laid  waste,  Jerusalem  razed 
to  the  ground,  and  the  temple  burnt  to  ashes  :  The  Lord  is  my 
portion,  saith  my  soul,  therefore  will  1  hope  in  him  ! 

2.  In  all  our  approaches  to,  and  fellowship  with  Christ,  it  is  by 
faith  in  the  account  that  God  has  given  of  him    in  his  word.  Christ's 
excellence,  undertaking,  and   benefits,   are  the  joy,  and  even  the 
life  of  our  souls,  if  we  are  true  Christians.     But  what  evidence  have 
we  of  all  or  any  if  these  ?     Yea,  what  evidence  have  we  that  there 
is,  or  ever  was,  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Chiist  ?  or,  if  there  was, 
that  he   was  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God  ?     We   neither  saw  him 
alive,  nor  die,  rise  again,  nor  ascend  to  heaven.     We  never  saw  the 
miracles  he  wrought,  nor  heard   the  voice  from  the  excellent  glory, 
saying,    Tins   is  trty  bf  loved  Son.  hear  ye  him.     We   speak  of  his 
personal  excellencies,  divine  and  human  ;  of  his  love,  zeal,  right- 
eousness,  meekness,   patience,   &.c.  but   what    know  we  of  them  ? 
We  rejoice  in  his  being   constituted  our  surety,  to  obey  the  law, 
and  endure   the  curse  in  our  stead  ;  but  how  know  we  that  so  in- 
deed it  is.      We  glory  in  the   imputation  of  his  righteousness,  and 
exult  in  the  hope   of  being  found  in  him,   and  being  for  ever  with 
him    faultless  before  bis  throne,  to  serve  him  day  and  night   in  his 
temple  ;   but  on  what  do  we  rely  for  all  this  ?     If  our  expectations 
are  but  just,  truly  they  are   noble  ;   but  if  groundless,  extravagant. 
Are  they,  then,  well   founded  ?  Yes,  the   testimony  of  God  is  the 
rock  whereon  they  rest.     He  has  told  us,  by  the  mouth  of  his  ser- 
vants, the  inspired  writers,  all  that  is  necessary  for  us  to  know,  of 
the  character,  conduct,  and  errand  of  his   Son  ;  of  every  office  he 
sustained,  and  every  end  for  which  he  came  into  the  world.     To  all 
this  he  has  added,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  shall  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life.     So  they  have  preached,  and  so  we  have 
believed.     We  have,  through  grace,  ventured  our  everlasting  all 
in  his  hands  ;  nor  is  it  in  the  hands  of  we  know  not  who  :  we  know 


Sermon  1.]'  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITFI.  27 

wJiom  we  have  trusted,  and  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  -which  we 
have  committed  to  him  against  that  day.  For,  though  none  of  tliese 
things  are  visible  to  our  mortal  eyes,  yet,  having  evidence  that 
God  has  said  them,  we  are  satisfied.  We  would  as  soon  trust 
God's  word,  as  our  own  eyes.  Thus  we  walk,  like  Moses,  as  seeing 
him  who  is  invisible  :  and  thus  answer  to  that  description,  Whom 
having  not  seen  ye  love,  in  whom,  though  noio  ye  see  him  not,  yet 
BELIEVING,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory. 

In  all  our  applications  to  Christ,  we  have  to  rely  merely  upon 
the  testimony  of  God.  Here  is  a  poor,  self-condemned  sinner 
comes  pressing  through  the  crowd  of  discouraging  apprehensions' 
that  he  may,  so  to  speak,  touch  the  hem  of  the  Redeemer's  gar- 
ment, and  be  made  whole.  As  he  approaches,  one  set  of  thouij;hts 
suggests.  How  can  such  a  monster  hope  for  mercy  ?  Is  it  not  doubt- 
ful, whether  there  be  efficacy  enough  in  the  blood  of  Christ  itseU 
to  pardon  such  heinous  crimes  ?  '  I  know  my  crimes  are  heinous 
beyond  expression,'  replies  the  burdened  soul,  '  and  I  should, 
doubtless,  give  up  my  case  as  desperate,  but  thai  I  have  heard,  of 
him,  that  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God 
by  him.  I  will  go,  therefore  ;  who  can  tell  ?'  As  he  goes,  other 
objection*  assail  him,  questioning,  whether  Christ  can  fnd  in  his 
heart  to  accept  of  such  an  one  ?  '  I  should  think  not,  indeed.'  re- 
joins the  poor  man,  '  but  he  has  said,  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will 
in  nowise  cast  out.  1  know,  were  I  to  consult  nothing  but  my 
feelings,  and  only  to  fix  my  eyes  on  the  enormity  of  my  sin,  I  should 
utterly  despair  ;  but,  encouraged  by  his  w^ord,  I  will  go  forward. 
I  will  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight  :  O,  I  hear  him  say.  Come  unto 
me  all  ye  that  labour,  and  are  heavy  laden — and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  souls  /  This,  this  is  what  I  want !  Depart  from  me,  all 
ye  that  vex  my  soul  ;  I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God  !' 

3.  We  have  to  give  up  many  present  enjoyments,  for  Christ's 
sake,  wherein  we  have  no  visible  prospect  of  recompence,  none  of 
any  kind,  but  what  arise"  from  the  promise  of  God.  Self-denial  is 
one  of  the  initial  laws  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Far  from  enticing  peo. 
pie  into  his  service,  by  promises  of  wealth,  ease,  and  honour,  he 
set  out  with  this  public  declaration,  Whosoever  will  be  my  disciple 
must  deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.     But  who 


28  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  1. 

would  enter,  upon  these  terms  ?  VVho  would  give  up  houses,, 
lands,  friends,  and  reputation,  and  expose  himself  o  hardships 
persecution,  and  death,  for  nothing  ?  Yet  many  followed  him,  and 
that  to  the  day  of  their  death  ;  yea,  and  upon  these  very  terms  too; 
they  left  all  and  followed  him.  What,  then,  induced  them  ?  Did 
not  they  act  irrationally  ?  '  Prophets,  apostles,  and  martyrs  ! 
what  mean  ye  ?  Have  ye  no  regard  for  yourselves  ?  What  !  are 
you  destitute  of  the  feelings  of  men?'  '  No  such  thing:  we  have 
respect  unto  the  recompence  of  reioard.^  '  Reward  \  what  can  that 
be  ?  nothing  surely  below  the  sun,  unless  it  were  every  thing  the 
reverse  of  what  is  agreeable  to  human  nature  !'  *  True  ;  but  our 
Lord  has  declared.  Whosoever  shall  forsake  houses,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my 
name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold,  and  inherit  everlasting 
life.     We  rely  upon  this,  and  this  supports  us.' 

God's  friend's  in  all  ages,  have  forsaken  sensible,  for  invisible 
enjoyments.  Encouraged  by  considerations  like  these,  Ruth  for- 
sook her  father  and  her  mother,  and  the  land  of  her  nativity,  and 
canae  to  a  people  whom  she  knew  not.  It  was  this  that  determin- 
ed her  to  go  forward,  when,  as  Naomi  told  her,  there  were  no 
earthly  prospects  before  her.  It  was  this  (hat  made  her  resolve 
not  to  go  back  with  Orpha,  but  to  cast  in  her  lot  with  the  friends 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  The  Lord  recompense  thy  work,  said  Boaz 
to  her,  afterwards,  and  a  full  reward  be  given  thee  of  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel,  under  whose  wings  thou  art  come  to  trust  /' 

The  same  things  influenced  Moses,  it  seems,  to  refuse  a  crown. 
It  has  been  thought,  that,  in  virtue  of  his  adoption,  he  might  have 
been  king  of  Egypt  ;  but  that  throne,  not  only  like  other  thrones, 
exposed  him  that  sat  thereon  to  numberless  snares,  but  probably 
was  inaccessible  to  any  but  those  who  would  continue  the  system 
of  idolatry  and  oppression.  In  that  case,  for  Moses  to  have  been 
king  of  Egypt,  must  have  been  to  have  sacrificed  a  good  con- 
science, despised  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away,  and  uni- 
ted in  persecuting  his  own,  and  the  Lord's  people.  Moses  seems 
fully  to  have  weighed  this  matter.  The  result  was,  he  refused  to 
he  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh'' s  daughter,  choosing  rather  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin 


3KRM0N  I.]  ON'WALKING  BY  FAITH.  29 

for  a  season;  esteeming  even  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches 
than  the  treasures  in  Egypt.  He  therefore,  freely,  leaves  the 
life  of  a  courtier;  avows  himself  the  friend  of  the  poor  despised 
captives  ;  and  dares  to  retire  into  Midian,  to  live  the  life  of  an 
obscure  shepherd.  I  say,  he  dared  to  retire  ;  for  it  required  a 
greater  degree  of  fortitude  thus  to  deny  himself,  than  to  stand  in 
the  forefront  of  a  battle,  or  to  face  the  mouth  of  a  cannon!  But 
by  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  and  tcent  and  lived  a  stranger  in  a 
strange  land,  for  he  endured  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible  ;  yes, 
he  had  respect  unto  the  recompence  of  reward. 

In  short,  through  this,  the  holy  tribes  of  martyrs,  in  all  age? 
loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death.  By  faith  in  invisible  reali- 
ties, as  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews  largely  proves,  they  bore  all 
manner  of  cruelties,  not  accepting  deliverance  itself  upon  dishon- 
ourable conditions  ;  suffered  all  kinds  of  deaths  with  unremitting 
fortitude,  and,  in  some  sort,  like  their  glorious  Leader,  triumphed 
over  principalities  and  powers,  when  they  fell. 

Indeed,  every  man  in  the  world  may  be  said  to  walk  either  by 
faith  or  by  sight.  There  is  not  only  a  giving  up  sensible  for  in- 
visible enjoyments,  by  actually/  parting  with  them,  but  by  not  set- 
ting our  hearts  upon  them,  as  our  chief  good.  This  may  be  done 
where  there  is  no  call  actually  to  give  them  up,  and  is  done  by  all 
real  Christians  in  the  world.  Men  whose  chief  good  consists  in 
the  profits,  pleasures,  or  honours  of  this  life,  live  by  sight ;  they 
derive  their  life  from  objects  before  their  eyes,  having  neither 
patience  nor  inclination  to  wait  for  a  portion  in  the  world  to  come. 
But  good  men,  as  well  the  rich  as  the  poor,  derive  their  life  from 
above,  and  so  live  by  faith  :  their  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God, 

Perhaps  here,  as  much  as  any  where,  is  required  the  peculiar 
exercise  of  faith.  For  one  actually  divested  of  earthly  good  to 
look  upward,  and  set  his  heart  on  things  above,  is  faith  ;  but  for 
one  still  possessed  of  this,  one  on  whom  providence  smiles,  pros- 
pering him  in  all  he  sets  his  hand  to,  blessing  him  with  wife  and 
children,  houses  and  lands,  in  abundance  ;  for  hina  to  exercise 
such  a  degree  of  indifierence  to  all  these,  as  to  derive  his  chief 
happiness  from  invisible  realities,  this  is  faith  indeed  !  This  seems 
to  have  been  exemplified  in  Abraham,  and  other  patriarchs.     Of 


30  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [SermowI. 

him  it  is  said,  By  faith  he  sojourned  in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a 
strange  country.  How  is  this  ?  We  do  not  wonder,  when  he  and 
Sarah  went  into  Egypt,  on  account  of  a  famine,  that  he  should  con- 
sider himself  a  sojourner  there  ;  but  how  is  it  that  he  should  do  so 
in  Canaan,  the  land  of  promise,  his  own  estate,  as  it  were?  The 
next  verse  informs  us  :  for  he  looked  for  a  city  which  hath  founda- 
tions, whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  So  Jacob,  when  before 
Pharaoh,  called  his  whole  life  a  pilgrimage,  though  the  far  greater 
part  of  it  was  spent  in  the  land  of  promise  ;  and  they  that  say  such 
things,  adds  the  Apostle,  declare  plainly,  that  they  seek  a  country. 
Though  God  had  given  them  the  good  land,  they  would  not  make 
it  their  chief  ^ood.  They  could  not  be  contented  with  this  Ca- 
naan, but  longed  for  another.  Noble  souls  !  bid  them  lift  up  their 
eyes  eastward,  and  westward,  and  northward,  and  southward,  and 
tell  them,  all  they  can  see  is  their  own  ;  still  they  will  not  live 
by  sight,  but  by  faith  :  they  will  desire  a  better  country,  that  is  an 
heavenly. 

4.  There  are  many  low  and  distressing  seasons  to  which  the 
church  of  God  is  subject,  in  which  there  is  little  or  no  visible 
ground  of  encouragement,  scarcely  any  but  what  arises  from  the 
promise  of  God.  The  whole  church  of  God,  as  individuals,  has, 
in  all  ages,  had  its  day  of  adversity  set  over  against  the  d.iy  of 
prosperity.  Israel,  after  their  deliverence  from  Egypt  and  settle- 
ment in  Canaan,  enjoyed  pretty  much  prosperity,  especially  in 
the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  But  afterwards,  by  a  series  of 
provocations,  they  procured  to  themselves  the  Babylonish  captiv- 
ity. At  that  melancholy  period,  those  amongst  them  that  feared 
the  Lord  must  be  supposed  to  be  all  in  darkness.  Jerusalem  laid 
waste;  the  temple  burnt  with  fire  ;  Judah  carried  captive;  ah, 
what  becomes  of  God's  inserest  in  the  world  !  The  foundations 
of  his  visible  kingdom  seemed  to  be  laid  in  the  holy  mountains 
round  about  Jerusalem  ;  if  these  are  destroyed,  what  can  the 
righteous  do  ?  They  had  long  sighed  and  cried  for  the  idolatrous 
abominations  of  their  countrymen,  and  prayed,  and  hoped  that  mer- 
cy might  be  lengthened  out  ;  but  now  all  seems  over.  For  their 
idohitry,  they  must  go,  and  have  enough  of  idolaters  :  they  that 
feared  the  Lord  must  also  go  with  them.     By  the  rivers  of  Baby- 


3ERM0H  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  3j 

Ion  they  must  go  and  sit  down.  Those  that  had  been  used  to  sound 
the  hish  praises  of  God  in  Zion,  must  now  hang  their  harps  upon 
the  willows,  as  having  no  use  for  them!  Nor  is  this  the  worst  ; 
they  must  be  taunted  and  their  God  derided,  by  their  insulting 
lords.  Come,  said  they,  sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion  as  if 
they  had  said.  'Now  see  what  your  religion  has  availed  you  !  This 
was  your  favourite  employ,  and  these  the  songs  wherewith  you 
addressed  your  Deity,  in  whom  you  confided  to  deliver  you  out 
of  our  hands  :  what  think  you  now  ?'  Poor  Zion  ?  She  spread- 
eth  forth  her  hands,  but  there  is  none  to  comfort  her.  The  Lord 
huth  commanded ,  that  her  adversaries  should  be  round  about  her  : 
her  captive  sons  can  only  remember  Jerusalem,  and  weep  !  Alas, 
how  can  they  sing  the  Lord^s  song  in  a  strange  land! 

But  is  there  no  help  from  above  ?  Is  there  no  physician  there  ? 
Yes,  the  God  whom  Babel  derides,  but  Judah  adores,  looks  down, 
and  sees  their  affliction.  To  his  disheartened  friends,  in  this  sit- 
uation, he  addresses  himself,  saying.  Who  is  among  you  that  fear- 
eth  the  Lord,  that  obeyeth  the  voice  of  his  servant,  that  walketh  in 
darkness,  and  hath  no  light  ?  let  him  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  stay  upon  his  God.  As  if  he  should  say,  '  For  a  season  you 
must  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight;  but,  trust  me,  that  season 
shall  soon  be  over.  Seventy  years,  and  Babylon  shall  fall,  and 
Judah  return  1'  By  these  declarations,  the  church  was  encouraged 
in  her  captivity,  and  furnished  with  an  answer  to  her  insulting  foes  : 
yea,  and  what  is  wonderful,  breaks  forth  into  one  of  the  Lord's 
songs  in  a  strange  land  !  (Hearken,  O  Babel,  to  one  of  the  so7igs 
of  Zion  /)  Rejoice  not  against  me,  0  mine  enemy  :  when  I  fall,  I 
shall  arise  ;  when  I  sit  in  darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto 
me.  I  will  bear  the  indignation  of  the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned 
against  him,  untilhe  plead  my  cause,  and  execute  judgment  for  me  . 
he -will  bring  me  forth  to  the  light,  and  I  shall  behold  his  righteous - 
nets.  Then  she  that  is  mine  enemy  shall  see  it,  and  shame  shall  cover 
her  which  said  unto  me.  Where  is  the  Lord  thy  God? 

This  is  encouraging  to  us  as  churches,  and  as  ministers.  We 
have,  in  many  cases,  to  walk  in  darkness,  and  have  no  light,  and  to 
goon  in  our  ministrations,  in  a  great  degree,  like  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
lamenting   that  so  few  have  believed  our  report,  50  few  to  whom 


32  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  f 

the  arm  of  the  Lord  has  been  revealed.  When  death  removes 
worthy  characters,  we  must  sometimes  live,  and  lament  lo  see  their 
places  unoccupied  by  others  of  the  like  character :  and,  what  is 
worse,  instead  of  increase  by  Christ's  conquests,  we  must  sometime's 
live  to  see  a  decrease  by  the  conquests  of  the  evil  one  !  Many  a 
faithful  minister  has  had  to  preach,  year  after  year,  till,  either  by 
public  scandals,  or  private  disgusts,  many  of  his  people  have  gone 
off,  and  walked  no  more  with  him.  But  let  him  then  remember  the 
testimony  of  God  :  Him  that  honovreth  me  I  will  honour.  Let  him 
go  on,  and  faithfully  discharge  his  duty,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
whether  they  will  forbear  :  let  him,  and  those  (hat  are  with  him, 
walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight.  It  often  proves,  that,  after  such  a 
night  of  weeping,  comes  a  morning  of  rejoicing.  Let  us  not  be  dis- 
couraged ;  better  breath  than  ours  has  been  spent  apparently  in 
vain.  Our  Lord  himself  seemed  to  labour  in  vain,  and  to  spend  his 
strength  for  nought ;  but  he  comforted  himself  in  this,  (herein  leav- 
ing us  an  example,)  Through  Israel  be  not  gathred,  yet  shall  I  bt 
glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  my  God  shall  be  my  strength. 
This  may  encourage  and  direct  us  in  larger  concerns;  concerns 
which  respect  the  whole  interest  of  Christ  in  the  world.  If  we 
coreparethe  present  state  of  things,  or  even  the  past,  with  the  glo- 
rious prophecies  of  the  word  of  God,  we  cannot  think,  surely,  that 
all  is  yet  accomplished.  By  these  prophecies,  the  Christian  church 
is  encouraged  to  look  for  great  things,  at  some  period  or  other  of  her 
existence.  She  is  taught  to  look  for  a  time  when  the  earth  shall  be 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea  ; 
when  a  nation  shall  be  born  at  once  ;  when  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ; 
and  he  shall  reign  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  But  surely,  for  the  present,  though  great  things, 
.upon  the  whole,  have  been  done  in  the  world,  yet  nothing  like  this 
has  ever  come  to  pass.  Instead  of  the  world  being  conquered, 
what  a  great  part  yet  continues  to  stand  out  against  him.  Hea 
thenism,  Mahometanism,  Popery,  and  Infidelity,  how  extensive 
still  their  influence  !  In  all  probability,  not  a  single  country,  city, 
town,  village,  or  congregation,  has  ever  yet  been  brought  wholly 
fo  submit  lo  Christ !     Nay,  is  it  not  very  rare  to  find,  in  any  one 


Sebmos  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  33 

of  these,  so  many  real  friends  as  to  make  even  a  majority  in  his  fa- 
vour ?  May  not  the  Christian  church  then,  for  the  present,  adopt 
that  language,  We  have  been  with  child,  we  have  as  it  were  brought 
forth  wind,  we  have  not  wrought  amj  deliverance  in  the  earth,  neither 
have  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  fallen?  What  then  ?  shall  we 
despair  ?  God  forbid  !  The  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time 
hut  at  the  end  it  shall  speak,  and  not  lie  :  though  it  tarry,  wait  for 
It, because  it  will  surely  come,  il  loill  not  tarry  ;  and,  meanwhile, 
the  just  shall  live  hy  faith. 

Let  us  take  encouragement,  in  the  present  day  of  small  things, 
by  looking  forward,  and  hoping  for  better  days.  Let  this  be  atten- 
ded with  earnest  and  united  prayer  to  him  by  whom  Jacob  must 
arise.  A  life  of  faith  will  ever  be  a  life  of  prayer,  O  brethren,  let 
us  pray  much  for  an  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  upon  our  ministers 
and  churches,  and  not  upon  those  only  of  our  own  connexion  and 
denomination,  but  upon  all  that  in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  theirs  and  ours  ! 

Our  hope  of  a  better  stale,  when  this  is  over,  is  built  on  faith  in 
God's  testimony.  We  have  no  sort  of  evidence,  but  this,  that  any 
such  state  exists.  We  cannot  see  any  thing  of  the  kind,  or  aught 
from  which  we  can  infer  it.  We  cannot  learn  it  from  any  of 
our  senses.  Reason  itself  could  never  have  found  it  out.  Rea- 
son might  have  taught  us  the  idea  oi  a  future  state,  but  not  of 
a  future  state  of  bliss.  Though  much  might  be  argued  from  the 
fitness  of  tbingp,  to  prove  that  man  is  not  made  barely  for  the 
present  life,  yet  nothing  could  be  drawn  from  thence  to  prove,  that 
reic/s  against  the  Supreme  Being  should  live  in  a  state  of  eternal 
felicity';  no,  for  this  we  are  wholly  indebted  to  the  word  of  prom- 
ise. Hence  faith  is  said  to  be  the  substance,  ground,  or  foun- 
dation o/"  ^Amgs  hoped  for.  Supported  by  that,  we  sustain  our 
heaviest  losses  ;  and  attracted  by  these,  we  come  up  out  of  great 
tribulations,  following  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth,  till  we 
shall  overcome,  and  sit  down  with  himin  his  throne,  as  he  also  hath 
overcome,  and  is  set  down  with  his  father  in  his  throne. 

IL  We  will  now  add  a  few  words  on  the  importance  of  such  a 
life.  If,  all  things  considered,  it  would  have  been  best  for  us  to 
have  always  seen  our  way  before   us,  to   have   been  guided,  «o  to 

Vol.  VII.  5 


34  ©^  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  I. 

speak,  with  our  own  eyes,  and  not  to  have  implicitly  followed  the 
directions  of  God,  no  doubt  so  it  would  have  been  ordered.  But 
he  who  perfectly,  and  at  once,  saw  the  beginning  and  end  of  all 
things,  judged  otherwise.  With  the  highest  wisdom,  no  doubt,  he 
(ormed  the  Teso\Mt\on,  the  just  shall  live  hy  faith.  It  may  be  im- 
possible for  us,  in  the  present  state,  to  find  out  all  the  reasons  for 
this  resolution  ;  but  two  or  three  seem  to  present  themselves  to  our 
view. 

1.  Such  a  life  brings  grea/  glory  to  God.  Confidence  is  univer- 
sally a  medium  of  honour.  To  confide  in  a  fellow-creature,  puts 
honour  upon  him  in  the  account  of  others,  and  affords  a  pleasure  to 
himself;  especially-  if  he  be  a  wise  and  upright  character,  as  it 
gives  him  an  opportunity  of  proving  his  wisdom  and  fidelity. 
Though  the  great  God  cannot  be  made  more  honorable  than  he  is,  by 
any  thing  that  we  can  do,  yet  his  honour  may,  by  this,  be  made 
more  apparent.  We  honour  him,  so  far  as  we  form  just  conceptions 
of  him  in  our  own  minds,  and  act  so  as  to  give  just  representations 
of  him  to  others.  God  is  graciously  pleased  to  declare,  that  he  takes 
pleasure  in  those  that  hope  in  hisinercy  ;  and  why  ?  surely,  among 
other  things,  because  it  gives  him  occasion  to  display  the  glory  of 
his  grace.  And,  as  he  takes  pleasure  in  those  that  hope  in  his 
mercy,  and  rely  upon  it ;  so  he  takes  pleasure  in  ordering  things  so 
that  we  may  be  put  to  the  trial,  whether  we  will  rely  on  him,  or  not. 
It  was  this  which  induced  him  to  lead  Israel  through  the  wilderness 
rather  than  by  the  ready  road  to  Canaan.  He  knew  they  would 
be  in  fact,  dependent  upon  him,  let  them  be  where  they  would  ; 
but  thev  would  not  be  sensible  of  that  dependence,  nor  have  so 
much  opportunity  of  entirely  trusting  him,  in  any  way  as  in  this  ; 
an(i  -o  it  would  not  be  so  much  for  the  glory  of  his  great  name.  He 
therefore  would  lead  a  nation,  with  all  their  little  ones,  into  an  in- 
hospitable desert,  where  was  scarcely  a  morsel  of  meat  to  eat,  and, 
in  many  places,  not  a  drop  of  water  to  drink  ;  a  land  of  deserts  and 
of  pits,  of  scorpions  and  fiery  flying  serpents  :  here,  if  any  where 
they  must  be  sensibly  dependant  on  God.  They  must  be  fed  and 
preserved  immediately  iVom  heaven  itself,  and  that  by  miracle,  or 
all  perish  in  a  few  days  !  Here  God  must  appear  to  be  what  he 
•^vas  :  here  mercy  and  truth  must  appear  to  go  with  them  indeed  ! 


Sermon  I.]  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  35 

What  an  opportunity  was  afforded  them  to  have  walked  these 
forty  years  by  faith ;  ivhai  grounds  for  an  entire  confidence:  but, 
alas,  their  faithless  hearts  perverted  their  way,  and,  in  the  end, 
proved  their  ruin  !  Ten  times  they  tempted  God  in  the  desert, 
till,  at  length,  he  sware,  concerning  that  generation,  that,  for  their 
unbelief,  they  should  die  in  the  wilderness,  and  never  enter  his 
rest.  Few,  if  any,  besides  Joshua  and  Caleb,  would  dare  to  trust 
him,  notwithstanding  all  his  wonders  and  all  his  mercies  !  Tht^yj 
however,  for  their  part,  took  hold  of  his  strength,  and  thought  them- 
selves able,  having  God  on  their  side,  to  encounter  any  thing  ! 
Their  spirit  was  to  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight  ;  and  herein  it 
is  easy  to  see  how  tliey  glorified  God. 

O  brethren  !  let  the  glory  of  God  lie  near  our  hearts  !  Let  it 
be  dearer  to  us  than  our  dearest  delights  !  Herein  consists  the 
criterion  of  true  love  to  him.  Let  us,  after  the  noble  exampl.'.  of 
Joshua  and  Caleb. /o/^tw  the  Lord  fully.  Let  us  approve  of  ^v.ry 
thing  that  tends  to  glorify  him.  Let  us  be  reconciled  to  iu.-^  c.oa- 
duct,  who  suffers  us  to  hunger,  that  we  may  know  that  man  Uvea  nol 
hy  bread  alone,  but  by  every  xeord  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth 
of  God.  If  he  should  bring  us  into  hard  and  difficult  situations; 
situations  to  an  eye  of  sense  impossible  to  be  endured,  let  us  re- 
meniber,  that  it  is  that  he  may  give  us  an  opportunity  of  glorifying 
him,  by  trusting  him  in  the  dark.  The  more  difficult  the  trial, 
the  more  glory  to  him  that  bears  us  through  ;  and  the  greater  op- 
portunity is  afforded  us,  for  proving  that  we  can  indeed  trust  him 
with  all  our  concerns  ;  that  we  can  trust  him,  when  we  cannot  see 
the  end  of  his  present  dispensations. 

Those  very  much  dishonour  God,  who  profess  to  trust  him  for 
another  world,  but,  in  the  common  difficulties  of  this,  are  perpet- 
ually murmuring,  peevish,  and  distrustful.  How  different  was  it 
with  Abraham,  in  offering  up  his  son  Isaac.  *  What,  offer  up 
Isaac  !  my  son,  my  only  son  of  promise  !  Why,  is  not  the  Messi- 
ah to  spring  out  of  his  loins  ?  What  are  to  become  of  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  who  are  to  be  blessed  in  him  V  How  natural 
and  excusable  might  such  questions  have  seemed  ;  much  more  so 
than  most  of  our  objections  to  the  divine  conduct.  Sense,  in  thid 
case,  had  it  been  consulted,  must  have  entered  a  thousand  protests. 


36  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermow  L 

But  the  father  of  the  faithful  consulted  not  with  flesh  and  blood, 
not  doubting  but  God  knew  what  he  was  about,  if  he  himself  did 
not.  (O  that  we  may  prove  ourselves  the  children  of  faithful 
Abraham  !)  Against  hope,  in  appearance,  he  believed  in  hope  of 
divine  all-sufficiency  ;  fully  persuaded,  that  what  God  had  prom^ 
isetl  he  was  able  to  perform,  he  stretched  forth  his  obedient 
arm  ;  nor  had  he  recalled  it,  had  not  heaven  interposed  :  he  was 
atrong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God. 

2.  It  is  productive  of  ^rea^  ^orwf^o  us.  The  glory  of  God,  and 
the  good  of  those  that  love  him,  (thanks  be  to  his  name  !)  always 
go  together.  It  is  equally  to  their  benefit  as  to  his  honour,  for  in- 
stance, to  lie  low  before  him,  and  to  feel  their  entire  dependence 
upon  him.  It  is  essential  to  the  real  happiness  of  an  intelligent 
creature,  to  be  in  its  proper  place,  and  to  take  a  complacency  in 
being  so.  But  nothing  tends  more  to  cultivate  these  dispositions 
I  ban  God's  determining,  that,  at  present,  we  should  walk  by  faith, 
and  not  by  sight,  faith,  in  the  whole  of  it,  tends  more  than  a  lit- 
tle to  abase  the  fallen  creature  ;  and  to  walk  by  faith,  (which  is  as 
much  as  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  blind,  and  must  see  with  the 
eyes  of  another,)  is  very  humbling.  The  objects  of  our  desire  be- 
ing, frequently,  for  a  time,  withheld,  and  we,  being  at  such  times, 
reduced  to  situations  wherein  vve  can  sec  no  help,  and  thus  obliged 
to  repose  our  trust  in  God,  contributes  more  than  a  little  to  make 
us  feel  our  dependence  upon  him.  Agur  saw  that  a  constant  full- 
ness of  this  world  was  unt'riendly  to  a  spirit  of  entire  dependence 
upon  God  ;  therefore  he  prayed,  Give  me  not  riches;  lest  I  be  full 
and  deny  thee.  Whatever  tends  to  humble  and  try  us,  tends  to  do 
us  good  in  the  latter  end. 

Great  and  wonderful  is  the  consolation  that  such  a  life  affords. 
In  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life  and  horrors  of  death,  nothing  can 
cheer  and  fortify  the  mind  like  this.  By  faith  in  an  unseen  world; 
we  can  endure  injuries  without  revenge,  afflictions  without  faint- 
in",  and  losses  without  despair.  Let  the  nations  of  the  earth  dash, 
like  potsherds,  one  against  another;  yea,  let  nature  herself  approach 
towards  her  final  dissolution  ;  let  her  groan,  as  being  ready  to  ex- 
pire, and  sink  into  her  primitive  nothing  ;  still  the  believer  lives  r 


aKBMoiv  I.]  ON  Vv'alking  by  faith.  37 

His  all  is  not  on  board  tIi:U  vesi^el !     His  chief  inheritance  lies   in 
another  soil  I 

'  His  hand  the  good  man  fastens  on  tlie  skies, 
AikJ  bids  enrtii  roll,  nor  feels  her  idle  whirl  !' 

3.  It  wiW  make  vision  the  sweeter.  It  affords  a  great  pleasure, 
when  we  make  a  venture  of  any  kind,  to  find  ourselves  at  last  not 
disappointed.  If  a  considerate  man  embark  his  all  on  board  a  ves- 
sel, and  himself  with  it,  he  may  have  a  thousand  fears,  before  he 
reaches  the  end  of  his  voyage  ;  yet  should  he,  after  numberless 
dangers,  safely  arrive,  and  find  it  not  only  answer,  but  far  exceed 
his  expectations,  his  joy  will  then  be  greater  than  if  he  had  run  no 
hazard  at  all.  What  he  has  gained  will  seem  much  sweeter  than 
if  it  had  fallen  to  him  in  a  way  that  had  cost  him  nothing.  Thus 
believers  venture  their  all  in  the  hands  of  Christ,  persuaded  that 
he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  they  have  committed  (o  him  against 
that  day.  To  find  at  last,  that  they  have  not  confided  in  him  in  vain; 
yea,  that  their  expectations  are  not  only  answered,  but  infinitely 
out-done,  will  surely  enhance  the  bliss  of  heaven.  The  remem- 
brance of  our  dangeis,  fears  and  sorrows,  will  enable  us  to  enjoy 
the  heavenly  state  with  a  degree  of  happiness  impossible  to  have 
l)een  felt,  if  those  dangers,  fears,  and  sorrows  had  never  existed. 

My  heaiers  !  We  all  of  us  live  either  by  faith  or  by  sight ;  ei- 
ther upon  things  heavenly  or  things  earthly.  If  on  the  former 
let  us  go  on,  upon  the  word  of  God  ;  everlasting  gloiy  is  before  us! 
But,  if  on  the  latter,  alas,  our  store  will  be  soon  exhausted!  All 
these  dear  delights  are  but  the  brood  of  time,  a  brood  that  will  soon 
take  to  themselves  wings  and,  with  her  that  cherished  them,  fly 
away.  Oh,  my  hearers  !  is  it  not  common  for  many  of  you  to  sup- 
pose that  those  who  live  by  faitti  in  the  enjoyments  of  a  world  to 
come,  live  upon  mere  imaginations  ?  But  are  ye  not  mistaken  ? 
It  is  your  enjoyments,  and  not  theirs,  that  are  imaginary.  PleaS' 
ures,  profits,  honours,  what  are  they  r  The  whole  form  only  a 
kind  of  ideal  world,  a  sort  of  j^plendid  show,  like  that  in  a  dream, 
which,  when  yoil  wake,  all  is  gone  !  At  most,  it  is  but  afashioti, 
and  a  fashion  that  passeth  away.  To  grasp  it,  is  to  grasp  a  shad- 
ow ;  and  to    feed  upon  it,  is  to  feed  upon   the    wind.     O  that  you 


38  ON  WALKING  BY  FAITH.  [Sermon  I. 

may  turn  away  your  eyes  from  beholding  these  vanities,  and  look 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  substantial  realities  beyond  the 
grave,  for  your  never-l'ailing  portion! 

But  if  not,  if  you  still  prefer  this  world,  with  its  enjoyments,  to 
(hose  which  are  heavenly,  how  just  will  it  be  for  the  Lord  Jesus  to 
say  to  you,  at  the  last  great  day,  '  Depart  f  Depart,  you  have  had 
yoHr  reward  !  you  have  had  your  choice  ;  what  would  you  have  ? 
You  never  chose  me  for  your  portion:  you,  in  effect,  said  of  me  and 
my  interest,  JFe  loill  have  no  part  in  David,  nor  inheritance  in  the 
son  of  Jesse ;  see  to  thyself,  David.^  Ah,  now,  see  to  thyself, 
sinner ! 

Christians,  ministers,  brethren,  all  of  us,  let  us  realize  the  sub- 
ject. Let  us  pray,  and  preach,  and  hear,  and  do  every  thing  we 
do,  with  eternity  in  view  !  Let  us  deal  much  with  Christ  and  in- 
vissible  realities.  Let  us,  whenever  called,  freely  deny  ourselves 
for  his  sake,  and  trust  him  to  make  up  the  loss.  Let  us  not  faint 
under  present  difficulties,  but  consider  them  as  opportunities  af- 
forded us  to  glorify  God.  Let  us  be  ashamed  that  we  derive  our 
happiness  so  much  from  things  below,  and  so  little  from  things 
above.  In  one  word,  let  us  fighl  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  lav 
hold  on  eternal  life  ? 


THE  QUALIFICATIONS  AND  ENCOURAGEMENT   OF  A 

FAITHFUL  xMINlSTER,  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE 

CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS  OF  BARNABAS. 


SERMON  II. 


[To  the  Rev.  Robert  Fawkner,  at  his  settlement  in  the  Pastoral  Office,  over 
the  Churoh  at  Thorn,  in  Bedfordshire,  Oct.  31,  1787 


Acts  xi.  24. 

He  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  faith  :  and  much 
people  was  added  to  the  Lord. 


My  dear  Brother, 

Iris  a  very  important  work  to  which  you  are  this  day  set  apart- 
I  feel  the  difficulty  of  your  situation.  You  need  both  counsel  and 
encouragement  ;  I  wish  I  were  better  able  to  administer  both. 
In  what  I  may  offer,  I  am  persuaded  you  will  allow  me  to  be 
free  ;  and  understand  me,  not  as  assuming  any  authority  or  supe- 
riority over  you,  but  only  as  saying  that  to  you  whicli  I  wish  to 
consider  as  equally  addressed  to  myself. 

Out  of  a  variety  of  topics  that  might  afford  a  lesson  for  a  Chris- 
tian  minister,  my  thoughts  have  turned,  on  this  occasion,  upon  that 


40  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS        [Sermos  II. 

of  example.  Example  has  a  great  influence  upon  the  human  mind: 
examples  from  scripture  especially,  wherein  characters  the  most 
illustrious  in  thpir  day,  for  gifts,  grace,  and  usefulness,  are  drawn 
with  the  pencil  of  inspiration,  have  an  assimilating  tendency. 
Viewing  these,  under  a  divine  blessing,  we  farm  some  just  con- 
ceptions of  the  nature  and  importance  of  our  work,  are  led  to  re- 
flect upon  our  own  defects,  and  feel  the  tire  of  holy  emulation 
kindling  in  our  bosoms. 

The  particular  example,  my  brother,  which  I  wish  to  recom- 
mend to  your  attention  is  that  of  Barnabas,  that  excellent  servant 
of  Christ,  and  companion  of  the  apostle  Paul.  You  will  find  his 
character  particularly  given  in  the  words  I  have  just  read. 

Were  we  to  examine  the  life  of  this  great  and  good  man,  as  rela- 
ted in  other  parts  of  scripture,  we  should  find  the  character  here 
given  him  abundantly  confirmed.  He  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
that  great  company,  vvho,  through  the  preaching  of  Peter  and  the 
other  apostles,  submitted  to  Christ  soon  after  his  ascension  :  and 
he  gave  early  proof  of  his  love  to  him,  by  selling  his  possessions, 
and  laying  the  price  at  the  feet  of  the  apostles,  for  the  support  of 
his  infant  cause.  As  he  loved  Christ,  so  he  loved  bis  people. 
He  appears  to  have  possessed  much  of  the  tender  and  affectionate, 
on  account  of  which  he  was  called  Barnabas — a  son  of  consolation. 
Assiduous  in  discovering  and  encouraging  the  first  dawnings  of  God's 
work,  he  uas  the  first  person  that  introduced  Saul  into  the  company 
of  the  disciples.  The  next  news  that  we  hear  of  him  is  in  the  pas- 
sage which  I  have  selected.  Tidings  came  to  the  ears  of  (he  church 
at  Jerusalem,  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  being  prosperous  at  Antioch, 
in  Syria.  The  church  at  Jerusalem  was  the  mother  church,  and 
felt  a  concern  for  others,  like  that  of  a  tender  mother  towards  her 
infant  offspring.  The  young  converts  at  Antioch  wanted  a  nurs- 
ing father  ;  and  who  so  proper  to  be  sent  as  Barnabas  ?  He 
goes;  and,  far  from  envying  the  success  of  others,  who  had  laboured 
before  him,  he  was  glad  to  see  the  grace  of  God  so  evidently  ap- 
appear  ;  and  exhorted  them  all,  that  loith  purpose  of  heart  they 
would  cleave  unto  the  Lord.  As  a  preacher,  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  equal  to  the  apostle  Paul  ;  yet  so  far  was  he  from  car- 
ing about  being  eclipsed  by  Paul's  superior  abilities,  that  he  went 


Sermon  II.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER.  41 

in  search  of  him,  and  brought  him  to  Antioch,  to  assist  him  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  It  may  well  be  said  of  such  a  character,  that 
he  was  a  good  mariy  and  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  faith.  O 
that  we  had  more  such  ministers  in  the  Church  at  this  day?  O  that 
we  ourselves  were  like  him  !  Might  we  not  hope,  if  that  were 
the  case,  that,  according  to  God's  usual  manner  of  working,  more 
people  would  be  added  to  the  Lord  ? 

There  are  three  things,  we  see,  which  are  said  of  Barnabas  in 
a  way  of  commendation  :  he  was  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  of  faith.  Thus  far  he  is  held  up  for  our  example  :  a 
fourth  is  added,  concerning  the  effects  which  followed  :  and  muck 
people  was  added  unto  the  Lord.  This  seems  to  be  held  up  for 
our  encouragement.  Permit  me,  my  dear  brother,  to  request 
your  candid  attention,  while  I  attempt  to  review  these  great  quali- 
ties in  Barnabas,  and  by  every  motive  to  enforce  them  upon  you 

I.  He  was  a  good  man.  It  were  easy  to  prove  the  necessity  of. 
a  person  being  a  good  man,  in  order  to  his  properly  engaging  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry  :  Christ  would  not  commit  his  sheep  but 
to  one  that  loved  him.  But  on  this  remark  I  shall  not  enlarge,  I 
have  no  reason  to  doubt,  my  brother,  but  that  God  has  given  you 
an  understanding  to  know  him  that  is  true,  and  a  heart  to  love  him 
in  sincerity  ;  I  trust,  therefore,  such  an  attempt,  on  this  occasion, 
is  needless.  Nor  does  it  appear,  to  me,  to  be  the  meaning  of  the 
Evangelist.  It  is  not  barely  meant  of  Barnabas  that  he  was  a  re- 
generate man,  though  that  is  implied  ;  but  it  denotes  that  he  was 
eminently  good.  We  use  the  word  so,  in  common  conversation. 
If  we  would  describe  one  that  more  than  ordinarily  shines  in  pie- 
ty, meekness,  and  kindnesi  we  know  not  how  to  speak  of  him  bet- 
ter than  to  say,  with  a  degree  of  emphasis.  He  is  a  good  man.  Af- 
ter this  eminency  in  goodness,  brother,  may  it  be  your  concern, 
and  mine,  daily  to  aspire  ! 

Perhaps,  indeed,  we  may  have  sometimes  heard  this  epithet 
used  with  a  sneer.  Persons  who  take  pleasure  in  treating  others 
with  contempt,  will  frequently,  with  a  kind  of  proud  pity,  speak  in 
this  manner  :  Aye,  such  a  one  is  a  good  man  ;  leaving  it  implied, 
that  goodness  is  but  an  indifferent  qualification,  unless  it  be  accom- 
panied with  greatness.     But  these  things  ought  not  to  be.     The 

Vol.  VII.  6 


42  THE  CHARACIER  AND  SUCCESS  [Sermon  II. 

apostle  Paul  did  not  value  himself  upon  those  things  wherein  he 
differeil  from  other  Christians  ;  but  upon  that  which  he  possessed 
in  common  with  them — charity,  or  Christian  love.  Though  I 
speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not  charity, 
1  am  become  as  soundivg  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  thof/gh 
I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all 
knowledge ;  and  though  I  have  all  Jaith,  so  that  I  could  remove 
mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing. 

My  dear  brother,  value  the  character  of  a  good  man  in  all  the 
parts  of  your  employment ;  and,  above  all,  in  those  things  which  the 
world  counts  great  arid  estimable.     More  particularly, 

1.  Value  it  at  home  in  your  family.  If  yoti  walk  not  closely 
with  God  there,  you  will  be  ill  able  to  work  for  him  elsewhere. 
You  have  lately  become  the  head  of  a  family.  Whatever  charge 
it  shall  please  God,  in  the  course  of  your  life,  to  place  under  your 
care,  I  trust  it  will  be  your  concern  to  recommend  Christ  and  the 
gospel  to  them,  walk  circumspectly  before  them,  constantly  wor- 
ship God  with  them,  offer  up  secret  prayer  for  them,  and  exercise 
a  proper  authority  over  them.  There  is  a  sort  of  religious  gos- 
sipping,  which  some  ministers  have  indulged  to  their  hurt ;  loiter- 
ing about  perpetully  at  the  houses  of  their  friends,  and  taking  no 
delight  in  their  own.  Such  conduct,  in  a  minister  and  master  of  a 
family,  must,  of  necessity,  root  out  all  family  order,  and,  to  a  great 
degree,  family  worship  ;  and,  instead  of  endearing  him  to  his 
friends,  it  only  exposes  him  to  their  just  censure.  Perhaps  they 
know  not  how  to  be  so  plain  as  to  tell  him  of  it  at  their  own 
houses  ;  but  they  will  think  the  more,  and  speak  of  it,  it  is  likely, 
to  each  other,  when  he  is  gone.  I  trust,  my  brother,  that  none  of 
your  domestic  connexions  will  have  to  say,  when  you  are  gone.  He 
was  loose  and  careless  in  his  conduct,  or  sour  and  churlish  in  his 
temper  :  but  rather.  He  was  a  good  man. 

1.  Value  this  character  in  your  private  retirements.  Give 
yourself  up  to  the  word  of  God,  and  to  prayer.  The  Apostle 
charged  Timothy,  saying,  Meditate  on  these  things,  give  thyself 
wholly  to  them;  or,  be  thou  in  them.  But  this  will  never  be,  with 
out  a  considerable  share  of  the  good  man.  Your  heart  can  never 
be  in  those  things  which  are  foreign  to  its  prevailing  temper:  anH 


Sermon  Il.J  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER.  4^ 

if  your  heart  is  not  in  your  work,  it  will  be  a  poor  lifeless  business 
indeed.     We  need  not  fear  exhausting  the  Bible,  or  dread  a  scar- 
city of  divine  subjects.     If  our  hearts  are  but  kept  in  unison  with 
the  spirit  in  which  the  Bible    was  written,  every  thing   we  meet 
with  there  will  be  interesting.     The  more  we  read  the  more  in- 
teresting it  will  appear ;  and  the  more  we  know,  the  more  we 
shall  perceive  their  is  to  be  known.     Beware   also,  brother,   of 
neglecting  secret  prayer.     The  fire  of  devotion  will  go  out,   if 
it  be  not  kept  alive  by  an  habitual  dealing  with  Christ.     Convers- 
ing with  men  and  things  may  brighten  our  gifts  and   parts  ;  but  it 
is  conversing  with  God  that  must  brighten  our  graces.     What- 
ever ardour  we   may  feel  in  our  public  work,  if  this  is   wanting, 
things  cannot  be  riglit,  nor   can   they,  in  such  a  train,  come  to  a 
good  issue. 

3.  Value  it  in  your  public  exercises.     It  is  hard  going  on,  in  the 
work  of  the   ministry,  without  a  good  degree  of  spirituality  ;  and 
yet,  considering  the  present  state  of  human  nature,  we  are  in  the 
greatest  danger  of  the  contrary.     Allow  me,  brother,  to   mention 
two  things  in  particular,   each  of  which  are   directly  opposite  to 
that  spirit  which  I  am  attempting  to  recommend.     One  is,  an  as- 
sumed earnestness,  or  forced  zeal,  in  the  pulpit,  which  many  weak 
hearers  may  mistake  for  the  enjoyment  of  God.     But,  though  we 
may  put  on  violent  emotions  ;  may  smite  with  the  hand,  and  stamp 
with  the  foot ;  if  we  are  destitute  of  a  genuine  feeling  sense  of 
what  we  deliver,  it  will  be  discerned  by  judicious  hearers,  as  well 
as  by  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  and  will  not  fail  to  create  disgust. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  we  feel  and  realize  the  sentiments  we  deliver, 
emotions  and  actions  will  be  the  natural  expressions  of  the  heart ; 
and  this  will  give  weight  to  the  doctrines,  exhortations,  or  reproofs 
which  we  inculcate  :  what  we  say  will  come  with  a  kind  of  divine 
authority  to  the  consciences,  if  not  to  the  hearts  of  the  hearers. 
The  other  is,  being  under  the  influence  of  low  and  selfsh  motives, 
in  the  exercise  of  our  work.     This  is  a  temptation  against  which 
we  have  especial  reason  to  watch  and  pray.     It  is  right,  my  broth- 
er,  for  you  to  be  diligent  in   your  pHblic  work ;    to   be  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season  ;  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  only  at  Thorn, 
but  in  the  surrounding  villages,  wherever  a  door  is  opened  for 


44  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS        [Sermon  If. 

you  :  but,  while  you  are  thus  engaged,  let  it  not  be  from  motives  of 
policy,  merely  to  increase  your  auditory  ;  but  from  love  to  Christ 
and  the  souls  of  your  fellow  sinners.  It  is  this  only  that  will  en- 
dure reflection  in  a  dying  hour.  The  Apostle  Paul  was  charged, 
by  some  of  the  Corinthian  teachers,  with  being  crafty,  and  with 
having  caught  the  Corinthians  loifh  guile :  but  he  could  say,  in  re- 
ply to  all  such  insinuations,  in  behalf  of  himself  vind  his  fellovv- 
la!>ourers.  Our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony/  of  our  conscience} 
that  in  simplicity/  and  godly  sincerity,  not  with  jleshly  wisdom,  but 
by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world. 

4  Value  it  in  the  general  tenor  of  your  behaviour.  Cultivate 
a  meek,  modest,  peaceful,  and  friendly  temper.  Be  generous  and 
humane.  Prove,  by  your  spirit  and  conduct,  that  you  are  a  lover 
of  all  mankind.  To  men  in  general,  but  especially  to  the  poor 
and  the  afflicted,  be  pitiful,  be  courteous.  It  is  this,  my  brother, 
that  will  recommend  the  gospel  you  proclaim.  Without  this, 
could  you  preach  with  the  eloquence  of  an  angel,  you  may  expect 
that  no  good  end  will  be  answered. 

5.  Prize  the  character  of  the  good  man,  above  worldly  greatness. 
It  is  not  sinful  for  a  minister,  any  more  than  another  man,  to 
possess  property  ;  but  to  aspire  after  it  is  unworthy  of  his  sacred 
character.  Greatness,  unaccompanied  with  goodness,  is  valued  as 
nothing  by  the  great  God.  Kings  and  emperors,  where  that  is 
wanting,  are  but  great  beasts,  horned  beasts,  pushing  one  at  another. 
When  Sennncherib  vaunted  against  the  church  of  God.  that  he 
would  enter  the  forest  of  her  Carmel,  and  cut  down  her  tall  ce- 
dars, the  daughter  of  Zion  is  commanded  to  despise  him.  God 
speaks  of  him  as  we  should  speak  of  a  buffalo,  or  even  of  an  ass, 
/  r«'t7/  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will 
turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  earnest.  Outward  great- 
ness, when  accompanied  with  goodness,  may  be  a  great  blessing  ; 
yet,  even  then,  it  is  the  latter,  and  not  the  former,  that  denomi- 
nates the  rrue  worth  of  a  character.     Once  more, 

6.  Value  M  above  mental  greatness,  or  greatness  in  gifts  and 
parts.  It  is  not  wrong  to  cultivate  gifts  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  our 
duty  so  to  do.  But,  desirable  as  these  are,  they  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  goodness.     Covet  earnestly  the  best  giftSf  says  the 


Sebmow  11.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER.  45 

Apostle,    AND    YET    SHOW    I    UNTO    YOU    A    MORE    EXCELLENT  WAY    ; 

Tiz.  charity,  or  love.  If  we  improve  in  gifts,  and  not  in  grace,  to 
say  the  least,  it  will  be  useless,  and,  perhaps,  dangerous,  both  to 
ourselves  and  others.  To  improve  in  gifts,  that  we  may  be  the 
better  able  to  discharge  our  work,  is  laudable  ;  but  if  it  be  for  the 
sake  of  popular  applause,  we  may  expect  a  blast.  Hundreds  of 
ministers  have  been  ruined  by  indulging  a  thirst  for  the  charater 
of  the  great  man,  while  they  have  neglected  the  far  superior  char- 
acters of  the  good  man. 

Another  part  of  the  character  of  Barnabas  was,  that 
II.  He  was  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  some' 
times  denotes  his  extraordinary  gifts,  as  in  Acts  xix.  where  the 
apostle  Paul  put  the  question  to  some  believers  in  Christ,  wheth- 
er thev  had  received  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  here  it  signifies  his  in- 
(''»'eiling  and  ordinary  operations,  or  what  is  elsewhere  called  an 
unction  from  the  Holy  One.  This,  though  more  common  than  the 
other,  is  far  more  excellent.  Its  fruits,  though  less  brilliant,  are 
abundantly  the  most  valuable.  To  be  able  to  surmount  a  difficulty 
by  Christian  patience,  is  a  greater  thing,  in  the  sight  of  God,  than 
to  remove  a  mountain.  Every  work  of  God  bears  some  mark  of 
godhead,  even  a  thistle  or  a  nettle  ;  but  there  are  some  of  his 
works  which  bear  a  peculiar  likeness  to  his  holy  moral  character: 
such  were  the  minds  of  men  and  angels  in  their  original  state. 
This  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  subject  in  hand.  The  extraor- 
dinary gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  a  communication  of  his  power  \ 
but  in  his  dwelling  in  the  saints,  and  the  ordinary  operations  of  his 
grace,  he  communicates  his  own  holy  nature ;  and  this  it  was  of 
which  Barnabas  was  full.  To  be  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  to  be 
full  of  the  dove,  as  I  may  say  ;  or  full  of  those  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
mentioned  by  the  Apostle  to  the  Galatians;  namely,  love,  joy^ 
peace,  long-suffei'ings,  gentleness,  goodness. 

To  be  sure,  the  term  full  is  not  here  to  be  understood  in  an  un- 
limited sense;  not  in  so  ample  a  sense  as  when  it  is  applied  to 
Christ.  He  was  filled  with  the  spirit  without  measure,  but  we  iei 
measure.  The  word  is  doubtless  to  be  understood  in  a  compar- 
ative sense,  and  denotes  as  much  as  that  he  was  habitually  under 
his  holy  influence.     A  person  that  is  greatly  under  the   influence 


46  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS  [Sermon  II. 

of  the  love  of  this  world,  is  said  to  be  drunken  with  its  cares,  or 
pleasures.  In  allusion  to  something  like  this,  the  Apostle  exhorts 
that  we  be  not  drunken  with  wine,  icherein  is  excess  ;  but  filled 
with  the  Spirit.  Tiie  word  filled,  here,  is  very  expressive  ;  it 
denotes,  I  apprehend,  being  overcome,  as  it  were,  with  the  holy 
influences  and  fruits  of  the  blessed  Spirit.  How  necessary  is  all 
this,  my  brother  in  your  work  !  O  how  necessary  is  an  unction 
from  the  Holy  One  ! 

I.  It  is  this  that  will  enable  you  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel  and  preserve  you  from  destructive  errors  concerning  it. 
Those  who  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  are  said  to  k?iotv 
all  things ;  and  the  anointing  which  they  have  received  abideth  in 
them,  and  they  need  not  that  any  man  teach  them  :  but,  as  the  same, 
anointing  teacheth  them  all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie.  We 
shall  naturally  fall  in  with  the  dictates  of  that  spirit  of  which  we 
are  full.  It  is  for  want  of  this  in  a  great  measure,  that  the 
scriptures  appear  strange,  and  foreign,  and  difticult  to  be  under- 
stood. He  that  is  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  the  contents  of  the 
Bible  written,  as  I  may  say  upon  his  heart ;  and  thus  its  sacred 
pages  are  easy  to  be  understood,  as  wisdom  is  easy  to  him  that  un- 
derstandeth. 

It  is  no  breach  of  charity  to  say,  that,  if  the  professor?  of  Chris- 
tianity had  more  of  the  spirit  of  God  in  their  hearts,  there  would 
be  a  greater  harmony  among  them  respecting  the  great  truths 
which  he  has  revealed.  The  rejection  of  such  doctrines  as  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  total  depravity  of  mankind,  the 
proper  deity  and  atonement  of  Christ,  justitication  by  faith  in  his 
name,  the  freeness  and  sovereignty  of  grace,  and  the  agency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  may  ea^iily  be  accounted  for,  upon  this  principle. 
If  we  are  destitute  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  are  blind  to  the  love- 
liness of  the  divine  character,  and  destitute  of  any  true  love  to 
God  in  our  hearts  ;  and,  if  destitute  of  ttiis,  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
see  the  reasonableness  of  that  law  which  requires  love  to  him 
with  all  the  heart ;  and  then,  of  course,  we  shall  think  lightly  of 
the  nature  of  those  offences  committed  against  him  ;  we  shall  be 
naturally  disposed  to  palliate  and  excuse  our  want  of  love  to  him, 
yea,  and  even  our  positive  violations  of  his  law  ;  it  will  seem  hard^ 


Sermon  II.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER,  4- 

very  hard  indeed,  for  such  little  things  as  these  to  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction.  And  now,  all  this  admitted,  we  shall 
naturally  be  blind  to  the  necessity  and  glory  of  salvation  by  Jesus 
Christ,  If  sin  is  so  trifling  an  affair,  it  will  seem  a  strange  and  in- 
credible thing  that  God  should  become  incarnate  to  atone  for  it: 
and,  hence,  we  shall  be  very  easily  persuaded  to  consider  Christ 
as  only  a  good  man,  who  came  into  the  world  to  set  us  a  good  ex- 
ample ;  or,  however,  that  he  is  not  equal  with  the  Father.  The 
freeness  and  sovereignty  of  grace  also,  together  with  justification 
by  imputed  righteousness,  will  be  a  very  strange  sound  in  our 
ears.  Like  the  Jews,  we  shall  go  about  to  establish  our  oivn 
righteousness,  and  shall  not  submit  to  the  righteousness  of  God. 
It  will  seem  equally  strange  and  incredible,  to  be  told,  that  we  are 
by  nature,  utterly  unfit  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  therefore, 
we  must  be  born  again  ;  that  we  are  so  bad,  that  we  cannot  even 
come  to  Christ  for  life,  except  the  Father  draw  us;  yea,  and  that 
our  best  doings,  after  all,  are  unworthy  of  God's  notice.  It  will 
be  no  wonder,  if,  instead  of  receiving  these  unwelcome  and  hu- 
miliating doctrines,  we  should  coincide  with  those  writers  and 
preachers  who  think  more  favourably  of  our  condition,  and  the 
condition  of  the  world  at  large  ;  who  either  deny  eternal  punish- 
ment to  exist,  or  represent  men  in  general  as  being  in  little  or  no 
danger  of  it.  And,  having  avowed  these  sentiments,  it  will  then 
become  necessary  to  compliment  their  abettors,  (including  our- 
selves in  the  number,)  as  persons  of  a  more  rational  and  liber&l 
way  of  thinking  than  other  people. 

My  dear  brother,  of  all  things,  be  this  your  prayer.  Take  not 
thy  holy  Spirit  fromme  !  If  once  we  sink  into  such  a  way  of  per- 
forming our  public  work,  as  not  to  depend  on  his  enlightening  and 
enlivening  influences,  we  may  go  on,  and  probably  shall  go  on. 
from  one  degree  of  evil  to  another.  Knowing  how  to  account  for 
the  operations  of  our  own  minds,  without  imputing  them  to  a  di- 
vine agency,  we  shall  be  inclined,  in  this  manner,  to  account  for 
the  operations  in  the  minds  of  others  ;  and  so  with  numbers  in  the 
present  age,  may  soon  call  in  question  even  whether  there  be  any 
Holy  Spirit. 

2.  Being  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  give  o  holy  tincture  to  your 
meditation  and preachinq-.     There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  mind  her 


48  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS  [Skrmow  H 

ing  habitually  under  the  influence  of  divine  things,  and  retaining 
so  much  of  a  savour  of  Christ,  as  that  divine  truths  shall  be  view- 
ed and  expressed,  as  I  may  say,  in  their  own  language.  Spirit- 
ual things  will  be  spiritually  discerned  ;  and  if  spiritually  discerned 
will  be  spiritually  communicated.  There  is  more  in  our  manner 
of  thinking  and  speaking  upon  divine  truth,  than,  perhaps,  at  first 
sight,  we  are  aware  of.  A  great  part  of  the  phraseology  of  scrip- 
ture is,  by  some,  accounted  unfit  to  be  addressed  to  a  modern  ear  ; 
and  is,  on  this  account,  to  a  great  degree  laid  aside,  even  by  those 
who  profess  to  be  satisfied  with  the  sentiments.  Whatever  may 
be  said  in  defence  of  this  practice,  in  a  very  few  instances,  such  as 
those  where  words  in  a  translation  are  become  absolete,  or  convey 
a  different  idea  from  what  they  did  at  the  time  of  being  translated  ; 
I  am  satisfied,  the  practice,  in  general,  is  very  pernicious.  There 
are  many  sermons  that  cannot  fairly  be  charged  with  untruth, 
which  yet  have  a  tendency  to  lead  off  the  mind  from  the  simplicity 
of  the  gospel.  If  such  scripture  terms,  for  instance,  as  holiness, 
godliness,  grace,  believers,  saints,  communion  with  God,  &c.  should 
be  thrown  aside,  as  savouring  too  much  of  cant  and  enthusiasm  ; 
and  such  terms  as  moralitrj,  virtue,  religion,  good  men,  happiness 
of  mind,  8zr,.  substituted  in  their  room,  it  will  have  an  amazing  ef- 
fect upon  the  hearers.  If  such  preaching  is  the  gospel,  it  is  the 
gospel  heathenized,  and  will  tend  to  heathenize  the  minds  of  those 
who  deal  in  it.  I  do  not  mean  to  object  to  the  use  of  these  latter 
terms,  in  their  place  ;  they  are  some  of  them  scriptural  terms  : 
what  I  object  to  is,  putting  them  in  the  place  of  others,  when  dis- 
coursing upon  evangelical  subjects.  To  be  sure,  there  is  a  way 
of  handling  divine  subjects  after  this  sort,  that  is  very  clever,  and 
very  ingenious  ;  and  a  minister  of  such  a  stamp  may  commend 
himself  by  his  ingenuity,  to  many  hearers  :  but,  after  all,  God's 
truths  are  never  so  acceptable  and  savoury  to  a  gracious  heart,  as 
when  clothed  in  their  own  native  phraseology.  The  more  you 
are  filled,  cry  brother  with  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  the 
gi  eater,  relish  you  will  possess  for  that  savoury  manner  of  con- 
veying truth,  which  is  so  plentifully  exemplified  in  the  holy  scrip- 
tures.    Farther. 

3.    It   is  this  that  will  make  the  doctrines  you  preach,  and  the 
siuties  you  inculcate,  seem  Jitted  in  your  lips.     I  allude  to  a  say- 


Sehmow  II.]  OF  A  FAlTflFUL  MINISTER,  49 

ing  of  the  wise  man  ;  The  words  of  the  wise  are  pleasant,  if  thou 
keep  them  within  thee  ;  they  shall  withal  befitted  in  thy  lips.  It  is 
expected,  that  there  should  be  an  agreement  between  the  charac- 
ter of  the  speaker  and  the  things  which  are  spoken.  Excellent 
speech  becometh  not  a  fool,  Exhortations  to  holiness  come  with  an 
ill  grace  from  the  lips  of  one  who  indulges  himself  in  iniquity. 
The  opposite  of  this  is  what  I  mean  by  the  doctrines  and  duties  of 
religion  being  fitted  in  your  lips.  It  is  this  that  will  make  your  face 
shine,  when  you  come  forth  in  your  public  labours,  like  the  face 
of  Moses,  when  he  had  been  conversing  with  God  in  the  holy 
mount. 

4.  It  is  this  that  will  give  a  spiritual  savour  to  your  conversa- 
tion, in  your  visits  to  your  friends.  Though  religious  visits  may 
be  abused  ;  yet  you  know  brother,  the  necessity  there  is  for  them, 
if  you  would  ascertain  the  spiritual  condition  of  those  to  whom 
you  preach.  There  are  many  faults  also,  that  you  may  discover 
in  individuals,  which  it  would  be  unhandsome,  as  well  as  unfriend- 
ly, to  expose  in  a  pointed  manner,  in  the  pulpit,  which,  neverthe- 
less, ought  not  to  be  passed  by  unnoticed.  Here  is  work  for  your 
private  visits  ;  and,  in  proportion  as  you  are  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  you  will  possess  a  spirit  of  love  and  faithfulness,  which  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  successful  reproof.  It  is  in  our  private 
visits  also,  that  we  can  be  free  v^ith  our  people  and  they  with 
us.  Questions  may  be  asked  and  answered,  difficokies  solved,  and 
the  concerns  of  the  soul  discussed.  Paul  taught  the  Ephesians, 
not  only  publicly,  hut  froju  house  to  house.  Now,  it  is  being  full 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  will  give  a  spiritual  savour  to  all  this  con- 
versation. It  will  be  as  the  holy  anointing  oil  on  Aaron's  garments, 
which  diffused  a  savour  to  all  around  him. 

6.  This  also  will  teach  you  how  you  ought  to  behave  yourself  in 
every  department  you  are  called  to  occupy.  It  will  serve  instead  of 
ten  thousand  rules  ;  and  all  rules  without  it  will  be  of  no  account. 
This  it  is  that  will  teach  you  to  be  of  a  meek,  mild,  peaceful,  hum- 
ble spirit.  It  will  make  such  a  spirit  be  natural  to  you.  As  touch- 
ing brotherly  love,  said  the  Apostle  to  the  Thessalonians.  ye  need 
not  t/iut  I  write  unto  yon,  for  ye  yourselves  are  taught  of  God  to  love 
rme  another. 

Vol.  VII.  7 


50  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS  [Sermon  II. 

6.  In  short,  It  is  this  that  will  denominate  you  the  man  of  God. 
Such  was  Barnabas,  and  such,  my  brother,  was  your  predecessor 
whose  memory  is  dear  to  many  of  us  ;*  and  such, according  to  all 
that  I  have  heard,  was  his  predecessor,  whose  memory  is  equally 
dear  to  many  here  present.!  Each,  in  his  day,  was  a  burning  and 
shining  light ;  but  they  shine  here  no  more.  May  you,  my  broth- 
er, and  each  of  us,  be  followers  of  them,  as  they  also  were  of 
Christ ! 

Another  part  of  the  character  of  Barnabas  is, 

III.  He  was  Fu  l  of  faith.  It  may  be  difficult  to  ascertain, 
with  precision,  the  real  meaning  and  extent  of  this  term  ;  but,  1 
should  think,  in  this  connexion,  it  includes,  at  least,  the  three  fol- 
lowing ideas  :  having  the  mind  occupied  with  divine  sentiment  j 
being  rooted  and  grotinded  in  the  truth  of  the  gospel  ;  and  daily 
living  upon  it.  The  first  of  these  ideas  distinguished  him  from 
those  characters  whose  minds  are  void  of  principle ;  the  next, 
from  such  as  are  always  hovering  upon  the  borders  of  scepticism  • 
and  the  last,  from  those  who,  though  they  have  no  manner  of 
doubts  about  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  yet  scarcely 
ever,  if  at  all,  feel  their  vital  influence  upon  their  hearts  and  lives. 
Let  us  review  each  of  these  a  little  more  particularly. 

1.  His  mind  was  well  occupied,  or  stored.,  with  divine  sentiment. 
How  necessary  is  this  to  a  gospel  minister !  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
many  young  men  have  rushed  into  the  work  of  the  Lord  without  any 
decided  principles  of  their  own  ;  yea,  and  have  not  only  begun  in 
such  a  state  of  mind,  but  have  continued  so  all  through  their  lives. 
Alas  !  what  can  the  churches  expect  from  such  characters  ?  What 
can  such  a  void  produce  ?  How  can  we  feed  others  with  knowl- 
edge and  understanding,  if  we  ourselves  are  destitute  of  them  ?  To 
say  the  least,  such  ministers  will  be  but  unprofitable  servants. 
But  this  is  not  all ;  a  minister  that  is  not  inured  to  think  for  him- 

*  The  Rev.  David  Evans,  who  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Church  at  Thorn, 
August   7,  1782,  and  died  February  21,  1787.  aged  31. 

t  The  Rev.  William  Butfi(-ld,  who  wa-- orJained  pastor  of  the  Church  at 
Thorn,  February  15,  1755,  and  died  iMarch23,  1778,  of  thesmull  pox.  aged  30. 


Sermon  II.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER..  5I 

self,  is  constantly  exposed  to  every  false  sentiment,  or  system,  that 
happens  to  be  {)resented  to  him.  We  sometimes  hear  of  a  person 
changing  his  sentiments ;  and,  doubtless,  in  many  case-!,  it  is  jus 
and  right  he  should  change  them  ;  but  there  are  cases  in  which 
that  mode  of  speaking  is  very  improper ;  for,  in  reality  some 
persons  have  no  sentiments  of  their  own  to  change  ;  they  have 
only  changed  the  sentiments  of  some  one  great  man  for  those  of 
another. 

2.  He  had  a  Jinn  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  that  gospel  zvhich  he 
preached  to  others.  He  was  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  gospel. 
The  great  controversy  of  that  day  was,  whether  the  gospel  was 
true  ;  whether  Jesns  was  the  Messiah  ;  whether  he,  who  so  late- 
ly exi)ired  on  the  cross,  was  the  Son  of  God ;  and  whether  his 
death  was  the  way  to  obtain  eternal  life.  There  were  great  temp- 
tations tor  a  person,  who  should  view  things  through  a  medium  of 
sense,  to  think  otherwise.  TJie  popular  opinion  went  against  it. 
To  the  Jews  it  was  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolish- 
ness. Those  who  adhered  to  the  gospel,  thereby  exposed  them- 
selves to  cruel  persecutions.  But  Barnabas  was  full  of  faith  ;  he 
was  decidedly  on  the  Lord's  side  ;  he  believed  on  the  Son  of  God, 
and  had  the  zcitness  of  the  truth  of  his  gospel  within  himself. 

Preaching  the  gospel  is  bearing  a  testimony  for  God  ;  but  we 
shall  never  be  able  to  do  this  to  any  good  purpose,  if  we  be  always 
hesitating  and  indulging  a  sceptical  disposition.  There  is  no  need 
of  a  dogmatical,  over-bearing  temper  :  but  there  is  need  of  being 
rooted  and  grounded  in  the  truths  of  God.  Be  not  carried  about 
said  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews,  with  strange  doctrines :  it  is  a 
good  thing  that  the  heart  he  established  with  grace.  But  he  else- 
where condemns  the  character  of  those  who  are  ever  learning,  and 
never  able  to  come  to  the  knozaledge  of  the  truth.  , 

3.  That  gospel  which   he  preached  to  others  he  himself  lived 
upon.    The  word  preached,  we  are  told,  did  not  profit  some,  because  ^ 
it  iffas  not  mixed  zcith  faith  in  (hem  that  heard  it.     This  will  equal- 
ly hold  good  in  the  case  of  the  preacher,  as  of  the  hearer.     If  we 
mix  not  f lith  with  the  doctrine  we  deliver,   it  will   not  profit  us.   * 
Whatever  abilities  we  may  possess,  and  of  whatever  use  we  may   ^ 
be  made  to  others,  unless  we  can  say,  in  some  sort  with  the  apos-    ^ 


32  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS.  [Sermodt  II. 

tie  John,  That  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  and  looked  upon, 
and  our  hands  hnvt  handled  of  the  word  of  life,— that  declare  we 
unto  ijou,  our  own  souls  may,  notwithstanding,  everlastingly  per- 
ish !  This  is  a  very  serious  matter  ;  and  well  deserves  our  at- 
tention, as  ministers.  Professors,  in  the  age  of  Barnabas,  might 
be  under  greater  temptations  than  we  are,  to  question  whether 
Jesus  was  the  true  Messiah  ;  but  we  are  under  greater  temp- 
tations than  they  were,  of  resting  a  mere  implicit  assent  to  the 
Christian   religion  without  realizing  and  living  upon   its  important 

truths. 

The  studying  of  divine  truth  as  preachers  rather  than  as  Christ- 
ians; or,  in  other  words  studying  it  for  the  sake  of  finding  out 
something  to  say  to  others,  without  so  much  as  thinking  of  profit- 
ing our  own  souls,  is  a  temptation  to  which  we  are  more  than  ordi- 
narily exposed.  If  we  studied  divine  truths  as  'Christians,  our 
being  constantly  engaged  in  the  service  of  God  would  be  friendly 
to  our  growth  in  grace.  We  should  he.  like  trees  planted  by  the 
rivers  of  waters,  that  hriiig  forth  fruit  in  their  season  ;  and  all  that 
we  did  would  be  likely  to  prosper.  But  if  we  study  it  only  ae 
preachers,  it  vvill  be  the  reverse.  Our  being  conversant  with  the 
Bible,  vvill  be  like  surgeons  and  soldiers  being  conversant  with  the 
shedding  of  human  blood,  till  they  lose  all  sensibility  concerning  it. 
1  believe  it  is  a  fact,  that  where  a  preacher  is  wicked,  he  is  gene- 
rally the  most  hardened  against  conviction  of  any  character  what- 
ever. Happy  will  it  be  for  us,  if,  like  Barnabas,  we  are  full  of 
faith  in  that  Saviour  whom  we  recommend,  in  that  gospel  which  it 
is  our  employment  to  proclaim. 

IV.   We  now  come  to  the  last  part  of  the  subject,  which  is  held 

up   by  way  of  encouragement  :  And  much  people  was  added 

t;nto  the  Lord.  (When  our  ministry  is  blessed  to  the  conversion 

of  sinners,  to  the  bringing  them  off  from  their  connexion  with  sio 

t  and  self,  to  a  vital  union  with  Christ;  when  our  congregations  are 

filled,  not  merely  with  professors  of  religion,  but  with  sound  be- 

'  lievers  ;  when  such  believers  come  forward,  and  offer  themselves 

f  willingly  for  communion,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you  for  we  have 

I   heard  that  God  is  with  you;  then   it  may  be  said,  that  much  people 

-  is  added  unlo  the  Lord.     The  connexion  between  such  additions, 


sEnMojall.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER.  53 

",ind  erainency  in  grace  and  holiness  in  a  minister,  deserves  our 
serious  attention. 

I  think  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  which  both  scripture  and 
experience  will  confirm,  that  eminent  spirituality  in  a  minister  is 
usually  attended  with  eminent  ussfalness.  I  do  not  mean  to  say, 
our  usefulness  depends  upon  our  spirituality,  as  an  effect  depends 
upon  its  cause  ;  nor  yet  that  it  is  always  in  proportion  to  it.  God 
is  a  sovereign  ;  and  frequently  sees  proper  to  convince  us  of  it,  in 
variously  bestowing  his  blessing  on  the  means  of  grace.  But  yet 
he  is  not  wanting  in  giving  encouragement  to  what  he  approves, 
wherever  it  is  found.  Our  want  of  usefulness  is  often  to  be  as- 
cribed to  our  want  of  spirituality,  much  oftener  than  to  our  want  of 
talents.  God  has  frequently  been  known  to  succeed  men  of  infe- 
rior abjlitiea,  when  they  have  been  eminently  holy,  while  he  has 
blasted  others  of  much  superior  talents,  when  tbat  has  been  want- 
ing. Hundreds  of  ministers,  who,  on  account  of  their  gifts,  have 
promised  to  be  shining  characters,  have  proved  the  reverse  ,  and 
all  owing  to  such  things  as  pride,  unwatchfulness,  carnality,  and 
levity. 

Eminency  in  grace,  my  brother,  will  contribute  to  your  success 
in  three  ways. 

1.  It  will  fire  your  soul  with  holy  love  to  Christ,  and  the  souls  of 
men  ;  and  such  a  spirit  is  usually  attended  with  success.  I  believe 
you  will  find,  that,  in  almost  all  the  great  works  which  God  has 
wrought,  in  any  period  of  time,  he  has  honoured  men  of  this  char- 
acter, by  making  them  his  instruments.  In  the  midst  of  a  sore 
calamity  upon  the  murmuring  Israelites,  when  God  was  inclined 
to  show  mercy,  it  was  by  the  means  of  his  servant  Aaron  running 
with  a  censer  of  fire  in  his  hand,  and  standing  between  the  living 
and  the  dead  !  The  great  reformation  that  was  brought  about  in 
the  days  of  Hezekiah,  was  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  man  who 
wrought  that  which  was  good  and  right  and  truth  before  the  Lord 
his  God:  and  then  it  follows.  And  in  every  work  that  he  began  in 
the  service  of  the  house  ofGod,and  in  the  law,  and  in  the  command- 
ments, to  seek  his  God,  hf  mo  it  with  alt.  his  hfart,  and  pno?- 

PEREP. 


54  THE  CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS  [Seumon  H, 

There  was  another  great  reformation  in  the  Jewish  church, 
about  the  time  of  their  return  from  Babylon.  One  of  the  chief 
instruments  in  this  work  was  Ezra,  a  ready  scribe  in  the  law  of  his 
God ;  a  man  who  had  prepared  his  heart  to  seek  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  do  it,  and  to  teach  in  Israel  statutes  and  judgments  ;  a  man 
who  fasted  and  prayed  at  the  river  Ahava,  previous  to  his  great 
undertaking  ;  a  man  who  was  afterwards  sorely  astonished,  and  in 
heaviness,  and  would  eat  no  meat,  nor  drink  water,  but  fell  upon  his 
knees,  aiid  spread  out  his  hands  unto  the  Lord  his  God,  on  account 
of  the  transgressions  of  the  people.  Another  great  instrument  in 
this  work  was  Nehemiah,  a  man  that  devoted  himself  wholly  to 
the  service  of  God  and  his  people,  labouring  night  and  day  ;  and 
was  not  to  be  seduced  by  the  intrigues  of  God's  adversaries,  nor 
yet  intimidated,  by  their  threatenings  ;  but  preserved  in  his  work 
till  it  was  finished,  closing  his  labours  with  this  solemn  prayer  and 
appeal.  Think  upon  me,  Omy  God,  for  good,  according  to  all  that 
I  have  done  for  this  people. 

Time  would  (m\  me  to  speak  of  all  the  great  souls,  both  inspired 
and  uninspired,  whom  the  King  of  kings  has  delighted  to  honour  : 
of  Paul,  and  Peter,  and  their  companions  ;  of  Wickliff,  and  Luther, 
and  Calvin,  and  many  others  at  the  Reformation  ;  of  Elliot,  and 
Edwards,  and,Brainerd,  and  Whitefield,  and  hundreds  more,  whose 
names  are  held  in  deserved  esteem  in  the  church  of  God.  These 
were  men  of  God;  men  who  had  great  grace,  as  well  as  gifts; 
whose  hearts  burned  in  love  to  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men.  They 
looked  upon  their  hearers,  as  their  Lord  had  done  upon  Jerusa- 
lem, and  wept  over  them.  In  this  manner  they  delivered  their 
messages  ;  and  much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord. 

2.  Eminency  in  grace  will  direct  your  ends  to  the  glory  of  God, 
and  (he  welfare  of  7nen's  souls ;  and  where  this  is  the  c;ise,  it  is 
usually  attended  with  a  blessing.  These  are  ends  which  God 
himself  pursues  ;  and,  if  we  pursue  the  same,  we  are  labourers 
together  with  God,  and  may  hope  for  his  blessing  to  attend  our  la- 
bours ;  but,  if  we  pursue  separate  and  selfish  ends,  we  walk  con- 
trary to  God,  and  may  expect  that  God  will  walk  contrary  to  us. 
Whatever  apparent  success  may  attend  a  man's  labours,  whose 
ends  are  evil,  all  is  to  be  suspected  :  either  the  success  is  not  gen- 


Sermon  II.]  OF  A  FAITHFUL  MINISTER.  55 

uine,  or,  if  it  be,  it  is  not  in  away  of  blessing  upon  him,  nor  shall 
it  turn  out,  at  last,  to  his  account.  It  must  be  an  inexpressible  sat- 
isfaction, brother,  I0  be  able  to  say  as  the  primitive  ministers  and 
apostles  did:  James,  a  servant  of  God :  Paul,  a  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ ;   We  seek  n61  yours,  but  you. 

3.  Eminency  in  grace  will  enable  you  to  bear  prosperity  in  your 
ministry  veithout  being  lifted  up  with  it  ;  and  so  contribute  towards 
it.  It  is  written  of  Christ,  in  prophecy,  He  shall  build  the  temple 
of  the  Lord,  and  shall  bkar  the  glory.  He  does  bear  it  indeed  ; 
but  to  bear  glory,  without  being  elated,  is  no  easy  thing  for  us.  1 
am  often  afraid  lest  this  should  be  one  considerable  reason  why 
most  of  us  have  no  more  real  success  in  our  work  than  we  have; 
perhaps,  it  is  not  safe  for  us  to  be  much  owned  of  God  ;  perhaps, 
we  have  not  grace  enough  to  bear  prosperity. 

My  dear  brother,  permit  me  to  conclude  with  a  word  or  two  of 
serious  advice.  First,  Watch  over  your  own  soul,  as  well  as  the 
souls  of  your  people.  Do  not  forget  that  ministers  are  peculiarly 
liable,  while  they  keep  the  vineyard  of  others,  to  neglect  their 
own.  Farther,  Know  vour  own  weakness,  and  depend  upon  Christ's 
all  sujiciency.  Your  work  is  great,  your  trials  may  be  many ; 
but  let  not  your  heart  be  discouraged.  Remember  what  was  said 
to  the  apostle  Paul,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  my  strength  is 
fuade  perfect  in  weekness ;  and  the  reflection  which  he  makes  up- 
on it.  When  lam  weak,  then  am  I  strong.  Finally,  Be  often  looking 
to  the  end  of  your  course,  and  viewing  yourself  as  giving  an  account 
of  your  stewardship.  We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment 
seat  of  Christ,  and  give  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 
Perhaps  there  is  no  thought  more  solemn  than  this,  more  suitable 
to  be  kept  in  view  in  all  our  undertakings,  more  awakening  in  a 
thoughtless  hour,  or  more  cheering  to  an  upright  heart. 

I  have  only  to  request,  my  dear  brother,  that  you  will  excuse 
the  freedom  of  this  plain  address.  I  have  not  spoken  so  much 
to  instruct  you  in  things  which  you  know  not,  as  to  remind  and  im- 
press you  with  things  which  you  already  know.  The  Lord  bless 
you,  and  grant  that  the  solemnities  of  this  day  may  ever  be  remem- 
bered with  satisfaction,  both  by  you  and  your  people  ' 


THE  INSTANCES,  THE  EVIL  NATURE,  AND  THE  DAN- 
GEROUS TENDENCY  OF  DELAY,  IN  THE 
CONCERNS  OF  RELIGION. 


SERMON  III. 

[Preached  at  Clipstone  Ministers'  Meeting,  April  27,  179 l.J 


Hacoai  i.  2. 

Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  saying,  This  people  say,  The  time  is  not 
come,  the  time  that  the  Lord's  house  should  be  built. 


When  the  children  of  Jiidah  were  delivered  from  their  captiv- 
ity, and  allowed,  by  the  proclamation  of  Cyrus,  to  return  to  their 
own  land,  one  of  the  principal  things  which  attracted  their  atten- 
tion was,  the  rebuilding  of  the  house  of  God,  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  the  Babylonians.  This  was  a  work  which  Cyrus  him- 
self enjoined,  and  upon  which  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  fixed. 
It  was  not,  however,  to  be  accomplished  at  once  ;  and,  as  the 
worship  of  God  was  a  matter  of  immediate  and  indispensable  con- 
cern, they  set  up  an  altar,  on  which  to  ofl'er  sacrifices  and  offer- 
ings, till  such  time  as  the  temple  should  be  built. 

In  the  second  year  after  their  return,  the  foundation  of  the 
Lord's  house  was  laid  ;  but,  opposition  being  made  to  it,  by  the 
adversaries  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  the  work  ceased  all  the  days  of 
Cyrus,  until  the  reign  of  Darius,  commonly  distinguished  by  the 

Vol.  VII.  8 


58  ON  DELAY,  [Sermon  Ilf 

name  of  Darius-Hystaspls.  During  this  period,  which  seems  to 
have  been  about  fourteen  years,  the  people  sunk  into  a  spirit  of 
indifference.  At  first  they  desisted,  from  necessity  ;  but  after- 
wards, their  attention  being  turned  to  the  building  and  ornamen- 
ting of  houses  for  themselves,  they  seemed  very  well  contented 
that  the  house  of  the  Lord  should  lie  waste.  For  this  their  tem- 
per and  conduct,  the  land  was  smitt€Ji  with  barrenness  ;  so  that 
both  the  vintage  and  the  harvest  failed  them.  God  also  raised  up 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  to  go  and  remonstrate  against  their  supine- 
ness  ;  and  the  efforts  of  these  two  prophets  were  the  means  of 
stirring  up  the  people  to  resume  the  work. 

The  argument  which  the  people  used  against  building  the  house 
of  God  was,  that  tJu;  time  was  not  come.  It  is  possible,  they  waited 
for  a  countev-order  from  the  Persian  court  ;  if  so,  they  might 
have  waited  long  enough.  A  work  of  that  nature  ought  to  have 
been  prosecuted  of  their  own  accord  ;  at  least,  they  should  have 
tried.  It  did  not  follow,  because  they  were  hindered  once,  that 
therefore  they  should  never  succeed.  Or,  perhaps,  they  meant 
to  plead  their  present  weakness  and  poverty.  Something  like  this 
seems  to  be  implied  in  the  4th  verse,  where  they  are  reminded, 
that  they  had  strength  enough  to  build  and  ornament  houses  for 
themselves.  It  looks  as  if  they  wished  to  build,  and  lay  by,  fortunes 
for  themselves  and  their  families,  and  then,  at  some  future  time, 
they  might  contribute  for  the  building  of  the  house  of  God. 

There  is  something  of  this  procrastinating  spirit  that  runs 
through  a  great  part  of  our  life,  and  is  of  great  detriment  to  us  in 
the  work  of  God.  We  know  of  many  things  that  should  be  done, 
and  cannot,  in  conscience,  directly  oppose  them  ;  but  still  we  find 
excuses  for  our  inactivity.  While  we  admit  that  many  things 
should  be  done,  which  are  not  done,  we  are  apt  to  quiet  our- 
selves with  the  thought  that  they  need  not  be  AonQ  just  now  :  Thi 
time  is  not  come^  the  time  that  the  hordes  house  should  be  built. 

In  discoursing  to  you  upon  the  subject,  brethren,  1  shall  take 
notice  of  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  in  which  this  spirit  is 
discovered  ;  and  then  endeavour  to  show  its  evil  nature,  and  dan- 
gerous tendency. 


Sermon  III.]  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNS.  59 

I.  In  respect  to  the  cases,  or  instances,  in  which  it  is  dis- 
covered. A  small  degree  of  observation  on  mankind,  and  of  re- 
flection apon  the  workings  of  our  own  hearts,  will  furnish  us  with 
many  of  these  ;  and  convince  us  of  its  great  influence  on  every 
description  of  men,  in  almost  all  their  religious  concerns. 

1.  It  is  by  this  plea  that  a  great  part  of  mankind  a  e  constantly 
deceiving  themselves  in  respect  to  a  serious  attention  to  the  concerns 
of  their  souls.  These  are,  doubtless,  of  the  last  importance  ;  and 
there  are  times  in  which  most  men  not  only  acknowledge  this 
truth,  but,  in  some  sort,  feel  the  force  of  it.  This  is  the  case,  espe, 
cially,  with  those  who  have  had  a  religious  education,  and  have  been 
used  to  attend  upon  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  T  hey  hear  from 
the  pulpit,  that  men  must  be  born  again,  miist  be  converted, 
and  become  as  little  children,  or  never  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Or  the  same  things  are  impressed  upon  them  by  some 
threatening  affliction  or  alarming  providence.  They  feel  them- 
selves, at  those  times,  very  unhappy  ;  and  it  is  not  unusual  for 
them  to  resolve  upon  a  sacrifice  of  their  formcir  sins,  and  a  serious 
and  close  attention,  in  future,  to  the  affairs  of  their  souls.  They 
think,  while  under  these  impressions,  they  will  consider  their 
ways,  they  n.^ill  enter  their  closets,  and  shut  to  the  door,  and  pray 
to  the  Lord  that  he  would  have  mercy  upon  them  ;  but,  alas,  no 
sooner  do  they  retire  from  the  house  of  God,  or  recover  from 
their  affliction,  than  the  impression  begins  to  subside,  and  then  mat- 
ters of  this  sort  become  less  welcome  to  the  mind.  They  must 
not  be  utterly  rejected  ;  but  are  let  alone /or  the  present.  As 
conscience  becomes  less  alarmed,  and  danger  is  viewed  at  a  greater 
distance,  the  sinner,  by  degrees,  recovers  himself  from  his  fright, 
and  dismisses  his  religious  concern,  in  some  such  manner  as  Felix 
did  his  reprover,  Go  thy  way  for  this  time,  when  I  have  a  convenient 
season  I  will  call  for  thee. 

It  is  thus  with  the  ardent  youth:  in  the  hour  of  serious  reflec- 
tion, he  feels  that  religion  is  of  importance  ;  but  his  heart,  still 
averse  from  what  his  conscience  recommends,  rises  against  the 
thought  of  sacrificing  the  prime  of  life  to  the  gloomy  duties  of 
prayer  and  self-denial.  He  does  not  resolve  never  to  attend  to 
these  things  ;  but  the  time  does  not  seem  to  be  come.     He  hopes 


60  ON  DELAY,  [Sehmon  IIJ, 

that  the  Almighty  will  excuse  him  a/ew  years,  at  least,  and  impute 
his  excesses  to  youthful  folly  and  imbecility.  It  is  thus  with  the 
man  of  business :  there  are  times  in  which  he  is  obliged  to  retire 
from  the  hurry  of  life  ;  and,  at  those  times,  thoughts  of  another 
life  may  arrest  his  attention.  Conscience,  at  those  intervals,  may 
smite  him  for  his  living  without  prayer,  without  reflection,  without 
God  in  all  his  thoughts  ;  and  what  is  his  remedy  ?  Does  he  la- 
ment his  sin,  and  implore  mercy  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ? 
No,  nor  so  much  as  promise  to  forsake  it  immediately  :  but  this  he 
promises  ;  that,  when  this  busy  time  is  over,  and  that  favourite 
point  is  gained,  and  those  intricate  afi'airs  are  terminated,  then  it 
shall  be  otherwise.  It  is  thus  with  persons  in  s/n^/e  life:  they 
will  be  better  when  they  get  settled  in  the  world.  It  is  thus  with 
the  encumbered  parent :  she  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  her 
family  shall  get  off  her  hands.  It  is  thus  with  the  drunkard  and 
the  debauchee:  wearied  in  their  own  way,  they  intend  to  lead  a 
new  life,  as  soon  as  they  can  but  shake  off  their  old  connexions. 

In  short,  it  is  thus  with  great  numbers  in  all  our  towns  and  vil- 
lages and  congregations :  they  put  off  the  great  concern  to  anoth- 
er lime,  and  think  they  may  venture,  at  least,  a  little  longer  ;  till 
all  is  over  with  them,  and  a  dying  hour  just  awakens  them,  like 
the  virgirs  in  the  parable,  to  bitter  reflection  on  their  own  fatal 
foliy. 

2.  This  ])lea  not  only  affects  the  unconverted,  but  prevents  us 
all  from  undertaking  any  great  or  good  work  for  the  cause  of 
Christ,  or  the  good  of  mankind.  We  see  many  things  that  should 
be  done  ;  but  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way,  and  we  wait  for 
the  removal  of  these  difficulties.  We  are  very  apt  to  indulge  a 
kind  of  prudent  caution,  (as  vve  call  it,)  which  foresees  and  magni- 
fies difficultias  beyond  what  they  really  are.  It  is  granted,  there 
may  be  such  things  in  the  way  of  an  undertaking,  as  may  render 
it  impracticable;  and,  in  that  case,  it  is  our  duty,  for  the  present, 
to  stand  still  :  but  it  becomes  us  to  beware,  lest  we  account  that 
impracticable  which  only  requires  such  a  degree  of  exertion 
as  we  are  not  inclined  to  give  it.  Perhaps  the  work  requires 
expense ;  and  Covetousness  says,  Wait  a  little  longer,  till  1 
have  gained  so  and  so  in  trade,  till  I  have  rendered  my 
4agcumitances    respectable,  and  settled  my   children  comforta- 


aERMON  Ill.j  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONXERNS.  Qi 

bly  in  the  world.  But  is  not  this  like  ceiling  our  own  houses, 
while  the  house  of  God  lies  waste  ?  Perhaps  it  requires  concur- 
rence ;  and  we  wait  for  every  body  to  be  of  a  mind,  which  is  never 
to  be  expected.  He  who,  through  a  dread  of  opposition  and  re- 
proach, desists  from  known  duty,  is  in  danger  of  being  found  among 
the  fearful,  the  unbelieving,  and  the  abominable. 

Had  Luther  and  his  cotemporaries  acted  upon  this  principle, 
they  had  never  gone  about  the  glorious  work  of  the  Reformation. 
When  he  saw  the  abominations  of  Popery,  he  might  have  said, 
'  These  things  ought  not  to  be  ;  but  what  can  /  do  ?  If  the  chief 
priests  and  rulers,  in  different  nations,  would  but  unite,  something 
might  be  effected;  but  what  can  /do,  an  individual,  and  a  poor 
man  ?  I  may  render  myself  an  object  of  persecution,  or  which  is 
worse,  of  universal  contempt ;  and  what  good  end  will  be  answer^ 
ed  by  it  ?'  Had  Luther  reasoned  thus  ;  had  he  fancied,  that,  be- 
cause princes  and  prelates  were  not  the  first  to  engage  in  the  good 
work,  therefore  the  time  was  not  come  to  build  the  house  of  the 
Lord  ;  the  house  of  the  Lord,  for  any  thing  he  had  done,  might 
have  lain  waste  to  this  day. 

Instead  of  waiting  for  the  removal  of  difficulties,  we  ought,  in 
many  cases,  to  consider  them  as  purposely  laid  in  our  way,  in 
order  to  try  the  sincerity  of  our  religion.  He  who  had  all  power 
in  heaven  and  earth,  could  not  only  have  sent  forth  his  apostles 
into  all  the  world^  but  have  so  ordered  it  that  all  the  world  should 
treat  them  with  kindness,  and  aid  them  in  their  mission  ;  but,  in- 
stead of  that,  he  told  them  to  lay  their  accounts  with  persecution, 
and  the  loss  of  all  things.  This  was,  no  doubt,  to  try  their  sincer- 
ity; and  the  difficulties  laid  in  our  way  are  equally  designed  to  try 
ours. 

Let  it  be  considered,  whether  it  is  not  owing  to  this  principle, 
that  so  few  and  so  feeble  efforts  have  been  made  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  in  the  world.  When  the  Lord  Jesus  commission^ 
ed  his  apostles,  he  commanded  them  to  go  and  teach  all  nations, 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature ;  and  that,  notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  and  oppositions  that  would  lie  in  the  way.  The 
apostles  executed  their  commission  with  assiduity  and  fidelity  j 
but,  since  their  days,  we  seem  to  sit  down  half  contented  that  the 


62  ON  DKLAY,  [oKRMON  Hi. 

greater  part  of  the  world  should  still  remain  in  ignorance  and  idola- 
try. Some  noble  efforts,  indeed,  have  been  made  ;  but  they  are 
small  in  number,  when  compared  with  the  magnitude  of  the  object. 
And  why  is  it  so  ?  Are  the  souls  of  men  of  less  value  than  here- 
tofore ?  No.  Is  Christianity  less  true  or  less  important  than  in 
former  ages  ?  This  will  not  be  pretended.  Are  there  no  oppor- 
tunities for  societies  or  individuals  in  Christian  nations,  to  convey 
the  gospel  to  the  heathen  ?  This  cannot  be  pleaded,  so  long  as 
opportunities  are  found  to  trade  with  thera,  yea,  and,  (what  is  a 
disgrace  to  the  name  o(  Christians,)  to  buy  them,  and  sell  them, 
and  treat  them  with  worse  than  savage  barbarit}'  !  We  have  op- 
portunities in  abundance  :  the  improvement  of  navigation,  and  the 
maritime  and  commercial  turn  of  this  country,  furnish  us  with 
these  ;  and  it  deserves  to  be  considered,  whether  this  is  not  a  cir- 
curaslance  that  renders  it  a  duty  peculiarly  binding  on  us. 

The  truth  is,  if  1  am  not  mistaken,  we  wait  for  we  know  not 
what ;  we  seem  to  think  the  time  is  not  come,  the  time  for  the 
Spirit  to  be  poured  down  from  on  high.  We  pray  for  the  conver- 
sion and  salvation  of  the  world,  and  yet  neglect  the  ordinary  means 
by  which  those  ends  have  been  used  to  be  accomplished.  It 
pleased  God,  heretofore,  by  the  foolishneis  of  preaching,  to  save 
them  that  believed  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  think  it  will  still  please 
God  to  work  by  that  distinguished  means.  Ought  we  not,  then, 
at  least,  to  try,  by  some  means,  to  convey  more  of  the  good  news 
of  s,ilvation  to  the  world  around  us,  than  has  hitherto  been  con- 
veyed ?  The  encouragement  to  the  Heathen  is  still  in  force. 
Whosokver  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  shall  be 
SAVED  ;  but  how  shall  they  call  on  him  in  zahom  they  have  not  be- 
lieved ?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  n.-hom  they  have  not 
heard  ?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  and  hor^j  shall 
they  preach,  except  they  be  sent  ? 

Let  it  be  farther  considered,  whether  it  is  not  owing  to  this 
-principle,  that  so  {ev^  and  so  feeble  efforts  are  made  for  the  prop- 
agation of  the  gospel  in  places  within  our  reach.  There  are 
many  dark  places  in  our  own  land,  places  where  priests  and  peo- 
ple, it  is  to  be  feared,  are  alike  destitute  of  true  religion,  all  look- 
ing to  their  own  -way,  every  one  for  his  gain  from  his  marter. 


I 


Sermon  III.]  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNS.  q3 

Were  every  friend  of  Jesus  Christ  to  avail  himself  of  that  liberty 
which  the  laws  of  his  country  allow  hira,  and  embrace  every  op- 
portunity for  the  dissemination  of  evangelical  principles,  what 
effects  might  we  hope  to  see  ?  Were  every  true  minister  of  the 
gospel  to  tnake  a  point  of  preaching,  as  often  as  possible,  in  the 
villages  within  his  reach  ;  and  did  those  private  Christians  who 
are  situated  in  such  villages  open  their  doors  for  preaching,  and 
recommend  the  gospel  by  a  holy  and  affectionate  behaviour  ;  might 
we  not  hope  to  see  the  wilderness  become  as  a  fruitful  field  ?  Sure- 
ly, in  these  matters  we  are  too  negligent.  And  when  we  do  preach 
to  the  unconverted,  we  do  not  feel  as  if  we  were  to  do  any  good. 
We  are  as  if  we  knew  not  how  to  get  at  the  hearts  and  consciences 
of  people.  We  cast  the  net,  without  so  much  as  expecting  a 
draught.  We  are  as  those  who  cannot  find  their  hands  in  the  day 
of  b.ittle  ;  who  go  forth,  not  like  men  inured  to  conquest,  but  rath- 
er like  those  inured  to  defeat.  Whence  arises  all  this  ?  Is  it  not 
owing,  at  least  a  considerable  degree  of  it,  to  a  notion  we  have,, 
that  the  time  is  not  come  for  any  thing  considerable  to  be  effected  ? 

3.  It  is  this  plea  that  keeps  many  from  a  public  profession  of 
religion  by  a  practical  acknowledgment  of  Christ.  Christ  requires 
of  his  followers,  that  they  confess  his  name  before  men  ;  that  they 
be  baptized;  and  commemorate  his  dying  love  in  the  ordinance 
of  the  Supper.  Yet  there  are  many  who  consider  themselves  as 
Christians,  and  are  considered  so  by  others,  who  still  live  in  the 
neglect  of  these  ordinances.  I  speak  not  now  of  those  who  con- 
sider themselves  as  having  been  baptized  in  their  infancy,  but  of 
such  as  admit  the  immersion  of  believers  to  be  the  only  true  bap- 
tism, and  yet  do  not  practise  it,  nor  hold  communion  with  any  par- 
ticular church  of  Christ.  It  is  painful  to  think,  there  should  be  u 
description  of  professed  Christians  who  live  in  the  neglect  of 
Christ's  commands.  What  can  be  the  motives  of  such  neglect? 
Probably  they  are  various  :  there  is  one,  however,  that  must  have 
fallen  under  your  observation;  that  is,  the  want  of  some  powerful, 
impression  upon  the  mind,  impelling  them,  as  it  were,  to  a  compli- 
ance. Many  persons  wait  for  something  of  this  sort,  and  because 
they  go  from  year  to  year  without  it,  conclude  that  the  time  is  not 
''ome :  or  that  it  is  not  the  mind  of  God  that  thei/  ehoijld  comply 


^4  ON  DELAY,  [Sermon  III. 

with  those  ordinances ;  at  least,  that  they  should  comply  with 
them  at  present.  Impressions,  it  is  allowed,  are  desirable,  provi- 
ded it  be  truth  or  duty  that  is  impressed  ;  otherwise,  they  deserve 
no  regard :  but,  be  they  as  desirable  as  they  may,  the  want  of 
them  can  never  justify  our  living  in  the  neglect  of  known  duty. 
Nor  are  they  at  all  adapted  to  show  us  what  is  duty,  but  merely  to 
excite  to  the  performance  of  that  which  may  be  proved  to  be  duty 
without  them.  We  might  as  well  wait  for  impressions,  and  con- 
clude, from  the  want  of  them,  that  the  time  is  not  come  for  the 
performance  of  other  duties,  as  those  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

Some  are  kept  from  a  public  profession  of  Christ 's  name  by 
mere  mercenary  motives.  They  have  relations  and  friends  that 
would  be  offended.  The  fear  of  being  disinherited,  or  injured,  in 
some  sort,  as  to  worldly  circumstances,  has  made  many  a  person 
keep  his  principles  to  himself,  till  such  time  as  the  party  whose 
displeasure  he  fears  shall  be  removed  out  of  the  way.  This  is 
wicked  ;  as  it  amounts  to  a  denial  of  Christ  before  men,  and  will, 
no  doubt,  expose  the  party,  if  he  die  without  repentance  for  it,  to 
being  denied  by  Christ  before  his  Father,  at  the  last  day.  Lord, 
said  one,  /  will  follow  thee,  but  let  me  first  go  and  bury  my  father. 
— Let  me  first  go  and  hid  them  farewell  who  are  at  home,  says 
another  ;  Jesus  answered.  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  follow  thou 
tjie. — J^o  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looking  back, 
is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

4.  It  is  this  plea  that  keeps  us  from  a  thorough  self-examina- 
tion, and  self-denial.  The  importance  of  being  right  in  the  sight 
of  God,  and  our  liability  to  err,  even  in  the  greatest  of  all  concerns, 
render  a  close  and  frequent  inquiry  into  our  spiritual  state  abso-^ 
lutely  necessary:  It  is  a  dangerous,  as  well  as  an  uncomfortable 
life,  to  be  always  in  suspense  ;  not  knowing  what,  nor  where  we 
are,  nor  whither  we  are  going.  There  are  seasons,  too,  in  which 
we  feel  the  importance  of  such  an  inquiry,  and  think  we  will  go 
about  it,  we  will  search  and  try  our  ways,  and  turn  from  our  sins, 
and  walk  more  closely  with  God.  Such  thoughts  will  occur  when 
we  hear  matters  urged  home  upon  us  from  the  pulpit,  or  when 
some   affecting  event  draws  off  our  attention  from  the  present 


Sermon  III.]  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNS.  qj^ 

world,  and  causes  us  to  reflect  upon  ourselves  for  our  Inordinate 
anxiety  after  it.  We  think  of  living  otherwise  than  we  have  done  ; 
but,  when  we  come  to  put  our  thoughts  into  execution,  we  find  a 
number  of  difficulties  in  the  way,  which  too  often  deter  us,  at 
least, /or  the  present.  '  Here  is  an  undertaking  that  must  first  be 
accomplished,  before  I  can  have  time,  here  is  also  a  troublesome 
affair  that  I  must  get  through,  before  I  can  be  composed;  and  then, 
here  are  such  temptations  that  1  know  not  how  to  get  over  just 
now :  if  I  wait  a  little  longer,  perhaps  they  may  be  removed.'  Alas.' 
alas  !  thus  we  befool  ourselves ;  thus  we  defer  it  to  another  time, 
till  the  impressions  on  our  minds  are  effaced,  and  then  we  are  less 
able  to  attend  to  those  things  than  we  were  at  first.  As  one  who 
puts  off  the  examination  of  his  accounts,  and  the  retrenchment  of 
his  expenses,  till,  all  on  a  sudden,  he  is  involved  in  a  bankruptcy  ; 
go  do  multitudes,  in  the  religiou.-i  worli,  neglect  a  close  inspection 
into  the  concerns  of  their  souls,  till,  at  length,  either  a  departure 
from  some  of  the  great  principles  of  the  gospel,  or  some  foul  and 
open  fall,  is  the  consequence. 

5.   It  is  this  principle  th;<t  keeps  us  from  preparedness  for  death, 
and  thus  being  readif  xvhen  our  Lord  shall,  come.     There  is  nothing 
that  Christ  has  more  forcibly  enjoined   than  this  duty  :  Be  ye  also 
ready,  for  at  suth  an  hour  as  ye  think  not,  the  Son  of  man  cometh. — 
What  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all,   n'afch.     Why  do  we   not  im 
mediately  feel  the  force  of  these  charges,  and  betake  ourselves  to 
habitual  watchfulness  and  prayer,  and  self-denial,  and  walking  with, 
God  ?     Why  are  we  not  as  men  who  wait  for  the  coming  of  their 
Lord  ?     Is  it  not  from  a  secret  thought,  that  the  time  is  not  come? 
We  know  we  must  die,  but  we  consider  it  as  something  at  a  dis- 
tance;  and  thus,  imagining  that  our  Lord  delayeth  his  coming,  we 
delay  to  prepare  to  meet  him,  so  that  when  he  cometh  he  findeth 
us  in  confusion.     Instead  of  our  loins  being  girt,  and  our  lights 
burning,  we  are  engaged  in  a  number  of  plans  and  pursuits,  to  the 
neglect  of  those  things,  which,  notwithstanding  the  necessary  avo- 
cations of  life,  ought  always  to  engross  our  supreme  attention. 
Let  us  next  proceed  to  consider, 

11.  The  evil  nature,  and  dangerous  tendency  ©F  this  pro- 
crastinating TEMPER. 

Vol.  VII.  9 


56  ON  DELAY,  [Skrmon  \U, 

I  need  not  say  much  to  prove  to  you  that  it  is  a  sin.  The  con- 
science of  every  one  of  you  will  assist  me  in  that  part  of  the  work. 
It  is  proper,  however,  in  order  that  you  may  feel  it  the  more  for- 
cibly, that  you  should  consider  wherein  its  evil  nature  consists. 

1.  It  is  contrary  to  the  tenor  of  all  God's  commandments.  All 
through  the  scriptures  we  are  required  to  attend  to  divine  things 
immediately,  and  without  delay.  Work  while  it  is  called  to-day  ; 
the  night  cometh  lohen  no  man  can  work. — To-day,  if  ye  will  hear 
his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts. — While  ye  have  light,  believe  in 
the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light. —  Whatsoever  thy  hand 
Jlndeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  de- 
vice, nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave,  whither  thou  goesf. 

God  not  only  requires  us,  in  general,  to  do  what  we  do  quickly, 
but  calls  us  to  serve  him  particularly  under  those  temptations  or 
afflictions  which  we  find  placed  in  our  way.  The  terms  of  disci- 
pleship  are.  Deny  thyself,  take  up  thy  cross,  and  follow  me.  He 
does  not  call  upon  us  to  follow  him  barely  when  there  are  no 
troubles,  nor  difficulties  to  encounter,  nor  allow  us,  when  those 
difficulties  occur,  to  wait  a  fairer  opportunity ;  but  to  take  our 
cross,  as  it  were,  upon  our  shoulders,  and  so  follow  him.  It  would 
be  of  use  for  us  to  consider  every  situation  as  a  post  in  which  God 
has  placed  us,  and  in  which  he  calls  upon  us  to  serve  and  glorify 
him.  If  we  are  poor,  we  are  required  to  glorify  God  by  content- 
ment;  if  afflicted,  by  patience;  if  bereaved,  by  submission;  if 
persecuted,  by  firmness  ;  if  injured,  by  forgiveness;  or  if  tempt- 
ed, by  denying  ourselves  for  his  sake.  Nor  can  these  duties  be 
performed  at  other  times;  to  put  them  off,  therefore,  to  another 
opportunity,  is  the  same  thing,  in  effect,  as  refusing  to  comply  with 
them  at  all. 

2.  To  put  off  things  to  another  time,  implies  a  lurking  dislike  to 
the  things  themselves.  We  do  not  ordinarily  do  so,  except  in  things 
wherein  we  have  no  delight.  Whatever  our  hearts  are  set  upon, 
we  are  for  losing  no  time  till  it  is  accomplished.  If  the  people  of 
.Tudah  had  had  a  mind  to  work,  as  is  said  of  them  on  another  occa- 
sion, they  would  not  have  pleaded  that  the  time  was  not  come. 
Sinful  delay,  therefore,  arises  from  alienation  of  heart  from  Qod; 
than  which  nothing  can  be  more  offensive  in  his  sight. 


Sermon  III.]  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNS.  (J7 

But,  farther,  it  is  not  only  a  sin,  but  a  sin  o{  dangeroiis  tendency. 
This  is  manifest  by  the  effects  it  produces.  Precious  time  is 
thereby  murdered,  and  valuable  opportunities  lost,  and  lost  be- 
yond recal ! 

That  there  are  opportunities  possessed,  both  by  saints  and  sin- 
ners, is  plain  from  the  scriptures.  The  former  might  do  abun- 
dantly more  for  God  than  they  do,  and  might  enjoy  much  more  of 
God  and  heaven  than  they  actually  enjoy;  and  no  doubt  it  would 
be  so,  were  it  not  for  that  idle,  delaying  temper,  of  which  we  have 
spoken.  Like  the  Israelites,  we  are  slothful  to  go  up  to  possess 
the  good  land.  Many  are  the  opportunities,  both  of  doing  and  en- 
joying good,  that  have  already  passed  by.  O  !  what  Christian* 
might  we  have  been  before  now,  had  we  but  availed  ourselves  of 
all  those  advantages  which  the  gospel  dispensation  and  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  our  religion  afford  us  ! 

Sinners  also,  as  long  as  life  lasts,  have  opportunity  of  escaping 
ftom  the  wrath  to  come.  Hence,  they  are  exhorted  to  seek  the 
Lord  while  he  may  he  found  and  to  call  upon  him  while  he  is  near. 
Hence,  also,  there  is  a  door  represented  as  being  at  present,  open  ; 
which  the  master  of  the  house  will,  one  day,  me  w/)  and  shut. 
The  fountain  is  described  as  being  at  present,  open  for  sin  and  for 
ancleanness  ;  but  there  is  a  period  approaching  when  it  shall  be 
said,  He  that  isflthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still  /  It  seems  scarcely  in 
the  power  of  language  to  express  the  danger  of  delay  in  terms 
more  forcible  and  impressive  than  those  which  are  used  in  the 
above  passages.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  the  idea  that  clashes 
with  the  scripture  doctrine  of  decrees.  All  allow  that  men  have 
opportunity,  in  natural  things,  to  do  what  they  do  not,  and  to  ob- 
tain what  they  obtain  not ;  and,  if  this  can  be  made  to  consist  with 
an  universal  providence,  which  performeth  the  things  that  are  ap- 
pointed for  us ;  why  should  not  the  other  be  allowed  to  consist 
with  the  purposes  of  him  who  does  nothing  without  a  plan,  but 
worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will  ?  A  price  is  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  no  heart  to  get  wisdom. 

O  thoughtless  sinner  !  trifle  no  longer  with  the  murder  of  time  ; 
time,  so  short  and  uncertain  in  its  duration  ;  the  morning  of  your 
existence  ;  the  mould  in  which  you  receive  an   impression  for 


G8  ON  DELAY  IN  RELIGIOUS  CONCERNS.     [Skrmon  III. 

eternity  ,  the  only  period  in  which  the  Son  of  man  has  power  to 
forgive  sins  !  Should  the  remaining  part  of  your  life  pass  away  ia 
the  same  careless  manner  as  that  has  which  has  already  elapsed, 
what  bitter  reflection  must  needs  follow  !  How  cutting  it  must  be 
to  look  bnck  on  all  the  means  of  salvation  as  gone  for  ever ;  the  har- 
vest past,  the  summer  ended,  and  you  not  saved  ! 

Suppose  a  company,  at  the  time  of  low  water,  should  take  an 
exc  irsion  upon  the  sands  near  the  sea  shore  :  suppose  yourself 
of  the  company  :  supj-ose,  that,  on  a  presumption  of  the  tide's 
not  returning  at  present,  you  should  all  fall  asleep  :  suppose  all 
the  company,  except  yourself,  to  awake  out  of  their  sleep,  and, 
finding  their  danger,  endeavour  to  awake  you,  and  persuade  you 
to  flee  with  them  for  your  life  :  but  you,  like  the  sluggard,  are  for 
a  little  more  sleep,  and  a  little  more  slumber :  The  consequence  is 
your  companions  escape,  but  you  are  left  behind  to  perish  in  the 
waters,  which,  regardless  of  all  your  cries,  rise  and  overwhelm  you ! 
What  a  situation  would  this  be  !  How  would  you  curse  that  love  of 
sleep  that  made  you  refuse  to  be  awaked,  that  delaying  temper  that 
wanted  to  indulge  a  little  longer  !  But  what  is  this  situation  com- 
pared with  that  of  a  lost  soul  ?  There  will  come  a  period  whea 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean  W(»uld  be  deemed  a  refuge  ;  when,  to  be 
crushed  under  falling  rocks  and  mountains,  instead  of  being  view- 
ed with  terror  as  heretofore,  will  be  earnestly  desired  !  Yes,  de- 
sired, but  desired  in  vain!  The  sinner  who  has  neglected  the 
great  salvation  will  not  be  able  to  escape,  nor  hide  himself/rom 
ike  ace  of  him  that  sitieth  upon  the  throne^  nor  from  the  wrath  cf 
the  Lamb. 

My  dear  hearers  !  Consider  your  condition  without  delay^ 
God  says  to  you,  To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.  To-day  may  be  the  only  day  you  have  to  live.  Go  home, 
enter  the  closet,  and  shut  to  the  door;  confess  your  sins  ;  implore 
mercy  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be 
angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  tvay,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a 
little.     Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him  ' 


THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD,  WHO   DIE  IN  THE 

LORD. 


SERMON  IV. 

[Preached  at  Kelleriug,  at  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Beeby  Wallis,  April,  1792,] 

Rev.  xiv.  13. 

And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  arc  the 
dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  :  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labours  and  their  works  do  follow  them. 


It  is  usual  with  us,  on  the  death  of  our  friends,  to  improve 
the  mournful  event,  by  a  sermon  on  the  occasion.  I  feel  a  difficul- 
ty, in  the  present  instance,  on  account  of  my  near  and  intimate  con- 
nexion with  the  deceased.  However,  as  well  as  I  can,  I  will 
endeavour  to  comply  with  the  general  expectation. 

Our  dear  deceased  friend  made  no  mention  of  any  particular  part 
of  scripture  which  he  vpould  wish  to  have  improved;  I  have,  there- 
fore selected  the  above,  as  being  the  most  suitable  to  the  present 
occasion  of  any  that  has  occurred  to  my  thoughts.  The  original 
design  of  the  passage  seems  to  have  been,  to  support  the  afflicted 
followers  of  Christ  in  times  of  persecution.  Nothing  could  be 
better  adapted  to  arm  the  holy  martyrs  against  the  terrors  of  death, 
than  the  sentiment  here  exhibited.  It  does  not  seem,  however  to 
be  applicable  to  martyrs  only  ;  but  is  rather  to  be  considered  as  a 


70  BLE33EDNES  S  OF  THE  BEAD  [Sermon  IV. 

general  truth,  which,  though  applied  to  a  particular  case,  is  not  to 
be  confined  to  that  case,  but  exte  nded  to  every  other  particulai; 
comprehended  within  the  general  design.  A  few  introductory  ob- 
servations may  throw  some  light  upon  the  text,  and  lead  us  on  to 
the  principal  subjects  on  which  I  mean  to  discourse. 

First :  Let  us  observe  the  character  described — those  who  die  in 
the  Lord.  The  scriptures  make  frequent  mention  of  believers,  a^ 
being  united  to  Christ  or  one  with  him.  If  we  be  true  believers 
in  Christ,  we  shall  feel  a  union  of  heart  with  him  ;  our  principles, 
affections  and  pursuits,  will,  in  a  measure,  be  the  same  as  his  ;  his 
cause  will  be  our  cause,  his  people  our  people,  his  service  our  de- 
light, and  the  gospel  of  salvation  through  his  death  our  daily  bread. 
The  union  between  Christ  and  his  people,  is  frequently  compared 
to  the  marriage-union  :  as  they  who  were  twain  became  onejlesh, 
$0  they  who  are  joined  to  the  Lord  are  one  spirit  ;  and,  as  in  that 
case  there  is  not  only  a  mental,  but  a  legal  union,  each  becoming 
interested  in  the  persons  and  possessions  of  the  other,  so  in  this, 
we,  with  all  we  have,  are  Christ's,  and  Christ,  with  all  he  has,  is 
ours.  Hence  the  language  of  the  Apostle  :  Of  him  are  ye  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness^ and  sanctification,  and  redemption.  Hence  also,  arises  the 
desirableness  ofheing  found  i^  him,  not  having  our  own  righteous- 
ness, which  is  of  the  law  ;  hut  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of 
Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith.  An  union  like 
this  will  render  us  blessed  even  in  death  ;  death  itself  shall  not 
be  able  to  dissolve  it,  but  shall  rather  introduce  us  to  the  full  en- 
joyment of  him  whom  our  soul  loveth. 

It  is  farther  supposed  of  those  who  die  in  the  Lord,  that  they 
have  abounded  in  good  works ;  for  it  could  not  otherwise  have 
been  said  that  they  should  /b//otu  them.  Those  whose  only  hope 
and  reliance  for  acceptance  with  God  have  been  upon  Jesus  Christ, 
and  who  have,  therefore,  disclaimed  all  dependence  upon  their 
own  works,  have  often  been  charged  with  being  enemies  to  mo- 
rality ;  or,  at  least,  that  their  principles,  if  pursued  to  their  just 
consequences,  would  render  them  so  :  but  I  trust  the  practice  of 
these  persons,  in  all  ages,  has  not  been  such  as  to  justify  the 
charge.     Perhaps,  on  the  contrary,  if  we  could  survey  the  spirit 


Sermon  IV.]  WHO  DIE  IiV  THE  LORD.  7I 

and  manners  of  mankind  with  an  impartial  eye,  we  might  find  that 
they  who  thus  believed  in  Jesus  were  the  most  careful  to  maintain 
good  works.  Yea,  and  if  we  would  search  the  scriptures  with 
an  unprejudiced  mind,  we  should  find,  that,  without  an  union  with 
Christ,  it  were  a  vain  thing  to  expect  good  works  ;  (truly  so  cal- 
led ;)  as  vain  as  to  expect  fruit  from  a  branch  that  should  be  sepa- 
rate from  the  vine. 

Secondly:  The  blessedness  of  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord, 
was  declared  by  a  voice  from  heaven.  If  the  Apostle  had  hearken- 
ed to  the  general  voice  of  mankind,  he  would  have  heard  a  very 
different  sound.  The  world  reckons  him  blessed  that  liveth — that 
liveth  in  prosperity.  So  natural  is  this  to  man,  that  we  all  feel  a  kind 
of  pity  for  our  departed  friends;  but  surely  pity  is  never  more  un- 
necessary :  the  voice  from  heaven,  whatever  be  the  voice  from 
earth,  pronounces,  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

Thirdly  :  The  apostle  was  commanded  to  write  it.  A  mer€ 
voice  passeth  away,  but  a  writing  endureth.  In  this  we  see  God's 
tender  regard  for  his  faithful  servants,  not  merely  in  that  age,  but 
for  ages  to  come. 

Fourthly  :  Their  blessedness  is  declared  to  be  from  hence- 
forth. I  do  not  see  how  this  can  be  understood  as  referring  to 
the  time  of  the  Spirit's  speaking  ;  for  that  would  imply,  that,  be- 
fore that  time,  those  who  died  in  the  Lord  were  not  blessed.  It 
seems,  I  think,  plainly  to  refer  to  the  time  of  their  departure  from 
the  body,  and  is  one  of  the  many  passages  of  scripture  in  which  we 
are  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  separate  state. 

Lastly  ;  The  blessedness  which  awaits  those  who  die  in  the 
Lord  consists,  partly  in  a  rest  front  their  labours,  and  partly  in  a 
glorious  reward,  expressed  by  their icorhs  following  them. 

It  is  on  this  last  observation  I  shall  principally  enlarge,  in  this 
discourse,  as  the  most  important  ideas  of  the  text  seem  to  be  here 
included.  Let  us  first  take  a  view  of  the  heavenly  state  under  the 
ideas  here  given,  and  then  consider  the  uses  that  such  a  prospect 
is  adapted  to  promote. 

r.  Let  us  view  the  heavenlv  state  under  the   ideas  of  a 

REST  FROM  LABOUR,  AND  A  REWARD  FOR  IT.       The  term  lobour  doCS 

not  convey  the  idea  ©f  simple  exercise  ;  for  we  shall  never  cease 


72  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  [Sermon  IV. 

from  that,  but  rather  increase  it.  The  inhabitants  of  heaven  are 
more  active  than  ever  they  were  upon  earth.  They  are  represent- 
ed as  serving  God  day  and  night  in  his  temple  ;  yea,  and  as  though 
all  our  services  in  this  world  were  unworthy  of  the  name,  it  is 
said,  there  his  servants  shull  serve  him.  Nor  is  the  rest  here  spo- 
ken of  to  be  understood  of  a  mere  cessation  from  exercise,  in  the 
grave,  for  that  would  afford  no  blessedness.  The  term  labour  con- 
veys the  idea  of  painful  exercise,  weariness,  or  fatigue.  The 
same  word  is  used  in  2  Cor.  xi.  29.  where  the  Apostle  speaks  of 
being  in  weariness  and  painfulness. 

A  great  part  of  the  Christian  life  consists  in  an  opposition.  He 
that  would  gain  the  heavenly  prize  must  oppose  the  course  of  this 
world;  must  strive  against  the  stream  of  false  principles  and  wick- 
ed practices  ;  against  the  evil  customs  and  manners  of  the  age  and 
place  in  which  he  lives.  It  has  been  observed,  that  mankind  go 
through  the  world  in  a  body  ;  that  they  draw  one  another  on,  in 
their  principles  and  manners  ;  that,  like  the  drops  of  water  which 
compose  a  tide,  they  acquire  strength  and  influence  by  their  num- 
bers, and  that,  whatever  general  direction  they  take,  that  is,  for 
the  time  being,  the  course  of  this  world.  Like  the  tide,  it  is  ever 
rolhng,  though  not  in  the  same  direction.  In  former  ages,  it  was 
a  course  of  Pagan  idolatry  ;  in  latter  ages,  of  Popish  superstition 
and  cruelty;  and,  in  the  present  age,  it  is  a  course  of  Infidelity  and 
profaneness.     To  oppose  this  current  is  labour. 

It  was  no  small  matter  for  the  glorious  tribes  of  martyrs  in  ev- 
ery age,  to  hold  fast  the  faith  of  the  gospel.  They  had  not  only 
to  encounter  their  adversaries,  but  their  own  natural  feelings. 
They  were  men,  and  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves.  They 
had  wives,  and  children,  and  friends,  and  the  various  endearing 
ties  of  human  nature  ;  each  of  which  would  cry  in  their  ears 
Spare  thyself/  Think,  brethren,  what  labour  it  must  have  been, 
for  them  to  encounter  the  hardships  and  cruelties  to  which  a  faith- 
ful adherence  to  God  exposed  them  !  Nor  is  it  any  small  matter  to 
set  ourselves  again&t  the  temptations  of  the  world,  there  is  a  fash- 
ion in  every  thing,  even  in  religion  ;  and  it  requires  fortitude  of 
mind  to  withstand  its  influence,  and  to  adhere  to  the  dictates  of 
scripture,  let  them  be  stigmatized  as  they  may.     Nor  does  it  re- 


Sermon  IV.]  WHO  DIE  IN  THE  LORD,  73 

quirp  If'ss  fortitude  to  withstand  the  current  of  evil  customs,  by 
whioh  we  may  be  certain,  in  many  cases  to  expose  ourselves  to 
sconi  and  contempt.  These  things,  I  say,  are  labour ;  labour 
from  which  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  are  at  rest.  The  course 
of  u;is  world  has  no  longer  any  inllnence  on  them  ;  they  are  arri- 
ved in  the  desired  haven,  where  neither  tide  nor  tempest  can  affect 
them. 

A^ain  :  Our  services  for  God,  in  the  present  state,  may,  very 
properly,  be  c:illed  labour,  on  account  of  the  natural  itifinnities 
and  i^iciions  which  here  attend  us,  especially/  in  the  last  stages  of 
life.  Thp  most  active  Christan,  whose  delight  in  his  Lord's  work 
has  been  such  as  to  render  it  its  own  reward,  will  soon  find  the 
years  draw  nigh,  in  which  he  shall  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
th  -m.  It  is  then  that  the  strength  is  labour  and  sorrow.  It  is 
then  fiiat  the  spirit  is  often  willins;,  ivhen  the  flesh  is  weak.  Our 
dear  deceased  friend  experienced  much  of  this,  during  the  last 
few  years  of  his  life.  Reading  and  prayer,  and  every  other  re- 
ligious duty,  was  a  labour  ;  but  the  tnbernacle  in  which  he  groan- 
ed is  now  dissolved  ;  he  is  now  at  rest  from  his  labours. 

Once  more  :  The  greatest  and  most  grievous  struggle  of  all  is 
owing  to  our  own  native  deprav-ty.  It  is  this  that  forms  the  most 
dijotrerous  stream  against  which  we  have  to  strive.  We  may  with- 
draw ourselves  from  the  world,  but  not  from  this  ;  this  will  ac- 
company us  in  all  our  retirements,  and  in  all  our  efforts.  He 
that  is  contented  to  serve  the  Lord  with  mere  bodily  exercise, 
may  feel  no  manner  of  difficulty  from  this  quarter  ;  but  he  that 
would  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  that  would  meditate, 
pray,  praise,  preach,  or  hear,  as  he  ought,  will  find  it  the  great 
burden  of  his  life.  A  mmd  prone  to  forget  God,  and  wander  in 
'orbidden  paths  ;  an  heart  unaffected  with  the  great  things  of  God, 
flying  off  from  him  and  fixing  upon  things  that  do  not  profit  ;  these 
are  matters  which  made  an  Apo=t!e  eschiim,  O  nr  etc  lied  man  that 
lam!  It  is  these  which  render  our  life  a  labour.  To  be  at  rest 
fron:  these,  is  heaven  indeed  ! 

But  another  idea  afforded  u^  of  the  heavenly  state  is,  that  of  a 
reau'd.  Those  -vho  die  in  the  Lord,  not  only  rest  from  their  la- 
bours, but  (/iejV?^or/:s(7oyb/io?fl  ?/te/n.     It  has  been   a  common  ob- 

VoL.  VII.  10 


74  BLESSEDNEoS  OP  THE  DEAD  [SbrMon  IV. 

servalion  on  this  passage,  and,  for  ought  I  know,  a  just  one,  that 
Iheir  works  are  not  said  to  go  before  them,  as  a  ground  of  justifica- 
tion ;  but  io  follow  them,  as  witnesses  in  their  favour.  1  appre- 
hend, however,  they  will  not  only  follow  them  as  witnesses,  but 
will  have  place  among  the  intermediate  causes  of  their  felicity. 
It  is  true,  they  will  constitute  no  part  of  our  title  to  eternal  life? 
that  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ^  but, 
a  title  to  admission  being  thus  conferred,  they  will  contribute  to 
augment  our  bliss.  The  scriptures  every  where  teach  us,  that 
the  services  and  sufferings  of  the  faithful  shall  meet  with  a  divine 
reward;  which,  though  not  of  debt,  but  of  grace,  is,  nevertheless, 
a  reward  ;  which  it  could  not  be,  if  what  was  enjoyed  in  the  life 
to  come,  had  no  relation  to  what  was  done  in  the  present  life. 

God  will  reward  his  servants,  at  the  last  day,  with  his  public  ap- 
probation before  an  assembled  world.  The  king  shall  say  unto 
them  on  his  right  hand,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  I 
Was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat  :  I  teas  thirsty,  and  ye  gave 
me  drink  :  I  n'as  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in  :  naked,  and  ye  cloth 
cdme  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me  :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came 
nnto  me.  Nor  shall  their  works  stop  here  ;  but  shall  follow  them 
into  the  heavenly  state  itself,  and  furnish  matter  of  joyful  recol- 
lection for  ever  ;  affording  a  kind  of  measure  according  to  which 
their  reward  in  heaven  will  be  conferred.  The  whole  current  of 
scripture  appears,  to  me,  to  teach  us,  that  there  will  be  degrees 
of  happiness,  as  well  as  of  misery,  in  the  future  state  ;  and  that 
those  who  have  served  the  Lord  with  the  greatest  fidelity  and 
zeal  in  this  world,  will  enjoy  the  greatest  portion  of  mental  bliss 
in  the  world  to  come.  If  the  labours  which  we  here  endure  have 
a  tendency  to  meeten  us  for  the  heavenly  rest ;  if  present  bitters 
xvill  render  future  sweet  the  sweeter  ;  and,  if  it  is  thus  that  our 
light  affiiction,  -which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  afar 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  ;  it  must,  then,  follow 
that  there  will  be  some  proportion  between  our  present  labours 
and  our  future  enjoyments.  I  mean,  it  cannot  be  supposed,  that 
(hose  who  have  laboured  but  little  for  God  will  enjoy  an  equal  por- 
:ion  of  felicity  with  those  who  have  laboured  much. 


Sermon  IV.]  WHO  DIE  IN  THE  LORD.  73 

Upon  no  other  principle,  that  I  can  see,  can  we  understand 
those  passages  of  scripture  which  exhort  us  to  Imj  up  treasure  in 
heaven  ;  to  lay  up  in  store  for  ourselves  a  good  foundation  against 
the  time  to  come ;  which  encourage  us  under  reproaches  and  per- 
secutions for  the  name  of  Christ,  saying,  great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven;  and  which  warn  us,  saying,  Be  not  deceived^  God  is  not 
mocked  '.for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  For 
he  that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption  :  but  he 
that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting. — 
He  that  soweth  sparingly,  shall  reap  sparingly  ;  but  he  that  soioeth 
bountifully,  shall  reap  bmintifully.  For  tie  tnust  all  appear  hefoi c 
the  judgment  scat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things 
done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good 
or  bad.  We  see  here,  that  laying  out  ourselves  for  CJod  is  laying 
up  treasure  in  heaven,  and  that  everlasting  life  is  a  harvest  that 
will  grow  out  of  the  seed  sown  to  the  Spirit. 

Some  serious  people  have  demurred  upon  this  subject,  lest  it 
should  effect  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace,  and  encourage 
boasting.  Indeed,  if  those  works  which  follow  us  into  the  heav- 
enly state  were  to  be  ascribed  to  us  as  their  first  cause,  and  were 
considered  as  the  proper  meritorious  ground  of  our  reward,  there 
would  be  weight  in  the  objection  ;  but  if  it  be  the  Lord  who  has 
wrought  all  our  works  in  us,  and  if  the  reward  with  which  he  is 
pleased  to  crown  them  be  a  matter  of  grace,  and  not  of  debt,  where 
then  is  boasting  ?  It  is  only  God's  graciously  rewarding  his  own 
work.  If  ten  thousand  crowns  were  placed  upon  the  Christian's 
head,  he  would  cast  them  immediately  at  his  Redeemer's  feet, 
saying,  Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us,  but  to  thy  name  give  glory. 

It  is  through  the  intimate  union  between  Christ  and  believers, 
that  they  are  not  only  accepted  in  him,  but  what  they  do  for  Christ 
is  accepted  also,  and  rewarded  for  his  sake.  The  Lord  had  re- 
spect unto  Abel,  and  to  his  offering.  We  are  not  only  accepted 
in  the  beloved,  but  our  sacrifices  become  acceptable  to  God  through 
Jesus  Christ.  As  there  is  no  sin  so  great,  but  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  can  forgive  it  ;  no  blessing  so  great,  but  he  can  bestow  it  ; 
so  there  is  no  service  so  small,  if  done   from  love  to  him,  but  he 


76  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  [Seumon  IV 

will  reward  it.     A  cup  of  cold  water,  given  to  a  disciple,  because 
he  belongs  to  hint,  will  insure  a  disciple's  reward. 

God's  graciously  counecting  blessings  with  the  obedience  of  his 
people,  serves  to  show,  not  only  his  love  to  his  Son,  and  to  them, 
but  also  his  love  to  holiness  and  righteousness.  A  idther  may  le- 
gign  to  give  an  inheritance  to  his  child,  and  variou?  other  ciccom- 
modations  ;  he  may  design  also  to  fit  him,  as  mttch  a;?  may  bf-,  for 
the  enjoyment  of  what  he  has  to  beslow  upon  him.  On  this  prin- 
ciple, he  will  connect  alnost  every  gift,  or  favour  that  he  coDfers, 
with  some  act  of  filial  duty.  It  is  easy  to  see,  in  tliis  case,  ti'at 
the  father  does  not  consider  these  things  as  the  child's  due  upon 
the  footing  of  merit  ;  for  all  that  he  did  was  simply  his  duty  :  but 
love  to  his  child  induced  him  to  give  ;  and  love  to  diligence,  obe- 
dience, and  good  order,  induced  him  to  give  it  in  such  a  m-v.r.'^r. 
It  is  thus  that  God  gives  grace  and  glory.  It  is  thus  that,  sd  •*his 
]'i{e,Jlnding  is  connected  with  seeking ,  forgiveness  with  confession, 
and  salvation  with  believing  ;  and,  in  the  life  to  come,  eter;ial  a;lo- 
ry  vvith  suffering,  warring,  and  overcoming.  It  is  thus  thnt  God 
displays,  at  the  same  time,  the  freeness  of  his  grace,  and  his  love  of 
righteousness  and  good  order.  Grace  reigns  in  a  way  of  righteous- 
ness through  the  whole  system  of  salvation.  Those  that  are  saved 
shall  be  sufficiently  convinced  that  it  is  all  of  grace;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  all  shall  see  the  equity  and  fitness  of  the  divine  pro- 
ceedings, in  judging  every  man  according  to  his  works. 

But  I  proceed  to  consider. 

II.  The  uses  that  this  two-fold  idea  op  the  heavenly 
STATE  IS  adapted  TO  PROMOTE.  All  divine  truth  has  a  tendency 
to  do  us  good,  and  the  sentiments  taught  us  in  this  passage  are 
adapted  to  our  present  situation. 

1.  A  rest  for  thosi!  who  die  in  the  Lord,  may  reconcile  us  to  the 
loss  of  our  dearest  Christian  friends,  seeing  they  are  gone  to  the 
possession  of  it,  andarefrom  hencefirfh  blessed.  When  our  Lord 
Jesus  was  about  to  leave  the  world,  and  his  disciples  we  overmuch 
dejected  at  the  thought  of  his  going,  he  told  them.  If  ye  loved  me, 
ye  would  rejoice  because  I  said  I  go  to  the  Father,  for  my  Father 
is  greater  than  I;  which  is  as  if  he  had  said,  '  The  glory  and  hap- 
piness which  my  Father  possesses,  and  which  I  go  to  possess  with 


Sermon  IV.]  WHO  DIE  IN  TME  LORD.  77 

him,  is  greater  than  any  thing  1  can  here  enjoy  ;  if,  therefore,  ye 
loved  me  in  a  proper  manner,  instead  of  weeping  at  my  departure, 
surely  je  would  rejoice  at  it.  If  the  love  that  we  bear  to  our 
Christian  friends  were  but  properly  directed,  if  our  minds  were 
but  capacious  enough  to  take  all  things  into  consideration,  we 
should  mingle  joy  with  all  our  mourning,  on  their  account. 

2.  A  rest  before  us,  may  reconcile  7ts  who  are  left  behind,  to  ar 
the  labours  and  pains  and  weariness  of  life.  We  need  not  tire, 
or  want  to  sit  down  here  ;  there  will  be  time  enough  to  rest  us  by 
and  by.  Nor  need  we  be  discouraged  with  all  the  trials  of  the 
present  state.  What,  though  it  were  in  weariness  and painfulntss, 
in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold  and  nakedness,  that  we  had'^to  pass 
the  remainder  of  our  days  1  What,  though  bonds  and  afflictions 
should  abide  us  ?  The  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  wor- 
thy to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us. 
The  rest  that  remains  will  make  us,  like  Joseph,  ybrg-ef  a// owr 
toil,  and  all  our  father'' s  house  ;  so  forget  it,  however,  as  never  to 
think  of  it  any  more,  but  with  joy  and  thankfulness. 

3.  The  glorious  reward  before  us,  may  stimidate  us  to  work  for 
God,  with  all  our  might,  while  life  continues.  It  is  affecting  to 
consider  what  we  are  doing  in  this  life  as  the  seeds  of  an  eternal 
harvest.  Let  us  keep  this  thought  habitually  in  view.  There  is 
a  way  of  turning  the  ills  of  life  into  good,  yea,  an  everlasting  good. 
Every  temptation  to  evil  that  accosts  us  is  a  price  put  into  our 
hands  ;  it  affords  us  an  opportunity  of  proving  our  love  to  Godjbj' 
denying  ourselves,  in  that  instance,  for  his  sake.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  afflictions  ;  they  afford  us  an  opportunity  for  the  exer- 
cise of  patience,  and  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God;  and  what  a  har- 
vest of  joy  such  things  may  issue  in,  is  beyon  d  our  capacity  to  con- 
ceive. Perhaps,  it  was  under  some  such  views  as  these,  that  the 
primitive  Christians  were  used  to  rejoice  in  tribulation,  and  were 
exhorted  to  count  it  all  joy,  xvhen  they  fell  into  divers  temptations. 

4.  If  our  works  will  follow  us,  we  have  reason  to  tremble,  aa 
well  as  rejoice.  The  works  of  those  who  die  out  of  Christ,  as  well 
as  the  others,  will  follow  them.  Their  life  is  a  seed-time,  and 
they  also  will  receive  a  harvest.  All  men  have  their  opportuni- 
ties, their  temptations,  and  their  afflictions  ;  and  they  will  work  in 


78  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  [Sbrmos  IV. 

some  way,   either  as   a  savour  of  life  unto  life,  or  of  death  unto 
death;  either  as  an  eternal  weight  of  glory,  or  of  infamy  and  misery. 

But  what  shall  I  say  in  immediate  reference  to  the  present  mel- 
ancholy occasion  ?  I  wish  I  could  say  something  that  might  have 
a  tendency  to  comfort  those  that  mourn.  We  have  all  sustained  a 
heavy  loss.  The  town  has  lost  one  that  sought  its  welfare  ;  the 
poor  have  lost  a  benefactor  ;  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber and  an  officer,  has  lost  one  the  study  of  whose  life  it  was  to 
promote  its  prosperity  ;  those  who  had  the  pleasure  of  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  him  have  lost  a  steady,  faithful,  and  judi- 
cious friend  ;  and  you,  my  friend,  the  partner  of  his  life,  you  have 
sustained  a  heavier  loss  than  any  of  us.  But  let  us  try  and  con- 
sider, the  loss  is  not  so  great,  but  that  it  might  have  been  greater. 
We  have  not  to  sorrow  as  those  that  have  no  hope.  Our  grief  is 
confined  to  ourselves.  We  have  no  cause  to  weep  on  his  account. 
This  is  a  thought  which,  though  frequently  mentioned  on  such  oc- 
casions as  these,  yet  can  never  be  sufficiently  realized.  To  bury 
a  Christian  friend,  is  nothing  in  comparison  of  burying  those  rela- 
tions of  whose  piety  we  have  no  well-grounded  satisfaction.  Add 
to  this,  the  mercy  of  God  in  not  taking  him  away  in  the  prime  of 
life  and  health  and  usefulness.  He  had  been  removed  ten  or 
twelve,  or  even  five  or  six  years  ago,  the  stroke  had  been  much 
more  felt,  by  all  his  connexions,  than  it  is  now. 

I  have  often  admired  the  wisdom  and  mere}'  of  God,  in  these 
things.  We  see  the  threatening  hand  of  God  laid  upon  one  of  our 
dearest  friends  or  relatives  ;  at  first,  vve  think  we  can  never  en- 
dure the  loss  ;  but  the  affliction  continues  ;  meanwhile,  the  weight 
which  he  sustained  in  society  is  gradually  removed,  and  falls,  by 
degrees,  upon  his  friends  about  him  ;  life  becomes  a  burden  to 
himself;  at  length,  the  very  same  principle  that  made  it  appear 
impossible  for  us  to  endure  a  separation,  renders  us  incapable  of 
praying  or  even  wishing  for  his  continuance  ;  and  thus  the  burden 
that  we  should  scarcely  have  known  how  to  bear,  becomes  tolera- 
ble, by  being  gradually  let  down,  as  it  were,  upon  our  shoulders. 

Our  dear  friend  has  left  many  relations  behind  him  ;  most  of 
whom,  1  suppose  may  at  this  time,  be  present.     My  dear  friendr^. 


Sermon  IV.]  WHO  DIE  IN  THE  LORD.  79 

I  have  often  heard  him  express  his  anxiety  for  several  of  you,  both 
as  to  your  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare.  Some  of  you  may  have 
been  apt  to  consider  him  as  an  enviable  character,  on  account  ol  his 
wealth  ;  but,  be  assured,  he  was  much  more  enviable  on  account 
of  his  piety  ;  you  need  not  wish  so  much  to  live  like  him  as  a  gen- 
tleman, as  to  live  and  die  like  him  as  a  Christian. 

But,  I  suppose,  it  will  be  expected  that  I  should  say  something 
more  particularly  of  the  deceased  himself.  I  have  commonly  de- 
clined saying  much  on  this  head  ;  and  I  still  think,  that,  generally 
speaking,  it  is  right  to  do  so  ;  because  the  generality  of  characters 
even  of  good  men,  have  nothing  in  them  very  remarkable  or  wor- 
thy of  being  held  up  for  our  imitation.  But,  for  this  very  reason,  I 
think,  in  some  cases  it  would  be  wrong  to  omit  it.  Perhaps  no 
human  writings  have  had  a  better  effect  than  the  lives  of  eminent- 
ly holy  men.  When,  therefore,  any  such  characters  appear 
among  us,  1  think  it  is  right  to  collect  as  much  information  respec- 
ting them  as  we  can,  that  the  remembrance  of  them  maybe  of  gen- 
eral use. 

So  far  as  education  and  parental  example  could  influence,  our 
dece;\sed  friend  might  be  said  to  have  known  the  holy  scriptures 
from  a  child.  His  family,  for  generations  past,  have  walked  in  the 
ways  of  piety.  His  great  grandfather,  Mr,  William  Wallis,  was 
the  founder,  and  tirst  minister  of  the  church  of  which  you  and  I 
are  members.  He  founded  it  in  1696.  His  grandfather,  Mr. 
Thomas  Wallis,  succeeded  in  the  same  office,  ft  was  in  his 
time  that  the  late  Dr.  Gill,  and  the  late  Mr.  Brine,  were  both  cal- 
led to  the  ministry.  He  died  in  1726,  and  his  funeral  sermon  is 
said,  as  in  the  present  instance,  to  have  been  preached  in  this 
place,*  on  account  of  the  number  of  people  who  attended  it.  His 
father,  Mr.  William  Wallis,  though  not  a  minister,  as  his  prede- 
cessors had  been,  was  a  very  respectable  member  of  the  same 

*From  a  respect  to  Mr.  Wallis's  memory,  a  greater  number  of  people  at- 
tended his  funeral  than  Mr.  Fullet's  meeting  could  contain;  and  the  use  of 
the  Independent  meeting  house  having  been  respHctfully  offered,  this  discourse 
■was  delivered  there.  This  circumstance  accounts  for  some  little  variaton  of 
phraseology,  which  an  attentive  reader  mny  observe  in  what  relates  to  the 
church.  Ed. 


80  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  [Sermon  IV. 

community.  When  he  died,  which  was  in  1757,  his  son,  our  de- 
ceased friend,  was  but  twenty-two  years  of  age.  From  his  earh- 
est  years  he  was  under  strong  convictions  of  the  truth  and  impor- 
tance of  religion  ;  but  the  most  remarkable  impression  of  this  sort 
was  made  at  the  death  of  his  father.  It  was  then,  as  he  said,  that 
he  went  and  prayed  to  God,  and  thought  within  himself,  "  O  that 
I  had  but  an  interest  in  Christ;  and  felt  all  the  world  and  all  its  en- 
joyments, to  be  mere  vanity  without  it !" 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  he  had  a  brother,  Mr.  Joseph 
Wallis,  about  twelve  years  of  age.  The  amiable  piety  of  that 
young  man  is  said  to  have  appeared  at  an  early  period  ;  but,  to 
the  great  grief  of  his  friends,  espefially  of  his  brother,  he  was  re- 
moved by  the  small-pox,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  age. 

In  the^year  1763,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  Mr.  Wallis  be- 
came a  member  of  the  same  Christian  community  in  which  his 
predecessors  had  lived  and  died.  About  five  years  after,  he  was 
chosen  to  the  office  of  a  deacon;  an  office  which  he  has  filled  with 
honour  and  satisfaction  for  twenty-four  years.  It  was  a  great 
blessing  to  the  church,  especially  when,  for  the  space  of  five 
years,  they  were  destitute  of  a  minister,  that  he  was  invested  with 
this  office,  and  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life  and  usefulness.  It  will 
long  be  remembered,  with  what  meekness  of  wisdom  he  presided 
in  the  church,  during  that  uncomfortable  interval  ;  and  how,  not- 
withstanding all  the  disadvantages  of  such  a  situation,  they  were 
not  only  preserved  in  peace,  but  gradually  increased,  till  a  minis- 
tor  was  settled  among  them. 

God  endued  him  with  a  sound  understanding  and  a  solid  judgment. 
His  knowledge  was  extensive,  and  his  observation  ons  men  and 
things,  ripened  by  long  experience,  were  just  and  accurate.  He 
had  a  quick  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  of  propriety  and  impropriety, 
which  rendered  his  counsel  of  great  esteem  in  cases  of  difficulty. 
To  this  was  added  a  spirit  of  activity.  Though  during  the  great- 
er part  of  his  life,  he  was  out  of  trade;  yet  his  head  and  hands  were 
always  full  with  the  concerns  of  others,  either  those  of  private  indi- 
viduals, with  which  he  was  entrusted,  or  matters  of  public  util- 
ity.    Hp  would  ri«e  by  five  in  the  morning,  in  summer,  and  be  as 


SjermomIV.J  who  DIL  in  the  lord.  gj 

diligent  all  the  day  as    if  he  had   had   to  obtain   his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow. 

But,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  his  charac- 
ter was  sincerity^  or  integrity  of  heart..  This  was  a  temper  of  mind 
that  ran  through  all  his  concerns.  In  a  cause  of  righteousness,  he 
possessed  a  severity  which  rendered  it  almost  impossible  for 
treachery  to  stand  before  hinn.  He  was  prudent,  but  his  prudence 
never  degenerated  into  low  policy,  or  any  thing  that  deserved  the 
name  of  subtilty.  If  motives  of  mere  prudence  were  proposed  to 
him,  he  would  hesitite,  nor  would  he  accede  till  he  had  thought 
whether  the  measure  was  right.  U  he  could  but  satisfy  himself  on 
that  head,  he  would  be  regardless  of  consequences,  or  of  popular 
opinion.  Even  in  his  coiitributions,  one  might  perceive  his  love 
©f  righteousness.  Though  an  economist  from  principle,  he  had 
nothing  of  the  niggird  :  only  convince  him  that  a  cause  was  right, 
(and  that  was  easily  done,  if  it  was  so,)  and  he  would  engage  in  it 
with  all  his  heart,  nor  think  much  of  any  expense.  ''  I  wish  to  do 
what  is  n'g/iY,"  he  would  say,  "  and  leave  consequences."  He 
was  a  standing  example  of  the  falsehood  of  that  system  which 
teaches  that  "flattery  is  essential  to  politeness."  If  to  behave  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  gain  the  esteem  of  all  descriptions  of  men,  be 
politeness,  he  was  polite  ;  yet  he  hated  flattery.  He  would  neither 
flatter,  nor  be  flattered  by  ottiers.  The  true  secret  by  which  he 
obtained  esteem  was,  an  unaffected  modesty,  mingled  with 
kindness  and  goodness. 

He  possessed  a  peculiar  decision  of  character.  His  judgment 
was  generally  formed  with  slow  deliberation  ;  but  having  once 
made  up  his  mind,  it  was  not  easily  altered.  He  was  decisive  in 
the  principles  he  embraced.  He  held  nothing  with  a  loose  hand. 
He  observed  to  me,  a  few  weeks  before  he  died,  when  mentioning 
what  he  conceived  to  have  Seen  his  great  defect  in  religion,  that 
it  was  not  a  wavering  disposition.  "  I  have  not,"  said  he,  "  been 
tossed  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine."  He  has  sometimes 
ingenuously  confessed,  that  he  thought  himself  more  in  danger  of 
erring,  by  a  prejudiced  attachment  to  receiving  principles,  than  by 
the  contrary.  He  was  equally  decisive  in  matters  o( practice.  He 
sea  cely  ever  engaged  in  anything  with  indifference.  What  his 
Vol.  VII.  11 


82  BLESSEDNESS  OF  THE  DEAD  [Sermon  IV. 

hand  found  him  to  do,  he  did  it  with  his  might.  Having  formed  his 
judgment  that  such  a  matter  was  right,  he  would  pursue  it  with 
indefatigable  industry,  patience,  and  perseverance ;  he  would 
wade  through  difficulties  that  would  have  discouraged  most  men  ; 
nor  was  he  ever  satisfied  till  he  had  accomplished  his  end. 

There  are  few  men  that  have  possessed  a  greater  degree  of 
genuine  humility.  It  is  often  seen,  waere  persons  of  affluence 
unite  with  a  Christian  community,  they  consider  themselves  as 
doing  great  honour  to  it,  and  expect  great  homage  in  return.  But 
this  every  one  that  knew  him  can  bear  witness  was  not  his  spirit. 
It  was  not  natural  to  him  to  assume  the  airs  of  a  Diotrephes,  or  to 
avail  himself  of  the  influence  which  his  circumstances  and  situa- 
tion afforded  him,  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage.  He  was  some- 
times warm  and  sanguine  ;  but  that  was  not  frequent,  and  never 
but  when  he  considered  himself  as  engaged  in  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness. 

To  this  may  be  added,  there  was  a  ye'mo^  serious  godliness  that 
ran  through  his  life.  It  is  true,  he  was  often  dejected  in  his  own 
mind,  lest  he  should  be  found  wanting  at  last ;  so  much  so,  as  to 
give  considerable  pain  to  his  friends.  "  There  is  something  in 
religion,"  he  would  say,  "  with  which  I  fear  I  have  been  all  my 
life  unacquainted."  This  dejection  I  attribute,  in  a  great  degree, 
to  constitution.  There  are  few  characters  that  have  discovered 
a  greater  fear  of  God,  a  greater  acquiescence  in  the  way  of  salva- 
tion through  a  crucified  Saviour,  or  a  greater  concern  to  spend  his 
life  in  doing  good.  That  which  would  have  hurt  the  pride  of  many  a 
rich  man,  namely,  to  unite  with  the  poor  and  illiterate  as  his  breth- 
ren, was  no  mortification  to  him  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  lately  said, 
''  I  reckon  it  the  greatest  honour  of  my  life,  to  have  been  employ* 
ed  in  promoting  the  interest  of  Christ.'' 

There  is  one  circumstance  more,  which  I  cannot  omit. 
About  a  week  before  he  died,  he  requested  that  a  f^vr  of  hi^ 
Christian  friends  might  come  and  see  him,  and  pray  with  him. 
Five  of  us  went.  When  there,  he  told  us,  he  did  not  wish  us  to 
pray  for  his  life  ;  he  considered  it  as  the  will  of  God  that  he  should 
die  ;  and  he  added,  "  His  will  be  done  !  But  pray,"  said  he, 
'  that  if  there  are  any  sins  of  which  I  have  been  guilty,  and  have 


6ERM0W IV.]  WHO  DIE  IN  THE  LORD.  33 

not  yet  repented  ;  any  sins  for  which  God  has  any  controversy 
with  me,  that  he  would  give  me  a  proper  sense  of  them  before  I 
die.  Or,  if  not,  that  I  might  enjoy  the  hght  of  his  countenance  in 
death."  We  were  all  exceedingly  affected.  After  praying  with 
him  about  an  hour,  he  gathered  up  what  little  strength  he  had,  and 
addressed  himself  to  us  with  a  kind  of  solemn  farewell.  Here- 
minded  us  of  the  difficulties  we  had  been  brought  through  as  a 
church,  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  leaving  us  in  so  comfortable  a 
situation,  recommended  us  to  love  one  another,  and  solemnly  com- 
mended us  to  the  blessing  of  God !  Surely  I  shall  never  forget 
this  tender  parting !  But  I  have  done.  He  would  have  invited 
others  of  his  friends,  whom  he  equally  loved,  but  his  strength  be- 
gan to  fail  him  ;  and,  in  a  few  days,  after  a  long  series  of  afflic- 
tions, which  he  bore  with  great  patience,  calmness  and  resigna- 
iioD  to  God,  be  fell  asleep. 


THE  NATURE  AND  IMPOKTANCE  OF  A  DEEP  AND  IN- 
TIMATE KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH. 


SERMON  V. 

[Preached  before  the  Baptist  Association  at  St.  Alban?,  June  1,  1796.] 

-•••©•«" 

Heb.  ▼.   12—14. 


For  when  for  the  time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  ueed  that  one  teacli 
you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God  ;  and  are  become 
such  as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of  strong  meat.  For  every  one  that  useth 
milk  is  unskilful  in  the  w  ord  of  righteousness ;  for  he  is  a  babe.  But  strong 
meat  belongeth  to  them  that  are  of  full  age,  even  those  who  by  reason  of  use 
have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil. 


There  is  nothing  in  which  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  king- 
dom of  Satan  are  more  opposed,  than  that  the  one  is  characterized 
by  light,  and  the  other  by  darkness.  The  cause  of  falsehood  is  it- 
self a  dark  cause,  and  requires  darkness  to  cover  it :  but  truth  is 
light,  and  cometh  to  the  light,  that  it  may  be  made  manifest. 
Knowledge  is  every  where  encouraged  in  the  Bible  ;  our  best  in- 
terests are  interwoven  with  it;  and  the  spirituality  of  our  minds, 
and  the  real  enjoyment  of  our  lives  depend  upon  its  increase. 
Grace  and  peace  are  multiplied  through  (he  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  Jesus  our  Lord.  Nor  is  it  necessary  for  our  own  sakes 
only,  but  for  the  s.ike  of  others.     It  is  a  great  encouragement   to 


86  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermos  V. 

Christian  ministers,  when  those  whom  they  teach  possess  a  good 
understanding  in  the  things  of  God.  Indeed,  none  but  those  who 
are  engaged  in  the  work  of  teaching,  can  tell  how  much  the  ardor 
of  the  mind  is  damped  by  the  contrary:  The  truth  of  this  re- 
mark is  exemplified  in  the  writer  of  this  Epistle.  In  the  verses 
immediately  preceding  the  text,  you  perceive  him  highly  in- 
terested in  his  subject,  and  proceeding  in  a  glorious  career  of  reas- 
oning ;  when,  all  on  a  sudden,  he  is  stopped.  He  had  many 
things  to  say  of  his  Lord  and  master  ;  but  which  were  hard  to  be 
understood,  seeing  those  to  whom  he  wrote  were  dull  of  hearing. 
It  is  on  this  occasion  that  he  introduces  the  passage  now  before  us; 
in  which  his  object  is  to  shame  and  provoke  them,  by  comparing 
them  with  those  who  as  to  years  were  men,  but  as  to  knowledge 
children  ;  and  who,  instead  of  having  made  advances  in  science, 
needed  to  be  taught  the  alphabet  over  again.  There  are  some 
things  supposed  and  included  in  the  passage,  which  require  a  little 
previous  attention. 

First  :  It  is  here  supposed,  that  all  divine  knowledge  is  to  be  de- 
rived from  the  oracles  of  God.  It  is  a  proper  term  by  which  the 
sacred  scriptures  are  here  denominated,  strongly  expressive  of 
their  divine  inspiration  and  infallibility:  in  them  God  speaks;  and  to 
them  it  becomes  us  to  hearken.  We  may  learn  other  things,  from 
other  quarters  ;  and  things,  too,  that  may  subserve  the  knowledge 
of  God;  but  the  knowledge  of  God  itself  must  here  be  sought,  for 
here  only  it  can  be  found. 

Much  has  been  said  on  faith  and  reason,  and  the  question  has 
often  been  agitated,  whether  the  one  in  any  instance  can  be  con- 
trary to  the  other  ?  In  the  solution  of  this  question,  it  is  necessa- 
ry in  the  first  place,  to  determine  what  is  meant  by  reason.  There 
is  a  great  difference  between  reason  and  reasoning.  Nothing 
which  God  reveals  can  contradict  the  former  ;  but  this  is  more 
than  can  be  said  of  the  latter.  It  is  impossible  for  God  to  reveal 
any  thing  repugnant  to  what  is  fit  and  right ;  but  that  which  is  fit 
and  right  in  one  man's  estimation,  is  preposterous  and  absurd  in  the 
esteem  of  another  ;  which  clearly  proves,  that  reason  as  it  ex- 
ists in  depraved  creatures  is  not  a  proper  standard  of  truth  ;  and 
hence  arrises  the  necessity  of  another  and  a  better  standard,  the 


Sermon  V.j        KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  37 

nracles  of  God.     By   studying  these,  a   good  man   will  gain  more 
understanding  than  his  teachers,  if  they  live  in  the  neglect  of  them. 

Secondly  :  It  is  supposed,  that  the  oracles  of  God  include  a  sys- 
tem of  divine  truth.  They  contain  the  first  principles,  or  rudi- 
ments, of  religion;  the  simple  truths  of  the  gospel,  which  require 
little  or  no  investigation  in  order  to  their  being  understood  :  these 
are  called  milk.  They  also  contain  the  deep  things  of  God,  things 
beyond  the  reach  of  a  slight  and  cursory  observation  :  and  which 
require,  if  we  would  properly  enter  into  them,  close  and  repeated 
attention  :  this  is  strong  meat.  Those  doctrines  which  the  Apos- 
tle enumerates  in  the  following  chapter,  as  things  which  he  should 
leave,  and  go  on  unto  perfection,  have  been  thought  to  refer  to  the 
leading  principles  of  Judaism  :  and  it  may  be  so  ;  for  Judaism  it- 
self contained  the  first  principles  of  Christianity  ;  it  was  introduc- 
tory to  it ;  or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  expressed,  it  was  our  schoolmaster 
to  bring  us  to  Christ. 

Thirdly  :  It  is  intimated  that  Christians  should  not  rest  satisfied 
in  having  attained  to  a  knowledge  of  the  first  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  but  should  go  on  unto  perfection  :  not  only  so  as  to 
obtain  satisfaction  for  themselves,  but  that  they  may  be  able  to 
teach  others.  It  is  true,  all  are  not  to  be  teachers,  by  office  ;  but, 
in  one  form  or  other,  all  should  aspire  to  communicate  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ.  Every  Christian  is  required  to  be  ready  to  give 
a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him,  with  meekness  and  fear  :  and, 
if  all  the  members  of  our  churches  did  but  possess  this  readiness, 
besides  the  advantages  that  would  accrue  to  themselves  and  others, 
there  would  be  less  scarcity  than  there  is,  of  able  and  evangelical 
ministers. 

The  leading  sentiment  which  runs  through  the  passage,  and  com- 
prises the  whole,  is,  the  importance  of  a  deep  and  intimate 
KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  To  this  Subject,  brethren,  permit 
me  to  call  your  attention.  In  disco'irsing  upon  it,  I  shall  first  in- 
quire wherein  it  consists,  and  then  endeavour  to  show  the  impor- 
tance of  it. 

I.  Let  us  inquire  what  a  deep  and  intimate  knowledge  of 
DIVINE  truth  includes.  That  the  oracles  of  God  contain  deep 
thipgs,  requires    but  little   proof     The  character  of  God  ;  out 


88  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sjcrmon  V. 

own  depravity  ;  and  that  great  mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  &c.  are  deep  and  interesting  subjects.  The  prophets 
had  to  search  into  the  meaning  of  their  own  prophecies.  The  rich- 
es of  Christ,  with  which  the  apostles  were  intrusted,  were  deoem- 
inated  unsearchable ;  and  even  the  highest  orders  of  created  intel- 
ligences are  described  as  looking  into  these  things  for  their  farther 
improvement. 

It  may  seem  presuming  for  any  person,  in  the  present  imperfect 
state,  to  determine  on  subjects  of  such  magnitude  ;  or  to  talic  of  a 
deep  and  intimate  knowledge  of  things  which  surpass  the  compre- 
hension of  the  most  exalted  creatures.  And,  if  these  terms  were 
used  either  absolutely,  to  express  the  real  conformity  of  our  ideas 
of  divine  things  to  the  full  extent  of  the  things  themselves;  or 
even  comparatively  ■,  if  the  comparison  respected  saints  on  earth  and 
saints  in  heaven,  it  would  be  presumption.  But  it  is  only  in  refer- 
ence to  one  another  in  the  present  state,  that  these  terms  are  in- 
tended to  apply.  Compared  with  heavenly  inhabitants,  all  of  us 
are  babes  :  even  an  inspired  Apostle  was  no  more.  When  I  toas 
a  child,  said  he  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought 
as  a  child:  but  when  I  became  a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things. 
For  now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly  ;  but  then  face  to  face  : 
now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known 
There  are  such  degrees,  however,  among  good  men  in  this  life,  as 
that,  compared  with  each  other,  some  may  be  said  to  possess  only 
a  superficial  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  others,  a  more  deep 
and  intimate  acquaintance  with  it. 

It  is  the  importance  of  the  latter  of  these  that  I  wish  to  have  im- 
pressed upon  your  minds.  To  attain  it,  the  following,  among  oth- 
er things,  require  our  attention. 

1.  Though  IDC  must  not  stop  at  first  principles,  yet  we  must  be 
well  grounded  in  them.  No  person  can  drink  deeply  into  any 
science,  without  being  well  acquainted  with  its  rudiments  ;  these 
are  the  foundation  on  which  the  whole  structure  rests.  The  first 
principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  as  specified  by  our  Apostle,  are 
repentance  from  dead  works,  faith  toward  God,  the  doctrine  of 
baptisms,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead) 
and  ctrrnal  judgment.     Whatever  may  be  meant  by  some  of  these 


SfcRMON  v.]  KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  gO 

terms,  whether  they  refer  to  things  pecuHar  to  Judaism,  or  to  the 
early  times  of  Christianity  ;  it  is  clear,  from  scripture  and  the  na- 
ture of  things,  that  others  of  them  are  expressive  of  principles, 
which,  in  every  age,  are  of  the  first  importance.  Though  the 
Apostle  speaks  of  leaving  them,  yet  he  does  not  mean  that  we 
should  give  them  up,  or  treat  them  with  indifference,  but  go  on 
unto  perfection  ;  as  a  builder  leaves  his  foundation  when  he  raises 
his  walls,  and  advances  toward  the  completion  of  his  building 

Repentance  WAS,  the  first  lesson  inculcated  by  John  the  Baptist^ 
and  Christ  and  the  apostles  ;  and  that,  not  merely  on  profligate 
sinners,  but  on  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  All  that  they  had  hitherto 
learned,  required  as  it  were,  to  be  uidearnefl;  and  all  that  they 
had  done,  to  be  undone,  and  utterly  relinquished, 

The  knowledge  which  carnal  men  acquire  of  divine  things  puffs 
them  up  ;  and,  while  they  think  they  understand  great  things, 
they  know  nothing  as  they  ought  to  know  it.  All  the  works,  too, 
which  have  been  wrought  during  a  state  of  unregeneracy  are  deaii 
works;  and,  instead  of  being,  in  any  degree,  pleasing  to  God,  re- 
quire to  be  lamented,  with  shame  and  selt-abhorrence.  Repent- 
ance is  a  kind  of  self-emptying  work  ;  it  includes  a  renunciation, 
not  only  of  those  things  for  which  our  own  consciences  at  the  time 
condemned  us,  but  of  what  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  reckon- 
ing wisdom  and  righteousness.  Hence  the  propriety  of  the  order 
in  which  the  scriptures  place  it,  with  regard  to  faith — Repent  and 
believe  the  gonpel.  Renounce  your  own  ways,  and  embrace  his. 
fie  that  will  he  wise,  mustjirst  become  a  fool,  thai  he  may  be  wise. 

Faith  toward  God,  or  believing  views  of  the  being  and  glory  of 
the  divine  character,  are  reckoned  almost  among  the  first  princi- 
ples of  the  doctrines  of  Christ.  If  we  have  just  ideas  of  this  very 
important  subject,  we  have  the  key  to  the  whole  system  of  gospel 
truth.  He  who  beholds  the  glory  of  the  divine  Iioliness,  will,  in 
that  glass,  perceive  his  own  polluted  and  perishing  condition  ;  and, 
when  properly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  these  things,  he  will 
naturally  embrace  the  doctrine  of  a  Saviour,  yea,  and  of  a  great 
one.  Salvation  by  mere  grace,  through  the  atonement  of  Jesus, 
will  appear  the  very  object  of  his  soul's  desire.  And,  with  these 
principles  in  his  heart,  other  scripture  doctrines  will  appear  true, 

Vot.  VII.  12 


90  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Skrmow  V. 

interesting  and  harmonious.  There  are  but  few  erroneous  senti- 
ments in  the  Christian  world,  whicli  may  not  be  traced  to  a  spirit 
of  self-admiration,  (which  is  the  opposite  of  repentance,)  or  to 
false  conceptions  of  the  divine  character. 

To  these  the  Apostle  adds,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
eternal  judgment  ;  or  tlie  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  of  endless  duration.  These  are  principles,  which, 
though  they  occupy  almost  an  ultimate  place  in  the  sacred  system, 
yet,  as  every  other  important  truth  respecting  man  proceeds  upon 
the  supposition  of  their  reality,  they  may  properly  enough  be 
reckoned  among  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God.  If  these 
principles  were  given  up  to  the  Infidel,  the  spirit  of  whose  creed 
amounts  to  this,  Let  us  eat  and  drinJ&,  for  to-morrow  we  die:  or  it 
the  latter  of  them  were  given  up  to  the  Universalist,  who,  though 
he  admits  of  a  judgment  to  come,  yet  not  of  an  eternal  one  ;  we 
should  soon  6nd  the  whole  fabric  of  truth  falling  to  the  ground. 

2.  We  must  not  content  ourselves  with  knowing  what  is  truth, 
but  must  be  acquainted  with  the  evidence  on  which  it  rests.  Chris- 
tians are  required  to  be  always  ready  to  give  areas^n  for  the  hope 
that  is  in  them,  with  meekness  and  fear  :  and  this  supposes,  not 
only  that  every  part  of  religion  admits  of  a  rational  defence,  but 
that  it  is  necessary  for  Christians  to  study,  that  they  may  be  able 
to  defend  it  ;  or,  at  least,  to  feel  the  ground  on  which  they  rest 
their  hope. 

Tl:e  truths  contained  in  the  oracles  of  God,  may  be  distinguished 
into  two  kinds  :  those  which  approve  themselves  to  our  ideas  of 
wisdom  or  fitness  ;  and  those  which  utterly  surpass  our  understan- 
ding, but  which  require  to  be  believed  as  matters  of  pure  revela- 
tion. The  former  chiefly  respect  the  counsels  and  works  of  God, 
which  are  exhibited  to  our  understanding,  that  God  in  them  may 
be  made  naanifest  :  the  latter  more  commonly  respect  the  being 
and  inconceivable  glories  of  the  Godhead,  the  reality  of  which  we 
are  concerned  to  know,  but  on  their  mode  or  manner  are  forbidden 
to  gaze. 

It  is  exceedingly  desirable  to  trace  the  wisdom  and  harmony  of 
evangelical  truth  :  it  is  a  source  of  enjoyment,  superior  perhaps^ 
to  any  thing  with  which  we  are  acquainted.     All  the  works  of  God 


Sermon  V.]         KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  9j 

are  honourable  and  glorious,  and  sought  out  by  all  them  that  have 
pleasure  therein;  but  redemption  is  h'\i  gi-eat  work,  vvljcreiii  ap- 
pears glory  to  himself  ill  tlie  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  and  good 
will  to  men  :  here,  therefore,  must  needs  be  the  highest  enjoyment. 
Prior  to  the  revelation  of  redemption,  the  holy  anijels  shouted  for 
joy  over  the  works  of  nature  ;  but,  having  witnessed  the  incarna- 
tion, life,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Jesus,  they  desired 
to  look  into  other  things.  Nothing  tends  more  to  establish  the 
mind,  and  to  interest  the  heart,  in  any  truth,  than  a  perception 
that  it  is  adapted,  at  once,  to  express  the  glory  of  the  divine  char- 
acter, and  to  meet  the  necessities  of  guilty  creatures.  The  more  we 
think  of  truth,  therefore,  in  this  way,  the  more  we  shall  be  rooted 
and  grounded  in  it. 

But  vvhatreasort  have  we  to  give,  for  embracing  those  doctrines 
which  we  consider  as  above  reason,  of  the  fitness  of  which  we, 
consequently,  pretend  to  have  no  ideas.  We  answer,  they  are 
contained  in  the  oracles  of  God.  Nothing  is  more  reasonable  th  '.n 
to  give  implicit  credit  to  Him  who  cannot  lie.  On  this  ground,  we 
believe  that  there  are  three  who  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father 
the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  that  these  three  are  one.  If 
God  had  revealed  nothing  but  what  would  have  come  within  the 
limits  of  our  understanding,  he  must  have  told  us  little,  or  nothing 
at  all,  of  his  self-existence,  eternity,  and  infinity  ;  for  we  have  no 
positive  ideas  of  any  of  these  things.  Yet  the  revelation  of  such 
truths  may  be  as  necessary  as  those  which  approach  nearer  to  our 
comprehension.  The  latter  afford  food  for  knowledge  ;  the  for- 
mer teach  us  humility,  and  furnish  matter  foryaj7/t, 

3.  We  must  learn  truth  immediately  from  the  oracles  of  God, 
Many  religious  people  appear  to  be  contented  witli  seeing  truth 
in  the  light  in  which  some  great  and  good  man  has  placed  it  :  but, 
if  ever  we  enter  into  the  gospel  to  purpose,  it  must  be  by  reading 
the  word  of  God  for  ourselves,  and  by  praying  and  meditating  upon 
its  sacred  contents.  It  is  in  God's  light,  that  zve  must  see  light. 
By  conversing  with  the  sacred  writers,  we  shall  grad;ially  im- 
bibe their  sentiment?,  and  be  insensibly  assimilated  into  the  samo 
spirit. 


92  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermon  V . 

The  writings  of  great  and  good  men  are  not  to  be  despised,  any 
more  than  their  preaching  ;  only  let  them  noi  be  treated  as  orac- 
ular. The  best  of  men,  in  this  imperfect  state,  view  things  par- 
tially;  and,  ther=>fore,  are  in  danger  of  laying  an  lmpro|)er  stress 
upon  some  parts  of  scripture,  to  the  neglect  of  olher  parts,  of 
equal,  and,  sometimes,  of  superior  importance.  Now  where  this 
is  the  cuse,  imitation  becomes  dangerous.  It  is  rarely  known  but 
that  an  original  suft'ers  in  the  hands  of  a  copyest  :  it^,  therefore, 
the  former  be  imperfect,  what  may  be  expected  of  the  latter? 
We  all  come  Hir  short  of  truth  and  righteousness,  let  our  model 
be  e.'er  so  perfect  ;  but,  if  this  be  imperfect,  we  shall  possess  not 
only  our  own  faults,  but  those  of  another. 

If,  as  ministers,  we  go  about  to  depict  either  the  character  of  a 
bad  man,  or  of  a  good  man,  a  state  of  unregeneracy,  or  a  work  of 
grace  ;  and,  instead  of  drawing  from  real  life,  only  copy  from  some 
accounts  which  we  have  read  or  heard  of  these  matters,  we  shall 
neither  convince  the  sinner,  nor  meet  the  case  of  the  believer  ; 
all,  to  say  the  least,  will  be  foreign  and  uninteresting. 

If  we  adopt  the  principles  of  fallible  men,  without  searching  the 
scriptures  for  ourselves,  and  inquiring  whether,  or  not,  these 
things  be  so,  they  will  not,  even  allowing  them  to  be  on  the  side  of 
truth,  avail  us  as  if  we  had  learned  them  from  a  higher  authority. 
Our  faith,  in  this  case,  will  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  man,  and  not  in 
the  power  of  God.  There  is  a  savour  in  truth,  when  drawn  from 
the  words  which  the  Holy  Spirit  teaches,  which  is  lost,  or  at  least 
diminished,  if  it  pass  under  the  conceptions  and  expressions  of  men. 
Nor  will  it  avail  us  when  most  needed  ;  for  he  who  receives  his 
creed  from  men,  may  deliver  it  up  to  men  again.  Truth  learned 
only  at  second-hand,  will  be  to  us  what  Saul's  armour  was  to  Da- 
vid ;  we  shall  be  at  a  loss  how  to  use  it  in  the  day  of  trial. 

4.  If  we  would  possess  a  deep  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
divine  truth,  we  must  view  it  in  its  various  connexions,  in  the  great 
system  of  redemption.  Systematical  divinity,  or  the  studying  of 
truth  in  a  systematical  form,  has  been,  of  late  years,  much  decried. 
It  has  become  almost  general  to  consider  it  as  the  mark  of  a  con- 
tracted mind,  and  the  grand  ob;ctruc.tion  to  free  inquiry.  If  we 
imbibe  h  false  system,  indeed,  there  is  no  doubt  but  it  will  prove 


Sekmom  v.]        knowledge  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  93 

injurious;  if  it  be  true  in  part,  but  very  defective,  it  may  impede 
our  progress  in  divine  knowledge  ;  or  if,  in  order  to  retain  a  sys- 
tem, we  torture  the  scriptures  to  make  them  accord  u'ith  it,  we 
shall  pervert  the  truth,  instead  of  preserving  it.  These  are  things 
which  make  against  false,  defective,  and  anti-scriptural  systems  ot 
faith  :  but  not  in  the  least  against  system  itself.  The  best  criteri- 
on of  a  good  system  is  its  agreement  with  the  holy  scriptures. 
That  view  of  things,  whether  we  have  any  of  us  fully  attained  it, 
or  not,  which  admits  the  most  natural  meaning  to  be  put  upon 
every  part  of  God's  word,  is  the  right  system  of  religious  truth. 
And  he  whose  belief  consists  of  a  number  of  positions  arranged  in 
such  a  connexion  as  to  constitute  a  consistent  whole,  but  who,  from 
a  sense  of  his  imperfection,  and  a  remembrance  of  past  errors, 
holds  himself  ready  to  add  or  retrench,  as  evidence  shall  require, 
is  in  a  far  more  advantageous  track  for  the  attainment  of  truth, 
and  a  real  enlargement  of  mind,  than  he  who  thinks  without  a 
-system. 

To  be  without  system  is  nearly  the  same  thing  as  to  be  without 
principle.  Whatever  principles  we  may  have,  while  they  con- 
tinue in  this  disorganized  state,  they  will  answer  but  little  purpose 
in  the  religious  life.  Like  a  tumultuous  assembly  in  the  day  of  bat- 
tle, they  may  exist;  but  it  will  be  without  order,  energy,  or  end. 
No  man  could  decry  systematical  knowledge  in  any  thing  but  relig- 
ion, without  subjecting  himself  to  the  ridicule  of  thinking  men. 
A  philosopher,  for  instance,  would  expose  himself  -to  contempt, 
who,  instead  of  improving  facts  which  had  fallen  under  his  obser- 
vation, that  he  might  discover  the  general  laws  by  which  they  are 
governed;  and,  instead  of  tracing  things  to  their  first  principles, 
and  pursuing  them  to  their  just  consequences,  should  inveigh 
against  all  general  laws,  all  system,  all  connexion  and  depend- 
ence, and  all  uniform  design,  in  the  variety  of  creation.  What 
should  we  say  of  a  husbandman,  who  refused  to  arrange  his  obser- 
vations under  the  respective  branches  of  business  to  which  they 
naturally  belonged  ;  who  had  no  general  scheme,  or  plan  of  pro- 
ceeding; but  left  the  work  of  every  day  to  the  day  itself,  without 
forethought,  contrivance  or  design?  Or  what  opinion  should  we 
form  of  a  merchant,  or  a  tradcsmrfn,  who  should  exclude  systemati- 


94  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATK  [Sermon  V. 

cal  knowledge  from  his  affairs?  He  is  constantly  employed  In 
baying  and  selling  ;  but  he  must  have  no  gener:d  S)stem  whereby 
to  conduct  either  the  one  or  the  other  ;  none  for  (he  regulation  ol 
his  books ;  none  for  the  assortment  of  his  articles  :  all  must  be 
free,  lest  he  sink  into  formality,  and,  by  being  in  a  habit  of  doing 
things   in  order,  should  contract  a  nari'owness  of  mind! 

'But  is  the  Bible  written  upon  systematical  principles;  does 
it  contain  a  system,  or  does  it  encourage  us  to  form  one  ?'  By  the 
Bible  being  written  on  systematical  principles,  I  suppose  is  meant 
a  systematical  arrangement  of  its  contents:  and  there  is  no  doubt 
but  the  contrary  of  this  is  true.  But,  then,  the  same  might  be  said 
of  the  hook  of  nature.  Though  the  different  species  of  animals, 
vegetables,  minerals.  &c.  are  capable  of  being  arranged  under 
their  respective  genera,  and  so  reduced  to  a  system  ;  yet,  in  their 
actual  position  in  creation,  the}'  assume  no  such  appearance.  It 
is  wisely  contrived,  both  in  nature  and  scripture,  that  the  objects  of 
each  should  be  scattered  in  lovely  variety  :  but,  amidst  all  this  va- 
riety; an  observant  eye  will  perceive  unity,  order,  arrangement, 
and  fuUess  of  design. 

God,  in  all  his  works,  has  proceeded  on  system;  there  is  a  beau- 
tiful connexion  and  harmony  in  every  thing  which  he  has  wrought. 
We  sometimes  speak  of  a  system  of  nature,  a  system  of  provi- 
dence, and  a  system  of  redemption  ;  and,  as  smaller  systems  are 
often  included  in  greater,  the  language  is  not  improper  :  in  reali- 
ty, however,  they  are  all  but  one  system  ;  one  grand  piece  of  ma- 
chinery, each  part  of  which  has  a  dependence  on  the  other,  and 
all  together  iorm  one  glorious  whole.  Now,  if  God  proceed  on 
system,  it  may  be  expected  that  the  scriptures,  being  a  transcript 
of  his  mind,  should  contain  a  system ;  and,  if  we  would  study 
them  to  purpose,  it  must  be  so  as  to  discover  what  that  system  is. 

i  never  recollect  to  have  heard  any  objection  to  systematical 
Jivinity  with  regard  to  practice.  Let  a  Christian,  utterly  unac- 
quainted with  human  writings,  take  his  Bible,  with  a  view  to  learn 
the  mind  of  God  upon  any  given  subject,  suppose  it  be  the  duty  of 
parents  :  he  will  naturally  collect  all  the  passages  in  the  sacred 
writings  which  relate  to  that  subject,  arrange  them  in  order,  and. 
from  the  whole  thus  taken  together,  regulate  his  conduct.     For 


Sermon  \'.j  KNOWLEDGE  OF  J31VINK  TRUTH.  95 

(his,  no  one  will  think  of  hljiming  him  :  yet  this  Vy-onld  be  acCmjr 
«ystem;iticnlly. 

Let  hiuido  tlie  same  with  respect  to  every  other  Huty,  nnd  h<; 
will  be  in  possession  of  a  body,  or  system,  of  practical  divinity. 
And  why  should  he  stop  here  ;  ivhy  not  collect  the  mind  of  God, 
from  the  whole  of  scripture  taken  together,  upon  things  to  be /^e- 
lieved,  as  well  as  things  to  be  performed  ? 

If  the  apostles  had  not  considered  divine  truth  in  a  systematical 
lorm,  how  came  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  to  speak  of  the  Jirst 
principles  of  the  oracles  of  God  ?  This  language  supposes,  as  be- 
fore observed,  a  scheme,  or  system  of  faith.  And,  if  such  a  form 
of  considering  truth  were  disadvantageous  to  Christians,  how  came 
he  to  censure  the  Hebrews  for  their  want  of  progress  in  it  ?  lu 
his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  also,  we  read  of  the  proportion,  ov 
analogy,  of  faith  ;  which  certainly  supposes  that  the  gospel  is  one 
proportionate  or  consistent  whole. 

Could  a  system  of  divinity  be  written,  in  which  every  sacred 
truth  or  duty  should  have  a  place  assigned  it,  and  such  a  place, 
both  as  to  order  and  importance,  as  properly  belonged  to  it,  not 
invading  the  province  of  other  truths  or  duties,  but,  on  the  contra- 
ry, subserving  them,  and  itself  appearing  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage among  them  ;  such  a  performance  would  answer  to  what  the 
Apostle  means  by  the  proportion  of  faith.  '  But  can  we  expect  a 
work  answering  to  this  description  from  an  uninspired  pen  ?'  Per- 
haps not.  The  materials  for  such  a  model  exist,  however,  in  the 
holy  scriptures  ;  and,  though  we  cannot  collect  and  arrange  them 
to  perfection,  let  us,  as  in  all  other  things,  f»rcss  towards  the  mark. 

Let  that  system  of  religion  which  we  embrace  be  but,  in  the 
main,  the  right  one,  and,  so  far  from  contracting  the  mind,  it  is 
easy  to  perceive  that  it  will  abundantly  enlarge  it. 

For  example:  let  the  fact  of  Joseph's  being  sold  in  Egypt  be 
viewed  without  its  connexion  with  God's  designs^  and  it  will  ap- 
pear a  melancholy  instance  of  human  depravity  :  we  shall  see 
nothing  very  remarkable  in  it ;  and  it  will  seem  calculated  only  to 
afford  a  disgusting  picture  of  family  jealousies  and  intrigues,  enough 
to  break  the  heart  of  an  aged  parent.  But  let  the  same  flict  be 
viewed  systematically,  as  a  link  in  a  chain,  or  as  a  part  of  a  whole, 


90  ON  A  DEt:r  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermox  V. 

and  it  will  assume  a  very  different  appearance.  Thus  viewed,  it 
is  an  event  pregnant  with  glory.  He  must  needs  go  down  into 
Egypt,  that  much  people  might  be  preserved  alive  ;  that  Jacob's 
family  might  follow  him  ;  that  they  might  there  be  reserved  for  a 
season,  till,  in  due  time,  having  become  a  great  nation,  they  should 
be  led  forth  with  a  high  hand  ;  that  they  might  be  placed  in  Canaan, 
and  might  set  up  the  worship  of  the  true  God  ;  that  the  Messiah  mighi 
be  born  among  them  ;  and  that  his  kingdom  might  be  extended 
over  the  whole  earth.  Without  a  system,  the  Patriarch  reflected, 
All  these  things  are  against  me  :  but  with  a  system,  or  rather  with 
only  the  discovery  of  a  very  small  part  of  it,  he  exclaimed,  It  is 
enough:  Joseph  mi/ son  is  yet  alive  :  I  will  go  down,  and  see  him 
before  I  die. 

In  addition  to  this  event  in  providence,  let  us  offer  a  few  exam- 
ples in  matters  o( doctrine. 

Would  you  contemplate  the  great  evil  of  sin,  you  must  view  it 
in  its  connexions,  tendencies,  and  consequences.  For  a  poor 
finite  creature,  whose  life  is  but  a  vapour,  to  gratify  a  vicious 
inclination,  may  appear  a  trifle :  but,  when  its  tendencies 
and  mischievous  consequences  are  taken  into  the  account,  it  wears 
a  difl'erent  aspect.  Jeroboam  said  in  his  heart,  if  this  people  go 
up  to  sacrifice  at  Jerusalem,  then  shall  the  kingdom  return  unto 
David.  Hence  he  set  up  idolatry  ;  and  hence  the  nation  was  cor- 
rupted more  and  more,  till,  at  length,  it  was  given  up  to  utter  de- 
struction. Considering  ourselves  as  links  in  the  great  chain  of 
moral  government,  every  transgression  is  of  vast  importance,  be- 
cause it  affects  the  whole  system.  If  the  government  of  God  be 
once  violated,  an  example  is  set,  which  if  followed,  would  ruin  the 
universe. 

Farther  :  If  we  contemplate  the  death  of  Christ  without  any 
relation  to  system,  we  shall  only  see  a  suffeiing  person  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  feel  that  pity  and  disgust  which  is  ordinarily  excited  by 
injustice  and  cruelty.  But  let  us  view  it  as  connected  with  the 
moral  government  of  God  ;  as  a  glorious  expedient  to  secure  its 
honours  ;  a  propitiation  wherein  God  declared  his  righteousness 
for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  we  shall  have  a  new  set  of  feelings. 
While  the  apostles  continued  to  view  this   event  unconnectedly, 


Sekmon  v.]  knowledge  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  97 

their  minds  were  contracted,  and  sorrow  filled  their  hearts  ;  but 
when  their  eyes  were  opened  to  see  it  in  its  connexions  and  con- 
sequences, their  sorrow  was  turned  into  joy.  Those  very  persons 
who,  but  a  few  weeks  before,  could  not  bear  to  think  of  their 
Lord's  departure  ;  after  they  had  witnessed  his  ascension  to  glory, 
returned  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joi/,  and  continued  daily  in  the 
temple,  praising  and  blessing  God. 

Once  more  :  If  we  view  the  doctrine  o(  election  as  unconnec- 
ted with  other  things,  it  may  appear  to  us  to  be  a  kind  of  fondness, 
without  reason  or  wisdom,  A  charge  of  caprice  would,  hereby, 
be  brought  against  the  Almighty  ;  and  professors,  like  the  carnal 
Jews,  on  account  of  the  distinguishing  favours  conferred  on  their 
nation,  would  be  fostered  in  self-conceit.  But,  if  it  be  considered 
in  connexion  with  the  great  system  of  religious  truth,  it  will  ap- 
pear in  a  very  different  light.  It  will  represent  the  Divine  Being 
in  his  true  character  ;  not  as  acting  without  design,  and  subjecting 
himself  to  endless  disappointments  ;  but  as  accomplishing  all  his 
works  in  pursuance  of  an  eternal  purpose.  And,  as  salvation, 
from  first  to  last,  is  of  mere  grace,  and  every  son  and  daughter  of 
Adam  is  absolutely  at  the  divine  discretion,  it  tends  powerfully  to 
impress  this  idea  both  upon  saints  and  sinners.  While  it  leads  the 
former  to  acknowledge,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  they  are  what 
they  are,  it  teaches  the  latter  to  relinguish  their  vain  hopes,  and 
to  fall  into  the  arms  of  sovereign  mercy. 

As  the  righteousness  of  God's  elect  is  not  the  ground  of  their 
election,  so  neither  is  their  felicity  its  ultimate  end.  God  right- 
eously hides  the  things  of  the  gospel  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
and  reveals  them  unto  babes,  because  so  it  seemeth  good  in  his 
sight:  it  tends  most  to  display  the  glory  of  his  character,  and  to 
promote  the  general  good  of  creation.  These  things,  if  properly 
considered,  are  of  a  humbling  tendency. 

Ifthe  Jews  had  considered  that  they  were  not  chosen,  or  put  in 
possession  of  the  good  land,  for  the  righteousness,  or  for  the  up- 
rightness of  their  hearts:  and  that,  though  it  was  an  instance  of 
great  love  to  them,  yet  it  was  not  ultimately  for  their  sake,  or  to 
accomplish  their  happiness,  but  that  God  might  fulfil  his  covenant 
with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  whom  and  in  whose  seed  all 

Vol .  vn.  13 


98  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermon  V. 

the  nations  of  the  earth  were  to  be  blessed;  and,  if  they  had  con- 
sidered the  salvation  of  the  world  as  the  end  of  theirnational  exis- 
tence, and  themselves  as  Gods  witnesses  till  the  times  of  reforma- 
tion ;  instead  of  valuing  themselves,  and  despising  others,  they 
would  have  reckoned  themselves  their  servants  for  Jehovah'' s  sake. 

In  short,  by  considering  piinciples  in  their  various  connexions, 
far  greater  advances  rvilt  be  made  in  divine  knowledge  than  by  any 
other  means.  The  discovery  of  one  important  truth  will  lead  on  to 
a  hundred  more.  Let  a  Christian  but  realize,  for  example,  the 
glory  of  the  Divine  Character  as  the  moral  governor  of  the  world  ; 
and  he  will  at  once  perceive  the  equity  and  goodness  of  the  moral 
law,  which  requires  us  to  love  him  with  all  the  heart.  In  this 
glass,  he  will  see  his  own  depravity  ;  and,  possessed  ofthese  views, 
the  grace  of  the  gospel  will  appear  to  him  to  be  grace  indeed. 
Every  blessing  it  contains  will  be  endearing,  and  the  medium 
through  which  all  is  conveyed,  superlatively  precious.  A  tndn  of 
thought  tike  this  has  frequently  proved  more  interesting  than  the 
labours  of  those,  who,  having  discovered  a  vein  of  silver  or  gold, 
dig  deeply  into  the  bowels  of  the  enriching  mine. 

Having  considered  a  few  of  the  means  necessary  for  the  attain, 
raent  of  a  deep  and  intimate  knowledge  of  truth,  1  shall, 

II.     Attempt  to  establish   the   importance  of  such  a  knowl- 

EDGE. 

As  the  powers  of  created  beings  are  limited,  and  no  one  can  ex- 
pect to  understand  every  thing,  it  is  the  province  of  wisdom  to  se- 
lect those  kinds  of  knowledge,  as  the  objects  of  our  pursuit,  which 
are  most  valunble,  and  of  the  greatest  utility.  There  are  some 
depths,  of  which  it  is  our  honour  and  felicity  to  be  ignorant  ;  and, 
even  in  things  which  are  lawful,  we  may,  in  numberless  instances, 
very  well  be  excused,  if  not  in  wholly  neglecting,  yet  in  possessing 
only  a  general  acquaintance  with  them.  But  divine  truth  requires 
not  only  to  be  known,  but  tcell  known  :  it  is  not  only  necessary 
thi<t  we  have  sentiments,  and  right  sentiments  but  that  we  enter 
deeply  into  them.  Every  thing  pertaining  to  God  is  great,  and  re- 
quirts  all  our  powers.  In  whatever  we  indulge  indifference,  there 
is  no  room  for  it  here  ;  God  requires  not  only  all  our  heart,  but  all 
our  mind  and  strength. 


skrmonV.]       knowledge  or  divine  thutu.  oa 

The  importance  of  a  deep  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  <li\ine 
truth,  will  more  particularly  appear,  from  the  following  consider- 
ations : 

1.  A  ne^fec/ of  God's  word  is  represented  as  a  heinous  sin.  But 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  escape  this  sin,  if  we  content  ourselves  with 
a  superficial  acquaintance  with  truth,  Kevelalion,  in  every  stage, 
demands  our  serious  attention;  but  the  revelation  of  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ  requires  attention  in  the  highest  degree. 
This  is  tka.t  great  salvation  which  we  are  charged  not  to  neglect. 
The  dignity  of  its  author,  its  sublime  and  interesting  nature,  with 
the  accumulated  evidence  which  God  has  condescended  to  afford  us 
of  its  divine  original,  combine  to  require  of  us  the  most  careful  and 
cordial  examination  into  its  contents.  A  neglect  of  this  is  either 
total  or  partial  :  the  former  would  denominate  us  unbelievers,  and 
expose  us  to  utter  destruction  ;  the  latter,  though  it  may  exist  in 
sincere  Christians,  is,  nevertheless,  a  sin,  and  a  sin  more  than  a  lit- 
tle offensive  to  the  God  of  all  truth. 

To  be  contented  with  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  divine 
things,  implies  disrespect  to  Him  who  has  revealed  them,  A  letter 
from  a  distant  friend,  to  whom  we  are  cordially  attached,  is  viewed 
and  reviewed,  and  every  sentence  of  it  carefully  inspected,  and,  on 
many  occasions,  committed  to  memory.  Why  should  not  the  word 
of  God  be  productive  of  the  same  effects  ?  Indeed  it  is:  for  in 
proportion  as  we  love  God,  hi«  word  will  dwell  richly  in  xts.  It 
will  be  our  bosom  companion,  to  which  we  shall  have  recourse  on 
every  occasion  ;  especially  in  seasons  of  leisure,  when  the  niind, 
like  a  spring  from  which  a  pressure  is  removed,  rises  to  its  natural 
position.  Hence  the  following  language  :  Thou  shult  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  hearty  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  alt 
thy  might  :  and  these  words  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall 
be  in  thine  heart,  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  to  thy  chil- 
dren, and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and 
ivhen  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  Uest  down,  and  w/ieu 
thou  risest  up. 

To  be  contented  with  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  divine 
things,  implies  also  a  want  of  affection  to  the  things  themselves. 


jQQ  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sjsrmon  V. 

A  will,  or  testament,  in  which  we  were  deeply  interested,  would  be 
procured  with  eagerness,  and  read  with  avidity  ;  and,  if  any  diffi- 
culty remained  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  particulnr  passage,  we  should 
have  no  rest  till,  by  some  means  or  other,  we  had  obtained  a  solu- 
tion of  it.  I  need  not  apply  this  remark.  Nothing  is  more  evi- 
dent, than  that  whatever  is  uppermost  in  our  affections,  will  form 
the  grand  current  of  our  thoughts.  And,  where  our  thoughts  are 
directed  to  a  subject  with  inlenseness  and  perseverance,  it  will  be' 
come  familiar  to  us  ;  and,  unless  it  be  owing  to  the  want  of  natural 
capacity,  or  any  other  necessary  means,  we  shall,  of  course,  enter 
deeply  into  it. 

1  have  been  much  struck  with  the  ardent  affection  which  David 
discovered  to  the  holy  scriptures,  and  every  part  of  their  sacred 
contents.  The  whole  119  Psalm  is  a  continued  encomium  upon 
them.  There  we  have  such  language  as  the  following  :  O  how  I 
Jove  thy  law  !  My  soul  breaketh  for  the  longing  that  it  hath  unto 
thy  judgments  at  all  times.  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  song  in  the 
house  of  my  pilgrimage.  The  law  of  thy  mouth  is  better  to  me 
than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver.  Now,  all  the  scriptures  which 
were  then  extant  amounted  to  little  more  than  the  writings  of  Mo- 
ses. What  additions  have  we  since  enjoyed  !  Besides  the  Book 
of  Psalms,  and  the  Prophecies  which  followed,  we  have  the  whole 
^ew  Teslament,  full  of  grace  and  truth,  wherein  the  invisible  God 
has,  as  it  were,  rendered  himself  visible.  Him  whom  no  man 
had  seen  at  any  time,  the  only  begotten  Son,  who  dwelt  in  his 
bosom,  hath  declai-ed.  How  is  it  that  such  a  price  should  be  in 
our  hands  to  get  wisdom,  and  yet  that  we  should  have  so  little  heart 
for  it  ? 

2.  The  word  of  God  is  represented  as  a  mean  of  sanctificatian. 
But  no  effect  of  this  kind  can  be  produced  beyond  the  degree  in 
which  we  imbide  it.  One  great  object  of  our  Lord's  intercession 
with  the  Father,  on  our  behalf,  was,  that  we  might  be  sanctified 
through  the  truth,  even  by  his  word,  which  is  truth.  The  gospel  is 
continually  held  up,  not  only  as  a  doctrine  according  to  godliness, 
but  as  having  a  powerful  influence  in  producing  it.  It  teachethus, 
that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  wc  shall  live  soberly. 


SermowV.[  knowledge  of  divine  truth.  jqi 

righteously ,  and  godly,  in  this  present  world.  It  worketh  effectually 
in  those  who  believe.  It  was  by  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  that  the 
world  became  crucified  to  the  Aposlle,  and  he  unto  the  world.  So 
universal  and  so  manifest  were  the  effects  of  divine  truth  upon  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  Christians,  that  the  sacred  writers  could 
appeal  to  fact,  on  their  behalf,  that  they,  and  they  only,  were  suc- 
cessful combatants  against  the  world's  temptations  :  Who  is  he  that 
overcometh  the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 
God  ? 

Now,  in  order  that  the  gospel  may  be  productive  of  these  effects, 
it  is  necessary  that  it  be  understood.  Without  this,  how  should  it 
interest  or  affect  the  heart  ?  We  must  believe  the  truth  ere  it  will 
work  effectually  :  we  must  know  it,  or  it  will  not  make  us  free. 
That  we  may  serve  God  acceptably,  and  with  godly  fear,  we  must 
have  grace  ;  and  grace  is  multiplied  fAroM^A  the  knowledge  of  God . 
and  of  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Knowledge  and  affection  have  a  mutual  influence  on  each  other. 
That  the  love  of  truth  will  prompt  us  to  labour  after  a  more  perfect 
acquaintance  with  its  contents,  has  been  already  observed  :  and 
that  such  an  acquaintance  will  promote  an  increasing  love  of  truth, 
in  return,  is  equally  evident.  We  cannot  love  an  unknown  gospel, 
any  more  than  an  unknown  God.  Affection  is  fed  by  knowledge, 
being  thereby  t'urniahed  with  grounds,  or  reasons,  for  its  operations. 
B}*  the  expansion  of  the  mind  the  heart  is  supplied  with  objects 
which  fill  it  with  delight.  It  is  thus  that  it  becomes  enlarged,  and 
that  we  feel  ourselves  sweetly  induced  to  run  in  the  way  of  the  di- 
vine commandments. 

How  was  it  that  the  apostle  became  dead  to  the  world,  by  the 
cross  of  Christ  ?  I  suppose,  on  much  the  same  principle,  that  the 
light  of  the  stars  is  eclipsed  by  that  of  the  sun  ;  or,  that  a  man, 
having  drunk  old  wine,  ceases  to  desire  new,  for  be  saith  the  old  is 
better.  It  is  by  drinking  deeply  into  religion,  that  we  become  dis- 
affected to  carnal  objects. 

3.  The  word  of  God  is  represented  as  the  great  source  of  Chris- 
tian enjoyment.  But  no  effect  of  this  kind  can  be  produced,  any 
farther  than   we  imbibe  the  truth.     The  same  way  which  divine 


102  OX  A  DE:EP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermon  V . 

truth  operates,  as  a  medium  of  sanctification,  it  becomes  a  source 
of  enjoyment  ;  namely,  by  interesting  and  aflecting  the  heart. 
That  which,  by  its  sup':rior  lustre,  eclipses  the  pleasures  of  sense, 
and  crucifies  us  to  the  world,  at  the  same  time  kindles  a  joy  in  the 
hejrt  which  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.  The  habitual  joy 
wiiich  W3b  possessed  by  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  chief- 
ly arose  from  ■\  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  gospel.  It  was  the  ex- 
ceUency  of  the  knoitiledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord,  that  induced 
the  Apostle  to  cou?it  all  things  but  loss.  Those  in  whom  the  word 
of  Christ  dwelt  richly,  in  all  wisdom,  were  supposed  to  be  so  enli- 
vened by  it,  that  it  became  natural  to  them  to  leach  and  admonish 
one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with 
grace  in  their  hearts  to  the  Lord.  The  object  for  which  the  Apos- 
tle bowed  his  knees  to  the  Father  of  glory,  in  behalf  of  the  Ephe- 
sians,  was,  that,  by  means  of  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the 
breadth  and  length  and  depth  and  height  of  the  redeeming  love  of 
Christ,  they  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God.  The  wells 
of  salvation  are  deep;  and  he  that  lacketh  knowledge  is  as  one 
that  has  nothing  to  draw  with. 

The  prejudice  of  many  Christians  against  doctrinal  preaching,  ae 
being;  in  their  esteem,  dry  and  uninteresting  ;  and  the  preference 
given  to  that  which  is  more  descriptiveof  their  feelings,  and,  there- 
fore, termed  experimental,  is  worthy  of  attention.  If  the  doctrine 
which  we  preach  be  not  the  unadulterated  gospel  of  Christ,  it  will, 
indeed,  be  dry  ;  or  if,  instead  of  entering  into  the  spirit  of  truth 
we  are  employed  in  a  fruitless  discussion  of  terms,  or  things  on 
which  the  scriptures  forbear  to  decide,  it  must  needs  be  uninteres- 
ting, and  even  disgusting,  to  a  holy  mind.  But  if  the  pure  gospel 
of  Jesus,  well  understood  by  the  preacher,  and  communicated  from 
the  fullness  of  his  heart,  do  not  interest  us,  there  must  be  some 
lamentable  disorder  in  the  state  of  our  minds.  If  the  manna  that 
comes  down  from  heaven  be  loathed,  it  is  a  sign  that  things  are  not 
with  us  as  they  ou^ht  to  be.  The  doctrine  of  Moses,  and  surely 
much  more  that  of  Jesus,  dropped  as  the  rain,  and  distilled  as  the 
dew,  upon  the  tender  herb. 

Christian  experience,  (or  what   is  generally   understood  by  that 


Sermon  v.]  KNOWLEDGE  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  JOJ 

term,  the  painful  and  pleasurable  feelings  of  good  men,)  will  be 
found,  if  genuine,  to  arise  from  the  influence  of  truth  upon  the  mind, 
if  we  be  strangers  to  the  glory  of  God's  moral  character,  and  the 
great  evil  of  sin.  we  shall  be  strangers  to  all  the  feelings  of  godly 
sorrow  on  account  of  it.  And  what  ground  is  there  for  joy  and 
peace,  but  t«  believing?  Take  away  the  deity  and  atonement  of 
Christ,  and  they  are  annihilated.  To  this  may  be  added.  Give  up 
the  doctrines  of  the  resurrection  and  a  future  life,  and  what  be- 
comes of  hope  ?  From  these  instances,  out  of  many  others,  you 
will  easily  perceive,  that  doctrinal  and  experimental  preaching  are 
not  so  remote  from  each  other  as  some  persons  have  imagined  ;  and 
that  to  extol  the  latter,  at  the  expense  of  the  former,  is  to  act  like 
him  who  wishes  the  fountain  to  be  destroyed,  because  be  prefers  the 
stream. 

4.  //  is  a  great  object  in  the  Christian  life,  according  to  oitr  ca- 
pacities and  opportunities,  to  diffuse  the  light  of  the  gospel  around 
ns.  But  we  cannot  communicate  any  thing  beyond  the  degree  in 
which  we  possess  it.  The  communication  of  gospel  truth  is  not 
confined  to  ministers.  Every  Christian  moves  in  a  sphere  of  some 
extent  ;  and  is  expected  so  to  occupy  it,  as  to  embrace  every  oc- 
casion which  may  offer,  to  make  known  the  way  of  eternal  life  to 
those  about  him  The  primitive  churches  were  schools  of  heaven- 
ly instruction,  as  the  words  of  the  text,  to  go  no  farther,  plainly 
intimate  ;  and  the  Apostle  reproves  some  of  their  members  for  hav- 
ing made  no  greater  proficiency.  Though  it  would  be  in  vain  foi 
every  one  to  aspire  as  being  a  public  teacher  of  Christianity,  yet, 
as  has  been  already  observed,  every  one  should  be  concerned  that 
he  may  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  him,  and  to 
teach  the  good  and  the  right  way  to  those  with  whom  he  is  immedi- 
ately connected.  The  duties  of  a  parent  and  a  master,  include  in 
them  the  instruction  of  those  who  are  committed  to  their  care. 
Many  opportunities  arise,  in  which  Christians  might  communicate 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  to  their  neighbours;  those  in  a  state  of 
servitude,  to  their  fellow-servants  ;  and,  provided  it  were  done  on 
proper  occasions,  and,  according  to  the  apostolic  rule,  in  meeknes-^ 


J04  ^N  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermow  ¥. 

anrf /ear,  persons  in  inferior  stations  might  suggest  a  useful  hinl 
even  to  their  superiors. 

When  the  family  of  Elimelech  went  to  sojourn  in  Moab,  they 
carried  their  religion  with  them  ;  so  recommending  the  God  of 
Israel  to  those  with  whom  they  formed  connexions,  that  one  of  them 
was  induced  to  leave  her  country,  her  kindred,  and  her  gods,  and  to 
put  her  trust  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings.  And  even  a  little  maid 
of  the  land  of  Israel,  who  had  been  carried  captive  into  Syria,  by 
speaking  to  her  mistress,  on  a  favourable  opportunity,  was  instru- 
mental in  her  master's  being  healed  of  his  leprosy,  and  in  his  being 
brought  to  acknowledge  and  adore  the  true  God.  Such  cases  are 
recorded  to  encourage  us  to  communicate  the  good  knowledge  of 
God  on  all  proper  occasions  :  but,  in  order  to  do  this,  we  must 
first  possess  it,  and  that  in  a  greater  degree  than  is  sufficient  barely 
to  denominate  us  Christians. 

Perhaps,  one  of  the  most  favorable  opportunities  for  Chris- 
tians to  suggest  important  truth  to  their  neighbours  and  connexions 
is,  when  any  of  thorn  are  under  a  threatening  affliction.  To  visit 
them  at  such  a  time  would  be  kindly  taken  :  even  the  worst  ol 
characters  are  commonly  accessible  when  they  apprehend  eterni- 
ty to  be  drawing  nigh.  You  may  then  freely  converse  and  pray 
with  them  ;  and,  if  your  circumstances  will  admit,  and  theirs  re- 
quire it,  a  communication  of  your  worldly  substance  would  con- 
vince them  of  your  good -will,  give  weight  to  your  instructions, 
and  correspond  with  the  conduct  of  him  who  went  about  doing 
good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  But  such  a  practice  requires 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  divine  truth.  It  is  an  important 
matter  to  converse  with  men  who  are  just  on  the  borders  of  an 
eternal  world  :  it  requires  not  only  tenderness,  faithfulness, 
and  prudence  ;  but  an  ability  to  expose  those  false  refuges,  and 
detect  those  delusive  hopes,  to  which,  at  such  seasons,  they 
are  generally  disposed  to  fly  ;  and  to  direct  them  to  the  only 
name  under  heaven,  given  among  men,  whereby  they  must  be  saved. 

5.  In  times  of  apostasy  from  the  truth.  Christians  are  exhorted  to 
he  steadfast.  But  a  steadfast  adherence  to  truth  requires  that  we 
be  rooteil  and  grounded  in  it.     The  wisdom  of  God  sees  meet,  in 


sebmosv.]      knowledge  of  divine  truth.  105 

order  to  prove  mankind,  and  especially  his  professing  people,  to 
suffer   other    gospels   besides   the    true    one,    to   obtain    footing  ( 
among  us.     I  am  aware,  that  it  is  become   customary,  in  thee 
times  to  make  a  jest   of  heresy    and   to  deride,  as    illiberal,  nar- 
row-minded bigots,  all  those    who   consider  any  relit.'ious   senti-     . 
ments  as  endangering  the  salvation  of  men.     But  I  hope  we  shall   ' 
not,  on  this  account,  be  deterred  from  such  an  attachment  to  truth 
as  the  scriptures  encourage.     It  is  granted  that  the  term   heresy 
has  been  wretchedly  abused  ;  and    that  it   becomes  Christians  to 
beware  of  applying  it  to  every  departure  from   even  truth  itself: 
yet  there  is  such  a  thing  in    being.     There  were  heresies   in  the 
apostles'  times;  and  it  was  predicted   that  there   should,  in  after 
times,  be  persons  who   would  bring  in   even   damnable   heresies.  \ 
Let  no  one  be  startled  at  the  use   of  these  terms  :   I  did  not  coin 
them,  and    am  not  accountable   for   them ;  but,  seeing  they  oc- 
cupy a   place  in  the  holy  scriptures,    I    think   myself  concerned 
to    understand   them.     Whatever   difficulty  there  may  be  in   as- 
certaining their  precise  object,  they,  undoubtedly,  teach  us  that 
men's  souls   may  be   destroyed  by    mental,  as    well    as   by  sen-  / 
sual  lusts,  even  the  souls  of  professing  Christians  ;  for  the  words  ' 
are   not    intended  to  describe   open    Infidels,  but    such  as  should 
bear  the  Christian  name,  yea,  and  who  should  be  teachers  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  circulation  of  doctrines  pleasing  to  corrupt  nature  will 
prove  men  to  be  what  they  are.  They  are  the  fan  in  Christ's 
band,  by  which  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor.  That  light- 
minded  professors  of  religion  should  be  carried  away  with  them,  is 
no  more  a  matter  of  surprise  than  that  chaff  should  be  carried  away 
by  the  wind  :  but  how  is  it  that  those  of  whom  we  would  hope 
better  things  are  often  shaken  ? 

If  a  minister,  in  almost  any  congregation,  should  relinquish 
truth,  and  fall  into  the  grossest  er/ors  ;  unless  he  had  so  conduc- 
ted himself  as  to  have  gained  little  or  no  esteem  among  the  people 
he  is  seldom  known  to  go  off  alone  :  sometimes  half  a  congrega- 
tion, and  sometimes  more,  have  been  known  to  follow  him,  or,  at 
least  to  be  greatly  unhinged  for  a  considerable  time.  If  a  writer 
start  up,  in  almost  any  connexion,  let  his  performance  be  ever  se 

Vol.  VII.  14 


106  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermon  V. 

we  ik  or  extravagant ;  yet,  if  he  possess  but  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
't  overbeariiiiinssurance,  he  will  have  his  admirers  j  and  some  seri- 
ous people  too,  will  be  in  danger  of  being  turned  aside.     How  are 
these  things  to  be  accounted  for  ?     I  conceive    the  principal    rea- 
son is,  that  Christians  content  themselves  with  a  superticial  knowl- 
edge of  divme  things.     Great  numbers  from  a  dislike  to  controver- 
sy, will  never  take  any  pains  to  understand  the  difference  between 
one  set  of  religious  principles  and  another.     They  have  no  desire 
to  enable  themselves  to  distinguish  between  true  and  false  reason- 
ings.    They  are  too  apt  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  what  they  have 
imbibed  is   truth,  and   that   nothing  can   be    advanced,   with  the 
least  colour  of  reason,    for   the  contrary:  when,   therefore,   an 
argument   appears   with   a  little    plausibility    on    its   face,   it   has 
only  to   obtain  a  reading,  or   a  hearing,  and   their  assent  is  gain- 
ed.     Brethren,  let  shame,  if  nothing  else,  provoke  us,   that   we 
henceforth  be  no  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro  hy  every    wind 
of  doctrine.     Let   us  be    concerned,  not   obstinately    to   adhere 
to  ovir  present  sentiments,  be   what   they   may;  but  to  know  the 
mind  of  God  in   his  word,  and,  knowing  it,  let  us   steadfastly  ad- 
here to  it. 

Thf  present  age  seems  to  be  an  age  of  trial.  Not  only  is  the 
gospel  corrupted  by  those  who  bear  the  Christian  name  ;  but,  of 
late,  you  well  know,  it  has  been  openly  assailed.  The  most  di- 
rect and  daring  opposition  has  been  made  to  the  very  name  of 
Cbnstianiiy.  I  am  not  going  to  alarm  you  with  any  ide.i  that  the 
church  IS  in  danger  :  uo.  my  brethren  :  the  church  of  which  we,  I 
trust,  are  members,  and  of  which  Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  is  the 
head,  is  not  in  danger  ;  it  is  built  upon  a  rock,  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prev  ail  against  it.  Neither  are  my  apprehensions  excited 
concerning  those  who  are  true  members  of  the  church  :  these 
trying  blasts,  though  they  may  affect  them  for  a  season,  will  ulti- 
mately cause  them  to  take  deeper  root.  Nevertheless,  it  becomes 
us  to  feel  for  the  soul.-,  of  men,  especially  for  the  rising  generation; 
and  to  warn  even  good  men  that  they  be  not  unarmed  in  the  evil 
day. 
The  human  heart  has  ever  been  averse  from  the  gospel  of  Christ, 


SiermonV.]        knowledge  of  divine  truth,  107 

but  the  turn  or  temper  of  the  present  age  is  peculiarly  in  favour  of 
Infidelity.  In  much  the  same  manner  as  in  former  ages  men  were 
violently  attached  to  a  persecuting  superstition,  they  are  now- 
verging  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and  are  in  danger  of  tlirowing  off 
all  religion.  Our  temptations  and  those  which  will  attend  our  pos- 
terity after  us,  are  hkely,  therefore,  fo  be  widely  different 
from  what  they  have  hitherto  been.  Hitherto,  nominal  Christian- 
ity has  been  no  reproach  ;  but  reproach  has  attached  itself  to  the 
other  side.  The  case,  in  this  respect,  may  soon  be  altered.  Men 
grow  bold  in  avowing  their  contempt  of  Christianity  ;  and  many 
among  the  dissipated  part  of  the  youth  are  following  their  example. 
Now,  if  characters  of  this  description  should  spring  up  in  sufficient 
numbers,  not  only  to  keep  each  other  in  countenance,  but  to  turn 
the  tide  of  reproach  against  Christians,  as  a  company  of  wrong- 
headed  enthusiasts,  we  shall  soon  see  which  side  the  mass  of  man- 
kind will  take.  Their  characters  being  loose  and  profligate,  they 
have  long  felt  themselves  condemned  by  the  gospel ;  and  this  is  a 
matter  that  does  not  sit  very  easy  upon  them.  Nothing  has  kept 
them  from  rejecting  it  before,  but  the  disgrace  that  would  follow 
upon  their  becoming  open  Infidels  :  whenever,  therefore,  this  dis- 
grace shall  be  removed,  we  may  expect  them  to  go  off  in  great 
companies.  The  slightest  observation  of  human  nature  must  con- 
vince us,  that  the  greater  part  of  mankind,  even  in  religious  mat- 
ters, are  governed  by  fashion  :  they  go  with  the  course  of  this  world. 
So  great  an  influence  has  the  tide  of  public  opinion  upon  them, 
that  even  where  it  is  not  altogether  agreeable  to  their  own  views 
and  inclinations,  they  are,  nevertheless,  frequently  cairied  away 
by  it:  but  if  it  be  thus  where  public  opinion  and  private  inclina- 
tion are  at  variance,  it  must  of  course,  be  much  more  so  in  those 
cases  wherein  they  are  agreed.  This  will  be  like  a  union  of 
the  wind  and  tide  ;  and  the  vessel  which  is  carried  along  by  such 
a  joint  influence,  can  scarcely  have  any  thing  left  to  impede  its 
progress. 

The  great  influence  which  a  certain  popular  pamphlet  has  had 
upon  men's  minds,  is  not  so  much  owing  to  the  work  itself, 
fthough  it  possesses  all   the   agreeableness  to  a  ^depraved  heart 


108  ON  A  DEEP  AND  INTIMATE  [Sermow  V. 

which  wit  and  malignity  can  give  it,)  as  to  the  bias  of  the  present 
generation  in  favour  of  the  principles  which  it  contains.  Of  this 
the  author  himself  seenis  to  have  been  sufficiently  aware,  by  the 
trlle  which  he  has  thought  proper  to  give  his  performance — The 
Age  of  Reason. 

It  is  not  unlikely,  that  almost  all  our  religious  controversies  will 
soon  be  reduced  to  one,  upon  which  the  great  body  of  men  will 
divide.  Is  Christianity  true  or  false  ?  Is  there  a  God  ?  Is  there 
a  heaven  and  a  hell  ?  or  is  it  all  a  fiction  ?  Agitated  by  these  im- 
portant questions,  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Europe, 
and,  perhaps,  of  America,  including  our  own  posterity,  may  rank 
either  as  real  Christians,  or  as  open  Infidels. 

What  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ?  Ought  they  to  depress  us  ? 
We  ought,  undoubtedly,  to  feel  for  the  welfare  of  men's  souls,  and 
cannot  but  feel  for  those  who  are  more  intimately  connected  with 
us  :  but,  upon  any  other  principle,  I  know  not  that  they  ought  to 
have  any  such  effect  upon  us.  God  is  upon  his  throne:  his  church 
is  upon  a  rock:  whatever /towr  of  temptation  may  be  coming  up- 
on the  world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,  those  who  hold 
fast  the  word  of  his  patience  will  he  kept  through  it. — All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God.  With  these  views 
Christians  may  rejoice,  and    rejoice  always. 

While  we  rejoice,  however,  we  must  rejoice  with  trembling  ; 
and,  while  we  confide  in  God,  must  be  diffident  of  ourselves.  Let 
us  not  presume  on  our  own  firmness,  but  put  on  the  whole  armour 
of  God,  that  we  may  withstand  in  the  evil  day.  The  first  thing  re- 
quired in  this  divine  accoutrement  is,  that  our  loins  be  girt  about 
with  truth  :  but  truth  will  not  prove  as  a  girdle  to  our  loins  in  the 
day  of  battle,  except  we  be  deeply  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  it. 

O  ye  sons  and  daughters  of  carelessness,  who  are  called  Chris- 
tians, but  have  no  root  in  yourselves,  what  aspect  do  these  things 
wear  towards  you  ?  The  time  seems  drawing  nigh  that  will  prove 
you  to  be  what  you  are  !  Hitherto  there  has  been  an  outer-court 
for  you,  and  you  have  worshipped  in  it.  You  have  long  had  a 
form  of  godliness,  but  have  been  without  the  power.  You  have 
ranked   with   the  friends  of  truth,  but  have   never  received  it 


SermowV.]        knowledge  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH.  109 

in  love,  that  you  might  be  saved.  You  have  kept  up  the  profes- 
sion of  something  that  has  been  called  Christianity,  without  feel- 
ing yourselves  under  any  necessity  to  proceed  farther  :  but  now 
your  outer-court  will,  probably,  be  taken  away,  and  you  will  feel 
yourselves  impelled,  as  it  were,  eith  ^r  to  come  in,  and  be  Chris- 
tians in  reality,  or  to^o  out,  and  take  your  portion  with  the  unbe- 
Keving  and  the  abominable. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  OF  REWARDS. 


SERMON  VI. 

Treaehed  at  the  Circus,  Edinburgh,  Oct.  13,  1799.] 


Gal.  VI.  7,  8. 

Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not  mocked:  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  thut 
shdll  he  also  reap.  For  he  that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap 
corruption  :  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shalt  of  the  Spirit  reaf.life  ever- 
lasting. 


Common  subjects,  my  brethren,  are  the  most  important,  anti 
need  to  be  most  inculcated.  We  are  apt  to  think  we  have  heard 
enough  of  them,  and  can  expect  but  little,  if  any  farther  improve- 
ment from  them.  But  such  imaginations  are  founded  in  mistake. 
Though,  generally  speaking,  we  assent  to  the  important  truth 
which  is  here  suggested,  yet  there  are  but  few  of  us  who  feel  its 
force,  or  properly  act  under  its  influence. 

The  solemn  warning  here  given,  is  not  unnecessary.  Perhaps, 
there  is  nothing  to  which  depraved  creatures  are  more  addicted, 
though  nothing  be  more  dangerous  than  self  deception.  It  is  from 
this  predilection  in  favour  of  i^omelhing  that  shall  prophesy  good 
concerning  them,  that  the  truth  is  disrelished,  and  those  doctrines. 


112  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  [Sermon  V. 

and  systems  of  religion  which  flatter  their  pride  and  cherish  their 
security,  are  so  eagerly  imbibed.  The  human  heart  loves  to  be 
soothed.  The  pleasing  sounds /jcace,  peace  though  there  be  no 
peace,  will  be  gratefully  received.  But  let  us  not  be  our  own 
enemies.  To  impose  upon  ourselves  is  all  that  we  can  do  :  God 
is  not  mocked.  When  all  is  said  and  done,  whatsoever  a  man  sow- 
eth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. 

Some  men  venture  to  hope  that  there  is  no  hereafter,  no  har- 
vest to  follow  ;  or  that,  though  they  persist  in  sowing  to  the  flesh, 
yet  they  shall  not  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption  :  but  this  is  a  most 
forlorn  hope.  Uhappy  men  !  Every  thing  around  3'ou  proves 
that  there  is  a  God  ;  and  something  within  you,  in  spite  of  all  your 
efforts  to  stifle  its  remonstrances,  tells  you,  that  you  are  accounta- 
ble to  him,  and  must  give  an  account  before  him.  To  you  the  words 
that  I  have  read  are  particularly  addressed  :  Be  not  deceived; 
God  is  not  mocked:  tohatsoever  a  man  soiveth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap  ! 

Others,  who  admit  a  future  state,  yet  hope  to  escape  the  just 
reward  of  their  evil  deeds,  from  an  idea  which  they  entertain  of 
the  general  mercy  of  God.  It  is  true,  God  is  merciful;  but  his 
mercy  is  not  connivance.  He  is  merciful  ;  but  it  is  only  through 
a  mediator  :  while,  therefore,  you  neglect  his  salvation,  there  is 
no  mercy  for  you.  You  confess  uot  your  iniquity  upon  the  head 
ef  the  substitute  ;  therefore  it  will  be  found  upon  your  own  head. 
Your  religion  is  no  belter  than  that  of  Cain,  who  brought  an  offer- 
ing without  a  sacrifice  :  The  Lord  will  not  accept  it.  He  is  mer- 
ciful ;  but  it  is  to  men  of  a  broken  and  contrite  spirit.  Of  others, 
he  says.  He  that  made  them  will  not  have  mercy  upon  them;  and 
he  that  formed  them  will  show  them  nofaoour.  O  ye  formalists  ! 
ye  heathens  under  a  Christian  name  !  the  passage  that  I  have  read 
l«oks  hard  at  you:  Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked:  for  what- 
soever a  man  sowethy  that  shall  he  also  reap. 

Others  have  derived  a  hope  from  the  performance  of  certain 
superstitious  rites,  or  from  the  bestowment  of  a  portion  of  their 
wealth  on  some  religious  object.  Much  of  this  kind  of  delusion  has 
been  practised  in  Popish  countries.  Men  who  have  lived  a  life  of 
injustice,  or  debauchery,  or  both,  have  hoped  to  balance  accounts' 


dBRMONVL]  ©F  REWARDS.  |J3 

with  the  Almighty  by  performing  a  journey  to  the  tomb  of  some 
departed  saint,  by  building  a  church,  or  by  endowing  an  hospital. 
It  were  well  if  this  kind  of  sulf-deception  were  confined  to  Popish 
countries  :  but,  alas  !  it  is  natural  to  unrenewed  minds,  of  all  na- 
tions and  religions,  to  substitute  ceremony  in  the  place  of  judgment, 
mercy,  and  the  love  of  God  ;  and  to  hope  to  escape  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure by  the  works  of  their  own  hands.  Are  there  any  of  this 
description  here  ?  We  shall  have  a  collection,  this  evening,  for 
the  printing  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Bengalee  language.  If 
I  only  wished  for  your  money,  I  might  say.  Give,  whatever  be 
your  motive  !  No,  I  am  not  so  concerned  for  the  salvation  of  the 
Heathen,  as  to  be  regardless  of  that  of  my  oivn  countrymen  !  I 
ask  not  a  penny  from  such  a  motive  :  and,  moreover,  I  solemnly 
warn  you,  that  if  you  give  all  your  substance  in  this  way,  it  will 
avail  you  nothing.  Be  not  deceived:  God  is  not  mocked:  for 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. 

Finally  :  Others  flatter  themselves  that  their  iniquity  will  not 
find  them  out,  seeing  Christ  has  died.  And  true  it  is,  with  regard 
to  all  who  believe  in  him,  and  who  sow  to  the  Spirit,  that  they  will 
not  be  dealt  with  according  to  their  deserts,  but  according  to  the 
merits  of  him  in  whom  they  have  believed.  Of  this  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  more  particularly,  hereafter.  At  present,  let  it 
suffice  to  observe,  that  unbelievers,  who  continue  to  sow  te  the 
Jlesh,  have  no  interest  in  this  mercy.  There  might  as  well  have 
been  no  Saviour,  nay,  better,  so  far  as  their  future  happiness  is 
concerned,  than  a  Saviour  not  believed  in,  loved,  nor  obeyed. 
Iniquity,  unlamented,  will  inevitably  be  our  ruin.  It  is  as  true  as 
though  Christ  had  never  died,  that  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap. 

It  is  a  very  serious  and  impressive  truth  which  is  here  held  up 

THAT  ALL  WHICH  IS  DONE  IN  THIS  LIFK  IS  PREPARATORY  TO  ANOTH- 
BR  :  OR,  THAT  THE  SORROWS  AND  JOYS  OF  A  FUTURE  WORLD  REAR  A 
SIMILAR  RELATION  TO  WHAT  IS  WROUGHT  IN  THIS,  AS  THE  HARVEST 

BEARS  TO  THE  SEED  SOWN.     This  is  the  Subject  to  which  I  wish  to 
call  your  serious  attention  :  and  surely  I  may   presume  that  sach 
an  attention  will  not  be  withheld. 
Vol.  VM.  U 


J 14  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  [3ERM0ff  VI. 

I.  Let  us  begin  on  the  subject  of  sowing  to  the  flesh,  and 
observe  the  relation  which  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked 
will  bear  to  it. 

The  fruit  which  arises  from  sowing;  to  the  flesh  is  termed  cor- 
ruption.  It  does  not  consist  in  the  destruction  of  being,  but  of 
well-being:  in  the  blasting  of  peace,  joy,  and  hope  ;  and  conse- 
quently, in  the  enduring  of  tribulation,  anguish,  and  everlasting 
despair. 

This  dreadful  harvest  will  all  originate  in  the  sin  which  has  beea 
committed  in  the  present  life.  Even  here  we  see  enough  to  con- 
vince us  of  its  destructive  tendency.  We  see  intemperance  fol- 
lowed with  disease,  idleness  with  rags,  pride  with  scorn,  and  in- 
difference to  evangelical  truth  with  the  belief  of  a  lie.  We  see 
nations  desolated  by  wars,  neighbourhoods  and  families  rendered 
miserable  by  contentions,  and  the  minds  of  individuals  sinking  un- 
der the  various  loads  of  guilt,  remorse,  and  despair.  Great  is  the 
misery  of  man  upon  him.  Yet  this  is  but  the  blade  proceeding 
from  this  deadly  seed  ;  or,  at  most,  the  ear  :  the  f till  corn  in  the 
car  is  reserved  for  another  state. 

The  scriptural  representations  of  the  wrath  to  come  convey  the 
idea,  not  of  torture  inflicted  by  mere  power,  nor  of  punishment 
without  respect  to  desert ;  but  of  bitter  weepings  and  wailings,  ia 
reflecting  on  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  The  punishment  of  the 
adulterer  is  described  as  abed,  a  bed  of  devouring  fire;  the  deceiv- 
er will  find  himself  deceived  ;  he  that  loved  cursing,  it  shall  come 
upon  him,  as  oil  into  his  bones;  and  they  who  continued  to  saj' 
unto  God,  Depart  from  us,  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy 
ways,  God  will  say  unto  them.  Depart  from  me,  ye  workers  of  ini- 
quity :  I  never  knew  you. 

Future  misery  will  greatly  consist  in  refection.  Abraham  said 
to  the  rich  man,  Son,  remember  /  If  the  memory  could  be  oblit- 
erated, there  is  reason  to  think  hell  would  be  extinguished :  but  it 
must  remain. 

There  are  four  things,  in  particular,  pertaining  to  sin.  which 
will  continue  to  be  the  objects  of  reflection,  and  which,  therefore^ 
must  prove  the  seeds  of  future  misery. 


Sermon  VI.]  OF  REWARDS.  115 

1.  The  character  of  the  Being  against  whom  it  has  been  eoinmit- 
ied.  If  God  had  been  waoting  in  justice  or  goodness;  if  his  law 
had  been  what  some  have  profanely  said  of  it — a  taskmaster,  re- 
quiring brick  without  «traw  ;  if  compliance  with  his  will  had  been 
inconsistent  with  real  happiness  ;  if  his  invitations  had  been  insin- 
cere ;  or  if  his  promises  had,  in  any  instance,  been  broken  ;  if  his 
threatenings  had  borne  no  proportion  to  the  evil  of  the  offence;  or 
if,  in  condemning  the  sinner,  he  had  availed  himself  of  his  being 
stronger  than  he  ;  his  wrath  might  possibly  have  been  endured. 
We  can  hear  an  unjust  punishment,  better  than  a  just  one.  The 
displeasure  of  a  malignant  being,  however  it  may  injure  us,  does 
not  bereave  us  of  inward  peace:  it  is  the  frown  of  goodness  that  is 
intolerable.  To  have  incurred  the  displeasure  of  a  God  whose 
nature  is  love,  must  furnish  reflections  which  cannot  be  endured. 

2.  The  folly  of  it.  There  are  few  things,  in  the  present  state, 
which  sting  the  mind  with  keener  sensations  than  the  recollection 
that  we  have  ruined  ourselves  by  our  own  foolishness. 

If  we  see  a  man  eager  in  pursuing  trifles  while  he  neglects 
things  of  the  greatest  importance  ;  anxious  to  shun  imaginary  evils, 
and  heedlessly  plunging  himself  into  real  ones ;  all  attention  to 
present  indulgences,  but  regardless  of  his  future  interests  ;  averse 
from  what  is  his  duty,  and  busying  himself  in  things  for  which  he 
is  utterly  incompetent,  and  which,  therefore,  he  should  commit  to 
another  ;  in  fine,  studying  to  displease  Sis  best  friend,  and  to  grat- 
ify his  worst  enemy  ;  we  should,  without  hesitation,  pronounce 
him  a  foolish  man,  and  foretel  his  ruin.  Yet  all  this  is  the  con- 
stant practice  of  ever}'  unconverted  sinner;  and,  if  he  persist  in 
his  folly,  the  recollection  of  it  in  a  future  state,  must  overwhelm 
him  with  shame  and  everlasting  contempt. 

3.  The  aggravating  circumstances  which  attend  it.  The  same 
actions  committed  in  diff'erent  circumstances  possess  very  different 
degr€es  of  guilt.  The  Heathens,  in  pursuing  their  immoralities, 
are  without  excuse;  but  those  who  are  guilty  of  the  same  things 
amidst  the  blaze  of  gospel  light,  are  much  more  so.  The  profli- 
gate conduct  of  those  young  people  whose  parents  have  set  them 
the  example,  is  heinous  :  but  what  is  it  in  comparison  of  that  which 
is  against  example,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  tears,  prayer*,  and  re- 


Jig  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  [SBttMOW  VJ. 

monstrances  of  their  godly  relations  ?  And  what  is  the  rejection 
of  the  gcspel  in  the  most  ignorant  part  of  the  community,  in  com- 
parison of  that  which  is  accompanied  with  much  hearing,  reading 
and  reflection  ? 

O  my  hearer?  !  A  large  proportion  of  the  sin  committed  among 
us  is  of  this  description :  it  is  against  light,  and  against  loye.  Wis- 
dom crieth  in  our  streets,  and  understanding  putteth  forth  her 
voice.  The  melting  invitations,  and  solemn  warnings  of  God  are 
frequently  sounded  in  our  ears.  If  we  should  perish,  therefore^ 
ours  will  not  be  the  lot  of  common  sinners:  our  rei^ections  will  be 
similar  to  those  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  whose  inhabitants  are 
represented  as  more  guilty  than  those  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha. 
To  reject  the  gospel,  whether  it  be  by  a  preference  of  gross  in- 
dulgencies,a  fondness  for  refined  speculations,  or  an  attachment  to 
our  own  righteousness,  is  to  incur  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb;  which  is 
held  up  to  us  as  the  most  dreadful  of  all  wrath  ;  as  that  from  which 
unbelievers  would  be  glad  to  be  hid,  though  it  were  by  being 
crushed  beneath  falling  rocks,  or  buried  in  oblivion  at  the  bottom 
of  the  mountains. 

4.  That  in  sin  which  will  furnish  matter  for  still  further  reflect 
tion  will  be  its  effects  on  others  connected  with  us.  It  is  a  very  af- 
fecting consideration,  that  we  are  so  linked  together  in  society, 
that  we  almost  necessarily  communicate  our  dispositions  one  to 
another.  We  draw,  and  are  drawn,  in  both  good  and  evil.  If  we 
go  to  heaven,  we  are  commonly  instrumental  in  drawing  some  oth- 
ers along  with  us  ;  and  it  is  the  same  if  we  go  to  hell.  If  a  sin- 
ner, when  he  has  destroyed  his  own  soul,  could  say,  '  I  have  in- 
jured myself  only,'  his  reflections  would  be  very  different  from 
what  they  will  be. 

The  influence  of  an  evil  word  or  action,  in  a  way  of  example, 
may  surpass  all  calculation.  It  may  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
sinner  only  for  the  moment ;  but,  being  communicated  to  another, 
it  may  take  root  in  him,  and  bring  forth  fruit  an  hundred  fold.  He 
also  may  comfnunicate  it  to  his  connexions,  and  they  to  theirs  ;  and 
thus  it  ma^  go  on  to  increase,  from  generation  to  generation.  In 
this  world,  no  competent  idea  can  be  formed  of  these  efl'ects  ;  bnt 


Sermon  VI.]  OF  REWARDS.  H; 

they  will  be  manifest  in  the  next,  and  must  needs  prove  a  source  oi" 
bitter  reflection. 

What  sensations  must  arise  in  the  minds  of  those  whose  live? 
have  been  spent  in  practising  the  abominable  arts  of  seduction  ; 
whose  words,  looks,  and  gestures,  like  a  pestilence  that  walketh 
in  darkness,  convey  the  poison  of  their  hearts,  and  spread  wide 
wasting  ruin  among  the  unguarded  youth.  There  they  will  be 
cast  into  a  bed,  and  those  who  have  committed  adultery  with  them  ! 

See  there,  too,  the  ungodly  parent,  cohipassed  about,  and  load- 
ed with  execrations  by  his  ungodly  offspring,  whom  he  has  led  on, 
by  his  foul  example,  till  both  are  fallen  into  perdition. 

Nor  is  this  all  :  there  also  will  be  seen  the  blind  leader  of  the 
blind,  both  fallen  into  the  ditch  ;  the  deluded  preacher,  with  his  de- 
laded  hearers  ;  each  of  whom,  during  life,  were  employed  in  de- 
ceiving the  other.  The  mask  is  now  stripped  off.  Now  it  ap- 
pears to  what  issue  all  his  soothing  flatteries  led  ;  and  what  was 
his  real  character  at  the  time,  notwithstanding  the  decency  of  his 
outward  demeanour.  Now  it  is  manifest,  that  he  who  led  not  the 
sheep  of  Christ  into  the  true  pasture,  entered  not  in  by  the  door 
himself.  Ah  !  now  the  blood  of  souls  crieth  for  vengeance  !  Me 
thinks  I  see  the  profligate  part  of  his  auditory,  who  died  before 
him,  surprised  at  his  approach.  '  That  we,'  say  they,  '  who  have 
lived  ID  pleasure,  and  in  wantonness,  should  come  to  this  place,  is 
no  wonder  ;  but  ....  y4rt  thou  also  become  like  one  of  us  ?'' 
I  proceed, 

II.  To  offer  some  ramarks  on  sowing  to  the  Spirit  ;  or  tt> 
point  out  the  relation  that  subsists  between  what  is  done  for  Christ 
in  this  life  and  the  joys  of  the  life  to  come. 

Before  I  attempt  to  establish  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  w-ill  be 
proper  to  form  a  clear  and  scriptural  idea  of  it. 

The  relation  between  sowing  to  the  Spirit  and  everlasting  lite, 
is  as  real  as  that  between  sowing  to  the  flesh  and  everlasting  death  : 
it  does  not  follow,  however,  that  it  is,  in  all  respects,  the  same. 
The  one  is  a  relation  of  due  desert ;  but  the  other  is  not  so.  The 
scriptures,  while  they  represent  death  as  the  proper  wages  of  sin. 
have  decided  that  eternal  life  \s  the  gift  of  God,  through  Jeatit 
Christ  our  Lord. 


118  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  [Skrmon  VI. 

The  leading  principles  necessary  to  a  clear  understanding  of  this 
subject,  may  be  stated  under  the  following  particulars  : 

1.  Nothing  performed  by  a  creature,  however  pure,  can  properly 
merit  everlasting  lije.  To  merit  at  the  hand  of  God  would  be  to 
lay  him  under  an  obligation  ;  and  this  would  be  the  same  thing  as 
becoming  profitable  lo  him  :  but  we  are  taught,  when  we  have  done 
all,  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  unprojitable  servants,  having  done 
no  more  than  was  our  duty  to  do. 

2.  God  may  freely  lay  himself  under  an  obligation  to  reward 
the  obedience  of  a  holy  creature  with  everlasting  life  ;  and  his  so 
doing  may  befit,  and  worthy  of  him.  This  fitness,  however,  arises, 
not  from  the  proportion  between  the  service  and  the  reward,  but 
from  such  a  conduct  being  adapted  to  express  to  creation  in  general 
the  love  which  the  Creator  bears  to  righteousness,  and  to  give  en- 
couragement to  the  performance  of  it.  Such  was  the  promise  made 
to  our  first  parents  ;  which,  had  they  continued  obedient,  would 
have  entitled  them  to  the  reward. 

3.  Man  having  sinned,  the  promised  good  is  forfeited ;  and  death 
becomes  the  only  reward  of  which  he  is  worthy.  All  have  sinned, 
and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  The  law  is  become  weak 
through  the  flesh,  like  a  just  judge,  who  is  incapable  of  acquitting  a 
criminal,  or  of  awarding  life  to  a  character  who  deserves  to  die. 

4.  God  having  designs  of  mercy,  notwithstanding,  towards  re- 
bellious creatures,  sent  forth  his  Son  to  obey  and  silver  in  their 
place;  resolving  to  bestow  eternal  life  on  all  that  believe  in  him,  as 
the  reward  of  his  undertaking.  So  well  pleased  was  the  Father 
with  the  obedience  and  sacrifice  ot  Christ,  that  he  not  only  set  him 
at  bis  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  and  made  him  head 
9ver  all  principalities  and  powers,  and  every  name  that  is  named  ; 
but  gave  him  the  full  desire  of  his  heart,  the  salvation  of  his  people. 
Hence  all  spiritual  blessings  are  said  to  be  given  us  in  him,,  through 
him,  or  for  his  sake.  By  means  of  his  death  we  receive  the  pro- 
mise of  eternal  inheritance  ;  and  our  salvation  is  considered  as  the 
travail  of  his  soul,  which  it  was  promised  him  he  should  see,  and 
be  sfiiisfied.  Mercy  shown  to  a  sinner  in  this  way  is,  in  effect, 
s^y'wg, '  Not  for  your  sakes  do  1  this,  be  it  known  unto  you  ;  (be 


SebmowVL]  op  rewards.  jjg 

ashamed  and  confounded,  O  apostate  creatures  !)  but  to  do  honour 
to  the  interposition  of  mj  Son.     Him  will  I  hear  !' 

5.  God  not  only  accepts  of  all  who  believe  in  his  Son,  for  his 
sake,  but  their  services  also  become  acceptable  and  rctoard  tble, 
through  the  same  medium.  If  our  works,  wliile  unbolievers,  hrid  any 
thing  truly  good  in  tliem,  which  they  have  not,  still  it  were  impos- 
sible that  they  should  be  ncceptable  to  God  "  It  does  not  consist 
with  the  honour  of  the  mijesty  of  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth,"  as 
a  great  writer  pxpiesse?  it,  ''  to  accept  of  any  thing  from  a  ondem- 
ned  malefactor,  condemned  by  the  justice  of  his  own  holy  law,  till 
that  condemnation  be  removed."*  But  being  accepted  in  the  belov- 
ed,  our  works  are  nccepfed  likewise.  The  Lord  had  respect  unto  Abel, 
and  to  his  offering. — He  worketh  in  us  thnt  which  is  well  pleasing  m 
his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ. — Ye  are  an  ho! y  priesthood,  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Being  accepted  in  the  beloved,  our  services  become  impregnated, 
as  it  were,  with  his  worthiness  ;  our  petitions  are  offered  up  with  the 
much  incense  of  his  intercession  ;  and  boih  are  treated,  in  a  sort, 
as  though  they  were  his.  God.  in  blessing  and  rewarding  Abra- 
ham's posterity,  is  represented  as  blessing  and  rewarding  him.  Bi/ 
ntyself  have  I  srworn,  saith  the  Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  done 
this  thing,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  that  in  bles- 
sing, I  will  bless  thee — and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his 
enemies  Accordingly,  though  it  be  said  of  Caleb,  because  he  fol- 
lowed the  Lord  fully,  him  will  I  bring  into  the  land  whereinto  he 
went,  and  his  seed  shall  possess  it  ;  yet  it  was  no  less  a  fultilment 
of  the  promise  to  Abraham,  than  of  that  to  him.  In  like  manner, 
in  approving  the  services  of  believers,  God  approves  of  the  obedi- 
ence and  sacrifice  of  his  Son,  of  which  they  are  the  fruits  ;  and,  in 
rewarding  them,  continues  to  reward  him,  or  to  express  his  well- 
pleasedness  in  his  mediation. 

This,  brethren,  I  take  to  be,  for  substance,  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  rewards.  I  am  persuaded  it  excludes  boasting,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  affords  the  greatest  possible  encouragement  to  be  cou' 
slant,  unmoveable,  and  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

*  President  Edwards's  Sermom  on  Justification. 


}-20  THE  CHllISTIAN'  DOCTllINL  [Sermon  V 

On  this  ground,  I  proceed  to  establisli  tlie  position  with  which  I 
set  out,  That  the  joys  of  futurity  will  hear  a  relation  to  what  is  done 
for  Christ  in  the  present  life,  similar  to  that  between  the  seed  and 
the  harvest. 

The  Slime  peace  and  joy  in  God  which  primarily  arises  from  the 
mediation  of  Christ,  may  arise,  in  a  secondary  sense,  from  the 
fruits  of  it  in  our  own  souls.  We  know  by  experience,  as  well  as 
by  scripture  testimony,  that  it  is  thus  in  the  present  world  :  hence 
that  great  peace  which  they  enjoy  who  love  the  divine  law  ;  and 
that  satisfaction  which  a  good  man  is  said  to  posseris  from  himself: 
and  what  good  reason  can  be  given,  why  that,  which  has  been  a 
source  of  peace  and  satisfaction  here,  should  not  be  the  same  here- 
after ?  If  future  rewards  interfered  with  the  grace  of  God,  or  the 
merit  of  Christ,  present  ones  must  do  the  same  :  for  a  difference  in 
place  or  condition  makes  no  difference  as  to  the  nature  of  things. 
Besides  this,  the  scriptures  expressly  teach  us,  that  the  heavenly 
inheritance  is  treasure  laid  up  on  earthy  the  croxi'ii  of  the  faithful, 
and  the  reward  of  those  who  have  been  hated,  persecuted,  and 
falsely  accused  for  their  Redeemer's  sake.  The  same  apostle  who 
teaches  that  salvation  is  of  grace,  and  not  of  works,  and  that  we 
are  accepted  in  the  beloved,  assures  us,  that  he  laboured, — that  he 
might  be  accepted  of  the  Lord  :  for,  he  adds.  We  must  all  appear 
before  the  jtidgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the 
things  done  in  his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether 
good  or  bad.  The  addresses  to  the  seven  Asiatic  churches  abound 
with  the  same  sentiments.  Eternal  life,  under  various  forms  of 
expression,  is  there  promised  as  the  reward  of  those  who  should 
overcome. 

This  doctrine  will  receive  farther  confirmation,  if  we  consider 
wherein  the  nature  of  heavenly  f elicit  if  consist.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  an  essential  part  of  it  will  consist  in  the  divine  ap- 
probation ;  and  this,  not  merely  on  account  of  what  we  shall  then 
be,  but  of  what  we  have  been  and  done,  in  the  present  world.  So 
far  as  we  have  sown  to  the  Spirit,  so  far  we  shall  reap  the  appro- 
bation of  God  ;  and  this  will  be  a  harvest  that  will  inlinitely  ex- 
ceed all  our  toils.  We  are  assured,  that,  for  those  who  feared  the 
Lord,  and  are  concerned  for  his  name  in  times  of  general  declen- 


Sermon  VI.]  OF  REWARDS.  joj 

sion,  a  book  of  remembrance  Is  nriftcn  ;  and,  from  the  account 
given  us  by  our  Lord,  it  appears,  that  its  contents' will  be  publish- 
ed in  the  presence  of  an  assembled  world.  The  King  will  say  unto 
those  at  his  right  ha?id,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father. — I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat  :  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me 
drink  :  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in  :  7iaked,  and  ye  clothed 
me  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me  :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came 
unto  me. 

Another  essential  part  of  the  heavenly  felicity  will  consist  in 
ascribing  glory  to  God  and  the  Lamb.  It  will  be  a  source  of  joy 
unspeakable  to  perceive  the  abundance  of  glory  which  will  re- 
dound to  the  best  of  Beings  from  all  the  works  of  his  hands.  But, 
if  we  rejoice  that  God  is  glorified,  we  cannot  but  rejoice  in  the 
recollection  that  we  have  been  instrumental  in  glorifying  him.  It 
belongs  to  the  nature  of  love  to  rejoice  in  an  opportunity  of  ex- 
pressing itself ;  and,  when  those  opportunities  have  occurred,  to 
rejoice  in  the  recollection  of  them.  We  are  told,  that  when  Da- 
vid was  anointed  king  in  Hebron  there  was  joy  in  Israel.  Un- 
doubtedly it  must  have  afforded  pleasure  to  all  who  had  believed 
that  God  had  appointed  him  to  that  office,  and  had  felt  interested 
for  him  during  his  affliction,  to  see  him  crowned  by  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  tribes,  whoever  were  the  instruments  of  raising  him 
to  the  throne  :  but  it  must  give  peculiar  joy  to  those  worthier 
who,  at  an  early  period,  had  cast  in  their  lot  with  him,  and  fought 
by  his  side  through  all  his  difficulties.  And,  as  they  would  feel  a 
special  interest  in  his  exaltation,  so  special  honours  were  conferred 
on  them  under  his  government.  It  is,  I  apprehend,  in  allusion  to 
this  piece  of  sacred  story,  that  our  Lord  speaks  in  the  manner  he 
does  to  his  apostles  :  Ye  are  they  which  have  continued  tvith  me  in 
my  temptations,  and  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father 
hath  appointed  unto  me :  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  my  fable  in 
my  kingdom,  and  sit  on  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

The  satisfaction  of  the  apostle  Paul,  in  having  fought  the  good 
fght,  finished  his  course,  and  kept  the  faith,  did  not  consist  in  a 
Pharisaical  self-complacency  ;  but  in  a  consciousness  of  having,  in 
some  good  measure,  lived  to  his  glory  who  died  for  him,  and  rose 
again  :  and  the  same  consciousness  that  rendered  him  happy,  while 

Vol,.  VH.  16 


122  ^TfiE  CHRISI^AN  DOCTRINE  [Sermon  VI. 

in  the  prospect  of  his  crown,  must  render  him  slill  more  so  in  the 
possession  of  it. 

It  has  been  noticed,  that  one  great  source  of  future  misery  to  the 
sinner^  will  be  the  effects  which  his  sin  has  produced  upon  others; 
and  much  the  same  may  be  observed  concerning  the  righteous. 
We  already  perceive  the  tendency  which  a  holy,  upright,  and  be- 
nevolent conduct  has  to  work  conviction  in  the  minds  of  men  : 
but  in  the  world  to  come  the  seed  will  have  actually  produced  its 
fruits  ;  and,  God  being  thereby  glorified,  the  hearts  of  those 
who  have  contributed  towards  it  must  be  tilled  with  grateful  sat- 
isfaction. 

We  can  form  no  competent  ideas,  at  present,  of  the  effects  of 
good,  any  more  than  of  evil.  What  we  do  of  either,  is  merely 
the  kindling  of  a  fire  ;  how  far  it  may  burn  we  cannot  tell,  and, 
generally  speaking,  our  minds  are  but  little  occupied  about  it. 
Who  can  calculate  the  effects  of  a  modest  testimony  borne  to  truth; 
of  an  importunate  prayer  for  its  success  ;  of  a  disinterested  act  of 
«elf-denial ;  of  a  willing  contribution  ;  of  a  seasonable  reproof  ;^ 
of  a  wholesome  counsel ;  of  even  a  sigh  or  pity,  or  a  tear  of  sym- 
pathy ?  Each  or  any  of  these  exercises  may  be  the  means,  in  the 
Lord's  hand,  of  producing  that  in  the  bosoms  of  individuals  which 
may  be  communicated  to  their  connexions,  and  from  them  to  theirs 
to  the  end  of  time. 

The  gospel  dispensation  also  is  accompanied  with  peculiar  en- 
couragements for  such  exercises  :  it  is  that  period  in  which  the 
Messiah  receives  of  the  travail  of  his  soul ;  and  consequently, 
that  in  which  his  servants  may  warrantably  hope  for  the  greatest 
success.  Under  his  reign,  we  have  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  be- 
ing poured  upon  us  from  on  high.,  and  of  various  other  blessings  re- 
sulting from  it  :  particularly,  that  the  wilderness  shall  become  a 
fruitful  field;  that  it  shall  be  so  fertile,  that  what  has  been  before 
reckoned  vi  fruitful  fields  shall,  in  comparison  with  it,  he  counted 
for  a  forest ;  that  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace,  and  the 
effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever  ;  and 
finally,  that  the  labours  of  the  Lord's  servants,  during  these  happy 
times,  shall  be  like  that  of  the  husbandman,  who  sows  beside  all 
^^>.ctfer8,  or  who  cultivates  a  rich  and  well- watered  soil.     It  is  also 


Sermon  VI.]  OF  REWARI>S.  ^23 

during  the  Messiah's  reign,  that  we  are  warranted  to  expect  great 
things  to  arise  from  small  beginnings.  There  shall  be  an  handful 
of  corn  in  the  earth,  upon  the  top  of  the  mountains,  the  fruit 
whereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon. 

The  influence  of  these  effects  on  our  present  and  future  happi- 
ness, is  clearly  intimated  by  our  Lord,  where  he  represents  the 
prophets  as  sowing,  and  the  apostles  as  reaping,  or  entering  into  their 
'hhours. — He  that  reapefh  receiveth  wages,  and  gat  hereth  fruit  unto 
life  eternal :  that  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may  re- 
joice, together.  The  reapers  in  Christ's  harvest  receive  wages  in 
the  enjoyments  which  accompany  their  toils  in  the  present  life  : 
they  gather  fruit  unto  life  eternal  in  the  effects  of  them  contribu- 
ting to  enhance  the  blessedness  of  heaven  :  and  this  blessedness  is 
not  confined  to  those  who  have  been  the  most  successful  in  their 
day,  but  extend  to  others,  who  have  prepared  the  way  before  them. 
According  to  this  representation,  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  who  sowed 
in  tears,  will  reap  in  joy  ;  rejoicing  together  with  Peter  and  Paul 
and  John,  and  all  the  New  Testament  ministers ;  viewing,  in  their 
successes,  the  happy  fruits  of  their  own  disregarded  labours. 

In  this  view,  the  labours  of  Paul  and  his  companions  must  be 
considered  as  extending,  in  their  effects,  to  the  very  end  of  time. 
All  the  true  religion  that  has  blessed  the  different  parts  of  the  earth 
within  the  last  seventeen  hundred  years,  has  arisen  from  their  la- 
bours ;  and  all  the  souls  which  have  ascended  to  glory,  or  shall  yet 
ascend,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation 
shall  bless  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  for  sending  them.  When  we 
see  these  heroic  worthies  sowing  the  seed  of  life,  reproached  in  one 
city,  imprisoned  in  another,  and  stoned  in  another  we  think  it  dis- 
couraging work-  All  that  they  could  accomplish  was  but  little,  in 
comparison  of  the  multitudes  of  men  who  inhabited  the  earth  ;  and 
that  little  must  be  at  great  expense.  It  was  a  handful  of  corn  cast 
upon  the  top  of  a  mountain — a  most  unpromising  soil.  They,  in- 
deed, saw  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them  ;  but,  probably, 
(hey  had  no  conception  of  the  extent  to  which  the  effects  of  their 
labours  would  reach.  If  Paul  and  Silas  rejoiced  and  sang  praises 
jn  the  prison  of  Philippi,  what  would  have  been  their  joy,  could 
they  have  foreseen  that  myriads  of  myriads  in  this  European  quar- 


[2i  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  [Sermon  VI. 

(er  of  the  world  would  receive  the  testimony  which  they  should 
'eave  behind  them,  and  follow  them  to  glory  ? 

But  all  these  effects  are  manifest  to  them  in  the  heavenly  world. 
There  they  .see  the  harvest  which  had  arisen  from  the  handful  of 
corn,  waving  before  the  wind,  like  the  trees  of  the  vast  and  conspic- 
uous forest  of  Mount  Libanus.  Every  hour,  if  I  may  so  speak, 
souls  are  arrived  at  those  happy  regions,  who  hail  them  as  their 
spiritual  fathers,  and  who  thall  be  their  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the 
day  of  the  Lord. 

The  joy  of  the  apostles  will  not  prevent  later  labourers  from 
possessing  the  immediate  fruit  of  their  toils,  any  more  than  that  of 
the  prophets  will  prevent  them  from  possessing  theirs :  both  they 
that  sow  and  they  that  reap  mil  rfjoice  together. 

Nor  is  this  encouraging  truth  to  be  confined  to  the  apostles,  or  t© 
men  of  eminence.  He  who  received  but  two  talents  had  the  appro- 
bation of  his  Lord,  equally  with  him  who  had  received  five.  The 
reward,  as  promised  in  the  gospel,  will  not  be  so  much  according  to 
the  talents  we  possess,  as  the  use  we  make  of  them  ;  nor  so  much 
in  respect  of  our  success,  as  of  our  fidelity.  Many  a  servant  ot 
Christ  has  spent  the  s^reater  part  of  his  life  with  but  little  apparent 
success.  His  charges  it  may  be,  was  small  at  the  beginning,  and  he 
has  not  been  able  to  enlarge  it.  He  has  witnessed  but  few  appear- 
ances of  a  divine  change  in  his  congregation  ;  and  some  of  those, 
who,  for  a  time,  afforded  him  hope,  have  turned  back.  Under  such 
circumstances,  hi^  heart  has  often  sunk  within  him  ;  often  has  he 
sighed  in  secret,  and  thought  within  himself,  I  am  a  vessel  in  which 
the  Lord  taketh  no  pleasure  !  But  if,  under  all  this,  he  be  faithful  to 
his  trust,  and  preserve  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God,  his  labours 
will  not  be  lost.  The  seed  which  he  has  sown  may  spring  up  after 
his  decease  ;  or  he  may  have  prepared  the  way  for  another  more 
successful  ,  and  when  all  shall  meet  in  a  future  state,  he  that  sow- 
eth  and  he  that  reapeth  shall  rejoice  together. 

Neither  is  this  subject  to  be  confined  to  ministers.  As  in  Christ's 
harvest  there  is  employment  for  every  description  of  labourers,  so 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  every  thing  done  for  him  is  produc- 
tive of  some  good  effect ;  and  will,  in  some  way,  glorify  his  name  j 
which  cannot  but  yield  a  joyful  satisfaction  to  those  who  love  him* 


SEBMosrVl.]  OF  REWARDS.  J2^ 

How  grateful  are  the  recollections  of  a  godly  parent,  when,  upon 
his  dying  bed,  he  is  able  to  say  to  his  children  ;  '  1  have  taught  you 
the  good  and  the  right  way  ;  the  things  which  you  have  heard  and 
seen  in  me,  do  ;  and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you.'  And, 
though  he  may  not  in  this  world  witness  those  efiects  which  would 
have  rejoiced  his  heart,  yet  his  labour  will  not  be  lost.  He  may, 
at  the  last,  be  able  to  present  them,  saying,  '  Here  am  I,  and  the 
children  which  the  Lord  hath  given  me.'  Or  if  some  should  not  be 
gathered,  yet  hisjudgment  is  with  the  Lord,  and  his  work  with  his 
God. 

What  a  satisfaction  must  be  enjoyed  by  those  who  have  willingly 
contributed,  in  any  form,  to  so  glorious  a  cause  as  that  of  Christ ;  a 
cause  which  he  founded  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood  ;  a  cause  to 
which  all  the  tribes  of  maatyrs  cheerfully  sacrifice  thtir  lives  ;  a 
cause  in  fine,  by  the  prevalence  of  which  the  name  of  God  is  glo- 
rified, and  the  salvation  of  our  fellow-sinners  accomplished. 

I  close  with  a  few  reflections. 

1.  We  learn,  from  this  subject,  hoic  to  estimate  the  importance  of 
our  present  conduct.  We  are  fearfully  made,  but  still  more  fear- 
fully situated.  Every  thing  we  do  is  a  seed  of  futurity,  and  is 
daily  ripening  into  heaven  or  hell.  It  is  here  we  receive  the 
stamp,  or  impression,  for  the  whole  of  our  existence.  Is  it  possi- 
ble that,  with  a  proper  sense  of  this  truth,  we  should  trifle  with  time, 
or  lavish  its  precious  moments  in  idleness  or  folly  ? 

2.  By  this  also,  we  may  estimate  the  folly  of  hypocrisy.  All 
the  labour  of  a  man  to  appear  what  he  is  not,  is  making  prepara- 
tion for  his  own  confusion.  What  should  we  think  of  a  husband- 
man who  sows  cockle  instead  of  barley ;  and  who,  having,  by  early 
rising  and  performing  his  labour  in  the  dark,  deceived  his  neigh- 
bours, should  congratulate  himself  for  his  ingenuity  ?  Foolish 
man  !  we  should  say,  of  what  account  is  it  to  his  neighbour,  in  com- 
parison of  what  it  is  to  himself  ?  It  will  soon  appear  what  he  has 
been  doing  ! 

3.  Let  us  v\Q\txiovoQ\.^that 'whatever  encouragements  are  afforded 
us,  they  are  altogether  of  grace,  and  through  a  Mediator.  There 
is  no  room  for  pharisaical  pride  ;  and  if  such  a  spirit  be  at  the  root 


1<2Q  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE,  &c.         [Sermon  VI. 

of  our  labours,  it  wiil  prove  as  rottenness,  and  the  blossom  shall  go 
up  as  dusi. 

Do  any  inquire,  What  they  must  do,  that  they  may  work  the 
works  of  God  ?  The  answer  is  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye 
believe  in  him  whom  he  hath  sent.  This  is  the  first  and  chief  con- 
cern, without  which  all  others  will  be  of  no  account.  While  you 
either  openly  reject  Christianity,  or  imbibe  another  gospel,  which 
is  not  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the  curse  of  the  Almighty  is  upon  your 
head,  and  all  your  works  are  no  other  than  sowing  to  the  flesh. 
Come  off,  without  farther  delay,  come  off  from  that  fatal  ground. 
Renounce  thy  self-dependences,  and  submit  to  the  righteousness  of 
God  ;  then  every  thing  will  be  in  its  proper  place.  The  curse 
shall  no  longer  be  upon  thee,  nor  upon  any  thing  which  thou  doest. 
The  Lord  will  rejoice  over  thee  to  do  thee  good.  Thou  mayest 
eat  thy  bread  with  joy,  and  drink  thy  wine  with  a  merry  heart,  for 
God  now  accepteth  thy  works. 


GOD'S  APPROBATION  OF  OUR  LABOURS   NECESSARY 
TO  THE  HOPE  OF  SUCCESS. 


SERMON  Vir, 

[^Preached  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Bedford  Union,  May  6,  1801.] 

— Q©©— 

Numb.  xiv.  8. 
If  the  Lord  delight  in  us,  then  he  will  bring  us  into  this  land,  and  give  it  us. 


Vou  recollect,  my  brethren,  that,  when  the  children  of  Israel 
were  going  up  to  possess  the  land  which  the  Lord  their  Odd  had 
promised  them,  they  were  directed  to  send  spies  before  them,  who 
should  search  out  the  land^  and  report  whether  it  was  good  or  bad, 
and  whether  the  inhabitants  were  strong  or  weak,  few  or  many. 
The  greater  part  of  these  spies  proved  unfaithful.  They  brought 
an  evil  report  of  the  good  land  ;  depreciating  its  value,  raagnifj  ing 
the  difficulties  of  obtaining  it,  and  thus  spreading  despondency  over 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  effect  was,  that  instead  of  perse- 
vering in  the  undertaking,  they  were  for  returning  to  Egypt. 

There  were  two  out  of  the  number,  however,  who  were  of  anoth- 
er spirit,  and  whose  report  was  different  from  that  of  their  compan- 
ions. The  land,  said  they,  which  we  passed  through  to  search  it,  is 
an  exceeding  good  land,  which  Jloweth  with  milk  and  honey.  Only 
rebel  not  ye  against  the  Lord,  neither  fear  ye  the  people  of  the  land; 
for  thejf  are  bread  for  us  :  their  defence  is  departed  from  theiti : 


128  GOD'S  APPROBATION  [Sermon  VU. 

fear  them  not.  These  worthies  stood  alone  in  their  testimony,  and 
the  people  had  well  nigh  stoned  them  for  it  ;  but  the  Lord  honour- 
ed them  :  for,  of  all  the  generations  which  came  out  of  Egypt,  they 
only  inherited  the  promise. 

Considering  the  object  of  the  present  meeting,  you  will  probably 
suppose  that  my  thoughts  have  been  employed  in  drawing  a  paral- 
lel between  the  undertaking  of  Israel  to  subdue  the  Canaanites,  and 
take  possession  of  their  land  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  ;  and  our  un- 
dertakings to  subdue  to  the  obedience  of  Christ  the  hearts  of  his 
enemies,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and,  in  this  manner,  take  pos- 
session of  the  world  for  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
true,  they  have  :  and,  in  discoursing  upon  the  subject,  1  shall  first 
attempt  to  justify  the  application  by  tracing  the  analogy  between 
the  two  cases,  and  then  consider  the  proviso  on  which  we  are  given 
to  expect  success. 

I.  I  shall  attempt  to  justify  the  application  of  the  subject,  by 
tracing  the  analogy  between  the  undertaking  of  Israel,  and 

THE  EFFORTS  OF  CHRISTIANS  TO  DISSEMINATE  THE  GOSPEL. 

It  is  allowed,  that  the  imagination,  unaccompanied  with  judg- 
ment, will  often  find  resemblances  which  the  sacred  writers  would 
have  disavowed,  as  beneath  them  ;  and  far  be  it  from  me  to  imitate 
so  puerile  and  unwarrantable  a  method  of  treating  the  oracles  of 
God  :  but  it  appears,  to  me,  that  the  gift  of  the  holy  land  to  Abra- 
ham and  his  posterity  was  really  designed  to  prefigure  the  gift  of 
all  nations  to  the  Messiah  for  his  inheritance,  and  that  thus  it  is  rep- 
resented in  the  scriptures.  It  is  said,  in  the  72d  Psalm,  He  shall 
have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  This  promise,  I  suppose,  had  immediate  reference 
4<)  the  kingdom  of  Solomon,  and  signified,  that,  during  his  reign, 
the  whole  extent  of  country  included  in  the  original  promise  to 
Abraham  should  be  actually  possessed  :  but,  in  a  more  remote 
sense,  it  refers  to  a  greater  son  of  David  than  Solomon.  This  is 
inanifest  from  several  passages  in  the  psalm,  which  are  inapplicable 
to  any  one  but  the  Messiah.  It  is  his  kingdom  only  which  shall 
continue  as  long  as  the  sun  and  the  moon  endure,  throughout  all 
generations:  Him  shall  all  nations  serve,  and  to  him  shall  all 
kings  how  down  :  men  shall  be  hlesmd  in  him  :  all  nations  shall  call 


aJBRMONVlI.}  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  Ijg 

him  blessed.  Now,  considering  the  promise  before-mentioned  in 
this  light,  it  signifies,  that,  like  as  Israel,  during  the  reign  of  Solo- 
mon, inherited  the  utmost  extent  of  country  promised  to  them,  so 
the  church,  during  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  should  posse?s  the  ut- 
most  extent  of  country  promised  to  him,  which  is  the  whoie  world, 
or  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  In  the  joyful  prospect  oi  tJ^ese 
times,  the  Psalm  concludes  :  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of 
Israel,  who  only  doeth  wondrous  things  :  and  blessed  be  his  glori' 
ous  name  for  ever,  and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with 
HIS  GLORv,  Amen,  and  amen  ! 

The  taking  possession  of  Canaan,  and  the  setting  up  of  the  true 
worship  of  God  in  it,  not  only  prefigured  the  kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
siah, but  were  preparatory  to  it — the  foundation  of  the  goispel 
structure.  The  carnal- Jews,  at  the  coming  of  our  Saviour,  it  is 
true,  did  not  enter  into  these  views  ;  and  even  his  own  disciples 
were  much  in  the  dark  ;  but  the  ancient  Israelites  understood  and 
felt  them.  God  be  merciftd  unto  us,  said  they,  and  bless  us,  and 
cause  his  face  to  shine^apon  us — Wherefore  ?  That  they  might  be 
a  holy  and  happy  people  ?  Doubtless  this  was  a  part  of  their  de- 
sire ;  but  not  the  whole.  They  prayed  to  be  blessed,  that  they 
might  be  blessings  to  the  world  ;  that  God''s  way  might  be  known, 
through  them,  upon  earth,  and  his  saving  health  among  all  nations ; 
that  the  people  might  praise  him,  yea,  that  all  the  people  might 
praise  him,  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  fear  before  him.  Canaan 
was  a  country  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  world,  and,  therefore, 
adapted  to  be  the  spot  on  which  Jehovah  should  set  up  his  stand- 
ard for  the  subjugation  of  the  world  to  himself.  From  hence,  the 
little  leaven  should  diffuse  its  influence  through  the  earth,  till  the 
whole  were  leavened.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  design  of 
God,  in  bestowing  it  upon  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  and  such  are 
the  effects  which  have  been  actually,  though  gradually,  produced. 
Out  of  Zion  has  gone  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from 
Jerusalem. 

There  are  several  points  o?  dissimilarity,  I  allow,  between  the 
undertaking  of  the  Israelites  and  that  of  christians  to  disseminate 
the  gospel ;  but,  whatever  differences  there  are,  they  are  alto- 
gether in  our  favour.     They  went  forth  armed  with  the  temporal 

Vol.  VII.  17 


J  30  GOD'S  APl'ROBATrON  [Sermon  ViL 

sword  ;  we  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit:  their  commission  was  to 
destroy  men's  lives  ;  ours  to  save  their  souls  ;  cities,  and  fields, 
and  vineyards,  and  olive-yards,  were  their  reward  ;  our  hope,  and 
joy,  and  crown,  are  sinners  rescued  from  destruction,  standing  in 
the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming,  Finally  : 
The  people  whom  they  encountered  were  appointed  by  the  Lord 
of  the  universe  to  utter  destruction,  as  the  just  demerit  of  their 
crimes  ;  and,  though  some  submitted  and  were  spared,  yet  the  in- 
vaders were  not  given  to  hope,  or  directed  to  wait,  for  a  change  of 
this  kind  in  the  body  of  the  people  ;  but  were  commanded  to  drive 
them  out,  and  take  their  place.  It  is  not  so  with  us:  we  live  un- 
der a  dispensation  of  mercy  :  go  where  we  will,  we  have  glad 
tidings  of  great  joy  to  communicate.  They,  having  no  hopes  of 
the  people,  might  have  said,  We  seek  not  you,  but  yours  :  but  our 
hopes  terminate  on  the  people  ;  we,  therefore,  can  say,  IFe  seek 
not  yours,  but  you. 

There  are  several  important  points,  however,  in  which  the  un- 
dertakings are  similar.  The  following  have  occurred  to  me,  as  the 
most  remarkable  : 

1.  The  ultimate  object  of  the  one  was  to  overturn  the  kingdom 
of  Satan,  and  to  establish  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  the  true 
God;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  other.  The  world,  at  that  time, 
not  a  nation  exempted,  was  under  the  dominion  of  Satan,  envelo- 
ped in  idolatry,  and  the  abominations  which  always  accompany  it; 
so  that,  if  God  had  not  selected  a  people  for  himself,  and,  after 
having  taught  them  to  fear  and  obey  him,  given  them  a  possession 
among  the  nations,  he  had  had  no  people  nor  name  nor  worship 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  And  what  is  the  state  of  mankind  at 
present  ?  Not  altogether  so  deplorable :  but,  whatever  dilference 
there  may  be,  it  is  owing  to  that  divine  revelation  which  God 
communicated  to  Israel,  and,  by  them,  to  the  Gentile  nations.  In 
Heathen  countries,  the  god  of  this  world  reigns  uncontrolled.  The 
children  of  men,  from  generation  to  generation,  are  led  captive  by 
him  at  his  will.  Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  those  countries 
which  are  overspread  by  Mahometanism.  Nor  is  it  materially 
otherwise  where  the  corruptions  of  Popery  maintain  their  sway. 
And  even  in  our  own  country,  where  the  scriptures  are  read  in  the 


Sjermow  Vlf.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  131 

native  language,  there  are  but  few  who  pay  any  serious  attention 
to  them.  Is  it  not  evident,  to  an  impartial  spectator,  that  the  ^reat 
body  of  the  people  are  practical  Atheists,  living  without  hope,  and 
without  God  in  the  world?  The  number  of  worshippers,  including 
even  the  laxest  and  most  inattentive,  in  all  our  cities,  and,  I  fear' 
in  most  of  our  towns  and  villages,  is  few,  when  compared  with 
those  who  attend  upon  no  worship  at  all.  In  the  earlier  times  of 
the  Reformation,  whatever  defects  might  exist  with  respect  ta 
church-government  and  discipline,  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the 
cross  of  Christ  was  much  more  generally  preachei'  and  believed 
than  at  present.  Since  the  great  principles  of  evangelical  truth 
(alike  clearly  stated  in  the  Articles  of  the  Established  Church  and 
in  the  catechisms  and  confessions  of  Dissenters)  have  been  relin- 
quished, and  a  species  of  heathen  morality  substituted  in  their 
place,  the  nation  has  been  almost  heathenized.  If  the  Lord  had 
not  left  us  a  seed  of  faithful  men,  some  in  the  Establishment  and 
some  out  of  it,  whose  object  it  has  been  to  propagate  the  common 
salvation,  and  to  inculcate  the  holy  practice  which  becomes  it, 
surely  we  had,  ere  now,  been  as  Sodom.  Or  if,  like  a  certain 
great  nation  near  home,  we  had  revoked  the  laws  in  favour  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  and  massacred,  silenced,  or  banished  the  faithful 
witnesses  of  Christ,  surely,  like  them,  we  had  been  lost  in  the 
gulf  of  Infidelity. 

2.  In  invading  the  country  of  the  Canaanites,  Israel  went  forth 
by  divine  authority ;  and  the  same  authority  attends  our  invasion 
of  the  empire  of  sin  and  Satan.  Nothing  short  of  an  express  com- 
mandment could  have  justified  a  people  in  destroying  or  subjuga- 
ting another  people,  whatever  might  be  their  moral  character  ;  but 
the  Creator  of  the  world  had  an  indisputable  right  to  dispose  of 
any  part  of  it,  and  to  punish  transgressors  in  what  manner  he 
pleased.  And,  though  the  gospel  is  far  from  being  injurious  to  the 
temporal  interests  of  mankind,  yet  the  opposition  to  it  has  been  as 
fierce  and  as  decided,  as  if  it  had  been  aimed  to  rob  them  of  every 
thing  necessary  to  their  happiness.  The  servants  of  Christ  have 
been  taught  to  expect  opposition,  and  all  the  evils  which  a  world 
lying  in  wickedness,  and  hating  to  have  their  repose  disturbed, 
can  inflict  upon  them.     And  though,  by  the  kiod  hand  of  God> 


132  GOD'S  APPROBATION  [Sermos  Vll. 

whose  infldence  governs  all  human  counsels,  thej  have  had  their 
seasons  of  peace  and  rest,  yet  the  enmity  has  been  much  the  same. 
The  truly  zealous  and  faithful  labourers  in  Christ's  harvest  have 
generally,  even  in  the  most  favourable  periods,  had  to  encounter  a 
large  portion  of  reproach  and  misrepresentation.  And  what  but 
the  authority  nf  heaven  should  induce  us  to  expose  ourselves  to 
such  inconveniences  ?  We  have  our  feelings,  as  well  as  other 
men  ;  and  it  would,  doubtless,  be  agreeable  to  us  to  possess  the 
good  opinion  of  all  about  us.  We  have  no  ill  will  to  those  who 
preach  even  what  we  account  another  gospel,  and  not  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  Establishment ;  and  if  we  had,  we 
have  so  much  good  will  to  ourselves,  that,  if  consistently  with  the 
love  of  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men  we  could  hold  our  peace,  we 
should  probably  be  inclined  to  do  so,  and  employ  ourselves  in 
something  less  oflFensive,  and  more  adapted  to  promote  our  tempo- 
ral interests.  But  the  command  of  Christ  is  not  to  be  trifled  with. 
He  to  whom  we  must  shortly  give  account  of  the  use  we  hare 
made  of  every  talent  committed  to  us,  ha»  said,  Go,  teach  all  na- 
tions  PREACH  THK    GOSPEL    TO    EVERY  CREATURE !       If  We    haV« 

any  authority  frotn  Christ  to  preach  at  all,  (which  I  shall  not  here 
inquire,)  we  are,  doubtless,  warranted  and  obliged,  by  this  com- 
mission, to  embrace  any  opening,  in  any  part  of  the  earth,  within 
our  reach,  for  the  imparting  of  the  word  of  life  to  them  that  are 
without  it.  The  primitive  ministers  went  every  where  preaching 
the  £rospel,  and  gave  no  less  offence  to  its  enemies,  even  among  the 
est-^blished  teachers  of  religion,  than  we  give  ;  and  were  by  them 
reproached  as  ignorant  men.  no  less  than  we  are.  Yet  they  per- 
severed Tn  their  work,  and  endured  the  consequences.  If  we  be 
ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  ought  to  follow  their  example.  It 
is  true,  there  are  some  things  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  in  which 
Wt»  cannot  follow  them;  but  the  work  of  spreading  the  gospel  is 
ordinary,  and  not  confined  to  a  single  age.  Had  not  Christ's  com- 
mission been  bii.ding  to  the  latest  posterity,  it  would  not  have  been 
added,  Lo,  larnmth  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world! 

3.  The  Israelites  went  forth,  not  only  by  divine  authority,  but 
vnder  a  divine  promise  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  Christian  minis- 
ters.    God,  spake  unta  Abraham,  saying,  /  will  give  unto  thee,  and 


Skrmow  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  j^3 

to  thy  seed  after  thee,  the  land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the 
land  f)f  Canaan  for  an  everlasting  possession  ;  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  This,  ia  substance,  was  often  repeated  to  the  patriarchs; 
so  often,  that  the  country  was  from  thence  denominated,  The  land 
of  promise.  This  it  was  that  supported  the  faith  of  Caleb  and 
Joshua.  It  was  not  in  a  dependence  on  their  numbers,  or  their 
prowess,  that  they  said,  IVe  are  well  able ;  but  on  the  arm  of  Him 
who  had  spoken  in  his  hohness.  Nor  do  those  who  labour  in  the 
Lord's  service,  in  the  present  times,  whether  at  home  or  abroad, 
(for  I  consider  the  work  as  one,)  go  forth  with  less  encourage- 
ment. The  father  has  promised  his  son,  that  he  shall  see  of  the 
travail  of  his  soul,  a'ld  shall  be  satisfied  ;  that  he  will  divide  him  a 
portion  with  the  great,  and  that  he  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the 
strong.  Travail,  in  a  figurative  sense,  commonly  signiBes,  griev- 
ous affliction  issuing  in  a  great  and  importrnt  good.  Such  was  the 
suffering  of  our  Lord,  and  such  must  be  the  effect  rising  out  of  it. 
A  portion  with  the  great,  may  refer  to  the  territories  of  the  great 
ones  of  this  world  ;  such  ai<  the  Aelxanders  ?.nd  the  Caesars,  who, 
in  their  day,  grasped  a  large  extent  of  empire  :  but  the  kingdona 
of  Christ  shall  be  greater  than  the  greatest  of  them.  The  division 
of  the  spoil,  implies  a  vi  tory,  and  denotes,  in  this  place,  that 
Christ  shall  triumph  overall  the  false  religion  and  irreligion  of  the 
world.  And,  as  the  Father's  word  is  given  to  his  Son,  so  the  word 
of  the  Son  is  given  unto  us.  He  that  said,  Go,  teach  all  nations, 
added,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 
These  declarations  afford  equril  ground  for  confidence,  as  those 
which  supported  a  Caleb  and  a  Joshua. 

4.  The  promise  to  Israel  was  gradually  fulfilled  ;  and  the  same 
is  observable  of  that  which  is  made  to  Christ  and  his  people.  It 
was  almost  five  hundred  years,  from  the  time  that  God  entered 
into  covenant  with  Abraham  before  his  posterity  were  permitted 
to  set  foot  upon  the  land,  as  possessors  of  it ,  and  nearly  five  hun- 
dred years  more  elapsed  before  their  possession  was  completed. 
And,  in  establishing  the  kingdom  of  his  Son,  God  has  proceeded 
in  a  similar  manner.  The  accession  of  the  Gentiles  was  promised 
to  Noah,  under  the  form  of  Japheth  being,  persuaded  to  dwell  in 
the  tents  of  Shem  •  but  more  than  two  thousand  years  roll  on  be- 


J  34  GOD'S  APPROBATION  [SKRMONVlf. 

fore  any  thing  very  considerable  is  accomplished.  At  length,  the 
Messiah  comes  ;  and,  like  Jo-^hua  by  Ctanaan,  takes  possession  of 
the  Heathen  world.  At  first  it  seems  to  have  bowed  before  his 
word  ;  and,  as  we  should  have  thought,  promised  fiir  to  be  sub- 
dued in  a  little  time.  But  every  new  generation  that  was  born, 
being  corrupt  from  (heir  birth,  furnished  a  body  of  new  recruit-* 
to  Satan's  army  :  and,  as  (he  Canaanites,  after  the  first  onset  in  the 
times  of  Joshua,  gathered  strength,  and  struggled  successfully 
against  that  generation  of  Israelites  which  succeeded  him  and  for- 
sook the  God  of  their  fathers  ;  so,  as  the  church  degenerated,  the 
world  despised  it.  Its  doctrine,  worship,  and  spirit  being  cor- 
rupted, from  being  a  formidable  enemy,  the  greater  part  of  it  be- 
comes a  convenient  ally,  and  is  employed  in  subduing  the  other 
part,  who  hold  fast  the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 
Thus  the  war  is  lengthened  out  :  and  now,  after  a  lapse  of  eighteen 
hundred  years,  we  see  not  all  things  yet  put  under  him.  On  the 
contrary,  when  reviewing  our  labours,  it  often  seems  to  us  that 
we  have  wrous;ht  no  deliverance  in  the  earth,  neither  have  the  in- 
habitants of  the  world  fallen.  But  let  us  not  despair  :  we  see  Je- 
sus upon  his  throne  ;  and  as  the  Canaanites  were  ultimately  driven 
out,  and  the  kingdom  of  Israel  extended  from  sea  to  sea  ;  so,  as- 
suredly, it  shall  be  with  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

The  great  disposer  of  events  has,  for  wise  ends,  so  ordered  it, 
that  the  progress  of  things  shall  be  gradual.  He  designs  by  this, 
among  other  things,  to  try  the  faith  and  patience  of  sincere  peo- 
ple, and  to  manifest  the  hypocrisy  of  others.  Hereby  scope  is  af- 
forded both  for  faith  and  unbelief  If,  like  Caleb  and  Joshua,  we  be 
for  going  forward,  we  shall  not  want  encouragement ;  but  if,  like 
the  others,  we  be  weary  of  waiting,  and  our  hearts  turn  back 
again,  we  shall  not  want  a  handle,  or  plea,  by  which  to  excuse  our- 
selves. God  loves  that  both  persons  and  things  shoukl  appear  to 
be  what  they  are. 

5.  The  promise  was  not  accomplished,  at  last,  but  by  7nean& 
of  ardent,  deadly,  and  persevering  struggles;  and  such  must  be 
the  efforts  of  the  church  of  Christ,  ere  she  will  gain  the  vic- 
tory over  the  spirit  of  wretchedness  with  wliich  she  has  to 
contend.     The  Canaanites  would  not  give  up  any  thing  but   at 


Sermon  VII.J        NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  I35 

the  point  of  the  sword.  Hence  the  faint-hearted,  the  indo- 
lent, and  the  weak  in  faith,  were  for  .compromising  matters 
with  them.  The  same  spirit  which  maj^nitied  difficiillies  at  a  dis- 
tance, which  spake  of  cities  as  great,  and  walled  up  to  heaven,  and 
of  ^Ae  S071S  of  Anak  being  there,  was  for  stopping  short  when  they 
had  gained  footing  in  the  hind,  and  for  making  leagues  with  <he 
residue  of  the  people.  Thus  it  has  long  been  in  the  Christian 
church  :  the  gospel  having  obtained  a  fooling  in  the  western  na- 
tions, we  have  acted  as  though  we  were  willing  that  Satan  should 
enjoy  the  other  parts  without  molestation.  Every  Heathen  and 
Mahometan  country  has  seemed  to  be  a  city  walled  up  to  Heaven, 
and  the  inhabitants  terrible  to  us  as  the  sons  of  Anak.  And,  even 
in  our  native  country,  an  evangelical  ministry  having  obtained  a 
kind  of  establishment  in  some  places,  we  have  long  acted  as  if  we 
thought  the  rest  were  to  be  given  up  by  consent,  and  left  to  perish 
without  any  means  being  used  for  their  salvation  1  If  God  means 
to  save  any  of  them,  it  seems  he  must  bring  them  under  the  gospel, 
or  the  gospel,  in  some  miraculous  manner,  to  them  :  whereas  the 
command  of  the  Saviour  is  that  we  go,  and  preach  it  to  every  crea- 
ture. All  that  Israel  gained  was  by  dint  of  sword.  It  was  at  the 
expense  of  many  lives,  yea  many  thousands  of  lives,  that  they  at 
last  came  to  the  full  possession  of  the  land,  and  that  the  promises 
of  God  were  fulfilled  towards  them.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  establishment  of  (Christ's  kingdom.  It  was  by  ardent  and  per- 
severing struggles  that  the  gospel  was  introduced  into  the  various 
nations,  cities,  and  towns  vvhere  it  now  is  ;  and,  in  many  instances 
at  the  expense  of  life.  Thousands  of  lives  were  sacrificed  to  this 
great  object  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  and  were  I  to  say  millions 
in  succeeding  ages,  I  should  probably  be  within  the  compass  of  truth. 
But  we  have  been  so  long  inured  to  act  under  the  shadow  of  civil  pro- 
tection, and  without  any  serious  inconvenience  to  our  temporal  in- 
terests, that  we  are  startled  at  the  difficulties  which  the  ancient 
Christians  would  have  met  with  fortitude.  They  put  their  lives  in 
their  hands,  standing  in  jeopardy  every  hour  :  and,  though  we  can- 
not be  sufficiently  thankful,  both  to  God  and  the  legislature  of  our 
country,  for  the  protection  we  enjoy  ;  yet  we  must  not  make  this 
the  condition  of  our  activity  for  Christ.  He  that  observeth  the  n^ind 
shall  not  soio ;  and  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds  shall  not  reap.     If 


136  GOD'S  APPROBATION.  [Sermok  VH. 

ever  God  prosper  us,  in  any  great  degree,  it  will  be   in   the  ex- 
ercise of  that  spirit  by  which  the  martyrs  obtained  a  good  report. 

The  above  particulars  may  suffice  to  show  the  analogy  between 
the  two  cases  :  the  object  aimed  at,  the  authority  acted  upon,  the 
promise  confided  irt,  its  gradual  accomplishment,  and  the  means  by 
which  this  accomplishment  is  effected,  are  the  same  in  both  :  1 
hope,  therefore,  the  application  of  the  one  to  the  other  may  b«» 
considered  as  justified. 

II.  Let  us  consider  THE  proviso  on  which  we  are  warranted 
TO  hope  for  success.  Jf  the  Lord  delight  in  us,  then  he  will 
bring  us  into  the  land  and  give  it  us. 

The  term  delight  does  not  express  that  divine  love  to  our  souls 
which  is  the  source  of  our  salvation,  but  a  complacency  in  our 
character  and  labours.  Thus  it  is  to  be  understood  in  the  speech 
of  David,  when  fleeing  from  the  conspiracy  of  Absalom  :  If  he  say, 
I  have  no  delight  in  thee,  here  I  am  :  let  him  do  with  me  as  seemeth 
him  good  /  He  could  not  mean  by  this.  If  God  have  no  love  to 
my  soul,  I  submit  to  be  for  ever  separated  from  hira  :  for  such 
submission  is  not  required  of  any  who  live  under  a  dispensation  of 
mercy  :  but,  If  he  approve  not  of  me  as  the  head  of  his  people, 
here  1  am  :  let  him  take  my  life  away,  as  it  pleaseth  him.  The 
amount  is,  That  if  we  would  hope  to  succeed  in  God's  work,  our 
character  and  undertakings  must  be  such  as  he  approves. 

1.  The  object  which  we  pursue  must  be  simply  the  cause  of 
God,  unmixed  with  worldly  policy,  or  party  interest.  It  has  been 
insinuated  that  under  the  colour  of  disseminating  evangelical  doc- 
trine, we  seek  to  gain  over  the  common  people,  and  .'-o  to  obtain, 
it  should  seem,  an  ascendency  in  government.*     Ifitbeso,  we 

*  To  this  effect  were  the  insinuations  of  Professor  Robinson,  concerning  the 
eftorts  of  Mr.  Robert  Haldane  and  his  friends,  in  a  proposed  mission  to  Ilin- 
doosthan.  The  modest  and  di^^nified  manner  in  which  that  gentleman  repel- 
led the  accusation,  and  even  forced  his  accuser  to  retract  it,  may  be  seen  in 
his  iate  excellent  pamphlet  on  that  subject.  The  Bishop  of  Rochester,  in  a 
late  address  to  his  Clergy  after  representing  the  Socinians  as  aiming  at  this 
object,  adds  as  follows  :  "  St'!l  the  operations  of  'he  enemy  are  g;oin2:  on — 
still  goin^  on  by  "Iratagem — *').'  stratage/H  still  a  pretence  of  reformation. 
Bat  the  retornaation,  the  very  reverse  of  what  was  before  attempted.    Instead 


Sermon  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  ]3'j 

may  he  assured  the  Lord  will  take  no  delight  in  us.  The  work, 
in  this  case,  must  be  altogether  of  man,  and  will  come  to  nothing  ; 
yea,  and  to  nothing  let  it  come.     The  desire   and  prayer  of  my 

of  divesting  religion  of  its  mysteries,  and  reducing  it  to  a  mere  philosophy  in 
speculation,  and  to  a  mere  morality  in  practice,  the  plan  is  now  to  affect 
great  zeal  for  orthodoxy  ;  to  make  great  pretensions  to  an  extraordinary 
measure  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence  ;  to  alienate  the  minds  of  the  people 
from  the  established  Clergy,  by  representing  them  as  sordid  worldlings,  with- 
out any  concern  about  the  souls  of  men,  indifferent  to  the  religion  which  they 
ought  to  teach,  and  to  which  the  laity  are  attached,  and  destitute  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  In  many  parts  of  the  kingdom  new  conventicles  have  been  opened, 
in  great  number;  and  congregations  formed  of  one  knows  not  what  denomina- 
tion." 

If  the  religion  of  Jesus  must  be  reproached,  it  is  best  that  it  should  be  done 
in  some  such  manner  as  this.  Had  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  preserved  any 
regard  to  candour,  or  moderation,  he  might  have  been  believed ;  as  it  is,  it 
may  be  presumed  there  can  be  but  little  danger  of  it.  None,  except  those 
who  are  as  deeply  prejudiced  as  himself,  can,  for  a  moment,  imagine  that  the 
late  attempts  for  disseminating  evangelical  doctrine  are  the  operations  of  a  po- 
litical scheme ,  carried  on  by  Infidels  in  disguise.  A  very  small  acquaintance 
with  men  and  things  must  convince  any  one  that  the  persons  concerned  in  this 
work  are  not  the  same  as  those  who  affected  to  reform  the  church  by  reducing 
the  mysteries  of  the  gospel  to  "  a  mere  philosophy  in  speculation,  and  to  a 
mere  morality  in  practice."  Men  of  that  description  were  never  possessed  of 
zeal  enough  for  such  kind  of  work.  We  might  as  soon  expect  to  see  Bishop 
Horsely  himself  turn  village-preacher  as  them. 

In  repelilng  such  language  as  the  above,  it  is  difficult  to  keep  clear  of  the 
acrimony  by  which  it  is  dictated.  Suffice  it  to  say,  I  am  conscious  that  no 
such  plan  or  design  every  occupied  my  mind  for  a  moment :  nor  am  I  acquaint- 
ed with  any  person  whom  I  have  ground  to  suspect  any  such  thing.  I  know 
persons  who  are,  as  I  believe,  sinfully  prejudiced  against  government,  and  of 
whose  spirit  and  conversation  I  seldom  fail  to  express  my  dislike  :  but  I  know 
not  an  individual  whom  I  have  any  reason  to  think  engages  in  village-preach- 
ing with  so  mean  and  base  an  end  as  that  which  is  suggested  by  this  prelate. 

The  picture  which  is  drawn  of  the  Clergy  is,  doubtless  unpleasant  ;  and 
if  applied  to  the  serious  part  of  them,  far  from  just :  whence  it  was  taken  is 
best  know  to  the  writer.  1  am  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  though  he 
has  represented  it  as  the  language  of  village  preachers,  he  would  be  unable  to 
prove  such  charges  against  them.  There  may  be  violent  individuals  engaged 
in  village-preaching,  who  may  take  pleasure  in  exposing  the  immoralities  of  the 
Clergy  :  and  if  they  have  half  the  bitterness  on  the  one  side  which  this  writer 

VoL.vir.  18 


138  GOD'S  APPROBATION.  [Sermow  Vlf^ 

heart  is,  that  all  such  undertakings,  if  such  there  be,  may  perish  ! 
The  kingdom  of  Christ  will  never  presper  in  those  hands  which 
make  it  only  the  secondary  object  of  their  pursuit,  even  though  the 
first  were  lawful  ;  and  much  less  when  it  is  made  to  subserve  that 
which  is  itself  sinful.  But,  if  the  divine  glory  be  the  object  of 
our  labours,  the  work  is  of  God  ;  God  himself  will  delight  in  us, 
and  every  attempt  to  oppose  it  will  be  found  to  be  fighting  against 
God. 

There  is  another  way  in  which,  I  apprehend,  we  are  in  much 
more  danger  of  erring:  I  mean,  by  an  improper  attachment  to 
party  interest.  I  am  far  from  thinking  it  a  sin  to  be  of  a  parly. 
Every  good  man  ought  to  rank  with  that  denomination  which,  in 
his  judgment,  approaches  nearest  to  the  mind  of  Christ  :  but  this 
is  very  different  from  having  our  labours  directed  to  the  promotion 
of  a  party,  as  such,  if  so,  we  shall  see  little  or  no  excellence  in 
whatever  is  done  by  others,  and  feel  little  or  no  pleasure  in  the 
success  which  God  is  pleased  to  give  them :  but,  while  this  is  our 
spirit,  whatever  be  our  zeal,  we  are  serving  ourselves  rather  than 
Christ,  and  may  be  certain  the  Lord  will  not  delight  in  us  to 
do  us  good.  The  only  spirit  in  which  the  Lord  takes  pleasure  is, 
that  which  induces  us  lo  labour  to  promote  7iis  cause,  and  to 
rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  all  denominations  so  far  as  they  pro- 
mote it. 


iTifcovers  on  the  other  ;  tliey  are  unworthy  of  being  so  employed.  Whatever 
grounds  there  may  be  forsuch  charges  against  numbers  of  the  Clergy,  the  body 
of  those  who  have  been  employed  in  preaching  or  reading  printed  ser- 
oDS  in  the  villages,  have  never  thought  of  preferring  them,  but  have  confin- 
ed their  attention  to  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  have  no  scruple,  however,  in  saying,  if  reducing  religion  to  "a  mere  phi- 
losophy in  speculation,  and  a  mere  morality  in  practice,"  be  subverting  it, 
it  is  subverted  by  great  numbers  in  the  Church  of  England,  as  well  as  out  of 
it.  And  where  this  is  the  case,  it  is  the  boundenduty  of  the  friends  of  evangel- 
ical truth  to  labour  to  introduce  it,  regardless  of  the  wruth  of  its  adversaries. 

The  suppression  of  "conventicles,"  I  doubt  not,  would  be  very  agreea- 
to  some  men  :  but  I  have  too  much  confidence  in  the  good  sense  of  the  legis- 
lature, to  suppose  that  it  n'iU  suffer  its  counsels  to  be  swayed  by  a  f«\*r  rio- 
l¥nt  CluiroVimeB. 


3ERM0SVU.J  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  139 

2.  The  doctrine  we  teach  must  be  that  of  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified.  The  person  and  work  of  Christ  have  ever  been  the  cor- 
ner stone  of  the  Christian  fabric;  take  away  his  divinity  and  atone- 
uient,all  willgo  to  ruins.  This  is  the  doctrine  taught  by  the  apostles, 
and  which  God,  in  all  ages  has  delighted  to  honour.  It  would  be 
found,  I  believe,  on  inquiry,  that  in  those  times  wherein  this  doctrine 
has  been  most  cordially  embraced^the  church  has  been  most  pros- 
perous, and  that  almost  every  declension  has  been  accompanied  by 
a  neglect  of  it.  This  was  the  doctrine  by  which  the  Reformation 
was  eflfected  ;  and  to  what  is  the  Reformation  come  in  those  com- 
munities where  it  is  rejected  ?  This  was  the  leading  theme  of 
the  Puritans  and  Nonconformists  ;  and  what  are  their  descendants 
become  who  have  renounced  it  ?  Many  of  them  rank  with  Infi- 
dels, aad  many  who  retain  the  form  of  Christianity  deny  the  pow- 
er thereof. 

If  it  be  alleged  that  the  Church  of  Rome  retains  this  doctrine 
amidst  its  great  apostasy,  and  some  Protestant  churches  do  the 
same,  which,  notwithstanding,  have  exceedingly  degenerated  ;  I 
answer,  it  is  one  thing  for  a  community  to  retain  doctrines  in  its 
decrees  and  articles,  and  another  to  preach  them  with  faith  and 
love  in  their  ordinary  labours.  Divine  truth  requires  to  be  writ- 
ten, not  merely  with  ink  and  paper,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  upon 
the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart.  If  the  Church  of  Rome  had  retain- 
ed the  doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity  to  any  purpose,  its  members 
would  have  worshipped  him,  and  not  have  turned  aside  to  the 
adoration  of  saints  and  relicks  ;  and  if  his  atoning  blood  and  only 
mediation  between  God  and  man  had  been  properly  regarded,  we 
had  never  heard  of  mediators,  pardons,  and  penances  of  another 
kind. 

Christ  crucified  is  the  central  point,  in  which  all  the  lines  of 
evangelical  truth  meet  and  are  united.  There  is  not  a  doctrine 
in  the  scriptures  but  what  bears  an  important  relation  to  it.  Would 
we  understand  the  glory  of  the  divine  character  and  government  ? 
It  is  seen  in  perfection  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Would  we 
learn  the  evil  of  sin,  and  our  perishing  condition  as  sinners  ?  Each 
is  manifested  in  his  sufferings.  All  the  blessings  of  grace  and 
glory  are  given  us  in  him,  and  for  his  sake.     Practical  religion 


140  GOD'S  APPROBATION  [SermowVII. 

finds  its  most  powerful  motives  in  his  dying  love.     That  doctrine 
of  which  Christ  is  not  the  sum  and  substance,  is  not  the  gospel  ; 
and   that   morality  which  has  no  relation  to  him,  and  which  is  not 
enforced  on  evangelical  principles,  is  not  Christian,  but  Heathen. 
I  do  not  mean  to  be  the  apologist  for  that  fastidious  disposition 
apparent   in  some  hearers,  who  require  that  every  sermon  shall 
have  Christ  for  its  immediate  theme,  and  denominate  every  thing 
else  legal  preaching.     His  sacred  name  ought  not  to  be  unnatural- 
ly forced  into  our  discourses,  nor  the  holy  scriptures  turned  into 
allegory  for  the  sake  of  introducing  it :  but,  in  order  to  preach 
Christ,  there  is  no  need  of  this.     If  all  scripture  doctrines  and  du- 
ties bear  a  relation  to  him,  we  have  only  to  keep  that  relation  in 
view,  and  to  urge  practical  religion  upon  those   principles.     If  I 
Jeave  out  Christ  in  a  sermon,  and  allege  that  the  subject  did  not 
admit  of  his  being  introduced,  I  fear  it  will  only  prove  that  my 
thoughts  have  not  been  cast  in  an  evangelical  mould.     I  might  as 
well  say,  there  is  a  village  which  has  no  road  to  the  metropolis,  as 
that  there  is  a  scripture  doctrine  or  duty  which  has  no  relation  to 
the  person  and  work  of  Christ.     Neither  can  I  justly  allege  that 
such  a  way  of  preaching  would  cramp  the  powers  of  my  soul,  and 
confine  me  to  four  or  five  points  in  divinity  :  we  may  give  the  ut- 
most scope  to  our  minds,  and  yet,  like  the  Apostle,  determine  to 
know  nothing  but  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.    There  is  breadth 
and  length  and  depth  and  height  sufficient  in  his  love  to  occupy  our 
powers,  even  though  they   were  ten  thousand  times  larger  than 
they  are. 

In  all  our  labours,  brethren,  in  the  church  or  in  the  world,  in 
our  native  country  or  among  the  Heathens,  be  this  our  principal 
theme.  In  this  case,  and  not  otherwise,  the  Lord  will  delight  in 
us,  will  bring  us  into  the  land,  and  give  it  us  for  a  possession. 

3.  The  motive  of  our  undertakings  must  be  pure.  God  cannot 
possibly  take  pleasure  in  the  labours  of  the  sordid  or  the  vain. 
Indeed,  I  do  not  perceive  how,  in  the  greater  part  of  our  labours, 
we  can  suspect  ourselves,  or  be  suspected,  of  acting  from  a  regard 
to  our  worldly  advantage.  In  attempting  to  carry  the  gospel 
among  the   heathen  we  certamly  can  have  no  such  motive  ;  as 


Sermon  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCLSS.  141 

every  part  of  the  work  requires  the  sacrifice  of  interest,  and  that 
without  tlie  most  distant  prospect  of  its  being  restored.  And  even 
in  carrying  what  we  believe  to  be  evangelical  doctrine  into  the 
villages  of  our  native  country,  it  is  commonly  at  the  expense  of 
both  ease  and  interest.  In  those  labours,  however,  that  are  with- 
in the  vicinity  of  our  respective  congregations,  in  which  succesf 
may  contribute  to  our  temporal  advant  ige,  it  becomes  us  to  watch 
over  our  own  hearts.  If  such  a  motive  should  lie  concealed 
among  the  springs  of  action,  it  may  procure  a  blast  upon  our  un- 
dertakings. The  Lord  will  have  no  delight  in  such  preaching  ; 
and  without  him  we  can  do  nothing.  Or  if  avarice  have  no  place 
in  us,  yet,  should  we  be  stimulated  by  the  desire  of  applause,  it 
will  be  equally  offensive  to  a  holy  God.  The  idea  of  being  a  Mis- 
sionar}',  abroad  or  at  home,  may  feed  the  vanity  of  some  minds  ; 
and,  indeed,  there  is  no  man  that  is  proof  against  such  temptations. 
We  have  all  reason  to  watch  and  pray.  There  is  a  woe  hangs 
over  the  idol  shepherd  ;  the  sword  will  be  upon  his  arm,  and  upon 
his  right  eye  f  I  have  no  suspicion  of  any  one,  but  merely  wish 
every  one  to  suspect  himself.  If  we  secretly  wish  to  appear  great 
among  our  brethren,  to  magnify  ourselves  or  our  party,  or  to  figure 
away  in  the  religious  world,  as  persons  of  extraordinary  zeal,  all 
is  naked  to  the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  we  have  to  do,  and,  depend 
upon  it,  he  will  have  no  delight  in  us.  But  if  our  eye  be  single, 
our  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light.  Those  that  honour  God 
shall  be  honoured  of  him  ;  and  however  he  may  prove  them  for  a 
time,  they  shall  find,  in  the  end,  that  their  labour  has  not  been  in 
vain  in  the  Lord. 

4.  We  must  go  forth  in  all  our  labours  as  little  children,  sensi-- 
Lie  of  our  own  insufficienci/,  and  depending  only  upon  God.  The 
first  city  which  Israel  besieged,  on  their  passage  over  Jordan,  was 
won  without  striking  a  single  blow,  but  merely  walking  round  it, 
and  sounding  their  trumpets,  according  to  the  command  of  the 
Lord.  This  was  doubtless  meant  to  teach  them  a  lesson,  at  the 
outset  of  the  war,  not  to  lean  upon  their  strength,  or  numbers,  or 
valour;  but  upon  the  arm  of  Jehovah.  This  lesson  was  ordina- 
rily repeated  throughout  their  generations,  whenever  led  to  battle 
by  godly  men  :  instead  of  filling  them  with  ideas  of  their  own  suf- 


J40  GOD'S  APPROBATION  [SkkmonVII 

ficiency,  (which  is  the  universal  practice  of  vf  orldly  men  who 
have  had  the  command  of  armies,)  they  taught  them  to  distrust 
themselves,  and  to  rely  upon  their  God.  This  is  the  spirit  bv 
which  true  religion  is  distinguished  ;  and  in  this  spirit  We  must 
go  forth  to  subdue  the  hearts  of  sinners,  or  the  Lord  will  have  no 
delight  in  us,  but  leave  us  to  fight  our  battles  alone.  Thus  that 
eminent  man  of  God,  from  whose  pulpit  I  now  address  you,  repre- 
sents the  four  captains,  and  their  ten  thousands,  after  besieging 
Mansoul  without  effect,  as  presenting  their  petition  to  Shaddai,  for 
assistance.  The  more  self-annihilatioa  we  possess,  the  more  like- 
ly we  are  to  be  useful  to  the  souls  of  men.  God  has  respect  unto 
the  lowly  ;  but  the  proud  he  knoweth  afar  off. 

6.  We  must  perserere  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  to  the  end.  When 
Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  I  suppose  they  all  intended  to  go  for- 
ward, and  to  possess  the  land  :  but  when  difficulties  arose,  the 
great  body  of  them  fainted,  and  were  for  going  back.  When  an 
undertaking  is  new  and  plausible,  many  come  forward  to  engage  in 
it:  but  a  time  comes  when  the  first  flush  of  spirits  subsides, 
when  great  and  seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties,  presenj 
themselves,  and  when  success  appears  to  be  much  farther  off  than 
at  the  beginning  :  this  is  the  time  for  the  trial  of  faith.  A  few 
such  seasons  will  commonly  thin  the  ranks  of  Christian  professors; 
but  blessed  are  they  that  endure  temptation.  Those  who  follow- 
ed the  Lord  fully  were  brought  into  the  land.  It  is  possible  that 
our  motives  may  be  pure  at  the  outset,  and  yet,  through  the 
strength  of  temptation,  we  may  be  turned  aside.  The  Lord 
speaks  well  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  as  having,  for  a  time,  borne 
and  liad  patience,  and  for  his  name''s  sake  had  laboured  and  no^ 
fainted :  yet  it  follows.  Nevertheless,  J  have  somewhat  against  thec^ 
because  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love.  This  is  an  example  for  us  to 
shun.  Another  follows,  namely,  the  church  at  Thyatira,  for  our 
imitation  :  J  know  thy  works,  and  thy  charity,  and  service,  and 
faith,  and  thy  patience,  and  thy  works,  and  the  last  to  be  moue 

THAN  THE  FIRST. 

6.  We  must  exercise  a  lively  faith  in  the  power  and  promise  of 
God.  I  reserve  this  remark  to  the  last,  becaase  it  contains  the 
spirit  of  the  passage,  and  is  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance.    It 


Sermon  VI.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  >43 

was  owing  to  unbelief  that  the  body  of  the  people  drew  back,  and 
to  faith  that  Joshua  and  Caleb  were  for  pressing  forward.  Nor  is 
there  any  thing  of  greater  importance  to  the  Christian  ministry, 
especially  to  those  engaged  in  extraordinary  labours.  He  that 
endeavours  to  extend  the  limits  of  Christ's  kingdom,  resembles  n 
navigator  who  engages  in  a  voyage  of  discovery  :  he  is  exposed  to 
ills  and  dangers  which  cannot  be  foreseen,  nor  provided  against. 
Carrying  a  doctrine  to  which  all  his  hearers  have  a  natural  and 
deep-rooted  aversion,  the  difficulties  he  has  to  encounter  are 
as  islands  of  ice  near  the  poles,  or  as  rocks  in  unknown  seas  ; 
but  faith  in  the  power  and  promise  of  God  is  sufficient  for  all  his 
wants. 

Confidence  is  agreeable  to  a  generous  character,  while  suspiv 
cion  thrusts  a  sword  into  his  heart.  The  former  is  honourable  to 
him,  affording  him  opportunity  of  carrying  his  kind  intentions 
into  execution  :  the  latter  dishonours  him,  and  lays  him  under  a 
sort  of  incapacity  of  doing  good  to  the  party.  A  generous  charac- 
ter will  feel  impelled  by  a  principle  of  honour  to  keep  pace  with 
the  expectations  of  those  who  confide  in  his  goodness  and  veraci- 
ty. Nor  is  this  confined  to  the  concerns  of  men.  There  is  some- 
thing greatly  resembling  it  in  the  dealings  of  God  with  us.  The 
Lord  has  magnified  his  word  more  than  all  his  name  ;  and  as 
faith  corresponds  with  the  word,  he  has  bestowed  greater  honour 
upon  this  grace  than  upon  any  other.  Hence  we  find  snch  lan- 
guage as  the  following :  0  how  great  i»  thy  goodness  which  thou 
hast  wrought  for  them  that  trust  in  thee  before  the  sons  of  men. — 
Btlieve  in  the  Lord  your  God,  so  shall  ye  be  established;  believe  his 
prophets,  so  shall  ye  prosper. — The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in  them 
that  hope  in  his  mercy.  Under  the  New  Testament  still  more  is 
said  of  this  important  principle.  In  almost  all  the  miracles  of  our 
Saviour,  he  made  a  point  of  answering  to  the  faith  of  the  parties, 
or  of  those  that  brought  them  ;  and  where  this  was  wanting,  he  ie 
represented  as  under  a  kind  of  incapacity  to  help  them.  If  thou 
canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeih.  Accord- 
ing to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you. — Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee;  go  in 
peace. — He  could  there  do  no  mighty  works — because  of  their  unbc' 
lief.    Nor  was  this^principle  honoured  merely  in  miraculous  cases  : 


144  GOD'S^iAPPllOBATION  [Sermojv  Vj. 

our  Saviour  taught  bis  disciples  to  cherish  high  expectations  from 
the  divine  mercy  and  faithfulness,  in  their  ordinary  approaches  to  a 
throne  of  grace.  Whatsoever  things  yc  desire  when  ye  pray,  he' 
lieve  that  ye  shall  receive  them,  and  xje  shall  have  them. 

In  recommending  a  strong  and  lively  faith,  I  do  not  mean  to  en- 
courage  that  species  of  contidence  which  h;is  no  foundation  in  the 
divine  promise.  This  is  not  faith,  but  fancy,  or  the  mere  work- 
ings of  the  imagination.  Those  who,  many  ages  since,  engaged  in 
what  were  called  the  holy  tears,  desirous  of  driving  out  the  Turks 
I'rom  Jerusalem,  were  not  wanting  of  confidence  ;  but  the  promise 
of  God  was  not  the  ground  on  which  it  rested.  It  was  not  faith, 
therefore,  but  presumption.  It  was  not  thus  with  Israel,  in  going 
up  against  the  Canaanites  ;  nor  is  it  thus  with  those  who  labour  to 
extend  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  promise  of  God  is 
here  fully  engaged.  He  hath  sworn  by  himself y  the  word  is  gone 
out  of  his  mouth  in  rightvousnegs,  and  shall  not  return.  Many  pas- 
sages might  be  produced  in  proof  that  before  ihe  end  of  time,  the 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah  shall  be  universal.  I  shall  select  a  few : 
The  stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled 
the  whole  earth. — /  saw  in  the  night  visiojis,  and  behold,  one  like  the 
Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the  ancient 
of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him.  Jlnd  there  was 
given  him  dominion  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  na- 
tions, and  languages,  should  serve  him. — And  the  kingdom  and  do- 
minion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whost 
kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve 
and  obey  him. —  Whereunto  shall  I  liken  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  It  is 
like  a  little  leaven  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened. — The  seventh  angel  sounded,  and 
there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying,  The  kingdoms  of  tkii 
■xorld  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and 
he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  These  are  the  true  sayings  of 
God.  Surely  they  afford  ground  for  a  strong  and  lively  faith  in 
every  effort  to  disseminate  the  gospel. 

God  has  not  only  dealt  largely  in  promises,   but  has  given  ug 
abundance  of  eiamplei  of  their  fulfilment.     A  large  part  of  scrip- 


Sermon  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  I45 

tiire  prophecy  has  already  been  converted  into  history.  Unto  ns 
a  child  IS  actually  born  ;  untn  i/,s  a  child  is  given  ;  the  government 
IS  upon  his  shoulder ;  his  name  is  called  Wonderful,  Councellor, 
the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  But 
the  same  authority  which  foretold  this,  has  added,  Of  the  increase 
of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end.  There  is  also 
a  peculiar  pledge  given  for  its  fulfilment :  The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  it  is  declared,  shall  perforin  this!  Zeal  is  a  fervid  affec- 
tion of  the  mind,  that  prompts  us  to  pursue  an  object  with  ear- 
nestness and  perseverance,  and  to  encounter  every  difficulty  that 
may  stand  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment.  From  such  a  spirit, 
even  in  men  much  is  to  be  expected.  Yet  whar  is  the  zeal  of 
creatures  ?  Always  feeble,  often  misguided,  disproportionate,  or 
declining.  But  conceive  of  it  as  possessing  the  heart  of  the  om- 
nipotent God.  What  an  overwhelming  thought!  The  establish- 
ment of  Clirist's  kingdom  deeply  interests  him  :  his  thoughts  are 
upon  it ;  all  his  plans  include  it  ;  and  all  that  is  going  on  in  the 
world,  from  generation  to  generation,  is  made  to  subserve  if.  We 
draw  some  encouragement  from  the  zeal  of  creatures  in  God's 
cause.  When  his  servants  take  pleasure  in  the  stones  of  Zion,  and 
favour  the  dust  thereof,  we  consider  it  a  hopeful  symptom  that  the 
Lord  is  about  to  arise  and  have  mercy  upon  it.  The  importunity 
and  liberality  of  Christians,  the  diligence  of  ministers,  and  the 
cries  of  the  souls  from  under  the  altar,  for  the  fall  of  Babylon, 
may  have  each  their  influence  :  but  the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
surpasses  all.     Here  is  solid  rock,  for  faith  to  rest  upon. 

Unbelievers  may  deride  every  attempt  to  turn  sinners  from  the 
errors  of  their  way  ;  and  even  believers,  while  viewing  things 
through  sensible  mediums,  may  discover  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties. '  The  people  will  not  believe  us,  nor  hearken  to  our  voice  : 
the  prejudices  of  men  are  almost  insuperable  in  our  native  coun- 
try ;  and  if  we  go  abroad  they  are  worse :  these  casts,  this  volup- 
tuousness;  this  savage  ferocity,  this  treachery  of  character.  .  .  . 
How  can  we  hope  to  overcome  such  obstacles  as  these  ?'  But  all 
this  is  only  a  repetition  of  the  objections  of  the  unbelieving  Israel- 
ites :  The  people  be  strong  that  dwell  in  tlie  land,  and  the  cities  are 
great,  and  walled  up  to  heaven:  and  moreover  we  saw  the  children 

Vol.  VH.  19 


J46  GOD'b  APPROBATION  [Sermon  VII. 

of  Anak  there!     If  we  can  believe  ....  all  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth. 

Past  instances  of  mercy  furnished  the  church  with  matter  of 
prayer  :  Awake,  awake,  put  on  strength,  O  arm  of  the  Lord/ 
Awake  as  in  the  ancient  days,  in  the  generatioiis  of  old !  Art  thou 
not  it  that  hath  cut  Rahab,  and  wounded  the  dragon?  And  why 
should  we  not  apply  the  past  operations  of  grace  to  a  similar  pur- 
pose ?  That  arm  has  not  grown  weary  which  subdued  Jew- 
ish malignity  in  the  days  of  pentecost,  and  overturned  Heathen 
idolatry  by  the  doctrine  of  the  cross. 

I  think  1  may  add,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  the  time  when 
these  things  shall  be  accomplished  cannot  be  far  off.  I  have  no 
desire  to  deal  in  uncertain  conjectures.  The  prophecies  were  not 
designed  to  make  us  prophets,  nor  to  gratify  an  idle  curiosity. 
They  contain  enough,  however,  to  strengthen  our  faith,  and  in- 
vigorate our  zeal.  If  we  carefully  examine  the  scriptures,  though 
we  may  not  be  able  to  lix  times  with  any  certainty,  yet  we  may 
obtain  satisfaction  that  the  day  is  not  vsry  distant  when  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  shall  be  universal.  The  New  Testament  writers 
in  tiieir  times,  made  use  of  language  which  strongly  indicates  tha^ 
time  itself  was  far  advanced.  The  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth 
nigh. — Behold  the  judge  standeth  at  the  door. — The  end  of  all 
things  is  at  hand. — He  which  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Surely  I 
come  quickly !  These,  and  such  like  passages,  I  should  think, 
cannot  mean  less  than  that  in  those  days  they  had  passed  the  me- 
ridian of  time,  and  entered,  as  it  were,  into  the  afternoon  of  the 
world.  And  now,  after  a  lapse  of  eighteen  hundred  years, 
what  else  can  be  expected,  but  that  things  are  fast  approach- 
ing to  their  final  issue  ?  But  it  is  not  merely  on  general  grounds 
that  the  conclusion  rests.  The  prophet  Daniel,  in  his  seventh 
chapter,  describes  the  successive  establishment  and  overthrow  of 
four  great  governments,  which  should  each,  in  its  day,  rule  the 
great  r  part  of  the  world.  He  also  speaks  of  the  last  of  these 
gov»>rnments  as  issuing  in  ten  branches,  and  describes  another, 
which  he  calls  a  little  horn,  as  rising  from  among  them.  The  do- 
minion of  this  last  government  was  to  continue  until  a  time,  times, 
and  the  dividing  of  time.     After  this  the  Judgment  should  set,  and 


Sermon  VIL]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  147 

they  should  take  away  its  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  un- 
the  end.     And  then  it  immediately  follows,  And  the  kingdom  and 
dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.     There 
are  many  things  in  the  prophecies   which  are  hard  to  be  under- 
stood :  but  this  seems  to  be  very  clear.     There  can  be  no  doub 
of  the  four  great  governments  being  the  Babylonian,  the  Persian 
the  Grecian,  and  the  Roman,     Now   these  have  each  appeared 
upon  the  stage,  and  are  gone  into  perdition.     The  division  of  the 
Roman  empire  into  a  number  of  lesser  governments,  such  as  con- 
tinue in  Europe  to  this  day,   and,  among  them,    exercise  a  domin- 
ion over  the  rest  of  the  world  equal  to  what  was  formerly  exercis- 
ed   by  the   Romans,  is  doubtless  signified  by  the  ten  horns  of  the 
fourth  beast.     Nor  can  we  be  at  a  loss  to  know  what  that  govern- 
ment is  which  is  signified  by  a  little  horn,  which    rose  up  from 
among  the  ten   horns,  which  speaketh  great  tvords   against   th^ 
Most  High,  and  weareth  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.     We  have 
seen  its  rise,  felt  its  reign,  and  in  part  rejoiced  in  its  overthrow. 
The  period   alluded   to   as   the    term  of  its   existence,    is   mani- 
festly the  same    as    that    which    John,   in    the   Revelation,  calls 
forty  and  two  months,  or  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  days 
during  which  the  holy  city  should  he  trodden  under  foot,  the  wit- 
nesses prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  the  true  church  have  her  abode 
in  the  toilderness,  in  a  manner  resembling  the  state  of  things  in  Je- 
rusalem in  the  times  of  Antiochus,     More  than  a  thousand  of  these 
prophetic  days,  or  years,  must  have  already  elapsed.     The  period 
itself  must  be  drawing  towards  a  close  :  and  when  this   is  closed, 
there  is  an  end   to  every  species  of  Satanic  government.     That 
which  follows  is  given  to  the  Son  of  Man,  and  to  the  people  of  the 
saints  of  the   Most  High.     The  amount  is,  We  are  under  the  last 
form   of  the  reign  of  darkness,  and   that  form    is  fast  dissolving. 
Surely,  the  day  of  the  church's  redemption  draweth  nigh  ' 

And  while  these  views  afforJ  a  joyful  prospect  to  the  church  o[ 
Christ,  there  is  nothing  in  them  which  can  furnish  any  just  ground 
of  alarm  to  civil  government.  There  is  no  reason  to  imagine  that 
the  church  of  Christ  will  ever  become  a  political  community,  ex- 
ercising dominion  over  others  ;  but  that  Christian  principles  will 
pervade  and  rale  the  governments  of  the  earth.     However  God 


148  GOD'S  APPROBAION.  [Sermon  VII. 

may  overrule  the  tumultuous  revolutions  of  these  times,  to  the 
making  way  for  his  kingdom,  his  kingdom  itself  will  be  entirely 
different  :  the  wind,  the  earthquake,  and  the  fire  may  go  before 
it,  but  the  thing  itself  will  be  as  a  still  small  voice.  It  will  not 
come  with  observation,  or  outward  show.  The  banners  that  will 
be  displayed  will  not  be  those  of  sedition  and  tumult,  but  of  truth 
and  peace.  It  will  be  a  renovation  in  the  hearts  of  men  ;  a  rev- 
olution, in  both  rulers  and  subjects,  from  the  slavery  of  sin  to  the 
love  of  both  God  and  man  :  and  this,  as  it  must  produce  the  es- 
tablishment of  peace  and  good  order,  cannot  be  an  object  of  dread 
to  any  who  are  well  disposed.  It  is  not  impossible  that  we  may 
live  to  see  things  of  which  at  present  we  have  scarcely  any  con- 
ception :  but  whether  we  do,  or  not,  Jesus  lives,  and  his  kingdom 
must  increase.  And  what,  if  while  we  are  scaling  the  walls  of  the 
enemy,  we  should  a  few  of  us  lose  our  lives  ?  We  must  die  in 
some  way  ;  and  can  we  desiie  to  die  in  a  better  cause  ?  Probably 
many  of  the  Israelites  who  went  up  to  possess  the  land  with  Josh- 
ua, perished  in  the  attempt :  Yet  this  was  no  objection  to  a  per- 
severance in  the  cause.  In  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of  eternal 
life  to  Jeivs  and  Gentiles,  Stephen  and  James,  with  many  others, 
fell  sacrifices  at  an  early  period  :  yet  no  one  was  discouraged  on 
this  account,  but  rather  stimulated  to  follow  their  example. 

I  close  with  a  few  words  by  way  of  reflection.  It  becomes  us 
to  inquire,  each  one  seriously  for  hin>self,  whether  the  little  suc- 
cess which  we  have  already  experienced  may  not  be  owin^  to  this 
cause — There  may  be  something  about  us,  on  account  of  which 
God  does  not  delight  in  us  /  I  mean  no  reflection  upon  any  ;  but 
let  each  one  examine  himself.  '  What  is  the  secret  spring  of  my 
zeal  ?  Is  the  doctiine  I  preach  truly  evangelical  ?  Let  me  not 
take  this  matter  for  granted  ;  but  examine  whether  it  quadrates 
with  the  scriptures.  If  half  my  time  be  taken  up  in  beating  ofl' 
the  rough  edges  of  certain  passages,  to  make  them  square  with 
my  principles,  I  am  not  in  the  gospel  scheme.  If  one  part  of 
scripture  requires  to  be  passed  over,  lest  I  should  appear  incon- 
sistent, 1  am  not  sound  in  the  faith,  in  God's  account ;  but  have  im- 
bibed some  false  system,  instead  of  the  gospel ;  and,  while  this  is 


Sermon  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESS.  I49 

the  case,  I  have  no  reason  to  expect  that  he  will  delight  in  me,  so 
as  to  make  me  a  blessing.' 

Finally  :  Whether  we  possess  the  land,  or  not,  it  will  be  possess- 
ed. Though  some  of  the  Israelites  perished  in  the  wilderness, 
that  did  not  overturn  the  councils  of  God  :  the  next  generation 
entered  into  his  rest.  And  though  there  should  be  so  much  sel- 
fishness, false  doctrine,  unbelief,  or  inactivity,  about  us,  as  that 
God  should  take  no  delight  in  us,  and  refuse  to  give  us  the  land, 
yet  our  children  may  possess  it.  God's  word  will  be  accomplish- 
ed. Deliverance  will  arise  to  the  chnrch  of  God,  whether  we  do 
ourselves  the  honour  of  serving  it,  or  not.  But  why  do  I  thus 
speak  ?  Surely  it  is  the  desire  of  many  in  this  country,  and  of 
many  in  this  assembly,  to  be  active,  and  so  to  act  as  to  be  appro* 
ved  of  God. 


THE  OBEDIENCE  OF  CHURCHES  TO  THEIR  PASTORS 
EXPLAINED  AND  ENFORCED. 


SERMON  Vlfl. 

DeliTered  to 'the  Baptist  Church  meeting;  in  Cannon  Street  Birmingham, 
June  23, 1802,  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Thomas  Morgan,  to  the  Pastoral 
Office.] 


HcB.  xiii.  17. 

Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  y«u,  and  submit  yourselves  :  for  they 
watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  give  an  account ;  that  they  may  do  it 
with  joy,  and  not  with  grief :  for  that  is  unprofitable  for  you. 


It  is  not  usual,  I  believe,  for  ministers,  in  their  ordinary  la- 
bours, to  dwell  upon  the  obligations  of  the  people  of  their  charge 
towards  them.  They  feel,  probably,  that,  on  such  a  subject,  they 
might  be  suspected  of  partiality  to  themselves  ;  and,  if  such  a 
suspicion  were  indulged,  however  just  and  proper  their  admoni- 
tions might  be,  they  would  be  but  of  little  use,  and  might  operate 
to  their  disadvantage.  Nor  is  it  a  subject  that  a  humble  and  holy 
man  would  ordinarily  choose,  even  though  there  were  no  danger 
of  misconstruction  :  he  had  rather  inspire,  in  his  people,  the  love 
of  Christ,  and  of  one  another,  hoping,  that,  if  this  prevailed,  it 
would  constrain  them  to  whatever  was  proper  towards  himself. 
It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  this  species  of  Christian  duty 
ought  never  to  be  insisted  on  :  the  glory  of  God,   the  success   of 


152  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE  [Sermon  VIII. 

the  church,  and  the  spiritual  advantage  of  individuals  will  be 
found  to  be  involved  in  it.  No  man  could  more  strenuously  re- 
nounce an  undue  assumption  of  power  than  the  apostle  Paul :  in 
many  instances,  he  forebore  to  insist  npon  the  authority  that 
Christ  had  given  him  ;  yet,  when  addressing  the  churches  in  the 
behalf  of  others,  he  uniformly  insi.'ts  upon  the  treatment  which 
private  members  owe  to  their  pastors,  as  well  as  upon  other  rel- 
ative duties.  To  this  I  may  add,  if  there  be  any  one  time  in  which 
an  exhortation  on  this  subject  is  peculiarly  seasonable,  it  is  when 
the  relation  between  pastor  and  people  is  publicly  solemnized.  I 
shall,  therefore,  proceed  to  explain  and  inforce  the  exhortation 
which  I  have  read  to  you. 

I.  Let  us  endeavour  to  ascertain  whkrin  consists  that  obedi- 
ence AND  SUBMISSION    WHICH  IS  REQUIRED  OF  A    PEOPLE    TOWARDS 

THEIR  PASTOR.  The  very  terms  rule,  obey,  and  submit,  may  be 
grating,  in  the  ears  of  some  ;  and  true  it  is,  that  there  have  been 
great  abuses  of  these  things  :  a  great  deal  of  priestly  domination 
has  been  exercised  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Yet  there  must  be 
rule  in  the  church  of  Christ,  as  well  as  in  other  societies.  With- 
out this,  it  would  not  be  a  body,  growing  up  unto  him  in  all  things 
which  is  the  head,  even  Christ ;  but  a  number  of  scattered  bones. 
Or,  if  all  aspired  to  rule  and  guidance,  the  question  of  the  Apostle 
would  here  be  applicable  :  If  the  whole  were  an  eye,  where  were 
the  hearing  ?  But  now  hath  God  set  the  members,  every  one  of 
themin  the  body,  as  it  hath  pleased  him.  Christian  ministers  are 
called  overseers,  as  having  the  oversight  of  the  flock,  and  the  prin- 
cipal direction  of  its  concerns. 

The  church  of  Christ,  however,  is  not  subject  to  a  despotic 
government.  Ministers  are  forbidden  to  lord  it  over  God's  her- 
itage. The  power  that  was  given  them,  and  all  other  ofticers,  or. 
dinary  or  extraordinary,  was  for  edification,  and  not  for  destruc- 
tion. There  are  three  things  which  are  necessary,  in  order  that 
the  authority  of  a  pastor  be  legitimate  and  unobjectionable  :  name- 
ly, that  he  be  freely  chosen  by  the  church  ;  that  the  standard  by 
which  he  rules  be  not  his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Christ  ;  and 
that  the  things  which  he  urges  on  others  be  equally  binding  on 
iinmself. 


skkmonViilj        of  churches  to  pastors.  153 

First  :  It  is  necessary  that  your  pastor  he  freely  chosen,  by  you, 
to  his  sacred  office.  If  he  had  been  imposed  upon  you  by  any 
human  authority,  against  or  without  your  own  consent,  I  should 
not  be  able  to  prove,  from  the  scriptures,  that  you  were  bound  to 
obey,OT  submit  to  him.  Should  it  be  alleged,  that  pastors  are  rep- 
resented as  the  gifts  of  God.  and  such  as  the  Holy  Spirit  hath 
made  overseers ;  I  should  answer,  True  ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit  per- 
forms this  work,  not  immediately,  but  mediately,  by  inclining  the 
hearts  of  his  people  to  choose  them.  No  one,  indeed,  pretends 
that  it  is  done  immediately.  Human  choice  is,  in  all  cases,  con- 
cerned ;  and  the  only  question  is,  whether  it  be  by  that  of  the 
people,  or  of  some  one,  or  more,  that  shall  choose  on  their  behalf. 
The  primitive  churches  elected  their  own  officers.  The  apostles 
ordained  them  ;  but  it  was  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people.  The 
■power  of  election  was  with  them  ;  and  with  them  it  continued,  du- 
ring the  purest  ages  of  the  church.  If  the  primitive  pastors  had 
been  chosen  by  the  apostles,  it  had  also  been  their  province  to 
have  rejected  or  silenced  them,  as  occasion  should  require  ;  but 
when  false  teachers  arose  among  the  Corinthians  and  the  Gala- 
tians,  we  do  not  find  these  churches,  not  even  the  purest  part  of 
them,  applying  to  the  Apostle,  but  the  Apostle  to  them,  for  their 
removal.  The  false  teachers  of  primitive  times,  ingratiated  them- 
selves with  the  people,  and  despised  the  apostles  :  an  incontesta- 
ble proof  this,  lo  every  one  acquainted  with  human  nature,  where 
the  powers  of  election  and  rejection  lie.  If  your  pastor,  I  say 
again,  had  been  imposed  upon  you  by  any  human  authority, 
against  or  without  your  own  consent,  1  should  not  be  able  to  prove, 
from  the  scriptures,  that  you  were  bound  to  obey,  or  submit  to 
him.  But  it  is  not  so.  You  have  heard  him  and  known  Lim  ; 
and,  from  an  observation  of  his  spirit  and  conduct,  and  an  experi- 
ence of  the  advantages  of  his  ministry,  you  have  chosen  him  to 
watch  over  you  in  the  Lord. 

Secondly  :  The  rule  to  which  you  are  required  to  yield  obedi- 
ence and  subjection,  is  not  his  will,  but  the  will  of  Christ.  Pastors 
are  that  to  a  church,  which  the  executive  powers,  or  magistrates. 

Vol.  VII.  20 


154  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE  [Sermon  VIII. 

of  a  free  country  are  to  the  state — the  organs  of  the  law.  Sub- 
mission to  them  is  submission  to  the  law.  If  your  pastors  teach 
any  other  doctrine,  or  inculcate  any  other  duties,  than  what  Christ 
has  left  on  record,  obey  him  not  ;  but,  while  urging  these,  it  is 
at  your  peril  to  resist  him;  for,  resisting  him,  you  resist  him  thatsent 
him.  It  is  in  this  view,  as  teaching  divine  truth,  and  enforcing  divine 
commands,  that  the  servants  of  God,  in  all  ages,  have  been  invest- 
ed with  rfjyine  authority.  Of  the  sons  of  Levi,  it  was  said,  they 
shall  teach  Jacob  thy  judgments,  and  Israel  thy  law ;  and,  upon 
this  ground,  it  was  added,  Bless,  Lord,  his  substance,  and  accept 
the  work  of  his  hands  :  smite  through  the  loins  of  them  that  rise 
against  him,  and  of  them  that  hate  him,  that  they  rise  not  again. 
Here  lay  the  sin  of  Korah  and  his  company,  of  Ely  mas  the  sorce- 
rer, and  of  Alexander  the  coppersmith  :  they  each,  by  resisting 
the  servants  of  God  in  the  proper  execution  of  their  work,  resist- 
ed God,  and  brought  upon  taemselves  the  sorest  of  judgments. 

Thirdly  :  The  things  which  he  urges  upon  you,  ore  equally  bind- 
ing upon  himself.  When  he  exhibits  to  you  the  only  name  given 
unde  ihcdven,  among  men,  by  which  you  can  be  saved,  and  char- 
ges you,  on  pain  of  eternal  dam-nation,  not  to  neglect  it ;  remem- 
ber his  own  soul  also  is  at  stake.  And  when  he  exhorts  and  warns 
you.  if  he  himself  should  privately  pursue  a  contrary  course,  he 
seals  his  own  destruction. 

There  are,  it  is  true,  those  who  lade  men  with  heavy  burdens, 
grievous  to  be  borne,  to  which  they  themselves  will  not  put  one  of 
their  fingers;  these,  however,  are  not  the  commands  of  Christ. 
Instead  of  being  the  commands  of  Christ,  which  are  not  grievous, 
except  to  unholy  men,  these  are  mere  human  traditions  :  but, 
though  they  were  allowed  to  be  otherwise,  the  inconsistent  con- 
duct of  ministers  would  not  exempt  either  them  or  you  from  obli- 
gation. Should  we  enforce  the  will  of  Christ  upon  you,  while 
living  in  the  neglect  of  it  ourselves,  woe  be  unto  us  !  Yet  this  will 
fall  upon  our  own  heads.  If'' we  be  wicked,  depose  us  from  our 
office ;  but  while  we  are  in  it,  let  not  the  word  of  the  Lord  be 
disregarded,  on  our  account. 


Sermoit  VIII.]  OF  CHURCHES  TO  PASTORS.  155 

Let  me  point  out  v^few  particulars,  brethreD,  in  which  it  is  your 
duty  and  interest  to  obey  him  whom  you  have  chosen  to  have  the 
rule  over  you,  and  to  submit  yourselves. 

1.  With  respect  to  his  public  ministry.  Do  not  fly  in  the  face 
of  plain  dealing  from  the  pulpit.  Good  sense,  as  well  as  the  fear 
of  God,  will,  1  trust,  preserve  your  pastor  from  dealing  in  person- 
al reflections,  or  any  thing  designed  to  offend  ;  but  do  not  be  un- 
willing that  he  should  come  close  to  cases  and  consciences.  You 
may  as  well  have  no  minister,  as  one  that  never  makes  you  feel. 
I  hope  the  house  of  God  will  continue  to  be  to  you  what  it  has 
been;  a  rest  in  times  of  trouble;  a  house  of  consolation  :  but 
do  not  go  with  a  desire  merely  to  be  comforted.  Go,  as  well,  to 
learn  your  failings  and  defects,  and  in  the  hope  of  having  them  cor- 
rected. It  is  not  the  mere  hearer,  but  the  doer  of  the  word,  that 
is  blessed  in  his  work.  I  hope  you  will  always  exercise  your 
Judgments  as  to  what  you  hear,  and  compare  it  with  the  oracles 
of  God  ;  but  if  you  attend  preaching  merely  us  judges  of  its  or- 
thodoxy, you  will  derive  no  advantage  to  yourselves,  and  may  do 
much  barm  to  others.  It  is  the  humble  Christian,  who  hears  that 
he  may  be  instructed,  corrected,  and  quickened  in  the  ways  of 
God,  who  will  obtain  that  consolation  which  the  gospel  affords. 

2.  Vi'iih  T^i^eciio  his  private  visits.  You  do  not  expect  him 
to  visit  you  in  the  character  of  a  saunterer,  but  of  a  pastor  ;  and 
if  so  it  becomes  you  to  be  open  to  a  free  exchange  of  sentiments 
on  your  best  interests.  No  minister  is  always  alike  prepared  for 
profitable  conversation,  and  some  much  less  so  than  others ;  but 
if  he  perceives  in  you  a  desire  after  it,  it  will  be  much  more  ea- 
sily introduced.  Be  free  to  communicate  your  cases  to  him.  It 
will  assist  him  in  his  preaching  more  than  a  library  of  expositors  ; 
and  if,  while  you  are  conversing  with  him,  he  should  be  directed 
to  impart  to  you  the  mind  of  Christ  as  suited  to  your  particular 
case,  do  not  treat  it  lightly,  but  submit  yourselves  to  it. 

3.  In  presiding  in  your  occasional  assemblies.  When  you  meet 
together  as  a  Christian  church,  for  the  adjustment  of  your  con- 
cerns, he  is  entitled  to  your  respect.  Every  society  places  so 
much  authority  in  its  president,  as  shall  be  necessary  to  check 
disorderly  individuals,  and  to  preserve  a  proper  decorum.     It 


156  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE  [Skumow  VIU. 

will,  doubtless,  become  him,  especially  while  he  is  a  young  man,- 
to  be  gentle  and  temperate  in  the  exercise  of  authority  :  and  ij; 
will  no  less  become  you  to  submit  to  it.  When  churches  enter 
into  disputes  with  heat  and  bitterness,  when  all  are  speakers,  and 
respect  is  paid  to  no  one  more  than  to  another,  they  debase  them- 
selves below  the  character  even  of  civilized  societies. 

4.  in  the  private  reproofs  which  he  may  have  occasion  toad- 
minister.  You  do  not  wish  that  your  pastor  should  deal  in  personal 
reflections  from  the  pulpit;  yet  there  are  cases  in  which  reproof 
requires  to  be  personal;  he  must,  therefore,  if  he  discharge  his 
duty,  be  free  and  faithful  in  telling  you  what  he  sees  amiss  in  you. 
It  has  long  appeared  to  me,  that  there  are  some  species  of  faults, 
in  individual  members,  which  are  not  proper  objects  of  church 
censure,  but  of  pastoral  admonition  ;  such  as  spiritual  declensions, 
hesitating  on  important  truths,  neglect  of  religious  duties,  worldly- 
anxiety,  and  the  early  approaches  to  any  evil  course.  A  faithful 
pastor,  with  an  eye  of  watchful  tenderness,  will  perceive  the  first 
symptoms  of  spiritual  disorder,  and  by  a  timely  hint,  will  counter- 
act its  operations  ;  whereas  if  nothing  be  said  or  done,  till  the  case 
requires  the  censure  of  the  church,  the  party  may  be  excluded 
but  is  seldom  recovered.  You  may  easily  suppose  this  to  be  a 
self-denying  work  for  your  pastor  ;  he  had  much  rather  visit  you 
with  a  smile  of  aflfectionate  congratulation  :  yet  it  may  be  of  the 
first  importance  to  you  and  to  the  church.  Do  not  render  this 
disagreeable  part  of  his  work  more  disagreeable,  by  an  irritable 
and  resentful  disposition ;  but  receive  reproofs  with  candour. 
Correction  may  be  grievous  to  him  that  forsaketh  the  way  ;  but  he 
that  hateih  reproof  shall  die. 

II.  Let  us  observe  the  important  considerations  by  which 

THIS   OBEDIENCE    AND     SUBMISSION     ARE     ENFORCED.       These,    yOU 

will  perceive,  are  partly  taken  from  the  regard  you  bear  to  your- 
selves— they  toatcJi  for  your  souls;  partly  from  your  sympathy  with 
them — that  they  may  do  it  with  jot/  and  not  with  grief:  and  even 
that  part  which  seems  to  respect  their  comfort,  ultimately  concerns 
your  own  ;  for,  if  they  discharge  their  work  with  grief,  that  will 
be  unprojitnble  for  you.  Give  us  your  serious  and  candid  atten- 
tion, brethren,  while  we  review  these  important  motives. 


Sermojt  VIII.]  OF  CHURCHES  TO  PASTORS.  1 57 

1.  Your  pnsioT  watches  for  your  souls.  Your  salvation  let  me 
presume,  will  be  his  great  concern  ;  and,  while  pursuing  this, 
you  may  well  be  expected  to  concur  with  him,  and  submit  your- 
selves to  him  in  the  Lord.  You  would  submit  to  a  surgeon,  who 
was  performing  an  operation  to  save  your  life  ;  or  to  a  counsellor, 
who  should  oft'eryou  his  advice  for  the  security  of  your  property  ; 
or  to  a  commander  who  should  lead  you  forth  to  save  your  coun- 
try :  but  these  are  inferior  objects,  when  compared  with  your 
soul.     Observe  the  force  of  every  term. 

They  watch.  The  word  literally  signifies  to  keep  awake. 
Here,  it  denotes  vigilance.  Ministers  are  as  watchmen  on  the 
walls,  or  in  the  streets  of  a  city,  by  whose  care  and  fidelity  the 
inhabitants  enjoy  security.  Their  work  is  to  rise  early,  to  sit  up 
late,  and  to  eat  the  bread  of  care  ;  for  so  it  is  that  God  giveth  his 
beloved  sleep.  Aware  of  your  temptations  and  dangers,  he  must 
be  continaally  on  the  watch,  that  he  may  be  ready  to  give  the 
alarm.  He  may  be  thinking  and  caring  and  praying  for  you,  when 
you  think  but  little  of  him,  and  perhaps  in  some  instances,  when 
you  think  but  little  of  yourselves.  Do  not  binder  him,  but  help 
bimin  his  work. 

They  watch  for  you.  Recollect,  that  you  are  watched  on  all 
side'?,  but  not  in  this  manner.  Satan  watches  yon  ;  but  it  is  that 
he  may  seize  his  opportanity  to  destroy  you.  He  watches  you  as 
a  wolf  does  a  sheep-fold  ;  but  your  pastor,  as  a  faithful  shepherd, 
to  protect  and  save  you.  The  world  also  will  watch  you,  and  that 
with  the  eye  of  an  enemy,  waiting  for  your  halting  ;  but  he,  with 
the  tender  solicitude  of  a  father,  to  do  you  good.  Do  not  oppose 
him  in  this,  his  important  work. 

They  watch  for  your  souls.  If  your  pastor  were  stationed  to 
watch  over  your  health,  property,  or  life,  and  should  discharge 
his  trust  with  skill  and  fidelity,  you  would  think  him  worthy  of 
your  esteem;  but  it  is  not  for  these  things  that  he  is  principally 
concerned.  He  would  doubtless  be  happy  to  do  you  good  in  any 
way  ;  but  neither  of  these  employments  is  his  peculiar  province. 
You  employ  other  persons  to  watch  for  you  in  such  matters.  Noth- 
ing less  than  your  immortal  interests  must  engage  his  attention. 
He  watches  for  that,  compared  with  which  kingdoms  and  empires 


1 58  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE  [Sermon  VIII. 

are  but  trifles  ;  for  that,  which,  if  gained,  all  is  gained  ;  and  which, 
if  lost,  all  is  los-t,  and  lost  forever.  Do  not  resist  him  in  his  work, 
but  concur  with  him. 

They  watch  as  those  that  must  give  acconnt.  How  important  a 
station!  There  is  an  account  for  erery  one  to  give  of  himself; 
but  a  pastor  has  not  only  to  do  this  in  common  with  his  people,  but 
must  also  give  account  of  them.  At  his  hands  the  chief  Shepherd 
will  require  it.  And  what  will  be  the  account  of  your  pastor? 
Will  he  be  able  to  say,  concerning  you.  Here  I  am,  and  the  children 
whom  the  Lord  hath  siven  me  ?  O  that  he  might !  But  it  is  much 
to  be  feared,  that  some  of  you,  who  are  this  day  committed  to  his 
charge,  will  in  that  day  be  missing!  And  what  account  will  he 
then  have  to  give  ?  Will  he  not  have  to  say,  *  Lord,  some  of  them 
have  neglected  thy  word  ;  some  have  resisted  it ;  some  have 
reproached  me  for  preaching  it ;  some  have  deserted  it,  and 
turned  aside  after  lying  vanities;  some,  who  have  continued,  have 
not  received  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved  :  hear- 
ing, they  have  heard  and  not  understood  ;  seeing,  they  have  seen 
and  not  perceived  ;  their  heart  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are 
dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they  closed  ?'  And  what  if, 
when  interrogated,  he  should  not  be  able  to  acquit  himself?  What 
if  it  should  prove  that  he  did  not  warn  you,  nor  seek  after  you, 
nor  care  for  you?  Ah,  then  you  will  perish,  and  your  blood  will 
be  required  at  his  hand  !  Who,  alas  !  who  is  sufficient  for  these 
things  ?  At  all  events,  for  your  own  sake,  and  for  his  sake,  do  not 
hinder  him  in  his  work.  Woe  unto  him,  if  he  preach  not  the  gospel ; 
and  woe  unto  you,  if  you  oppose  him  in  it  I  Do  not  object  to  his 
dealing  faithfully,  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit,  so  that  it  be  aimed 
for  your  good.  Do  not  hinder  him  in  the  work  of  reproof,  by  siding 
with  transgressors.  In  short,  if  you  have  any  regard  to  your  own 
souls,  or  the  souls  of  others,  obey  the  counsels  of  heaven,  which 
are  communicated  to  you  through  his  ministry,  and  submit  your- 
selves. 

2.  The  discharge  of  this  his  work  will  be  either ^oy  or  griefs 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  people  among  whom  be  labours. 
You  do  not  wish,   I  dare  say,  to  grieve  and  distress  a  servant  of 


Sermon  VIII.]  OF  CHURCHES  TO  PASTORS.  1 59 

Christ.     Better  would  it  be  never  to  have  chosen  hina,  than  to 
break  his  heart :  yet  such  things  are  ! 

If,  in  his  public  preaching,  he  have  a  zealous,  generous,  modest, 
attentive,  wise,  and  aff<ctionate  people  ;  constant  and  early,  in  at- 
tending ;  candid  and  tender-hearted,  in  hearing;  and  desirous  of 
obtaining  some  spiritual  advantage  from  all  they  hear  ;  you  cannot 
conceive  v/hzt  joy  it  will  afford  him.  He  will  pray  for  you,  and 
preach  to  you,  with  abundantly  the  more  interest.  And,  this  be- 
ing the  case,  it  may  contribute  not  a  little  to  the  success  of  his  la- 
bours ;  for  God  works  not  only  by  the  word  preached,  but  by  the 
effects  of  it  in  the  spirit  of  believers.  The  Apostle  supposes,  that 
some,  on  whom  the  word  itself  had  no  influence,  might  yet  be  won 
by  the  chaste  conversation  of  the  godly  females.  But  if  he  have 
a  slothful,  selfi'^h,  cold-hearted,  cavilling,  conceited,  and  conten- 
tious audience,  what  a  source  of  grief  mast  it  be  to  him!  The 
meekest  of  men  was  overcome  by  such  a  people,  and  tempted  to 
wish  that  God  would  kill  him  out  of  hand,  rather  than  continue  to 
cause  him  thus  to  sec  his  wretchedness. 

If,  in  adjusting  the  concerns  of  the  church,  every  individual  con- 
sider that  others  have  understanding,  as  well  as  himself,  and  have 
the  same  right  to  be  heard  and  regarded  ;  if  all  strive  to  act  in 
concert,  and  never  oppose  a  measure  from  humour,  but  merely 
from  conscience,  or  a  persuasion  that  it  is  wrong ;  such  things,  to 
a  pastor,  must  needs  be  a  source  of  joj/.  But,  if  pride  and  self- 
will  prevail,  they  will  produce  confusion  and  every  evil  workj 
and  thio,  if  he  have  any  regard  to  religion,  or  to  you,  will  be  the 
grief  of  his  sou!. 

If  the  deacons,  whom  you  have  chosen  to  be  helpers  in  the 
truth,  be  wise  fiiithful,  active,  and  tender-hearted  ;  ready  to  stand 
by  their  pastor  in  every  right  cause  ;  willing  to  impart  the  counsel 
of  maturer  years ;  and  careful  to  preserve  the  purity  and  peace  of 
the  church  ;  his  work  will  be  discharged  with  joy.  But,  if  they 
mind  earthly  things,  and  leave  all  to  him  ;  or  though  they  should 
be  active,  yet  if  it  be  with  the  spirit  of  a  Diotrephes  ;  instead  of 
diminishing  his  load,  they  will  increase  it,  and  render  his  work  a 
daily  grief. 


IGO  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE  [Sermon  VUI. 

If,  171  the  exercise  of  discipline,  there  be  a  unity  of  heart,  a  wil- 
lingness to  follow  God's  word,  whoever  may  be  aflFecled  by  it  ;  if, 
like  the  tribe  of  Levi,  you  in  such  maliers  know  not  your  father, 
nor  your  mother,  nor  acknowledge  your  brethren,  nor  know  your 
own  childreji ;  but  observe  God''s  word,  and  keep  his  covenant ; 
this,  to  an  upright  man,  will  be  a  source  of  joy  and  solid  satisfac- 
tion. But,  if,  whenever  a  censure  requires  to  be  inflicted,  no 
unanimity  can  be  obtained  ;  if  regard  be  had  to  friends  and  family 
Connexions,  to  the  setting  aside  of  Christ's  revealed  will ;  nothing 
will  be  done  with  effect.  The  zeal  of  a  few  will  be  attributed  to 
prejudice  ;  and  the  person  concerned,  instead  of  being  convinced 
and  humbled,  will  be  hardened  in  his  sin.  Thus  the  work  of  the 
ministry  will  be  a  burden  oi grief . 

Finally  :  If  you  be  a  spiritual,  affectionate,  and  peaceable  people, 
your  pastor  will  perform  his  work  w'xihjoy  ;  but  if  you  be  carnal 
and  contentious;  if  there  be  whisperings,  swellings,  tumults,  par- 
ty attachments,  jealousies,  antipathies,  scandals;  alas!  he  may 
sow,  but  it  will  be  among  thorns;  he  may  preach,  but  it  will  be 
with  a  heavy  heart. 

3.  You  cannot  cause  the  work  of  your  pastor  to  be  grievous, 
but  at  your  0W7i  expense  :  it  will  be  unprofitable  for  you.  It  is  to 
no  purpose  that  you  have  a  pastor  ordained  over  you  in  the  Lord, 
unless  his  ministry  be  profitable  to  you.  Every  thing,  therefore, 
which  promotes  this  end,  should  be  carefully  cherished;  an(i 
every  thing  that  hinders  it,  as  carefully  avoided.  But  profit  under 
a  ministry  greatly  depends,  under  God,  upon  mutual  attachment. 
I  do  not  mean  to  commend  that  fondness  and  partiality  that  would 
render  you  the  devotees  of  a  man,  or  incapacitate  you  for  hearing 
any  other  preaching  than  his.  They  that  cannot  edify  save  under 
one  minister,  give  sufficient  proof  that  they  do  not  truly  edify  un- 
der him.  But  there  is  an  attachment  between  a  pastor  and  a  people 
that  is  highly  necessary  ;  as,  without  it,  attendance  on  public  wor- 
ship would,  in  a  great  measure,  cease  to  be  an  enjoyment.  This 
attachment,  my  brethren,  should  begin  with  you,  and  be  cherished 
by  a  course  of  kind  and  faithful  treatment;  delicately  meeting  his 
wants,  gradually  inspiring  his  confidence,  tenderly  participating  in 
his  afflictiops,  and  I  may  add,  if  occasion  require  it^  affectionately 


Sermom  VIII.]  OF  CHURCHES  TO  PASTORS.  161 

suggesting  to  him  his  faults  and  defects.  By  these  means,  he  will 
insensibly  be  attached  to  you,  in  return  ;  and  will  prefer  preach- 
ing at  home,  to  all  his  occasional  labours  in  other  places.  By  an 
acquaintance  with  your  cases,  his  preaching  will  be  seasonable  and 
savoury,  proceeding  from  the  fulness  of  his  heart.  Of  such  words 
it  may  well  be  said,  How  good  they  are  !  But  I  need  not  enlarge 
upon  these  things  to  you.  Never,  perhaps,  were  they  more  fully 
exemplified,  than  in  the  person  of  your  late  affectionate  and  be- 
loved pastor.  You  loved  him  for  the  truth's  sake  that  dwelt  in 
him;  and  he,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  only  willing  to  impart 
unto  you  the  gojjpel  of  God,  but  his  own  soul  also,  because  ye  were 
dear  unto  him.  May  the  same  spirit  be  cherished  between  you 
and  your  present  pastor  ! 

Love  is  the  grand  secret  to  make  you  all  happy.  Love,  how- 
ever, is  a  tender  plant ;  a  slight  blast  of  unkindness  will  greatly  in- 
jure it.  If  you  grieve  him  through  inadvertency,  come  to  an  early 
explanation.  If  unkindness  be  repeated,  his  attachment  to  you 
will  be  weakened,  and  then  yours  to  him  will  be  the  same.  This 
will  be  followed  by  various  misunderstandings,  slights,  distances, 
and  offences,  the  issue  of  which  may  be  a  rooted  antipathy  ;  and 
when  this  enters,  all  profit  under  a  ministry  is  at  an  end.  If  he 
could  preach  like  an  angel,  all  were  in  vain,  so  far  as  relates  to 
your  advantage. 

From  these  remarks,  you  see  and  feel,  my  brethren,  that  if 
your  pastor  performs  his  work  with  grief,  it  will  be  at  your  ex- 
pense ;  or,  that  every  kind  of  treatment  that  wounds  his  spirit,  un- 
dermines your  own  welfare.  Study,  therefore,  by  all  means,  to 
render  it  his  joy ;  which  will  turn  to  your  account:  study,  by  a 
constant  discharge  of  kind  offices,  to  endear  yourselves  and  your 
families  to  him ;  by  an  inviting  intimacy  in  spiritual  things,  to  know 
and  be  known  by  him  ;  and  by  a  holy,  humble,  and  uniform  con- 
duct, in  the  world  and  in  the  church,  to  enable  him  to  look  the 
enemies  of  religion  in  the  face,  while  he  proclaims  its  holy  effi- 
cacy. 

The  reward  of  a  true  pastor  is  in  the  people  of  his  charge,  in 
their  sanctification  and  salvation.  What  else  is  his  hope,  or  joy, 
or  crown  of  rejoicing  ?     Do  not  withhold  from  the  labourer  his 

Vol.  VII.  91 


152  ON  THE  OBEDIENCE,  &c.  [SERMo^  VIII. 

hire  !  You  maybe  his  hope,  without  being  his  joy  ;  and  his  hope 
andjovfora  season,  without  being  his  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the 
appearance  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  his  coming  :  but  need  I 
say  that  this  will  be  unprofitable  for  you  !  If  he  have  a  full  re- 
ward of  his  labour,  you  must  be  his  hope,  and  joy,  and  crown. 
Brethren,  consider  what  I  have  said,  and  the  Lord  give  you  un- 
derstanding in  all  things. 


CHRISTIAN    PATRIOTISM:  OR    THE    DUTY  OF  REL1« 
GIOUS  PEOPLE  TOWARDS  THEIR  COUNTRY. 


SERMON  IX. 

[Delivered  at  Kettering,  Aug.  14,  1803,  at  a  time  of  threatened  invasion.] 

Jer.  xxix.  7. 

And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  caused  you  to  be  carried 
away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it :  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall 
ye  have  peace. 


In  the  course  of  humfin  events,  cases  may  be  expected  to  oc- 
cur, in  which  a  serious  mind  may  be  at  a  loss,  with  respect  to  the 
path  of  duty.  Presuming,  ray  brethren,  that  such  may  be  tlie  situ- 
ation of  some  of  you,  at  this  momentous  crisis  ;  a  crisis  in  which 
your  country,  menaced  by  in  unprincipled,  povverfiu,  Jt-K-'  ma- 
lignant foe,  calls  upon  you  to  arm  in  its  dpfence;  f  take  the  liberty 
of  freely  imparting  to  you  my  se-itiments  on  the  subject. 

When  a  part  of  the  Jewish  people  were  carried  captives  to 
Babylon,  ten  years,  or  thereabo-iils,  before  the  entire  ruin  of  the 
city  and  temple,  they  must  have  felt  much  :tt  a  loss,  in  determining 
upon  what  was  duty.  Though  Jeconiah,  their  king,  was  carried 
cai'Mve  with  them,  yet  the  government  was  still  contirii  id  under 
Zedekiah ;  and  there  were  not  wanting  prophets,  such  as  they 


]G4  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  [Sermon  IX. 

«ere,  who  encouraged  in  them  the  hopes  of  a  speedy  return.  To 
settle  their  minds  on  this  subject,  Jeremiah,  the  prophet,  addres- 
sed the  following  letter  to  them,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord:  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  unto  all  that  are  carried 
a'way  captives,  whom  I  have  caused  to  be  carried  away  from  Jeru- 
salem unto  Babylon,  Build  ye  houses,  and  dwell  in  them;  and  plant 
gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them  ;  take  ye  wives,  and  beget  sons 
and  daughters  ;  and  take  wives  for  your  sons,  and  give  your  daugh- 
ters to  husbands,  that  they  may  bear  sons  and  daughters ;  that  ye 
may  be  increased  there,  and  not  diminished  :  and  seek  the  peace  of 
the  city  whither  I  have  caused  you  to  be  carried  away  captives,  and 
pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it;  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have 
pence. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  the  case  of  these  people  applies  exactly 
to  our?  ;  but  the  difference  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  heighten  our 
obligations.  They  were  in  a  foreign  land  ;  a  land  where  there 
was  nothing  to  excite  their  attachment,  but  every  thing  to  provoke 
their  dislike.  They  had  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  freedom 
and  independence,  but  were  now  reduced  to  a  slate  of  slavery. 
Nor  were  they  enslaved  only  :  to  injury  was  added  insult.  They 
that  led  them  captives  required  ol  them  mirth,  saying,  Sing  us  one 
of  the  songs  of  Zion  !  Revenge,  in  such  circumstances,  must  have 
seemed  natural  ;  and,  if  a  foreign  invader,  like  Cyrus,  had  placed 
an  army  before  Iheir  walls,  it  had  been  excusable,  one  would  have 
thought,  not  only  to  have  wished  him  success,  but,  if  an  opportu- 
nity had  offered,  to  have  joined  an  insurrection  in  aid  of  him  :  yet 
nothing  like  this  is  allowed.  \Vhen  Cyrus  actually  took  this  great 
city,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Jews  did  any  thing  to  assist  him. 
Their  duty  was  to  seek  the  welfare  of  the  city,  and  to  pray  to  the 
Lord  for  it,  leaving  it  to  the  great  Disposer  of  all  evc*nts  to  deliver 
them  in  his  own  time  ;  and  this,  not  merely  as  being  right,  but 
wise  :  In  their  peace  ye  shall  have  peace. 

Now,  if  such  was  the  duty  of  men  in  their  circumstances,  can 
there  be  any  doubt  with  respect  to  ours  ?  Ought  we  not  to  seek 
the  good  of  our  native  land  ;  the  land  of  our  fathers'  sepulchres  ; 
a  land,  where  we  are  protected  by  mild  and  wholesome  laws, 
administered  under  a  paternal  prince ;  a  land,  where  civil 
and   religious  freedom  are   enjoyed  in  a  higher    degree  than  in 


5j:rmonIX.]  christian  patriotism.  ]t^5 

any  other  country  in  Europe  ;  a  land,  where  God  has  been  known 
for  many  centuries  as  a  refuge;  a  land,  in  fine,  where  there  are 
greater  opportunities  tor  propagating  the  gospel,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  than  in  any  nation  under  heaven  ?  Need  I  add  to  this, 
that  the  invader  was  to  them  a  deliverer ;  but  to  us,  beyond  all 
doubt,  would  be  a  destroyer. 

Our  object,  this  evening,  will  be  partly  to  inquire  into  the  duty 
of  religious  people  towards  their  country,  and  partly  to  consider  the 
motive  by  which  it  is  enforced. 

I.  Inquire  into  the  dutt  of  religious  people  towards  their 
COUNTRY.  Though,  as  Christians,  we  are  not  of  the  world,  and 
ought  not  to  be  conformed  to  it ;  yet,  being  in  it,  we  are  under 
various  obligations  to  those  about  us.  As  husbands,  wives,  pa- 
rents, children,  masters,  servants,  lie.  we  cannot  be  insensible  that 
others  have  a  claim  upon  us,  as  well  as  we  upon  them;  and  it  is  the 
same  as  members  of  a  community  united  under  one  civil  govern- 
ment. If  we  were  rulers,  our  country  would  have  a  serious  claim 
upon  us  as  rulers  ;  and  as  we  are  subjects,  it  has  a  serious  claim 
upon  us  as  subjects.  The  manner  in  which  we  discharge  these 
relative  duties  contributes  not  a  little  to  the  formation  of  our  char- 
acter, both  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man. 

The  directions  given  to  the  Jewish  captives  were  comprised  iu 
two  things  ;  seeking  the  peace  of  the  city,  nnd  praying  to  the  Lord 
for  it.  These  directions  are  very  comprehensive  ;  and  apply  to 
us,  as  we  have  seen,  much  more  forcibly  than  they  did  to  the  peo- 
ple to  whom  they  were  immediately  addressed.  Let  us  inquire, 
more  particularly,  what  is  included  in  them. 

Seek  the  peace  of  the  city.  The  term  here  rendered  peace,  (ti^^^ 
signifies,  not  merely  an  exemption  from  wars  and"  insurrections, 
but  prosperity  in  general.  It  amounts,  therefore,  to  saying,  Seek 
the  good,  or  welfare  of  the  city.  Such,  brethren,  is  the  conduct 
required  of  us,  as  men  and  as  Christians.  We  ought  to  be  patri- 
ots, or  lovers  of  our  country. 

To  prevent  mistakes,  however,  it  is  proper  to  observe,  that  the 
patriotism  required  of  us,  is  not  that  love  of  our  country  which 
clashes  with  universal  benevolence,  or  which  seeks  its  prosperity 
at  the  expense  of  the  general  happiness  of  mankind.     Such  wa,« 


len  CHRISTIAN  TATRIOTISM.  [Sermon  IX. 

the  patriotism  of  Greece  and  Rome  ;  and  such  is  that  of  all  others, 
where  Christian  principle  is  not  allowed  to  direct  it.  Such,  I  am 
ashamed  to  say,  is  that  with  which  some  have  advocated  the  cause 
o{  negro  slavery.  It  is  necessary,  forsooth,  to  the  wealth  of  this 
country!  No  :  if  my  country  cannot  prosper  but  at  the  expense 
of  justice,  humanity,  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  let  it  be  un- 
prosperous !  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Righteousness  will  be 
found  to  exalt  a  nation,  and  so  to  be  true  wisdom.  The  prosper- 
ity which  we  are  directed  to  seek  in  behalfof  our  country  involves 
no  ill  to  any  one,  except  to  those  who  shall  attempt  its  overthrow. 
Let  those  who  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man,  engage  in  schemes  of 
aggrandizement,  and  let  sordid  parasites  pray  for  their  success. 
Our  concern  is  to  cultivate  that  patriotism  which  harmonizes  with 
good  will  to  men.  Oh  my  country,  I  will  lament  thy  faults  !  Yet 
with  all  thy  faults,  I  will  seek  thy  good  ;  not  only  as  a  Briton,  but 
as  a  Christian  :  for  my  brethren  and  companions'  sakes,  I  will  say- 
Peace  be  within  thee  ;  because  of  the  hout-eof  the  Lord  my  God, 
I  will  seek  thy  good  ! 

If  we  seek  the  good  of  our  country,  we  shall  certainly  do  noth- 
ing, and  join  in  nothing,  that  tends  to  disturb  its  peace,  or  hinder 
its  welfare.  Whoever  engages  in  plots  and  conspiracies  to  over, 
turn  its  constitution,  we  shall  not.  Whoever  deals  in  inflamma- 
tory speeches,  or,  in  any  manner,  sows  the  seeds  of  discontent  and 
disaffection,  we  shall  not.  Whoever  labours  to  depreciate  its  gov- 
ernors, supreme  or  subordinate,  in  a  manner  tending  to  bring 
government  itself  into  contempt,  we  shall  not.  Even  in  cases 
wherein  we  may  be  compelled  to  disapprove  of  measures,  we  shall 
either  be  silent,  or  express  our  disapprobation  with  respect,  and 
with  regret.  A  dutiful  son  may  see  a  fault  in  a  father  ;  but  he 
will  not  take  pleasure  in  exposing  him.  He  that  can  employ  bis 
wit  in  degrading  magistrates  is  not  their  friend,  but  their  enemy  ; 
and  he  that  is  an  enemy  to  magistrates  is  not  far  from  being  an  ene- 
my to  magistracy,  and,  of  course,  to  his  country.  A  good  man  may 
be  aggrieved  ;  and  being  so,  may  complain.  Paul  did  so,  at  Phi- 
lippi.  But  the  character  of  a  complainer  belongs  only  to  those 
who  walk  after  their  own  lusts. 


Sermon  IX.]  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  jg^ 

If  we  seek  the  good  of  oiir  country,  we  shall  do  every  thing  in 
our  power  to  promote  its  welfare.  We  shall  not  think  it  sufficient 
that  we  do  it  no  harm,  or  that  we  stand  still  as  neutrals,  in  its  dif- 
ficulties. If,  indeed,  our  spirits  be  tainted  with  disaffection,  we 
shall  be  apt  to  think  we  do  great  things  by  standing  aloof  from  con- 
spiracies, and  refraining  from  inflammatory  speeches ;  but  this  is 
no  more  than  may  be  accomplished  by  the  greatest  traitor  in  the 
land,  merely  as  a  matter  of  prudence.  It  becomes  Christians  to 
bear  positive  good  will  to  their  country,  and  to  its  government, 
considered  as  government,  irrespective  of  the  political  party 
which  may  have  the  ascendency.  We  may  have  our  preferences, 
and  that  without  blame  :  but  they  ought  never  to  prevent  a  cheer- 
ful obedience  to  the  laws,  a  respectful  demeanour  towards  those 
who  frame,  and  those  who  execute  them,  or  a  ready  co-operation 
in  every  measure  which  the  being  or  well  being  of  the  nation  niay 
require.  The  civil  power,  whatever  political  party  is  uppermost, 
while  it  maintains  the  great  ends  of  government,  ought,  at  all  times 
to  be  able  to  reckon  upon  religious  people  as  its  cordial  friends  : 
and,  if  such  we  be,  we  shall  be  willing  in  times  of  difficulty,  to 
sacrifice  private  interest  to  public  good ;  shall  contribute  of 
our  substance  without  murmuring;  and,  in  cases  of  imminent 
danger,  shall   be  willing   to  expose  even  our  lives,  in    its  defence. 

As  the  last  of  these  particulars  is  a  subject  which  deeply  inter- 
ests us  at  the  present  juncture,  1  shall  be  excused  if  I  endeavour 
to  establish  the  grounds  on  which  I  conceive  its  obligation  to  rest. 

We  know  that  the  father  of  the  fniihful,  who  was  only  a  so- 
journer in  the  land  of  Canaan,  when  his  kinsman  Lot,  with  his 
family,  were  taken  captives  by  a  body  of  plunderers,  armed  his 
trained  servants,  pursued  the  victors,  and  bravely  recovered  the 
spoil.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Melchizedek  blessed  him,  say- 
ing, Blessed  be  Mrnhnm  of  the  moht  high  God,  possessor  of  heaven 
and  earth  :  and  blessed  be  the  most  high  God,  zvho  hath  delivered 
thine  enemies  into  thine  hand  / 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said,  '  This  was  antecedent  to  the  times  of  the 
New  Testament :  Jesus  taught  his  disciples  not  to  resist  evil  ;  and 
when  Peter  drew  his  sword,  he  ordered  him  to  put  it  up  again' ; 
saying,  Jll  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  tcith  the  sword.^ 


168  CHRISTIAN  l-ATRIOTISM.  [Skrmon  IX. 

You  know,  mj  brethren,  I  have  always  deprecated  war,  as  one 
of  the  greatest  calaniities  :  but  it  it  does  not  follow,  forn'.  hence, 
that  it  is,  171  all  cases,  unlawful. 

Christianity,  I  allow,  is  a  religion  of  peace  ;  and,  whenever  it 
universally  prerails,  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  it,  wars  will  be  un- 
known. But  so  will  every  other  species  of  injustice  ;  yet,  while 
the  world  is  as  il  is,  sonie  kind  of  resistance  to  injustice  is  neces- 
sary, though  it  niay,  at  some  future  time,  become  unnecessary. 
If  our  Saviour's  command,  that  we  resist  not  evil,  be  taken  literal- 
ly and  universally,  it  must  have  been  wrong  for  Paul  to  have  re- 
monstrated against  the  magistrates  at  Philippi  ;  and  he  himself 
would  not  have  reproved  the  person  who  smote  him  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat. 

I  allow,  that  the  sword  is  the  last  weapon  to  which  we  should 
have  recourse.  As  individuals,  it  may  be  lawful,  by  this  instru- 
ment, to  defend  ourselves,  or  our  families,  against  the  attacks  of 
an  assassin  :  but,  perhaps,  this  is  the  only  case  in  which  it  is  so; 
and,  even  there,  if  it  were  possible  to  disarm  and  confine  the  par- 
ty, it  were  much  rather  to  be  chosen,  than  in  that  manner  to  take 
away  his  life.  Christianity  does  not  allow  us,  in  any  case,  to  re- 
taliate from  a  principle  of  revenge.  In  ordinary  injuries,  it  teach- 
*5s  patience  and  forbearance.  If  an  adversary  smite  us  on  the  one 
cheek,  we  had  better  turn  to  him  the  other  also,  than  go  about  to 
avenge  our  own  wrongs.  The  laws  of  honour,  as  acted  upon  in 
high  life,  are  certainly  in  direct  opposition  to  the  laws  of  Christ ; 
and  various  retaliating  maxims  ordinarily  practised  among  men,  will 
no  doubt,  be  found  among  the  works  of  the  flesh. 

And  if,  as  nations,  we  were  to  act  on  Christian  principles,  we 
should  never  engage  in  war,  but  in  our  ©wn  defence  ;  not  for  that, 
till  every  method  of  avoiding  it  had  been  tried  in  vain. 

Once  more  :  It  is  allowed,  that  Christians,  as  such,  are  not  per- 
mitted to  have  recourse  to  the  sword,  for  the  purpose  of  defending 
themselves  against  persecution  for  the  gospel's  sake.  No  weap- 
on is  admissible  in  this  warfare  but  tnith,  whatever  be  the 
consequence.  We  may  remonstrate,  as  Paul  did  at  Philippi,  and 
our  Lord  himself,  when  unjustly  smitten  ;  but  it  appears  to  me  that 
this  is  all.     When  Peter  drew  his  sword,  it  was  with  a  desire  to 


SermowXI.I  christian  PATRIOTISM.  Igg 

rescue  his  master  from  the  persecuting  hands  of  his  enemies,  in  the 
same  spirit  as  when  he  opposed  his  going  up  to  Jerusalem ;  in 
both  which  instances  he  was  in  the  wrong  :  and  the  saying  of  our 
Saviour,  that  a?/  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  -with  the 
stcord,  has  commonly  been  verified,  in  this  sense  of  it. 

1  believe  it  will  be  found,  that,  when  Christians  have  resorted  to 
the  sword,  in  order  to  resist  persecution  for  the  gospel's  sake,  as 
did  the  Albigenses,  the  Bohemians,  the  French  Protestants,  and 
some  others,  within  the  last  six  hundred  years,  the  issue  has  com- 
monly been,  that  they  have  perished  by  it  ;  that  is  they  have  been' 
overcome  by  their  enemies,  and  exterminated  ;  whereas,  in  cases 
where  their  only  weapons  have  been  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the 
word  of  their  testimony,  loving  not  their  lives  unto  death,  they  have 
overcome.  Like  Israel  in  Egypt,  the  more  they  have  been  afflic- 
ted, the  more  they  have  increased. 

But  none  of  these  things  prove  it  unlawful  to  take  up  arms  as 
members  of  civil  society ,  when  called  upon  to  do  so  for  the  defence 
of  our  country .  The  ground  on  which  our  Saviour  refused  to 
let  his  servants  fight  for  him,  that  he  should  not  be  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  the  Jews,  was,  that  his  was  «  kingdom  not  of  this 
world ;  plainly  intimating,  that  if  his  kingdom  had  been  of  this 
world,  a  contrary  line  of  conduct  had  been  proper.  Now,  this  is, 
what  every  other  kingdom  is  :  it  is  right,  therefore,  according  to 
our  Lord's  reasoning,  that  the  subjects  of  all  civil  states  should 
as  such,  when  required,  fight  in  defence  of  them. 

Has  not  Christianity,  I  ask,  in  the  most  decided  manner,  recog- 
nized civil  government,  by  requiring  Christians  to  be  subject  to 
it  ?  Has  it  not  expressly  authorized  the  legal  use  of  the  sword  ? 
Christians  are  warned  that  the  magistrate  beareth  not  the  sword  in 
vain  ;  and  that  he  is  the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger,  to  execute 
wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil.  But,  if  it  be  right  for  the  magis- 
trate to  bear  the  sword,  and  to  use  it  upon  evil  doers  within  the 
realm,  it  cannot  be  wrong  to  use  it  in  repelling  invaders  from  with- 
out :  and,  if  it  be  right  on  the  part  of  the  magistrate,  it  is  right 
that  the  subject  should  assist  him  in  it ;  for,  otherwise,  his  power 
would  be  merely  nominal,  and  he  would  indeed  hjenr  the  sword  in 
vain. 
VoL.VTl.  22 


170  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  [Sermon  IX. 

We  have  not  been  used,  in  things  of  a  civil  and  moral  nature, 
to  consider  one  law  as  made  for  the  religious  part  of  a  nation,  and 
another  for  the  irreligious.  Whatever  is  the  duty  of  one,  allow- 
ing for  different  talents  and  situations  in  life,  is  the  duty  of  all. 
If,  therefore,  it  be  not  binding  upon  the  former  to  unite  in  every 
necessary  measure  for  the  support  of  civil  government,  neither  is 
it  upon  the  latter  :  and  if  it  be  binding  upon  neither,  it  must  fol- 
low, that  civil  government  itself  otTght  not  to  be  supported,  and 
that  the  whole  world  should  be  left  to  become  a  prey  to  anarchy 
or  despotism. 

Farther :  If  the  use  of  arms  were,  of  itself,  and  in  all  cases^ 
inconsistent  with  Christianity,  it  were  a  sin  to  he  a  soldier:  but 
nothing  like  this  is  held  out  to  us  in  the  New  Testament.  On  the 
contrary,  we  there  read  of  two  believing  centurions  ;  and  nei- 
ther of  them  was  reproved  on  account  of  his  office,  or  required  to 
relinquish  it.  We  also  read  of  publicans  and  soldiers  who  came  to 
John  to  be  baptized,  each  asking.  What  shall  we  do?  The  answer 
to  both  proceeds  on  the  same  principle  :  They  are  warned  against 
the  abuses  of  their  respective  employments  ;  but  the  employments 
themselves  are  tacitly  allowed  to  be  lawful.  To  the  one  he  said, 
Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you:  to  the  other,  Do 
violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse  any  falsely,  and  be  content  with 
your  wages.  If  either  of  these  occupations  had  been,  in  itself, 
ainful,  or  inconsistent  with  that  kingdom  which  it  was  John's  grand 
object  to  announce,  and  into  the  faith  of  which  his  disciples  were 
baptized,  he  ought  on  this  occasion,  to  have  said  so,  or,  at  least, 
not  to  have  said  that  which  implies  the  contrary. 

If  it  be  objected,  that  the  sinfulness  of  war  would  not  lie  so 
much  at  the  door  of  the  centurions  and  soldiers  as  of  the  govern- 
ment by  whose  authority  it  was  proclaimed  and  executed  ;  I  allow 
there  is  considerable  force  in  this  :  but  yet,  if  the  thing  itself 
were  necessarily,  and  in  all  cases,  sinful,  every  party  voluntarily 
concerned  in  it  must  have  been  a  partaker  of  the  guilt,  though  it 
»vere  in  different  degrees. 

But,  granting,  it  may  be  said,  that  war  is  not,  in  itself,  necessa- 
rily sintul ;  yet  it  becomes  so  by  the  injustice  with  which  it  is 
commonly  undertaken  and  conducted.     It  is  no  part  of  my  design 


Skrmon  IX.]  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  17j 

to  become  the  apologist  of  injustice,  on  whatever  scale  it  may  be 
practised.  But,  if  wars  be  allowed  to  be  generaVy  undertaken 
and  conducted  without  a  regard  to  justice,  it  does  not  follow  that 
they  are  always  so  ;  and  still  less  that  war  itself  is  sinful.  In  as- 
certaining the  justice  or  injustice  of  war,  we  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  motives  of  those  who  engage  in  it.  The  question  is, 
Whether  it  be  in  itself  unjust  ?  If  it  appeared  so  to  me,  I  should 
think  it  my  duty  to  stand  aloof  from  it  as  far  as  possible. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  that  requires  to  be  noticed.  Be- 
fore we  condemn  any  measure  as  unjust,  we  ought  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  the  means  of  forming  a  just  judgment  concerning  it. 

If  a  difference  arise  only  between  two  families,  or  two  individ- 
uals, though  every  person  in  the  neighbourhood  may  be  talking 
and  giving  his  opinion  upon  it :  yet  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  no  one 
of  them  is  competent  to  pronounce  upon  the  justice  or  injustice  of 
either  side,  till  he  has  acquainted  himself  with  all  the  circumstan- 
ces of  the  case,  by  patiently  hearing  it  on  both  sides.  How  much 
less,  then,  are  we  able  to  judge  of  the  differences  of  nations, 
which  are  generally  not  a  little  complex,  both  in  their  origin  and 
bearings  ;  and  of  which  we  know  but  little,  but  through  the  chan- 
nel of  newspapers  and  vague  reports  !  It  is  disgusting  to  hear 
people,  whom  no  one  would  think  of  employing  to  decide  upon  a 
common  difference  between  two  neighbours,  take  upon  them  to 
pronounce  with  the  utmost  freedom,  upon  the  justice  or  injustice 
of  national  differences.  Where  those  who  are  constitutionally  ap' 
pointed  to  judge  in  such  matters  have  decided  in  favour  of  war, 
however  painful  it  may  be  to  my  feelings,  as  a  friend  of  mankind 
1  consider  it  my  duty  to  submit,  and  to  think  well  of  their  decis- 
ion, till  by  a  careful  and  impartial  examination  of  the  grounds  of 
the  contest,  I  am  compelled  to  think  otherwise. 

After  all,  there  may  be  cases  in  which  injustice  may  wear  so 
prominent  a  feature,  that  every  thinking  and  impartial  mind  shall 
be  capable  of  perceiving  it ;  and  where  it  does  so,  the  public  sense 
of  it  will  and  ought  to  be  expressed.  In  the  present  instance,  how- 
ever, there  seems  to  be  no  ground  of  hesitation.  In  arming  to 
resist  a  threatened  invasion,  we  merely  act  in  the  defensive  ;  and 
not  to  resist  an  enemy,   whose  ambition,  under  the   pretence  of 


172  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  [Sermon  IX. 

libera  ng  mankind,  has  carried  desolation  wherever  he  has  gone, 
were  to  prove  ourselves  unworthy  of  the  blessings  we  enjoy. 
Without  taking  upon  me  to  decide  on  the  original  grounds  of  the 
difference,  the  question  at  issue  with  us  is,  Is  it  right  that  any  one 
nation  should  seek  absolutely  to  ruin  another,  and  that  other  not  be 
warranted,  and  even  obliged  to  resist  it  ?  That  such  is  the  object 
oi  the  enemy,  at  this  time,  cannot  be  reasonably  doubted.  If  my 
country  were  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  ruin  France,  as  a  nation,  it 
would  be  a  wicked  undertaking  ;  and  if  I  were  fully  convinced  of 
it,  I  should  both  hope  and  pray  that  they  might  be  disappointed. 
Surely,  then,  I  may  be  equally  interested  in  behalf  of  ray  native 
land! 

But  there  is  another  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  country  ;  which 
is.  That  ^e pray  to  the  Lord  for  it.  It  is  supposed  that  religious 
people  are  a  praying  people  The  godly  Israelites,  when  carried 
into  Babylon,  were  banished  from  temple-worship  ;  but  they  still 
had  access  to  their  God.  The  devotional  practice  of  Daniel  was 
well  known  among  the  great  men  of  that  city,  and  proved  the  oc- 
casion of  a  conspiracy  against  his  life.  King  Darius  knew  so  much 
of  the  character  of  the  Jews  as  to  request  an  interest  in  their  pray- 
ers, in  behalf  of  himself  and  his  sons.  My  brethren,  your  country 
claims  an  interest  in  your's  ;  and  I  trust  that  if  no  such  claims  were 
preferred,  you  would,  of  your  own  accord,  remember  it. 

You  are  aware  that  all  our  dependence,  as  a  nation,  is  upon 
God;  and,  therefore,  should  importune  his  assistance.  After  all 
the  struggles  for  power,  you  know  that  in  his  sight  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  world  are  reputed  as  nothing  :  he  doth  according  to 
his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  ;  and  none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him.  What  doest 
thou  ?  Indeed  this  has  been  acknowledged,  and,  at  times,  sensibly 
felt,  by  irreligious  characters  ;  but,  in  geneval,  the  great  body  of  a 
nation,  it  is  to  be  feared,  think  but  little  about  it.  Their  depen- 
dence is  upon  an  arm  of  flesh.  It  may  be  said,  without  uncharita- 
bleness,  of  many  of  our  commanders,  both  by  sea  and  land,  as  was 
said  of  Cyrus,  God  hath  girded  them,  though  they  have  not  knoum 
him.  But  by  how  much  you  perceive  a  want  of  prayer  and  depen- 
dence on  God  in  your  countrymen,  by  so  much  more  should  you 


sbrmonIx.]  christian  patriotism.  173 

be  concerned,  as  much  as  in  you  lies,  to  supply  the  defect.     The 
prayer  of  the  righteous  man  avaUeth  much. 

You  are  also  aware,  in  some  measure,  of  the  load  of  guilt  that 
lies  upon  your  country  ;  and  should,  therefore,  supplicate  mercy 
on  its  behalf  I  acknowledge  myself  to  have  much  greater  fear 
from  this  quarter,  than  from  the  boasting  menaces  of  a  vain  man. 
If  our  iniquities  provoke  not  the  Lord  to  deliver  us  into  his  hand, 
his  schemes  and  devices  will  come  to  nothing.  When  I  think, 
among  other  things,  of  the  detestable  traffic  before  alluded  to,  in 
which  we  have  taken  so  conspicuous  a  part,  and  have  shed  so 
much  innocent  blood,  i  tremble !  When  we  have  fasted  and 
prayed,  I  have  seemed  to  hear  the  voice  of  God,  saying  unto  us, 
Loose  the  bands  of  icickedness,  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  let  the  op- 
pressed go  free,  and  break  every  yoke  !  Yet,  peradventure,  for 
his  own  name's  sake,  or  from  a  regard  to  his  own  cause,  which  is 
here  singularly  protected,  the  Lord  may  hearken  to  our  prayers, 
and  save  us  from  deserved  ruin.  We  know  that  Sodom  itself 
would  have  been  spared,  if  ten  righteous  men  could  have  been 
found  in  her.     1  proceed  to  consider, 

II.  The  motive  by  which  these  duties  are  enforced  :  hi 
the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace. 

The  Lord  hath  so  wisely  and  mercifully  interwoven  the  inter- 
ests of  mankind,  as  to  furnish  motives  to  innumerable  acts  of  justice 
and  kindness.  We  cannot  injure  others,  nor  even  refrain  from 
doing  them  good,  without  injuring  ourselves. 

The  interest  of  individuals  and  families  are  closely  connected 
with  those  of  a  country.  Tf  the  latter  prosper,  generally,  speak- 
ing, so  do  the  former  ;  and  if  the  one  be  ruined,  so  must  the  oth- 
er. It  is  impossible  to  describe,  or  to  conceive  beforehand,  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  miseries  vvhich  the  success  of  a  for- 
eign enemy,  such  as  we  have  to  deal  with,  must  occasion  to  pri- 
vate families.  To  say  nothing  of  the  loss  of  property  among  the 
higher  and  middle  classes  of  people  ;  (which  must  be  severely 
felt,  as  plunder  will,  undoubtedly,  be  the  grand  stimulus  of  an  iu- 
vading  army  ;)  who  can  calculate  the  loss  of  lives  ?  Who  cau 
contemplate,  without  horror,  the  indecent  excesses  of  a  victorious, 
unprincipled,  and  brutal  soldiery  ?     Let  not  the  poorest  man  say, 


174  CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM.  [Sekmow  IX. 

I  have  nothing  to  lose.  Yes,  if  men  of  opulence  lose  their  pro- 
perty, you  will  lose  your  employment.  You  have  also  a  cottage, 
and  perhaps  a  wife  and  family,  with  whom,  amidst  all  your  hard- 
ships, you  live  in  love  :  and  would  it  be  nothing  to  you  to  see 
your  wife  and  daughters  abused,  and  you  yourself  unable  to  protect 
them,  or  even  to  remonstrate,  but  at  the  hazard  of  being  thrusl 
through  with  the  bayonet  ?  If  no  other  considerations  will  induce 
us  to  protect  our  country,  and  pray  to  the  Lord  for  it,  our  own 
individual  and  domestic  comfort  might  suffice. 

To  this  may  he  added,  our  interests  as  Christians,  no  less  than 
as  men  and  as  families,  are  interwoven  with  the  well-being  of  our 
country.  If  Christians,  while  they  are  in  the  world,  are,  as  has 
been  already  noticed,  under  various  relative  obligations,  it  is  not 
without  their  receiving,  in  return,  various  relative  advantages. 
What  those  advantages  are,  we  should  know  to  our  grief,  were  we 
once  to  lose  them.  So  long  have  we  enjoyed  religious  liberty  in 
this  country,  that  I  fear  we  are  become  too  insensible  of  its  value- 
At  present,  we  worship  God  without  interruption.  What  we 
might  be  permitted  to  do  under  a  government  which  manifestly 
hates  Christianity,  and  tolerates  it  even  at  home  only  as  a  matter 
of  policy,  we  know  not.  This,  however,  is  well  known,  that  a 
large  proportion  of  those  unprincipled  men,  in  ©ur  own  country, 
who  have  been  labouring  to  overturn  its  constitution,  have  a  deep- 
rooted  enmity  to  the  religion  of  Jesus.  May  the  Lord  preserve  us, 
and  every  part  of  the  united  kingdom,  from  their  machinations  ! 

Some  among  us,  to  whatever  extremities  we  may  be  reduced, 
will  be  incapable  of  bearing  arms  ;  but  they  may  assist  by  their 
property,  and  in  various  other  ways  :  even  the  hands  of  the  aged 
poor,  like  those  of  Moses,  may  be  lifted  up  in  prayer  ;  while  their 
countrymen,  and  it  may  be  their  own  children,  are  occupying  the 
post  of  danger.  I  know  it  is  the  intention  of  several  whom  I  now 
address,  freely  to  offer  their  services  at  this  important  period. 
Should  you,  dear  young  people,  be  called  forth  in  the  arduous 
contest,  you  will  expect  an  interest  in  our  prayers.  Yes,  and  you 
will  have  it.  Every  one  of  us  ;  every  parent,  wife,  or  Christian 
friend,  if  they  can  pray  for  any  thing,  will  importune  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  to  cover  your  heads  in  the  day  of  battle  ! 


Sermo.vIX.]  christian  patriotism.  17^ 

Finally :  It  affords  satisfaction  to  my  mind,  .to  be  persuaded, 
that  you  will  avail  yourselves  of  the  liberty  granted  to  you,  of  de- 
clining to  learn  your  exercise  on  the  Lord's  day.  Were  you  called 
to  resist  <Ae  landing  of  the  enerjiy  on  that  day,  or  any  other  work  of 
necessity,  you  would  not  object  to  it ;  but,  in  other  cases,  I  trust, 
you  will.  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  C(Bsar''s,  and  unto 
fiod  the  things  that  aYe  God's. 


,1ESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH. 

SERMON  X. 

[Delivered  in  the  Jew's  Chapel,  Church  Street  Spitalfields,  Nov.  19,  1809.] 

Psalm  xl.  6— 8. 

Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire  :  mine  ears  hast  thou  opened  : 
burnt-offering  and  sin-offering  hast  thou  not  required.  Then  said  I,  Lo,  I 
come:  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me  :  I  delight  to  do  thy  will, 
O  my  God :  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart. 


Thoitsh  I  have  preached  the  gospel  between  thirty  and  forty 
years,  yet  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  ever  entered  a  pulpit  with  such 
feelings  as  at  present.  In  respect  of  the  subject,  I  feel  it  an  hon- 
our to  plead  the  cause  of  my  Lord  and  Saviour;  but  I  am  not  with- 
out apprehensions,  lest  it  should  suffer  through  my  manner  of 
pleading  it.  I  must,  therefore,  intreat,  that  if  any  thing  which 
may  be  delivered  should  be  found  to  be  improper,  you  would  im- 
pute it,  not  to  the  cause,  but  to  the  imperfection  of  the  advocate. 
I  have  also  some  peculiar  feelings  on  account  of  the  audience,  part 
of  which,  I  am  given  to  understand,  are  of  the  house  of  Israel.  I 
cannot  help  recalling  to  mind  the  debt  we  owe  to  that  distinguished 
people.  They  have  been  treated  with  both  cruelty  and  contempt 
hy  men  professing  Christianity  ;  but  surely  not  by  Christians  !  Ta 

Vol.  VH.  2.3 


178  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermon  X. 

them,  under  God,  we  are  indebted  for  a  Bible,  for  a  Saviour,  and 
for  all  that  we  know  of  the  one  living  and  true  God.  Who,  then, 
will  not  join  me  in  the  langua2;e  of  the  Apostle  ?  Brethren,  my 
hearVs  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  may  he 
saved. 

The  passage  on  which  1  shall  found  what  I   have  to  offer,  is  in 
the  '10th  Psalm,  the  6th,  7th,  and  8th  verses. 
Sacrijice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire:  mine  ears  hast   thou 

opened:  burixt-qffering  and  sin- fffcring  hast  thou  not  required. 

Then  said  I,   Lo,  I  come :  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written 

of  me :  I  delight  to  do  thy  ivill,  O  my  God:  yea,  thy  law  is 

within  my  heart. 

No  Christian  can  doubt  whether  the  passage  relates  to  the  Mes- 
siah, seeing  it  is  expressly  applied  to  him  in  the  New-Testament  ; 
and  if  a  Jew  should  raise  an  objection,  he  will  find  it  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  give  a  fair  exposition  of  it  on  any  other  princi- 
ple. Who  else,  with  propriety,  could  use  the  language  here 
used  ?  Certainly,  David  could  not.  Whether  the  Messiah,  there- 
fore, be  already  come,  as  we  believe,  or  be  yet  to  come,  as  the 
body  of  the  Jewish  nation  believes,  it  must  be  of  his  coming  that 
the  prophet  speaks.  The  question  at  issue  between  them  and  us 
is,  not  whether  the  scriptures  predict  and  characterize  the  Mes- 
siah ;  but,  whether  these  predictions  and  characters  be  fulfilled  in 
Jesus  ? 

That  we  may  be  able  to  judge  of  this  question,  let  it  be  observ- 
ed, that  there  are  three  characters  held  up  in  the  passage  1  have 
read,  as  distinguishing  the  Messiah's  coming  :  viz.  That  the  sacri- 
fices and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law  would,  from  thence,  be 
superceded;  that  the  great  body  of  scripture  prophecy  would 
be  accomplished  ;  and,  that  the  will  of  God  would  be  perfectly 
J"u  [filled. 

Let  us  calmly  and  c.mdidly  try  the  question  at  issue  by  these 
characters. 

I.  It  is  intimated,  that,  whenever  the  Messiah  should  come,  the 

SACRIFICES  AND  CEREMONIES  OF  THE  MoSAIC  LAW  WERE  TO  BE  SU- 
PERCEDED BY  HIM.  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire : — 
then  said  I,  Lo,  I  come.     1   am  aware  that  modern  Jewish  wri- 


Sermon  X]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  ]  79 

ters  contend  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  ceremonial,  as  well  as  of  the 
moral  law  ;  but  in  this  they  are  opposed  both  by  scripture  and  by 
fact. 

As  to  scripture,  it  is  not  confined  to  the  passage  I  have  read, 
nor  to  a  few  others:  it  is  common  for  the  sacred  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament  to  speak  of  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  in  a  depre- 
ciating strain  ;  such  as  would  not,  I  presume,  have  been  used,  had 
they  been  regarded  for  thei/  own  sake,  or  designed  to  continue  al- 
ways. Such  is  the  language  of  the  following  passages  :  Hafh  the 
Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  as  in  obeying 
(he  voice  of  the  Lord?  Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and 
to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams. — Hear,  O  my  people,  and  I  will 
speak ;  O  Israel,  and  /  will  testify  against  thee  :  I  am  God,  even 
thy  God.  I  will  not  reprove  thee  for  thy  sacrifices  or  thy  burnt- 
offerings :  they  have  been  continually  before  me.  I  will  take  no 
bullock  out  of  thy  house,  nor  he-goats  out  of  thy  folds  ;  for  every 
beast  of  the  field  is  mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,  I 
know  all  the  f Old  s  of  the  mountains  ;  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field 
are  mine.  If  I  were  hungry,  I  would  not  tell  thee  ;  for  the  world  is 
mine,  and  the  ftdness  thereof.  Will  I  eat  the  fiesh  of  bulls  and 
drink  the  blood  of  goats?  Offer  unto  God  thanksgiving,  and  pay 
thy  vows  unto  the  Most  High :  and  call  upon  me  in  the  day  of 
trouble ;  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalf  glorify  me. — Thou  desir- 
est  not  sacrifice,  else  tvould  I  give  it :  thou  delightest  not  in  burnt- 
offering.  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit ;  a  broken  and 
a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise. — To  what  purpose 
is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me?  saith  the  Lord:  I  am 
full  of  the  burnt  offerings  of  rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts  ;  and  I 
delight  not  in  the  blood  of  bidlocks,  or  of  lambs,  or  of  he-goafs. 
When  ye  come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hand,  to  tread  my  courts  ? — Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God 
of  Israel,  ye  heap  up  your  burnt-offerings  with  your  sacrifices,  and 
eat  the  flesh.  But  when  I  brought  your  fathers  out  of  Egypt,  I 
spake  not  unto  them  of  burnt -offerings  and  sacrifices ;  but  this  I 
commanded  them,  saying.  Obey  my  voice,  and  I  will  be  your  God, 
and  ye  shall  be  my  people. — And  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall 
cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease. 


J3Q  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Seumon  X. 

Such,  O  !  ye  children  of  Israel,  is  the  language  of  your  own 
scriptures.  The  covenant  that  was  made  with  your  fathers  at 
Mount  Sinai  was  never  designed  to  be  perpetual,  but  to  be  abol- 
ished at  the  coming  of  Messiah,  as  is  manifested  from  the  words 
of  the  prophet  :  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and  vnlh  the  house 
ofjudah  :  not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fa- 
thers  in  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt ;  (zvhich  my  covenant  they  brake,  althotigh  I  was 
an  husband  unto  them,  saith  the  Lord ;)  hut  this  shall  he  the  covenant 
that  I  vnll  make  with  the  house  of  Israel,  after  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  will  put  my  latoin  their  inicard  parts,  and  icrite  it  in  their 
hearts^  and  will  he  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  And 
they  shall  teach  no  more  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man 
his  brother,  saying,  know  the  Lord ;  for  they  shall  all  know  me 
from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord  : 
for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquities,  aiid  will  remember  their  sins  no 
more. 

From  this  passage,  a  New  Testament  writer  argues,  (and  do 
you  answer  it  if  you  can,)  In  that  he  saith  a  new  covenant,  he  hath 
made  the  first  old.  Now,  that  which  decayeth  and  waxeth  old,  is 
ready  to  vanish  away.  And  respecting  their  sins  and  iniquities 
being  remembered  no  more,  where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is 
no  more  offering  for  sin. 

Is  it  not,  then,  in  perfect  harmonj'  with  the  tenor  of  your 
scriptures,  that  Messiah  when  described  a?  coming  into  the  world, 
should  say,  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire:  mine  ears 
hast  thou  opened  :  burnt-offering  and  sin-offering  hast  thou  not  re- 
quired :  then  said  I,  Lo,  I  come  :  plainly  intimating  that  he  would 
come  to  accomplish  that  which  could  not  be  accomplished  by  sac- 
yilices  and  offerings  :  and  that,  as  these  were  bat  the  scaffolding  of 
his  tpmple,  when  that  should  be  reared,  these  should  of  course  be 
taken  down. 

But  1  have  asserted  that,  in  maintaining  the  perpetuity  of  the 
sacrifices  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law,  your  vvriters  are  not 
only  opposed  by  scripture,  but  by  fact.  Whether  Messiah  the 
prince  be  come,  or  not,  sacrifice  and  oblation  have  ceased.     We 


Sermon  X.]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  181 

believe  they  virivnlly  ceased  when  Jesus  offered  himself  a  sac- 
rifice, and  in  a  few  years  after  they  actually  ceased.  Those  of 
your  nation  who  believed  in  Jesus,  voluntarily,  though  gradually 
ceased  to  offer  them  ;  and  those  who  did  not  believe  in  him  were 
compelled  to  desist,  by  the  destruction  of  their  city  and  temple. 
You  may  adhere  to  a  few  of  your  ancient  ceremonies  ;  but  it  can 
only  be  like  gathering  round  the  ashes  of  the  system. :  the  sub- 
stance of  it  is  consumed.  "  The  sacrifices  of  the  holy  temple," 
as  one  of  your  writers  acknowledges,  "  have  ceased." 

The  amount  is,  Whether  Jesus  be  the  Messiah,  or  not,  his  ap- 
pearance in  the  world  had  this  character  pertaining  to  it,  that  it 
was  the  period  in  which  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  actually 
ceased.  And  it  is  worthy  of  your  serious  inquiry,  whether  these 
things  can  be  accomplished  in  any  otner  than  Jesus.  Should  Mes- 
siah the  prince  come  at  some  future  period,  as  your  nation  ex- 
pects, how  are  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease  on  his  ap- 
pearance, when  they  have  already  ceased  nearly  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  ?  If,  therefore,  he  be  not  come,  he  can  never  come  so 
as  to  answer  this  part  of  the  scripture  account  of  him. 

II.  It  is  suggested,   that   whenever  Messiah  should  come,  the 

GREAT  BODY  OF  SCRIPTURE  PROPHECY  SHOULD  BE  ACCOMPLISH- 
ED IN  HIM  :  In  the  volume  of  the  booh  it  is  written  of  me.  That 
the  prophetic  writings  abound  in  predictions  of  the  Messiah,  no 
Jew  will  deny  :  the  only  question  is,  are  they  fulfilled  in  Jesus  ? 
You  know  (I  speak  to  them  who  read  the  bible)  that  the  seed  of  the 
woman  was  to  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent.  You  know  that  God 
promised  Abraham,  saving,  in  thy  seco?  shall  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  be  blessed.  You  know  that  Jacob,  when  blessing  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  predicted  the  coming  of  Shiloh,  unto  whom  the  gather- 
ing of  the  people  should  be.  You  know  that  Moses  spake  of  a 
prophet  that  the  Lord  your  God  should  raise  up  from  the  midst  of 
you,  like  unto  him,  to  whom  you  were  to  hearken,  on  pain  ol  incur- 
ing  the  divine  displeasure.  You  know  that  the  Messiah  is  prophet- 
-ically  described  in  the  Fsalms,  and  the  prophets,  under  a  great  va- 
riety of  forms  particularly  as  the  anointed  of  the  Lord — the  King — 
the  Lord  of  David,  to  whom  Jehovah  spake — the  child  born,  whose 
name  should  be  called  the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the 


jg2  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [SKuaioir  X. 

Prince  of  Peace — the  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse — God^s  servant, 
whom  he  upholds  ;  his  elect,  in  whom  his  soul  delighteth — him 
whom  man  despiseth,  and  whom  the  nation  abhorreth — a  man  of 
sorroios,  and  acquainted  with  grief — the  Lord  our  righteousness — 
Messiah  the  prince — the  branch — the  messenger  of  the  covenant, 
&c.  &.C.  Thus  it  was  that  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  was  written 
of  him.  Whoever  proves  to  be  the  Messiah,  your  fathers  rejoic- 
ed in  the  faith  of  him. 

In  trying  the  question,  whether  the  prophecies  be  fulfilled  in 
Jesus,  it  will  be  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  to  class 
them  under  dififerent  heads,  such  as  time,  place,  family,  kc. 

1.  The  ihite  when  Messiah  should  come  is  clearly  marked  out 
in  prophecy.  It  was  said  by  Jacob,  when  blessing  the  tribes,  The 
sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  law-giver  from  betzieeji 
Ms  feet,  UNTIL  Shiloh  come  ;  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of 
the  people  he.  All  this  was  true  in  respect  of  Jesus.  Till  he 
came,  though  the  ten  tribes  were  scattered,  Judah  continued 
a  people,  and  retained  the  government;  but  soon  after  his  death, 
they  were  dispersed  among  the  nations,  and  have  been  so  ever 
since.  ''Kings  and  princes,"  says  one  of  your  own  writers,  "  we 
have  none."  If  therefore,  Shiloh  be  not  come,  he  can  nevef 
come  within  the  limits  of  time  marked  out  by  this  prophecy. 

Again:  It  is  clearly  intimated,  in  the  prophecy  of  Haggai,  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  builders  of  the  second  temple,  that  the 
Messiah  should  come  during  the  standing  of  that  temple;  and  that 
the  honour  that  should  be  done  it  by  his  presence  would  more  than 
balance  its  inferiority,  in  other  respects,  to  the  first.  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  n-hile,  and  I  ■will  shake 
the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land :  and  I 
will  shake  all  nations  ;  and  the  desire  of  all  nations  shall  come ;  and 
I  will  fill  this  house  with  glory  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  The  silver 
is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lordof  hosts.  Tlie  glory  of 
this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than  of  the  former,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts.  All  this  was  literally  fulfilled  in  Jesus.  But  soon  after 
his  death,  the  second  temple  was  reduced  to  ashes  :  if  therefore. 
Jesus  was  not  the  Messiah,  it  is  impossible  that  the  prophecy  should 
ever  be  accomplished. 


Sermo.vX.J  JESUS  the  true  MESSIAH.  I33 

Again  :  The  prophet  Daniel  was  informed  by  the  angel  Gabriel 
as  follows  :  Seventy  tvecks  are  determined  upon  thy  people,  and 
upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  transgression,  and  to  malte  an  end 
of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in 
everlasting  righteousness,  and  to  seal  tip  the  vision  and  prophecy, 
and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy.  Knoiv,  therefore,  and  understand, 
that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to 
build  Jerusalem,  unto  the  Messiah  the  prince,  shall  be  seven  weeks  : 
and  threescore  and  two  toeeks,  the  street  shall  be  built  again,  and  the 
loall,  even  in  troublous  times.  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks 
shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  bat  not  for  himself:  and  the  people  of  the 
prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary  ;  and 
the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the  end  of  the  war 
desolations  are  determined.  And  he  shull  confirm  the  covenant  with 
many  for  one  week ;  and  in  the  midst  (or  half  part)  sf  the  zi'eek,  he 
shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease  ;  and  for  the  over- 
spreading of  abominations,  he  shall  make  it  desolate,  even  until  the 
cons utnmat ion,  and  that  determined  shall  be  poured  upon  the  deso- 
late. 

That  there  should  be  some  difficulty  in  fixing  the  dates,  and 
other  minute  particulars,  in  this  prophecy  is  no  more  than  may  be 
said  of  many  others,  which  yet,  upon  the  whole,  are  clear  and  de- 
cisive. The  prediction  of  the  seventy  years  captivity  was  not  un- 
derstood by  Daniel  till  he  had  studied  the  subject  with  attention  • 
and,  though  he  made  out  the  number  of  the  years,  and  concluded 
that  they  were  about  fulfilled,  yet  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
discovered  the  exact  time  of  their  being  so.  Nevertheless,  the 
prophecy  of  seventy  years  was  undoubtedly  fulfilled  in  the  Bf^by- 
lonish  captivity  ;  and  this  of  seventy  weeks  of  years  is  as  cer- 
tainly fulfilled  in  the  appearance  and  death  of  Jesus.  Whether, 
or  not,  Christian  writers  agree  as  to  the  exact  time  when  these 
seventy  sabbatical  weeks,  or  four  hundred  and  ninety  years,  began, 
thus  much  is  certain,  that  they  must  have  been  fulfilled  about  the 
time  that  Jesus  appeared  and  suffered,  or  they  never  can  be  fulfil- 
led. Such  was  the  effect  of  this  and  other  prophecies  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Jewish  nation,  that  about  that  ti-.ne  there  was  a  gen- 
eral expectation   of  the  Messiah's  appearance.     Hence,  though 


184  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermon  X. 

your  fathers  rejected  Jesus,  yet  they  soon  after  believed  in  Bar- 
chocab,  and  crowned  him  as  their  Messiah;  which  involved  them 
in  a  war  with  the  Romans,  wherein  they  are  said  to  have  had  a 
thousand  cities  and  fortresses  destroyed,  and  to  have  lost  more  than 
Jive  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men!  The  predicted  events 
which  were  to  be  accomplished  at  the  close  of  these  weeks,  name- 
ly, finishing  transgression,  making  an  end  ©f  sins,  making  recon- 
ciliation for  iniquity,  bringing  in  everlasting  righteousness,  sealing 
up  the  vision  and  prophecy,  and  anointing  the  Most  Holy,  are  in 
perfect  harmony  with  the  New  Testament  history  of  Jesus  ;  and, 
though  unbelief  may  blind  the  minds  of  your  nation  to  some  o^ 
(hem,  yet,  the  sealing  up  of  the  vision  and  prophecy  is  a  matter  so 
notorious,  that  one  would  think  it  were  impossible  to  deny  it.  Je- 
sus foretold  the  destruction  of  your  city  and  temple  by  the  Ro- 
mans ;  and  his  apostles  foretold  things  relating  to  the  Christian 
church;  but  from  that  time  your  nation  has  been,  not  only  '  with- 
out a  king,  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,'  but  without 
a  prophet. 

Moreover,  it  is  predicted  by  Daniel,  that  shortly  after  the  Mes- 
siah should  be  cut  off,  the  people  of  the  prince  that  should  come 
would  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary,  and  that  the  end  thereof 
should  be  desolation.  And  is  it  not  fact,  that  about  forty  years 
after  the  death  of  Jesus,  both  your  city  and  sanctuary  were  de- 
stroyed by  the  Romans;  and  that  such  a  flood  of  desolation  and 
misery  attended  it,  as  was  unexampled  in  your  history,  or  that  of 
any  other  nation  ? 

Taking  the  whole  together,  it  behoves  you  to  consider,  wheth- 
er, if  this  prophecy  be  not  fulfilled  in  Jesus,  it  can  ever  be  ful- 
filled ;  and  whether  it  be  possible  to  ascertain  the  fulfilment  of 
any  prophecy. 

2.  The  place  where  Messiah  should  be  born,  and  where  he 
should  principally  impart  his  doctrine,  is  determined.  But  thou, 
Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the  ihousanda  of 
Judjth,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler 
in  Israel;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlast- 
ing. Speaking  of  Galilee  of  the  nations  in  connexion  with  the 
birth  of  the  child,  whose  name  should  be  called  the  mighty  God,  it 


Sjermon  X.]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  285 

is  said,  The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light: 
they  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon  them  hath 
the  light  shined.  These  prophecies  were  literally  and  manifestly 
fultilled  in  Jesus  ;  and  it  is  scarcely  credible  that  they  can  be  ful- 
filled in  any  other. 

3.  The  house,  or  family  from  whom  Messiah  should  descend,  is 
clearly  ascertained.  So  much  is  said  of  his  descending  from  Da- 
vid, that  I  need  not  refer  to  particular  proofs  ;  and  the  rather,  as 
no  Jew  will  deny  it.  The  genealogies  of  Matthew  and  Luke, 
whatever  varieties  there  are  between  them,  agree  in  tracing  his 
pedigree  to  David.  And  though,  in  both,  it  is  traced  in  the  name 
of  Joseph,  yet  this  appears  to  be  only  in  conformity  to  the  Jewish 
custom  of  tracing  no  pedigree  in  the  name  of  a  female.  The  fa- 
ther of  Joseph,  as  mentioned  by  Luke,  seems  te  have  been  his 
father  by  marriage  only  ;  so  that  it  was,  in  reality,  Mary's  pedi- 
igree  that  is  traced  by  Luke,  though  under  her  husband's  name  ; 
and  this  being  the  natural  line  of  descent,  and  that  of  Matthew  the 
legal  one,  by  which,  as  a  king,  he  would  have  inherited  the  crown, 
there  is  no  inconsistency  between  them. 

But,  whatever  supposed  difficulties  may,  at  this  distance  of  time, 
attend  the  genealogies,  it  is  remarkable  that  no  objection  appeals 
to  have  been  made  to  them  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity;  when 
had  they  been  incorrect,  they  might  easily  have  been  disproved 
by  the  public  registries  which  were  then  in  being.  Could  the 
Jews  in  the  time  of  Jesus  have  disproved  his  being  of  the  seed  of 
David,  his  Messiahship  would  at  once  have  fallen  to  the  ground  : 
and  for  this  they  could  not  be  wanting  in  inclination.  Mad  there, 
moreover,  been  any  doubt  on  this  subject,  the  emperor  Domilian, 
in  searching  after  those  who  were  of  the  seed  of  David,  would  not 
have  ordered  the  relations  of  Jesus  before  him,  who,  when  inter 
rogated,  did  not  deny  but  that  they  were  descended  from  him-* 

Finally:  !f  the  genealogy  of  Jesus  be  called  in  question  by  the 
modern  Jews,  how  are  they  to  prove  the  Messiah,  whenever  he 
shall  come,  to  have  descended  from  David  ;  since,  if  1  am  not  mis- 
taken, they  have  now  no  certain  genealogies  left  nmona:them  '^, 

*  EnspV).  Hist,  b,  3.  rh.  SO. 
Vol.  Vri.  24 


286  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermow  X. 

4.  The  kind  of  miracles  that  Messiah  should  pertbrra,  is  specifi- 
ed. Isaiah,  speaking  of  the  coming  of  God  to  save  his  people 
says,  Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened,  and  the  ears  of  the 
deaf  shall  be  unstopped.  Then  shall  the  lame  leap  as  an  hart,  and 
the  tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  sing  ;  for  in  the  wilderness  shall  wa- 
ters break  out,  and  streams  in  the  desert.  That  such  miracles 
were  performed  by  Jesus,  his  enemies  themselves  bare  witness, 
in  that  they  ascribed  them  to  his  connexion  with  Beelzebub. 
When  his  Messiahship  was  questioned,  he  could  say  in  the  pres- 
ence of  many  witnesses.  The  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame 
walk ;  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear  ;  the  dead  are  rais- 
ed up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them.  The  mir- 
acles of  Jesus  were  distinguished  by  their  benevolence.  They 
were  all  works  of  mercy,  as  well  as  of  power  ;  and  this  accorded 
with  the  character  given  of  the  Messiah  in  the  seventy-second 
Pslam,  that  he  should  deliver  the  needy  when  he  cried  ;  the  poor  al- 
so, and  him  that  had  no  helper.  Hence,  the  blind  cried  out.  Son 
of  David,  have  mercy  on  us. 

6.  It  was  predicted  of  the  Messiah,  that  he  should,  as  a  king,  be 
distinguished  by  his  lowliness,  entering  into  Jerusalem,  not  in  a 
chariot  of  state,  but  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass. 
Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  shout,  O  daughter  of  Jeru- 
salem :  behold,  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee :  he  is  just  and  having 
salvation  ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the 
foal  of  an  ass.  To  fulfil  this  prophesy,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
Messiah  should  descend  from  parents  in  low  circumstances  ;  and 
that  the  leading  people  of  the  land  should  not  accompany  him. 
Had  they  believed  in  him,  and  introduced  him  as  a  king,  it  must 
have  been  in  another  fashion.  But  it  was  reserved  for  the  com- 
mon people  and  the  children  to  fulfil  the  prophet's  words,  by 
shouting,  Hosanna,  to  the  Son  of  David;  blessed  be  he  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 

6.  It  is  predicted  of  the  Messiah  that  he  should  suffer  and  die 
by  the  hands  of  icicked  men.  Thus  snith  the  Lord,  the  Redeemer  of 
Israel,  and  his  Holy  One,  to  him  lohom  man  despiseth,  to  him 
whom  THE  NATION  ABHORRETH.—  As  many  were  astonished  at  thee, 

[his  FACE    WAb  so    MARRED    MORE    THAN    ANY    MAN,    AND    HIS    FORM 


Sbrmow  X.]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  287 

MORE  THAN  THE  SONS  OF  MEN,)  SO  sluill  he  Sprinkle  many  na- 
tions.— He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men ;  a  man  of  sorrows,  and 
acquainted  with  grief ;  and  we  hid  as  it  were  our  faces  from  him  ; 
he  was  despised,  and  we  esteemed  him  not.  Surely  he  hath  borne 
our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows  ;  yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken, 
smitten  of  God,  and  affiicted.  But  he  was  wovkded for  our  trans- 
gressions, he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of 
our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed. — The 
Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all.  He  was  oppressed. 
and  he  was  afflicted,  yet  he  opened  not  his  mouth  :  he  is  brought  as 
a  lamb  to  the  slaughter  ;  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb, 
so  he  openeth  not  his  mouth.  He  was  taken  from  prison  and  from 
judgment,  and  who  shall  declare  his  ^feneration  ?  for  he  was  cut  off 
OUT  OF  THE  LAND  OF  THE  LIVING  ;  for  the  transgrcssion  of  my  peo- 
ple was  he  stricken.  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him :  he  hath  put 
him  to  grief :  when  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin  he  shall 
see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord 
shall  prosper  in  his  hand.  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and 
shall  be  satisfied. — The  Messiah  shall  be  cutoff;  but  not  for  him- 
*elf 

The  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  explain  away  these  proph- 
ecies, especially  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  and  to  make  it  apply 
to  Israel  as  a  nation,  are  marks  of  a  desperate  cause.* 

Is  it  not  marvellous  that  the  enemies  of  Jesus  should  so  exactly 
fulfil  the  scriptures  in  reproaching  and  crucifying  him;  using  the 
rery  speeches,  and  inflicting  the  very  cruelties,  which  it  was  fore- 
told they  would  ?  He  trusted  in  the  Lord  that  he  would  deliver  him: 
let  him  deliver  him,  seeing  he  delighted  in  him. — They  parted  my 
garments,  and  for  my  vesture  they  did  cast  lots — They  gave  me 
gall  to  eat,  and  in  my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to  drink — They 
piercedmy  hands  and  my  feet.     These  things  were  not  true  of  the 

*  If,  as  Mr.  D.  Levi  would  have  it,  the  sufferer  be  Israel  personified,  and 
that  this  nation,  on  account  of  its  injuries,  may  be  said  to  have  borne  the  ini- 
quities of  the  whole  world,  how  is  it  said,  that  for  the  transgressions  of  my 
PEOPLE  was  he  stricken  ?  Does  the  character  of  my  people  belong  to  the  woi  Id, 
as  distinguished  from  Israel  ?  or,  Is  the  stiflfercr  and  the  people  for  whom  he 
suffered  the  same ' 


188  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermon  X. 

writers  :  but  they  were  true  of  Jesus  :  in  him,  therefore,  they  were 
fuiailed. 

7.  It  was  foretold  that  the  Messiah,  after  being  cut  off  out  of  the 
land  of  the  living,  and  laid  in  the  grave  should  rise  from  the  dead. 
Nothing  less  can  be  implied  by  all  the  promises  made  to  him  as  the 
reward  of  his  sufferings  :  for  if  he  had  continued  under  the  power 
of  death,  how  should  he  have  seen  his  seed,  or  prolonged  his  days  ? 
If  his  kingdom  had  been  that  of  a  mortal  man,  how  could  it  continue 
as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  ?  How  was  he  to  see  of  the  travail  of 
his  soul,  and  be  satisfied,  unless  he  survived  that  travail  ?  But  more 
than  this,  it  is  foretold  that  he  should  rise  from  the  dead  at  so  early 
a  period  as  not  to  see  corruption.  The  argument  of  Peter  from 
this  passage  has  never  been  answered.  David  said.  Thou  wilt  not 
suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption  :  but  David  did  see  corrup- 
tion ;  he  refers  to  him,  therefore,  of  whom  it  is  witnessed  that  he 
saw  no  corruption. 

Lastly,  It  was  foretold  that  the  great  body  of  the  Jewish  nation 
would  not  believe  in  him ;  and  that  he  woidd  set  up  his  kingdom 
among  f he  Gentiles,  Such  is  evidently  the  meaning  of  the  prophet's 
complaint,  Who  hath  believed  our  report  ?  and  of  the  Messiah's 
words,  in  another  part  of  the  same  prophecies — Theri  I  said,  I  have 
laboured  in  vain  ;  I  have  spent  mi/  strength  for  nought,  and  in  vain; 
yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord,  and  my  work  with  my  God. 
And  now,  saith  the  Lord,  that  formed  me  from  the  womb  to  be  his 
servant,  to  bring  Jacob  again  to  him,  Though  Israel  be  not  gather- 
ed, yet  shall  I  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  my  God  shall 
he  7ny  strength.  And  he  said.  It  is  a  light  thing  that  thou  shouldes^ 
he  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  pre- 
served of  Israel :  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles, 
that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Your  writers  complain  of  ours  for  interpreting  the  promises  to  Is- 
rael spiritually,  and  the  threatenings  literally  ;  and  tell  us  that  they 
are  not  greatly  obliged  to  us  for  it.  But  this  is  misrepresentation. 
Our  writers  neither  interpret  all  the  promises  to  Israel  spiritually, 
nor  a// the  threatenings  literally.  They  expect  your  return,  and 
that  at  no  very  distant  period,  to  your  own  land  :  for,  besides  many 
Old-Testament  prophecies  to  this  effect,  he  that  said  concerning  the 


SermosX.]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  18d 

inhabitants  of  Judea  and  Jerusalem,  They  shall  fall  hy  the  edge  of 
(he  sword,  and  shall  he  led  away  captive  into  all  nations,  and  Jeru- 
salem shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles  added,  until  the 
TIMES  OF  THE  Gepjtiles  BE  FULFILLED  And,  in  regard  of  the 
threatenings,  the  heaviest  of  them  all  is  that  which  is  expressed  by 
Isaiah,  (chap.  vi.  9 — 12.)  Go,  tell  this  people,  hear  ye,  indeed, 
but  understand  not  ;  and  see  ye,  indeed,  hut  perceive  not.  Make 
the  heart  of  this  people  fat,  and  make  their  ears  heavy,  and  shut 
their  eyes  ;  lest  they  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  convert,  and  be  healed.  Then 
said  I,  Lord,  how  long  ?  And  he  answered.  Until  the  cities  be  was- 
ted ■without  inhabitant,  and  the  houses  without  man,  and  the  land  be 
utterly  desolate. 

This  awful  judgment  was  indeed  to  issue  in  <e?repora? calamities  ; 
but  the  judgment  itself  is  spiritual ;  a  judgment,  the  nature  of  which 
prevents  your  feeling  it,  but  which  is  a  greater  evil  than  all  your 
other  punishments  put  together. 

Such  are  some  of  the  evidences  from  which  we  conclude  that  Je- 
sus is  the  true  Messiah.  Time,  place,  family,  miracles,  character, 
sufferings,  resurrection,  and  rejection  by  his  own  countrymen — alj 
are  tiulfilled  in  him.  Never  was  such  a  body  of  prophecy  given 
and  accomplished  in  any  other  case.  If  you  still  shut  your  eyes 
upon  the  light,  you  must  abide  the  consequence  :  for  our  parts,  we 
leel  the  ground  upon  which  we  stand,  when  we  say,  We  know  that 
the  Son  of  God  is  come. 

III.  It  is  declared  that  when  the  Messiah  should  come,  the 
WILL  OF  God  would  be  perfectly  fulfilled  by  him — I  delight 
to  do  thy  icill,  0  my  God :  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart. 
Agreeably  to  this,  the  Messiah  is  denominated  God's  servant, 
"whom  he  would  uphold — in  whom  he  loould  he  glorified — and  who 
should  bring  Jacob  again  to  him. 

The  will  of  God  sometimes  denotes  what  he  approves,  and  some- 
limes  what  he  appoints.  The  first  is  the  rule  of  our  conduct,  the 
last  of  his  own  ;  and  both  we  affirm  to  have  been  fulfilled  by  Jesus. 

In  respect  of  the  Divine  precepts,  his  whole  life  was  in  perfect 
conformity  to  them.  All  his  actions  were  governed  by  lovfe. 
Your  fathers  were  challenged  to  convince  him  of  sin  ;  and  you  are 


19«  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermon  X. 

challenged  to  do  the  same.  Yet  your  nation  reckons  him  an  im- 
postor!  Was  there  ever  such  an  impostor  ?  Nay,  was  there  ever 
such  a  character  seen  among  men  ?  Should  the  account  given  oi 
him  by  the  evangelists  be  objected  to,  we  might  answer  from 
Rousseau, — "  The  Jewish  authors  were  incapable  of  the  diction, 
and  strangers  to  the  morality,  contained  in  the  Gospels  ;  the  marks 
of  whose  truth  are  so  striking  and  invincible,  that  the  inventor  would 
be  a  more  astonishing  character  than  the  hero."* 

When  a  sinful  creature  is  said  to  have  the  law  of  God  in  his 
heart,  it  is  said  to  be  written  there,  or  put  in  him  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  but  of  the  Messiah  it  is  said  to  be  within  him.  His  heart 
never  existed  without  the  impression,  and  therefore  needed  not  to 
have  it  put  in  him.  Such  was  Jesus,  and  such  the  spirit  that  he 
manifested  throughout  his  life.  Let  the  character,  besides  him, 
be  named,  who  dares  to  rest  the  truth  of  his  pretensions  on  his 
being  found  to  be  holi/,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from 
sinners. 

But  it  was  not  merely  to  fulfil  the  Divine  precepts  that  the  Mes- 
siah was  to  come,  but  to  execute  his  purpose  in  saving  lost  sinners. 
Even  his  obedience  to  the  law  was  subservient  to  this,  or  he  could 
not  have  been  the  Lord  our  righteousness.  He  was  God's  servant 
to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  to  give  light  to  the  Gentiles,  and  to 
be  his  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  In  accomplishing  this,  it 
behoved  him  to  endure  the  penalty,  as  well  as  obey  the  precepts, 
of  the  law.  His  soul  must  be  made  an  offering  for  sin ;  he  must  be 
cut  of  out  of  the  land  of  the  living — cut  off,  but  not  for  himself; 
and  this  that  he  might  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  bring  in 
everlasting  righteousness. 

Such  was  the  doctrine  of  the  ancient  Israelites  ;  and  such  is  that 
of  the  New  Testament.  If  it  be  true,  let  me  intreat  you  to  con- 
sider the  consequences.  While  you  hold  fast  the  traditions  of 
later  ages,  you  have  renounced  the  religion  and  the  God  of  your 
ancient  fiithers  ;  and,  in  doing  this,  have  rejected  the  only  way  of 
salvation.  If  the  things  which  I  have  attempted  to  establish  be 
true,  your  fathers  crucified  the  Lord  of  Glory  ;  and   you,  by  ap= 

*  Works,  Vol.  V.  pp.  215—218. 


SjIrmonX.!  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  ]gi 

proving  the  deed,  make  it  your  own.  Moreover,  if  they  be  true, 
Jesus  Christ  will  one  day  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him  ;  and  they  also  who  pierced  him  shall  wail  be- 
cause of  him  !     Consider  of  it,  take  advice,  and  speak  your  minds 

We  doubt  not  but  the  time  will  come  whenyournation  shall  look 
on  him  whom  their  fathers  pierced,  and  shall  mourn  as  one  tha^ 
mourneth  for  an  only  son  ;  but  if  it  be  not  so  with  you,  it  is  the 
more  affecting.  To  see,  at  the  last  judgment,  not  only  Abraham, 
and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  but  millions  of  your  own  unborn  posterity, 
sitting  down  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  ye  yourselves  cast  out,  is 
inexpressibly  affecting! 

I  have  lately  looked  into  some  of  the  modern  Jewish  writings. 
It  would  be  going  beyond  my  limits  to  attempt  an  answer  to  many 
of  their  objections  to  the  gospel  ;  but  I  will  touch  upon  a  few# 
which  struck  me  in  the  course  of  reading. 

They  find  many  things  spoken  in  prophecy  of  the  reign  of  the 
Messiah,  which  are  not  as  yet  fulfilled  in  Jesus  ;  sueh  as  the  cessa- 
tion of  wars,  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  nation,  kc.  &c.  and  ar- 
gue from  hence,  that  Jesus  is  not  the  Messiah.  But  it  is  not  said 
that  these  effects  should  immediately  follow  on  his  appearing.  Oa 
the  contrary,  there  was  to  be  an  increase  of  his  government  ;  yea, 
a  con/mi/ec?  increase.  Jesus  may  be  the  Messiah,  and  his  reign 
may  be  begun  ;  while  yet,  seeing  it  is  not  ended,  there  may  be 
many  things  at  present  unfulfilled.  The  kingdom  of  the  Messiah 
was  to  continue  as  long  as  the  sun  and  the  moon.  It  was  to  be  set 
vp  during  the  reign  of  the  fourth  monarchy  ;  but  was  itself  to  sur- 
vive it,  and  to  stand  for  ever. 

But  they  object  that  the  doctrine  taught  by  Jesus  was  not  of  a 
pacific  tendency — that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was,  by  his  own  confes- 
sion, adapted  to  produce  division  and  discord — Think  not  that  1 
am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword  :  for  I  am  come  to  set 
a  man  at  variance  with  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her 
mother,  and  the  daughter  in  law  against  her  mother  in  law  ;  and  a 
man^s  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household.  These  words,  how- 
ever, (as  a  child  in  just  re.isoning  would  perceive,)  do  not  express 
what  the  gospel  is  in  its  own  nature  :  but  what  it  would  occasion^ 


192  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [SkrmowX. 

through  the  hatred  of  its  enemies.  They  describe  not  the  bitter- 
ness of  believers  against  unbelievers,  but  of  unbelievers  against 
believers,  for  the  gospel's  sake.  The  good  works  of  Abel  exci- 
ted the  hatred  of  Cain  ;  but  ought  Abel  to  be  reproached  on  this 
account  ?  The  message  of  peace  sent  by  Hezekiah  to  the  rem- 
nant of  the  ten  tribes,  inviting  them  to  come  up  to  the  passover  at 
Jerusalem,  occasioned  the  same  bitter  contempt  among  the  idola- 
ters, as  the  gospel  does  among  the  unbelievers  of  your  nation  ;  yet 
surely  it  was  a  pacific  message  notwithstanding,  and  ought  to  have 
been  differently  received.  We  might  as  well  reproach  the  God 
©f  Israel  for  his  messages  to  Pharaoh  having  hardened  his  heart  ; 
yea,  for  his  laws  given  at  Sinai  having  been  the  occasion  of  all  the 
wickedness  of  your  fathers  ;  for  if  he  had  given  them  no  laws,  they 
had  not  been  guilty  of  transgressing  them  ! 

They  farther  object,  with  their  fathers,  that  Jesus  pretended 
to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  so  was  guilty  of  blasphemy.  But  if  he 
were  the  Messiah,  he  teas  the  Son  of  God.  Did  not  God,  in  the 
second  Psalm,  address  him  as  his  Son  ;  and  are  not  the  kings  and 
judges  of  the  earth  admonished  to  submit  to  him  under  that  char- 
acter ? 

Much  has  been  said  of  your  believing  in  one  God  ;  and  who  re- 
quires you  to  believe  in  more  than  one  ?  If  you  infer  from  hence  that 
there  can  be  no  plurality  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  you  contra- 
dict your  own  scriptures,  as  well  as  ours.  Who  made  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  ?  Did  not  Elohim  ?  And  did  he  not  say,  het  us 
make  man,  Sfc.  ?  Who  wrestled  with  Jacob  ?  And  who  appeared  to 
Moses  in  the  bush  ?  Was  it  not  Jehovah  ?  Yet  he  is  represented, 
in  both  cases,  as  the  Aogel,  ov Messenger  of  Jehovah. 

Some  0^  t\\e  prescept  of  Jesus  are  objected  to,  as  being  imprac- 
ticable, and  Christians  are  accused  of  hypocrisy  for  pretending  to 
respect  them,  while  none  of  them  act  up  to  them  ;  that  is,  "  when 
they  are  smitten  on  one  cheek,  they  do  not  oflerthe  other."*  But 
this  is  perverseness.  Jesus  did  not  mean  it  literally  ;  nor  did  he 
so  exemplify  it  when  smitten  before  Pilate.     Nor  do  the  Jews  so 

*  R.  Tobias  Goodman's  Address  to  the  Committee  of  the  London  Society. 
p.  26. 


SRiiMONX.j  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  I93 

understand  their  own  commandments.  If  they  do,  however,  it 
will  follow  that  they  break  the  sixth  commandment  in  every  male- 
factor whose  execution  they  promote,  and  even  in  the  killing  of 
animals  for  food.  The  manifest  design  of  the  precept  is  to  prohib- 
it all  private  retriliation  and  revenge  ;  and  to  teach  us  that  we 
ought  rather  to  sufifer  insult,  than  to  render  evil  for  evil.  This 
may  be  a  hard  lesson  for  a  proud  spirit ;  but  it  is  a  true  exposition 
of  that  law  which  requires  us  to  love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves  ; 
which  is  inconsistent  with  every  feeling  of  malice,  whatever  prov- 
ocations may  have  been  received. 

But  this  is  not  all  ;  the  very  agony  of  Jesus  in  the  garden  pro- 
vokes the  malignity  of  these  writers.  The  anguish  of  his  soul  on 
that  occasion,  is  ascribed  to  pusillanimiiy !  Have  they  a  right 
then,  when  judging  of  his  conduct,  to  take  it  for  granted  that  he 
was  not  the  Messiah,  and  that  his  death  was  like  that  of  another 
man  ?  Certainly  they  have  not.  The  objection,  if  it  has  any 
force,  is  this — His  want  of  fortitude  is  inconsistent  with  his  being 
the  Messiah.  To  this  we  answer,  supposing  him  to  be  the  Messi- 
ah, there  was  nothing  inconsistent  in  any  of  those  fears  and  sor- 
rows which  he  expressed.  For,  if  he  were  the  Messiah,  he  must, 
according  to  prophecy,  have  suffered  immediately  from  the  hand 
of  God,  as  well  as  from  man.  The  chastisement  of  our  peace  was 
upon  him — //  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him  :  he  hath  put  him  to 
grief.  But  if  the  agony  in  the  garden  were  of  this  description, 
there  was  no  want  of  fortitude  in  it.  So  far  as  the  wrath  of  man 
was  concerned,  Jesus  feared  it  not.  He  endured  the  cross,  and 
even  despised  the  shame  :  but,  under  the  hand  of  -God,  he  both 
feared  and  felt  ;  and  1  never  understood  before  that  it  was  pusil- 
lanimoas  to  fear  or  feel,  under  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  !  But 
we  need  not  marvel  ;  for  he  who,  in  the  language  of  prophecy, 
complained  of  having  gall  given  him  for  meat,  and  vinegar  for 
drink,  added.  They  persecute  him  whom  thou  hast  smitten  ? 

All  these  objections  prove  the  truth  of  what  was  said  to  Nicode- 
mus,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  or,  to  speak  in  Jewish  language, 
efccept  he  be  circumcised  in  heart,  he  cannot  sec  the  kingdom  of 
God.  The  gospel  is  a  system  that  cannot  be  received  by  a  mind 
blinded  by  prejudice,  or  a  he-irt  Iianlened  in  sin.  He  that  receive*? 

Vol.  Vll.  25 


194  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  [Sermow  X- 

il  must  repent,  as  well  as  believe.  It  is  in  hope  that  Ged,  perad- 
renture,  may  give  some  of  you  repentance  to  the  acknowledging 
of  the  truth,  that  these  addresses  are  made  to  you.  And,  though 
some  may  make  light  of  them,  and  even  mock,  as  the  idolaters  did 
at  Hezekiah's  messengers,  yet  we  will  deliver  our  messages,  that, 
if  you  perish,  your  blood  may  not  be  required  at  our  hand. 

O  !  ye  children  of  Israel,  our  hearts'  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
for  you,  is,  that  you  may  be  saved  I  Consider,  we  entreat  you, 
whether  you  have  not  forsaken  the  religion  of  your  forefathers  j 
whether  the  pslams  of  David  express  the  feelings  of  your  hearts  ; 
whether  if  you  really  loved  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  yo^  would  not  believe  in  Jesus  ;  whether,  if  you  had 
just  views  of  your  own  law,  you  would  not  despair  of  being 
accepted  of  God  by  the  works  of  it;  whether  your  rejection 
of  Jesus  be  not  owing  to  your  insensibility  as  to  your  need 
of  a  Saviour  :  whether  if  you  really  believed  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, you  would  not  believe  the  New  ;  finally,  whether  the 
bitter  malignity,  which  is  so  frequently  discovered  against  Jesus 
and  his  followers,  be  consistent  with  true  religion  ? 

But  I  shall  conclude  with  a  few  words  to  professing  Christians. 
I  can  perceive,  by  what  I  have  seen  of  the  Jewish  writings, 
how  much  they  avail  themselves  of  our  disorders  and  divisions, 
to  justify  their  unbelief.  Let  those  who  name  the  name  of  Christ 
depart  from  inquity.  Let  us  beware  of  valuing  ourselves  in  the 
name,  while  we  are  destitute  of  the  thing.  We  may  yield  a  sort 
of  assent  to  the  doctrine  just  delivered,  while  yet  it  brings  forth  no 
good  fruit  in  us.  These  are  the  things  that  rivet  Jews  in  their 
unbelief.  They  have  no  right,  indeed  to  intrench  themselves  in 
prejudice  against  the  Lord  Jesus,  on  account  of  our  disorders  :  he 
is  no  more  accountable  for  them,  than  the  G,od  of  Israel  was  for 
jLhe  disorders  of  their  forefathers.  But  though  it  be  wrong  in 
them,  it  is  more  so  in  those  who  furnish  them  with  occasion  of  of- 
fence. There  is  a  woe  upon  the  world,  because  of  offences,  see- 
ing they  i=tiiinble  and  fall  over  them  ;  but  there  is  a  heavier  woe 
on  them  through  whom  they  come. 

He  that  winntth  souls  is  wise.  I  hope  all  the  measures  that  are 
ij\ken  for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  will  be  of  a  winning  nature. 


Sbrmoh  X.]  JESUS  THE  TRUE  MESSIAH.  1 95 

If  they  be  malignant  and  abusive,  they  must  not  be  opposed  by  the 
same  weapons.  The  servants  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive,  as  for 
mastery  ;  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to  teach,  patient  in  meek- 
ness instructing  those  that  oppose  themselves,  if  God,  peradven- 
ture,  will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth. 
Whatever  is  done,  for  children  or  adults,  I  trust  it  will  be  in  an 
open,  candid  way,  like  that  of  our  Saviour,  who  did  good  to  the 
bodies  of  men,  as  a  mean  of  attracting  their  attention,  and  concilia- 
titag  their  affection  to  tbe  word  everlasting  lifev 


SOLITARY  REFLECTION  ;  OR,  THE  SINNER  DIRECTED 
TO  LOOK  INTO  HIMSELF  FOR  CONVICTION. 


SERMON  Xr. 

I  Delivered  on  a  Lord's-Day  Evening;,  in  a  Country  Village.] 

PsALM  iv.  i. 
Commune  with  your  own  heart  upon  your  bed,  and  be  stili. 


You  are  assembled  together,  my  dear  hearers,  that  you  may 
learn  something  concerning  your  everlasting  welfare.  I  am  glad 
to  meet  you  ;  and  shall  be  happy  to  communicate  any  thing  that  I 
understand  on  this  important  subject.  I  pray  God  to  bless  it  for 
your  good  !  You  have  heard  many  sermons  preached,  and  yet 
perhaps,  have  been  but  little  profited  ;  and  you  may  hear  many 
more  to  as  little  purpose.  Religion  consists  not  merely  in  hearing 
sermo  !S  ;  nor  in  going  away,  and  talking  how  you  like  or  dislike 
the  preacher.  Religion  is  not  found  among  noise  and  clamour 
and  dispute.  It  does  not  consist  in  either  applauding  or  censur- 
ing men.  If  ever  you  hear  to  any  purpose,  it  will  make  you  for- 
get the  preacher,  and  think  only  of  yourselves.  You  will  be  like 
a  smitten  deer,  which,  unable  lo  keep  pace  with  the  herd,  retires 
to  the  thicket,  and  bleeds  alone.     This  is  the  effect  that  I  long  to 


198  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  X!. 

see  produced  in  you.  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  this  up- 
on your  minds  that  I  have  read  the  above  passage,  and  wish  to 
discourse  to  you  upon  it.  In  doing  this,  all  I  shall  attempt  will  be 
to  explam  and  enforce  the  admonition.     Let  us  attempt. 

I.  To  EXPLAIN  THE  MEANING  OF  IT.  The  persons  admonish- 
ed in  this  psalm  were  men  who  set  themselves  against  David, 
and  persecuted  him  without  a  cause :  accusing  him,  per- 
haps to  king  Saul :  and  what  greatly  aggravates  their  guilt,  they 
are  said  to  have  turned  his  glory  into  shame  ;  that  is,  they  re- 
pr«ached  him  on  account  of  his  religion,  which  was  his  highest 
honour.  There  are  such  scoffers  in  the  world  now  :  and  as  these 
wicked  men  opposed  David,  so  they  oppose  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  David  according  to  the  flesh.  And  by  how  much  Christ 
is  superior  to  David,  by  so  much  greater  is  the  wickedness  of  those 
who  mock  at  his  gospel  and  people,  than  the  other.  They  were, 
many  of  them,  men  of  property  j  their  corn  and  their  wine,  it 
seems  increased;  and  it  is  likely  that  some  of  them  were  people 
in  high  life,  who  ha<)  access  even  to  the  king.  But  all  this  would 
not  screen  them  from  the  displeaure  of  God.  Even  kings  and 
judges  themselves  must  submit  to  the  Son,  or  perish  from  the  way. 

And,  if  riches  will  not  profit  in  the  day  of  wrath,  .neither  will 
poverty.  It  is  true,  the  scriptures  wear  a  favourable  aspect  to- 
wards the  poor.  Jesus  preached  the  gospel  to  them ;  and  God  is 
often  represented  as  threatening  and  punishing  those  that  oppress 
them ;  but,  if  a  man  be  wicked  as  well  ae  poor,  (as  it  is  well  known 
great  numbers  are,)  his  poverty  will  excite  no  pity ;  he  must  bear 
his  iniquity. 

Presumptuous  and  thoughtless  sinners  are  admonished  to  stand 
iti  awe,  and  sin  not,  to  commune  with  their  own  hearts  upon  their  bed, 
and  be  slill.  Bold  as  any  of  you  may  be  in  sin,  there  is  one  above 
you,  who  will  call  you  to  an  account :  pause,  therefore,  and  think 
what  you  are  about.  To  commune  with  our  hearts,  means  much 
the  same  as  to  ponder  the  matter  over  with  ourselves.  It  is  said 
of  the  adulteress,  that  lest  thou  shouldst  ponder  the  path  of  life,  her 
ways  are  moveable,  that  thou  canst  not  know  them.  She  leads  on 
her  thoughtless  admirers  from  one  degree  of  sin  to  another,  in 
quick  succession  ;  just  as  a  persoa  who  should  wish  to  lose  yo.u 


Skrmow  XI.]  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  I99 

in  a  wood,  and  there  murder  you.  would  lead  you  on,  under  some 
fair  pretence,  from  path  to  path,  through  one  winding  direction  af- 
ter another,  never  suffering  you  to  stand  still  and  pause,  lest  you 
should  turn  back  and  effect  your  escape.  Thus  it  is  with  sinners: 
they  are  hurried  on,  by  delusion,  from  sin  to  sin,  from  company 
to  company,  and  from  one  course  of  evil  to  another,  while  the 
enemy  of  their  souls  is  doing  every  thing  in  his  power  to  secure 
his  dominion  over  them. 

That  which  the  adulteress  most  dreaded,  was  thought,  close  and 
serious  thought  :  and  this  it  is  which  the  enemy  of  your  souls  most 
dreads.  It  is  by  pondering  the  path  of  life,  if  at  all,  that  you  must 
escape  the  snare.  If  sinners  are  saved,  it  is  from  their  sins. 
Their  souls  must  be  converted  to  the  love  of  Christ ;  and  the  or- 
dinary way  that  God  takes  to  convert  them  is,  by  convincing  them 
of  sin,  which  is  never  effected  but  by  their  being  brought  to  close 
and  serious  thought.  It  was  by  thinking  of  his  ways,  that  David 
turned  his  feet  to  God's  testimonies. 

The  place  and  time  particularly  recommended  for  this  exercise 
IS,  upon  your  bed,  at  night.  If  there  be  any  time  more  favourable 
to  reflection  than  others,  it  must  be  that  in  which  you  are  free 
from  all  intruding  company,  and  interruptions  from  without. 
Then  when  you  have  retired  from  the  world,  and  the  world  from 
you  ;  when  the  hurry  of  business  is  withdrawn  ;  when  the  tumult 
of  the  soul  subsides,  and  is  succeeded  by  a  solemn  stillness  ;  when 
the  darkness  which  surrounds  you  prevents  the  interference  of 
sensible  objects,  and  invites  the  mental  eye  to  look  inward  ;  then 
commune  with  your  own  heart;  take  a  reckoning  with  your  soul  : 
inquire  what  course  you  are  in,  and  whither  it  will  lead  you  ! 

It  might  be  well  to  examine  the  actions  of  your  life  :  but  as  the 
heart  is  the  spring-head  of  action,  the  state  of  your  heart  must  be 
the  chief  object  of  your  inquiry.  Ag  to  actions,  they  are  neither 
good  nor  evil,  but  as  they  are  the  expressions  of  the  heart. 
Were  you  to  kill  a  fellow  creature,  you  know  there  would  be  no 
evil  in  it  provided  it  was  by  mere  accident,  and  not  from  any  ma 
licious  design,  criminal  passion,  or  careless  neglect :  and  if  you  did 
ever  so  much  good  to  your  neighbour,  yet  if  it  were  by  accident 
a^d  not  from  design  there   would  be  no  goodness  in  it.     It  iB  (hf> 


200  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  Xf 

disposition  of  our  hearts  that  denominates  our  character  in  the 
sight  of  God.  In  all  your  communings,  therefore,  commune  with 
your  hearts. 

Perhaps  you  will  say,  •  I  find  great  difficulty  in  collecting  my 
thoughts,  and  fixing  them  upon  those  things  which  are  of  the  great- 
est importance :  when  I  would  think,  I  scarcely  know  what  to 
think  about.''  Well ;  give  me  leave,  then,  to  suggest  a  few  plain 
questions,  which  1  would  earnestly  recommend  you  to  put  home 
to  your  own  soul. 

First .  Does  my  heart  choose  and  follow  after  those  things  which 
my  conscience  tells  me  are  right  ?  1  can  assure  you,  many  do  not. 
Their  consciences  tell  them,  that  they  ought  to  fear  God,  to  keep 
holy  the  Sabbath-day,  to  read  and  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  to 
perform  various  other  duties ;  but  their  hearts  are  at  variance  with 
all  these  things.  Their  consciences  tell  them,  that  they  ought  not 
to  swear,  lie,  steal,  get  intoxicated,  cheat  their  creditors,  and  ruia 
their  families  ;  but  their  hearts,  nevertheless,  are  set  upon  these, 
and  many  other  such  wicked  courses  ;  and  they  will  pursue  them> 
at  all  events.  Is  this  the  case  with  any  of  you  ?  It  is  a  miserable 
life,  to  have  the  heart  and  conscience  at  variance.  You  are  sen- 
sible it  is  so  ;  and,  therefore,  if  any  of  you  are  of  this  description, 
you  labour,  I  dare  say,  to  lull  conscience  asleep,  that  you  may  en- 
joy the  desires  of  your  heart,  without  interruption  from  its  remon- 
strances. But  this  is  a  desperate  way  of  going  on.  Conscience 
will  not  always  sleep ;  and  when  it  does  awake,  which  perhaps 
may  be  upon  a  death-bed,  its  voice  will  be  more  terrible  than 
thunder,  and  its  accusations  more  painful  than  the  sting  of  a  scor- 
pion. Did  you  never  see  a  wicked  man  upon  a  dying  bed?  Per- 
haps not :  possibly  you  cannot  bear  such  sights,  and  therefore 
shun  them.  There  are  persons,  however,  vtho  have  ;  and,  wit- 
nessing his  agony,  have  longed  to  alleviate  it.  The  guilt,  the  fear, 
and  the  horror,  which  have  appeared  in  his  eyes  ;  tlie  bitter  regret 
that  has  preyed  upon  his  dying  heart  ;  and  the  forebodings  of  ever- 
lasting misery  that  seemed  to  have  seized  his  soul,  have  wrung 
their  hearts  with  anguish  :  but  all  they  could  do  was  to  drop  an 
unavailing  tear.  Given  up  to  the  hardness  of  his  hearl,  even  the 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb   has  had  no   elTecf 


Sermon  XI-l  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  201 

upon  hira,  and  he  has  died  in  all  the  misery  of  despair.  O  thnttliis 
may  not  be  your  end  !  Yet,  if  such  be  your  life,  and  you  persist 
in  it,  there  is  no  reason  to  expect  but  that  it  wiii. 

But  it  is  possible  that  you  may  not  sustain  this  character.  Your 
heart  and  conscience  may  not  be  at  such  v.uiance  as  to  give 
you  any  considerable  pain.  If  so,  let  me  recommend  a  second 
question  :  Is  my  conscience  instructed  and  formed  by  the  word  of 
God?  Though  you  may  be  certain  that  you  are  in  a  wrong  course 
if  you  live  in  the  violation  of  conscience,  yet  you  cannot  always 
conclude  that  you  are  in  a  riglit  one  when  you  do  not  violate  it, 
because  conscience  itself  miy  err.  Saul  was  conscientious  in  per- 
secuting the  followers  of  Christ ;  yet  he  was  one  of  the  c/tief  of  sin- 
ners for  so  doing.  You  may  ask,  '  What  can  a  man  do,  but  follow 
that  which  he  thinks  to  be  right  ?'  True  ;  but  it  becomes  him  to 
compare  his  thoughts  with  the  word  of  God  :  for  we  are  easily 
persuaded  to  think  favourably  of  that  conduct  which  suits  our  in- 
clinations ;  and,  where  this  is  llie  case,  the  error  of  the  conscience, 
instead  of  excusing  the  evil  conduct,  becomes  itself  an  evil. 

The  consciences  of  many  people  tell  them,  that,  if  they  take  care 
of  their  families,  pay  every  man  his  due,  and  attend  public  wor- 
ship once  or  twice  a  week,  this  is  all  that  can  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected al  their  hands.  And  I  have  heard  this  Scripture  passage 
brought  in  proof  of  it,  What  doth  the  Lord  thy  God  require  of  thee, 
but  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  ivith  thy  God  ? 
But,  (to  say  notliing  of  the  love  of  mercy  towards  our  fellow-crea- 
tures,) to  walk  humbly  with  God  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the 
above  exercises. 

A  man's  conscience  may  be  easy,  and  he  may  persuade  himself 
that  he  is  in  the  way  to  life,  while,  in  fact,  he  is  as  fir  from  it  as 
the  old  Pharisees,  against  whom  the  heaviest  woes  of  damnation 
were  denounced.  The  case  of  such  people  seems  to  be  worse, 
on  some  accounts,  than  the  openly  profane  :  these,  acting  in  oppo- 
sition to  their  own  consciences,  as  well  as  to  God,  a  faithtui  warn- 
ing sometimes  takes  hold  of  their  fears  ;  but  those,  deluded  by  vain 
hope,  consider  all  such  warnings  as  inapplicable  to  them.  Both 
are  steering  the  same  course  ;  but  the  one  is  impeded  by  wind 
and  tide,  while  the  other  is  aided  by  the  current  of  a  jierverted 
Vol.  VII.  26 


202  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  XL 

conscience.  Do  not  forget  to  inquire,  Is  my  conscience  instruct- 
ed find  formed  by  the  word  of  God  ?  Perhaps  you  have  not  been 
in  the  habit  of  reading  that  sacred  book,  or  of  having  it  read  to 
you.     The  neglect  of  it  may  occasion  your  eternal  overthrow. 

But  let  me  recommend  a  third  question:  Have  any,  or  all  my 
pursuits,  whether  after  natural  or  sinful  enjoyments,  ever  yet  of' 
forded  me  satisfaction?  The  answer  to  this  question  is  of  im- 
portance ;  because,  if  they  never  have,  there  is  no  reason  (o  con- 
clude they  ever  will :  and,  if  so,  what  have  you  been  pursuing  all 
this  time  ?  You  have  spent  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  or  more  years  in 
the  world,  and,  by  a  thousand  different  methods,  have  been  seek- 
ing satisfaction  ;  yet  you  have  not  found  it.  You  thought,  when 
you  was  young,  to  have  found  it  in  forbidden  pleasures,  and,  per' 
haps,  you  gave  a  loose  to  appetite  and  desire  ;  but  you  was  disap- 
pointed. Guilt,  infamy,  and  misery,  were  the  fruits  of  those  ex- 
cesses. Your  own  heart  will  tell  you  this,  if  you  ask  it.  Since 
that  time,  having  felt  the  effects  of  your  former  folly,  it  may  be 
vou  have  turned  your  attention  to  other  things  :  you  have  settled; 
and  now  your  object  has  been  to  raise  yourself  in  the  world.  Sa- 
ving money  has  seemed  the  one  thing  needful  to  render  you  happy 
Perhaps  you  have  saved  a  little  of  this  article  ;  and  are  you  hap- 
py ?  Ask  your  own  heart,  and  it  will  tell  you.  No,  you  want  to 
save  a  little  more.  Poor  man  !  you  are  unhappy  ;  and  unhappy 
in  this  course  you  will  be.  Can  you  tell  the  reason  ?  You  have 
been  trying  to  satisfy  yourself  with  that  u-hich  is  not  bread.  Do 
you  not  know  that  God  has  created  you  with  desires  which  it  is 
not  in  the  power  of  the  whole  creation  to  satisfy  ?  Alexander  and 
Caesar,  those  mighty  monarchs,  who  each  in  his  day  conquered 
the  world,  were  as  far  off  from  happiness  as  you  are.  The  one 
is  said  to  have  wept  because  there  was  not  another  world  to  con- 
quer ;  and  the  other,  to  have  exclaimed,  when  in  the  full  posses- 
sion of  empire,  ''  Is  this  all  ?" 

If  you  inquire,  wheretore  has  God  planted  desires  in  your  na- 
tures that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  creation  to  satisfy.  I  answer, 
that  vou  might  be  led  to  seek  satisfaction  where  it  is  to  be  found. 
There  is  much  meaning,  and  merciful  meaning  too,  in  those  divine 
expostulations  :   Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth ,  come  ye  to  the  waters. 


Sermon  XI.]  SOLITARY  REFLECTIOX.  203 

and  he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy  and  pot :  yea,  come,  huy 
wine  and  milk  without  money,  and  without  price.  Wherefore  do 
ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread?  and  your  labour  for 
that  which  satisfieth  not?  Harlcen  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye 
that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness.  Incline 
your  ear,  and  come  unto  me  :  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live,  and  I 
will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  loith  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of 
David.  Again  :  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus 
stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and 
drink  !  And  again  :  Thou  sayest  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;  and  kno'xest  not  that  thou  art 
wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.  I  coun- 
sel the  to  buy  of  ME  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich  ; 
and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame 
of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear ;  and  anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye- 
salve,  that  thou  mayest  see. 

A  fourth  question  I  would  recommend  is  this  :  will  the  course  1 
am  in  do  to  die  with  ?  If  it  will,  pursue  it  with  all  your  might : 
but,  tirst  be  well  satisfied  that  it  will.  There  is  no  way  of  answer- 
ing this  question  but  by  comparing  your  character  with  the  ward 
of  God.  There  you  find  our  Lord  declaring  to  his  disciples;  E.r- 
cepf  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. — Except  ye  be  convert- 
ed, and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  in  nowise  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  ?kg?ax\,  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  Do  you  understand  these  things 
by  experience  ?  Did  you  ever  seriously  think  about  them  ?  They 
are  subjects  of  no  little  importance.  Some  men,  and  even  some 
preachers,  may  tell  you,  that  all  this  signifies  nothing  more  than 
your  being  baptized,  or,  at  most,  living  a  sober,  regular  life ;  but 
it  is  at  your  peril  to  believe  them,  against  the  solemn  declarations 
of  Christ.  Nicodemus,  a  master  in  Israel,  was  ignorant  of  these 
things.  Other  teachers  now  may  be  the  same  ;  and,  if  blind  them- 
selves, no  wonder  that  they  lead  others,  equally  blind,  till  both 
fall  into  the  ditch.  But,  as  you  value  your  souls,  remember  who 
it  is  that  has  said.  Ye  must  be  born  again. 

If  you  have  never  experienced  this  change,  you  are,  at  present, 
strangers  to  yourselves^  to  God,  to  Christ,  nod  to  the   way  of  life; 


204  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  XI. 

exposed  to  tlte  curse  of  almighty  God  ;  and,  dying  in  your  pres- 
ent state,  must  perish  forever. 

One  question  more  let  me  recommend,  and  1  will  conclude  this 
part  of  the  subject  :  If  I  shonld  die  in  an  unconverted  state,  and 
perish  forever^  con  I  endure  the  ivruth  of  an  offended  God?  If  you 
can  ;  why,  thf  n,  let  every  man  help  his  neighbour,  and  every  one 
say  to  his  brother.  Be  of  good  courage  ;  laugh  at  death  ;  set  judg- 
ment nt  defiance  ;  and  make  a  jest  of  an  hereafter but  if 

not,  pause  and  think 

Who  can  forbear  remarking  the  cowardice  of  wicked  men  ;  how, 
even  in  this;  world,  these  hold  spirits  are  cut  down  with  a  little 
aftlirtion.  Those  who  trifle  most  with  hell,  and  whose  lips  are  so 
lull  of  damnation,  that  it  becomes,  in  their  mouths,  a  mere  matter 
of  bravado,  how  do  they  sink  under  the  lirst  touch  of  God's  indig- 
nation Gaal  and  his  company  could  eat  and  drink,  and  curse 
Abimelech  at  a  distance  ;  but  when  Abimelech  draws  near,  lo ! 
they  are  covered  with  dismay. 

Oh  profane  character!  Can  thine  hands  be  strong,  and  thine 
heart  endure  in  the  day  that  he  shall  deal  with  thee?  If  you  cannot 
tell  how  to  endure  the  sufferings  of  life,  what  will  you  do  in  the 
hour  of  death  ?  How,  especially,  will  you  grapple  with  the  bitter 
pains  of  eternal  death  ?  If  thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen^  and 
they  have,  wearied  thee,  hoio  wilt  thou  contend  with  horses  ?  and  if, 
in  the  land  of  peace,  wherein  thou  trustedst,  they  wearied  thee,  how 
wilt  thou  do  in  the  swellings  of  Jordan?  Such,  or  nearly  such, 
my  hearers,  will  be  your  own  rellections,  if,  upon  your  bed,  you 
commune  with  your  own  hearts  to  any  good  purpose. 

But  I  proceed, 

II.  To  ENFORCE  THE  SUBJKCT,  BY  CONSIDERING  THE  GREAT  IM- 
PORTANCE OF  A  SERIOUS  COMPLIANCE  WITH  IT.  There  is  nothing 
more  dreaded,  by  unconverted  sinners,  than  solitary  reflection; 
and  therefore,  nothing  more  necessary.  They  are  like  a  person 
whose  affairs  are  going  to  ruin,  and  who  feels  a  strong  reluctance 
to  enter  into  a  thorough  examination  of  his  accounts.  And  where- 
fore ?  Because  such  an  examination  would  destroy  his  present 
peace,  and  he  would  be  under  the  necessity  of  making  a  full  stop. 
To  avoid  this,  he  puts  far  from  him  the  evil  day,  and  cherishes  « 


-ERMON  Xf.]  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  205 

vain  hope  that  things  are  not  so  bad  as  they  appear.  But,  as  in 
this  case  the  longer  a  thorough  examination  is  deterred,  the  deeper 
he  sinks  ;  so  it  is  in  the  other.  Let  me  request  your  attention  to 
a  i'ew  observations  on  this  part  of  the  subject. 

1.  There  are  things  that  you  have  doubted,  or  acted  as  if  you 
doubted,  which,  if  you  would  but  retire  and  converse  with  your 
own  heart,  you  would  find  it  to  be  true.  You  have  acted,  but  in 
too  many  instances,  as  though  you  doubted  whether  you  were  ac- 
countable and  immortal  creatures  ;  and  as  though  an  agreeable 
subsistence  in  the  present  world  were  the  only  thing  that  should 
concern  you.  But,  if  you  be  not  accountable  to  hira  that  made 
you,  how  is  it  that  sin.  which  is  unknown  to  every  creature  but 
yourself,  should,  nevertheless,  be  accompanied  with  remorse  ?  Is 
there  not  a  tribunal  erected  within  your  own  bosom,  that  forebodes 
a  judgment  to  come.  If  there  were  no  hereafter,  why  that  dread 
of  death,  and  that  fearful  looking-for  of  judgment,  in  the  hour  of 
threatening  affliction  ?  Oh  sinner  !  you  shall  not  be  able  to  plead 
ignorance  at  the  bar  of  heaven  :  your  own  heart,  depraved  as  it 
is,  will  bear  witness  against  you. 

2.  There  are  things  to  which  you  are  apt  to  object,  in  God's  deal, 
ings  with  you,  which,  were  you  to  commune  with  your  own  hearts, 
would  be  found  to  be  unobjectionable.  If  you  are  told  of  the 
strictness  of  God's  holy  law,  and  that  nothing  short  of  truth  in  the 
inxcard parts  can  answer  to  its  requirements,  you  think  it  bardj 
and  feel  disposed  to  complain  of  the  grievousness  of  his  yoke  :  but 
ask  your  own  hearts,  would  you  be  contented  with  any  thing  less 
from  a  fellow-creature  ? 

Perhaps  you  are  a  parent,  or  a  master  ;  and  what  if  your  chil- 
dren or  servants  were,  through  fear,  ever  so  assiduous;  if  you  knew 
they  had  no  love  for  you,  would  you  be  satisfied  ?  Or,  perhaps, 
you  are  a  husband.  If  the  partner  of  your  life  were  alienated  from 
you,  and  attached  to  another,  though,  through  fear  of  your  displeas- 
ure, she  were  studious  to  the  utmost  to  oblige  you  in  her  outward 
deportment,  would  this  satisfy  you  ?  Would  you  not  disdain  to 
acceptof  her  services,  unless  you  could  have  her  heart  with  them  ? 
You  must  know  that  this  is  the  truth.  Out  of  your  own  moutb 
therefore,  will  the  Lord  judge  you. 


206  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  XL 

Again  :  li  you  are  told  of  God's  awful  threatenings  against  sin, 
your  spirits  rises  against  him,  and  you  are  ready  to  accuse  him  of 
cruelty  :  but  ask  your  own  heart:  if  you  would  spare  one  that  had 
treated  you  as  youha»e  treated  him  ?  If  you  had  a  son,  and,  with 
all  the  tenderness  of  a  father,  nursed  him,  fed  him,  clothed  him, 
and  instructed  him  ;  and  if,  when  he  arrived  at  years  of  maturity, 
instead  of  behaving  towards  you  with  filial  obedience  and  gratitude, 
he  should  prove  undutiful,  malignant,  false,  and  do  all  he  could  to 
ruin  you  and  your  family,  would  you  not  give  him  up  to  his  evil 
courses,  and  let  him  take  the  consequences  of  his  behaviour?  Or 
should  you,  from  paternal  pity,  be  disposed  to  pass  over  his  trnns- 
gressions  ;  and  should  a  common  friend,  with  your  approbation, 
intercede  on  his  behalf,  entreating  i)!ni  to  beg  your  pardon,  assu- 
ring him  ol  your  readiness  to  forgive  the  past ;  if,  in  addition  to  his 
former  crimes,  he  continued  to  despise  the  overtures  of  mercy, 
what  would  you  do  with  him  ?  Or  should  he,  when  overwhelmed 
with  troubles  of  his  own  procuring,  affect  to  be  sorry  for  what  he 
had  done,  and  write  to  you  in  the  strain  of  humble  confession, 
praying  you  to  deliver  him  this  once,  and  vowing  how  different 
his  conduct  should  be  towards  you  in  future  ;  if,  as  soon  as  his 
troubles  had  subsided,  he  were  to  return  again  to  his  former  cour- 
ses ;  what  would  you  do  with  him  ?  Alas,  all  this,  and  a  thousand 
times  more,  have  you  done  against  the  best  of  Fathers,  the  God  in 
whose  hands  your  breath  is,  and  whose  are  all  your  ways  !  Yet  ye 
say.  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal.  Hear  now,  0  house  of  Is- 
rael, Is  not  my  way  equal  ?  are  not  your  ways  unequal  ? 

3.  One  reason  of  your  knowing  so  little  of  your  heart-sins  is, 
your  communing  so  little  with  your  hearts.  You  go  on  in  a  hurry 
of  business,  and  the  state  and  temper  of  your  heart  is  overlooked  ; 
and,  being  naturally  disposed  to  flatter  yourself,  you  imagine  it  to 
be  much  better  than  it  is.  You  may  be  governed  by  the  love  of 
this  world, yea,  and  be  very  covetous;  so  much  so,  that  all  who  know 
you  may  perceive  it  ;  and  yet  you  do  not  perceive  it  yourself,  but 
are  ready  to  be  offended  with  any  person  who  tells  you  of  it.  You 
think  yourself  as  good  as  your  neighbours,  and  flatter  yourself  that 
your  sin  is  not  so  very  great.  '  it  is  trup,'  say  you,  '  I  have  my 
failings,  as  all  men  have,  but,  thank  God,  1  never  was  guilty  of 


Sermon  XI.]  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  207 

such  things  as  many  are.'  So  said  the  Pharisee  in  the  parable, 
God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  :  and  so  said  the  wick- 
ed priests,  in  the  days  of  Malachi ,  IFhat  have  we  spoken  so  much 
against  thee  ?  O  my  hearers,  commune  with  your  hearts,  and  you 
will  find  them  to  be  very  different  from  your  present  thoughts  oi 
them. 

There  is  one  thing  in  particular,  which,  perhaps,  never  struck 
attention,  your  to  al  imnl  <.f  love  to  God.  This  is  the  sin  of  your 
nature,  and  the  fruitful  parent  of  all  other  sins.  God  requires  the 
whole  heart;  as,  indeed,  he  justly  may,  for  he  is  worthy  of  it ;  but 
you  have  no  heart  to  give  him.  It  is  preoccupied,  and  that  with 
such  things  as  are  contrary  to  God.  All  your  actual  sins  are  but 
little,  compared  with  this.  They  have  been  committed  only  at 
different  times  ;  but  this  is  a  tide,  deep  and  large,  that  flows  with- 
out cessation  or  interruption.  Those  are  the  fruits  ;  but  this  is 
the  poisonous  root  from  which  they  spring.  If  you  loved  God, 
you  could  not  love  the  world,  and  the  things  of  the  world,  as  you 
do.  You  could  not  blaspheme  his  name,  neglect  his  worship,  or 
trample  on  his  laws  ;  and  all  with  unconcern.  Neither  could  you 
feel  towards  your  neighbour  as  you  do  in  many  instances.  Alh 
bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  malice,  and  evil  speaking  ;  all  envy  to- 
wards them  that  are  above  you,  and  pride,  oppression,  and  unfeel- 
ing treatment,  towards  them  that  are  beneath  you  ;  all  arise  from  a 
want  of  the  love  of  God  ;  for  he  that  loveth  God,  will  love  his 
brother  also. 

All  unconverted  sinners,  I  believe,  retain  a  good  opinion  of  their 
hearts,  however  they  may  differ  in  expressing  it :  which  is  evident- 
ly owing  to  their  ignorance  of  its  deceitfuiness  and  desperate  wick- 
edness. Some  make  no  secret  of  it.  '  It  is  true,'  say  they, '  I  now 
and  then  swear,  when  in  a  passion,  and  get  too  much  liquor  once  in 
a  while  ;  but  I  mean  no  evil ;  my  heart  is  good.'  Others  who  have 
been  brought  up  under  evangelical  preaching,  are  ashamed  of  this 
language,  and  would  despise  the  ignorance  of  the  person  who  should 
use  it.  They  will  not  deny  in  words  that  their  kearts  are  bad  ; 
howbeit  they  mean  not  so.  By  heart  they  understand,  they  know 
not  what,  something  distinct  from  intention  disposition,  or  desiirt- 
Theretore  they  are  sometimes  heard  to  say,  '  It  is  true,  I   am  not 


208  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  [Sermon  Xf. 

converted  ;  but  I  desire  to  be,  so.  I  cannot  say.  I  love  Christ  ; 
but  I  wish  I  did.'  This  is  the  same  thing  as  saying,  '  My  heart  is 
good.  If  I  be  not  a  converted  man,  it  is  not  my  fault.  I  am  wil- 
ling at  any  time,  if  God  would  but  convert  me.'  But  all  this  is 
false  and  delusive.  If  you  were  willing  to  return  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ,  there  is  nothing  in  heaven  or  earth  thvit  stands  in  your  way. 
The  truth  is,  }ou  love  your  sins  too  well  to  part  with  them  for 
Christ  or  heaven  ;  and  have  no  desires  after  conversion ybr  its  oion 
sake,  but  merely  as  a  something,  which,  at  times,  you  think  you 
could  submit  to,  rather  than  suffer  eternal  damnation.  Whoever 
neglects  to  commune  with  his  own  heart,  it  is  necessary  for  you, 
that  you  may  know  your  true  character  ;  of  which,  with  all  your 
advantages,  you  are  hitherto  totally  ignorant. 

Even  in  the  concerns  of  men  with  men,  there  is  much  blindness 
to  their  own  motives,  and  deception  in  forming  a  judgment  of  their 
own  conduct  ;  which  is  owing  to  a  want  of  looking  into  themselves. 
A  thousand  things  are  defended  by  persons,  in  company,  which, 
were  they  to  retire  alone,  and  commune  with  their  own  hearts,  they 
would  be  obliged  to  condemn.  In  how  many  instances  have  con- 
tentions been  cherished,  and  half  a  neighbourhood  either  brought 
in  as  witnesses,  or  in  some  way  implicated  in  the  contest,  which 
might  all  have  been  decided  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  if  the  party  had 
only  retired  alone,  and  asked  himself  this  question  :  Have  I  done 
to  my  neighbourwhat  I  should  have  wished  him,  in  like  circumstan- 
ces, to  have  done  to  me  ? 

4.  There  are  things  on  account  of  which  you  may  value  your- 
selves, and  of  which  you  may  make  a  righteousness,  that,  if  you 
were  to  retire  alone,  would  be  found  of  a  very  opposite  nature.  It 
is  possible,  you  may  have  been  in  the  habit  of  reading  a  chapter  in 
the  Bible,  once  a  week,  or  oftener,  in  your  family  ;  of  frequenting 
public  worship  ;  of  giving  away  something  to  people  who  are 
poorer  than  yourself;  and  of  shunning  public  houses  and  riotous 
assemblies.  It  is  possible,  likewise,  that  you  may  consider  this 
as  the  way  to  heaven,  and,  from  hence,  lay  your  account  with  being 
happy  in  the  world  to  come.  But,  if  you  look  into  your  heart, 
you  may  find  that  the  motives  which  have  influenced  you  have  been 
such  as  God  can  never  approve  ;  and.  if  so,  instead  of  justifying. 


atRMOW  XI.]  SOLITARY  REFLECTION.  209 

tbey  wilt  serve  only  to  condemn  you.  If  you  have  read  the  scrip- 
tures, or  gone  to  a  place  of  worship,  merely  from  custom,  and  not 
from  any  love  you  had  to  these  things;  if  you  have  relieved  the 
poor  out  of  pride,  rather  than  pure  compassion  ;  and  if  that  which 
has  preserved  you  from  the  grossest  vices  has  been  rather  a  regard 
to  your  interest,  health,  or  character,  than  any  concern  for  the  ho- 
nour of  God  ;  can  such  things  be  acce[>table  in  his  sight  ? 

But,  if  your  motives  were  ever  so  pure,  and  your  good  deeds 
ever  so  many  ;  yet,  having  broken  the  holy,  just,  and  good  law  of 
God,  you  cannot  be  justified  by  any  thing  which  you  can  do.  If 
you  commune  with  your  heart  to  any  good  purpose,  you  will  never 
think  of  being  saved  by  the  works  of  your  own  hands  ;  but  feel  the 
necessity  of  a  Saviour,  and  of  a  great  one.  The  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion by  the  death  of  Jesus  will  be  glad  tidings  to  your  soul.  Finally: 
you  will,  as  you  are  exhorted  in  the  verse  following  the  text,  offer 
the  sacri^ces  of  righteousness,  and  put  your  trust  in  the  Loid.  In 
other  words,  with  a  broken  and  contrite  spirit,'  you  will  approach 
the  God  against  whom  you  have  sinned  ;  mourn  over  your  unpro- 
voked offences,  as  one  mournelh  for  an  only  son  ;  and  be  in  bitter- 
ness as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born  :  and  this,  without 
thinking  of  either  your  prayers  or  tears  as  being  any  thing,  or  of 
any  account ;  but,  placing  all  your  hope  and  help  in  him,  who,  when 
we  were  without  strength,  in  due  time  died  for  the  ungodly.  To 
him  be  glory  for  ever  !     Amen. 


V<^L.  VII.  27 


ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED  :  OR,  THE  SOUL  DIREC- 
TED TO  LOOK  OUT  OF  ITSELF  FOR  CONSOLATIOtT. 


SERMON  Xir. 


Psalm  xiii.  2. 
How  long  shall  I  take  counsel  in  my  soul,  hariog;  sorrow  in  my  heart  daily  ? 


We  have,  in  a  former  discourse,  considered  the  importance  ol 
looking  into  our  own  hearts  ;  but  that  counsel  is  not  applicable  in 
all  cases.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  to  pore  on  our  guilt  and  wretch- 
edness, to  the  overlooking  of  our  highest  mercies.  Though  it  be 
proper  to  know  our  own  hearts,  for  the  purpose  of  conviction,  yet, 
if  we  expect  consolation  from  this  quarter,  we  shall  find  ourselves 
sadly  disappointed. 

Such,  for  a  time,  appears  to  have  been  the  case  of  David.  He 
seems  to  have  been  in  great  distress  ;  and,  as  is  common  in  such 
cases,  his  thoughts  turned  inward,  casting  in  his  mind  what  he  should 
do,  and  what  would  be  the  end  of  things.  While  thus  exercised, 
he  had  sorroio  in  his  heart  daily  :  but,  betaking  himself  to  God  for 
relief,  he  succeeded  ;  trusting  in  his  mercy ,  his  heart  rejoiced  in  his 
salvation. 


212  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  [Sermon  XII. 

There  are  many  persons,  who,  when  in  trouble,  imitate  David 
in  the  former  part  of  this  experience  :  1  wish  we  may  imitate  him 
'n  the  latter.  In  (]iscour?ing  on  the  subject,  I  shall  tirst  notice  the 
disconsolate  situation  of  the  Psalmist,  with  the  remedy  to  which 
he  repaired  under  it ;  and  then  inquire,  to  what  cases  it  is  appli- 
cable among  us,  and  whether  the  same  remedy  be  not  equally 
adapted  to  our  relief,  as  to  his. 

1.  Let  us  notice  the  DrscoNSOLATE  situation  of  the  Psalm- 
ist, WITH  THE  REMEDY  TO    WHICH    HE    REPAIRED  UNDER   IT.       The 

psalm  is  probably  one  of  those  mournful  songs  which  he  composed 
during  his  persecution  by  Saul :  but,  like  most  others,  though  it 
begins  with  complaint,  it  ends  in  triumph.  We  may  be  cer- 
tain he  was  pressed  with  great  difficulties  :  for  we  do  not  take 
counsel  with  ourselves  or  others,  but  in  such  cases.  The  par- 
ticulars of  his  situation  may  be  collected  from  the  different  parts  ol 
the  psalm. 

1.  He  was  sorely  persecuted.  This  was  a  mysterious  providence. 
God  had  anomled  him  to  the  throne,  and  brought  him  into  public 
life  ;  it  might  have  been  expected,  therefore,  that  he  would  have 
made  his  way  plain  before  him  :  yet,  in  following  what  must,  to 
him,  manifestly  appear  the  leadings  of  his  Divine  Guide,  he  brings 
upon  himself  a  flood  of  evils.  Though  nothing  was  further  from 
his  intention  than  to  use  any  means  to  dethrone  his  sovereign  . 
yet  Saul  is  jealous,  and  his  dependants  are  stirred  up,  by  envy  and 
malice  to  compass  the  ruin  of  the  innocent.  Let  not  those  who 
are  candidates  for  an  immortal  crown  be  surprised,  if  their  path  to 
glory  be  covered  with  snares  and  pits  :  it  is  through  much  tribula- 
tion we  must  enter  the  kingdom. 

2.  The  Lord  seemed  to  prosper  his  persecutors,  and  not  him  :  his 
enemy  was  exalted  over  Idrn.  This  seems  more  mysterious  still. 
Is  the  God  of  Israel,  then,  a  man  that  he  should  lie  ;  or  the  son  of 
man,  that  he  should  repent  ?  Does  he  use  lightness  ?  Or  the 
things  which  he  purposes,  does  he  purpose  according  to  the  flesh  ; 
that  with  him  there  should  be  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay  ?  Far  be  it 
from  him.  Yet,  if  we  were  to  judge  by  appearances,  we  might,  at 
times,  be  tempted  to  draw  such  conclusions. 


SermowXII.]  advice  to  the  dejected,  213 

3.  His  most  intimate  acquaintance  seem  to  have  forsaken  him.  In 
cases  of  difficulty  we  usually  advise  with  our  friends,  if  we  have 
any.  If  we  are  driven  to  take  counsel  with  ourselves,  therefore,  it 
ftiay  be  presumed  that  we  are  bereft  of  that  consolation.  A  sym- 
pathizing, wise,  and  faithful  friend,  in  a  lime  of  difficulty,  is  a  great 
blessing.  In  times  of  prosperity,  many  will  profess  a  regard  to  us  ; 
but,  if  persecution  for  Christ's  sake  should  overtake  us,  we  may 
expect  some  to  stand  aloof,  who  now  court  our  acquaintance.  This 
has  been  the  lot  of  men  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy  ;  and 
it  was  no  small  part  of  their  affliction,  that  they  had  to  suffer  bxj 
themselves.  Let  us  not  complain  of  such  things,  however.  Our 
Lord  himself  was  forsaken  by  lover  and  friend.  He  took  three  of 
his  most  beloved  disciples  to  accompany  him  in  the  hour  of  his 
sufferings  ;  but  they  fell  asleep,  and  left  him  to  agonize  alone, 

4.  To  these  temporal  distr-esses  were  added  others  of  a  spiritual 
nature  :  the  Lord  hid  his  face  from  him  ;  and,  to  him,  it  appear- 
ed, as  though  he  \\-a6  forgotten  him.  If,^under  his  outward  trou- 
bles, he  could  have  enjoyed  inward  peace  ;  if  he  could  have 
poured  out  his  heart  with  freedom  in  secret;  if,  though  banished 
from  the  sanctuary,  yet,  looking  towards  that  house,  and  c  dling 
upon  the  Lord,  he  had  heard  him  from  heaven  his  dwelling-place, 
his  load  had  been  supportable  :  but  to  have  to  say,  with  Job,  Be- 
hold: I  go  forward,  hut  he  is  not  there  ;  and  backward,  but  I  cannot 
perceive  him  :  on  the  left  hand  ivhere  he  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  be- 
hold him  :  he  hideth  himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see 
him  !  This  gives  a  double  weight  to  the  affliction.  But,  here 
also,  we  have  no  reason  to  complain.  J)avid  has  been  before  us  ; 
and  what  is  more,  David's  Lord.  Jesus  was  persecuted  ;  his  ene- 
mies were  exalted  over  him  ;  his  friends  were  scattered  from  him; 
and,  to  fill  up  the  bitter  cup,  his  God  forsook  him.  This  was  the 
sorrow  of  sorrows.     He   speaks   as  one   that  could  have  borne 

any  thing  else  :     My  God,  my  God why  hast  thou  for- 

sakeii  me  ? 

5.  All  this  was  not  for  a  few  days  only  ;  but  for  a  long  time. 
How  LONG  wilt  thou  forget  me?     How   long  will  thou  hide  thy 

face  from  me  ?     How  lung  shall  I  take  counsel  in  my  soul  ?     The 
intenseness  of  the  affliction  renders  it  trying  to  our  fortitade  5  but 


3 1 4  ADVICE  TO  THE  DKJECTED.  [Sermojt  XII. 

it  is  by  the  continuance  of  it  that  patience  Is  put  to  the  test.  It  ie 
not  under  the  sharpest,  but  the  longest  trials,  that  we  are  most  in 
danger  of  fainting.  In  the  first  case,  the  soul  collects  all  its  strength, 
and  feels  in  earnest  to  call  in  help  from  above  ;  but,  in  the  last, 
the  mind  relaxes,  and  sinks  into  despondency.  When  Job  was 
accosted  with  evil  tidings,  in  quick  succession,  he  bore  it  with  be- 
coming fortitude  :  but,  when  he  could  see  no  end  to  his  troubles, 
he  sunk  under  them. 

These  were  some  ©f  the  particulars  which  made  up  the  load  of 
David  ;  and  under  which  he  is  said  to  have  taken  counsel  in  his 
soul.  The  phrase  seems  to  be  expressive  of  great  restlessness  of 
spirit,  a  pouring  over  his  misery,  a  casting  in  his  mind  what  he 
should  do,  and  what  would  be  the  end  of  these  things.  Perhaps, 
if  we  had  been  secreted  near  him,  we  should  have  seen  him  wal- 
king by  himself,  now  looking  upwards,  then  downwards,  weeping 
as  he  went,  or  sighing  under  a  load  that  would  not  suffer  him  to 
weep ;  sometimes  sinking  into  torpid  silence,  and  sometimes  in- 
terrogating himself  on  his  future  conduct  :  '  What  shall  I  do  ? 
Which  way  shall  1  take  ?  Shall  I  go  backward,  or  forward  ;  or 
shall  I  stand  still  ?  Shall  I  try  any  other  means  ;  or  shall  I 
despair?' 

From  this  tumult  of  the  mind,  we  are  certain  he  obtained  relief/ 
for,  towards  the  close  of  the  psalm,  he  deals  in  the  language  of  tri- 
umph :  /  will  sing  unto  the  Lord  because  he  hath  dealt  bountifulhj 
loith  me.  Nor  are  we  left  to  guess  in  what  manner  his  soul  was 
delivered  from  this  state  of  dejection  :  /  have  trusted,  says  he, 
in  thy  mercy ;  my  heart  shall  rejoice  in  thy  salvation.  From  hence, 
we  may  gather,  that  the  way  in  which  he  obtained  relief,  was   by 

CEASING  TO  TAKE  COUNSEL  IN  HIS  SOUL,  AND  BY  LOOKING  OUT  OF 
HIMSELF,  AND  TRUSTING  IN  THE  MERCY  OF  GgD. 

This  remedy  was  competent  to  the  removal  of  all  his  com- 
plaints. What  is  it  that  mercy,  divine  mercy,  mercy  through  a 
Mediator,  mercy  connected  with  omnipotence  and  veracity,  can- 
not effect  ?  Was  he  persecuted  ?  By  trusting  in  this,  he  would 
cease  to  fear  what  man  could  do  unto  him.  Was  the  hand  of 
'Providence  apparently  against  him  ?  That  might  be,  and  yet  all, 
in  the  end,  work  together  for  good.     Did  Ins  friends  forsake  him  ? 


Sermon  XIL]  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  2j5 

The  compassion  of  his  best  Friend  would  more  than  make  up  this 
loss.  But  did  he  also  hide  his  face  from  him  ?  Still  he  could  do 
no  better  than  apply  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  supplicate  his  return. 
Finally,  Was  all  this  complicated  load  of  trials  of  long  continu- 
ance 1  After  waiting  patiently  for  the  Lord,  he  would  hear  him, 
would  bring  him  out  of  the  hoirible  pit,  set  his  feet  upon  a  rock, 
establish  his  goinais,  attd  put  a  new  song  into  his  mouth.  Such, 
indeed,  was  the  issue  of  his  present  trials,  which  is  recorded  for 
the  encouragement  of  others,  who  shall  be  in  like  circumstances. 
II.  Let  us  inquire.  To  what  cases  the  subject   is  applicable 

AMOMG  us  ;  AND,  WHETHER  THE  SAME  REMEDY  BE  NOT  EQUALLY 
ADAPTED    TO    OUR    RELIEF,    AS    TO    THAT    OP    DaVID  ?       The  Holy 

Spirit  has  drawn  the  likeness  of  man  in  all  situations,  that  we  might 
find  our  case,  and  learn  instruction.  If  we  barely  read  them  as  a 
description  of  the  concerns  of  persons  who  lived  a  lon^^  time  ago, 
and  make  no  application  of  it  to  ourselves,  we  shall  miss  the  great 
end  for  which  the  scriptures  were  given  us.  The  case  of  the 
Psalmist  appears,  to  me,  to  be  applicable  to  three  descriptions  of 
people. 

1.  To  persons  who  sink  into  despondency  under  the  adverse  prov- 
idences of  God.  God  has  poured  a  portion  of  sorrow  into  the  cup 
of  human  life.  Property,  connexions,  friends,  children,  and  every 
other  avenue  of  natural  enjoyment,  become,  at  one  time  or  other, 
inlets  to  grief :  and  if,  in  these  seasons  of  adversity,  the  attention 
be  turned  inward,  rather  than  directed  to  the  Father  of  mercies, 
we  shall  be  in  danger  of  sinking  under  them. 

We  have  seen  men  who,  under  the  smiles  of  providence,  have 
been  cheerful  and  amiable,  when' disappointments  and  losses  have 
overtaken  them,  sink  into  sullen  dejection,  and  never  more  lift  up 
their  head.  In  some  instances,  it  has  issued  in  suicide.  It  is  a 
dangerous  thing  to  take  counsel  in  our  souls,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
counsel  of  God. 

We  have  seen  others,  wretched  beyond  expression,  owing  to 
unhappy  connexions.  In  the  formation  of  them,  religion  has  been 
overlooked,  and  even  genuine  affection,  for  the  sake  of  advantages 
of  a  worldly  nature.  The  consequence  has  been,  on  the  one  side, 
neglect,  dislike,  strife,  cruelty,  and  infidelity  ;  on  the  oth- 
er   disappointment,    jealousy,    unavailing    reflection,   a  broken 


21  e  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  [Sermon  XII. 

spirit,  a  fixed  melancholy,  and  every  thing  but  absolute  des_ 
pair.  Oh,  with  what  desire  could  I  draw  off  the  attention  of 
such  broken  hearts  from  thing:^  below  to  things  above  ;  from  taking 
counsel  in  their  souls,  to  trusting  in  the  mercy  of  God,  in  Christ 
Jesns  !  Many  a  wounded  spirit  has,  by  this  means,  been  healed 
and  rendered  happy  for  life  ;  besides  being  prevented  from 
plunging,  in  the  agony  of  desperation,  into  the  gulf  of  eternal 
rain. 

We  have  seen  even  religious  characters  inordinately  depressed 
with  troubles.  The  loss  of  some  darling  object,  the  confounding 
of  some  favourite  scheme,  or  the  rising  of  some  apparently  insur- 
mountable difficulty,  has  overwhelmed  the  heart.  In  such  cir- 
cumst  inces,  the  mind  is  apt  to  nurse  its  melancholy,  trying  to  live, 
as  it  were,  on  dying  elements  :  but  rt  is  not  thus  that  we  shall  eith- 
er giorJfy  God,  or  gain  relief  Jesus  hath  said,  Let  not  your  heart 
betrnuhied  ;  ve  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.  From  troubles 
of  some  kind  there  is  no  exemption;  in  the  present  state  :  but  it 
does  not  become  the  followers  of  Christ  to  indulge  in  Aeart-troubles 
for  little  things;  and  such  are  all  our  worldly  sorrows;  /i^A<  afflic- 
tions which  are  but  for  a  moment.  The  true  Chritrtian  life  is,  to 
be  inordinately  carthd  for  nothing  ;  hut  is  every  things  by  prayer 
and  snppticfttion  with  thanksgiving,  let  our  requests  be  made  known 
unto  God.  It  is  thus  that  the  peace  of  God,  jvhich  passeth  all  un- 
derstanding, shall  keep  our  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus. 
It  is  by  ceasing  to  take  counsel,  in  our  souls,  and  trusting  in  God's 
mercy,  that  our  sorrow,  like  that  of  David,  will  be  turned  into  joy 
and  triumph.  Our  way  may  be  covered  with  darkness,  so  much 
so,  that  we  cannot  see  where  the  next  step  will  place  us  :  but  we 
have  a  Leader,  who  sees  through  all,  and  who  has  promised  to 
guide  us  with  his  eye.  Things  may  so  work,  as  to  confound  our 
calculations  :  but,  if  all  work  together  for  good,  this  is  sufficient. 
AVhat  are  our  afflictions,  too,  in  comparison  of  the  glory  that  awaits 
us  ?  Paul  had  his  afflictions,  as  well  as  we,  far  greater  indeed 
than  ours  have  been  ;  and  he  also  took  counsel  under  them  ;  but 
not  with  himself :  he  took  into  his  account  the  hope  that  was  set 
before  him  :  I  reckon  says  he,  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present 
fime  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  re- 


SebmosXIL}  advice  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  217 

vealed  in  us.  It  is  while  we  thus  look  not  at  the  things  which  are 
seen,  but  at  the  things  tchich  are,  not  seen,  that  our  affiictiom  appear 
tight  and  momentary,  and  work  for  us  afar  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory. 

2.  The  case  of  the  Psalmist  is  applicable  \.o  persons  who,  at  the 
outset  of  their  religious  concern,  arc  encompassed  with  darkness  and 
long  continued  dejection.  There  are  some,  who  are  no  sooner 
brought  to  entertain  a  just  sense  of  the  nature  and  demerits  of  sin, 
than  they  are  led  to  embrace  the  gospel-way  of  salvation,  and  find 
rest  to  their  souls  :  but  it  is  not  so  with  all.  Some  are  known  to 
continue,  for  a  long  time,  in  a  state  of  dark  suspense.  They  have 
too  deep  a  sense  of  sin  to  be  able  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  this 
world  ;  and  are  too  much  in  the  dark  concerning  its  forgiveness, 
to  be  able  to  imbibe  the  joys  of  another.  Hence,  their  days  are 
spent  in  solitude  and  dejection  :  they  search  for  peace,  but  it  is 
far  from  them  :  they  take  counsel  in  their  soul,  and  have  sorroza 
in  their  heart  daily. 

Various  things  contribute  to  promote  thiis  state  of  mind.  In  some, 
it  may  be  owing  to  circumstances  without  them.  Perhaps,  like 
David,  they  had  no  friend  to  whom  they  could  open  their  minds  ; 
or  if  they  had,  it  might  have  been  to  persons  who  were  either  total 
strangers  to  these  things,  or  who  were  unskilful  in  the  word  of  right- 
eousness. Such  also  may  have  been  the  kind  of  preaching  they 
have  heard,  that  nothing  suitable  to  their  case  has  been  ordinarily, 
if  ever,  delivered.  If  the  preacher  be  of  such  a  description  as  to 
content  himself  with  moral  harangues  ;  if,  instead  of  exhibiting  the 
Saviour  of  sinner's,  he  have  nothing  to  say  to  a  wounded  spirit,  un- 
less it  be  to  advise  him  to  forsake  his  vices,  and  be  better  ;  or  if  his 
object  be  rather  to  improve  the  manners  of  men,  and  render  them 
decent  members  of  society,  than  to  renew  their  hearts  ;  the  ten- 
dency of  his  preaching  will  be,  either  to  establish  the  hearer  in 
Pharisaical  presumption,  or  sink  him  into  despondency. 

Or,  should  the  preacher  be  of  another  description  ;  should  he 
hold  forth  a  kind  of  Mahometan  predestination  ;  be  averse  from 
the  free  invitations  of  the  gospel  to  sinners,  as  sinners;  and  employ 
himself  in  persuading  his  hearers  that  ho  one  has  any  warrant  to 
come  to  Jesus  for  eternal  life,  but  the  regenerate  :  the  effects  will 
Vol.  Vll,.  28 


2]  3  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTEU.  [Sermon  XK. 

be  much  the  same.  The  awakened  sinner  will  either  take  up  with 
some  enthusiastic  impression,  imagine  himself  a  favourite  of  heav- 
en,/rMS^jw^  <Aa<  Ae  is  righteous .  and  despising  others  ;  or,  having 
no  consciousness  that  he  is  regenerate,  be  deterred  from  approach- 
ing the  Saviour,  and  so  sink  into  despondency. 

Could  I  gain  access  to  such  a  character,  I  would  proclaim  in  his 
ear  the  mercy  of  God  to  sinners  ;  the  all-sufficiency  and  willing- 
ness of  Jesus  to  save  all  that  are  willing  to  be  saved  by  him  ;  and 
the  free  invitations  of  the  gospel  ;  as  a  sufficient  warrant  for  him, 
or  any  other  sinner,  to  trust  bis  ii^mortal  interests  in  his  hands.  O 
ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  come  to  Jesus,  and  ye  shall 
jindrest  unto  your  souls  f  Do  not  dream  of  tirst  ascertaining  your 
election,  or  regeneration,  and  of  approaching  the  Saviour  as  a  fa- 
vourite of  heaven  ;  it  is  only  by  believing  in  him,  as  a  perishing 
sinner,  that  you  can  obtain  an  evidence  of  these  things.  It  is  by 
the  gospel  coming  to  us,  not  in  word  only,  but  in  power,  that  our 
election  ofGod  is  known,  and  our  regeneration  ascertained. 

In  others,  such  dejection  may   be  owing  to  something  tvithin 

them.     It  may  arise  from  a  kind  of  propensity  to  think  on  things 

which  are   against  them,  rather  than   on  , those   which  are  in   their 

favour  ;  viewing  only  the  dark  side  of  the  cloud  ;  dwelling  on  the 

magnitude  of  their  guilt,  their  unworthiness  of  mercy,  and  the  little 

success  they  have  had  in  praying  and  striving  to  enter  in.     This 

propensity  is  often  fed  by  an  idea  that  it  would  be  presumption,  in 

such  sinners  as  they  are,  to  admit  the   consolation   of  the  gospel  ; 

and  that  it  is  abundantly   more  becoming   them  to  stand  aloof,  in 

darkness  and  misery.     But  this  is  not  Christian  humility.     It  is  a 

spurious  kind  of  modesty,  the  principle  of  which  is  nearly  akin  to 

that  voluntary  humility  and  self-denial,  that  induces  men  to  abstain 

from  that  which  God  hath  created  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving. 

Notwithstanding   the   modest  and  humble  appearance  which  these 

objections  assume,  they  will  be  found  to  be  no  better  than  a  species 

oj  self-righteous  pride,  opposed  to  the  humiliating  gospel  of  Christy 

When  you  object,  for  instance,  that  you  are  unworthy  of  such  great 

and  unspeakable   blessings  as  the   gospel  reveals,  and,  therefore, 

'  that   it   would   be   presumption  in  you  to  accept  of  them  ;  what  is 

this  but  saying,  that,  before  you  can  have  any  warrant  to  receive 


Sermon  XII.]  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  219 

these  blessings,  you  must  be  worthy  of  them,  at  least  somewhat 
more  so  than  you  are  at  present  ?  And,  probably,  you  hope,  in 
time,  to  become  so.  But  this  is  tlie  very  essence  of  self-righteous- 
ness, and  directly  opposite  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Christ  came 
into  the  world  to  seek  and  save  them  that  are  lost.  He  came  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners,  even  the  chief  of  sinners.  He  has  no 
mercy  to  bestow  on  sinners,  but  as  undeserving.  If  any  man  think 
himself  deserving  of  his  grace,  his  answer  is,  /  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.  The  very  meaning  of  the 
word  grace,  of  which  the  scriptures  speak  so  largely,  is  free  fa- 
vour TO  thK  unworthy  :  unworlhiness,  therefore,  can  be  no 
ground  of  objection.  If  there  be  any  bar  in  your  way  ;  it  is  your 
conceit  of  some  kind  of  worthiness  being  necessary  to  recommend 
you  to  the  grace  of  the  Saviour  :  and  take  heed  lest  you  perish  un- 
der this  delusion,  after  the  example  of  apostate  Israel,  v/\\o followed 
after  the  law  of  righteousness,  but  never  attained  it  :  and  where- 
fore ?  Because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the 
works  of  the  law  :  for  they  stumbled  at  thai  stumbling-stone. 

If  such  should  not  be  the  end  of  things  with  you,  yet,  to  say  the 
least,  so  long  as  this  self-righteous  spirit  possesses  you,  you  will  be 
a  miserable  creature,  and  never  be  able  to  find  rest  unto  your  soul: 
and  it  certainly  behoves  you  to  lake  heed,  lest  this  should  not  be 
the  worst.  The  question  is  not,  whether  the  blessings  of  pardon 
justification,  and  eternal  life,  be  too  great  for  our  deserts  :  Are  they 
beyond  our  wants  ?  Can  we  do  with  less  ?  If  they  are  not  too 
great  for  our  necessities,  nor  too  great  for  the  ever-blessed  God, 
through  the  mediation  of  his  Son,  to  bestow,  who  are  we,  that  we, 
should  hesitate  to  accept  of  thetn  ?  If  he  present  to  us  the  cup  of 
salvation,  shall  we  not  drink  it  ?  True  humility,  instead  of  making 
objections,  would  answer,  Be  it  unto  thy  servant  according  to  thy 
word. 

We  are  assured,  by  him  that  cannot  lie,  that  if  we  inquire  for  the 
good  old  way,  the  way  in  which  all  the  faithful  have  gone  from  age 
to  age,  and  walk  in  it,  we  shallfind rest  unto  our  souls.  We  know, 
also,  who  it  was  that  applied  the  walking  in  {\\\%  good  old  way  to 
faith  in  his  name, obedience  to  his  authority,  and  conformity  to  hi? 
example  ;  saying,   Come  unto  vie  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 


220  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTEt>.  [Sbrmow  X\\. 

laden,  and  Twill  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn 
of  me  ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and  you  shall  Jind  rest 
unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  by  harden  is  light. 
From  hence,  we  may  certainly  conclude,  that,  if  we  do  not  find  rest 
uuto  our  souls,  it  must  be  owing  to  our  not  coming  to  him  as  a  sa- 
viour, or  not  yieldiig  to  his  authority  as  a  king,  or  not  learning  to 
copy  after  his  example  :  and,  if  we  comply  not  with  the  first,  in 
vain  do  we  flatter  ourselves  with  conformity  to  the  last.  We  shall 
never  work  the  works  of  God,  till  we  believe  in  him  whom  he  hath 
sent. 

A  willingness  to  be  saved  and  ruled  and  modelled  according  to 
the  mind  of  Christ,  is,  generally,  the  last  thing  of  which  sinners  are 
apt  to  suspect  themselves.  They  think  they  are  willing,  and  even 
desirous,  to  be  saved  in  his  way,  and  to  become  his  people  ;  and 
that  the  only  question  is,  whether  Christ  be  willing  to  save  them  : 
whereas  all  such  thoughts  are  founded  in  error.  We  are  not  strait- 
ened in  him,  but  in  our  own  bowels.  If  we  can  so  believe  in  him^ 
as  to  relinquish  every  false  system  of  religion,  and  every  false 
ground  of  hope,  falling  into  the  arms  of  free  mercy,  as  the  chief  of 
sinners  ;  and  if  we  can  so  yield  ourselves  up  to  him,  as  to  be  willing 
to  have  our  ear  bored,  as  it  were,  to  the  door-posts  of  his  house,  and 
(o  serve  him  for  ever,  there  is  no  obstruction,  in  heaven  or  in  earth, 
to  our  salvation. 

O  disconsolate  and  desponding  sinner  !  Thou  hast  been  read- 
ing, thinking,  hearing,  praying,  striving  ;  and  yet  thou  art  never 
the  nearer  :  no  peace,  no  rest  to  thy  soul,  nor  ascendency  over  thy 
sins.  Like  the  beast  in  the  mire,  all  thy  striving  serves  but  to  sink 
thee  deeper.  Let  me  ask  thee  a  few  questions  :  Understandest 
thou  what  thou  readest  ?  The  disciples  were  as  dark  and  as  sor- 
rowful as  thou  art,  till  they  understood  the  scriptures.  Do  thy 
thoughts  accord  with  God's  thoughts,  as  they  are  revealed  in  the 
f^criptures  ?  God's  thoughts  are  as  much  above  those  of  man,  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth.  Let  me  entreat  thee  particu- 
farly  to  consider,  whether  thy  prayers  have  been  offered  up  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  or  with  an  eye  to  his  mediation  ?  Perhaps,  hither- 
to, thou  bast  asked  nothing  in  his  name  :  ask,  and  thou  shf^li  receive. 


Sermon  XII.]  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  <2<21 

that  thy  joy  may  he  full.  Remember  this,  too,  it  is  he  himself  who 
invites  thee  to  do  so.  The  captive  exile  hasieneth  that  he  may  be 
loosed,  and  that  he  should  not  die  in  the  pit  :  follow  his  example - 
Here,  in  the  gospel  of  free  grace,  in  exchange  for  thy  horribl?  sit- 
uation, is  rock  for  thy  feet,  and  a  new  song  for  thy  mouth.  It  i8 
vain  for  thee  to  think  of  overcoaiing  thy  sins,  any  more  than  of  ob- 
taining forgiveness,  in  any  other  way.  Who  is  he  that  overcometh 
the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  >-on  of  God  ? 
Cease,  then,  from  taking  counsel  in  thy  soul,  trust  in  the  mercy  o' 
God  through  a  mediator,  and  thy  heart  shall  rejoice  in  his  sal- 
vation. 

3.  The  case  of  the  Psalmist  is  applicable  to  persons  who,  during 
the  greater  part  of  their  religious  profession,  live  under  habitual 
fear,  lest  they  should  not,  at  last,  prove  real  Christians.  This  des- 
cription of  professing  Christians,  of  which  there  is  a  considerable 
number  among  us,  seems  to  have  been  scarcely  known  in  the 
primitive  ages.  In  those  times,  they  appear  to  have  been  e,eneral- 
ly  conscious  of  being  what  they  professed  to  be — believers  in  the 
Son  of  God  J  and,  knowing  that  such  had  the  promise  of  eternal 
life,  they  did  not  ordinarily  doubt  upon  the  subject.  It  was  possi- 
ble, however,  at  that  time  as  well  as  this,  for  the  mind  to  be  in 
doubt  of  its  own  sincerity.  They  had  hypocrites  and  self-deceiv- 
ers, as  well  as  we ;  hence,  in  describing  the  graces  of  the  Spirit, 
the  sacred  writer  speaks  offaith  unfeigned,  and  of  love  without  dis- 
simulation. And,  as  the  denouncing  of  a  hypocrite  among  the  apos- 
tles caused  each  one  to  enquire.  Lord,  is  it  1?  so,  doubtless,  the 
most  upright  character  would  be  subject  to  occasional  fears,  lest  he 
should  be  found  deceiving  his  own  soul.  This  seems  to  be  the  kind 
oi  fear  which  the  Apostle  describes  as  cast  out  by  perfect  love  : 
and,  as  the  love  of  the  primitive  Christians  greatly  abounded,  their 
iears  and  doubts  with  regard  to  their  own  sincerity  were,  conse- 
quently, but  tew. 

One  great  cause,  I  apprehend,  of  the  prevalence  of  such  fears,  in 
sincere  people  of  the  present  age.  is,  the  great  degree  in  which  the 
attention  is  turned  inward,  and  the  small  degree  in  which  it  is  direc- 
ted lo  the  things  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  scriptures  ,  or,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  text,  the  taking  counsel  in  their  souls. 


222  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  [Skrmo»XII. 

I  do  not  mean  to  discourage  all  remembrance  of  past  experi- 
ences. The  members  of  the  church  of  Sardis  are  admonished  to 
remember  how  they  had  received  and  heard ;  and  David,  und<»r 
great  dejection  of  mind,  resolved  to  remember  the  Lord  from  tht 
land  of  Jordan,  and  of  the  Hermonites  from  the  hill  Mizar. 
Much  less  do  I  mean  to  countenance  the  notions  of  such  writers  and 
preachers,  who  cry  down  all  evidences  of  grace  ;  all  marks  and 
signs  of  internal  Christianity,  taken  from  the  work  of  sanctification 
in  the  soul.  Far  be  this  from  me.  I  am  persuaded,  that  for  any 
man  to  reject  evidences  of  personal  religion  drawn  from  this  quar- 
ter, he  must  fall  very  little  short  of  rejecting  his  Bible.*  But, 
though  sanctification  be  the  evidence  of  an  interest  in  spiritual  bles- 
sings, yet  it  is  not  so  much  by  remembering  our  past  religious  ex- 
perience that  we  shall  obtain  satisfaction,  as  by  renewed  exercises 
of  grace.  The  Apostle,  in  the  forecited  passages,  when  describing 
the  means  by  which  we  are  to  come  at  the  knowledge  of  our  per- 
sonal religion,  makes  no  mention  of  things  past,  but  of  things  pres- 
ent, of  which  the  mind  is  supposed  to  be  conscious  at  the  time. 
Hereby^  saith  he.,  we  do  know  that  xve  know  him,  if  we  keep  Ms 
commandments. — Whoso  keepeth  his  word,  in  him  verily  is  the  love 
of  God  perfected  ;  hereby  know  we  that  We  are  in  him. —  We  know 
that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  not  because  we  have 
i.ovED,  but  because  we  love  the  brethren.  And,  if  satisfaction  be 
attainable  only  by  the  renewed,  exercises  of  grace,  our  object  is  to 
ascertain  the  method  best  adapted  to  promote  such  exercises,  which, 
lam  persuaded,  will  be  found  to  be,  a  looking  out  of  ourselves  to 
the  truths  and  consolations  revealed  in  the  scriptures. 

To  attempt  to  ascertain  the  reality  of  our  religion  by  a  remem- 
brance of  past  experiences  of  grace,  is  attempting  what,  in  most 
oases,  must  needs  be,  to  say  the  least,  extremely  difficult,  and,  if 
accomplished,  would  be  of  no  use.  The  mind  is  not  formed  for 
such  a  remembrance  of  its  own  ideas  and  sensations  as  this  would 
require.  It  is  true,  those  impressions  which  are  singularly  strik- 
ing will  often  be  remembered  at  a  distant  period  ;  but  not  in  that 
dear  and  lively  manner  in  which  they  are  felt  at  the  time.     It  i= 

*  See  especially  1  Johaii.  3,  5.  iii.  14.  18—21    24- 


SermohXII.']  advice  to  the  dejected.  225 

only  a  genera?  recollection  of  things  that  is  ordinarily  retained  :  to 
be  employed,  therefore,  in  raking  over  our  past  feelings,  in  order 
to  discover  whether  we  be  real  Christians,  is  almost  a  hopeless 
undertaking.  If  it  were  otherwise,  and  we  could  clearly  gain  the 
object  of  our  research,  still  it  has  no  tendency  to  glorify  God 
The  way  to  glorify  him  is  to  bring  forth  much  fruit ;  and  not  mere- 
ly to  remember  that  we  did  bring  forth  fruit,  some  twenty  or 
thirty  years  ago.  Those  examples  which  the  scriptures  afford, 
of  persons  recurring  to  past  experiences,  were  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  their  own  sincerity,  but  for  the  regaining 
of  those  sensations  which,  at  former  periods,  they  had  possessed. 
The  reasons  why  the  churches  of  Ephesus  and  Sardis  were  admon- 
ished to  remember  their  first  love  was,  that  they  might  recover  it ; 
and  the  object  of  David,  in  his  recollection  of  past  times,  was  not 
so  much  that  he  might  determine  what  were  the  nature  of  his  ex- 
periences, at  those  times,  as  that  he  might  regain  his  confidence  in 
God.  /  will  remember  thee,  saith  he,  from  ifie  land  ef  Jordan,  and 
of  the  Hermonites  from  the  hill  Mizar.  God  was  the  object  he 
sought  ;  and  the  remembrance  of  what  he  had  formerly  experi- 
enced of  his  goodness  and  faithfulness,  was  the  means  he  used  to 
find  him.  Allowing,  therefore,  that  the  remembrance  of  past  sen- 
sations may  afibrd  us  satisfaction  as  to  the  reality  of  our  personal 
religion,  yet  it  is  no  otherwise  than  as  reviving  those  sensations, 
by  which  they  become  renewed  exercises  of  grace.  If  we  can 
recollect  those  things  which,  at  a  former  period,  endeared  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  religion  to  us,  and  so  recover  our  affec- 
tion towards  them,  such  a  recollection  will  be  profitable,  and  will 
serve  to  strengthen  our  evidences  of  interest  in  them.  But,  if  we 
think  of  gaining  satisfaction  on  this  subject  by  a  mere  remembrance 
of  past  aff'ections,  without  any  consciousness  of  present  ones,  we 
shall  be  disappointed  ;  or,  which  is  worse,  if  we  imagine  that  we 
have  gained  our  object,  it  will  prove,  in  the  end,  that  a  deceived 
heart  hath  turned  us  aside. 

If  we  would  wish  to  discover,  whether  there  are  any  particles 
of  steel  in  a  large  quantity  of  rubbish,  it  would  not  be  the  wisest 
way  to  search  for  them,  and  especially  in  the  dark,  but  to  hold  a 
large  and  efficacious  magnet  over  it.     And  this,  if  it  be  there,  i= 


224  ADVICE  TO  THE  DEJECTED.  [Sermon  Xll. 

the  way  to  discover  true  religion  in  our  souls.  The  truths  and 
promises  of  God  are,  to  a  principle  of  religion  in  the  mind,  that 
which  the  magnet  is  to  the  steel :  if  there  be  any  in  us,  the  proper 
exhibition  of  the  gospel  will  ordinarily  draw  it  forth. 

If  it  be  a  matter  of  doubt  with  you,  whether  you  be  truly  con- 
rerted,  far  be  it  from  me  to  endeavour  to  persuade  you  that  you 
are  so.  Your  doubts  may  be  well-founded,  for  ought  I  can  tell : 
and,  supposing  they  should  be  so,  the  door  of  mercy  is  still  open. 
If  you  have  obtained  mercy,  the  same  way  is  open  for  your 
obtaining  it  again  :  and  if  not,  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should 
Dot  obtain  it  now.  The  consolations  1  have  to  recommend,  are 
addressed  to  you,  not  as  converted,  nor  as  unconverted ;  not  as 
elect,  nor  as  non-elect ;  but  as  sinners :  and  this  character,  I  sup- 
pose, you  have  no  doubt  of  sustaining.  All  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel  are  freely  presented  for  acceptance  to  sinners.  Sinners, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  character,  have  a  complete  war- 
rant to  receive  them  ;  yea,  it  is  their  duty  to  do  so,  and  their 
great  sin  if  they  do  not.  Nothing  but  ignorance,  unbelief,  self- 
righteous  pride,  or  some  such  evil  state  of  mind,  prevents  it.  The 
gospel-supper  is  provided  ;  all  things  are  ready  ;  and  the  king's 
servants  are  commissioned  to  persuade,  and,  as  it  were  compel 
them  to  come  in.  If  you  accept  this  invitation,  all  are  yours.  I 
ask  not,  whether  you  be  willing  to  be  saved  in  God's  way,  in  order 
to  determine  your  right  to  accept ;  (the  message  sent  you  in  the 
gospel  determines  this ;)  but  in  order  to  ascertain  your  interes 
in  spiritual  blessings.  If  you  cordially  believe  the  gospel,  you 
have  the  promise  of  eternal  life.  If  its  blessings  suit  your  de- 
sires, they  are  all  your  own.  If,  for  example,  it  does  not  offend 
you,  but  accords  with  your  very  heart,  to  sue  for  mercy  as  the. 
chief  of  sinners;  if  you  be  willing  to  occupy  that  place  which  the 
gospel  assigns  you,  which  is  the  dust ;  and  to  ascribe  to  Jesus  that 
which  God  has  assigned  to  him,  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom 
and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing;  if  you  can  un- 
reluctantly  give  up  all  claim  to  life,  on  the  footing  of  your  own 
worthiness,  and  desire  nothing  so  much  as  to  be  found  in  Christ, 
not  having  your  own  righteousness;  if  the  salvation  you  seek  be 
a  deliverance  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  as  well  as  from  its  damning 


Sermon  XII.]  ADVICR  TO  THE  DEJECTED  2^25 

power;  finall^^  if  the  heaven  you  desire  be  that  which  the  scrip- 
tures reveal,  a  state  of  pure  and  holy  enjoyment,  there  can  be  no 
just  cause  to  doubt  of  your  interest  in  these  things.  To  imagine 
that  you  believe  all  that  God  has  revealed  concerning  his  Son,  and 
that  with  all  your  heart,  receiving  the  love  of  the  truth  that  yozi 
may  he  saved;  and  yet  that  something  else  is  wanting  to  denomin- 
ate you  believers,  is  to  imagine  that  believing  is  not  believing. 

Read  the  holy  scriptures,  pray  to  the  Fountain  of  light  for  un 
derstanding,  attend  the  preaching  of  the  word ;  and  all  this,  not 
with  the  immediate  view  of  determining  what  you  are,  but  what 
Christ  is:  and  if  you  lind  iu  him  that  in  which  your  whole  soul 
acquiesces,  this,  without  your  searching  after  it,  will  determine 
the  question  as  to  your  personal  intereist  in  him 


VoT,.  VII.  29 


THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH  ;  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  THE  WO- 

MAN  OF  CANAAN. 


SERMON  XIII, 


****0^P^* 


Matt.  xv.  21—28. 

Then  JeBU9  went  thence,  and  departed  into  the  coast3  of  Tyre  mnd  Sidoix. 
And  behold  a  woman  of  Canaan  cnme  out  of  the  same  coasts,  and  cried  unto 
him,  saying,  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David  ;  my  dauajhter 
is  grievously  vexed  with  a  devil.  But  hp  answered  her  not  a  word.  And  his 
disciples  came  and  besought  him,  saying,  Send  her  away  ;  for  she  crieth  after 
us.  But  he  answered  and  said,  I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lust  sheep  of  the 
liouse  of  Israel.  Tlien  came  she  and  worshipped  him.  saying,  Lord,  help  me  ! 
But  he  answered  and  said,  It  is  not  meat  to  take  the  children's  bread,  and  to 
cast  it  to  dogs.  And  she  said,  Truth  Lord  ;  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs 
which  fall  from  their  master's  table.  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her 
O  woman  1  great  is  thy  faith;  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  And  her 
daughter  was  made  whole  from  that  verv  hour. 


When  John  the  Baptist  sent  a  message  to  Jesus,  saying.  Art 
thou  he  that  should  come, or  do  zve  look  for  another/  Jesus  gave 
an  indirect  answer,  an  answer  containing  a  reproof.  Whether 
John  himself,  retaining,  Hke  the  apostles,  the  notion  of  a  tempo- 
mi  kingdom,  and  therefore  expecting,  on  his  being  put  in  prison, 
that  a  great  revolution  would  follow  in  favour  of  the  Messiah,  and 
hearing  of  nothing  but  companies  of  poor  people  repairing  to  him 


228  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [SiMiMOHr  XlU. 

to  be  healed  of  their  infirmities,  began  to  hesitate  whether  he 
might  not  have  been  mistaken  ;  or  wbether  he  only  personated 
some  of  his  disciples  ;  somebody  appears  to  have  been  stumbled  at 
the  simplicity  of  Christ's  appearance.  Hence,  the  indirect  an- 
swer of  Jesus  :  Go  and  shew  John  agaiji  those  things  which  ye  do 
hear  and  gee  ?  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame  walk  ;  the 
lepers  are  cleansed^  and  the  deaf  hear ;  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and 
the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them — And  blessed  is  he  who- 
soever shall  not  be  offended  in  me.  To  be  encompassed  by 
crowds  of  afflicted  people  supplicating  for  mercy,  and  employed  in 
relieving  them,  was  sustaining  a  character,  though  far  from  what 
the  world  calls  splendid,  yet  truly  great,  and  worthy  of  the  Messiah. 
The  short  account  of  this  poor  woman  is  more  profitable  to  be 
read  than  a  long  and  minute  history  of  military  exploits. 

In  endeavouring  to  improve  this  brief  story,  we  will  notice, 
Who  the  petitioner  was  ;  what  was  her  errand  ,  and  the  repeated 
applications  which  were  made,  witli  the  repeated  repulses,  but 
ultimate  success,  that  she  met  met  with. 

I.  Let  us  observe,  who  the  petitioner  was.  She  is  said  to 
be  a  woman  of  Canaan.  Mark  says,  she  was  a  Greek  ;  but  the 
term,  in  this  and  some  other  connexions,  seems  to  denote  only  that 
she  was  a  Gentile,  and  not  that  she  came  from  the  country  called 
Greece  ;  for  in  the  same  passage  she  is  said  to  have  been  a  Syro- 
phenician  by  nation. 

She  was  a  Gentile  ;  one  of  the  first  fruits  of  that  harvest  of  Gen- 
files  that  was  shortly  to  be  gathered  in.  Our  Lord,  though  he 
was  sent,  as  he  said,  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  yet 
extended  his  mercy  to  individuals  of  other  nations:  and  it  is  wor- 
thy of  notice,  that  those  few  who  were  gathered  at  this  early  peri- 
od, are  highly  commended  for  the  eminence  of  their  faith.  Like 
the  first  fruits  of  the  earth  they  were  the  best.  It  might  still  be 
said  on  a  review  of  things  among  us,  that  such  faith  as  that  of  the 
woman  of  Canaan  and  the  Roman  centurion,  is  rarely  to  be  found 
in  Israel. 

Farther  :  She  was  not  only  a  Gentile,  but  one  of  those  Gentiles 
who  were  under  a  peculiar  curse.  She  appears  to  have  been  on^ 
of  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Canaanites;  many  of  whom,  When 


S£RM0W  Xni.]  THE  PRAYER  OP  FAITH.  229 

driven  from  their  own  country,  settled  ou  the  coasts  of  Tjre  and 
Sidon.  We  know  the  curse  to  which  that  people  were  devoted, 
even  from  the  days  of  their  ancestor  Canaan,  the  Son  of  Ham. 
We  know  also  that  Joshua  was  commanded  not  to  spare  them, 
and  that  Israel  was  forhidden  to  make  leagues  with  them. 
This  curse,  however  came  upon  them  for  their  being  an  exceed- 
inly  wicked  people.  The  abominations  of  which  they  were  guilty, 
and  which  were  nursed  by  their  idolatry  as  by  a  parent  sin,  are 
given  as  the  reason  why  the  land  vomited  out  its  inhabitants,  and 
why  Israel  must  form  no  alliances  with  them,  lest  they  should 
learn  their  ways.  There  was  no  time  in  which  the  God  of  Israel 
refused  even  a  Canaanite,  who  repented,  and  embraced  his  word. 
Of  this,  Rahab  the  harlot,  Uriah  the  Hittite,  Oman  the  Jebusite, 
and  others  were  examples.  The  door  of  mercy  has  ever  been 
open  to  faith  :  and  though  it  seemed,  in  this  instance,  to  be  shut,  it 
was  only  to  prove  the  party,  and  to  induce  her  to  plead  with  great- 
er importunity. 

11.  Let  us  notice  her  errand.  It  was  not  her  own  case,  but 
a  case  which  she  had  made  her  own  ;  that  of  her  young  daughter. 
She  pleaded  it,  however,  as  if  it  were  her  own — Have  mercy  on 
ME  ! — Lord  help  me  !  From  this  part  of  the  subject  we  may 
learn, 

1.  That  in  our  approaches  to  Christ,  it  becomes  us  to  go  not  Jar 
ourselves  only,  but  for  others  around  us,  and  to  make  their  easels 
ours.  He  to  whom  the  application  was  made,  could  not  but  ap- 
prove of  this  principle  ;  for  it  was  that  on  which  he  himself  was 
acting  at  the  time.  He  took  the  cause  of  perishing  sinners,  and 
made  it  his  own.  He  bore  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows,  A 
spirit  of  sympathy  is  the  very  spirit  of  Christ,  which  they  that 
are  joined  to  him  must  needs  possess. 

2.  That  it  behoves  us  more,  especially,  to  carry  the  cases  of  our 
children  to  the  Lord,  and  to  make  them  our  oxen.  It  may  be,  they 
are  too  young  to  understand  or  feel  their  own  malady,  or  to  know 
where  help  is  to  be  had  ;  in  this  case,  surely  it  is  our  proper  bu- 
siness to  personate  them  before  the  Lord  :  or,  it  may  be,  their 
minds  are  blinded,  and  their  hearts  hardened  by  the  deceitfulnesf 
of  sin,  so  as  to  have  no  desire  to  pray  for  themselves:  and  then  w€ 


230  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [Seumom  XIII. 

can  do  no  less  than  carry  their  case  to  him,  who  alone  is  able  to 
help.  What  less,  and  in  many  instances,  what  more  can  an  afflic- 
ted parent  do  for  an  ungodly  child?  It  is  true,  we  have  no 
ground  to  except  the  salvation  of  our  children,  while  they  contin- 
ue hardened  ;  but  Jesus  is  exalted  to  give  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins ;  and,  while  we  present  our  supplication  in  a  way  of  sub- 
mission to  his  will,  he  will  not  be  offended  with  us.  It  was  the 
practice  of  holy  Job  to  offer  sacrifices  for  his  children  ;  and  it 
seems  to  be  a  part  of  God's  plan,  frequently  to  bless  the  children 
at  the  intercession  of  the  parent,  and  thus  to  express  his  approba- 
tion of  something  which  they  hare  done  for  him.  The  Lord  give 
mercy  unto  the  house  ofOnesiphorus,  said  Paul,  for  he  oft  refresh- 
ed me,  andtcas  not  ashamed  of  my  chain. 

III.  Let  us  remark  the  repeated  appi-ications,  the  repeated 

REPULSES,    AND     THE     VLTIMATE    SUCCESS     WHICH     CROWNED      THE 

■whole.  Here  were  no  less  than  four  applications  ;  three  of 
which  were  made  by  the  woman  herself,  and  one  by  the  disciples, 
on  her  behalf.  Three  out  of  the  four  failed;  but  the  fourth  suc- 
ceeded. Let  us  examine  them,  and  the  success  they  met  with, 
distinctly. 

The^rs^  was  made  by  the  woman,  and  is  described  as  follows  ; 
— She  cried  unto  him  sayings  Have  mercy  on  me,  0  Lord,  thou  son 
of  David ;  my  daughter  is  grievously  vexed  rvith  a  devil.  We 
might  remark  the  brevity,  the  fullness,  and  the  earnestness  of 
this  petition  ;  but  there  is  one  thing,  which  our  Lord  himself 
afterwards  noticed,  and  which,  therefore,  is  particularly  deserving 
of  our  attention  :  it  was  the  prayer  of  faith.  She  believed,  and 
confessed  him  to  be  the  Messiah.  Her  addressing  him  under  the 
character  of  Lord,  and  as  the  son  of  David,  amounted  to  this.  It 
was  a  principle  universally  acknowledged  among  the  Jews,  that 
the  Lord,  or  king  Messiah,  should  be  of  the  seed  of  David.  To  ad- 
dress him,  therefore,  under  this  character,  was  confessing  him  to 
be  the  Christ.  This  was  the  appellation  under  which  he  was 
more  than  once  invoked  by  certain  blind  men  ;  and,  in  every  in- 
stance, the  same  idea  was  meant  to  be  conveyed.  These  poor 
people  did  not  address  our  Saviour  in  a  way  of  unmeaning  com- 


Sermon  XIII.]  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  231 

plaisance  :  they  understood  that  the  Messiah,  the  son  of  David, 
was  to  be  distinguished  by  the  exercise  of  mercy :  hence,  they 
continually  associated  these  ideas.  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Lord, 
thou  SON  OF  David! — Jesus,  thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on 
us!  And  this  is  the  very  character  given  to  the  Messiah  in  the 
Old  Testament,  especially  in  the  Seventy-second  Psalm.  He  shall 
deliver  the  needy  when  he  crieth  ;  the  poor  also,  and  him  that  hath 
no  helper.  Thus  they  had  heard,  thus  they  believed,  and  thus 
their  faith  wrought  in  a  way  of  eflFectual  prayer. 

But  whence  had  this  woman,  an  alien  from  the  commonwealth 
of  Israel,  a  stranger  to  the  covenant  of  promise,  this  wisdom? 
Providence  had  placed  her  on  the  borders  of  the  Holy  Land,  and 
she  appears  to  have  profited  by  it.  The  true  religion,  contained 
in  the  oracles  of  God,  had  its  influence  not  only  on  Israel,  but  on 
many  individuals  in  the  neighbouring  nations.  It  was  foretold, 
that  they  who  dwelt  imder  his  shadow  should  return  ;  and  here  we 
see  it  accomplished.  Probably  this  poor  Canaanite  had  often  gone 
into  the  Jewish  synagogue,  to  hear  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the 
prophets  ;  and,  while  many  of  those  who  read  them  gained  only  a 
superficial  acquaintance  with  them,  she  understood  them  to  pur- 
pose. One  would  almost  think  she  must  lately  have  beard  the 
Seventy-second  Psalm  read,  at  one  of  these  assemblies,  and  have 
made  up  her  petition  out  of  the  passage  forecited.  He  shall  deliv- 
er the  needy  when  he  crieth;  the  poor  also,  and  him  that  hath  no 
helper  ; — then  why  not  me  1  I  will  go,  and  turn  this  prophecy 
into  a  prayer  ;  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  thou  son  of  David  P 
It  is  good  to  have  our  residence  near  to  the  means  of  grace,  and  to 
have  a  heart  to  make  use  of  them.  It  is  good  to  grow  upon  the 
banks  of  this  river  of  the  water  of  life.  It  is  pleasant,  also,  to 
think  of  the  good  effects  of  the  true  religion  among  the  posterity  of 
Abraham.  It  is  thus  we  see  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  to  that 
faithful  man,  I  will  bless  thee,  and  thou  shalt  he  a  blessing. 

But,  while  these  things  afford  pleasure  to  us,  they  must,  me-< 
thinks,  have  been  very  provoking  to  the  Jews  ;  and  happy  h.id  it 
been  for  them,  if  they  had  been  provoked  to  a  godly  jealousy. 
Many  among  them  were  far  behind  these  strangers  in  knowledge 
and  in  faith,  though  they  enjoyed  very  superior  advantages.     The 


232  I'HE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [Sermon  XIII: 

Saviour  was  continually  among  them,  crying,  and  calling  at  their 
gates,  and  at  the  entering  in  of  their  cities;  yet  they  genernlly  dis- 
regarded him :  whereas,  in  this  case,  he  only  took  an  occasional 
journey,  and  that  in  secret ;  (for  when  he  entered  into  an  house, 
he  would  have  no  man  know  it ;)  yet  here  this  poor  woman  found 
him  out,  and  presented  her  supplication.  How  true  is  that  saying 
of  our  Lord,  77ie  Zf/s(  shall  be  first,  and  the  first  last ;  and  how 
often  do  we  still  see  persons  of  inferior  advantages  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  before  others  who  have  possessed  the  greatest 
abundance  of  means. 

But  what  treatment  did  she  receive  iVom  our  Saviour,  on  tlii? 
her  first  application  ?  He  ansioered  her  not  a  word.  Who  would 
have  expected  this  ?  Does  it  accord  with  his  usual  conduct  ?  In 
what  instance  had  he  been  known  to  refuse  such  an  application  ? 
It  was  very  mysterious,  and  very  discouraging.  Is  his  ear  heavy, 
then,  that  it  cannot  hear  ?  or  his  arm  shortened,  that  it  cannot 
save  ?  Answered  her  not  a  word  !  Who  could  understand  this  as 
any  other  than  a  repulse  ?  If  the  faith  of  the  petitioner  had  been 
weak,  she  might  have  concluded  that  he  would  not  answer  her, 
because  he  could  not  help  her.  If  her  heart  had  been  cold,  she 
might  have  gone  away,  as  many  do  after  having  .vairf  their  prayers, 
contented  without  the  blessing.  If  her  spirit  had  been  haughty, 
she  must  and  would  have  resented  it,  and  have  asked  no  more. 
In  short,  had  she  been  any  thing  but  what  she  was,  great  in  faith 
in  love,  and  in  humility,  she  would  have  turned  away.  And  here 
we  may  see  the  wisdom  of  our  Saviour's  conduct :  had  he  imme- 
diately granted  her  request,  we  had  seen  little  or  nothing  of  the 
exercise  of  these  graces.     But  let  us  proceed. 

Here  is  a  second  application  made  on  her  behalf;  and  this  is  by 
the  disciples  :  they  came  and  besought  him  to  send  her  away.  I 
hope  they  meant  that  he  would  grant  her  petition.  One  might 
have  expected  something  considerable  from  the  intercession  of  the 
twelve  apostles.  He  had  consented  to  go  and  heal  the  centurion's 
servant,  at  the  request  of  the  Jewish  elders  :  and  surely  his  own 
disciples  must  have  an  interest  with  him,  equal  to  theirs.  If  the 
poor  woman  knew  of  their  becoming  her  advocates,  it  is  natural 
Co  suppose  her  expectations  must  have  been  raised  :  and  this  it  is 


Skrmos  XIII.]  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  235 

likely  she  did  ;  for,  while  they  were  speaking,  she  seems  to  have 
held  her  peace.  Neither  need  they  have  been  at  a  loss  for  a  pre- 
cedent ;  for  though  she  was  a  heathen,  yet  they  had  lately  wit- 
nessed his  kind  attention  to  a  Roman  centurion  :  and,  had  they 
pleaded  this,  he  might  have  shown  mercy  at  their  request.  But 
to  what  does  their  intercession  amount  ?  Alas,  it  is  mean  and  piti- 
ful :  it  does  not  appear  to  have  a  spice  of  benevolence  in  it,  but  lo 
have  been  merely  the  effect  of  self-love  :  Send  her  away,  said 
they, ybr  she  crieth  after  us.  O  disciples  !  And  does  the  voice  of 
prayer  trouble  you  ?  How  little  at  present  do  you  resemble 
your  Master  !  We  never  read  of  his  being  troubled  with  the  cry 
of  the  poor  and  needy.  And  this  is  all  you  have  to  urge,  is  it? 
Your  charity  amounts  to  just  so  much  as  that  of  some  wealthy  per- 
sona, who  give  a  poor  man  a  penny,  not  out  of  compassion,  but  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  him  ! 

What  is  the  answer  to  this  miserable  petition  ?  Our  Lord  takes 
no  notice  of  the  mercenary  nature  of  the  plea;  and  this  was  like 
himself:  amidst  the  numerous  faults  of  his  disciples,  he  often  exer- 
cised a  dignitied  forbearance  towards  them.  But  what  answer  did 
he  make  ?  /  am  not  sent,  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  It  was  true,  that  his  commission  was  especially  directed 
to  Israel ;  and,  previously  to  his  resurrection,  he  even  forbad  his 
disciples  to  go  in  the  tcay  of  the  Gentiles :  nor  is  it  any  wonder, 
that  he  should  avail  himself  of  this  general  truth,  still  to  withhold 
his  favour,  rather  than  grant  it  at  such  a  request  as  this.  The  mo- 
tive which  they  had  urged  was  not  likely  to  work  upon  him. 

But  think  how  it  must  affect  the  poor  petitioner.  Silence  was 
discouraging;  but  this  must  have  been  more  so.  That  might  be 
imputed  to  other  causes  :  she  might  suppose  he  was  considering 
of  her  request ;  and,  though  he  had  said  nothing  in  her  favour,  yet 
he  had  said  nothing  against  her  :  this,  however,  is  not  only  giving 
her  a  denial,  but  giving  the  reason  of  it  ;  which  would  seem  to 
render  it  irrevocable.  To  an  eye  of  sense,  it  would  now  seem  to 
be  a  lost  case.     It  is  not  so,  however,  to  an  eye  of  faith. 

Let  as  proceed  to  the  t/iirrf application.  The  disciples  had  been 
poor  advocates.  Make  way  for  her,  and  let  her  plead  her  own 
cause  :  she  can  do  it  best.     It  is  not  one,  nor  two  repulses,  that 

Vol..  vn.  ,^0 


234  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [Sermow  XIH- 

will  silence  the  prayer  of  faith  ;  nor  will  aught  else,  so  long  as  Je- 
sus lives,  and  the  invitations  and  promises  of  his  word  continue 
unrevoked.  It  was  written,  He  shall  deliver  the  needy  when  he 
crieth ;  the  poor  also,  and  him  that  hath  no  helper  :  and  the  efficacy 
of  this  declaration  must  be  tried  again.  Then  came  she  and  tcor- 
shipped  him,  saying.  Lord  help  me! 

Observe,  she  prefaces  her  petition  with  an  act  of  worship.  She 
had  before  acknowledged  him  as  David's  son,  now  she  approaches 
him  as  his  Lord.  Prostrate  at  his  feet,  she  adores  him,  and  re- 
news her  supplication.  It  is  short,  yet  very  full.  It  has  only 
three  words,  but  more  than  three  ideas,  and  these  full  of  impor- 
tance. She  here,  in  effect,  tells  him,  that  her  case  is  urgent ; 
that  she  is  truly  helpless  ;  that  no  help  is  to  be  expected  from 
any  other  quarter  ;  that  she  is  persuaded  of  his  being  able  to  save 
to  the  uttermost ,  and  that  it  belongs  to  his  character,  as  Messiah, 
to  help  those  that  have  no  helper.  Though  a  Canaanite,  assured- 
ly she  possesses  the  spirit  of  an  Israelite  :  /  will  not  let  thee  go,  ex^ 
cept  thou  bless  me. 

If  there  be  such  a  thing  as  holy  violence,  or  taking  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  as  it  were,  by  force,  surely  this  is  it ;  and,  knowing  the 
character  of  Christ,  we  should  have  concluded  that  this  petition 
must  be  successful.  But  Jesus  answered  and  said,  It  is  not  meet 
to  take  the  children's  bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs.  What  imper- 
fect judges  are  we  of  times  and  seasons.  Just  now,  we  should 
have  supposed  her  cause  was  gained,  and  yet  it  was  not  so;  and 
now  we  should  have  been  ready  enough  to  conclude  it  was  lost, 
and  yet  it  is  not  so.  Let  us  learn  to  wait  patiently  for  the  Lord, 
and  neither  conclude,  when  we  enjoy  great  fervour  and  freedom  in 
our  approaches  to  him,  that  our  prayers  must  be  answered  imme- 
diately, or  not  at  all  ;  nor,  when  thrown  back  into  darkness  and 
discouragement,  that  now  there  is  no  hope.  Had  this  poor  woman 
rested  her  expectation  on  her  own  feelings,  or  on  any  thing  short 
of  the  Lord's  own  word,  she  had  fainted  in  this  trying  moment- 
What  a  crowd  of  thoughts  might  she,  at  this  time,  have  cherished  ; 
hard  thoughts,  proud  thoughts,  and  despairing  thoughts.  *  And  is 
this  the  Messiah,  of  whom  such  glorious  things  are  spoken?  Is 
this  the  compassion  that  he  is  to  exercise  to  the  poor,  and  to  them 


SERMQir  Xm,  I  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  235 

that  have  no  helper  ?  No  mercy,  no  help  for  a  stranger,  even 
though  prostrate  at  his  feel ;  and,  a<  if  it  were  not  enough  to  re- 
fuse his  assistance,  he  must  call  me  a  dog!  I  will  ask  no  more  : 
whatever  be  my  lot,  I  will  bear  it !'  Such  might  have  been  her 
reflections,  and  such  her  conduct ;  but  she  was  a  believer,  and 
faith  operates  in  a  different  way. 

Yet  what  could  our  Saviour  mean  by  such  language?  Did  he  real- 
ly intend  to  countenance  that  contemptuous  spirit  with  which  the 
carnal  Jews  treated  the  Gentiles  ?  Surely  not.  Did  he  feel  towards 
thig  poor  stranger,  as  his  words  would  seem  to  indicate  ?  No  :  his 
roughness,  like  that  of  Joseph  towards  his  brethren,  was  assumed 
for  the  purpose  of  trying  her  ;  and  she  endures  the  trial  with  sin- 
gular perseverance.  She  neither  resents  being  called  a  dog,  nor 
despairs  on  account  of  it  ;  but  is  resolved  still  to  follow  up  her 
suit.     Yet  what  new  plea  can  she  find  to  offer  ? 

Let  us  hear  the  fourth  and  last  application  :  Truth,  Lord,  yet 
the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  their  tnaster's  table.  Most 
admirable!  Such  an  instance  of  spiritual  ingenuity,  of  holy  and 
humble  acumen,  was  perhaps  never  known  before,  nor  since 
Now  the  conflict  is  at  an  end  ;  the  victory  is  gained  j  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  taken  by  the  prayer  of  faith.  Jesus,  like  Joseph, 
-can  refrain  himself  no  longer,  but  appears  in  bis  true  character  : 
0  woman,  great  is  thy  faith  ;  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt  ! 
Let  us  review  this  charming  crisis,  and  mark  the  ground  from 
which  this  last  and  successful  plea  proceeded.  It  was  the 
GROUND  ON  WHICH  THE  LoRD  HAD  PLACED  HER.  He  intimated  (hat 
she  was  a  dog,  unworthy  of  the  children's  bread.  She  readily 
admitted  it,  and,  as  a  dog,  presented  her  petition.  Here,  then,  is 
the  grand  secret  how  to  succeed  in  our  approaches  for  mercy 
We  must  stand  upon  that  ground  where  the  scripture  places  us, 
and  from  thence  present  our  petition.  Does  the  Lord  tell  us,  in 
his  word,  that  we  are  guilty,  univorthy,  ungodl3\  deserving  ol' 
eternal  death  ?  On  this  ground  we  must  take  our  stand,  and  plead 
for  thai  mercy  which  is  provided  for  characters  of  this  descrip- 
tion. All  applications  for  mercy,  on  any  other  ground,  will  b.*--^ 
unsuccessful. 


236  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [Sermon  XIU. 

The  last  answer  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  the  last  prayer  of  the  wo- 
man, is  worthy  of  special  notice.  There  are  three  things  remark- 
able; in  it ;  the  comutpnclaliou  of  her  faith,  the  granting  of  her 
desire,  and  the  affectionate  manner  in  which  both  were  addressed 
to  her. 

Jesus  ansioered  and  said  unto  her,  O  looman,  great  is  thy  faith  f 
This  accords  vvitli  his  general  practice.  The  blessings  of  healing, 
as  well  as  those  of  a  more  spiritual  nature,  were  ordinarily  sus- 
pended on  believing,  and,  when  obtained,  were  ascribed  to  it. 
Hence,  such  language  as  this  :  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are 
possible  to  him  that  believeth. — Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee — Thi/ 
faith  hath  made  thee  zvholc.  Did  our  Lord,  by  this  language,  mean 
to  giveavvay  the  honour  ofsalvation  from  himself?  No  :  it  is  not 
used  for  the  purpose  of  transferring  honour  to  us,  but  for  giving 
encouragement  to  faith.  Neither  is  there  any  opposition  of  inter- 
ests between  Christ  and  faith  :  those  who  are  saved  by  faith  are 
saved  by  Christ  :  for  it  is  of  the  nature  of  faith  to  go  out  of  itself, 
and  draw  all  from  him.  Christ's  power  and  grace  operate  as  the 
cause  of  our  salvation  ;  faith,  as  the  mean  of  it  ;  yet,  being  a  mean 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  bringing  qf  Christ  and  the  soul  to- 
gether, as  well  as  for  the  promotion  of  all  other  graces,  it  is  con- 
stantly held  up  as  the  one  thing  needful. 

Perhaps,  if  we  had  comeranded  the  Canaanitish  woman,  we 
should  have  admired  her  great  importunity,  and  great  humility  ; 
but  our  Lord  passes  over  these,  taking  notice  only  of  her  faith  : 
and  wherefore  ?  Because  faith  was  the  root,  or  principle,  from 
whence  the  others  sprang,  and  by  which  they  were  kept  alive. 

Our  Lord  often  commended  the  faith  of  believers  ;  but  1  recol- 
lect only  tico  instances  in  which  he  speaks  of  it  as  being  great  ; 
and  they  are  both  of  them  Gentiles  :  one  is  the  Roman  centurion  ; 
and  the  other,  the  woman  of  whom  we  are  discoursing.  There, 
doubtless,  was  an  eminency,  or  peculiar  strength,  in  the  faith  of 
each  of  them  ;  but  that  which,  more  than  any  thing,  rendered  it 
great  in  our  Lord's  account  was,  the  disadvantages  nnAevvihich 
it  was  exercised.  To  Israel  pertained  the  promises.  If  Gentiles 
partook  of  the  root  and  fitupss  of  the  olive-tree,  it  was  by  being 
grafted  into  it,  contrary/  to  nature.     Yet,  amidst  these  disadvanta- 


Sj:rmos  XIII.]  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  237 

ges,  they  abounJed  in  faith,  which,  for  the  degree  of  it,  was  not  to 
be  found  in  Israel.  Thus  we  are  often  provoked  to  jealously, 
persons  whose  religious  advantages  have  been  small,  compared 
with  ours,  are,  nevertheless,  before  us  in  faith,  and  love,  and 
heavenly-mindedness.  Thus  it  is,  that  the  pride  of  man  is  stained, 
and  no  flesh  suffered  to  glory  in  the  divine  presence. 

Having  commended  her  faith,  our  Saviour  proceeds  to  grant  her 
desire  : — Be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  The  Lord  does  not  ex- 
cite a  willing  mind,  with  a  view  linally  to  cross  it ;  or  an  earnest- 
ness of  desire,  in  order  to  disappoint  it  :  such  willingness  and 
such  desire,  therefore,  are  indicative  of  his  designs.  Christ  onlv 
can  satisfy  the  desires  of  the  mind  ;  and  Christians  are  the  only 
men  in  the  world  whose  desires  are  satisfied.  Cssar,  in  the  full 
possession  of  empire,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  is  this  all  ?'- 
And  such  is  the  disappointment  that  every  sinner  will  meet  with. 
who  sets  his  heart  on  any  thing  but  Christ.  It  is  not  in  the  power 
of  the  whole  creation  to  say  to  an  immortal,  guilty  creature,  Be  it 
unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt ;  but  Jesus  hath  the  words  of  eternal 
life. 

The  tender  and  affectionate  man7ier  in  which  our  Saviour  com- 
mended the  faith,  and  fulfilled  the  desire  of  the  poor  petitioner,  is 
deserving  also  of  remark.  It  is  introduced  with  an  interjection. 
O  teaman  f  In  the  lips  of  a  speaker  abounding  in  affectation,  such 
words  signify  but  little  :  but  Jesus  never  affected  to  feel,  when 
he  did  not.  Whenever,  therefore,  an  interjection  is  seen  in  his 
speeches,  we  may  be  certain  he  felt.  He  felt  compassion  towards 
her,  on  account  of  her  affliction  ;  but  chiefly  admiratiomnd  de- 
light, on  witnessing  the  peculiar  energy  of  her  faith.  Thus  he 
marvelled  at  the  Roman  centurion.  The  genuine,  and  especially 
the  eminent  exercises  of  grace,  are,  more  than  any  thing,  the  de- 
light of  Christ's  heart.  In  looking  at  the  poor  and  contrite  spirit, 
he  overlooks  heaven  and  earth. 

It  may  be  rather  surprising  to  us,  that  our  Saviour  should  hold 
this  poor  woman  so  long  in  suspense  ;  but,  if  he  had  not,  her  gra- 
ces would  not  have  been  so  apparent,  and  the  exorcise  of  them 
so  grateful  to  him.  And  thus  we  may  account  f>i- many  of  the 
afflictions  through  which  the  Lord  brings  his  servants.     If  tribula- 


238  AHK  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  [Sermon  XUf. 

tion  work  patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  experience  hope; 
and  if,  in  his  esteem,  the  exercise  of  these  graces  be  of  greater  ac- 
count than  our  present  ease,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should 
prefer  the  former  to  the  latter  :  and  this  consideration  should 
reconcile  us  to  those  providendes  which,  for  a  time,  hold  us  in 
painful  suspense. 

From  the  whole,  we  may  remark,  that  genuine,  yea,  great 
grace,  maj/ be  exercisedin  respect  of  temporal  mercies.  It  was  not 
for  the  salvation  of  her  soul,  or  the  soul  of  her  daughter,  that  this 
poor  woman  was  so  importunate  ;  but  for  the  removal  of  an  afflic- 
tion. Yet,  such  was  the  grace  which  was  exercised  in  it,  that 
there  is  no  doubt"  of  her  being  eternally  saved.  The  exercise 
of  spirituality  is  not  confined  to  the  seeking  of  spiritual  blessing.'. 
We  may  serve  the  Lord  in  our  daily  avocations  ,  and  it  is  essen- 
tial to  true  religion,  that  we  do  so.  Such  prayer  may  be  offered, 
and  such  faith  exercised,  in  respect  of  our  daily  bread,  as  have  the 
promise  of  everlasting  life. 

Finally  :  If  our  Saviour  suffered  himself  to  be  overcome  by  one 
who  sought  for  a  temporal  blessing,  much  more  will  he  accept  of 
those  who  come  to  him  for  such  as  are  spiritual  and  eternal.  His 
promises  are  much  stronger  in  the  one  case,  than  in  the  other. 
Though  there  were  several  general  intimations,  that  the  Messiah 
would  exercise  compassion  towards  the  bodies,  as  well  as  the  souls 
of  men  ;  and  the  numerous  miracles  which  he  wrought  afforded 
full  proof  of  his  readiness  to  do  good  in  every  way  ;  yet  he  no' 
where  bound  himself,  that  I  recollect,  to  heal  a// that  came  to  him. 
I  believe  he  never  sent  away  an  individual  without  a  cure  :  but 
still,  he  seems  to  have  reserved  to  himself  a  kind  of  discretionary 
poiver  to  do  so.  But  in  matters  of  everlasting  moment,  the  word 
is  gone  out  of  his  lips.  Him  that  comethunto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out.  Here,  every  one  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to  him  that 
knocketh,  we  are  assured  by  the  keeper  of  the  gate,  that  it  shall 
be  opened.  If  any  man,  therefore,  be  hereafter  shut  out  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  it  will  appear  in  the  end,  that  he  sought  not 
after  it  in  the  present  life  ;  or,  at  least,  that  he  sought  it  not  by 
faith. 


Sermon  XIII.]  THE  PRAYER  OF  FAITH-.  ^39 

We  shall  all  be  importunate,  sooner  or  later  :  but  importunity 
will  one  day  be  unavailing  !  Many  will  then  seek  to  enter  in,  and 
shall  not  be  able.  Yea,  they  will  cry  earnestly,  saying,  Lordj 
Lord,  open  unto  us. — We  have  eaten  and  drunk  in  thy  presence ,  and 
thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets.  But  he  shall  say, — Depart  from  me, 
all  ye  workers  of  iniquity .  O  my  hearers  !  let  us  agonize  to  en- 
ter in  at  the  straight  gate.  All  the  zeal  and  earnestness  which  we 
aiay  feel  in  other  things,  is  spending  our  money  for  that  which  is 
not  bread,  and  our  labour  for  that  which  satistieth  not.  Incline 
your  ear,  and  come  unto  Him  ;  hear,  and  your  souls  shall  live  ; 
and  he  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  snr« 
mercies  of  David. 


THE  FUTURE  PERFECTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  CON- 
TRASTED WITH  ITS  PRESENT  IMPERFECTIONS. 


SERMON  XIV. 


Ephbsians  v.  25 — 27. 


Christ— loved  the  church,  aad  gave  himself  for  it  ;  that  he  mi*ht  sanctify 
and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word  ;  that  he  might  pre- 
sent it  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
(hing ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy,  and  without  blemish 


It  is  a  distinguishing  feature  in  the  apostolic  writings,  that  mo- 
tives to  the  most  ordinary  duties*  are  derived  from  the  doctrine  of 
the  cross.  Who  but  an  apostle  would  have  thought  of  enforcing 
affection  in  a  husband  to  a  wife,  from  the  love  of  Christ  to  his 
church?  We  are,  undoubtedly,  hereby  taught  to  act,  in  the 
common  affairs  of  life,  from  Christian  principle  ;  and  I  am  inclined 
to  think,  that  our  personal  Christianity  is  more  manifested  in  this 
way  than  in  any  other.  It  is  not  by  a  holinress  put  on,  on  religious 
occasions,  as  we  put  on  our  Lord's-day  dress,  that  we  shall  prove 
ourselves  to  be  Christians;  but  by  that  which  isjhabitual,  and  which, 
without  our  so  much  as  designing  it,  will  spontaneously  appear  in 
our  language  and  behaviour.  If  the  Apostle's  heart  had  not  been 
full  of  Christ,  he  would  have  thought  of  other  motives  than  this  : 
but  this,  being  uppermost,  presented  itself  on  all  occasions.     We 

Vol.  VIP.  ai 


242  CHRIST'S  LOVE  [Sermok  XIV. 

may  be  thankful  that  it  was  so  on  this,  especially :  for  we  are 
hereby  furnished  with  a  most  interesting  and  affecting  view  of  the 
salvation  ofsinners  ;  a  salvation  originating  in  the  love  of  Christ, 
and  terminating  in  their  being  presented  to  him,  without  spot,  and 
blameless. 

Three  things  require  our  attention  :  namely,  the  character  of 
the  church,  when  the  designs  of  mercy  shall  be  fulfilled  upon  her; 
the  causes  to  which  it  is  ascribed  ;  and  the  honour  for  which  it  is 
intended  to  |)repare  her. 

I.  The  character  of  thk  church,  when   the   designs  of 

MERCY    SHALL    BE    FULFILLED    UPON    HER  :    tt    gloHoUS    chuTch,    tlOt 

having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing ;  but  holy  and  without 
blemish.  We  are  at  no  loss  to  perceive  the  meaning  of  the  term 
church,  in  this  connexion.  It  manifestly  expresses  the  whole  as- 
sembly of  the  saved,  elsewhere  called  the  church  of  the  first-born, 
whose  names  are  written  in  heaven.  It  is  denominated  glorious, 
through  the  glory  which  Christ  shall  have  put  upon  it ;  and  which, 
it  is  intimated,  will  consist  in  a  freedom  from  every  imperfection, 
and  the  consummation  of  purity,  or  holy  beauty. 

In  the  description  here  given,  the  Apostle  has,  no  doubt,'an  eye 
to  the  church  in  its  different  states,  as  fallen,  as  renewed,  and  as 
perfected.  In  the  first,  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  defiled,  so  as  to 
need  sanctifying  and  cleansing  ^  and,  even  in  the  second,  to  have 
many  things  which  diminish  its  beauty  ;  such  as  spots  and  wrinkles: 
but,  in  the  last,  it  shall  be  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or 
wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  or  speaking  more  literally,  holy,  and 
tcithout  blemish. 

Our  ideas  of  a  state  of  perfection  are  very  defective.  An  Apos- 
tle acknowledged.  We  know  not  what  we  shall  be.  Indeed,  it  is, 
at  present,  but  very  partially  revealed  ;  and,  if  it  were  other- 
wise, our  minds,  naturally  weak,  and  greatly  enfeebled  by  the  re* 
mains  of  indwelling  sin,  would  be  unable  to  sustain  a  direct  view 
of  it.  We  can  better  conceive  what  it  is  not,  than  what  it  is.  The 
Apostle  himself  writes  as  if  he  could  not  fully  conceive  of  the  im- 
maculate state  of  the  church  :  but  he  could  say  what  it  would  not 
be,  or,  that  it  would  be  without  those  spots  and  wrinkles  which  at 
present  attended  it,  and  greatly  impaired  its  beauty.    As  thi§,  then, 


Sermon  KIV.]  TO  THE  CHURCH.  243 

was  the  Apostle's  manner  of  contemplating  the  future  glory  of  the 
church,  let  it  be  ours. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  compare  the  church  perfected,  with  what 
it  was  antecedently  to  its  being  sanctified  and  cleansed,  in  virtue  of 
Christ's  having  given  himself  for  it;  (for,  in  that  view,  it  admits  of 
no  comparison  ;)  but  with  what  it  is  at  present,  notwithstanding  ; 
that  is,  the  subject  of  many  imperfections. 

Spots  suppose  a  loveliness  of  character  upon  the  whole,  though, 
la  themselves,  they  are  unlovely.  They  could  not  with  propri- 
ety, have  been  attributed  to  the  church,  while  she  remained  un- 
sanctified  ;  for  then  she  was  altogether  polluted.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  imperfections.  It  is  improper  to  attribute  them  to  un- 
converted sinners.  Such  characters  will  often  acknowledge 
themselves  to  have  their  imperfections;  but,  in  truth,  they  there- 
by pay  themselves  a  compliment  which  does  not  belong  to  them. 
Imperfection  supposes  the  mind  to  be  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of 
perfection,  though  it  has  not,  as  yet,  attained  it.  Spots  and  imper- 
fections, then,  are  properly  attributed  to  the  church  in  its  present 
state  ;  indicating  a  general  loveliness  of  character,  though  they 
are  in  themselves  unlovely.  Whatever  has  tended  to  deface  it, 
or  to  detract  from  its  holy  beauty,  that  is  to  be  reckoned  among 
its  spots. 

How  much,  then,  in  the  first  place,  has  the  beauty  of  Christ';^ 
ohurch  been  defaced  hy  false  doctrines,  and  by  the  strifes  and  di- 
visions which  have  followed  upon  them.  While  we  are  of  the 
Apostle's  mind,  determined  to  know  nothing  but  Christ,  and  him 
crucified,  we  shall  not  be  in  danger  of  deviating  very  widely  from 
the  truth,  in  any  of  its  branches  :  but,  if  we  lose  sight  of  this  pole- 
star,  we  shall  soon  fall  upon  the  rocks  of  error.  Paul,  and  his 
fellow-apostles,  inspired  as  they  were,  could  not  maintain  the  pu- 
rity of  all  the  churches.  The  number  of  worldly  men  who  ob- 
trude themselves  upon  the  church,  some  in  the  character  of  mem- 
bers, and  others  in  that  of  ministers,  together  with  the  tendency 
to  err,  which  is  found  even  in  believers  themselves,  too  easily  ac- 
counts for  the  same  things  in  that  and  every  succeeding  age.  When 
the  gospel  was  addressed  to  the  Jews,  many  of  them  believed ; 
but,  among  their  leaders  there  were  men  whose  minds  were  not 


244  CHRIST'S  LOVE  [SermowWV. 

sabdued  to  the  obedience  of  Christ.  '  Christianity,'  said  they,  '  is 
very  good,  so  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  it  is  defective.  It  grates  with  our 
feelings,  who  have  been  used  to  so  much  religious  pomp.  Cir- 
cumcision, and  a  few  of  our  decent  ceremonies,  would  complete 
it.'  So  also,  when  the  gospel  was  addressed  to  the  learned 
Greeks,  some  of  them  believed  ;  but  among  them  were  men  who 
wanted  to  supply  some  of  its  supposed  defects.  '  Christianity,' 
said  they,  '  is  good,  so  far  as  it  goes ;  but  it  wants  a  little  philoso- 
phy to  be  added  to  it,  and  the  whole  to  be  cast  into  a  philosophical 
mould  ;  and  then  it  will  be  respectable,  and  worthy  of  being  the 
religion  of  the  whole  human  race.' 

But  what  said  the  Apostle,  to  the  churches,  in  respect  of  these 
proposals  ?  Hear  him :  As  ye  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lordf  so  walk  ye  in  him ;  rooted  and  built  up  in  him,  and  sfablish- 
ed  in  the  faith,  as  ye  have  been  taught ,  abounding  therein  u'ith 
tha't^^^giving.  Beware  lest  any  may  spoil  you  through  philosophy 
and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of 
the  world,  and  not  after  Christ :  for  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily.  And  ye  are  complete  in  him,  which  is  the 
head  of  all  principality  and  power  ;  in  whom  also  ye  are  circum- 
cised with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands,  in  putting  off  the 
body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision  of  Christ ;  buried 
with  htm  in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are  risen  with  him  through  the 
faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  who  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead. 
And  you,  being  dead  in  your  sins  and  the  uncircumciiion  of  your 
flesh,  hath  he  quickened  together  with  him,  having  forgiven  you  all 
trespasses ;  blotting  out  the  hand  writing  of  ordinances,  that  was 
against  us,  which  was  contrary  to  us,  and,  took  it  out  of  the  way, 
nailing  it  to  his  cross ;  and  having  spoiled  principalities  and  pow- 
rrs  he  made  a  show  of  them  openly,  triumphing  over  them  in  it. 
Let  no  man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  re- 
fpeci  of  an  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  sabbath-days  ; 
which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come :  but  the  body  is  of  Christ, 
Let  no  man  beguile  you  of  your  reward,  in  a  voluntary  humil- 
ity, and  worshipping  of  angels,  intruding  into  those  things  which  he 
hath  not  ."een,  vainly  puffed  up  by  his  fleshly  mind ;  and  not  holding 
fhe  Head,  from  which  all  the  body  by  joints  andbands  having  nour- 


SfiBMON  XIV.]  TO  THE  CHURCH.  g^^ 

ishment  ministered,  and  knit  together,  increaseth  with  the  increase 
of  God. 

Had  the  church  of  Christ  adhered  to  this  counsel,  it  had  been 
free  from  many  spots  which  have  since  defaced  it :  but  it  has  not. 
In  every  age,  there  have  been  men  of  corrupt  minds,  who  have 
followed  the  example  of  these  Judaizing  and  philosophizing  teach- 
ers, in  their  attempts  to  render  the  doctrine  of  Christ  more  com- 
plete, that  is,  more  congenial  to  the  wishes  of  their  own  hearts  : 
and  the  church  has,  in  too  many  instances,  been  carried  away  by 
them.  Some  have  degraded  the  dignity  of  Christ,  and  thereby 
undermined  his  sacrifice  ;  others  have  disowned  the  freeness  of  his 
grace  ;  and  others  have  turned  it  into  licentiousness.  Behold, 
how,  at  this  day,  the  beauty  of  the  church  is  marred  by  these  anti- 
christian  principles,  and  the  strifes  which  ensue  upon  them.  One 
denomination,  or  society,  sees  the  spots  upon  the  face  of  another, 
and  is  employed  in  exposing  them,  instead  of  removing  those  upon 
its  own;  while  the  impartial  eye  must  perceive,  that  deviations 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  are,  iu  different  degrees,  to  be 
found  in  all. 

Blessed  be  God,  who  hath  given  us  to  expect  a  day  when  the 
church  shall  be  freed  from  all  this  deformity  ;  when  the  watchmen 
shall  see  eye  to  eye  ;  when  the  people  of  God,  now  divided  into 
parties,  shall  be  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul  ;  when  neither  dis- 
cordance nor  defect  shall  attend  their  researches  ;  and  when  we 
shall  all  come,  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  fulness  of  Christ ! 

How  much  also  has  the  beauty  of  Christ's  church  been  defaced 
by  superstitious  and  unscriptttral  worship.  The  method  oi comple- 
ting Christianity,  by  the  addition  of  a  number  of  decent  ceremo- 
nies, first  practised  by  the  Judaizing  teachers,  has  been  acted  over 
and  over  again.  The  introduction  of  such  things  in  the  first  three 
centuries  made  way  for  the  grand  Papal  apostasy  ;  and  spots  of 
this  kind  remain  upon  the  faces  of  many  Protestant  communities 
to  this  day.  The  nearer  we  approach  to  the  simplicity  of  primi- 
tive worship,  the  better.  The  meretricious  ornaments  of  man's 
invention  may  adorn  the   mother  of  harlots,  but  they  are  blem- 


246  CHRItJT'lS  LOVE  [Sbrmoit  XIV. 

ishea  to  the  bride  of  Christ.  They  are  the  teood,  htiy,  and  stubble 
of  the  ^building,  which  later  builders  have  laid  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  and  which,  when  the  day  shall 
come,  that  shall  declare  every  man's  work,  of  what  sort  it  is,  will 
be  burnt  up. 

Finally  :  The  beauty  of  Christ's  church  has  been  greatly  defa- 
ced by  the  impure  lives  of  great  numbers  of  its  members.  I  do 
not  not  now  refer  to  the  immoral  practices  of  all  that  have  been  cal- 
led Christians;  as  a  large  proportion  of  them  cannot  be  said  to  have 
deserved  the  name.  I  refer  to  those  only  who  have  either  been 
Christians  indeed,  or,  at  least,  received  and  treated  as  such  by 
those  who  were  so.  The  evils  which  have  prevailed  among  them 
have  been  great,  and  still  furnish  matter  of  shame  and  grief  in  all 
the  churches.  The  primitive  churches  themselves,  some  more 
especially,  had  many  spots  of  this  description.  And  it  h  worthy 
of  notice,  that  those  who  most  departed  from  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  such  as  the  Corinthians,  the  Galatians,  and  the  Hebrews, 
were  most  faulty  in  matters  of  practice.  The  evil  communications 
of  some  of  their  teachers  tended  to  corrupt  good  manners.  The 
same  causes  continue  also  to  produce  the  same  effects.  Those 
congregations  where  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  cross  is  relinquished, 
whether  it  be  in  favour  of  what  is  called  morality,  on  the  one  hand, 
or  high  notions  of  orthodoxy,  on  the  other,  are  commonly  distin- 
guished by  the  laxity  of  their  conduct.  Many  of  the  former,  by  a 
conformity  to  the  genteel  vices  of  the  world,  have  nearly  lost  all 
pretensions  to  Christianity  ;  and  many  of  the  latter,  by  their  op- 
position to  practical  preaching,  and  neglect  of  Christian  discipline, 
have  been  offensive  to  common  decency.  Nor  is  this  all :  even 
the  purest  communities  have  their  spots.  Individuals  are  charge- 
able with  things,  for  which  the  good  ways  of  God  are  evil  spoken 
of;  and  they  that  have  been  enabled  to  maintain  a  fair  character 
in  the  eyes  of  men,  have,  nevertheless,  much  alienation  of  heart, 
and  many  faults  to  acknowledge  and  bewail  before  God. 

We  are  given,  however,  to  believe,  that  it  will  not  be  thus  al- 
ways. The  church  will  not  only  see  better  days,  before  the  end 
of  time,  but,  ere  she  is  presented  to  her  Lord,  shall  be  entirely 
purified :  The  Sen  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels.,  and  they  shall 


SEfiMONXIV.]  TO  THE  CHURCH.  247 

gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  ichich  fffend,  and  them  which 
do  iniquity  :  then  shall  the    righteous  shine   forth   as  the 

SUN  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OP  THEIR  FaTHER. 

Another  term,  by  which  the  present  imperfections  of  the  church 
tire  expressed,  is  that  o^nrinkles.  These,  as  well  as  spots,  are 
inconsistent  with  perfect  beauty.  They  are  signs  of  the  decay  of 
life,  and  health,  and  vigonr  :  hence,  they  are  the  ordinary  symp- 
toms of  old  age,  or  of  an  enfeebled  constitution.  Surely,  a  more 
appropriate  term  could  not  have  been  chosen  for  expressing  those 
spiritual  declensions  to  -which  the  church,  in  its  present  state,  is  con.' 
tinuaUy  subject.  The  church  at  Epheaus,  during  her  J?rs/  love, 
resembled  a  virgin  in  the  bloom  of  youthful  beauty  ;  but,  when 
she  left  it,  and,  with  it,  her Jirst  works,  she  became  as  a  woman 
bowed  down  by  age,  and  covered  with  wrinkles.  In  this  church, 
we  sec  what  the  church  in  general  is,  compared  with  what  it  was 
in  the  primitive  ages;  what  Protestants  are,  compared  with  what 
they  were  at  the  Reformation ;  what  Protestant  Dissenters  are, 
compared  with  the  Puritans  and  Nonconformists  ;  and  what  many 
congregational  churches  are,  compared  with  what  they  have  been 
at  certain  periods.  I  need  not  enlarge  on  these  particulars  :  your 
own  reflections  are  sufficient  to  convince  you,  that  great  numbers 
of  each  description  are  in  a  wrinkled,  or  decayed  state.  There 
is  indeed,  in  us,  a  strong  and  perpetual  tendency  to  declensioD. 
Things  which  have  formerly  been  interesting  and  impressive,  wil!, 
if  we  do  not  habitually  walk  with  God,  lose  their  influence.  Wc 
shall  read  of  the  zeal  of  the  apostles,  of  the  martyrs,  and  of  other 
Christian  worthies  ;  but  we  shall  not  feel  it.  On  the  contrary,  wc 
shall  seem  to  be  reading  of  men  whom  we  cannot  but  admire,  but 
whom  we  know  not  how  to  imitatr. 

Hojv  cheering  is  the  thought,  that  the  time  id  coming,  when 
these  spots  and  wrinkles  will  be  no  more;  but  the  church,  and 
every  individual  member  ©f  of  it,  shall  be  holy,  and  mthout  blem-' 
ish  ! 

Holy  beauty,  in  every  stage  and  degree  of  it,  is  lovely.  The 
character  given  to  that  generation  of  the  Israelites  which  grew 
up  in  the  wilderness,  and  which,  w«rned  by  the  crimes  and  pun- 
rshments  of  its  predecessors,  clave  in  great  numbers  to  the  Lord 


248  CHRIST'S  LOVE  [Sermow  XIV. 

is  charming:  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  1  remember  thee,  the  kindness 
of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after 
me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was  not  sown.  Israel  teas  holi- 
ness  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  first  fruits  of  his  increase :  all  that 
devour  him  shall  offend ;  evil  shall  come  upon  them,  saith  the  Lord. 
It  was  then  that  Balaam  endeavoured  in  vain  to  curse  them ;  and 
that,  instead  of  cursing,  he  was  constrained  to  bless  them  Like 
an  old  debauchee,  awed  by  the  dignity  of  virtue,  he  was  compelled 
to  desist,  and  even  to  admire  the  object  which  he  could  not  imi- 
tate: How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  0  Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacles ^  O 
Israel. — Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end 
he  like  his!  Such,  I  may  say,  was  the  youthful  beauty  of  the 
Jewish  church  ;  and  that  of  the  Christian  church  was  still  great- 
er. To  read  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  to  see  the  faith,  the 
love,  the  zeal,  the  disinterestedness,  the  diligence,  and  the  pa- 
tience of  the  first  disciples,  is  very  affecting.  It  was  then  that 
they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship, 
and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers  ;  that  great  grace  was 
upon  them  all;  and  that,  having  believed  in  Jesus,  they  rejoiced 
in  being  thought  worthy  to  suffer  for  his  name.  But,  lovely  as 
both  the  Jewish  and  Christian  churches  were,  neither  of  them 
could  vie  with  the  church  made  perfect.  The  disparity  between 
the  highest  degrees  of  holiness  and  a  state  of  sinless  perfection,  is 
inconceiveable.  The  deliverance  of  the  captives  from  mere  tem^- 
poral  thraldom,  and  which  was  only  the  e^ect  of  sin,  was  so  over- 
coming, that  they  were  like  those  that  dream,  scarcely  beleiving 
themselves  to  be  what  and  where  they  were  :  but  for  the  church 
of  God,  in  full  remembrance  of  its  foul  revolts,  to  feel  itself  Ao/y, 
and  without  blemish,  is  an  idea  too  great  for  sinful  creatures  to 
comprehend. 

If  any  imagine  this  language  to  be  too  strong,  and  that  sinless 
perfection,  or  what  is  near  to  it,  has  been  attained  by  many  in  the 
present  life,  I  would  recommend  them  to  consider,  that  to  be  holy, 
and  without  blemish,  is  different,  according  to  the  different  kinds, 
and  degrees  of  light  in  which  it  is  viewed.  A  vessel  may  be  clean, 
if  viewed  in  a  dim  light,  and  very  foul,  if  viewed  in  a  clear  one. 
Thus  a  character  may  be  holy,  and  wilhout  blemish,  if  viewed  only 


Sermon  XIV.]  Tb  THE  CHURCH.  249 

in  the  light  of  selfish  partiality,  or  even  by  the  partiality  of  friend- 
ship ;  nay,  if  he  be  a  recluse,  the  prejudice  of  an  enemy  may  not 
be  able  to  detect  his  faults :  but  place  him  before  the  tribunal  of 
God,  set  his  secret  sins  in  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  the 
decision  will  be  different.  To  be  presented  holy,  and  without 
blemish,  is  to  be  so  in  his  sight.  Such  is  the  idea  conveyed  by 
the  words  of  Jiide  :  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from 
falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before  thr  presence  of  his 
GLORY  with  exceeding  joy.  To  be  faultless  in  the  presence  of  an 
earthly  judge,  especially  of  one  distinguished  by  his  penetration 
and  impartiality,  is  no  small  matter  :  but  to  be  so  in  the  presence 
of  HIM  to  whom  all  things  are  known,  implies  a  change  far  surpas- 
sing every  thing  experienced  among  mortals. 

The  low  ideas  which  some  persons  entertain  of  sinless  perfec- 
tion, may  be  owing,  in  part,  to  their  considering  it  chiefly  in  a  neg- 
ative point  of  view.  Feeling,  it  may  be,  very  little  positive  de- 
sire after  their  evil  courses,  they  begin  to  think  they  have  not 
sinned  for  such  a  length  of  time,  and,  consequently,  are  now  near- 
ly, if  not  altogether,  perfect.  But  perfection  does  not  consist 
merely  in  a  cessation  from  evil,  (which  is  no  more  than  may  be  as- 
cribed to  animals,)  but  in  the  love  of  God  with  all  the  heart,  and 
soul,  and  mind,  and  strength,  and  of  our  neighbours  as  ourselves- 
The  state  to  which  the  church  shall  be  brought,  before  she  is  pre- 
sented to  her  Lord,  is  that  of  being  not  only  without  blemish,  but 
HOLY,  and  without  blemish. 

In  that  perfect  state,  we  shall  be  unreservedly  devoted  to  the 
Lord.  No  more  shall  the  mind  be  betrayed,  by  the  illusive  rea- 
sonings of  men,  to  listen  to  God-dishonouring  princijtles :  no  more 
shall  it  lose  sight  of  Christ,  in  the  maze  of  its  own  researches. 
The  blandishments  of  the  world  shall  no  more  seduce  the  heart ; 
nor  hope,  nor  fear,  nor  shame,  divert  the  feet  from  the  path  of 
rectitude.  No  more  shall  slotbfulness,  or  any  kind  of  sinful  indul- 
gence, unnerve  the  soul  in  its  labours  for  God.  No  more  shall  the 
flesh  lust  against  the  spirit,  nor  the  spirit  have  to  stru?rgle  with  the 
flesh.  No  more  shall  our  half-hearted  services  render  it  doubtful 
to  ourselves  or  others,  on  whose  side  wc  are.  In  a  word,  Thrre 
the  Lord's  servants  shall  serve  him. 

Vol.  Vir.  .^3 


250  CHRIST'S  LOVE'  [Sermou  XIV. 

The  multitude,  in  that  perfect  state,  will  also,  in  respect  of  each 
orAer,  be  of  one  heart,  and  of  one  soul.  No  discordant  sentiments 
divide  them  ;  no  unkindnesses  grieve  them  ;  no  bitter  strifes  in- 
terrupt their  harmony;  no  slights,  misunderstandings,  miscon- 
structions, hard  thoughts,  or  cutting  words,  have  place  among 
them;  no  giving,  or  taking,  offence;  no  opposition  of  interests  j 
no  seltishness;  no  envies,  jealousies,  backbitings,  whisperings, 
swellings,  tumults  :  all  is  sweet  peace  and  love.  Bitterness,  and 
wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamour,  and  evil-speaking,  with  all  malice 
are  forever  put  away  from  among  them.  In  him  that  loved  and 
gave  himself  for  them,  all  hearts  are  one. 

This  leads  to  consider, 

II.  The  CAUSES  to  which  all  this  ts  ascribed:  Christ  loved 
the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and 
cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  hy  the  word.  I  think  it  not 
improbable,  that  the  Apostle  may  allude  to  the  parable,  concern- 
ing the  Jewish  church,  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Ezekiel.  The 
substance  of  it  is  this  : — A  female  infant,  the  fruit,  perhaps,  of  an 
illicit  connexion,  (whose  wretched  parent,  in  order  to  hide  her 
shame,  had  left  it  in  the  fields,)  was  discovered  by  a  humane 
prince,  who  happened  to  be  passing  that  way  at  the  time.  He 
looked  at  the  perishing  babe,  and  pitied  it.  '  I  will  save  thy  life,' 
said  he ;  '  and,  as  thou  art  fatherless  and  motherless,  I  will  be 
both  father  and  mother  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  mine.'  He  then 
washed,  and  clothed  her  ;  and  taking  her  to  his  palace,  gave  her 
an  education  suited  to  his  intentions,  which,  in  fact,  were,  at  a 
projjer  time,  to  marry  her.  On  her  arriving  at  years  of  maturity, 
he  carried  his  design  into  execution  ;  she  became  his  wife,  and 
the  crown  royal  was  placed  upon  her  head. 

Look  at  this  representation,  and  at  his  conduct  who  loved  the 
church,  and  gave  himsef  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse 
it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  he  might  present  it 
to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing;  hut  that  it  shoidd  be  holy,  and  without  blemish.  Look, 
I  say,  at  both  these  representations,  and  judge,  if  the  one  has  not 
some  roference  to  the  other. 


SBBMoir  XIV.]  TO  THE  CHURCH.  251 

There  are  three  things  to  which  the  salvation  of  the  church  is 
here  ascribed ;  namely,  the  love  of  Christ,  the  tacrifice  of  Christ, 
and  the  tcort/ of  Christ. 

1 .  For  the  accomplishment  of  so  great  a  deliverance,  it  was 
necessary  that  Christ  should  love  the  church.  The  thought  ol 
this  is  overwhelming.  His  wisdom  and  power  and  majesty  may 
induce  us  to  admire  and  adore  him  ;  but  to  think  of  his  loving  sin- 
ful men,  excites  amazement. 

There  are  several  properties  pertaining  to  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  require  to  be  taken  into  the  account,  if  we  would  form  any 
thing  like  a  just  view  of  it.  Love  may  be  founded  upon  character. 
Christ  himself  speaks  of  loving  his  disciples  on  this  acconnt :  If  ye 
keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love ;  even  as  I  have 
kept  my  Father''s  commandments,  and  abide  in  his  love.  But  that  of 
which  we  are  discoursing  could  not  be  founded  upon  any  thing  of 
this  kind  ;  for  its  object  is  supposed  to  be  altogether  polluted.  He 
loved  his  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  not  because  it  was  sanc- 
tified and  cleansed,  or  in  view  of  its  beingso;  but  that  he  mig  hi 
sanctify  and  cleanse  it.  Again,  Love  towards  an  unworthy  object 
is  commonly,  no  other  than  ^ewera/ iencDofence.  Such  was  that 
compassion  which  our  Saviour  felt,  when  he  wept  over  Jerusa- 
lem ;  and  such  that  good  zvill  towards  men,  of  which  his  being  born 
into  the  world  was  an  expression.  God's  giving  his  only  begotten 
Son  to  be  made  a  sacrifice,  and  declaring,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life,  was  a  great  ex- 
pression of  divine  goodness  towards  sinners,  whether  they  believe 
and  be  saved,  or  not.  But  the  love  which  Christ  is  said  to  have 
borne  to  the  church  was  discriminating  and  effectual  to  its  salvation. 
The  church  is  supposed  to  have  been  given  him  of  the  Father,  to 
be  unto  him  as  a  bride  to  a  husband,  and,  ultimately,  the  reward  of 
his  undertaking.  The  love  of  Christ,  therefore,  in  this  connexion, 
can  be  no  other  than  e/ec<rrtglove  ;  and  the  passage  may  be  con- 
sidered as  parallel  with  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle,  He  hath 
chosen  us  in  him,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should 
be  holy,  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love. 

2.  For  the  accomplishment  of  the  church's  redemption,  it  was 
necessary,  that  Christ  should  giv   himself  a  sacrifice.     In  this 


252  CHRIST'S  LOVE  [Sermon  XIV. 

way  his  love  must  operate,  or  be  ineffectual.  We  are  now,  my 
brethren,  upon  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  most  interesting 
subject  that  was  ever  presented  to  men  or  angels.  It  was  this  on 
which  Paul  wrote  .»o  feelingly  :  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the 
Jlesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  tvho  loved  me,  and  gave 
HIMSELF  FOR  ME.  It  was  this  that  furnished  John  with  his  affect- 
ing doxology  :  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our 
SINS  IN  His  OWN  blood, — to  him  he  glory  and  dominion  forever 
and  ever.  Amen.  It  is  this  that  furnishes  the  church  in  heaven 
with  its  new  song  :  Thou  art  worthy — for  thou  wast  slain,  and 
HAST  REDEEMED  US  TO  GoD  BY  THY  BLOOD,  out  of  cvery  kindred, 
and  tongue,  ajidpeople,  and  nation. 

But  wherefore  must  our  Redeemer  give  himself  (or  us  ?  Would 
nothing  short  of  life  suffice  ?  Nothing.  We,  as  transgressors, 
being  justly  exposed  to  eternal  death,  must  have  borne  our  iniquity, 
had  he  not  offered  himself  as  a  substitute  in  our  place,  life  for  life. 
Some  who  profess  to  believe  in  the  atonement,  have  hesitated, 
from  I  know  not  what  kind  of  modesty,  to  maintain  the  necessity 
of  it  in  order  to  forgiveness  ;  alleging,  that  it  does  not  become  us 
to  say  what  God  could,  or  could  not,  have  done.  But  does  it  be- 
come us,  when  he  has,  in  effect,  declared  any  thing  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  his  perfections,  to  question  whether  it  might  not  nev- 
ertheless, be  admissible  ?  Why  did  not  the  cup  pass  from  him,  when 
with  strong  crying  and  tears  to  God,  he  besought,  that,  if  it  were 
POSSIBLE,  it  might  do  so  ?  It  is  true,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
him  j  but,  surely,  not  without  a  necessity  for  it !  If  mercy  could 
have  been  manifested  consistently  with  justice,  without  his  suffer- 
ing, surely  the  cup  would  have  passed  from  him  !  Whoever  had 
been  given  up  to  be  made  a  curse,  God  would  have  spared  his  own 
Son  !  But  it  became  him  for  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing 
many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation  per- 
fect through  sujf  en  7igs.  To  give  up  the  necessj^i/ of  atonement  is 
half  giving  up  the  thing  itself:  and  the  half  which  remains  will 
have  but  little  effect  on  our  hearts,  or  on  the  tenor  of  our  labours. 
The  connexion  in  which  the  death  of  Christ  is  here  introduced, 
namely,  as  bein^/or  his  church,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  for 
his  elect  people,  teaches  us,  that  all  which  he  did  and  suffered  wa^ 


Sermon  XIV.]  TO  THE  CIlURCri.  253 

with  a  view  to  their  salvation.  The  invitations  of  the  gospel,  it  is 
true,  are  addressed  to  sinners,  as  sinners  ;  and  I  believe  it  to  be 
equally  true,  that  such  invitations  are  founded  in  the  sufficiency  of 
Christ's  atonement  for  the  pardon  of  all  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  were  they  to  believe  in  him  :  but,  if  we  will  allow  the 
scriptures  to  speak  out  on  all  occasions,  and  form  our  principles 
by  them,  taken  as  a  whole,  we  must  conclude,  that  it  was  his  in- 
tention, design,  or  purpose  to  save  those,  and  only  those,  by  it, 
who  were  given  to  him  of  the  Father.  In  other  words,  it  never 
was  his  intention  to  impart  faith,  and  other  succeeding  benefits,  to 
any  other  than  his  elect :  Whoin  he  did  predestinate  them  he  also 
called.  We  are  saved  and  called,  not  according  to  our  zvorks,  bui 
according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in 
Christ  Jesus,  before  the  world  began. 

1  am  aware,  that  many  objections  might  here  be  raised  ;  but  I 
am  also  aware,  that  they  all  rest  upon  the  principle,  that  divine 
predestination  and  human  agency  cannot  be  consistent,  unless  they 
appear,  to  us,  to  be  so.  This  I  do  not  believe.  It  did  not  belong 
to  Moses  to  explain  how  the  messages  of  peace  to  Pharaoh  and 
Sihon  were  consistent  with  the  purpose  of  God  to  destroy  them  : 
but  I  suppose  he  believed  they  were  so,  because  the  same  Being 
(who  could  not  do  wrong)  ordered  the  former,  and  declared  the 
latter.  Neither  does  it  belong  to  me  to  show,  how,  with  respect 
to  the  persons  who  shall  be  ultimately  benefitted  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  a  limitation  of  design  is  consistent  with  universal  invita- 
tions :  but  I  believe  it  to  be  so,  because  he  that  has  ordered  the 
one  has,  in  effect,  declared  the  other.  Vain  men  may  ask,  Why 
then  doth  he  yet  find  fault  ?  for  who  hath  resisted  his  will?  But  if, 
instead  ofreplying  against  God,  they  were  to  throw  themselves  at 
the  feet  of  sovereign  mercy,  and  seek  forgiveness  in  the  name  o* 
Jesus,  it  would  turn  to  a  better  account. 

3.  For  the  accomplishment  of  the  church's  salvation,  it  requires^ 
that  it  should  be  sanctified  and  cleansed  by  faith  in  the  word  of 
God.  The  latter  of  these  terms  frequently  denote?  the  removal 
of  sin,  as  to  its  condemning,  as  well  as  its  defiling  influence.  The 
blood  of  Christ  operates  in  both  ways;  and  the  faith  of  him,  in 
different   respects,  both  justifies  and  sanctifies.     As  the  process. 


254  CHRIST'S  LOVE  iSERMow  XIV. 

however,  seems  principally  to  refer  to  the  meeteninff  of  the  church 
by  a  gradual  increase  of  holy  beauty,  the  terms  sanctify  and  cleanse 
may,  in  this  place,  convey  much  the  same  idea.  It  never  was  the 
Lord's  design  to  save  his  people  in  their  sins,  but  from  them. 
Sanctification,  therefore,  is  an  essential  branch  of  salvation.  The 
word,  especially  the  word  of  the  gospel,  truly  believed,  is  the 
laver  in  which  the  sinner  is  washed  from  his  uncleanness.  He 
may  have,  heretofore,  yielded  a  traditional  assent  to  it,  and  re- 
mained a  slave  to  his  lusts,  notwithstanding  :  but  when,  being  con- 
vinced of  sin  by  a  view  of  the  divine  law,  he  receives  it  not  as  the 
word  of  men,  but  (as  it  is  in  truth)  the  word  of  God,  it  vvorketh  ef- 
fectually in  him.  He  may  have  made  many  attempts  at  cleansing 
himself,  while  under  the  power  of  unbelief ;  but  every  thing  of 
this  kind  was  ineffectual,  and  left  him  fouler  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  it  found  him.  And  well  it  might  ;  for  it  was  going  as  it  were, 
to  Abana  and  Pharpar,  in  contempt  of  the  waters  of  Jordan.  Till, 
therefore,  the  sinner,  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind,  is  brought 
to  relinquish  all  confidence,  except  in  Christ,  his  attempts  at  holi- 
ness are  but  wearying  himself  with  very  vanity. 

There  is,  it  is  observable,  a  marked  connexion,  in  this,  as  well 
as  in  many  other  passages,  between  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  and  the 
sanctification  of  his  people.  He  gave  himself  for  the  church,  that 
HE  MIGHT  sanctify  and  cleanse  it.  Had  not  Christ  laid  down  his 
life,  there  had  been  no  holiness  among  the  fallen  sons  of  Adam, 
no  gospel-laver  in  which  to  wash,  nor  any  suck  thing  as  sanctifica- 
tion of  the  Spirit  ;  all  had  continued  in  their  uncleannesi.  It  bad 
been  as  inconsistent  with  the  perfections  of  God  to  have  given  his 
Holy  Spirit  to  a  sinner,  as  to  have  pardoned  his  sins,  or  bestowed 
upon  him  any  other  spiritual  blessing.  But,  having  sacrificed  his 
life,  and  that  under  a  promise,  the  effectual  grace  of  God  not  only 
may  be  imparted  consistently  with  justice,  but  the  communication 
of  it  is  rendered  certain,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  part  of  the  promised 
reward.  Hence,  it  is  represented  as  the  fruit,  or  effect,  of  his 
death.  Believers  are  the  seed  which  he  was  to  see  ;  the  travail 
of  his  soul,  which  should  yield  him  a  satisfaction,  like  that  of  a 
mother  who  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish,  for  joy  that  a  man 
is  bom  into  the  world. 


Sermon  XIV.J  TO  THE  CHURCH.  255 

It  13  on  this  principle,  that  our  Lord,  in  view  of  the  unbelief  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  thus  speaks,  in  prophecy :  /  said,  I  have  la- 
boured in  vain^  I  have  spent  my  strength  for  nought,  and  in  vain, 

YET    SURELY    MY  JUDGMENT     IS     WITH    JeHOVAH,     AND     MY     WORK 

WITH  MY  God.  As  if  he  should  say,  '  Whether  Israel  be  gather- 
ed, or  not,  I  shall  be  rewarded.  My  work  is  before  God,  the 
judge  of  all,  who  will  not  suffer  it  to  fall  to  the  ground.  If  Israel 
be  lost,  their  loss  will  be  to  themselves  ;  it  shall  be  more  than 
made  up  to  me,  from  among  the  Gentiles.' 

To  render  manifest  this  connexion,  it  was  ordered,  in  the  divine 
counsels,  that  an  extraordinary  measure  of  the  Holy  Spirit  should 
be  poured  out  immediately  after  the  sacrifice  was  offered  :  and, 
lest  the  cause  of  it  should  be  overlooked,  our  Saviour  expressly 
declared,  that,  if  he  went  not  away,  the  Comforter  would  not 
come  ;  but  that,  if  he  went,  he  would  send  him  ;  and  that  he 
should  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judg- 
ment. This  was  the  appointed  time  for  great  numbers  of  the 
Jews  to  be  convinced  of  their  unbelief,  as  well  as  for  the  Gentiles 
to  be  converted,  and  given  to  Christ,  as  the  reward  of  his  death, 
Things  were  thus  connected  in  order  of  time,  that  they  might  ap- 
pear to  be  connected  in  order  of  nature  ;  or  that  one  might  appeai- 
to  be,  what  it  actually  was,  the  effect  of  the  other. 

Add  to  this,  The  death  of  Christ  is  not  only  a  procuring  cause 
of  sanctification,  but,  as  a  doctrine,  it  operates  to  the  producing  of 
it.  Hence,  the  same  effects  are  ascribed  to  the  washing  of  water 
by  the  word,  and  to  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The  atonement  offer- 
ed was  that  in  virtue  of  which  we  are  sanctified  j  and  the  atone- 
ment preached  and  believed  is  the  mean  of  its  accomplishment : 
We  are  sanctified  by  the  faith  that  is  in  him. 

I  proceed  to  notice, 

III.  The  honour  for  which  this  grace  towards  the  chorch 
IS  intended  to  prepare  it  :  That  he  might  present  it  to  himself. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  the  term  here  alludes  to  the  presenting  of 
an  espoused  virgin  to  her  husband.  Under  this  imagery,  the 
scriptures  are  wont  to  represent  the  different  joyful  advances  of 
the  church  towards  perfection.  As  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  heathen  empire  of  Rome,  are  de8cribe(! 


c256  CHRIST'S  LOVE  (Sbrmow  Xr\ . 

/n  language  applicable  to  the  last  judgment,  intimating  that  they 
would  be,  to  the  parties  concerned,  days  of  judgment  in  miniature; 
so  the  different  advances  of  the  church  towards  perfection  are 
described  in  language  applicable  to  a  state  of  perfection  itself. 
Thus  the  conversion  of  sinners  is  represented  as  an  espousal  of 
them  to  one  husband,  that  they  might  be  presented  as  a  chaste 
virgin  to  Christ.  The  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  to  Christ  is  also 
thus  described  :  Hearken,.  O  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline 
thine  ear  ;  forget  also  thine  own  people  and  thy  father's  house.  So 
shall  the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty  :  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and 
worship  thou  him. — The  king^s  daughter  is  all  glorious  within  ; 
her  clothing  is  of  wrought  gold.  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the  king 
in  raiment  of  needle-work  :  the  virgins  her  companions  that  follow 
h'-r  shall  be  brought  unto  thee.  With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall 
they  be  brought :  they  shall  enter  into  the  king's  palace.  Under  the 
same  imagery  seem  to  be  represented  the  great  conversions  to 
Christ  in  the  latter  day.  Immediately  after  the  fall  of  Babylon, 
the  voice  of  a  great  multitude  is  heard  in  heaven,  saying.  Alleluia: 
for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice, 
and  give  honour  to  him  :  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come^ 
and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready.  And  to  her  was  granted, 
that  she  shoiddbe  arrayed  in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white  :  for  the 
fine  linen  is  the  righteousness  of  saints.  And  he  saith  unto  me^ 
Write,  Blessed  are  they  which  are  called  unto  the  marriage-supper 
of  the  Lamb. — These  are  the  true  sayings  of  God. 

On  each  of  these  occur^ions,  there  is  a  partial  presentation  of 
the  church  to  Christ  ;  and  all  are  preparatory  to  that  universal 
and  perfect  one,  which  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  time. 

But  there  seems  to  be  something  singular  in  the  idea  ©f  Christ's 
presenting  the  church  to  himself.  The  ofiice  of  presenting  the 
bride,  we  should  suppose,  properly  belongs  to  per  parent.  But 
how  if  she  had  no  parent,  and,  like  the  orphan  before  described, 
was  cast  out,  without  an  eye  to  pity,  or  a  hand  to  help  her  ?  In 
this  case,  the  bridegroom  must  himself  be  her  father,  and  perform 
the  office  of  a  father  throughout,  even  to  the  presenting  of  her  to 
himself.  If  such  be  the  allusion,  it  represents,  in  an  afifecting 
]ight,  our  forlorn  condition  as  under  the  fall  :  and  teaches  us,  that» 


SrRmon  XIV.]  TO  THE  CHURCH.  257 

in  every  stage  of  our  salvation,  we  must  remember  it,  in  order  to 
heighten  our  love  to  Christ. 

The  perfection  of  bliss  that  will  succeed  to  this  presentation,  is 
beyond  all  our  present  conceptions.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Christ 
will  be  the  sum  and  substance  of  it.  We  have  already  noticed  the 
glory  of  the  church,  as  being  fre£d  from  licr  spots  and  blemishes  ; 
hut  this,  though  a  great  blessing,  is  chi^y  negative.  Besides 
this,  there  is  a  positive  source  of  enjoyment  in  an  uninterrupted 
and  endless  communion  with  her  Lord  and  Saviour.  To  be  able 
to  comprehend  the  breadth  and  length  and  depth  and  height  of  the 
love  of  Christ,  and  so  to  be  tilled  with  all  the  fulness  ot  God,  is  the 
mark  on  which  saints  on  earth  are  directed  to  keep  their  eye  ; 
but  to  attain  it,  is  reserved  for  saints  in  heaven.  Nor  shall  they 
so  comprehend  it,  as  to  leave  no  room  for  continued  researches  : 
for  how  shall  they  perfectly  know  that  which  passeth  Jcnnwledge. 

Finally  :  It  is  observable,  that,  under  the  figure  of  being  admit- 
ted to  a  marriage-feast,  or  excluded  from  it,  we  sec  what  will 
shortly  be  the  test  of  us  all  :  At  midnight  there  teas  a  cry  made. 
Behold  the  bridegroom  coineth,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him. — /ind  thcij 
that  were  ready  went  in  with  hint  to  the  marriage,  and  the  door  teas 
shut.  If  there  be  any  thing  of  importance  in  this  world,  it  is,  to 
be  ready  when  the  Lord  cometh  ;  not  by  such  preparation-^  as 
those  to  which  sinners  are  apt  to  flee  when  their  fears  are  ;darmed, 
but  by  believing  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  keeping  his  command- 
ments. Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  siimers.  Look  olt 
from  every  other  dependence,  and  put  your  trust  in  him.  He  that 
believeth  on  the  son  hath  everlasting  life  :  and  he  that  belicveth  not 
the  Son  shall  not  see  life  ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  ubideth  on  him. — 
Let  your  loins  be  girded  about,  and  your  lights  burning  ;  and  ye 
yourselves  like  unto  men  that  wait  for  their  Lord.  Blessed  are 
those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watching  ! 


Vol.  VII.  33 


THE  GOSPEL  THE  ONLY  EFFECTUAL  MEAN  OF  PRO- 
DUCING UNIVERSAL  PEACE  AMONG  MANKIND. 


SERMON  XV. 


Mal.  iv.  5,  6. 

Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the  great 
and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord.  And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to 
the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and 
smite  the  earth  with  a  curse. 


Malachi,  the  last  of  the  Old- Testament  prophets,  lived  in  an 
age  of  great  degeneracy  ;  and  much  of  his  prophecy  is  taken  up  in 
bearing  testimony  against  it.  The  last  two  chapters,  however,  in- 
form us  of  a  remnant  who  feared  the  Lord,  and  thought  upon  his 
name.  Partly  for  their  encouragement,  and  partly  for  the  awa- 
kening of  the  careless,  he  introduces  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
and  intimates,  that  the  very  next  prophet  who  should  be  sent  would 
be  his  harbinger. 

That  we  may  understand  the  passage  first  read,  I  shall  offer  a 
few  observations  upon  it. 

1.  John  the  Baptist  is  here  called  Elijah  the  prophet,  because 
he  would  be,  as  it  were,  another  Elijah  ;  resembling  him  not  only 
in  his  austerity  and  general  appearance,  but  in  the  spirit  and  power 
with  which  he  preached  :  And  many  of  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  he  turn  to  the  Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go  before  him  in 
the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to 


-TGQ  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [Sebmon  XV. 

the  children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just,  to  make 
ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord. 

2.  The  coming  of  Christ  is  culled  that  great  and  terrible  day  of 
the  Lord.  This  may  seem  to  disagree  with  the  general  current  of 
prophecy.  It  is  common  for  the  prophets  to  represent  this  great 
event  as  a  source  of  unusual  joy,  and  to  call  not  men  only,  but  the 
very  inanimate  creation,  to  join  in  it.  The  truth  is,  the  same 
event  which  afforded  joy  to  those  who  received  him,  brought  des- 
olation and  destruction  to  those  who  received  him  not.  It  is  in 
this  light  that  the  prophet  represents  it  in  chap.  iii.  2.  JFho  may 
abide  the  day  of  his  coming  ?  and  who  shall  stand  when  he  appear' 
eth  ?  And  the  fact  was,  that  for  its  rejection  of  him  such  tribula- 
tions came  upon  the  .Jewish  nation,  as  were  not  since  the  beginning 
of  the  world  to  that  time,  and  would  never  be  again.  This  was 
the  day  referred  to  in  verse  1,  which  should  hum  as  an  oven; 
when  all  the  proud,  and  all  that  should  do  wickedly  would  be  stub- 
ble ;  the  day  should  burn  tliem  up,  and  leave  them  neither  root 
nor  branch. 

2.  It  is  intimated,  that,  previously  to  the  ministry  of  John,  there 
would  be  great  dissensions  and  bitter  animosities  among  the  Jew- 
ish people  ;  parents  at  variance  with  their  cnildren,  and  children 
with  their  parents  :  altogether  producinif  such  a  state  of  society, 
that,  if  there  had  been  no  change  for  the  better,  the  land  might 
have  been  smitten  with  a  curse,  sooner  than  it  was.  Subjugated 
by  the  Romans,  one  part  of  the  nation,  for  the  sake  of  private  in- 
lerest,  sided  with  them,  and  accepted  places  under  them;  by 
which  they  became  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the  other.  Some  becarue 
soldiers  under  the  Roman  standard,  and  treated  their  brethren 
uith  violence  ;  others  became  publicans,  or  farmers  of  the  public 
taxes,  entering  deeply  into  a  system  of  oppression.  A  spirit  of 
sellishness  pervaded  all  ranks  and  orders  of  men,  prompting  those 
on  one  side  to  deeds  of  oppression,  and  those  on  the  other  to  dis- 
content and  bitter  antipathies.  Besides  this,  they  were  divided 
into  a  number  of  religious  sects,  which  bore  the  most  inveterate 
hatred  to  each  other,  and  were  all  far  off  from  truth  and  godliness. 

4.  It  is  predicted,  that  John's  ministry  should  have  a  concilia- 
tiug  influence,  turning  men's  hearts  one  to  another,  and  so  tending 


SirmonXV.]  of  the  GOSPFX.  261 

to  avert  the  curse  which  hung  over  them.  Such  were  actually 
the  effects  of  it.  Nor  were  they  accomplished  by  n  mere  inter- 
ference between  the  parties,  or  by  labouring  to  produce  a  mere 
outward  reformation  ;  but  by  tirst  turning  them  to  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ.  Hence  Luke,  in  quoting  the  words  of  Malachi, 
connects  the  turning  of  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children 
with  the  turning  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wistlom  of  the  just,  and 
the  making  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord.  John's  errand 
was,  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  ;  adding,  withal,  that  they  should 
believe  in  lum  that  should  come  after  him.  And,  wherever  this 
effect  was  produced,  a  new  bond  of  union  existed,  and  former 
antipathies  were  forgotten.  The  exhortations  also  which  he  gave 
to  those  who  repented,  and  applied  for  baptism,  were  such  as 
struck  at  every  species  of  selfishness,  and  tended  to  promote  peace 
and  unanimity  among  men.  He  called  for  fruits  meet  for  repent' 
ancc.  The  people  asked  kim,  saying,  What  shall  we  do  then  ? 
He  answereth  and  saith  unto  them,  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him 
impart  to  him  that  hath  none;  and  he  that  hath  meat,  let  him  do 
likewise.  Then  came  also  publicans  to  be  baptized,  and  said  unto 
him.  Master,  what  shall  we  do  ?  And  he  said  unto  them,  Exact  no 
more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you.  And  the  soldiers  likewise 
demanded  of  him,  saying,  And  what  shall  we  do?  And  he  said 
unto  them.  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse  any  falsely,  and 
he  content  with  your  -siages.  Such  repentance,  and  such  fruits,  so 
far  as  they  prevailed,  must  produce  the  most  happy  effect  upon 
the  country,  and  tend  to  avert  the  curse.  Those  who  believed 
through  the  ministry  of  John,  of  Christ,  or  of  the  apostles,  were  as 
the  salt  of  the  land  ;  and  it  might  be  for  their  sakes,  that  its  pun- 
ishment was  deferred  till  forty  years  after  they  had  crucified  the 
Lord  of  glory.  When  God  had  gathered  a  people  from  among 
them,  the  remnant  grew  worse  and  worse,  till,  in  the  end,  the 
curse  overtook  them.  Previously  to  that  great  and  terrible  day 
of  the  Lord,  it  was  predicted,  that  to  all  their  other  crimes  they 
would  add  that  of  the  most  bitter  persecution  of  Christ's  servants. 
The  brother,  said  our  Lord,  shall  deliver  up  the  brother  to  death, 
and  the  father  the  child ;  and  the  children  shall  rise  up  against 
their  parents,  and  cause  them  to  be  put  to  death.     Such  was  the 


262  PEAC£PTL  TEiNDENCY  [SftRMOM  XV. 

fact.  Having  killed  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  their  own  prophets,  they 
persecnted  his  followers  ;  and  that  with  a  rage  which  not  only 
displeased  God,  but  rendered  them  odious  to  men.  In  short,  we 
see,  that,  so  far  as  the  gospel  was  received,  it  tended  to  heal  the 
country,  and  to  retard  the  day  of  evil. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive,  that  the  same  causes,  if  applied  to  the 
world  in  general,  would  be  productive  of  the  same  eflfects  ;  or, 
That  the  gospel  is  the  only  effectual  mean  of  healing  the  divisions 
among  mankind,  and  so  of  turning  the  curse  which  hangs  over  us 
into  a  blessing. 

That  we  may  see  the  evidence  and  importance  of  this  truth,  it 
will  be  proper  to  take  a  view  of  the  divisions  which  have  obtained 
among  men,  with  their  causes  and  tendency  ;  of  the  inefficacy  of 
all  human  means  for  removing  them  ;  and  of  the  efficacy  of  the 
gospel  for  this  great  purpose. 

I.  Let  us  take  a  view  of  the  dissensions  which  have  obtain- 
ed AMONG  MEN,    WITH    THEIR    CAUSES    AND    TENDENCY.       The  StatC 

of  the  Jewish  people,  in  the  times  of  John,  was  but  an  epitome 
of  human  nature,  as  sunk  into  a  gulf  of  depravity.  From  the  fall 
of  man  to  this  day,  the  earth  has  been  a  scene  of  discord.  Jeal- 
ousies and  antipathies  rendered  the  first  born  child  of  Adam  a  mur- 
derer ;  and,  prior  to  the  flood,  the  earth  was  corrupt  before  God, 
and— filed  with  violence.  Whether  war  was  then  reduced  to  a 
system,  as  it  has  been  since,  we  are  not  told  ;  but,  if  not,  it  might 
be  owing  to  the  world  not  being  yet  divided  into  nations.  The 
springs  of  domestic  and  social  life  were  poisoned  ;  the  tender  ties 
of  blood  and  affinity  violated  ;  and  quarrels,  intrigues,  oppressions, 
robberies  and  murders,  pervaded  the  abodes  of  man. 

When  that  generation  was  swept  away,  and  a  new  world  arose, 
from  the  family  of  Noah,  it  might  have  been  expected,  that  the  ex- 
ample which  had  been  so  recently  exhibited  would  have  had  some 
effect ;  but-  in  a  little  time,  the  same  things  were  acted  over  again. 
The  story  of  Nimrod,  though  brief,  affords  a  specimen  of  what  has 
been  going  on  in  the  world  ever  ?ince.  What  is  the  history  of 
nations,  but  an  account  of  a  succession  oi mighty  hunters  dnA  their 
adherents,  each  of  whom,  in  his  day,  caused  terror  in  the  land  of 
the  livini^  ?  The  earth   has  been  a  kind  of  theatre,  in  which  one 


SjrmonXV.I  01'  the  GOSFE1-.  263 

part  of  mankind,  being  trained  and  furnished  with  weapons,  have 
been  employed  to  destroy  another;  and  this,  in  a  great  measure, 
for  the  gratification  of  the  spectators  ! 

Nor  is  this  spirit  of  discord  confined  to  nations.  It  pervades,  in 
different  degrees,  every  department  of  society,  civil  or  religious. 
If  the  heavenly  plant  decay,  in  any  connexion,  or  among  any  peo- 
ple, this  weed  will  presently  spring  up  in  its  place.  No  sooner 
did  the  church  at  Corinth  become  degenerate  in  their  principles 
and  conduct,  than  there  were  divisions  among  them.  And  when 
theGalatians  had  corrupted  the  doctrine  of  Christ  they  required 
to  be  warned  against  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife, 
&c.  and  to  be  told,  that  thexj  which  do  such  things,  shall  not  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

Whence  is  it  that  this  evil  spirit  proceeds  ?  Doomed  as  men  are 
to  innumerable  evils  during  their  short  residence  upon  earth,  and 
to  death  as  the  issue,  one  would  think  it  might  excite  a  sympathy 
towards  each  other  as  fellow-sufferers,  and  a  concern  to  mitigate^ 
rather  than  to  increase,  the  miseries  of  their  situation.  And  when 
such  things  are  viewed  generally  and  abstractedly,  there  are  t'ew 
men  who  would  not  admit  so  much  as  this,  and  wonder,  indeed, 
that  the  world  cannot  live  in  peace.  But  when  particular  cases 
occur,  and  the  general  good  is  thought  to  clash  with  private  inter, 
est,  all  these  reasonings  evaporate  like  smoke,  and  the  lusts 
which  war  in  the  members  bear  down  every  thing  betore  them. 
The  root  of  the  evil  lies  in  our  having/ors«A;en  God,  and  become 
alienated  from  him.  It  was  the  law  of  our  creation.  Thou  shall  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and 
strength,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself:  and  there  is  a  closer  con- 
nexion between  these  different  branches  of  the  law  than  we  aie 
apt  to  suppose.  If  we  love  God,  we  shall  love  our  brother  also. 
For  a  man  to /mrGotZ,  was  sufficient  to  insure  a  just,  kind,  and 
humane  treatment  of  his  fellow  men.  But  if  we  cease  to  love  him, 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  love  one  another,  unless  it  be  for  our  own 
sake.  It  is  the  love  of  ourselves  only  that,  in  this  case,  governs 
us:  and  this  is  a  principle  which,  not  being  subordinate  Jo  the 
love  of  God,  is  of  the  essence  of  siii,  and  tends,  in  its  own  nature, 
to  fill  the  world  with  discord.     Men  form  connexions,  some  on  a 


264  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY.  [SERMoif  XV. 

small,  and  some  on  a  larger  scale  :  but,  where  self-love  is  the  mo- 
tive, every  thing  is  expected  to  be  done  for  their  own  honour,  in 
terest,  or  happiness  ;  nnd  the  same  thing  being  expected  on  the 
other  side,  there  is  no  place  for  concord. 

If  two  persons  bear  an  affectionate  good  will  to  each  other  as 
children  of  the  same  family,  and  each  seek  the  good  of  the  other 
from  the  pleagure  of  doing  him  good,  and  without  so  much  as 
thinking  that  is  is  to  issue  in  his  own  advantage,  it  isill  issue  in  his 
own  advantage  ;  and  that,  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  if  he  had 
directly  sought  it :  for  God  has  so  constituted  things,  that  in  seek- 
ing another's  good,  we  shall  find  our  own.  If  parents  and  chil- 
dren, husbands  and  wives,  feel  only  for  themselves,  they  will  re- 
semble men  in  a  famine,  in  which  no  man  spareth  his  brother:  one 
snatches  on  the  right  hand,  and  is  hungry  :  another  eats  on  the 
left  hand  and  is  not  satisfied.  But  if  they  feel  one  for  another  ;  if 
like  the  widow  of  Zarephalh  by  Elijah,  each  one  be  willing  to  di- 
vide his  morsel ;  that  morsel  becomes  seven  times  more  sweet, 
and  God  often  blesses  and  increases  it  till  the  return  of  plenty. 

These  remarks  are  equally  applicable  to  nations,  as  to  individ- 
uals and  fiimilies.  It  is  owing  to  self-love  having  taken  place  of 
the  love  of  God,  that  treaties  of  alliance  and  commerce  are  so  fre- 
quently broken.  While  each  party  seeks  nothing  but  its  own  in- 
terest, and  requires  that  of  the  other  to  give  place  to  it,  it  is  impos- 
sible that  concord  should  be  of  any  continuance.  If  such  leagues 
be  not  at  once  dissolved,  it  is  merely  in  consideration  of  the  one 
party  hoping  to  gain,  nohcithstanding  the  selfishness  of  the  other, 
or  fearing  that  greater  evils  will  result  from  the  breach  than  from 
the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty.  But  unions  on  so  frigid  a  principle 
are  unworthy  of  the  name. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive,  what  must  be  the  tendency  of 
such  a  state  of  things.  Nothing  can  better  express  it  than  the 
words  of  the  Lord  by  tlie  prophet.  Lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth 
with  a  curse.  Where  the  love  of  God  has  no  place,  and  self-love 
is  the  ruling  principle  in  every  department  of  society,  every  thing 
is  ripening  for  destruction.  If  the  whole  earth  were  in  this  state, 
it  would  be  like  the  barren  fig-tree,  and  Heaven  would  say,  Cut  it 
down,  why  cumhereth  it  the  ground  ?  It  were  better  that  there  should 
be  00  world  than  such  a  world  as  this. 


Sbrmon  XV,]  OP  THE  GOSPEL.  2G6 

II.  Consider  the  inefficacy  of  all  human  means  for  the 
REMOVAL  OF  THESE  EVILS.  Tlic  miseries  produced  in  tlie  earth 
by  discord  are  so  serious,  tliat  it  is  become  the  necessary  study  of 
the  thinking  part  of  mankind  to  counteract  them.  Had  the  love 
of  God  ruled  in  the  heart,  this  had  been  the  cement  of  the  world. 
Had  men  been  ten  thousand  times  more  numerous  than  they  are, 
this  would  have  bound  them  all  together  ;  but,  this  principle  be- 
ing extinct,  others  of  a  very  inferior  nature  must  be  substituted  i|^ 
its  place.  It  is  partly  by  softening  the  asperities  of  human  na- 
ture, and  partly  by  cultivating  its  most  pacific  principles,  that  any 
thing  is  effected  :  but  though  these  means  may  diminish  the  evil, 
yet  they  cannot  produc  e  any  thing  like  a  radical  care.  Let  us 
instance  in  a  few  particulars  : 

First,  Great  things  have  been  done  by  education.  By  a  course 
of  discipline  in  early  life,  mankind  are  taught  to  avoid  all  rude  and 
provoking  language  and  to  carry  it  courteously  and  respectfully 
to  all  about  them.  Even  harsh  things,  if  expressed  in  soft  and 
gentle  terms,  will,  in  a  good  degree,  loose  their  harshness,  and 
tend  to  disarm  the  party  of  resentment.  A  soft  answer  turncth 
away  wrath,  while  grievous  words  stir  up  anger.  Herein  consists 
the  diflference  between  barbarous  and  civilized  society  ;  a  differ- 
ence for  which  there  is  great  cause  for  thankfulness.  But,  after 
all,  the  change  which  is  hereby  effected  is  nearly  confined  to  the 
surface  of  things  ;  the  real  temper  of  the  heart  is  much  the  same. 
The  grand  study  in  this  science,  is  appearance.  The  most  bitter 
and  malignant  speeches  are  uttered  without  shame  by  those  who 
reckon  themselves  gentlemen  ;  and  murder  itself  is  patronized  by 
the  laws  of  honour.  It  were  a  difficult  question  to  determine,  which 
would  be  the  least  friendly  to  human  happiness,  for  the  whole 
world  to  be  sunk  into  the  lowest  state  of  barbarism,  or  raised  to 
these  haughty  and  atheistical  notions  of  honour.  Assuredly,  this  ig 
not  the  way  in  which  universal  peace  will  be   produced  on  earth- 

Another  principle  to  which  great  things  also  are  ascribed  is,  a 
union  of  interests.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact,  that  God,  in  his  provi- 
dence, has  so  interwoven  the  interests  of  mankind,  that  they  can- 
not subsist  without  each  othe,r.  We  talk  proudly  of  indepen- 
dence ;  but  we  are  all  dependent,  both  upon  God  and  one  another. 

Vol.  VH.  34 


266  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [SERMOtf  XV. 

What  would  any  individual  be,  if  left  alone  ?  VVhat  would  a  fami- 
ly be,  if  separated  from  all  other  families  ?  What  would  cities  be 
without  the  country,  or  the  country  without  cities  ?  Nay,  what 
would  nations  be,  if  shut  out  from  all  intercourse  with  other  na- 
tions ?  These  considerations  ought,  no  doubt,  to  induce  mankind, 
of  all  ranks,  degrees,  and  situations,  to  study  the  things  which  make 
for  peace  :  and  to  say  that  they  actually  have  no  influence  in  pro- 
moting concord,  would  be  saying  what  is  manifestly  untrue.  To 
this  principle  we  are  indebted  for  (he  stifling  of  thousands  of  quar- 
rels, which  wculd  otherwise  burst  forth,  and  render  society  intol- 
erable. To  this  also  we  are  indebted  for  the  suppression  of  a  ve- 
ry large  portion  of  religious  hatred.  Considering  the  enmity  of 
wicked  men  against  serious  Christians,  instead  of  being  surprised 
at  its  breaking  out  so  much  as  it  does,  we  have  more  reason  to  ht 
surprised  that  it  breaks  out  no  more.  Had  not  God  so  bound  man- 
kind together,  that  they  cannot  obtain  their  own  ends  without  be- 
ing civil  and  kind  to  others,  where  there  is  one  instance  of  bitter 
persecution,  we  might  expect  a  hundred  ;  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  every  other  species  of  malevolence. 

But,  though  such  a  constitution  of  things  furnishes  matter  for 
thankfulness,  yet  it  is  utterly  inadequate  to  the  producing  of  peace 
on  earth,  and  good  will  to  men.  Stifled  animosity  is  very  difierent 
from  love  ;  the  good  understanding  which  arises  from  it,  is  not 
peace  but  the  mere  suspension  of  hostilities  for  the  sake  of  con- 
venience. It  has  been  said,  that  the  only  thing  necessary  to  pro- 
duce universal  peace  is,  that  mankind  be  enlightened  to  know  their 
true  interests.  Certain  it  is,  that  if  our  true  interests  were  known 
and  pursued,  we  should  seek  the  good  of  mankind  in  all  that  we 
have  to  do  with  them  :  but  sin,  operating  in  a  way  of  selfishness, 
blinds  the  mind,  and  prompts  men  to  seek  their  own  interest,  in 
opposition  to  that  of  others.  Such  also  is  the  strength  of  corrupt 
propensity  in  men,  that  in  many  cases,  which  must  appear  to  be 
injurious  to  themselves,  as  well  as  others,  they  will  frequently 
give  way  to  it,  whatever  be  the  consequence,  and  even  ruin 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  ruining  their  neighbours.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  on  this  ground,  that  we  can  rationally  build  oiir  hope  of 
any  essential  amelioration  of  the  state  of  mankind. 


SEnMOH  XV.]      .  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  2G1 

Let  us  examine  a  third  principle  ;  namely,  government.  This 
is,  doubtless,  an  important  blessing  to  mankind.  It  is  among  the 
means  by  which  God,  in  his  providence,  preserves  the  world  in 
some  degree  of  order.  The  peace  of  the  governed,  so  far  as  it 
respects  one  another,  is  hereby  in  a  measure,  secured.  If  a  na- 
tion were  for  one  week,  or  half  that  time,  without  law,  they 
would  learn,  by  woful  experience,  the  value  of  living  under  it. 
The  most  oppressive  governments  are  preferable  to  a  state  of  an- 
archy. It  may  be  on  this  account,  that  even  that  of  Nero  afford- 
ed no  exception  to  the  general  doctrine  of  government  being  or- 
dained of  God  for  good.  But  though  order  may  be  produced  by 
human  laws  and  regulations,  yet  it  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  exte- 
rior of  human  action.  And  with  respect  to  that,  it  extends  only 
to  a  single  territory  ;  between  one  country  and  another  there  is  no 
paramount  authority  to  settle  their  differences.  What  are  termed  the 
laws  of  nations  have  but  little  influence,  when  one  nation  possesses 
the  means  of  setting  them  at  defiance.  It  is  in  vain  to  deny,  that 
the  most  effective  law  in  the  world  is  poiver ;  and  as  power  is 
constantly  varying,  the  world,  in  one  part  or  other,  is  constantly  in 
a  state  of  warfare.  Great  conquerors  call  themselves  benefactors, 
and  require  to  be  called  so,  even  by  the  conquered  ;  and,  what  is 
worse,  are  admired,  and  praised  for  their  exploits,  in  the  page  of 
history. 

But  the  hopes  which  have  been  entertained  of  peace  pervadin*' 
the  earth  by  means  of  government,  have  arisen,  not  from  the  thing 
itself,  but  from  certain  forms  of  it.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  differ- 
ence as  to  these.  That  form  of  government,  be  it  what  it  may, 
which  contributes  most  to  the  administration  of  substantial  justice 
in  a  country,  and  cuts  of  the  motives  to  war  in  respect  of  other 
countries,  is  the  best ;  but  ivhile  men  are  corrupt,  selfish  and  am- 
bitious, and  possess  the  means  of  extending  their  power,  they  will 
never  be  in  want  of  a  plea  for  disturbing  the  repose  of  mankind. 
To  expect  them,  under  such  circumstances,  to  be  restrained  by 
forms  of  their  own  creating,  is  expecting  too  much,  and  indicates 
but  a  slender  acquaintance  with  human  nature.  A  form  that 
should  leave  no  scope  for  the  propensities  of  a  people  would  be 
borne  away  before  them  in  a  little  time.     To  banish  wara  from 


2(38  PEACEFUL  i  CNDENCT  [Skrmow  XV. 

the  earth,  therefore  it  is  necessary  to  banish  selfishness,  ambition, 
and  other  corrupt  affections,  which  produce  them.  Even  allowing 
a  nation  and  its  government  to  be,  upon  the  whole,  justly  and 
peaceably  disposed ;  yet,  as  cases  will  be  always  occurring,  in 
which  its  interests  will  clash  with  those  of  other  nations,  and  in 
which  amicable  discussion,  through  the  partiality  which  each  side 
feels  for  its  own  cause,  fails  to  produce  mutual  satisfaction,  the 
consequence  will  often  be  a  recourse  to  arras.  The  principles  on 
which  wars  are  undertaken  are,  in  many  instances,  the  same  as 
those  by  which  two  individuals  are  prompted  to  fight  a  duel. 
They  may  have  no  desire  to  fight,  nor  to  kill  each  other  ;  but  the 
laws  of  honour  require  them  to  act  as  they  do  !  So  long,  there- 
fore, as  these  laws,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  laws  of  God,  continue  to 
rule  the  higher  orders  of  mankind,  it  is  impossible  but  that  wars 
and  fightings  will  come. 

But  if  education,  interest,  and  government,  fail  to  produce  the 
desired  effect  ;  yet  is  there  no  other  principle,  whose  influence 
shall  extend  more  to  the  heart,  by  which  it  may  be  accomplished  ? 
If  there  be,  it  must  be  kindred,  or  relationship.  This,  I  acknowl- 
edge has  done  great  things.  By  the  tender  and  endearing  ties  of 
blood  and  affinity  the  asperities  of  human  nature  are  greatly  soft- 
ened, and  God  has,  in  a  manner,  bound  us  together.  From  hence, 
perhaps,  the  practicability  of  mankind  dwelling  together  in  fami- 
lies. By  alliances  of  this  sort,  a  good  understanding  is  frequently 
kept  up  in  neighbourhoods,  and,  sometimes,  between  great  nations. 
Natural  affection,  though,  in  itself,  it  be  mere  animal  attachment 
and  has  nothing  morally  good  in  it,  yet  to  be  without  it  argues  the 
perfection  of  depravity.  Nothing  short  of  an  habitually  wicked 
heart  can  extinguish  it.  If  this  principle  be  overcome,  there 
seems  to  be  nothing  left  in  human  nature  tliat  can  withstand  the 
lide  of  corruption.  It  is,  therefore,  with  peculiar  force  and  pro- 
priety, that  God,  by  the  prophet,  represents  the  depravity  of  the 
Jewish  nation  as  having  set  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  against  their 
children,  and  the  hearts  of  the  children  against  their  fathers  ;  and 
having  reached  this  height,  as  being  incurable  by  any  thing  short 
of  a  divine  interposition. 


Sermon  XV.]  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  2G9 

Strong  as  are  the  ties  of  blood  and  affinity,  yet  there  are  two 
reasons  why  universal  peace  can  never  be  expected  to  proceed 
from  them.  One  is,  their  influence  extends  only  to  a  small  part 
of  mankind.  It  is  true,  we  are  all  akin  as  creatures,  and  as  having 
sprung  from  one  common  ancestor  :  this,  however,  is  a  considera- 
tion that  has  but  little  weight  among  the  bulk  of  mankind.  It 
is  only  towards  niar  relations  that  the  attachment  in  question  is 
felt.  The  other  is,  that,  even  with  respect  to  that  part  of  man- 
kind who  are  nearly  related  to  each  other,  there  is,  io  general, 
no  such  attachment  as  to  overbalance  the  selfish  aflfections. 

The  sum  is,  there  is  not  a  principle  in  human  nature  from 
which  any  rational  expectation  can  be  formed  of  the  world  ever 
becoming  materially  different  from  what  it  is.  It  may  be  more 
enlightened  ;  but  this  will  present  no  sufficient  barrier  against  the 
tide  of  corrupt  passions,  which  bears  along  its  stream  the  educa- 
ted part  of  mankind,  no  less  than  the  uneducated.  Man  may  shift 
nnd  change  into  a  thousand  forms,  and  may  promise  himself  peace 
in  each  of  them  :  but  he  will  not  find  it.  He  may  attribute  his 
misery  to  circumstances,  and  flatter  himself,  that,  if  ihei/  were  dif- 
ferent, all  would  be  well  :  the  cause  however,  is  in  himself,  and 
is,  therefore,  sure  to  accompany  him  in  every  situation  and  condi- 
tion. He  may  "  change  the  place,  but  will  keep  the  pain."  If 
there  were  no  hope  from  a  higher  quarter,  the  world  would  be 
shut  up  under  sin,  and  have  nothing  to  expect,  but  to  be  smitten 
with  the  curse. 

III.  Consider  the  efkicacv  of  the  gospel  for  the  diffu- 
sion OF  universal  peace.  That  which  was  wrought  among 
the  Jews  by  the  preaching  of  John,  furnished  a  specimen  of 
what  should  be  wrought  in  the  world  at  large  by  the  same  means. 
They  who  had  been  disobedient  were  turned  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
just.  Repenting  of  their  sins,  they  believed  in  the  Messiah  as  at 
hand  ;  and,  being  thus  reconciled  to  God,  they  became  reconciled 
to  one  another :  loving  and  being  loved,  forgiving  and  being  for- 
given. 

In  ascribing  these  effects  to  the  gospel,  we  only  ascribe  to  it  that 
which  in  its  own  nature,  it  is  evidently  adapted  to  produce  ;  that 
which  it  actually  has  produced,  so  far  a*  it  has  been  cordially  re- 


270  PEACEFUL  TENDENC\  [Sermon  XV^ 

ceived  ;  and  that  which  the  tenor  of  scripture-prophecy  gives  us 
to   expect. 

].  The  Gofipel  is  in  its  own  nature,  evidently  adapted  to  produce 
peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to  men.  It  may,  indeed,  be  the  occa- 
sion of  contention  and  bitterness,  in  unbelievers  ;  but  this  is  not 
its  proper  effect  :  it  is  accidental  to  it,  and  reflects  no  more  dis- 
honour upon  it,  than  the  good  works  of  its  Author,  which  occasion- 
ed his  being  stoned  by  the  Jews,  reflected  upon  him. 

We  have  seen  already,  that  the  root  of  all  the  discord  in  the 
world  is  found  in  mankind  having  forsaken  God :  that,  therefore, 
which  is  the  means  of  bringing  them  back  to  God,  and  that  only, 
wijl  restore  concord.  It  is  thus  that  the  root  of  bitterness  is  pluck- 
ed up,  and  love  the  plant  of  paradise,  substituted  in  its  place.  We 
have  seen,  that  zvars  and  fightings  proceed  from  the  lusts  ivhich 
war  in  our  members  :  that,  therefore,  which  teaches  us  to  mortify 
these  lusts,  removes  the  causes,  and  by  so  doing,  removes  the  ef- 
fests.  Pride,  self-will,  and  the  love  of  money,  are  the  great  sour- 
ces of  those  calamities  which,  in  all  ages,  have  deluged  the  world 
with  misery  ;  but,  if  we  believe  the  gopel,  they  will  be,  in  a  good 
measure  dried  up,  and  then  the  current  which  has  been  feJ  by 
them  must  cease  to  flow.  The  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace-, 
and  the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever. 

The  Gospel  is  a  system  in  direct  opposition  to  selfishness.  It 
not  only  enforces  a  benevolent  disposition,  but  is  fraught  with 
principles  adapted  to  promote  it.  It  furnishes  the  mind  with  a 
new  set  of  views  and  feelings,  both  toward  God,  and  toward  man. 
It  tells  us  of  one,  who,  when  all  other  means  failed,  said,  Lo,  J 
come — to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God ;  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart ; 
of  one  who  laid  down  his  life  for  us,  even  when  we  were  yet  ene- 
mies. Now,  to  imbibe  this  doctrine  is  to  become  in  a  meapure,  of 
the  same  mind.  He  that  is  born  of  God  possesses  the  spirit  of  u 
little  child.  Oldthings  are  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  become 
new.  Laying  aside  all  malice,  and  all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and 
envies,  and  all  evil-speakings,  as  a  new-born  babe  he  desireth  the 
sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  he  may  grow  thereby. 

The  gospel  also  furnishes  us  with  a  centre  or  bond,  of  union. 
Devoid  of  this,  men  are  like  grains  of  sand,  without  any  principle 


Sermon  XV.]  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  271 

of  adhesion,  and  must  therefore,  of  necessity,  be  divided  and  scat- 
tered. The  physical  strength  of  a  nntion  is  of  small  account  in 
a  time  of  danger,  if  (hey  have  no  standfrd  to  repair  to,  and  no 
leader  and  commander  in  whom  they  can  place  confidence.  But  a 
wise  and  patriotic  prince  will  hoUl  a  people  together,  and  induce 
them  to  love  their  country,  and  one  another  the  better  for  his  sake. 
Such  is  our  Redeemer,  and  such  the  love  of  one  another  which 
love  to  him  inspires.  Yea,  more,  it  teaches  us  to  love  all  man- 
kind, from  a  hope  that  they  may  become  his  friends. 

Now,  if  such  sentiments  and  feelings  were  universal,  or  if  only 
the  greater  part  of  mankind  possessed  them,  the  world,  from  be- 
ing a  wilderness,  would  become  a  paradise.  Instead  of  the  thorn, 
would  come  up  the  fir-tree ;  and  instead  of  the  brier,  the  myrtle- 
tree  i  and  it  would  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlast- 
ing sign  that  should  not  be  cut  off. 

2.  The  gospel,  so  far  as  it  has  been  cordially  received,  has  actually 
produced  these  r^ccts,  1  say  cordially  received  ;  for  it  has  met 
with  a  kind  of  reception  that  is  not  cordial,  and  to  call  which  be- 
lieving, we  must  understand  the  term  in  a  very  restricted  and  par- 
tial sense.  We  have  been  asked,  by  unbelievers,  '  How  is  it,  if 
Christianity  be  that  pacific  system  which  it  professes  to  be,  that 
Christian  nations  do  not  live  in  peace  ?'  We  answer,  1.  Because 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  people  who  inhabit  those  nations, 
are  Christians  only  in  name.  When  any  question  arises  between 
serious  Christians  and  avowed  unbelievers,  persons  of  this  discrip- 
tion  commonly  prove  themselves  to  be  one  in  heart  with  the  latter, 
and  ought,  therefore;  to  be  classed  with  them  :  2.  Because  those 
who  believe  the  doctrine  which  they  profess,  and  are  real  Chris- 
tians, yet  do  not  always  act  consistently  with  their  profession.  These 
things  certainly  furnish  occasion  for  the  unbelieving  part  of  the 
world,  who  seek  occasion,  to  stumble  at  the  gospel  :  hence  a  woe 
is  pronounced  on  tlie  world  because  of  offences,  or  stumbling- 
blocks,  and  a  still  heavier  one  on  those  by  whom  the  offence  Com- 
eth. Yet,  notwithstanding  these  deductions,  Christianity  has 
wrought  enough  to  establish  its  pacific  character.  We  could  tell 
of  myriads  who,  from  being  persecutors  and  injurious,  like  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  no  sooner  embraced  the  gospel  than  they-  became  other 


272  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [Skrmow  XV . 

men  ;  seeking  the  good  of  all  around  them,  even  of  their  worst 
enemies.  We  could  appeal  to  the  pacific  spirit  and  conduct  of 
thousands  in  our  own  times,  who  influenced  by  the  same  princi- 
ples, seek,  by  every  mean  in  their  power,  to  heal  the  divisions, 
and  alleviate  the  miseries  of  mankind. 

If  the  Christians  scattered  over  bleednig  Europe  could  have 
healed  her,  she  would  have  been  healed  before  now.  They,  as 
well  as  other  men,  may  have  been  engaged  in  the  wars  ;  and  when 
called  for  in  defence  of  their  country,  it  may  have  been  their  duty 
so  to  do  ;  but  they  have  surely  hailed  the  return  of  peace  ;  and 
that  not  for  their  own  sakes  only,  but  from  good  will  to  men. 

Why  should  unbelievers  load  Christianity  with  the  persecu- 
tions, intrigues,  and  unjust  wars,  which  have  been  carried  on  in 
Christendom  ;  when,  if  they  were  disposed  to  judge  righteously, 
they  must  allow,  not  only  that  the  same  things  existed,  and  were 
accompanied  with  much  more  ferocity,  under  the  heathen  govern- 
ments, but  that  what  has  existed  since,  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to 
Christianity,  but  to  the  want  of  it  ?  It  was  not  till  the  gospel  was 
corrupted,  and  in  a  manner  lost,  among  those  who  called  them- 
selves the  church,  that  such  things  occurred.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  their  proving  any  thing  against  the  pure  and  peaceful  nature  of 
genuine  Christianity,  they  furnish  an  argument  in  its  favour.  The 
immoralities  in  the  churches  at  Corinth  and  in  Galatia,  when  they 
had  corrupted  the  gospel,  were  a  proof  of  its  moral,  rather  than  of 
its  immoral  tendency.  Is  it  to  Christ  or  to  Antichrist  that  the 
blood  which  has  been  shed  for  the  last  twelve  hundred  years,  on 
account  of  religion,  ought  to  be  imputed  ?  Have  the  attrocities 
committed  by  Europeans  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  and  in  other 
part?  of  the  world,  been  owing  to  Christianity,  or  to  the  want  of 
it  ?     Let  truth  and  conscience  give  the  answer. 

3.  The  tenor  of  scripture  prophecy  gives  tis  to  expect  far 
greater  effects  than  those  "which  have  yet  been  produced.  The 
world,  like  an  abandoned  sinner,  may  go  on  till  it  is  wearied  in  the 
greatness  of  its  way ;  but,  if  we  believe  in  God  and  his  prophets, 
we  must  conclude  that  it  will  not  be  so  ahiays.  It  was  one  great 
end  of  Christ's  coming  into  the  world,  to  set  judgment  in  thu 
earth;  and   though  he    have  to  encounter  great  opposition,  yet 


Sermon  XV.]  OF  THE  GOSPEL,  073 

shall  he  not  fail,  nor  be  discouraged,  till  it  be  accomplishnd.  The 
present  disorders  of  the  world  will  assuredly  issue  in  a  peaceful 
and  happy  state  of  things.  Of  this  the  following,  among  many  oth- 
er passn<5es,  it  is  presumed,  afford  ample  proof: 

And  there  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  item  of  Jesse,  and  a 
Iranch  chall  grow  out  of  his  roots. — And  righteousness  shall  be  the 
girdle  of  his  loins,  arid  faithfulness  the  girdle  of  his  reins.  The 
woff  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down 
with  the  kid ;  and  the  calf,  and  the  young  lion,  and  the  falling  to- 
gether;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  And  the  cow  and  the 
hear  shall  feed;  their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  together;  and  the 
lion  shall  eui  straw  like  the  ox.  And  the  sucking  child  shall  play  an 
the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the 

■  cockatrice''  den.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain:  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledgf. 
OF  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  And  in  thai  day  there 
shall  bf  a  root  of  Jri>se,  which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  pet? 
pie  :  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek,  and  his  rest  shall  he  glorious. — 
The  jealousy  also  of  Ephraim  shall  depart,  and  the  enmity  of  Ju- 
dahshillbe  no  more:  Ephraim  -kaU  not  envy  Judah.  and  Judah 
shal  not  vex  Ephraim. — The  greaves  of  the  armed  za-arrior  in  con- 
flict,  and  the  garment  rolled  in  much  blood,  shall  be  for  a  burning, 
even  fuel fo'-  the  fire.*  For  unto  us  a  child  is  bom,  unto  us  a  son 
is  siven,  and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shndler ;  and  his 
name  shall  be  called — The  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  th.e  increase  of 
his  <rovernmevt  and  peace  there  shal'  be  no  end.  npan  the  throne  of 
David  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to   order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with 

judgment  and  with  justice,  from  henceforth  even  for  ever  :  the 
zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  will  perform  'his — In  his  days  shall 
the  righteous  flourish  :  and  abundance  of  peace  so  long  as  'he  moon 
endureth. — God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless   uft:  and  cause  his 

face  to  shine  upon  us.  That  thy  way  may  br  known  upon  earth, 
thy  leaving  health  among  all  nations.  Let  the  people  praise  ^'n '^, 
O  God,  let  all  the  people  praisf.  thee.  0  let  the  nations  be  glad  and 
sing  for  joy:  for  thw  shall  judge  the  people  righteously,  and  gov- 

*  Lowth's  Isaiah. 
Vol.  ri-T.  »•'► 


274  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [Sermon  XV. 

em  the  nations  upon  earth. — And  it  shall  come  topcus  in  the  latt 
days,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  he  established  in 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  he  exalted  above  the  hills ;  and 
all  nations  shall  fnw  unto  it.  And  many  people  shall  go  and 
say.  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the 
house  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  ice 
will  walk  in  his  paths  ;  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.  And  he  shall  judge  among 
the  nations,  and  shall  rebuke  many  people :  and  they  shall  beat 
their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks:  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  tlip.y  learn  war  any  more. — As  the  rain  cometh  down,  and 
the  snow  from  heaven,  and  returnelh  not  thither,  but  watereth 
the  earth,  and  maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give 
seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater  ;  so  shall  my  tpord  be  that 
goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth  ;  it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void^  but 
it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the 
thing  teherelo  I  sent  it.  For  ye  shall  go  out  unthjoy,  and  shall  be 
led  forth  with  peace  :  the  mountains  and  the  hills  shall  break  forth 
before  you  into  singing,  and  all  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap 
their  hands.  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  in- 
stead of  the  brier  shall  come  np  the  myrtle-tree:  audit  shall  be  to 
{he  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  that  shall  not  be  cut  off. 
There  are  some,  who,  by  refining  on  the  spirituality  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  have  concluded  that  things  will  always  continue  much 
the  same  as  they  are  now  ;  and  that  to  understand  these  prophe- 
cies as  denoting  a  general  spread  of  the  gospel  over  the  various 
nations  of  the  earth,  would  be  holding  with  national  establish- 
ments of  religion,  and  symbolizing  with  the  Jews  in  their  expecta- 
tion.of  a  worldly  kingdom  !  If  these  persons  be  capable  of  deri- 
ving happiness  from  such  opinions,  we  need  not  envy  them ;  nor 
can  we  be  surprised  at  their  feeling  no  more  interest  in  the  con- 
version of  sinners,  and  taking  no  more  pains  to  accomplish  it,  than 
they  have  hitherto  done.  If  there  be  any  symbolizing  with  the 
carnal  Jews  oa  either  side,  it  would  seem  to  consist  ia  that  selfish 
spirit  which  would  confine  the  gospel  to  those  who  already  possess 
it,  forbidding  m,  in  a  manner,  tospeakto  the  Gentiles  that  they  may 


Sermon  XV.]  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  275 

be  saved.  I  have  no  wish  to  decide,  how  far  the  mind  of  a  Chris- 
tian raay  be  perverted  by  the  infatuating  influence  of  hypothesis, 
nor  how  far  he  may  be  suffered  to  pervert  the  word  of  God  in  sup- 
porting it ;  but  of  this  I  am  satisfied,  that  such  notions  are  in  their 
very  essence,  antichristian. 

Taking  the  foregoing  passages  in  their  simple  and  obvious 
meaning,  they  manifestly  predict  things  which,  hitherto,  have  had 
no  accomplishment,  or  at  most  only  a  partial  one.  The  earth  has 
not  yet  been  full  of  the  knoinledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cov- 
er the  sea.  God's  saving  health  has  not  yet  been  so  known  among 
all  nations,  as  for  all  the  people  to  form  a  kind  of  chorus  in  big 
praise.  It  is  not  as  yet,  that  Christ,  as  the  head  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom,  judges  and  governs  the  nations  upon  earth.  The  time  is 
not  yet  arrived  for  swords  to  be  beaten  into  plough-shares .  and 
spears  into  pruning -hooks.  The  garment  rolled  in  blood  has  not 
yet  become  a  burning,  even  fuel  for  the  fire.  Christ's  reign  seems 
not,  as  yet,  to  have  assumed  the  character  of  a  glorious  rest : 
hitherto,  it  has  borne  a  greater  resemblance  to  that  of  David,  who 
was  engaged  in  continual  wars,  than  to  that  of  Solomon,  to  whom 
the  Lord  gave  rest  on  every  side,  and  who  was  therefore  employ- 
ed in  building  a  temple  for  his  name.  It  is  said  of  the  promises 
made  to  Abraham  and  his  posterity,  that  The  Lord  gave  unto  Is- 
rael all  the  land  which  he  sware  to  give  unto  their  fathers  :  and 
they  possessed  it,  and  dwelt  therein :  and  that  TJte  Lord  gave  them 
rest  round  about,  according  to  all  that  he  sware  unto  their  fathers. 

There  failed  not  ought  nf  any  good  thing  which  the  Lord  had 

spoken  unto  the  house  of  Israel :  all  came  to  pass.  But,  if  things 
continue  much  the  same  as  they  now  are  to  the  end  of  time,  I  do 
not  perceive  how  this  language  could  apply  to  the  promises  made 
to  Christ  and  the  church.  In  this  case,  the  prophets  must  have 
dealt  largely  in  hyperbole,  and  their  words,  when  reduced  to 
meaning,  amount  to  but  little,  in  comparison  of  what  they  would 
seem  to  convey. 

It  is  farther  observable,  from  the  foregoing  prophecies,  that, 
whatever  evils  may  precede  the  triumph  of  the  gospel,  yet  that 
the  thing  itself  will  t:ike  place  without  bloodshed,  treachery,  in- 
trigue, tumult,  or  parade.     The  overturning  of  those  government 


276  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [Sermon  XV. 

which  set  themselves  against  the  preaching  of  it  may  be  necessary 
to  prepare  the  way  ;  and  this  may  be  accomplished  by  wicked 
men  and  wicked  means  :  but  this  will  be  only  as  the  wind,  the 
earthquake,  and  the  fire,  to  the  still  small  voice.  The  noise  of 
hammers  and  axes,  though  necessary  in  preparing  for  the  temple, 
was  not  to  be  heard  in  the  building  of  it.  The  kingdoms  of  this 
'  world  are  commonly  founded  either  in  violence,  or  in  deceit,  and 
often  in  both  ;  but  that  of  </?e  PriHce  o/"  Peace  will  correspond  with 
his  character  :  justice  and  judgment  will  be  the  basis  of  his  throne. 
He  himself  hath  done  no  violence,  neither  was  any  deceit  in  his 
mouth  ;  and,  however  he  may  turn  such  measures  in  his  enemies 
to  the  advantage  of  his  cause,  he  will  never  allow  his  servants  to 
have  recourse  to  them.  The  peace  produced  by  other  conquer- 
ors is  merely  the  effect  of  fear,  it  is  the  stillness  of  the  oppres- 
sed, who  dare  not  complain,  lest  tbeir  oppression  should  be  in- 
creased :  but  the  peace  promised  under  the  reign  of  Christ,  is  as- 
cribed to  the  earth  being Jilled  rn'ith  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as 
thf  wattrs  cover  the  sea.  His  conquests  are  those  of  the  heart. 
His  subjects  will  be  such  from  conviction  and  choice.  . 

The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  introduced  and  supported  by 
parade  :  but  it  will  not  be  so  with  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  This, 
as  he  told  the  Pharisees,  came  not  by  observation,  or  outward  show, 
neither  should  they  say,  Lo,  here,  or  lo  there;  for  it  was  already 
among  them.  And  thus,  we  may  conclude,  it  will  come,  when  it 
shall  fill  the  whole  earth.  Men  shall  not  be  able  to  point  to  this 
place,  or  that,  and  say,  '  Lo  it  is  here,  or  lo  it  is  there  :'  for,  be- 
fore they  are  aware,  it  shall  be  among  them.  Worldly  men  may, 
at  the  time,  be  pursuing  their  shemes  with  such  earnestness  as  to 
think  no  more  of  it  than  Festus  did  of  one  Jesus,  who  tons  dead, 
and  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  he  alive:  but,  while  they  are  pursuing 
their  schemes,  God  will  have  so  pursued  his,  as  that  they  shall  find 
themselves  surrounded  by  it  in  every  direction,  and  as  unable  to 
stop  its  progress  as  the  Jewish  rulers  were,  when  they  complained 
of  the  apostles  for  haviug filled  Jerusalem  with  their  doctrine.  la 
this  silent  and  imperceptible  way  the  gospel  continued  to  operate 
in  the  early  ages,  when  it  was  left  to  its  own  evidence,  and  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  recommend  it.     In  the  days  of  Ter- 


S^RMow  XV.]  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  27T 

tullian,  that  is,  in  less  than  two  hundred  year?  after  the  death  of 
Chrisl,  that  apologist  could  tell  the  Roman  senate,  that  it  had  over- 
spread their  empire.  "  \  our  cities,  islands,  forts,  towns,  and  as- 
semblies ;  your  very  camps,  wards,  companies,  palace,  senate, 
forum,  all,"  said  he,  "  swarm  with  Christians."  Yet  all  appears  to 
have  been  conducted  without  violence  or  tumult,  save  that  which 
was  found  among  unbelievers. 

We  read  of  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  breaking  in  pieces 
the  great  monarchies  of  the  earth  ;  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
becoming  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ;  of  his  judg- 
ing the  people  righteously,  and  governing  the  nations  upon  earth  ; 
and  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven  being  given  to  the 
people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  But  it  does  not  follow,  that 
governments  will  be  destroyed  as  governments,  but  merely  as 
idolatrous  or  antichristian  governments.  We  have  no  reason  to 
think,  that  Christ  will  abolish  civil  authorities,  and  set  up  a  govern- 
ment of  his  own  in  their  stead.  His  kingdom  never  was,  and  nev- 
er will  be,  of  this  world.  If  the  government  of  nations,  as  well  as 
that  of  lesser  societies,  be  conducted  on  christian  principles, 
then  will  Christ  reign  ;  then  will  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  then  may 
the  nations  be  glad,  and  sing  for  joy.  These  principles,  existing 
in  the  hearts  of  governors  and  governed,  would  shortly  burst  the 
bands  of  oppression,  still  the  tumults  of  the  people,  and  cause 
wars  to  cease  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  daemon  of  discord 
might  then  be  addressed  in  the  language  of  the  psalmist :  O  thou 
enemy!  destructions  are  come  to  a  perpetual  end ;  and  thou  hast 
destroyed  cities  ;  their  memorial  is  perished  with  them.  But  the 
Lord  shall  endure  forever ;  he  hath  prepared  his  throne  for  judg- 
ment. 

And  now,  things  being  reduced  to  this  peaceful  state,  itstead  of 
the  earth  being  smitten  with  a  curse,  we  are  given  to  expect,  that 
it  will  be  loaded  with  blessings  :  Then  shall  the  earth  yield  her  in- 
creasey..and  God,  even  our  own  God  shall  bless  us.  And  all  the  end* 
of  the  earth  shall  fear  hirn.  Nor  do  I  see  any  objection  to  the  in- 
crease here  predicted  being  literally  understood.  It  is  a  fact,  thatj 
from  the  day  that  man  departed  from  God,  the  earth  was  cursed 


278  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY  [Skrmon  XV. 

with  barrenness,  in  comparison  of  what  it  was  before  ;  and  it  is 
not  unnatural  to  suppose,  that,  when  the  greater  part  of  men  shall 
have  returned  to  him,  this  curse  may  be,  in  a  manner,  removed. 
At  present,  the  system  of  depravity  which  prevails  among  men, 
renders  it  unnecessary.  Sin  counteracts  the  tendency  to  increase 
and  multiply ,  with  which  we  were  created.  The  world  is,  in  a 
manner,  depopulated  by  selfishness,  intemperance,  and  war;  and 
a  great  part  of  it  inhabited  by  wild  beasts  and  other  noxious  crea- 
tures. But,  when  men  shall  know  the  Lord,  and  these  wide- 
wasting  evils  shall  subside,  population  will  increase  ;  and  he  that 
sends  men  will  amply  provide  for  them  :  In  that  city  will  I  make  a 
covenant  for  them  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  with  the  fowls  of 
heaven,  and  with  the  creeping  things  of  the  ground;  and  I  will 
break  the  bow,  and  the  sword,  and  the  battle,  out  of  the  earthy  and 
will  make  them  to  lie  down  safely.  And  I  will  betroth  thee  uiuo  me 
forever  ;  yea,  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  righteousness,  and  in 
judgment,  and  in  loving -kindness,  and  in  mercies :  I  will  even  be- 
troth thee  unto  me  in  faithfulness,  and  thou  sluilt  know  the  Lord- 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day^  I  will  hear,  saith  the  Lord> 
I  will  hear  the  heavens,  and  they  shall  hear  the  earth  ;  and  the  earth 
shall  hear  the  corn,  and  the  wine,  and  the  oil;  and  they  shall  hear 
Jezreel. 

Moreover,  at  present,  the  system  of  depravity  which  prevails 
among  men  would  render  any  considerable  increase  of  earthly 
fulness  exceedingly  dangerous.  There  appears  to  be  as  much 
wisdom  and  goodness,  as  there  is  justice,  in  the  sentence  passed 
on  man,  to  eat  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  faces.  Were  there  no 
necessity  for  hard  labour,  every  day  might  be  taken  up  in  riot  and 
debauchery.  The  deeds  of  the  people  of  Sodom  and  of  the  Ca- 
naanites  might  be  reacted.  The  bacchanalian  revels  which  are 
seen  at  some  of  our  contested  elections,  (where  men  can  indulge 
free  of  expense,)  afford  a  specimen  of  what  might  be  expected,  if 
God,  while  men  are  what  they  are,  were  to  cause  the  earth  to 
yield  her  increase.  It  would  be  nothing  less  than  furnishing  them 
with  the  means  of  being  seven  times  more  wicked.  But,  when 
men  shall  know  the  Lord,  the  danger  will  have  subsided  ;  and  then, 
he  will  take  pleasure  in  pouring  fourth  his  blessings  upon  them,  and 
then,  instead  of  those  blessings  being  abused,  as  heretofore,  they 


SbumonXV.^  of  the  gospel.  279 

4bal]  tend  to  recommend  the  gospel :  God,  even  our  oum  God^shall 
bkss  us.  God  shall  bless  us,  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall /ear 
him. 

Once  more :  As  peace  among  men  will  be  followed  with  a 
blessing  on  ttie  earth,  so  peace  among  Christians  will  be  followed 
with  a  blessing  on  the  means  of  grace.  The  depravity  which  has 
hitherto  prevailed  in  the  world  has,  in  too  great  a  measure,  ex- 
tended to  the  church,  and  wrought  much  in  a  way  of  destroying 
its  fruitfulness.  Corruptions  have  produced  divisions,  envies, 
jealousies,  and  almost  every  evil  work.  Hence  the  blessing  o 
God  has  been,  in  a  great  measure,  withheld.  We  read  of  great 
things  among  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  and,  now  and 
then,  hear  of  a  minister  and  a  people,  who,  approaching  somewhat 
near  to  their  doctrine  and  spirit,  are  honoured  with  a  portion  of 
their  success  :  but,  in  general,  we  are  as  when  they  have  gathered 
the  summer  fruits,  as  the  grape-gleanings  of  the  vintage:  there  is 
no  cluster  to  eat,  though  our  souls  desire  the  first-ripe  fruit.  Now, 
as  the  carnal  notions,  envies,  and  petty  discords  of  the  apostles 
ceased  from  the  time  of  their  Lord's  resurrection,  and  as  the  multi- 
tude of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul,  so 
will  it  be  with  the  whole  church  of  Christ,  when  the  Spirit  shall 
be  poured  out  from  on  high.  And  then,  the  earth  shall  yield  her 
increase^  in  a  still  higher  sense.  Not  only  every  nation  and  city, 
but  every  town,  if  not  every  village,  will  furnish  a  church  of 
Christ,  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Then  will  God,  even  their  own  God,  bless  them, 
and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  fear  him.  The  people  of  God 
will  be  of  good  comfort,  will  be  of  one  mind,  will  live  in  peace,  and 
the  God  of  love  and  peace  shall  be  with  them  ! 

From  the  whole  we  may  conclude, 

1.  It  becomes  Christians  to  set  their  hearts  much  on  the  spread 
of  the  gospel;  to  pray  for  it ;  labour  for  it;  contribute  of  their 
substance  for  it ;  and  to  rest  all  their  hopes  of  the  amelioration  of 
the  state  of  mankind  upon  it.  Political  men  may  place  their  hopes 
on  political  changes  ;  but  Christians  should  always  remember,  that 
ptace  on  earth  and  goodwill  to  men  connect  with  glory  to  God  in 


280  PEACEFUL  TENDENCY,  &c.  [Sermon  XVi 

the  highest ;  and  that  they  are  reserved  to  grace  the  triumphs  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace. 

2.  It  is  of  infinite  importance  for  us  to  repent,  and  believe  the 
gospel.  So  long  as  any  of  us  are  unbelievers,  we  are  under  the 
curse  ;  and  the  whole  career  of  om*  life  tends  to  draw  down  the 
curse  of  Heaven  upon  us,  and  upon  the  earth  on  which  we  dwell. 
We  have  heard  much  of  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  and  heathens  ; 
but  of  what  account  will  either  be  to  us,  if  we  ourselves  be  not  con- 
verted ?  All  the  great  and  good  things  which  the  Lord  has  prom- 
ised, either  in  this  world  or  that  which  is  to  come,  will,  if  we  be 
unbelievers,  only  aggravate  our  misery. 

3.  Sinners,  even  the  greatest  of  sinners,  have  every  encourage- 
ment to  repent,  and  believe  in  Jesus.  The  invitation  of  Moses  to 
Hobab  is  the  same,  for  substance,  as  Christ's  servants  are  now 
warranted  to  address  to  every  one  they  meet :  We  are  journeying 
to  the  place  of  which  the  Lord  said,  I  will  give  it  you:  come  thou 
with  us,  and  loe  will  do  thee  good :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good 
concerning  Israel. 


THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST  THE   TURNING    POINT 
OF  SALVATION. 


SERMON  XVI. 

John  i.  10—12. 


He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew 
him  not  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not.  But  as 
many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name. 


Among  the  numerous  self-deceiving  notions  which  are  cherished 
in  the  minds  of  men,  is  that  of  their  being  willing  to  return  to  God 
at  any  time,  provided  they  had  opportunity,  and  the  means  of  do- 
ing so.  In  accounting  for  their  own  impen»ience  and  persever- 
ance in  sin,  they  will  impute  it  to  their  s'Oiation,  their  temptations, 
their  callings,  their  connexions,  or  to  any  thing  but  their  evil 
hearts.  Some  have  even  learntid  to  speak  evil  of  their  hearts, 
while  it  is  manifest,  that  t^iey  mean  to  include,  under  that  term> 
nothing  pertaining  to  intention,  desire,  or  design,  but  something 
that  exists  and  operates  in  them  against  their  inclination.  Hence, 
you  will  often  hear  them  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  uncon- 
verted, and,  at  the  same  time,  express  how  willing  and  desirous 
they  are  of  being  converted,  if  it  would  but  please  God  to  put 
forth  his  power  in  their  favour.     Th«  word   of  God,  however, 

Vol.  VH.  36 


282  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST         [Sermon  XVI. 

speaks  a  different  language;  while  it  ascribes  all  that  is  good  to 
grace  only;  it  lays  the  evil  at  the  sinner's  own  door. 

A  great  number  of  instances  might  be  alledged  from  the  scrip- 
tures, in  proof  of  this  truth  ;  but  the  greatest  proof  of  all  is  the 
manner  in  which  Christ  himself  was  treated,  when  he  appeared 
upon  earth.  The  Evangelist,  having  introduced  him  to  his  reader 
in  all  the  glory  of  divinity,  describes,  in  plaintive  language,  the 
neglect  and  contempt  he  met  with,  both  from  the  world  in  general, 
and  from  his  own  nation  in  particular.  Let  us  examine  these 
complaints. 

He  was  in  the  world.  It  has  often  been  objected, '  If  the  reli- 
gion of  Christ  has  a  claim  on  the  world,  why  has  not  the  world 
had  more  of  an  opportunity  to  hear  it  ?'  It  might  be  the  design  of 
the  Evangelist  to  obviate  this  objection.  His  being  in  the  world 
does  not  seem  lo  refer  so  much  to  his  personal  presence  among 
men  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  as  to  those  manifestations  of  him, 
which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  had  furnished  them  with 
the  means  of  knowing  him,  and  which,  therefore,  rendered  their 
ignorance  inexcusable.  He  had  been  revealed,  at  the  outset  of 
the  world,  as  the  Woman's  Seed,  who  should  bruise  the  head  of 
the  serpent.  Sacrifices  were  appointed  to  prefigure  his  atone- 
ment ;  which,  though  perverted,  were  never  discontinued,  even 
among  the  heathen.  The  selection  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and 
their  miraculous  settlement  in  Canaan,  must  have  attracted  uni- 
versal attention  ;  and,  as  the  Messiah  was  a  prominent  feature  of 
their  religion,  he  was  in  a  manner,  proclaimed  through  every  na- 
tion. The  effect  pvoduced  on  the  mariners,  when  Jonah  told 
them  that  he  was  a  Hebt^wand  feared  Jehovah,  the  God  of  heav- 
en, who  made  the  sea  and  tLq  dry  land,  shows  very  plainly,  that 
the  displays  of  omnipotence,  in  behalf  of  Israel,  were  not  un- 
known to  the  surrounding  nations.  That  also,  which  was  soon 
after  produced  on  the  Ninevites,  when  they  learned  that  he  was 
a  Hebrew  prophet,  sent  of  God,  evinces  the  same  thing.  And,  if 
they  were  not  ignorant  of  God's  judgments,  they  were  not  desti- 
tute of  the  means  of  enquiring  after  the  true  religion.  Nay, 
more,  the  expectation  of  the  promised  Messiah  was,  for  a  long 
time  before  he  appeared,  very  general  among  the  natipns.     Had 


Sermon  XVI.]        THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  283 

they,  therefore,  possessed  any  portion  of  a  right  spirit,  or  any  de- 
sire after  the  true  God,  they  would  have  been  as  inquisitive  as 
were  the  wise  men  of  the  east,  and  as  desirous  as  they  were  of 
paying  him  homage. 

Not  only  was  he  in  the  world,  so  as  to  render  their  ignorance 
of  him  inexcusable,  but  the  world  itself  xcas  made  by  him.  Though, 
as  to  the  state  of  their  minds,  they  were  far  from  him,  yet  he  was 
not  far  from  every  one  of  them  ;  for  in  him  they  lived  and  moved 
and  had  their  being.  When  he  became  incarnate,  it  was  nothing 
less  than  their  Creator  in  every  deed  dwelling  with  them  upon  the 
earth.  Such  an  event  ought  to  have  excited  universal  inquiry) 
and  to  have  induced  all  men  every  where  to  repent. 

But,  though  he  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by 
him,  1/et  the  toorld  knew  him  not!  Full  of  their  own  schemes  and 
pursuits,  they  thought  nothing  of  him.  The  Roman  Governors, 
in  hearing  the  accusations  of  the  Jews  against  Paul,  and  his  defen- 
ces, had  great  opportunities  of  knowing  the  truth  ;  but  the  igno- 
rance and  contempt  expressed  by  Festus,  in  his  report  of  the  mat- 
ter to  Agrippa,  show  the  inefficacy  of  all  means,  unless  accompa- 
nied with  the  mighty  power  of  God.  The  Jews  brought  none  ac- 
cusation of  such  things  as  he  supposed ;  but  had  certain  questions 
against  him  of  their  own  superstition,  and  of  one  Jesus,  which  was 
dead,  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be  alive  ! 

But  this  is  not  the  heaviest  complaint :  He  came  unto  his  own, 
and  his  own  received  him  not.  How  appropriate  are  the  terms 
here  used  !  He  was  in  the  world,  and,  therefore,  within  the 
reach  of  inquiry.  But  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  he  ca7ne,  knock- 
ing as  it  were,  at  their  door  for  admission  ;  but  thei/  received  him 
not.  The  world  are  accused  of  ignorance  ;  but  they  of  unbelief : 
for  receiving  him  not,  though  a  merely  negative  form  of  speech, 
yet  is  expressive  of  a  positive  refusal  of  him.  Instead  of  wel- 
coming the  heavenly  visitant,  they  drove  him  from  their  door, 
and  even  banished  him  from  the  earth.  Who  would  have  sup- 
posed, that  a  people  whose  believing  ancestors  had  been  ear- 
nestly expecting  the  Messiah  for  a  succession  of  ages,  would  have 
rejected  him,  when  he  came  among  them  ?  Yet  so  it  was  :  and 
if  Jews  or  Deists  of  the  present  day  ask,  '  How  could  these  things 


284  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST         [Sermon XVI. 

be  V  we  answer  it  was  foretold  by  their  own  prophets,  that  he 
should  possess  neither  form  nor  comeliness  in  their  eyes,  and 
that  when  they  should  see  him,  there  would  be  no  beauty  that  they 
should  desire  him. 

The  consideration  of  their  being  his  otun  people,  the  children  of 
Abrjiham  his  friend,  added  to  their  sin,  and  to  his  affliction.  It 
was  this  which  he  so  pathetically  lamented,  when  he  beheld  the 
city  and  wept  over  it,  saying.  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at 
least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace !  But 
now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes. 

Grievous,  however,  as  this  treatment  was  to  our  blessed  Lord, 
he  was  not  utterly  disregarded.  Though  the  world,  in  general, 
knew  him  not,  and  though  the  great  body  of  his  own  nation  re- 
jected him  ;  yet  there  was  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of 
grace,  partly  Jews  and  partly  Gentiles,  who  received  him :  and, 
whether  they  had  been  previously  distinguished  by  their  sobriety, 
or  by  their  profligacy  ;  whether  they  came  in  companies,  as  un- 
der Peter's  sermon,  or  as  individuals,  like  her  who  wept,  and 
washed  his  feet,  or  him  who  sought  mercy,  when  expiring  by  his 
side  on  the  cross  ;  all  were  received  by  him,  and  raised  to  the 
highest  dignity  :  To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name. 
And  thus,  though  Israel  was  not  gathered,  yet  Christ  was  glorious 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  had  a  people  given  him  from  among 
the  heathen. 

I  need  not  say,  that  the  treatment  which  our  Saviour  received 
is  the  same,  for  substance,  in  all  ages.  There  is  a  world  that  still 
knows  him  not,  and  many  who,  though  possessed  of  the  means  of 
grace,  yet  receive  him  not :  and,  blessed  be  God!  there  are  also 
many,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  who  still  receive  him,  and  are  still 
blessed  with  the  privilege  of  being  adopted  into  his  heavenly  fam- 
ily. 

That  we  may  understand  and  feel  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
1  shall  first  inquire,  What  is  supposed  and  included  in  receiving 
Christ?  secondly,  consider  the  great  privilege  annexed  to  it:  and, 
lastly,  observe  the  wisdom  of  God  in  rendering  the  reception  of 
Christ  the  great  turning  point  of  salvation. 


Sermon  XVI.]  THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  2i{5 

I.  Let  us  inquire,  What  is  supposed  and  included  in  receiv- 
ing Christ?  The  phrase  is  supposed  to  be  equivalent  with  te- 
licving  on  his  name.  To  receive  Christ  is  to  believe  in  him  ;  and 
to  believe  in  Christ,  is  to  receive  him.  There  are  some  slight 
shades  of  riifference  between  these  and  some  other  terms  which 
are  used  to  express  faith  in  Christ;  such  as  believing,  trusting, 
receivings  &c.  but  they  must  be  the  same  in  substance,  or  they 
would  not  be  used  in  the  New  Testament  as  convertible  terms. 
Believing,  seems  to  respect  Christ  as  exhibited  in  the  gospel  testi- 
mony ;  trusting,  as  revealed  with  promise;  and  receiving  suppo- 
ses him  to  be  God's  free  gift,  presented  to  us  for  acceptance  in  the 
invitations  of  the  gospel  :  but,  as  I  said,  all  come  to  the  same  issue. 
He  that  believeth  the  testimony,  trusteth  the  promise,  and  receiv- 
eth  the  gift ;  and  the  whole  is  necessary  to  an  interest  in  his 
benefits,  whether  pardon,  justification,  adoption,  or  any  other 
spiritual  blessing. 

If  we  were  inquiring  into  the  nature  of  believing,  it  might  be 
necessary  to  examine  the  testimony;  if  of  trusting,  we  must  ascer- 
tain, wherein  consists  the  promise  ;  and  so,  if  we  would  form  just 
conceptions  of  receiving  Christ,  we  must  observe,  what  is  said  of 
the  gift  of  him  :  for  each  is  the  standard  of  the  other,  and  will  be 
found  to  correspond  with  it  :   So  ve  preached,  and  so  ye  believed. 

Considering  Christ,  then,  as  the  gift  of  God,  it  is  necessary  to 
observe,  that  he  is  {he  Jirst  and  chief  oi  nW  his  gifts,  and  that  for 
his  sake  all  others  are  bestowed  :  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son, 
but  dti'ivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also 
frt.ely  give  vs  rdl things?  Other  gifts  may  be  so  great,  that  noth- 
ing in  tliis  world  can  be  compared  with  them :  this,  however,  is 
the  greatest.  It  is  great  for  God  to  forbear  with  us  ;  greater,  to  for- 
give us  ;  and  greater  still,  to  accept  and  crown  us  with  eternal 
life:  but  all  this  is  supposed  to  be  small,  in  comparison  ofth.i  gift 
of  his  own  Son  ;  and  therefore  it  is  argued,  that,  having  bestowed 
the  greater,  we  may  trust  him  for  the  less.  But,  if  God  first  give 
Christ,  and,  with  him,  all  things  freely,  we  must  first  receive 
Christ,  and,  with  him  all  things  freely.  The  first  exercise  of  faith, 
therefore,  does  no!  consist  in  receiving  the  benefits  resulting  from 
his  death,  or  ip  3  persuasion  of  our  sins  being  forgiven,  but  ia 


286  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XVI. 

receiving  Christ ;  and,  having  received  him,  we,  withhim,  receive 
an  interest  in  those  benefits.  Hence,  the  propriety  of  such  lan- 
guage as  this  :  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath  life  :  and  he  that  hath 
NOT  the  Son  of  God,  hath  not  life. 

It  is  on  this  principle,  that  union  with  Christ  is  represented  as 
the  foundation  of  an  interest  in  his  benefits,  as  it  is  in  the  following 
passages:  Of  him  arc  ije  m  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto 

us  WISDOM,  avd  RIGHTEOUSNESS,  and  SANCTIFICATION,  and  RE- 
DEMPTION.—  There  is  therefore  now  no  condkmnation  to  thetathat 
are  IN  Christ  Jesus. — That  I  may  be  found,  in  him,  not  having  mine 
own  righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the 
faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  hy  faith.  It  is 
thus  in  the  marriage-union,  to  which  that  of  believers  with  Christ 
is  compared.  As  she  that  is  joined  to  a  husband  becomes  inter- 
ested in  all  that  he  possesses,  so  they  that  are  joined  to  Christ  are, 
by  the  gracious  constitution  of  the  gospel,  interested  in  all  that  he 
possesses.  He  is  heir  of  all  things,  and  they  are  joint  heirs  with 
him.  The  sum  is,  that  receiving  Christ  is  the  great  turning  point 
of  salvation,  or  that  by  which  we  obtain  a  revealed  interest  in  all 
the  blessings  of  the  gospel. 

But,  more  particularly,  to  receive  Christ  pre-supposes  a  sense 
of  sin,  and  of  our  exposedness  to  the  just  displeasure  of  God.  It 
is  a  great  error  to  bold  up  a  sense  of  sin  as  a  qualification  which 
gives  us  a  warrant  to  receive  the  Saviour,  and  so  to  consider  the 
invitations  of  the  gospel  as  addressed  to  sensible  sinners  only  ;  as 
this  must  necessarily  teach  men  to  reckon  themselves  the  favour- 
ites of  God,  while  yet  they  are  in  a  state  of  unbelief  But  it  is  no 
less  an  error  to  suppose,  that  any  sinner  will  receive  the  Saviour 
without  perceiving  and  feeling  his  need  of  him.  It  is  one  thing  to 
require  a  sense  of  sin  as  a  qualification  that  gives  a  warrant  to  re- 
ceive the  Saviour,  and  another,  to  plead  for  it  as  necessary,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  to  a  compliance  with  that  warrant.  What  is  the 
reason  that  Christ  is  rejected,  and  the  gospel  made  light  of,  by  the 
great  body  of  mankind  ?  Is  it  not,  as  the  scriptures  represent  it, 
because  they  are  whole  in  their  own  eyes,  and  therefore  think 
they  need  no  physician  ?  While  men  are  righteous  in  their  own 
esteem,  the  gospel  must  appear  to  be  a  strange  doctrine,  and  the 


Sermon  XVI.]  THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  2Q7 

dwelling  so  much  upon  Christ,  in  the  ministry  of  the  word,  a 
strange  conduct.  How  is  it,  that  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
grace,  through  the  atonement  of  the  Son  of  God,  should  be  so  gen- 
erally opposed,  e?en  by  nominal  Christians  ?  The  reason  is  {he 
same.  Sin  is  considered  as  a  light  thing,  a  mere  frailty,  or  imper- 
fection, unfortunately  attached  to  human  nature  ;  and,  while  thi* 
is  the  case,  there  appears  to  be  no  need  of  a  mediator,  or  at  least 
not  of  one  that  is  divine,  and  who,  to  atone  for  sin,  should  be  re- 
quired to  assume  humanity,  and  render  his  life  a  sacrifice.  Hence, 
it  is  necessary  to  be  convinced  of  sin,  in  order  to  receive  the 
Saviour. 

Much  of  this  conviction  may  respect  only  our  guilt  and  danger, 
and  90  have  nothing  spiritually  good  in  it :  but  in  those  who,  in 
the  end,  receive  the  Saviour,  it  is  not  wholly  so.  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  spiritual  conviction,  or  conviction  which  involves  in  it 
an  abhorrence  of  sin,  and  of  ourselves  on  account  of  it.  Such  is 
that  sense  of  its  intrinsically  evil  nature,  or,  as  the  scriptures 
speak,  oi^  its  exceeding  sinfulness,  which  is  produced  by  a  just 
view  of  the  spirituality  and  equity  of  the  divine  law.  And  such 
is  that  repentance  towards  God,  which  is  represented  as  neces- 
sary to  faith  in  Christ,  and  as  included  in  it.  We  may  be  convin- 
ced of  our  guilt  and  danger  by  an  enlightened  conscience  only,  and 
may  be  very  sorry  for  our  sin,  in  reference  to  its  consequences  : 
but  this,  though  it  may  be  used  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
yet  will  neither  divest  the  sinner  of  his  self-righteous  spirit,  nor 
render  him  willing  to  come  to  Christ,  that  he  may  have  life  ;  and, 
instead  of  issuing  in  his  receiving  him,  may  end  in  his  destruction. 
A  sense  of  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  on  the  other  hand, 
tends,  in  its  own  nature,  to  kill  a  self-righteous  spirit,  and  to  in- 
duce the  sinner  to  embrace  the  gospel.  It  is  impossible  to  have  a 
just  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  object  to  the 
way  of  salvation  by  grace,  through  a  Mediator. 

Again,  to  receive  Christ  implies  the  renunciation  of  every  thing 
which  stands  in  opposition  to  him,  or  comes  in  competition  with 
him.  Viewing  Christ  as  a  guest,  he  stands  at  the  door,  and  knocks  ; 
and  why  is  it  kept  barred  against  him  ?  Because  the  sinner  has  a 
variety  of  other  guests  already  in  his  house,  and  is  aware,  that,  if 


288  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST         [Sermon  XVI. 

he  enter,  they  must  be  dismissed  ;  and,  being  reluctant  to  part 
with  them,  he  cannot  find  in  his  heart,  at  least  for  the  present,  to 
welcome  the  heavenly  visitant.  These  guests  are  not  only  dar- 
ling sins,  but  corrupt  principles,  flesh-pleasing  schemes,  and  a 
spirit  of  self-righteous  pride.  With  these  Christ  cannot  associate. 
If  we  receive  him,  we  must  reject  them;  and  that,  not  as  being 
forced  to  it  for  the  sake  of  escaping  the  wrath  of  God,  but  with  all 
our  hearts.  Many,  considering  the  necessity  of  the  thing,  would 
willingly  receive  Christ,  so  that  they  might  retain  what  is  most 
dear  to  them  ;  but,  this  being  inadmissible,  they,  like  him  who  was 
nearest  of  kin  to  Ruth,  decline  it,  le«t  they  should  mar  their  own 
inheritance. 

It  was  not  so  with  Moses.  He  had  to  refuse,  as  well  as  choose  ; 
and,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  yea,  for  the  reproach  of  Christ,  he  did 
refuse  even  the  prospect  of  a  crown.  Paul  had  great  advantages 
by  birth,  and  had  acquired  many  more  by  application;  but,  when 
they  came  in  competition  with  Christ,  all  this  gain  was  counted 
loss.  Nor  did  he  ever  repent  the  sacrifice,  but,  towards  the  close 
of  life,  declared,  saying.  Yea,  doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but 
loss,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord: 
for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them 
but  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him. 

Moreover,  to  receive  Christ  is  expressive  of  the  exercise,  not 
of  one  faculty  only,  but  oi'  all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  If  it  were 
mei'ely  an  exercise  of  the  understanding,  as  distinguished  from  the 
will  and  affections,  it  would  not  be  properly  opposed  to  a  rejection 
of  him,  which  is  manifestly  the  idea  suggested  by  the  term  receiv- 
ed him  not.  As  unbelief  includes  more  than  an  error  in  judgment, 
even  an  aversion  of  the  heart  from  Christ,  and  the  way  of  salva- 
tion by  bis  death ;  so  faith  includes  more  than  an  accurate  notion 
of  things,  even  a  cordial  acceptance  of  him,  and  the  way  of  salva- 
tion by  him.  Nothing  short  of  this  can,  with  any  propriety,  be 
considered,  as  receiving  him,  or  aa  having  the  promise  of  eternal 
life. 

Finally  :  To  receive  Christ  requires  to  be  not  only  by  all  in  us, 
but  to  have  respect  to  all  m  him.  If  we  receive  Christ  aa  the  gift 
of  God,  we  must  receive  him  for  .ill  the  purposes  for  which  he  is 


Sermon  XVI.]  THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  289 

given.  These  purposes  may  be  distinguished,  and  one  may  come 
in  order  after  another  ;  but  they  musl  not  be  separated.  Were 
it  possible  to  receive  him  as  an  atoning  sacrifice  without  yielding 
©urselves  up  to  his  authority,  or  to  yield  ourselves  up  to  his  au- 
thority without  relying  on  his  sacrifice,  each  would  be  vain  ;  and, 
could  both  of  them  be  united  without  sitting  at  his  feet  a?  little 
children,  to  be  instructed  in  his  will,  it  were  still  in  vain.  The 
invitation  of  our  Lord,  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Matthew,  shows 
both  the  order  and  connexion  of  these  things  :  Come  unto  me  all 
ye  that  labour,  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take 
my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy, 
and  my  burden  is  light.  The  first  concern  of  a  sinner  is  to  come  to 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  lost :  but,  at  what  time  he  does  this, 
he  must  also  take  his  yoke  upon  him  as  his  Lord  and  Lawgiver. 
Nor  is  this  all:  he  must  take  him  for  his  example ;  learning  his 
spirit,  and  following  his  steps. 

II.  Consider  THE  privilege  annexed  to  receiving  Christ: 
To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  poicer  to  become  the 
sons  of  God.  The  relation  of  sons  seems  to  be  ascribed  to  believ- 
ers, in  the  text  and  context,  on  two  accounts;  viz.  their  regenera- 
tion, and  iheir  adoption.  The  one  is  expressed  in  verse  13: 
Who  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  fiesh,  nor  of  the 
will  of  man,  but  of  God.  This  consists  in  a  re-impression  of  the 
divine  image,  and  is  introduced  to  account  for  some  having  receiv- 
ed Christ,  while  others  received  him  not.  The  other  is  denomi- 
nated a  power,  or  privilege,  and  belongs  to  our  restoration  to  the 
divine  favour. 

It  was  a  high  honour,  conferred  on  our  species  from  the  begin- 
ning, for  God  to  call  himself  their  father  ;  an  honour  extended,  as 
it  would  seem,  to  no  other  part  of  the  lower  creation.  His  tender 
mercies,  indeed,  are  over  all  his  works;  but  man  was  created  in 
his  image  :  In  the  image  of  God  created  he  him.  Men,  therefore, 
are  ranked  among  the  children  of  the  Most  High.  Nor  was  it  a 
mere  name  :  the  love  of  the  Creator  was  truly  that  of  a  father. 
We  see  this  expressed  in  the  strongest  manner,  even  in  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  wicked  ;  as  though  it  were  against  the  grain  of  his 

Voj..  \U.  37 


290  '^^^^^  RECEPTiO.\  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XVI. 

nati\'e  goodness,  and  as  though  nothing  but  a  conduct  exceedingly 
offensive  could  have  induced  him  to  do  what  he  did.  Such  are 
the  ideas  in  the  following  passages  :  And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  de- 
stroy man,  whom  1  have  created, /rom  the  face  of  the  earth. — 
He  that  made  thkm  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he  that 
FORMED  THEM  Tn'ill  skow  thcni  nofavour.  And  though  it  sooietiraes 
appears  as  if  sin  had,  in  a  manner,  extinguished  his  paternal  good- 
ness, yet,  in  exercising  mercy  through  his  Son,  he  still  calls  to  re- 
membrance the  original  relation  :  I  -will  not  contend  forever.,  nei- 
ther -will  I  he  always  wroth  ;  for  the  spirit  should  fail  before  me. 
and  the  souls  which  I  have  made.  What  an  evil  and  bitter  thing, 
then,  must  sin  be,  to  have  induced  so  good  a  God  to  disown  us  as 
aliens,  and  to  require,  that,  if  we  be  again  admitted  into  his  family 
it  shall  be  by  adoption ;  a  proceeding  to  which  men  have  recourse, 
when  they  wish  to  favour  children  that  are  not  their  own  ! 

The  kindness  of  God  toward  Israel  is  described  as  an  adoption. 
Their  deplorable  condition  in  Egypt  is  represented  by  that  of  a 
a  helpless  infant,  left  to  perish  in  the  open  tield  in  the  day  that  it  was 
born,  and  by  the  favour  conferred  upon  them  by  the  kindness  of  a 
benevolent  stranger,  who,  passing  at  the  time,  had  compassion  on 
it,  and  adopted  it  as  his  own.  This,  however,  though  an  act  of 
grace,  and  through  a  mediator,  yet  was  only  a  shadow  of  that 
blessing  which  is  bestowed  on  them  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  separated  them  from  other  nations,  and  conferred  on  them  dis- 
tinguished privileges,  but  it  ascertained  no  inheritance  beyond 
the  grave.  This,  on  the  contrary,  not  only  puts  us  among  the 
children,  but  gives  us  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefled, 
and  that  fcideth  not  away .  The  depth  of  alienation  and  disgrace 
from  which  it  takes  us,  with  the  height  of  glory  to  which  it  raises 
us,  accounts  for  that  strong  language  which  is  more  than  once  used 
in  describing  it :  But  I  said.  How  shall  I  put  thee  among  the  children  ? 
— Behold,  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  vs^ 
that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God  / 

The  adoption  of  children  is  reckoned  among  those  spiritual 
blessings  wherewith  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
hath  blessed  them  that  believe  in  him,  having  predestinated  them 
to  it  by  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure 


SkrmokXVI.]  the  hinge  OF  SALVATION.  291 

of  his  will.  With  all  other  spiritual  blessings,  its  bestowment  is 
in  consequence  of  our  having  been  predeetinatecl  to  it ;  but  tho 
thing  itself,  like  justification,  is  a  blessing  of  time,  and  follows  on 
believing.  It  were  absurd,  to  speak  of  ourbeing  predestinated  to 
that  which  was,  in  itself,  eternal.  The  privilege  itself  is  held  up 
as  an  inducement  to  forsake  the  family  of  Satan,  and  be  separateil 
from  them  :  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye.  separate,  saitk 
the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will  receive  you, — 
and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty. 

But  the  connexion  between  receiving  Christ  and  having  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,  is  designed  to  mark,  not  only  the  or- 
der of  time,  but  that  of  nature  ;  or  to  show  the  influence  of  the 
one  upon  the  other  :  We  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  This  is  exactly  the  same  language  as  is  used  ol 
our  justification  :  and  the  blessing  obtained  in  the  same  way  ;  not 
m  reward  of  the  act  of  believing,  but  out  of  respect  to  him  in 
whom  we  believe.  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  is  joined, 
or  united,  to  him,  and  as  such,  by  the  constitution  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  becomes  interested  in  all  his  benefits.  It 
is  thus  that  we  are  justified  by  faith,  and  it  is  thus  that  we  are 
adopted.  Christ,  in  reward  of  his  obedience  unto  death,  is  ap- 
pointed heir  of  all  things  ;  and  we,  receiving  him,  are  received 
into  God's  family  for  his  sake,  and  become  joint-heirs  with  him. 
Such  is  the  delightful  harmony  of  the  gospel,  and  such  the  way  in 
which  the  adoption  of  children  2S  by  Jesus    Christ  io  himself, — 

TO  THE   PRAISE  OF  THE  GLORY  OF   HIS  GRACE. 

Regeneration  gives  us  anew  nature  ;  and  adoption  adds  to  it  a 
a  new  name,  even  that  of  sons  and  daughters  of  tlie  Lord  Almighty^ 
Nor  is  it  a  mere  name  ;  for  the  richest  blessings  both  in  this 
world  and  that  which  is  to  come  are  attached  to  it.  Of  these  we 
may  reckon  the  following,  as  the  principal  : 

1.  y4ccess  to  God  as  our  own  God  and  Father.  DTjring  our  un- 
belief, whatever  were  our  necessities  or  troubh^s,  wo  had  no  ac- 
cess to  God.  Though  under  the  pangs  of  woe,  we  might  cry  for 
mercy,  yet  it  was  unavailing.  Ilow  should  it  be  otherwise,  when 
we  set  at  nought  the  only  name  by  which  a  sinner  cnn  bcintrodu- 
-ed,  and  his  cause  obtain  a  hearing  ?     But  believing  in  Jc?u=^,  n  <; 


29^  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST         [Sermon  XVi. 

draw  near  to  God,  and  God  to  us.  The  term  "irpocfayw/i?,  render- 
ed access,  in  Ephes.  iii.  12,  signifies  as  much  as  introduction,  man- 
nduction,  or  a  being  taken  hy  the  hand,  as  one  who  is  introduced 
to  the  king  by  a  third  person  ;  teaching  us,  that  we  cannot  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  divine  presence  by  ourselves.  While  obedient,  we 
had  free  access  to  our  Creator  ;  but,  having  sinned,  the  door  is 
shut  upon  us,  and  not  a  child  of  Adam  can  see  his  face,  but  as  in- 
troduced by  the  Mediator.  As  Job's  friends  whose  folly  had  of- 
fended the  divine  Majesty,  were  required  to  bring  their  offerings 
to  Job,  that  he,  as  a  mediator,  might  present  them,  and  pray  for  the 
offenders,  so  it  is  with  us  in  drawing  near  to  God.  All  our  offer- 
ings must  be  presented  by  the  great  and  gracious  Intercessor. 
Him  will  God  accept.  Coming  in  his  name,  we  have  boldness  and 
access  with  confidence  by  the  faith  of  him.  The  spirit  which  is 
congenial  with  the  gospel-dispensation  is  not  that  of  bondage,  that 
we  should  be  held  in  slavish  fear, but  that  of  adoption,  whereby 
we  cry  Abba,  Father;  and,  if  we  do  not  actually  possess  it,  it  is 
because  we  are  wanting  to  ourselves.  A  promise  is  left  us  of  en- 
tering into  rest,  of  which  if  we  seem  to  come  short,  it  is  owing  to 
unbelief.  Did  we  but  act  up  to  our  privileges,  guilt  would  not  lie 
rankling  on  our  consciences  in  the  manner  it  often  does,  nor  would 
care  corrode  our  peace,  nor  morbid  melancholy  eat  up  our  en- 
joyments. Having  God  for  our  fither,  we  should  confess  our  sins 
to  him,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  would  cleanse  us  from 
all  sin  ;  we  should  cast  all  our  care  on  him  who  careth  for  us  ; 
we  should  be  inordinately  careful  for  nothing,  but  in  every  thing, 
by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving,  let  our  requests  be 
made  known  unto  God  ;  and  the  effect  would  be,  that  the  peace  of 
God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  would  keep  our  hearts  and 
minds  through  Christ  Jesus. 

2.  Access  to  all  the  ordinances  of  God' s  house,  and  to  the  fellow - 
iJiip  of  his  people.  From  being  stratigers  and  foreigners,  we  be- 
come fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God. 
The  church  of  God  is  here  described  as  a  citi/,  and  as  a  a  house- 
hold. As  a  city,  God  is  a  wall  of  fire  round  about  her,  and  the  glo- 
ry in  the  midst  of  her,  blessing  her  provision,  and  satisfying  her 
poor  with  bread.     To  be  made  free  of  this  city,  is  no  amall  favottr. 


Sermon  XVI.]  THE  HINGE  ^Jp'ftAilVATION.  293 

As  a  household,  God  is  the  father  of  it;  and'agiftj^y  as  receive  Christ 
receive  power  to  become  its  members,  andl^'sRSre  in  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  family.  There  are  believers,  no  doubtpwhose  situation 
does  not  admit  of  these  social  advantages,  and  others  who  are  pre- 
vented, by  something  amiss  in  the  state  of  thdir  own  minds,  from 
embracing  them  ;  but  such  do  not  excel  in  spirituality  or  in  use- 
fulness. It  is  as  being  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  that  we 
may  hope  to  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God. 

3.  A  part  in  the  first  resurrection.  The  resurrection  of  the 
saints  is  called  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God ;  the  glorioua 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God ;  the  adoption ;  the  redemption  of 
our  body.  It  is  the  grand  jubilee  of  the  church,  and  even  of  the 
creation.  Till  then,  the  former,  as  welt  as' the  latter,  will  be 
held  under  a  degree  of  bondage,  as  being  yet'sdbject  to  the  efiects 
of  sin  :  but  then  Christ's  promise  shall  be  fulfilled,  J  will  raise 
them  up  at  the  last  day ;  and  the  deliverance  of  the  saints  will  be 
the  signal  for  that  of  the  creation,  which,  during  the  apostasy,  has 
been  unwillingly  compelled  to  subserve  its  Creator's  enemies,  and 
which  is,  therefore,  represented  as  waiting  for,  and  earnestly  ex- 
pecting, the  moment  of  deliverance.  The  last  enemy  being  then 
destroyed,  the  war  will  be  ended  :  death  will  be  swallowed  up  in 
victory. 

4.  An  interest  in  the  eternal  inheritance.  The  natural  inference 
from  this  divine  relation  is  this  :  If  children.,  then  heirs ;  heirs  of 
God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  zvith  him, 
that  tee  may  be  also  glorified  together.  With  such  thoughts  our 
minds  are  overwhelmed  ;  and  no  wonder,  for  an  inspired  Apostle 
had  no  adequate  conception  of  it .  Beloved,  says  he,  noio  are  we 
the  sons  of  God ;  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
BE  :  hict  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him  ; 
for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is. 

Such  are  the  leading  privileges  included  in  the  power  of  becom- 
ing the  sons  of  God  ;  which  are  sufficient  to  show,  that,  though 
many  reject  the  Saviour,  yet  it  is  not  for  want  of  kindness  on  his 
part  towards  those  who  accept  of  him. 

III.  Let  us  observe  the  wisdom  op  God  in  rendering  the  re- 
ception OF  Christ  the  turning  point  of  salvation.     When  a 


204  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST         [Sermow  XVI. 

person  who  neither  understands  nor  believes  the  gospel-way  of 
salvation,  thinks  on  the  subject,  it  must  appear  to  him  a  strange 
thing,  that  so  much  should  be  made  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  of  faith  in  him.  He  has  no  conception  of  it,  or  of  the 
reason  why  it  should  be  so.  It  was  thus  that  the  gospel  was  unto 
the  Jews  a  stumbling-block^  and  unto  the  Greeks,  foolishness ;  to 
them  that  believed,  however,  it  was  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wis- 
dom of  God.  There  are  three  things,  in  particular,  in  which  the 
wisdom  of  God  appears  in  this  adjustment  of  things. 

1 .  It  accords  with  the  leading  design  of  God  in  the  gospel ;  name- 
ly, to  glorify  his  character  and  government  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 
Receiving  Christ,  as  we  have  seen  already,  is  the  corresponding 
idea  to  his  being  given,  and  that  which  answers  to  it,  as  the  loops 
and  taches  of  the  tabernacle  answered  to  each  other.  If  the  gift 
of  Christ,  on  God's  part,  was  necessary  to  secure  the  honour  of  his 
character  and  government  in  showing  mercy,  the  receiving  of  him, 
on  our  part,  must  also  be  necessary,  as  belonging  to  the  same  pro- 
ceeding. Without  this,  the  gift  would  not  answer  its  end. 
Hence,  though  God,  through  the  propitiation  of  his  Son,  is  Just 
andajustifier  ;  yet  it  is  of  him  only  that  helieveth  in  Jesus. 

If,  instead  of  receiving  Christ  as  God's  free  gift,  and  eternal  life 
with  him,  we  had  received  favour  irrespective  of  him,  God, 
so  far  as  we  can  conceive,  must  have  compromised  his  hon- 
our. To  show  favour  to  a  sinner  in  the  way  he  wishes,  that 
is,  in  reward  of  what  he  calls  his  good  works,  would  be  con- 
senting to  vacate  his  throne  at  the  desire  of  a  rebel.  It  would  be 
agreeing  not  only  to  pass  over  his  past  disobedience,  and  so  to  ren- 
der null  and  void  his  own  precepts,  warnings,  and  threatenings,  but 
to  accept,  in  future,  of  just  such  obedience,  and  such  a  degree  of 
it,'as  it  suited  his  iaclination  to  yield  :  Offer  it  now  unto  thy  gov. 
ernor,  will  he  he  pleased  with  thee,  or  accept  thy  person  ?  saith  the 
Jjord  of  hosts. 

But,  in  receiving  Christ,  we  acquiesce  in  the  whole  system  of 
>alvalion  by  his  death,  as  glorifyingthe  character  and  government 
<  f  God  ;  we  subscribe  to  the  great  evil  of  sin,  and  to  the  justice  of 
1  ur  condemnation  on  account  of  it ;  we  become  of  the  same  mind 
with  Christ,  and  in  our  measure,  stand  affected  as  he  does,  toward 
Ood  and  man,  and  sin  and  righteousness.     That  law  which  was 


Sermon  XVL]         THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  295 

witbJD  his  heart,  is  toritten  in  ours.  Thus  it  is  that  God  and  his 
government  are  glorified,  not  only  by  the  gift  of  Christ  to  be  a 
sacrifice,  but  in  the  reception  of  him  as  such,  by  the  believing  sin- 
ner. 

2.  It  secures  the  honours  of  grace.  If,  instead  of  receiving 
Christ  as  God's  free  gift,  and  eternal  life  through  him,  we  had  re- 
ceived favour  irrespective  of  him,  we  should  have  considered  our- 
selves as  having  whereof  to  glory.  It  would  have  appeared  to  us, 
as  it  does  and  must  appear  to  every  one  that  hopes  to  be  saved 
without  an  atonement,  that  the  Almighty  has  no  right  to  expect 
perfect  obedience  from  imperfect  creatures  ;  that  there  is  no  such 
great  evil  in  sin,  as  that  it  should  deserve  everlasting  punishment: 
that,  if  God  were  to  be  strict  to  mark  iniquity,  according  to  the 
threatenings  of  the  Bible,  he  would  be  unjust  :  and,  therefore; 
that,  in  showing  mercy,  he  only  makes  just  allowance  for  the  frail- 
ties of  his  creatures,  and  acts  as  a  good  being  must  needs  act. 
Thus  it  is  that  the  very  idea  of  grace  is  excluded,  and  the  sinner 
feels  himself  on  terms  with  his  Creator.  But,  in  receiving  Christ,, 
and  salvation  through  his  death,  these  imaginations  are  cast  down, 
and  all  such  high  thoughts  subdued  to  the  obedience  of  Christ.  He 
that  has  been  disputing  with  his  Maker  for  a  number  of  years,  at 
once  finds  the  ground  sink  under  him,  all  his  arguments  answered, 
and  himself  reduced  to  the  character  of  a  supplicant  at  the  feet  of 
his  offended  Sovereign. 

It  is  as  hard  a  thing  for  a  proud  and  carnal  heart  to  receive 
Christ,  and  salvation  by  grace  through  him,  as  it  is  to  keep  the 
whole  law.  If,  therefore,  we  expect  the  good  news  of  the  gos- 
pel to  consist  in  something  more  suited  to  the  inclinations,  and  not 
merely  to  the  condition  of  sinners,  we  shall  be  disappointed.  It  is 
said  of  a  certain  character,  who  some  years  since  was  banished 
from  this  country,  for  attempting  to  revolutionize  it,  after  the  ex- 
ample of  France,  that  he  was  offered  a  free  pardon,  if  he  would 
only  acknowledge  his  fault  and  petition  the  throne  ;  but  he  could 
not  do  it  !  Such  is  the  inability  of  men  to  receive  the  Saviour  j 
and  herein  consists  the  damning  sin  of  unbelief. 

If  our  spirit  were  brought  down  to  our  situation  as  sinners,  the 
most  humiliating  truths  of  the  gospel,   instead  of  ofTending  us* 


296  THE  RECEPTION  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XVL 

would  appear  to  be  right,  and  wise,  and  glorious.  We  should  feel 
that  the  dust  was  our  proper  place  ;  or  rather,  if  vve  had  our  de- 
serts, the  pit  of  perdition.  We  should  consider  ourselves  as  lying 
at  the  absolute  discretion  of  God  :  instead  of  being  stumbled  at 
such  an  assertion  of  the  divine  sovereignty  as  that  addressed  to 
Moses,  1 7oill  have  mercy  on  tvhom  I  will  have  mercy ^  and  I  will 
have  compassion  on  whom  I  will  have  compassion,  we  should  cor- 
dially subscribe  it,  and  supplicate  mercy  only  on  that  principle. 
And,  when  we  had  obtained  it,  we  should  never  think  of  having 
made  ourselves  to  differ,  but  freely  acknowledge,  that  it  is  by 
the  grace  of  God  that  vve  are  what  we  are.  Our  minds  would  be 
in  perfect  unison  with  the  language  of  the  Apostle  to  Timothy  : 
Who  hath  saved  us,  and  called  us  with  an  holy  calling,  not  accord' 
ing  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace ^ 
which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began. 

3.  It  provides  J  or  the  interests  of  holiness.  In  receiving  Christ, 
and  salvation  through  him,  we  receive  a  doctrine  that  strikes  at 
the  very  root  of  depravity.  The  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that 
he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil :  he,  therefore,  that  re- 
ceives him  must,  from  thence,  be  at  variance  with  them.  We  are 
not  only  justified,  but  sanctified  by  the  faith  that  is  in  him.  The 
doctrine  of  the  cross,  while  it  gives  peace  to  the  conscience,  puri- 
fies the  heart.  There  is  not  a  principle  in  it,  but  what,  if  felt 
and  acted  upon,  would  cause  the  world  to  be  dead  to  us,  and  us 
unto  the  world.  The  objections,  therefore,  that  are  made  to  this 
doctrine  as  being  unfriendly  to  holiness,  have  no  foundation  in  the 
doctrine  itself,  whatever  may  be  seen  in  the  lives  of  some  that 
profess  it. 

From  the  whole  :  The  first  concern  of  the  sinner  is  to  receive 
the  Saviour.  It  ought  to  be  no  question,  whether  he  may  receive 
him  ;  since  the  gospel  is  addressed  to  every  creature,  and  its  in- 
vitations to  the  stout-hearted  and  far  from  righteousness.  The 
only  question  is,  whether  he  be  willing  to  receive  him.  To  a 
spectator  unacquainted  with  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  it 
must  be  beyond  measure  surprising,  that  this  should  be  a  question; 
and,  indeed,  few  men  can  be  convinced  that  it  is  :  yet,  if  it  were 
not,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  receiving  him.     Why  do  ye 


Sermon  XVI.]        THE  HINGE  OF  SALVATION.  297 

not  understand  my  speech  ?  because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word :  tliat 
is,  because  ye  are  averse  from  it.  But  no  man  will  be  able  (o  ex- 
cuse this,  his  aversion,  which  is  itself  sin.  The  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  makes  no  allowance  for  it,  nor  for  its  not  having  been  re- 
moved by  divine  grace.  Grace  is  never  represented  in  the 
scriptures  as  necessary  to  our  accountableness  ;  but  as  a  free  gift 
which  God  might  justly  withhold.  It  is  deemed  sufficient  to  jus 
tjfy  the  condemnation  of  sinners,  that  they  toere  averse  from  the 
gospel  and  government  of  Christ  :  Take  these  mine  enemies,  that 
vvouLD  NOT  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  and  slay  them  before  mo. 
Should  it  be  objected,  that  these  principles  must  tend  to  drive 
a  sinner  to  despair  ;  I  answer,  by  asking,  What  sinner?  Not  Iiim 
whose  desires  are  toward  the  Saviour  ;  not  him  whose  prayer  is, 
Turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  be  turned :  if  any,  it  must  be  him  who 
has  no  desire  after  God  ;  and,  even  in  his  case,  the  despair  is  not 
absolute,  but  merely  on  supposition  of  his  continuing  in  that  state 
of  mind.  But  this,  to  him,  is  most  necessar}'  ;  for,  till  a  sinner 
despair  of  obtaining  mercy  in  the  way  he  is  in,  he  will  never  fall 
at  the  feet  of  sovereign  grace,  and  so  will  never  be  saved.  As  he 
that  would  be  wise  must  first  become  a  fool,  that  he  may  be  wise  ; 
so  he  that  layeth  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  him  in  the  gospel 
must  first  relinquish  his  hope  from  every  other  quarter. 


Vol.  VIT.. 


ON  JUSTIFICATION. 


SERMON  XVII. 


Romans  iii.  24. 

Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,   through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus. 


The  doctrine  expressed  in  this  passage  runs  through  the  Epis- 
tle and  constitutes  the  scope  of  it.  it  is  taught  in  many  other 
parts  of  scripture,  but  here  it  is  established  by  a  connected  body 
of  evidence.  Both  heathens  and  Jews  are  proved  to  be  under 
sin,  and,  consequently,  incapable  of  being  justified  by  a  righteous 
God,  on  the  ground  of  their  own  obedience.  As  to  the  former, 
they  were  wicked  in  the  extreme.  If  any  thing  could  have  been 
alleged  in  excuse  of  them,  it  had  been  their  ignoitmce  ;  but  even 
this  failed.  They  had  means  of  knowledge  sufficient  to  render 
them  without  excitse ;  but,  having  neglected  them,  and  cast  oflf 
God,  God  gave  them  up  to  their  own  corrupt  affections  and  pro- 
pensities ;  so  that  even  the  philosophic  Greeks  and  Romans  were 
full  of  all  ungodlinens  and  unrighteousness,  holding,  or  rather 
withholding,  the  truth,  which  they  understood  above  the  common 
people,  m  unrishtenvsncss.  '  But  if  heathens  could  not  be  justified 
yet  did  not  they  who  had  the  oracles  of  God  stand  on  higher 
ground  ?'     Not  so  ;  for  tho?e   very  oracles  describe  men  as  all 


300  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XVIT. 

^one  out  of  the  '^'ny,  as  having  become  unprofitable,  as  none  of 
them  doing  good,  vo,  not  one;  and  what  revelation  says,  it  says  of 
fliem  who  are  under  the  Hght  of  it.  Israel,  therefore,  was  a  part 
of  the  corrupt  ma.=s.  The  sum  is.  Every  mouth  is  stopped,  and 
nil  the  W01  Id  become  guilty  before  God. — By  the  deeds  of  the  laxm 
no  fl(t<h  living  can  be  justified  in  his  sight. 

These  sentiments,  contained  in  the  first  three  chapters  of  the 
Epistle,  muke  way  for  the  following  interesting  statement :  But 
now  the  rightromness  of  God  loithout  the  law  is  manifested,  being 
mtnessed  by  the  law  and  the  prophets;  even  the  righteousness  of 
God  tohich  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  alt,  and  upon  all  them, 
that  believe  ;  for  there  is  no  difference  :  for  all  have  sinned,  and 
come  short  rf  the  glory  of  God  :  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace, 
through  the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus:  whom  God  hath 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare 
his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the 
forbearance  (f  God ;  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteous- 
ness :  that  he  7night  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  who  believeth 
in  Jesus. 

I  c;dl  this  an  interesting  statement  ;  for  of  all  the  questions  that 
can  occupy  the  human  mind,  there  is  none  of  greater  importance 
than  that  vvliich  relates  to  the  way  of  acceptance  with  God.  We 
learn  fiom  our  own  consciences,  as  well  as  from  the  scriptures, 
that  we  are  accountable  creatures  ;  but  how  we  shall  stand  before 
the  holy  Lord  God,  is  a  question  that  overwhelms  us.  If  there 
were  no  hope  from  the  gospel;,  we  must  de.-pair.  We  must  ap- 
pear before  the  judgment-seat,  but  it  would  be  only  to  be  con- 
victed and  condemned.  The  doctrine,  therefore,  that  shows  a  way 
in  which  God  can  be  just,  and  yet  a  justifier,  must  be  interesting 
beyond  expression.  This  is,  in  substanLe,  the  good  news  to  be 
proclaimed  to  every  creature. 

Justification  by  grace  has  been  thought,  by  some,  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  justification  through  the  atonement  and  righteousness 
of  Christ.  Vet  it  is  here  expressly  said  to  be  of  grace  ;  and,  as 
lliough  that  were  not  enough,  freely  by  grace  :  nor  is  the  sacred 
writer  less  express  concerning  its  meritorious  cause,  than  concern- 


Seumon  XVII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  301 

ing  its  source;  or  origin  :  it  was  not  only  of  free  grace,  but  through 
the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

In  every  kind  of  justification  in  which  justice  is  regarded,  there 
is  some  ground,  or  reason,  for  the  proceeding.  In  ordinary  cases 
among  men,  this  ground,  or  reason,  is  found  in  the  character  of  the 
prisoner.  He  is  considered  as  innocent,  and  therefore  is  acquitted. 
In  the  justification  of  a  sinner  by  the  Judge  of  all,  it  is  the  redemp- 
tion which  is  ill  Christ  Jesits.  That  which  innocence  is  to  the 
one,  the  redemption  of  Christ  is  to  the  other  :  it  is  his  righteous- 
ness, or  that  in  consideration  of  which  being  imputed  to  him,  he  is- 
justified. 

In  discoursing  upon  this  great  subject,  1  shall  endeavour  to  as- 
certain the  meaning  of  the  term  ;  to  give  proof  of  the   doctrine 
and  to  show  the  consistency  of  its  being  of  free    grace,  and  yet 
through  the  redemption  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I.  Let  us  endeavour  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  the 
TERM  justification.  Many  errors  on  this  important  subject  may 
be  expected  to  have  arisen  from  the  want  of  a  clear  view  of  the 
thing  itself.  Till  we  understand  what  justification  is,  we  can- 
not affirm  or  deny  any  thing  concerning  it,  but  with  great  uncer- 
tainty. 

It  is  not  the  making  a  person  righteous  by  an  inherent  change 
from  sin  to  righteousness  :  this  is  sanctijication ;  which,  though 
no  less  necessary  than  the  other,  yet  is  distinguished  from  it : 
Christ  is  made  unto  us  righteousness  and  sanctijieation.  The  term 
is  forensic,  referring  to  the  proceedings  in  a  court  of  judicature, 
and  stands  opposed  to  condemnation.  This  is  evident  from  many 
passages  of  scripture,  particularly  the  following  :  He  that  justifi- 
KTH  the  wicked,  and  he  that  coy  demszth  the  just,  even  they  both 
are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord — The  judgment  tms  by  one  to  con- 
demnation; but  the  free  gift  is  of  many  offences  unto  justifica- 

-j-iojf^ There  is  therefore  noto  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are 

in  Christ  Jesus. — It  is  God  that  justifieth  :  who  is  he  that  coN- 
DEMNETH  ? He  that — believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlast- 
ing life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unto  life.  If  a  prisoner  who  stands  charged  with  a 
crime  be  convicted  of  it,  he  is  condemned:  if  otherwise,  he  is  ac 
quitted  or  justifed. 


302  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Seemon  XVII. 

But,  though  it  be  true  that  the  term  is  forensic,  and  stands  op- 
posed to  condemntUion,  yet,  as  in  most  other  instances  in  which 
the  proceedings  of  God  allude  to  those  of  men,  they  are  not,  in 
all  respects,  alike.  He  that  is  justified  in  an  earthly  court,  (un- 
less it  be  for  want  of  evidence,  which  cannot  possibly  apply  in 
this  case,)  is  considered  as  being  really  innocent ;  and  his  justi- 
fication is  no  other  than  an  act  of  justice  done  to  him.  He  is  ac- 
quitted because  he  appears  to  deserve  acquittal.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  justification  of  the  gospel,  which  is  of  grace,  through  the 
redemption  of  Jesus  Christ.  Justification  in  the  first  case,  in 
proportion  as  it  confers  honour  on  the  justified,  reflects  dishonour 
on  his  accusers ;  while,  in  the  last,  the  justice  of  every  charge 
is  admitted,  and  no  dishonour  reflected  on  any  party,  except  him- 
self. Justification  among  men  is  opposed  not  only  to  condemna- 
tion, but  even  to  pardon  ;  for,  in  order  to  this,  the  prisoner  must 
be  found  guilty,  whereas,  in  justification,  he  is  acquitted  as  in- 
nocent. But  gospel  justification,  though  distinguishable  from  par- 
don, yet  is  not  opposed  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  pardon  is  an  es- 
sential branch  of  it.  Pardon,  it  is  true,  only  removes  the  curse 
due  to  sin,  while  justification  confers  the  blessing  of  eternal  life  ; 
but,  without  the  former,  we  could  not  possess  the  latter.  He  that 
is  justified  requires  to  be  pardoned,  and  he  that  is  pardoned  is 
also  justified.  Hence,  a  blessing  is  pronounced  on  him  whose  in- 
iquities are  forgiven  ,  hence  also,  the  Apostle  argues  from  the 
non  imputation  of  sin  to  the  imputation  of  righteousness  ;  con- 
sidering the  blessedness  of  him  to  whom  God  imputeth  not  sin,  as 
a  description  of  the  blessedness  of  him  to  whom  he  imputeth 
righteousness  without  works.  Finally  :  justification  at  a  human 
bar,  ^reuewfs  condemnation  ;  but  gospel-justification  finds  the  sin- 
ner under  condemnation,  and  delivers  him  from  it.  It  is  descri- 
bed as  passing  from  death  to  life. 

From  these  dissimilarities,  and  others  which,  I  doubt  not, 
might  be  pointed  out,  it  must  be  evident,  to  every  thinking  mind, 
that,  though  there  are  certain  points  of  likeness,  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  the  use  of  the  term,  yet  we  are  not  to  learn  the  scripture 
doctrine  of  justification  from  what  is  so  called  in  the  judicial  pro- 
ceedings of  human  courts,  and  in  various  particulars,  cannot  safe- 


Sermon  XVII.J  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  3^3 

ly  reason  from  one  to  the  other.  The  principal  points  of  likeness 
respect  not  the  grounds  of  the  proceeding,  but  the  effects  of  it. 
Believing  in  Jesus  we  are  united  to  him  ;  and,  being  so,  are  treat- 
ed by  the  judge  of  all  as  one  with  him  ;  his  obedience  unto  death 
is  imputed  to  us,  or  reckoned  as  ours  :  and  we,  for  his  sake,  are 
delivered  from  condemnation,  as  though  we  had  been  innocent, 
and  entitled  to  eternal  life,  as  though  we  had  been  perfectly  obe- 
dient. 

But  let  us  farther  inquire.  What  is  gospel-justification  ?  Alluding 
to  justification  in  a  court  of  judicature,  it  hns  been  common  to 
speak  of  it  as  a  sentence.  This  sentence  has  been  considered,  by 
some  divines,  as  passing — first,  in  the  mind  of  God  from  eternity  ; 
secondly,  on  Christ  and  the  elect  considered  in  him  when  he  rose 
from  the  dead  ;  thirdly,  in  the  conscience  of  a  sinner  on  his  be- 
lieving. Justification  by  fixith,  in  the  view  of  these  divines,  de- 
notes either  justification  by  Christ  the  object  of  faith,  or  the 
manifestation  to  the  soul  of  what  previously  existed  in  the  mind 
of  God. 

Others,  who  have  been  far  from  holding  with  justification  as  a 
decree  in  the  divine  mind,  have  yet  seemed  to  consider  it  as  a 
manifestation,  impression,  or  persuasion  in  the  human  mind.  They 
nave  spoken  of  themselves  and  others,  as  being  justified  under 
such  a  sermon,  or  at  such  an  hour  :  when  all  that  they  appear  to 
mean  is,  that  at  such  a  time  they  had  a  strong  impression,  or  pep- 
suasion,  that  they  were  justified. 

In  respect  of  the  first  of  these  statements,  it  is  true,  that  jus- 
tification, and  every  other  spiritual  blessing,  was  included  in  thaj 
purpose  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began  ;  but,  as  the  actual  bestowment  of  other  blessings  sup- 
poses the  existence  of  the  party,  so  does  justification.  Christ 
was  raised  agiin  for  o?/.-  justijicalion.  in  the  same  sense  as  be 
died  for  the  pardon  of  our  sins.  Pardon  and  justification  were 
virtually  obtained  by  his  death  and  resurrection  ;  and  to  this 
may  be  added,  our  elorification  was  obtained  by  bis  ascension  ;  for 
we  were  not  onh  quickened  together  with  him,  and  raised  up  to- 
geth  r,  but  made  to  sit  together  m  heavenly  places  in  Chrmt  Jesus^ 
But  as  this  does  not  prove,  that  we  were,  from  thence,  actually  gl^ 


304  ^N  JUSTIFICATION,  [Sermon  XVII. 

rifled,  neither  do  the  other  prove  that  we  were  actually  pardoned, 
or  justified. 

Whatever  justification  be,  the  scriptures  represent  it  as  taking 
place  on  our  believing  in  Christ.  It  is  not  any  thing  that  belongs 
to  predestination,  but  something  that  intervenes  between  that  and 
glorification.  Whom  he  did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called  : 
and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified  :  and  rahom  he  jus- 
tified,  them  he  also  glorifif.d.  That  which  the  scriptures  call 
justification,  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  is  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  future,  which  it  could  not  be,  if  it  were  before  our  actual  ex- 
istence. For  example  :  Seeing  it  is  one  God  which  shall  justify 
the  circumcision  by  faith,  and  the  iincircitmcision  through  faith. — 
Now  it  was  not  written  for  Abraham'' s  sake  alone,  that  it  was  imputed 
to  him ;  but  for  us  also,  to  whom  it  shall  he  imputed,  if  we  believe 
on  hint  that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead. — The  scripture 
FORESEKiNG  that  God  wovLD  justify  the  heathen  through  faith,  &c. 
If  justification  were  God's  decree  finally  to  acquit,  condemnation 
must  be  his  decree  finally  to  condemn.  But  every  unbeliever, 
whether  elect  or  non-elect,  is  under  condemnation,  as  the  scrip- 
tures abundantly  teach :  condemnation,  therefore,  cannot  be 
God's  decree  finally  to  condemn.  Saul  of  Tarsus,  while  an 
unbeliever,  was  under  condemnation,  yet  God  had  not  appoint- 
ed him  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
sum  is,  that  neither  condemnation  nor  'justification  consists  in 
the  secret  purpose  of  God,  but  in  his  will,  as  revealed  or  declar- 
ed, as  by  a  sentence  in  open  court. 

And,  as  justification  is  not  a  purpose  in  the  divine  mind,  neither 
is  it  a  manifestation  to,  an  impression  on,  or  a  persuasion  of  ,  th& 
human  mind.  That  there  are  manifestations  to  believers  is  ad- 
mitted. God  manifests  himself  unto  them,  as  he  does  not  unto  the 
world.  The  things  of  God,  which  are  hidden  from  the  wise  and 
prudent,  are  revealed  to  them.  But  these  are  not  things  which 
were  previously  locked  up  in  the  divine  purposes,  but  things 
which  are  already  revealed  in  the  scriptures,  and  which  were 
previously  hidden  from  them,  as  they  still  are  from  unbelievers, 
by  their  own  criminal  blindness.  God  does  not  reveal  his  secret 
counsels  to  men,  otherwise  than  by  fulfilling  them.     To  pretend 


Sermon  XVII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  3O5 

to  a  revelation,  or  manifestation,  of  that  which  is  not  contained  in 
the  scriptures,  is  pretending  to  be  inspired  in  the  same  extraordi- 
nary manner  as  were  the  prophets  and  apostles. 

If  justification  consist  in  a  mr.nifcstation,  impression,  or  pcrsua- 
feion,  that  we  are  justified,  condemnation  must  be  a  like  impression, 
or  persuasion,  that  we  are  condemned  :  but  this  is  not  true.  The 
Jews  who  opposed  Chri;<t  were  under  condemnation  ;  yet,  so  far 
from^being  impressed,  or  persuaded,  of  any  such  thing,  they  had 
no  doubt  but  God  was  their  father.  Believers  in  Jesus,  on  the 
other  hand,  may,  at  times,  be  impressed  with  strong  apprehensions 
of  divine  wrath,  while  yet  they  are  not  exposed  to  it.  Neither 
justification,  therefore,  nor  condemnation,  consists  in  a  persuasion 
of  the  mind  that  we  are  under  the  one  or  the  other.  Besides,  to 
make  a  thing  consist  in  a  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  that  thing,  is  a 
palpable  absurdity.  There  can  be  no  well  grounded  persuasioa 
of  the  truth  of  any  thing,  unless  it  be  true  and  evident,  antecedent- 
ly to  our  being  persuaded  of  it. 

Justification  is  a  relative  change,  not  in,  or  upon  but  concerning 
us.  It  relates  to  our  standing  with  respect  to  God,  the  law-giver 
and  judge  of  all.  It  is  passing  from  death  to  life,  in  respect  of  the 
law  :  as  when  the  sentence  against  a  malefactor  is  not  only  remit- 
ted, but  he  is,  withal,  raised  to  honour  and  dignity.  It  is  our  stand- 
ing acquitted  by  the  revealed  will  of  God  declared  in  the  gospel. 
As  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  /rom  heaven  in  the  curses  of  his 
law  ;  so  the  righteousness  of  God  is  revealed  from  faith  to  faith, 
in  the  declarations  of  the  gospel.  It  is  in  this  revelation  of  the  mind 
of  God  in  his  word,  I  conceive,  that  the  sentence  both  of  condem- 
nation and  justification  consists.  He  whom  the  scriptures  bless  is 
blessed  ;  and  he  whom  they  curse  is  cursed. 

As  transgressors  of  the  holy,  just,  and  good  law  of  God,  we  are 
all,  by  nature,  children  of  wrath.  All  the  threatenings  of  God  are 
in  full  force  against  us,  and,  were  we  to  die  in  that  condition,  we 
must  perish  everlastingly.  This  is  to  be  under  condemnation. 
But  condemnation,  awful  as  it  is,  is  not  damnation.  The  sentence 
is  not  executed,  nor  is  it  irrevocable  :  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 

SHOULD  NOT    PERISH,  BUT  HAVE  EVERLASTING  I,IFE.       From  hcDCe, 

Vol.  Vn.  39 


306  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermow  XVII. 

the  pinner  stands  in  a  new  relation  to  God  as  a  law-giver.  He  is 
no  longer  under  the  /rtw,  with  respect  to  its  condemning  power,  but 
under  grace.  As  the  manslayer,  on  having  entered  the  city  of 
refuge,  was,  by  a  special  constitution  of  mercy,  secure  from  the 
avenger  of  blood  ;  so  the  sinner,  having/erf/or  refuge  to  lay  hold 
on  the  hope  set  before  him,  is,  by  the  gracious  constitution  of  the 
gospel,  secured  from  the  curse.  All  those  threatenings  which 
belonged  to  him  heretofore,  no  longer  stand  against  him  ;  but  are 
reckoned,  by  the  Judge  of  all,  as  having  been  executed  on  Jesus 
his  substitute,  who  was  made  a  curse  for  us.  On  the  other  hand,  all 
the  blessings  and  promises  in  the  book  ofGod  belong  to  him,  and,  die 
when  he  may,  eternal  life  is  his  portion.  This  is  that  state  into 
which  every  believer  is  translated,  on  his  becoming  a  believer; 
and  herein,  1  conceive,  consists  the  blessing  of  justification. 

There  are  a  few  points  pertaining  to  the  subject,  which  yet 
require  illustration,  namely.  What  it  is  in  the  redemption  of  Christ 
to  which  the  scriptures  ascribe  its  efficacy  ?  What  is  the  concern 
o(  fnith  in  justification  ;  and  why  it  is  ascribed  to  this  grace,  rath- 
er than  to  any  other  ?  Finally,  Whether  justification  includes  the 
pardon  of  our  sins,  past,  present,  and  to  come  ? 

1.  Let  us  inquire,  JFhat  it  is,  in  the  redemption  of  Christ,  to 
which  the  scriptures  ascribe  its  efficacv  ?  Justification  is  ascri- 
bed to  his  blood,  and  to  his  obedience.  By  the  blood  of  Christ,  is 
meant  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  or  the  laying  down  of  his  life,  and 
by  his  obedience,  all  that  conformity  to  the  will  of  God  which  led 
to  this  great  crisis.  He  was  obedient  unto  death.  By  the  death  of 
Christ  sin  is  said  to  be  purged,  or  expiated ;  and  sinners,  to  be 
redeemed,  reconciled,  and  cleansed  from  all  sin  ;  and  by  his  obedi- 
ence many  are  said  to  be  made  righteous.  This  his  obedience 
unto  death  was  more  than  the  means  of  salvation  :  it  was  the  pro- 
curing cause  ofit.  Salvation  was  the  effect  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul.  We  may  be  instruments  in  saving  one  another  ;  but  Christ 
was  the  author  o/"  eternal  salvation.*     The  principle  of  substitu- 

*  The  redemptioD  of  Christ  may,  indeed,  be  considered  as  a  mean  or  metft- 
«wi,  iu  respect  of  {hejirst  cause.  Thus,  in  the  text,  it  stands  distinguished 
from  grac:  :  that  is  Ihe  source  whence  it  sprang ;  this  the  medium  through 
which  it  flows.  The  redemption  of  Christ  is  not  the  cause  of  the  Father'i 
grace  ;  but  that  in  consideration  of  which  it  is  exercised, 


Sebmos  XVII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  3q7 

tion,  or  of  one  standing  in  the  place  of  others,  being  admitted  by 
the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  he  endured  that  which,  tn  its  effect 
on  the  divine  government,  was  equivalent  to  the  everlasting  punish- 
ment of  a  world  ;  and  did  that  which  it  was  worthy  of  Gud  to  re- 
tvard  with  eternal  glory  y  not  only  on  himself,  but  on  all  those  on  whose 
behalf  he  should  intercede.  What  is  there,  then,  in  this  his  obedi- 
ence unto  death,  that  should  render  it  capable  of  producing  such 
important  effects?  To  this  question  the  scriptures  make  answer, 
as  follovvs  :  VVe  are  redeemed — with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
—  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  ^'o/t  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. — 
Who  being  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of 
his  person,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  potver,  when 
he  had  BY  himself  expiated  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  rigid  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high.  If  there  be  any  meaning  in  language,  the 
efficacy  of  the  sufferings  and  work  »f  Christ  is  here  ascribed  to  the 
dignity  of  his  person  ;  and  that  dignity  amounts  to  nothing  short  of 
his  proper  Deity.  The  scri[)turcs  often  ascribe  the  miracles  of 
Christ,  the  strength  by  which  he  was  borne  up  in  hi.--  suff.erings, 
and  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  to  the  power  of  t!ie  Father: 
for,  being  I'/i  the  form  of  a  servant,  it  was  fit  that  he  shoul.l  be  sup- 
plied, and  supported,  nnd  vindicated,  by  IIim  whose  servant  he 
was  ;  but  when  the  value  or  virtue,  of  his  interposition  is  spoken 
of,  it  is  ascribed  to  the  intrinsic  glor}'  of  his  person,  as  the  Son  of 
God.     We  inquire, 

2.  JFhat  is  the  concern  of  faith  in  justification,  anctichy  it  is  as- 
cribed to  this  grace,  rather  than  to  any  other  ?  Were  we  to  con- 
ceive of  (he  gospel  as  a  new  "  remedial  law,"  and  of  faith  as  the 
first  principle  of  obedience  constituting  the  condition  of  it,  or  that 
which  God  graciously  consented  to  accept  as  the  term  of  justifica- 
tion, instead  of  a  perfect  conformity  to  the  old  law,  we  should  be 
greatly  beside  the  gospel-plan.  The  gospel-plan  of  justification 
excludes  boasting,  and  that  as  excluding  works:  but  justification, 
OQ  this  principle,  excludes  not  works,  but  merely  works  of  a  cer- 
tain description.  Therein,  on  this  principle,  a  law  that  can  give 
life  ;  and  righteousnesi,  after  all,  is  by  law,  Ifwe  are  justified  by 
any  doings  of  our  own,  whatever  they  are,  we  have  ivhereof  to 
glory.     Whether  we  call  them  legal  or  evangelical,  if  they  be  the 


3Q3  OX  JUSTIFICATION.  f Sermon  XVll. 

consideration  on  which  we  are  forgiven  and  accepted,  we  are  not 
justified  freely  bt/  grace,  anA  boasting  is  not  excluded, 

It  is  said  to  be  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by  grace.  There  must, 
therefore,  be  something  in  the  nature  of  faith  which  peculiarly 
corresponds  with  the  free  grace  of  the  gospel  ;  something  which 
looks  out  of  self,  and  receives  the  free  gifts  of  heaven  as  being  what 
they  are — pure,  undeserved  favour.  We  need  not  reduce  it  to  a 
mere  exercise  of  the  intellectual  faculty,  in  which  there  is  nothing 
holy  ;  but,  whatever  holiness  there  is  in  it,  it  is  not  this,  but  the 
obedience  of  Christ,  that  constitutes  our  justifying  righteousness. 
Whatever  other  properties  the  magnet  may  possess,  it  is  as  point, 
ing  invariably  to  the  north  that  it  guides  the  mariner  ;  and,  what- 
ever other  properties  faith  may  possess,  it  is  as  receiving  Christ, 
and  bringing  ns  into  union  with  him,  that  it  justifies. 

In  order  to  be  interested  in  justification,  and  other  blessings 
arising  from  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ,  we  must  first  be 
interested  in  Christ  himself:  for  it  is  as  having  the  Son,  that  we  have 
everlasting  life.  The  benefits  of  Christ's  obedience  unto  death 
require  to  be  received  in  the  same  order  as  that  in  which  they  are 
given.  As  God  first  ^?'ws  him,  so  we  must  first  receive  him,  and, 
with  him,  «//  things  freely.  Many  would  wish  for  the  benefits  o^ 
Christ's  death,  who  yet  have  no  desire  after  Christ.  Like  him 
that  was  nearest  of  kin  to  the  family  of  Elimelech,  they  would,  on 
various  accogunts,  be  pleased  with  the  inheritance  ;  but  when  it  is 
understood,  that,  in  order  to  possess  it  they  must  take  him,  with 
all  that  pertains  to  him,  and  that  this  would  mar  their  present  in- 
heritance, they  give  it  up. 

Thus  it  is,  that  justification  is  ascribed  to  faith,  because  it  is  by 
faith  that  we  receive  Christ  ;  and,  thus  it  is  by  fnith  only,  and  not 
by  any  other  grace.  Faith  is  peculiarly  a  receiving  grace,  which 
none  other  is.  Were  we  said  to  be  justified  by  repentance,  by 
love,  or  by  any  other  grace,  it  uould  convey  to  us  the  idea  of  some. 
thing  good  in  us  being  the  consideration  on  which  the  blessing  was 
bestowed  ;  but  justification  by  faith  conveys  no  such  idea.  On  the 
contrary,  it  leads  the  mind  directly  to  Christ,  in  tl>e  same  manner 
as  saying  of  a  person  that  he  lives  by  begging,  leads  to  the  idea  of 
his  living  on  xi^hnt  he  freely  receives. 


SkrSion  XVII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  309 

It  is  thus  that  justification  stands  connected,  in  the  scriptures,, 
with  nnion  with  Christ  :  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of 
God  is  made  unto  us — righteousness. — There  is  therefore  now  no  con- 
demnation to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus. — That  I  may  he  found 
IN  him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  but 
that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which 
is  of  God  by  faith.  From  these  and  other  passages,  we  perceive, 
that  faith  justifies,  not  in  a  way  of  merit,  not  on  account  of  any  thing 
in  itself,  be  it  what  it  may,  but  as  uniting  us  to  Christ.  It  is  that 
which  the  act  of  marriage  is  on  the  part  of  a  female:  by  it,  she 
becomes  one  with  her  husband,  and,  (whatever  might  be  her  for- 
mer poverty,)  legallj'^  interested  in  all  that  he  possesses.  Having 
him,  she  has  all  that  is  his.  Thus  it  is  that,  Christ  being  heir  of 
all  things,  believers  in  him  become  heirs  of  God,  not  in  their  own 
right,  but  us  joint-heirs  with  him.  And  as,  in  a  marriage  union, 
the  wealth  which  an  indigent  female  might  derive  from  the  opu- 
lence of  her  husband  would  not  be  in  reicard  of  her  having  re- 
ceived him,  so  neither  is  justification  the  reward  of  faith,  but  of  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith. 

Great  things  are  ascribed  to  faith,  in  a  way  of  healing.  Many  of 
the  miraculous  cures  performed  by  our  Lord  are  ascribed  to  the 
faith  of  the  parties.  The  mV/we,  however,  proceeded  not  from 
faith,  but  from  him.  It  is  the  same  in  justification.  By  faith  we 
receive  the  benefit  ;  but  the  benefit  arises  not  from  f lith,  but  from 
Christ,  Hence,  the  same  thing  which  is  ascribed,  in  some  places, 
to  faith,  is,  in  others,  ascribed  to  the  obedience,  death,  and  resur- 
rection of  Christ. 

3.  We  inquire,  Whether  justification  includes  the  pardon  of  our 
sins, past, present,  and  to  come?  That  it  includes  the  pardon  of 
sin  has  been  proved  already  from  Rom.  iv.  6,  7  ;  and,  seeing  it  is 
promised,  of  him  that  believeth,  that  he  shall  not  come  into  con- 
demnation, it  mu«t,  in  some  way,  secure  the  pardon  of  all  his  sins, 
and  the  possession  of  eternnl  life.  Yet,  to  speak  of  sins  as  being 
pnrdoncd  before  fhey  are  repented  of,  or  even  committed,  is  not 
only  to  maintain  tliat  on  which  the  sciiplures  are  silent,  but  to 
contradict  the  cuirent  language  of  their  testimony.  If  all  oursiu:., 
past,  proscnf,  and  to  come,  were  actually  forgiven,  either  when 


310  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermojj  XVII. 

Christ  laid  doTvn  his  life,  or  even  on  our  first  believing,  why  did 
David  speak  oi confessing  his  transgression,  and  of  God  forgiving 
his  iniquity  ?  Why  did  Solomon  teach  us,  that  He  that  confesseth 
and  forsakeih  his  sins  shall  find  mercy  ?  Why  did  our  Lord  direct 
us,  in  our  daily  prayers,  to  say,  Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  weforgioe 
our  debtors  :  and  why  add,  Jf  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses, 
neither  will  your  heavenly  Father  forgive  your  trespasses  ?  Final- 
ly, why  did  the  apostle  John  teach  us,  that.  If  toe  confess  our  sins, 
he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness . 

Nor  is  it  sufhcient  to  understand  this  language  of  the  manifesta- 
tion of  forgiveness  to  the  mind.  Forgiveness  is  not  opposed  to 
merely  withholding  the  comforts  of  religion,  but  to  laying  our  sim 
to  our  charge.  The  parable  of  the  servant  who  took  his  fellow- 
servant  by  the  throat,  and  was  delivered  by  his  lord  to  the  tormen- 
tors, is  thus  applied  by  our  Lord.  So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly  Fa- 
ther do  also  unto  you,  if  ye  from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one 
hisbrother  their  trespasses.  This,  undoubtedly,  means  more  than 
withholding  a  sense  of  forgiveness  in  the  present  life.  Nor  is  there 
any  thin»  in  all  this  inconsistent  with  the  certain  perseverance 
of  true  believers,  or  with  the  promise  that  they  shall  not  come 
into  condemnation.  The  truth  taught  us  in  this  promise  is  not, 
that,  if,  after  believing  in  Christ,  we  live  in  sin,  and  die  without 
repentance,  we  shall,  nevertheless  escape  condemnation  ;  but,  that 
provision  is  made,  on  behalf  of  believers,  that  they  shall  not 
live  m  sin  :  and,  when  they  sin,  that  they  shall  not  die  without 
repentance,  but  return  to  God,  and  so  obtain  forgiveness.  The 
promise  of  non-condemnation  includes  that  of  repentance  and  per- 
severance :  /  will  put  my  law  in  their  hearts,  and  they  shall  not 
depart  from  me. 

\Ve  may  think,  that,  if  the  Lord  has  appointed  us  to  obtain  sal- 
vation by  Jesus  Christ,  whatever  be  our  conduct,  he  will  never 
threaten  us  with  any  thing  beyond  a  severe  chastisement  :  but 
Christ  did  not  act  in  this  manner  towards  his  disciples.  He  not 
only  gave  the  unforgiving  to  expect  no  forgiveness  at  the  hand  of 
God,  but  enforced  the  giving  up  of  that  which  caused  them  to  of 
■fend,  though  it  were  as  dear  as  a  right  h  ind  or  a  right  eye,  on  pain 


SERMOii  XVII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  311 

of  being  cast  into  hell-fire  !  He  allowed  no  one,  while  in  an  evil 
course,  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  he  was,  nevertheless,  a  good 
man  ;  but  pointed  him  to  the  end  whither  that  course,  if  persisted 
in,  would  lead  him.  Warnings  are  as  necessary,  in  some  circum- 
stances, as  encouragements  are  in  others  :  and  their  being  enforced 
on  pain  of  eternal  destruction;  maybe  the  appointed  means  of  sa- 
ving U3  from  it. 


THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


SERMON  XVIII. 


*«#•« 


Romans  iii.  24. 


Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 

Jesus. 


Having  shown  what  I  conceive  to  be  meant  by  justification,  I 
proceed  to  the  next  head  of  discourse  ;  namely, 

II.  To  OFFER  EVIDENCE  IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  :  OR,  TO 
PROVE,  THAT  WE  ARE  NOT  JUSTIFIED  BY  ANY  WORKS  OF  OUR  OWN, 
BUT  OP  FREE  GRACE,  THROUGH   THE   REDEMPTION  OF   JeSUS   ChRIST. 

There  are  but  two  ways  in  which  creatures  can  be  justified  before 
God  :  one  is  by  works,  the  other  by  grace.  If  we  had  been  obe- 
dient to  the  holy,  just,  and  good  law  of  our  Creator,  that  obedi- 
ence would  have  been  our  righteousness,  and  we  should  have  been 
justified  on  the  ground  of  it  :  lor  the  man  that  doeth  those  things 
shall  live  by  them.  But,  having  all  sinned,  we  have  come  short  of 
the  glory  of  God.  Instead  of  gaining  his  favour,  we  stand  exposed 
to  his  righteous  curse;  for  thus  it  is  wiitten,  Cursed  is  every  one 
that  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of  the  hue  to  dg 
them. 

We  need  not,  on  this  subject,  inquire  into  (he  degrees  of  evil» 
or  whether  we  have  gone  greater  lengths  in  sin  than  other  men  ; 

Vol,.  VII.  40 


314  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermow  XVllL 

for  if  we  had  only  broken  one  of  God's  righteous  commandments, 
that  were  an  everlasting  bar  to  our  justification.  As  well  might  a 
murderer  plead  in  arrest  of  judgment,  ib^it  he  had  killed  onl)  one 
man.  The  number  of  our  sins  will,  doubtless  heighten  the  de- 
grees of  punishrnent  ;  but  it  is  the  nature  of  them  that  insures 
condemnation.  Nor  does  this  disprove  the  equity  of  the  law  :  for 
we  cannot  break  a  sin;!e  precept  without  contemning  the  divine 
authority  ;  which  at  once  destroys  the  principle  of  obedience  to 
ev  -ry  other.  We  may  not  actually  go  into  all  other  sins:  but  it  is 
not  the  love  of  God  that  restrains  us  ;  it  is  interest  or  fear,  or  re- 
gard to  our  own  reputation  that  holds  us  back.  On  this  principle. 
he  who  offendeth  but  in  one  point,  is  said  to  be  guilty  of  all  :  For 
HE  THAT  SAID,  Do  iiot  commit  adultery;  said  also  do  not  kill. 
JVow,  if  thou  commit  no  adultery ^  yet  if  thou  kill,  thou  art  become  a 
f.r(tns^>(sso7  <f  the  law.  But,  if  ci  single  offence  be  an  everlasting 
bar  to  justification  by  our  own  works,  what  ground  can  there  be  to 
hope  for  it,  when  our  whole  lives  have  been  one  continued  series 
of  revolt  ? 

We  are  all  transgressors,  and,  as  such,  under  the  curse.  Here 
too,  we  might  have  been  left  to  perish.  God  was  not  obliged,  in 
justice  or  in  honour,  to  interpose  in  behalf  of  a  seed  of  evil  doers. 
The  l)w  by  wbich  we  stand  condemned,  being  holy,  just,  and 
good,  might  have  been  executed,  and  no  reproach  would  linve  at. 
tached  to  the  divine  character.  Havmg  sided  with  Satan  against 
God,  we  miajht  justly  have  had  our  portion  with  him  and  his  an- 
gels. All  who  were  not  themselves  implicated,  and  disaffected  to 
the  divine  government,  would  have  said.  True  and  righteous  are 
thy  judgments,  O  Lord.  And  we  ourselves,  aX  the  last  judgment, 
should  not  have  been  able  to  open  our  mouths  against  it. 

And,  now  that  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love 
whereicith  he  loved  vs,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  has  interpo- 
sed, and  revealed  a  way  in  which  he  can  be  just,  and  the  justifier 
of  him  that  belteveth  in  Jesus,  shall  it  be  objected  to  by  us  ?  Shall 
man,  lying  as  he  does  under  tiie  dominion  of  sin,  and  the  righteous 
condemnation  of  heaven  on  account  of  it,  shall  man  take  state  to 
himself,  and  be  ever  aspiring  to   be  justified  on  the  ground  of,  at 


SERMoir  XVIII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  315 

least,  his  comparative  righteousness  ?  Such,  however,  is  the  fact. 
When  the  first-born  son  of  tallen  Adam  brought  his  offering,  he 
came  as  though  he  had  never  sinned  ;  bringing  no  sacrifice,  and  yet 
entertaining  high  expectations  of  success.  Hence,  when  the  signal 
of  acceptance  was  withheld,  his  countenance  fell.  Thus  it  is  that 
millions  are  bringing  their  offerings  to  this  day,  overlookiiig  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  All  the  false 
religions  that  have  existed,  or  do  now  exist,  in  the  world  are  so 
many  modifications  of  a  self-righteous  spirit;  so  many  devices  to 
appease  the  conscience,  and  propitiate  the  Deity. 

Nor  is  it  confined  to  heathens,  Mahometans,  and  Jews  :  there 
are  professing  Christians  who  are  very  explicit  in  avowing  their 
dependence  upon  their  own  works.*  Where  the  divinity  and 
atonement  of  Christ  are  disavowed,  this  is  no  more  than  may  be 
expected.  But  neither  is  it  confined  to  such.  Many  who  profess 
to  believe  these  doctrines,  yet  seem  to  consider  the  grand  object  of 
the  death  of  Christ  to  have  been,  that  he  might  obtain  for  us,  that 
repentance,  faith,  and  sincere  obedience  should  be  accepted  as  the 
ground  of  justification,  instead  of  sinless  perfection.! 

Many  who,  in  consequence  of  being  educated  under  a  gospel 
ministry,  disavow,  in  words,  all  dependence  on  their  own   works, 

*  "  When  will  Christians  permit  themselves  to  believe,  that  the  same  con- 
duct which  gains  them  the  approbation  of  good  men  here,  will  secure  the 
favour  ol  heaven  hereafter .'"  •  Mrs.  Barbapld. 

"  Repentance  and  a  good  life  are  of  themselves  sufficient  to  recommend  us 
to  the  divine  favour."  Dr.    Priesti.et. 

'^  The  practice  of  virtue  i-  always  represented  as  the  only  means  of  attaining 
happinesSjboth  here  and  hereafter."  Mr.  Belsham. 

t  This  seems  to  be  the  idea  of  Bishop  Buti.er.  "  The  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel," he  says,  "appears  to  be,  not  only  that  Christ  taught  the  efficacy  of  re- 
pentance ;  but  rendered  it  of  the  efficacy  which  it  is,  by  what  he  did  and  suf- 
fered for  us  ;  that  he  obtained  for  us  the  benefit  of  having  our  repentance  ac- 
cepted unto  eternal  life  :  not  only  that  he  revealed  to  sinners  that  they  were 
in  a  capacity  of  sal  vation,  and  how  they  might  obtain  it  ;  but,  moreover,  that 
he  put  them  into  this  capacity  of  salvation,  by  what  he  did  and  suffered  for 
them  ;  put  us  into  a  capacity  of  escaping  future  punishment,  and  obtaining 
future  happiness."  Analogy,  Part  II.  Chap.  5.  p.  305. — Christ,  it  seems,  was 
no  otherwise  our  Saviour,  thua  as  enabling  us  to  save  ourselves  I 


316  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sehmow  XVIII. 

are.  nevertheless,  manifestly  under  the  influence  of  a  self-righteous 
spirit.  They  do  not  confess  their  faults  one  to  another,  but  justify 
themselves,  as  far  as  possible,  and,  wherein  they  fail  in  this,  vpill 
invent  so  many  pleas  and  excuses,  as  shall  extenuate  the  sin  to  little 
or  nothing.  They  are  not  self-diffident,  nor  humble,  but  the  con- 
trary ;  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  are  righteous,  and  despi- 
sing others,  just  as  the  Pharisee  did  the  publican.  They  thank 
God  for  being  what  they  are  ;  and  so  did  the  Pharisee  :  but,  as 
words  in  the  one  case  signified  nothing,  neither  do  they  in  tbg 
other. 

To  this  may  be  added.  It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  those  who 
have  been  awakened  to  a  serious  concern  about  salvation  to  over- 
look the  Saviour,  and  to  build  their  hopes  on  the  consideration  of 
the  tears  they  have  shed,  the  prayers  they  have  off'ered,  and  the  pains 
they  hxwp-  taken  in  religion.  But,  if  it  should  prove,  that  all  con- 
fidences of  this  sort  are  only  a  refined  species  of  self-righteous 
hope,  and  that  the  first  substantial  relief  of  a  sinner  arises  from  a 
belief  of  the  gospel-way  of  salvation,  the  consequences  may  be  no 
less  iat.i!  than  if  they  had  never  wept,  nor  prayed,  nor  taken  any 
pains  in  religion. 

One  thing  is  certain:  we  must  be  justified  wholly  of  grace,  or 
wholly  of  works  :  for  there  is  no  medium  :  If  by  grace,  tjien  is  it 
no  mi 're  of  works  :  otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  But  if ,  on 
the  (>;l)er  hand,  it  be  of  works,  then  is  it  no  more  of  grace :  other- 
wne  work  in  no  more  mork.  Taking  it  for  granted,  that  what  God 
has  revealed  in  his  word  is  the  only  sure  ground  on  which  to  rest  a 
matter  of  such  high  importance,  I  shall  state  what  appears  to  me 
the  scripture  evidence  for  the  first  of  these  methods  of  justification 
under  the  following  particulars  : 

1.  Vhe  righteousness  of  God  docs  not  admit  a  sinner's  being 
justified  on  the  ground  of  his  own  doings.  It  belongs  to  the  right- 
eousness, or  jaslice,  of  God  to  do  justice  to  his  own  character.  Buj 
to  pardon  and  accept  of  sinners,  on  account  of  any  thing  done  by 
them,  were  to  fly  in  the  face  of  his  own  law  and  government,  which^ 
if  any  thina;  could  cause  both  them  and  him  to  be  treated  with 
contempt,  this  |)roceeding  must  do.  It  became  him,  for  whom  are 
all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto 


SkrmowXvii;.]  on  justification.  317 

glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suf- 
ferings.—  H'hom  Gad  had  set  forth  to  he  a  propitiation  through 
faith  in  his  b/ood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission 
of  sins. — For  they  being  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and 
going  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted 
themselves  unto  the  righteousness  of  God.  If  these  passages  do  not 
convey  the  idea  of  its  being  inconsistent  with  the  righteous  charac- 
ter of  God  to  pardon  and  accept  of  sinners,  in  consideration  of  their 
own  doings,  I  can  conceive  of  no  determinate  idea  conveyed  by 
them.  If  it  was  becoining  the  divine  perfections,  to  bring  sinners 
to  glory  through  a  sulfering  Saviour,  it  would  have  been  unbecom- 
ing those  perfections  to  have  brought  them  to  glory  in  virtue 
of  their  own  doings.  If  Christ  were  set  Ibrth  to  be  a  propitiation 
that  God  might  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  his  righteousness  would  not  have  been  declared  in  the  re- 
mission of  sins  without  it.  Finally;  If  ignorance  of  God's  right- 
eousness were  the  reason  of  the  non-submission  of  the  Jews  to 
the  gospel-way  of  justification,  there  must  have  been,  in  that  truth, 
something  directly  opposed  to  justification  in  any  other  way,  and 
which,  had  it  been  properly  understood,  would  have  cut  up  all  hopes 
from  every  other  quarter.  It  was  in  this  way  that  Paul,  when  the 
righteous  law  of  God  appeared  to  him  in  its  true  light,  died  as  to 
all  hopes  of  being  accepted  of  God  by  the  works  of  it.  It  was 
through  the  law  that  he  became  dead  to  the  law,  that  he  might  live 
unto  God. 

2.  The  scriptures,  in  a  great  variety  of  language,  exclude  all 
works  performed  by  sinful  creatures  as  the  ground  of  acceptance 
with  God.  In  proof  of  this,  the  following  passages  are  very  ex- 
press :  Moses  describeth  the  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law.  That 
the  man  that  doeth  those  things  shall  live  by  them.  But  the  right- 
eousness which  is  of  faith  speaketh  on  this  wise, —  If  thou,  shalt  con- 
fess with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart- 
that  God  hotk  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved. — By 
the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight. — 
Where  is  boasting  then?  It  is  excluded.  By  what  law  ?  of  works? 
Nay  ;  bv'.  by  the  law  of  faith.  Therefore  we  conclude  that  a  man 
is  Justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law. — Tf  Abrahamvpere 


318  ON  JUSTIFICAT10.\.  [Sermon  XVIII. 

justified  by  works,  he  hath  whereof  to  glorij. — Now  to  him  that  work- 
eth  is  the  reward  reckoned  not  of  grace,  but  of  debt.  But  to  him 
that  worketh  nof,  but  believeth  on  Mm  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his 
faith  is  counted  for  righteousness.  Even  as  David  also  describe  th 
the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto  whom  God  imputeth  righteousness 
without  works. — Isr.iel,  which  followed  after  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness, hath  not  attained  to  the  law  of  righteousness.  Wherefore  ? 
Because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of 
the  law  :  for  they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stnne. — Knowing  that 
a  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  the  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ,  even  we  have  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might  be 
justifed  by  the  faith  of  Christ, and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law  :  for 
by  the  works  of  the  law  shall  nofesh  be  justified. — Jls  many  as  are 
of  the  works  of  the  law,  are  under  the  curse  :  for  it  is  written.  Cur- 
sed is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in 
the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them.  But  that  no  man  is  justified  by  the 
law  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  is  evident  :  for  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith.  And  the  law  is  not  of  faith  :  but  The  man  that  doeth  them 
shall  live  in  them. — Christ  is  become  of  no  effect  unto  you  :  whoso- 
ever of  you  are  justified  by  the  law,  ye  are  fallen  from  grace. — Not 
of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast. — Not  by  works  of  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us  — 
that,  being  justified  by  as  grace,  we  should  be  made  heirs  according 
to  the  hope  of  eternal  life. 

Distinctions  have  been  made,  on  this  subject,  between  the  works 
of  the  ceremonial  and  those  of  the  mora?  law,  also  between  the  works 
of  the  law  and  those  of  the  gospel ;  as  though  it  were  not  the  de- 
sign of  the  scriptures  to  exclude  moral  duties  from  being  grounds  of 
justification,  but  merely  those  which  are  ceremonial  ;  or  if  it  were, 
yet  not  the  evangelical  duties  of  repentance,  faith,  and  sincere 
obedience.  But,  whatever  differences  there  may  be  between  these 
things,  they  are  all  works ;  and  all  works  of  men  are  excluded  from 
justification.  If  the  foregoing  passages  be  considered  in  their  con- 
nexions, they  will  be  found  to  respect  all  obedience,  of  every  kind, 
which  is  performed  by  men,  be  it  ceremonial  or  moral,  or  what  it 
may.  They  teach  justification  by  a  righteousness  received,  in  op- 
position to  a  righteousness  done  or  performed^  and  which  leaves  no 


Sermon  XVIII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  3] 9 

room  for  boasting.  If  we  were  justified  by  faith  itself,  considered 
as  a  duty  of  ours,  or  if  the  Law-giver  had  respect  to  any  conformity 
to  God  in  us,  as  the  cause,  or  reason,  of  the  sentence,  there  would 
be  no  meaning  in  such  language  as  this:  To  him  that  worketh  not, 
but  BELiEVETH  OH  htm  thatjustijieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  coun- 
ted fo  r  rig  hteo  usn  ess. 

The  language  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Galatians  goes  not  only  to 
exclude  obedience  to  the  ceremonial  and  the  moral  law,  but  obedi- 
ence to  law  in  general,  as  the  ground  of  justification.  The  reason 
given  why  the  law  is  not  against  the  promises,  or  why  it  cannot 
furnish  an  objection  to  the  free  grace  of  the  gospel,  is  this  :  If  there 
had  been  a  law  which  could  have  given  life,  verily  righteousness 
should  have  been  by  the  law.  This  is  equal  to  saying,  the  patien^ 
was  given  up,  as  incurable  by  law,  before  the  promised  grace  of  the 
gospel  took  him  in  hand  :  whatever,  therefore,  is  done  by  the  latter 
cannot  be  objected  to  by  the  former.  The  terms  vdfjooj  and  ix  voftou, 
law,  and  by  the  law,  in  Gal.  iii.  21,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Guyse, 
show  it,  according  to  Mr.  Locke's  rule  of  interpretation,  to  relate  t© 
law  in  general,  or  to  any  or  every  law.  But,  if  the  works  of  every 
law  be  excluded,  all  distinctions  between  ceremonial  and  moralj 
or  between  moral  and  evangelical,  are  of  no  account. 

3.  Being  justified  freely  by  grace  is  itself  directly  opposed  to 
being  justified  by  works.  The  terra  grace  denotes  free  favour  to 
ike  unworthy.  If  God  had  been  obliged,  in  Justice  or  in  honour,  t» 
have  done  what  he  has  done  ;  if  the  law  by  which  we  were  con- 
demned were  too  strict,  or  the  penalty  annexed  to  it  too  severe  ;  if 
Christ,  and  the  offer  of  salvation  through  him,  were  a  compensatioo 
given  us  on  account  of  the  injury  we  received  from  our  connexion  witb 
our  first  parents,  that  which  is  called  grace,  would  not  be  grace, 
but  debt.  There  is  just  so  much  grace  in  the  gospel  as  there  is 
justice  in  the  law,  and  no  more.  The  opposition  between  grace 
and  works,  in  this  important  concern,  is  so  clear  in  itself,  and  so 
plainly  marked  by  the  apostle,  that  one  can  scarcely  conceive,  how 
it  can  be  honestly  mistaken  :  If  it  be  by  grace,  then  is  it  no  more 
of  works  ;  otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace. 

But,  strong  as  the  term  grace  is,  the  Apostle  adds  to  its  force. 
As  though  it  were  not  enough  for  him  to  affirm,  that  we  are  justi- 


320  ON  JUSTIFICATION.         <        [SEtmow  XVIII. 

fied  by  grace,  he  says,  we  are  justified _/ree/y  by  his  grace.  There 
is,  doubtless,  a  redundancy  in  the  expression  ;  but  the  design  of  it 
is  to  strengthen  the  thought.  Thus,  when  he  would  forcibly  ex- 
press his  idea  of  future  glory,  he  uses  a  kind  of  tautology  for  tlie 
purpose,  calling  it  a  far  more  exceeding  atid  eternal  weight  of 
glory.  We  are  not  only  justified  without  any  desert,  on  our  part, 
but  contrary  to  it.  As  high  as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth, 
so  are  his  thoughts,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  higher  than  our 
thoughts,  and  his  ways  than  our  ways.  They  who  are  justified  are 
said  to  receive  abundance  of  grace,  or  grace  abounding  over  all  the 
aboundings  of  sin.  Sin  reigns  over  our  species,  subjugating  them 
all  to  death  :  but  grace  conquers  the  conqueror,  reigning  through 
righteousness  to  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

4.  The  terms  used  relative  to  gospel-justification,  render  it  evi- 
dent, that  it  is  not  our  own  righteousness  that  is  imputed  to  us,  but 
the  righteousness  of  another.  Abraham  believed  God,  and  if  was 
COUNTED  u?ito  him  for  righteousness.  Now  to  him  that  worketh  is 
the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt.  But  he  that  believ- 
eth  on  him  thutjustifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  jTor  right- 
eousness.— David  also  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto 
wlwn  Goti  iMPUTETH  righteousness  without  works,  saying,  Blessed 
are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are  covered. 
Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin.  The 
ierma  imputed  awl  counted,  in  this  connexion,  are  manifestly  used 
to  express,  not  that  just  reckoning  of  righteousness  to  the  right- 
eous, which  gives  to  every  man  his  due,  but  that  gracious  reckon- 
ing of  righteousness  to  the  unrighteous,  as  though  he  were  right- 
eous. When  the  uncircumcised  Gentile  kept  the  law,  his  uncir- 
cumcision  was  counted  for  circumcision  :  not  that  it  really  was 
such,  but  was  graciously  reckoned,  in  the  divine  administration, 
as  if  it  were.  When  Paul,  writing  to  Philomon  concerning  One- 
simus,  says,  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee  ought,  put  that 
on  mine  account,  he  did  not  mean,  that  he  should  treat  him  accor- 
ding to  his  deserts,  but  that  he  should  forgive  and  accept  him,  for 
his  sake. 

When  faith  is  said  to  be  countt>d  for  righteousness,  it  is  as  re- 
lating to  Christ.     The  faith  by  which  Abraham  was  justified  had 


Skrmow  XVIILJ  on  JUSTIFICATION.  321 

immediate  relation  to  him  as  the  promised  seed  ;  and  it  is  easy  to 
perceive,  in  the  New  Testament  accounts  of  justifying  faith,  a 
marked  attention  to  the  same  thing.  Abraham  believed  God,  and 
it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness.  Now  it  was  not  written 
for  his  sake  alone  that  it  was  imputed  to  him ;  but  for  us  also,  to 
whom  it  shall  be  imputed,  if  we  believe  on  him  that  raised  up  Jesus 
our  Lord  from  (he  dead  ;  who  was  delivered  for  our  nff'ences,  and 
raised  again  for  our  justification. — By  him  all  that  believe  are  jus- 
tified from  all  things. —  That  God  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier 
of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus.  "  It  is  evident,"  says  President 
Edwards,*  "  that  the  subject  of  justification  is  looked  upon  as  des- 
titute of  any  righteousness  in  himself,  by  that  expression,  It  is 
counted,  or  imputed,  to  him  for  righteousness.  The  phrase,  as  the 
Apostle  uses  it  here,  (Rom.  iv.  5.)  and  in  the  context,  manifestly 
imports,  that  God,  of  his  sovereign  grace,  is  pleased,  in  his  dealings 
with  the  sinner,  to  lake  and  regard  that  which,  indeed  is  not  right- 
eousness, and  in  one  that  has  no  righteousness,  so  that  the  conse- 
quence shall  be  the  same  as  if  he  had  righteousness  ;  and  which 
may  be  from  the  respect  that  it  bears  to  something  which  is  indeed 
righteous.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said  "  As  to  him  that  works,  there  is 
no  need  of  any  gracious  reckoning,  or  counting  it  for  righteousness, 
and  causing  the  reward  to  follow  as  if  it  were  a  righteousness  : 
for  if  he  has  works,  he  has  that  which  is  a  righteousness  in  itself, 
to  which  the  reward  properly  belongs.'  " 

5.  The  rewards  promised,  in  the  scriptures,  to  good  works,  sup- 
pose the  parties  to  be  believers  in  Christ ;  and  so,  being  accepted  in 
him,  their  works  also  are  accepted,  and  rewarded,  for  his  sake. 
That  good  works  have  the  promise  of  salvation,  is  beyond  dispute. 
Nothing  that  God  approves  shall  go  unrewarded.  The  least  ex- 
pression of  faith  and  love,  even  the  giving  of  a  cup  of  cold  water 
to  a  disciple  of  Christ,  because  he  belongs  to  him,  will  insure  ever- 
lasting life.  But  neither  this,  nor  any  other  good  work,  can  be  a 
ground  of  justification,  inasmuch  as  it  is  subsequent  to  it.  For  works 
to  have  any  influence  on  this  blessing,  they  require  to  precede  it : 
but  works  before  faith  are  never  acknowledged  by  the  scriptures 

**  Sermon  oa  Justifical  ion,  p.  f), 
Vol.  VII.  41 


322  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XVIH- 

to  be  good.  It  was  testified  of  Enoch,  that  he  pleased  God ;  from 
whence  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews  infers,  that  he  was  a  believer, 
inasmuch  as  ■zvithout  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  "  It  does 
not  consist  with  the  honour  of  the  Majesty  of  the  King  of  heaven 
and  earth,  to  accept  of  any  thing  from  a  condemned  malefactor, 
condemned  by  the  justice  of  his  own  holy  law,  till  that  condemna- 
tion be  removed."*  The  Lord  had  respect ^rsf  to  Abel,  and  then  to 
his  offering.  Even  those  works  which  are  the  expressions  of  faith 
and  love,  have  so  much  sinful  imperfection  attached  to  them,  that 
they  require  to  be  presented  by  an  intercessor  on  our  behalf  The 
most  spiritual  sacrifices  are  no  otherwise  acceptable  to  God  than 
by  Jesus  Christ. 

Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject  with- 
out noticing  the  apparent  opposition  between  Paul  and  James  ; 
the  one  teaching  that  we  are  justified  by  fiith,  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law;  the  other,  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by 
faith  only.  The  words  are,  doubtless,  apparently  opposite  ;  and 
so  are  those  of  Solomon,  when  he  directs  us,  in  one  proverb,  not 
to  answer,  and,  in  the  next,  to  anszccr  a  fool  according  to  his  folly, 
hi  reconciling  these  apparently  opposite  counsels,  we  are  led,  by 
the  reasons  given  for  each,  to  understand  the  terms  as  used  in  dif- 
ferent senses  ;  the  first,  as  directing  us  not  to  answer  a  foo\  in  a 
foolish  miinner,  for  this  would  make  us  like  unto  him ;  the  last,  to 
answer  him  in  a  zn-mj  suited  to  expose  his  folly  ^  lest  he  be  wise  inhis 
own  conceit.  In  like  manner,  the  teraii  faith  and  justification 
were  used  by  Paul  and  James  in  a  different  sense.  By  faith,  Paul 
meant  that  which  worketh  by  love,  and  is  productive  of  good  fruits; 
but  James  speaks  of  a  faith  which  is  dead,  being  alone.  By  justifi- 
cation, Paul  means  the  acceptance  of  a  sinner  before  God;  but 
James  refers  to  his  being  approved  of  God  as  a  true  Christian. 
"  Both  these  apostles  bring  the  case  of  Abraham  in  illustration  of 
their  principles  ;  but  then,  it  is  to  be  observed,  they  refer  to  dif- 
ferent periods  and  circumstances  in  the  life  of  that  patriarch. 
Paul,  in  the  first  instance,  says  of  Abraham,  that  he  was  justified 
by  faith,  while  yet  uncircumcised  :  this  was  his  justification  in  the 

*  President  Edwards's  Sermon  on  Justification. 


Sermon  XVIII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  333 

sight  of  God,  and  was  without  any  consideration  of  his  works. 
James  refers  to  a  period  some  years  subsequent  to  this,  when,  in 
the  oflfering  up  of  his  son,  he  was  justified  by  works  also  ;  that  is, 
his  faith  was  shown  to  be  genuine  by  its  fruits.  Paul  therefore 
refers  to  the  acceptance  of  a  sinner  ;  James  to  the  approbation  of 
a  saint."* 

Supported  by  this  body  of  scripture-evidence,  as  well  as  by  the 
experience  we  have  had  of  the  holy  and  happy  influence  of  the 
doctrine,  I  trust  we  shall  continue  unmoved  in  our  adherence  to  it. 
Let  others  boast  of  the  efficacy  of  their  own  virtues,  we,  with  the 
Apostle,  will  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  ;  will  count  all  things  but  dung, 
that  we  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  our  own 
righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the 
faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith. 

*  The  word '  Justification' is  used  in  this  sense,  Matt.  xii.  37.  ]  Cor.  iv,  4. 
See  Williams'  Vindioation  against  Belsham,pp,  145,  146. 


THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


SERMON  XIX. 

RoMAirs  iii.  24. 


Being;  justified  freely  by  bis  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus. 


Having  endeavoured  to  explain  and  establish  the  doctrine  ot 
justification,  it  remains  for  me, 

III.    To  SHOW    THE  CONSISTENCY    OF  ITS  BEING  OF  FREE   GRACE, 
AND     YET  THROUGH  THE  REDEMPTION  OF  JeSUS  ChRIST.       This  is  a 

subject  of  the  last  importance.  Almost  every  thing  pertaining  to 
the  way  of  salvation  is  affected  by  it.  The  principal  reason  alleg- 
ed by  those  who  reject  the  doctrine  of  atonement  is,  its  inconsis- 
tency with  grace.  God  needed  nothing,  they  say,  but  his  own 
goodness,  to  induce  him  to  show  mercy  ;  or  if  he  did,  it  is  not  of 
grace,  seeing  a  price  is  paid  to  obtain  it.  The  question,  however, 
does  not  respect  the  first  moving  cause  of  mercy,  but  the  manner 
of  showing  it.  The  friends  of  the  doctrine  of  atonement  allow 
that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  not  the  cause,  but  the  effect,  of  the 
Father's  love.  They  do  not  scruple  to  admit,  that  his  love  was 
sufficient  to  have  pardoned  sinners  without  an  atonement,  provided 
it  had  been  consistent  with  the  righteousness  of  his  character  and 
government.  "  It  is  not  ihe  sentitneut,  but  the  expression  of  love" 
that  requires  an  atonement.  David  was  not  wanting  in  love  to  hi» 
«on  Absalom  ;  for  his  soul  longed  to  go  forth  to  him ;  but  he  felt 


326  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XIX. 

for  his  honour,  as  the  head  of  a  family  and  of  a  nation,  which,  had 
he  adn^iitted  him  immediately  into  his  presence,  would  have  been 
compromised,  and  the  crime  of  murder  connived  at.  Hence,  for  a 
time,  he  must  be  kept  at  a  distance,  and,  when  introduced,  it  must 
be  by  a  mediator.  This  statement,  which  has  been  made,  in  sub- 
stance, by  our  writers  repeatedly,  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  fairly 
met  by  writers  on  the  other  side.  I  never  recollect,  however,  t© 
have  seen  or  heard  any  thing  like  a  fair  answer  to  it. 

It  is  remarkable  too,  that  those  who  make  this  objection  never 
appear  to  regard  the  doctrine  of  grace,  but  for  the  purpose  of  ma- 
king void  the  atonement.  On  all  other  occasions,  grace  is  virtually 
disowned,  and  works  are  every  thing  ;  but  here  it  is  magnified,  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  the  Father  is  honoured,  as  ^le  object  of 
worship,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Son. 

Cases  may  be  supposed,  I  acknowledge,  in  which  the  ideas  of 
grace  and  atonement  would  be  inconsistent.  First :  If  the  atone- 
ment were  made  by  the  offender,  himself  enduring  the  full  penalty 
of  the  law,  his  deliverance  would  be  a  matter  of  right,  and  there 
would  be  no  grace  in  it.  But,  as  in  a  case  of  murder,  it  is  not  in 
the  sinner's  power  to  make  atonement  for  himself,  so  as  to  survive 
his  punishment.  The  punishment  threatened  against  sin  is  everlast- 
ing, which  admits  of  no  period  when  the  penalty  shall  have  been 
endured.  No  man,  therefore,  can,  by  any  length  of  suffering,  re- 
deem his  own  soul. 

Secondly  :  If  the  sufferings  of  another  could  avail  for  the  of- 
fender, and  he  himself  were  to  provide  the  substitute,  his  deliver- 
ance might  be  a  matter  of  right,  and  there  might  be  no  grace  in 
it.  But  neither  of  these  suppositions  can  exist  in  the  case  before 
us.  Strict  distributive  justice  could  not  admit  of  the  innocent  suf- 
fering for  the  guilty,  even  though  the  innocent  were  willing.  Its 
language  is,  JFhosoever  hath  sinned  against  me,  him  will  I  blot  out 
of  my  book.  But,  if  it  could,  the  guilty  party  could  not  find  a 
substitute  either  able  or  willing  to  stand  in  his  place. 

Thirdly  :  If  God  himself  should  both  consent  to  accept  of  a  sub- 
stitute and  actually  provide  one,  yet  if  the  acts  and  deeds  of  sin- 
ners be  considered  as  literally  becoming  his,  and  his  theirs,  what- 
ever grace  there  might  be  in  the  acceptance  and  provision  of  the 


Sermow  XIX.]  0N  JUSTIFICATION.  337 

substitutp,  there  would  be  noplace  for  the  forgiveness  of  the  sin- 
ner, andjustijication  would  be  merely  an  act  of  Justice.  If  Christ, 
in  iiaving  our  sins  imputed  to  him,  became  a  sinner,  and,  as  some 
have  said,  the  greatest  of  all  sinners,  then,  in  his  sufferings,  he  was 
only  treated  according  to  his  desert  :  and  that  desert,  belonging  to 
him  could  no  longer  belong  to  us  :  so  that,  had  we  been  in  exis- 
tence, and  known  of  it,  we  might,  from  that  moment,  have  claim- 
ed our  deliverance  as  a  matter  of  right.  And  if  we,  in  having  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  us,  become  that  which  he  was, 
namely,  meritorious,  or  deserving  of  eternal  life,  then  might  we 
disown  the  character  of  supplicants,  and  approach  the  Judge  of 
all  in  language  suited  to  those  who  had  always  pleased  him.  But 
neither  can  this  be.  The  acts  and  deeds  of  one  may  affect  others, 
but  can,  in  no  case,  become  actually  theirs,  or  be  so  transferred 
as  to  render  that  justice,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  of 
grace.  The  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ,  and  of  his  righteous- 
ness to  us,  does  not  consist  in  a  transfer  of  either  the  one  or  the 
other,  except  in  their  effects.  Christ  suffered,  not  because  he 
was,  but  merely  as  if  he  had  been  the  sinner:  notwithstanding  the 
imputation  of  sin  to  him,  he  died  the  just  for  the  unjust.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  are  justified,  not  because  we  are,  but  as  though  we 
were  righteous  ;  for  the  worthiness  belongs  to  him,  and  not  to  us. 

Finally  :  If  justif  cation  through  the  redemption  of  Christ  were 
considered  as  not  only  consistent  with  justice,  but,  iie^uired  by 
it,  it  must,  I  think,  be  allowed,  that  every  idea  of  grace  is  excluded. 
That  favour  toward  creatures  which  justice  requires  must  needs 
be  their  due  ;  which  leaves  no  room  for  grace.  It  is  only  of 
God's  essential  justice,  however,  that  this  is  true,  and  not  of 
his  covenant  righteousness  which  relates  to  his  own  free  en- 
gagements. God,  having  pledged  his  word,  would  be  un- 
righteous to  forget  the  work  and  labour  of  love  of  his  believing 
people  ;  and  thus  it  is,  that.  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful 
AND  JVST  to  forgive  us  our  sins.  The  righteous  fulfilment  of  en- 
gagements, made  in  a  way  of  grace,  is  not  opposed  to  it ;  but  that 
which  is  required  by  essewim/ justice,  is. 

Thisrepresentationof  things  cannot,  in  any  wise,  depreciate  the 
merit  of  Christ :  for,  be  this  what  it  may,  it  is  not  onrs,  and  can- 


328  t>N  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XIX. 

DOt,  therefore,  constitute  any  claim  on  our  behalf,  but  in  virtue  of 
Qocfsfrce  promises,  which,  being  made  in  grace,  continue  such  in 
all  their  fulfilments. 

It  is  enough  if  the  justification  of  sinners  be  consistent  wi</t  jus- 
tice; and  this  renders  the  whole  in  harmony  with  grace.  Such 
was  the  value  of  Christ's  blood-shedding,  as,  in  regard  of  its  effects 
on  the  divine  government,  to  be  equivalent  to  our  being  everlast- 
ingly punished  ;  and  such  the  merit  of  his  obedience,  as  to  be 
worthy  of  all  that  God  has  bestowed  on  us  in  reward  of  it ;  yet,  as 
there  is  no  transfer  but  of  the  effects,  it  does  not,  in  the  least,  in- 
terfere with  grace. 

If  the  principles  on  which  the  doctrine  of  atonement  proceeds 
be  carefully  considered,  they  will  be  found,  not  only  consistent 
with  grace,  but  will  rank  among  the  strongest  evidences  in  favour 
of  it. 

In  proof  of  this,  let  the  following  observations  be  duly  consid- 
ered : 

1.  //  is  common  among  men ^  in  showing  kindness  to  the  unworthy, 
to  do  it  out  of  regard  to  one  that  is  worthy  :  which  kindness  is,  nev- 
ertheless, considered  as  a  matter  of  free  favour.  You  had  a  friend 
whom  you  loved  as  your  own  soul.  He  died,  and  left  an  only  son. 
The  son  proves  a  dissolute,  worthless  character,  and  reduces 
himself  to  beggary.  Still  he  is  the  son  of  your  friend,  and  you 
wish  to  show  him  kindness.  If  your  kindness  be  unaccompanied 
with  an  explanation  of  your  motives,  he  may  think  you  have  no 
dislike  to  his  vices.  '  Young  man,'  say  you,  therefore, '  I  am  sorry 
it  is  not  in  my  power  to  be  your  friend  from  a  respect  to  your  owa 
character  ;  but  I  knew  and  loved  your  father,  and  what  I  do  for 
you,  is  for  his  sake!''  Here  is  an  exercise  of  both  justice  and 
grace  ;  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  worthy,  and  grace  in  the  re- 
lief of  the  unworthy.  The  worthiness  of  the  father  is  imputed  to 
the  son,  inasmuch  as,  in  consequence  of  it,  he  is  treated  as  though 
he  were  himself  worthy  ;  but  it  makes  no  difference  as  to  his  real 
character  or  deserts,  nor,  in  any  wise,  renders  what  is  done  to 
him  less  a  matter  of  grace  than  if  it  had  not  been  done  in  conside- 
ration of  his  father's  worthiness.  If  Onesimus  were  forgiven  by 
Philemon,  at  the  intercession  of  Paul,  (as  there  is  no  reason  t<> 


Sermon  XIX.]  ON  JUSTIFICATIOX.  339 

doubt  that  he  was,)  he  would  not  on  that  account,  think  of  its  being 
less  an  act  of  grace. 

2.  God,  in  his-  dealings  icith  manlcind,  has  frequently  proceed- 
ed upon  the  same  principle,  besttneing  blessings  on  the  unworthy 
out  of  respect  to  one  that  was  worthy;  which  blessings,  never- 
theless have  been  of  pure  grace,  God  promised  the  posterity 
of  Notdi  exemption  from  a  future  flood  :  but  koovving  that  they 
would  utterly  corrupt  themselves,  his  covenant  vvas  primari- 
ly made  with  hitn.  It  was  thus  in  the  blessings  promised  to  the 
posterity  of  Abraham.  Tiie  Lord  knowing  that  they  would  be 
very  corrupt,  spake  thus  to  Abraham  himself:  Jls  for  me,  behold, 
my  covfuant  is  with  thee,  and  thou  shalt  he  a  father  of  many  na- 
tions. Hence,  in  a  great  number  of  instances  wherein  mercy  was 
shown  to  the  rebellious  Israelites,  they  were  reminded,  that  it  was 
not  for  their  saJces,  but  on  account  of  the  covenant  made  with  their 
father  Abraham,  and  renewed  wi*h  Isaac  and  Jacob.  Thus  also,  in 
the  covenant  made  with  David,  God  blessed  his  posterity  for  his 
sake,  s  iying.  My  covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  him.  And  when 
the  heart  of  Solomon  was  turned  away  from  the  Lord  God  of  Is- 
rael, he  was  told,  that  if  the  Lord  did  not  rend  the  kingdom  utter- 
ly from  him,  it  would  not  be  for  his  sake,  but  for  David  his  ser- 
vant's sake,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake  which  he  had  chosen.  In 
these  instances,  there  was  a  display  of  both  justice  and  grace,  and 
the  righteousness  of  the  fathers  was,  as  1  may  say,  imputed  to  the 
children,  inasmuch  as,  in  consequence  of  it,  they  were  treated  as 
if  they  themselves  were  righteous  ;  but  it  m^ikes  no  diflerence  as 
to  their  deserts,  nor  in  any  wise  renders  what  was  done  to  them 
less  a  matter  of  grace,  than  if  it  had  proceeded  merely  from  the 
divine  goodners,  and  without  any  consideration  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  their  fathers.  So  far  from  this,  the  very  language.  Not  for 
your  sokes  do  I  this, — be  it  known  wito  you. — but  for  my  holy  ?mme's 
sake, — and  for  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  your  fathers,  would 
tend,  more  than  any  thing,  to  humble  them,  and  to  impress  them 
with  the  idea  that  what  they  had  was  altogether  of  grace. 

If  it  be  objected,  that  in  these  cases,  though  the  blessing  was 
o{  grace  to  the  party  receiving  it,  yet  it  was  in  reward  of  the 
party  for  whose  sake  it  was  given  ;  1  answer,   It  is  in  respect  of 

Vol.  VIL  42 


330  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Skrmoh  XIX. 

the  party  receiving,  and  him  only,  that  it  is  called  grace  ;  and 
this  is  sufficient  for  its  being  so  denominated.  It  is  of  what  jus- 
tification is  to  us,  and  not  what  it  is  to  Christ,  that  the  Apostle 
speaks.  It  is  enough  if  it  be  of  grace  to  us,  and  if  God's  bestow- 
ing it  upon  us  out  of  respect  to  the  worthiness  of  his  Son,  do  not 
diminish  that  grace,  but  on  the  contrary,  augment  it. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that  in  these  cases,  there  was  no  example  of 
the  innocent  suffering  for  the  guilty  ;  no  atonement ;  no  redemp- 
tion of  the  parties  by  a  sacrifice  offered  in  their  stead.  We  there- 
fore proceed  to  observe. 

3.  God,  m  the  appointment  of  animal  sacrifices  {thovgh  they 
were  only  shadows  of  good  things  to  come,)  sancdfied  the  principle 
of  .sin  being  expiated  by  the  silverings  of  a  substitute,  and  yet  rep- 
resented the  sinner  as  frkely  forgiven.  The  process  of  the 
burnt  offering  is  thus  described  :  If  his  offering  he  a  burnt  sac- 
rifice tf  the  herd,  let  him  offer  a  male  without  blemish  :  he  shall 
off.'r  if  of  his  own  voluntary  will,  (or,  as  Ainsworth  renders  it, 
for  acceptance.)  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation 
before  the  Lord.  And  he  shall  put  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the 
burnt -offering :  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for  him  to  make  atonemeni 
fur  him,  Sec.  The  current  language  concerning  these  sacrifices 
is,  Ajid  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  as  concerning 
his  sin  that  he  hath  committed,  and  n  shall  be  forgiven  him. 
In  all  these  transactions  there  was  justice  and  grace  ;  justice  in 
reqtiirinji  a  sacrifice,  and  grace  in  forgiving  the  transgressor. 
There  was  also  imputation  :  the  sin  of  the  party  was  imputed  to 
the  appointed  victim,  which  was  reckoned  as  though  it  were  the 
sinner,  and  treated  as  such  in  the  divine  administration.  The 
atonement  made  by  the  sacrifice  was,  on  the  other  hand,  imputed 
to  him  that  offered  it  ;  that  is,  it  was  reckoned  to  his  account,  and 
he  was  treated  accordingly.  This  is  clear  from  what  is  said  of 
one,  the  tlesli  of  whose  offering  was  neglected  to  be  eaten  before 
the  third  liay  according  to  appointment.  It  .shall  not  be  accepted, 
neither  shaJl  it  be  imputed  iinto  him  that  offereth  it :  it  shall  be  an 
abomination,  and  the  soul  that  eateth  of  it  shall  bear  his  iniquity ; 
implying,  that,  if  offered  according  to  the  divine  appointment,  it 


Sermon  XIX.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  331 

was  accepted  for  him,  and  imputed  to  him,  and  he  should  not  bear 
his  iniquity. 

In  all  these  substitutional  sacrifices,  atonement  did  not  operate 
to  the  diminution  of  grace  ;  they  were  not  such  a  payment  of  the 
sinner'?  debt  as  that  he  should  be  entitled  to  deliverance  as  a  mat- 
ter of  claim;  since  the  issue  of  all  wa»?.  And  his  sins  shall  be  for- 
given him.  On  the  contrary,  every  thing  was  calculated  to  mag- 
nify the  grace  of  God,  and  to  humble  the  sinner  in  the  dust  before 
him.  Of  this  tendency,  particularly,  was  his  having  to  lay  his 
hand  upon  the  head  of  the  sacrifice,  confessing  his  sin,  and  ac- 
knowledging, in  effect,  that,  if  he  had  been  treated  according  to 
his  deserts,  he  himself  must  have  been  the  victim. 

The  doctrine  of  sacrifices  receives  an  interesting  illustration 
from  the  case  of  Job  and  his  three  friends  :  And  it  was  so.  that 
after  the  Lord  had  spoken  these  words  unto  Job,  the  Lord  said  to 
Eliphnz  the  Temanite,  My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  and  against 
thy  two  friends  :  for  ye  have  not  spoken  of  vie  the  thing  that  is 
right,  as  my  servant  Job  hath.  Therefore  take  unto  you  now  seven 
bullocks  and  seven  rams,  and  go  to  my  servant  Job,  and  offer  up  for 
yourselves  a  burnt  off'erutg  ;  and  my  servant  Job  shall  pray  for  you, 
for  him  will  I  accept  ;  lest  I  deal  with  you  after  your  folly.  We  see 
here  that  the  three  friends  could  not  be  justified  on  the  ground  of 
their  own  conduct.  They  must  either  be  accepted  through  a  sac- 
rifice and  intercessor,  or  be  dealt  with  according  to  their  folly. 
And  this  sacrifice  and  intercession,  instead  of  making  void  the 
grace  of  the  transaction,  goes  to  establish  it.  It  must  have  been 
not  a  little  humiliating  to  Eliphaz  and  his  companions,  to  be  given 
to  understand,  that  all  their  zeal  for  God  had  been  folly,  and  re- 
quired an  atonement;  that  the  Lord  would  not  receive  a  petition 
at  their  hands  ;  that  the  sacrifices  must  be  brought  to  Job,  and  of- 
fered up  in  his  presence  ;  and  that,  after  all  their  contumelious 
language  to  him,  they  must  owe  their  acceptance  to  his  interces- 
sion. Had  they  been  forgiven  without  this  process,  their  sin  must 
have  appeared  light,  and  the  grace  of  God  in  its  forgiveness  have 
been  diminished,  in  their  apprehension,  in  comparison  of  what  it 
was. 


332  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XIX. 

4.  The  New  Tenfamenf,  while  it  represents  the  interposition  of 
Christ  as  necessary  for  the  consistent  exercise  (f  mercy  ^  ascribes  the 
whole  of  our  salvation,  tievcj-theless,  to  the  free  grace  of  God.  I 
need  not  prove  this  position  by  a  number  of  references.  The 
doctrine  of  the  New  Testament,  on  this  subject,  is  summarily 
comprehended  in  the  verses  following  the  text,  which  contain  the 
Apostle's  explanation  of  his  own  words.  Havina;  stated,  that  we 
nre  justified  freely  by  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  he  adds.  Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation, 
fhrovgh  fanh  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God;  to 
declare,  I  say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus. 

Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  :  We  see  here,  in 
what  the  redemption  of  Christ,  b}'  which  we  are  justified,  consisted. 

He  hims*^lf  was  made  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  through  which  God 
might  be  propitious  to  sinners,  without  any  dishonour  attaching  to 
his  character. 

Through  faith  in  his  blood:  In  order  to  an  Israelite  being  bene- 
fitted by  the  appointed  sacrifices,  it  was  necessary  for  him,  or  for 
the  priest  on  his  behalf,  to  put  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  ani- 
mal and  there  to  make  confession  of  sins.  Hence  the  offerers  of 
sacrifices  are  denominated  the  comers  thereunto.  And  thus  it  is 
necessary  to  our  deriving  benefit  from  the  propitiation  of  Christ, 
that  we  should  believe  in  him. 

To  declare  'tis  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins :  The  first 
thing  necessary  in  our  justification,  is  the  remission  of  sin.  The 
grand  impediment  to  this  was,  that  it  would  reflect  upon  the  right- 
eousness of  God  ;  I  epresenting  either  his  precepts  and  threaten- 
ings  as  too  rigid  to  be  put  in  execution,  or  his  mercy  as  being 
mere  connivance.  Hence,  when  a  great  act  of  mercy  was  to  be 
shown,  it  became  necessary  to  preface  it  by  a  declaration,  or  de- 
monstrati'jn,  of  righteousness.  God,  by  making  his  beloved  Son  a 
sacrifice,  practically  declared,  or  demonstrated  in  the  presence  of 
the  universe,  his  determination  to  maintain  the  honour  of  his  gov- 
ernment, and  his  utter  abhorrence  of  sin.  Having  done  this,  he 
can  now  forgive  the  believing  sinner,  without  any  suspicion  of 
connivance  attaching  to  his  character. 


Sermon  XIX.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  353 

Sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God:  The  propi- 
tiation of  Christ  wns  not  only  necessary  in  behalf  of  believers  un- 
der the  times  of  the  gospel,  but  of  those  in  former  ages.  Those 
who  had  offered  sacrifices  were  not  forgiven  in  virtue  of  them,  but 
of  this.  On  the  ground  of  Christ's  undertaking  to  become  a  pro- 
pitiation in  the  fulness  of  time,  the  forbearance  of  God  was  exer- 
cised towards  them.  And,  now  that  hi?  righteousnes  is  declar- 
ed, he  can  be  just,  and  the  justifer  of  him  which  believeth  in 
Jesus. 

Supposing  the  foregoing  comments  to  be  the  substance  of  the 
Apostle's  meaning,  what  is  there  in  any  part  of  it,  which  renders 
void,  or  in  any  wise  diminishes,  the  free  grace  of  God  ?  Does  the 
declaration,  or  demonstration,  of  his  righteousness  ybr  the  remission 
of  sins  render  it  no  remission  ?  Would  it  have  been  more  of  a 
favour  for  God  to  have  pardoned  sin  without  any  regard  to  right- 
eousness, than  with  it  ?  Is  there  any  thing,  in  the  whole  proceed- 
ing, that  puts  the  sinner  in  possession  of  a  claim  on  the  ground  of 
essential  justice,  or  which  warrants  him  to  hope  for  an  interest  in 
its  blessed  results,  without  coming  to  the  Saviour  as  guilty  and  un- 
worthy ? 

There  is  nothing  in  the  New  Testament  which  represents  the 
death  of  Christ  ns  superseding  the  necessity  of  repentance,  con- 
fession, and  humble  supplication,  or  as  investing  the  believer  with 
any  other  claim  of  spiritual  blessings,  than  that  which  arises  from 
the  free  promise  of  God  through  his  dear  Son.  We  never  read 
there  of  "  suing  out  our  right ;"  nor  of  mercy  being  a  matter  of 
demand,  since  Christ  has  paid  the  debt.  All  is  in  the  language  of 
supplication  in  the  name  of  Christ. 

The  intercession  of  Christ  himself  on  our  behalf,  proceeds  upon 
the  same  principle.  It  would  not  otherwise  be  intercession. 
''  Grace,"  as  Dr.  Goodwin  observes,  "  requires  to  be  applied  for 
in  a  way  of  entreaty  and  intercession.* 

*  The  word?  of  our  Lord  in  John  xvii.  24.  Father,  I  wn,L,  &c.  have  beea 
thought  to  convey  a  different  idea  : 

"With  cries  and  tears  he  offered  np 
His  humble  suit  below  ; 


334  O^  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XIX. 

Those  who  plead  for  the  intercession  of  Christ  in  a  way  o(  au- 
thority, or  demand,  ground  it  on  his  sacrifice  and  merits ;  which, 
being  of  infinite  worth,  must,  they  suppose,  entitle  him  to  ask  fa- 
vours for  his  people  in  this  manner.  That  God,  in  love  to  his 
dear  Son,  should  reward  his  voluntary  obedience  unto  death  with 
the  bestowment  of  eternal  salvation  on  them  that  believe  in  him, 
and  even  lay  himself  under  obligation  to  do  so,  is  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  its  being  of  grace  ;  but  obligation  of  this  kind  furnisb- 
es  no  ground  for  demand,  nor  does  it  appear,  from  the  scriptures, 
that  the  Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth  was  ever  so  approached.  In 
the  gospel-way  of  salvation,  grace  and  justice  meet,  or  are  comhin,' 
edj  in  the  same  thing.  Grace,  through  the  righteousness  of  Jesus, 
reigns,  not  in  one  or  two  stages,  but  in  every  stage,  unto  eternal 
life  :  but,  on  the  principle  of  salvation  being  an  object  of  demand 
it  must,  in  some  stages  of  it,  become  a  matter  of  mere  justice  :  it 
might  be  grace  to  provide  the  deliverer,  but  there  would  be  none 
in  the  deliverance  itself. 

However  worthy  Christ  was  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and 
wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing  ;  yet, 
when  pleading  (or  sinrters,  it  required  to  be  in  the  language  of  zn- 
tercession.     His  worthiness  is  that,  indeed,  on  account  of  which 
we  are  treated  as  if  we  were  worthy,  but  it  does  not  render  us 
meritorious.     The  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  us;  but 
it  is  only  in  its  effects  that  it  is  transferred,  or,  indeed,  transferable. 
The  sum  is,  there  is  nothing  in  the  atonement  or  justifying  right- 
But  with  authority  he  asks, 
Enthroned  iu  glory  now. 
For  all  that  come  to  God  by  him, 

Salvation  lie  demands ; 
Points  to  their  names  upon  hi?  breast, 
And  spreads  his  wounded  hands." 

Topr.ADY. 
This  petition,  however,  was  offered  up  when  our  Lord  was  upon  earth . 
and  his  intercession  in  heaven  is  called  prayer  :  I  will  prat  the  Father,  and 
he  shall  give  you  another  Comforter.  «'  The  verb  rendered  will,'''  says  Dr. 
Campbell,  *'  is  the  same  which,  in  Matt.  xii.  38,  and  ^Jark  x.  Si,  is  rendered 
XD'vld,  and  ought  to  hare  been  so  rendered  here,  as  it  implies  request,  not 
temmaQd. 


SiBRMON  XIX.J  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  335 

eousness  of  Christ  that,  in  any  wise,  supercedes  the  necessity  of 
our  being  freely  forgiven,  or  freely  blessed. 

I  conclude  with  a  few  reflections  on  the  whole  subject: 
First:  If  the  doctrine  here  slated  und  defended  be  true,  there 
is,  in  the  nature  of  sin^  something  much  more  offensive  to  God, 
than  IS  generally  supposed.  Is  it  conceivable,  that  God,  whose  na- 
ture iz,  love,  would  have  cursed  the  work  of  his  hands  for  a  matter 
of  snvdi  account  ?  He  does  not  delight  in  cursing  :  he  afflicts  not 
willingly,  nor  grieves  the  children  of  men.  Yet  every  transgres- 
sor of  his  law  IS  declared  to  be  accursed.  All  the  curses  in  the 
book  of  God  stand  against  him  :  in  his  basket  and  in  his  store  ;  io 
the  city,  and  in  the  field  ;  in  his  going  out,  and  in  his  coining  inj 
and  in  all  that  he  setteth  his  hand  unto.  Nor  is  it  confined  to  the 
pr; -^eni.  liJe,  but  includes  everlasiing  punishment.  Is  it  conceiva- 
ble, th:U  God  would  have  male  his  son  a  sacrifice,  or  that  the 
Lorr!  ofglt-ry  would  have  come  into  the  world  for  this  jjiirfiose,  if 
sin  !'-,id  not  been  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing?  If  it  were  no  more 
th.;[i  uien  in  general  conceive  it  to  be,  assuredly  so  much  would 
not  h;ue  been  made  of  it.  It  is  upon  light  thoui^hts  of  sin,  that  a 
disoelief  of  justiiic  tion  through  the  blood-shedding  of  Christ  is 
grafted  :  hut,  let  us  think  of  it  as  lightly  as  we  may,  if  God  thinks 
ottierwise.  we  shall  be  in  the  wrong  ;  for  The  judgment  of  God  is 
according  to  iruth. 

Secondly  :  if  this  doctrine  be  true,  the  danger  of  our  being  lost 
arises,  not  from  the  nntinitude  of  cur  sin,  be  it  what  it  may,  but 
from  a  self -righteous  r  ejection  of  the  only  way  of  acceptance  with 
God.  Lot  the  nature  or  degrees  of  sin  be  what  they  may,  there  is 
no  reason,  on  that  account,  to  despair  of  salvation.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  is  the  utmost  encouragement  for  the  most  guilty  and 
unworth)  to  return  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.  Every  bar  in  the 
way  of  acceptance,  which  respected  the  government  of  God,  i» 
removed.  God  can  be  just,  and  yet  thejustifier  of  the  believer  in 
Jesus.  More  glory  redounds  to  him,  even  to  his  justice,  from  sal- 
vation than  tVorn  damnation.  Nor  is  there  any  cause  to  doubt  the 
willingness  of  God  to  show  mercy.  He  is,  indeed,  unwilling  to 
show  mercy  to  itios*^  who  seek  it  in  any  other  way  than  Christ,  or^ 
rather,    is  determiued  they    shall   not  find  it ;    but  every  one 


336  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Sermon  XIX. 

that  seeketh  in  his  name  tindeth.  There  is  one  great  and  over- 
whehning  fact  that  answers  all  objections  :  He  that  spared  not  his 
own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  hoio  shall  he  not  with  him 
alsofrtely  give  us  ad  things  'f  The  pardon  of  sin.  and  acceptance 
with  God,  are  blessings  of  such  magnitude,  that  nothing  in  this 
world  is  to  be  compared  with  them  :  yet  these  are  less  than  what 
has  been  given  already;  for  the  argument  of  the  Apostle  is  from 
the  greater  to  the  less.  If  we  be  willing  to  receive  Christ,  .and 
with  him  all  things  freely,  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  it.  If  the 
door  of  rnercy  be  shut  upon  us,  it  is  a  self-righteous  spirit  that  shuts 
it.  Look  at  a  self-justifying  spirit  in  respect  ol'  faults  committed 
between  man  and  man.  Persons  of  very  ordinary  capacity,  in 
other  things,  will  here  be  ingenious  to  admiration  in  framing  ex- 
cuses. They  who  seem  scarcely  able  to  speak  on  other  subjects 
will  be  quite  eloquent  in  defending  themselves;  dwelling  on  cir- 
cumstances that  make  in  their  favour,  keeping  out  of  sight  of  what 
makes  against  them,  alleging  their  good  intentions,  even  in  things 
which  in  themselves  cannot  be  justified  ;  and  shunning,  as  one 
would  shun  the  road  to  death,  a  frank  acknowledgement  of  their 
sin,  and  a  humble  petition  for  mercy.  Of  the  same  nature  is  a  self- 
righteous  spirit  in  respect  of  sin  committed  against  God;  and  this 
it  is  that  shuts  the  door  of  mercy.  If  a  convict  under  a  just  sen- 
tence of  death  be  as:sured,  from  authority,  that,  if  he  confess  his 
guilt,  and  petition  for  mercy,  he  will  be  forgiven  ;  and  if,  instead 
of  making  such  confession  and  supplication,  he  either  pleads  not 
guilty,  or  at  least  insists  upon  his  comparative  innocence,  or  upon 
some  circumstances  which  may  entitle  him  to  mercy,  should  we 
not  say,  of  such  a  man,  '  He  shuts  the  door  of  mercy  on  himself? 
He  dies,  not  on  account  of  the  magnitude  of  his  crime,  but  of  his 
pride  and  obstinacy.  His  original  crime  is  still,  indeed,  the  for- 
mal cause  of  his  punishment ;  but  it  is  owing  to  his  self-justifying 
spirit,  that  it  was  finally  laid  to  his  charge.'  And  thus  it  is  that  the 
scriptures  ascribe  the  loss  of  the  soul  to  unbelief:  He  that  believ- 
eth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the 
Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  thk  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him. — 
Israel,  which  followed  after  the  law  of  righteousness,  hath  not  at- 
tmned  to  the  law  of  righteousness.      Wherefore  ?     Because  they 


Sermon  XIX.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  337 

sought  it  not  hy  faith,  hut  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  laio  :  for 
they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone. 

It  is  remarkable,  that,  in  drawing  a  conclusion  from  the  doctrine 
«f  absolute  sovereignty,  in  which  the  Apostle  had  taught,  that  God 
had  mercy  on  whom  he  would  have  mercy,  he  ascribes  the  failure  of 
the  Jews,  not  to  their  non-election,  but  to  their  unbelief. 

Finally  :  Though  justification  be  of  grace,  through  the  redemp- 
tion which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  yet,  without  good  works,  we  can 
give  no  proof  of  our  being  justified.  The  whole  argument  ofthe 
Apostle,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  this  Epistle,  teaches,  that  believ- 
ers cannot  live  in  sin,  being  dead  to  it,  and  alive  to  God.  Those 
who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  whom  there  is  now  no  condemnation, 
are  said  to  walk  not  after  thejlesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  We  need 
not  wish  for  stronger  evidence  in  favour  ofthe  doctrine  of  free 
justification,  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  the  objections  which 
are  answered  by  the  Apostle.  No  other  notion  of  justification 
than  that  which  is  of  grace,  through  Christ,  would  admit  of  such 
objections  as  he  encounters  :  no  other  doctrine,  therefore,  can 
justly  pretend  to  be  apostolical. 

It  follows,  however,  that,  while  we  contend  for  the  doctrine,  it 
concerns  us  so  to  walk,  as  not  to  furnish  its  adversaries  with  a 
handle  for  reproaching  it  as  unfriendly  to  a  life  of  holiness.  The 
law  of  God,  though  not  the  medium  of  life,  is,  nevertheless,  the 
rule  of  conduct ;  and  though  we  are  justified  hy  faith  alone,  yet 
good  works  are  necessary  to  prove  it  to  be  genuine.  Thus  it  is 
thai  faith  is  shoivn,  and  made  perfect  hy  works.  All  who  profess 
to  believe  the  doctrine  do  not  live  under  its  influence;  and  they 
who  do,  are  exposed  to  other  influences.  Whatever  peace  of 
mind,  therefore,  it  may  be  adapted  to  produce,  it  furnishes  no 
ground  for  carnal  or  presumptuous  security. 
Vol.  VII.  43 


THE  BELIEVER'S   REVIEW   OF  HIS    PAST  AND   PRES- 
ENT STATE. 


SERMON  XX. 

Ephes.  ii.  13. 


But  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometimes  were  far  off,  are  made  nigh  by 
the  blood  of  Christ. 


It  is  common  to  speak  of  our  country,  in  respect  of  its  high 
state  of  civilization  and  cultivation,  as  a  garden.  But  to  know 
what  civilization  and  cultivation  have  done  for  us,  we  must  know, 
what  we  were  in  former  ages,  when  the  island  was  little  better 
than  a  wilderness,  and  its  inhabitants  a  race  of  barbarians. 

Thus,  if  we  would  understand  what  Christianity  has  done  for 
us,  we  must  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  condition  in  which  we 
were,  while  subject  to  pagan  darkness  and  superstition.  It  is 
thus  that  the  Apostle,  in  writing  to  the  Ephesians,  teaches  them 
the  value  of  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the  gospel,  by  direct- 
ing their  attention  to  the  state  in  which  they  were,  before  it  reach- 
ed them. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  they  are  reminded  of  their 
state  as  sinners  ih  common  with  other  sinners:  Jlnd  you  hath  he 
quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;  wherein  in  time 
past  ye  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according  to 
the  prince  of  the  poiter  of  the  air.  the  spirit  thai  now  worketh  in  the 


34tt  A  STATE  OF  NATURE  [Sermon  XX. 

children  of  disobedience :  among  whom  also  we  all  (Jews  as  well  as 
Gentiles)  had  our  conversation  in  times  past  in  the  lusts  of  ourjlesh, 
fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind;  and  were  by  na- 
ture the  children  oftorath,  even  as  others.  But,  in  addition  to  this, 
the  Apostle  reminds  them  of  ihe'ir  peculiar  condition  as  heathens  t 
'Remember,  that  ye,  being  in  time  past  Gentiles  in  the  flesh, — that  at 
that  time  ye  were  without  Christ,  being  aliens  from  the  common- 
wealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  the  covenants  of  promise,  hav- 
ing no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world.  This  being,  in  some 
respects,  the  greatest  )^emove  from  God  in  which  men  could  place 
themselves,  they  are  eipphatically  said  to  have  been  far  off.  Sin- 
ners, among  the  Jews,  were  subjectively  distant  from  God;  but 
they  were  so  both  subj^tively  and  objectively,  as  being  destitute 
of  the  most  important  means  of  knowing  him. 

In  discoursing  upon  the  subject,  we  shall  first  observe  that  state 
of  distance  which  is  peculiar  to  heathens;  secondly,  that  which  is 
common  to  heathens  and  all  other  sinners  ;  and,  thirdly,  the  way 
in  which  they  are  recovered,  and  brought  nigh. 

I.  Let  us  observe  THAT  state  of  distance  which  is  peculiar 
TO  HEATHENS.  This  is  far  from  being  an  uninteresting  subject  to 
MS.  At  the  time  this  Epistle  was  written,  our  fathers  were  in  this 
very  state  ;  and  had  not  the  gospel  been  brought  to  us  by  those 
who  had  heard  and  believed  it,  we  had  been  in  the  same  state  at 
this  day.  Instead  of  being  met  together,  as  we  now  are,  to  wor- 
ship the  living  God  tlirough  the  mediation  of  his  Son,  we  had  been 
assembled  to  adore  stocks  and  stones  ;  instead  of  singing  the  high 
praises  of  Jehovah,  nothing  had  been  heard  in  our  cities,  towns, 
and  villages,  but  the  vociferations  of  idolatry  ;  instead  of  the  grat- 
ifying sights  arising  from  the  institutions  of  humanity  and  benevo- 
lence, we  should  have  been  witnesses,  and  perhaps  more  than 
witnesses,  of  the  offering  up  of  human  sacrifices  ! 

The  description  given  of  this  state  by  the  Apostle,  in  verses  11, 
12,  is  very  affecting  :  At  that  time  ye  icere  without  Christ.  The 
only  way  in  which  Christ  could  be  known,  was  by  revelation  ;  and 
file  only  jieople  to  whom  a  revelation  was  made,  was  Israel.  To 
them  pertained  the  oracles  of  God,  and  the  covenants  of  promise. 
Being,  therefore,  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  they 


SJERMow  XX.]  AND  OF  GRACE.  34I 

must  needs  be  strangers  from  the  covenants  of  promise,  and  so, 
of  course,  be  without  Christ.  And  being  without  Christ,  they  had 
no  hopc^  either  of  their  sins  being  forgiven,  or  of  a  blessed  here- 
after. And  though  they  daily  partook  of  the  bounties  of  Provi- 
dence, yet,  being  without  Christ,  and  without  hope,  they  were 
without  God  in  the  world  ! 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  heathen  world  at  the  coming  of  Christ. 
The  science  of  Egypt,  Chaldea,  Greece,  and  Rome,  had  discover- 
ed much,  as  to  things  pertaining  to  the  present  life  ;  but,  in  respect 
of  an  hereafter,  all  was  enveloped  in  gross  darkness.  The  far 
greater  part  did  not  think  of  it,  and  they  that  did,  knew  but  just 
enough  to  make  them  miserable.  They  were  aware  that,  like  all 
others,  they  must  die;  and,  knowing  that  they  had  not  lived  and 
acted,  even  to  each  other,  as  they  ought,  their  consciences  for- 
boded  a  state  in  which  they  would  be  called  to  account ;  but  what 
it  would  he,  they  knew  not. 

The  following  lines  might  be  written  by  a  pensive  infidel  of 
modern  times;  but  they  would  have  fitted  the  lips  of  a  pagan  : 

''  Distrust  and  darkness  of  a  future  state 
Makes  poor  mankind  so  fearful  of  his  fate : 
Death  of  itself  is  nothing;  but  we  fear 
To  be  ve  know  not  what,  we  know  not  where." 

Such,  or  nearly  such,  must  have  been  the  reflections  of  the 
most  serious  among  the  heathen  ;  and  as  to  the  rest,  they  were 
buried  in  all  manner  of  wickedness.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  idolatry, 
to  efface  and  obliterate  from  the  mind  all  just  thoughts  of  God  and 
true  religion,  and  to  substitute  in  their  place  vain  imaginations  and 
vile  affections.  Instead  of  a  holy,  just,  and  good  Being  presiding 
over  the  universe,  imaginary  deities  are  set  up,  whose  office  it  is 
to  preside  over  particular  countries  and  concerns  ;  and  this,  in 
amanner  suited  to  the  inclinations  of  their  worshippers,  entering 
into  all  their  prejudices,  and  patronizing  their  most  favourite 
vices. 

There  is  a  marked  connexion  between  impiety  and  obscenity, 
or  the  casting  off  of  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  God,  and  being 
given  up  to  the  basest  practices  towards  one  another.     God  it 


342  A  STATK  OF  NATURE  [Sermon  XX. 

jealous,  and  the  Lord  rcvengeth !  If  they  dishonour  him  by  trans- 
ferring his  glory  to  an  idol,  he  will  give  them  up  in  turn  to  dis- 
honour their  own  bodies.  If  they  change  the  truth  of  God  the 
creator,  who  is  blessed  forever,  into  the  practical  lie  of  worship- 
ping that  as  God  which  is  not  God,  for  this  cause  they  shall  be 
given  up  to  vile  atfections.  As  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to  a  mind  void  of  judgment, 
and  to  the  practice  of  every  thing  obscene,  unnatural,  unjust, 
malignant,  false,  and  cruel ;  not  only  to  wallow  like  filthy  beasts 
in  the  mire,  but  to  prefer  the  society  of  such  as  their  friends  and 
companions!  If  any  doubt,  whether  this  picture  be  not  over- 
charged, let  faithful  witnesses  be  heard,  and  they  will  report  the 
same  things  of  heathen  countries  at  this  day. 

We  hear,  from  men  calling  themselves  Christians,  but  who,  in 
fact,  are  Infidels,  flattering  accounts  of  heathen  virtue,  and  labour- 
ed attempts  to  prove  the  virtuous  tendency  of  the  system.  Idols, 
instead  of  being  competitors  with  the  true  God,  are  represented  as 
connected  with  him  ;  as  though  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
whom  the  worship  is  presented,  Jehovah,  Jove,  or  Baal  ;  all  is 
received  as  a  tribute  paid  to  the  common  father  of  all.  Such  are 
the  sentiments  taught  by  one  of  our  poets  ;  and  such  are  the 
principles  of  so  large  a  part  of  our  countrymen,  that,  if  Britons  do 
not  christianize  India,  India  may  be  expected  soon  to  heathenize 
Britain !  Shfill  we,  in  complaisance  to  Infidels,  throw  away 
our  Bibles,  and  listen  to  their  pleas  for  the  most  sottish  stupidity 
that  ever  disgraced  human  natiire  !  The  voice  of  reason,  and 
(thank  God  I)  the  voice  of  Britain,  answer.  No  .'  We  ourselves 
were  sometimes  darkness;  but,  if  we  have  been  m.ide  light  in  the 
Lord,  let  us  walk  as  children  of  the  light. 

We  proceed  to  observe, 

II.  That  state  of  distance  which  is  common  to  heathens 
AND  ALL  OTHER  SINNERS.  We  have  secn  already,  that  there  is  a 
^tate,  described  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  which  refers  not 
to  what  the  Ephesians  were  by  education,  by  custom,  or  by  any 
other  circumstances  attending  their  former  life,  but  to  what  they 
were  by  nature.  It  was  in  respect  of  this,  that  the  Apostle  reck- 
oned  himself  and   his  countrymen,   notwithstanding  their  living 


SbrSion  XX.J  AND  OF  GRACE.  343 

under  the  light  of  revelation,  among  them  ;  and,  in  this  respect 
we  also,  notwithstanding  our  living  under  the  light  of  the  gospel, 
must  be  reckoned  with  them  :  Among  whotu  also  we  all  had  our 
conversation  in  times  past,  in  the  lusts  of  our  flesh,  fulfilling  the 
desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind;  and  were  hy  nature  the  chil^ 
dren  of  wrath,  even  as  others. 

The  Apostle  does  not  tell  the  Ephesians  from  whom,  or  from 
what,  they  were  far  off",  the  reason  of  which  might  be,  that  there 
was  no  one  word  that  would  convey  the  fulness  of  the  sentiment. 
He  might  have  said,  Ye  were  far  off  from  happiness;  this  had 
been  true:  or,  far  off  from  peace  ;  this  had  been  true:  or,  far 
off  from  righteousness  ;  this  had  been  true  :  or,  far  off  from  hope; 
this  also  had  been  true  :  he  might  mean  to  comprehend  them  all, 
and,  therefore,  made  use  of  general  terms.  If  any  word,  more 
comprehensive  than  the  rest,  had  been  used,  it  must  have  been, 
far  offfrom  God.  This  is  the  last  term  in  the  preceding  descrip- 
tion, to  which  the  words  far  off"  refer  :  without  Christ, — having 
no  hope ;  and  without  God  in  the  world  ' 

There  is  a  natural  distance  from  God,  which  necessarily  be 
longs  to  us,  and  to  the  loftiest  archangel,  as  creatures.  But  this^ 
distance  is  not  removed  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  enjoyment* 
of  heaven  itself  will  not  remove  or  diminish  it.  It  is  not  of  this, 
therefore,  that  the  Apostle  writes;  but  of  that  moral  distance  from 
God  which  belongs  to  us  as  sinners.  There  is  nothing  sinful  in 
being  far  off  from  God,  in  the  first  sense  ;  but  to  be  far  off  in  our 
thoughts  of  him,  affections  towards  him,  and  desires  after  him,  is  of 
the  essence  of  sin.  This  is  alienation  of  heart,  which  stamps' the 
character  :  for  what  a  man's  heart  is,  that  is  he.  If  a  subject  be 
so  full  of  disaffection  to  his  rightful  prince,  that  he  has  no  feeling 
of  respect  towards  him,  no  mind  to  please  him,  nor  to  think,  or 
read  or  hear,  anything  in  his  praise,  this  were  alienation  of  heart: 
and,  if  all  this  were  without  cause  we  should  say,  of  such  a  man, 
that  he  did  not  deserve  to  live  undi^r  a  government  to  which  he 
was  so  wickedly  disaffected.  Yet  this  is  the  state  of  mind  of  sin- 
ners toward  the  blessed  God.  They  call  not  Upon  his  name  ;  but 
rise  in  the  morning,  and  retire  at  evening,  as  if  there  were  no  God, 
and  no  hereafter  ;  as  if  they  hail  no  soul  to  be  saved  or  lost :  but, 


344  ^  STATfi  OF  NATURE  [Sermow  XX. 

like  the  animals  that  surround  them,  were  made  to  eat,  drink,  and 
sleep,  for  a  few  years,  and  then  to  die,  and  be  no  more !  The 
things  of  God  do  not  occupy  their  minds;  and,  unless  they  con- 
ceive of  his  character  as  very  different  from  what  the  scriptures 
represent  it,  they  do  not  like  to  think  of  him,  nor  to  speak  of  him, 
nor  to  bear  others  speak  of  him,  or  of  any  thing  pertaining  to  him 
as  revealed  in  the  Bible.  The  serious  mention  of  his  name  strikes 
a  damp  upon  their  spirits,  and  often  puts  an  end  to  a  conversation. 
They  have  no  delight  in  reading  his  word,  and  never  make  it  their 
study  to  do  any  thing  because  he  requires  it.  What  is  all  this  but 
practically  saying  to  God,  Depart  from  us ;  we  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  thy  ways. 

We  have  not  to  go  into  the  heathen  world,  in  search  of  such 
characters  as  these :  they  are  found  in  all  our  cities,  towns,  villages, 
and  congregations,  and  in  almost  all  our  families.  We  may  call 
ourselves  Christians,  and  yet  be  without  Christ ;  and  we  may  de- 
claim against  atheism,  and  yet  live  without  God  in  the  world. 

But,  though  all  sinners  are  fir  off  from  God,  yet  some  are  far- 
ther off  than  others.  Every  sinner  has  gone  so  far  from  God, 
that  he  will  never  return  of  his  own  accord.  The  ways  of  sin 
are  our  own  ways ;  we  find  them  without  any  difficulty,  but  never 
return  till  the  good  Shepherd  finds  us,  and  brings  us  home.  But 
some  are  farther  off  than  others.  As  sin  obtains  in  different  de- 
grees, so  does  the  distance  at  which  it  places  us  from  God.  The 
ipriptures  repressnt  some  persons  as  in  a  more  hopeless  state  than 
others  ;  and  the  same  person  is  farther  off  at  one  period  of  life 
than  at  another.  Sin  being  progressive,  the  longer  any  one  lives 
in  it  without  repentance,  the  farther  off  he  necessarily  is  from 
God.  Every  sinner  going  on  still  in  his  trespasses,  is  getting  more 
and  more  hardened,  and  farther  from  the  hearing  of  the  calls  of 
conscience  and  of  God. 

Shall  I  mention  a  few  cases  of  persons  whom  the  scriptures 
represent  as  farihest  from  God  ?  You  may  expect  me  to  name 
the projligate,  who  is  at  open  war  with  God;  who  breaks  the 
Sabbath,  wallows  in  intemperance  and  debauchery,  and  laughs  at 
all  serious  religion.  And  true  it  is,  that  such  characters  are  at  an 
awful  distance  from  God  :  yet  many  who  have  been  thus  far  off'. 


Sermon  XX.]  AND  OF  GRACE.  345 

have  been  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ.     Such  were  some  of 
the  Corinthians,  and  such  have  been  some  of  us. 

There  is  a  case  more  hopeless  than  this,  namely,  that  of  the 
self-righteous.     Of  the  Pharisees,  who  were  righteous  in  their  own  - 
et/es,  and  despised  others,  it  is  said,  that  publicans  and  harlots  en- 
tered into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  before  them.     When  some  of 
them  came  to  John,   he  called  them  a  generation  of  vipers,  and 
asked,  with  surprise,  Who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  -wrath 
to  come?     Our   Lord  asked  them,  How  can  ye  escape  the  damna- 
tion of  hell?  as  though  they  were  so  fast  bound  by  the  chai.-'S  of 
spiritual  pride,  as  to  render  their  deliverance  next  to  impossible. 
Reprove  a  drunkard  or  a  debauchee,  and  you  will  have  his  con- 
science on  your  side.     Converse  with  him  seriously  on  temper- 
ance, righteousness,  and  judgment  to  come,  and  he  will  tremble. 
But  he  that  is  pure  in  his  own  eyes,  and  yet  not  cleansed  from  his 
filthiness,  his  very  mind  and  conscience  is  defied    Thinking  highly 
of  himself,  and  of  his  doings,  he  will  resent  every  thing  said  to  him, 
which  calls  in  question  the  goodness  of  his  state.     He  flatters  him- 
self that  he  is  at  peace  with  God,  and  does  not  choose  to  be  dis- 
turbed in  his  repose.     Talk  to  him  of  Christ  Jesus  having  come 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  even  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  it 
will  either  appear  to  him  a  strange  doctrine,  or,  if  he  comprehend 
your  design,  it  is  likely  he  will  feel  himself  insulted.     He  says  in 
his  heart,  '  Am  I,  after  all  the  pains  that  I  have  taken,  to  be  placed 
on   a  footing  with  the   worst  of  characters  ?     If  so,   where  is   the 
justice  of  God?'     Thus  the  gospel  seems  a  hard  saying,  and  he 
cannot  hear  it.     A  sinner,  in  such  a  state  of  mind,  is  farther  from 
God,  and  more  hopeless,  than  the  profligate  whom  he   despises  : 
The  Gentiles,  which  followed  not  after  righteousness,  have  attained 
to  righteousness,  even  tlie  righteousness  which  is  of  faith.     But  Js- 
rad,  which  follozved  after  the  law  of  righteousness,  hath  not   at- 
tained to  the  law  of  righteousness.     Wherefore?     Because   they 
sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  law ;  for 
they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone.     Yet,   even   from  this   dis- 
tance,  some  have  been  made  nigh   by  the  blood  of  Christ  ?     Of 
this  the  Apostle  himself  was  an  example,  as  were  also  the  great 
company  of  the  priests,  who  were  obedient  to  the  faith. 
Vol..  VH.  44 


346  A  STATE  OF  NATURE  [Skiimon  XX. 

But  there  is  another  case,  which  may  be  reckoned   still  more 
hopeless,  and  the  party  still  farther  off  from  God.     This  is.  where 
a  person  lias  sat  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  for  a  number 
of  years,  but  who,  living  still  in  his  sins,  at  length  becomes  past 
feeling.     Such  characters,  I  fear,  are  not  very  uncommon  in  our 
congregations.     Should   there  be  one  such  present   at  this  lime, 
let  me  reason  with  him  :  '  Thirty  or  forty    years  ago,  it  may  be? 
you  heard  the  gospel,  and  felt,  and  wept  under  it-     Some  of  your 
fellow-worshippers,  observmg  the  tears  which  fell  from  your  eyes, 
conceived   a  hope  that  the  heart  of  stone  was  taken  away,  and  a 
heart  of  flesh  imparled.     But  these  convictions  wore  off;  and.  by 
degrees,  the  most  pungent  things  might  be  delivered  in  your  hear- 
ing, without  leaving  any  impresf-ion  on  your  mind.     The  case  was 
this  :  Under  your  convictions,  you  desisted  from  your  evil  courses: 
but,  as  the  former  subsided,  you  returned  to  the  latter.     At  first, 
you  indulged   in  lesser  sins  ;  then  in  greater  ;  till,  at  length,  your 
ivhole  study  was,   not  how  you  should  avoid  sin,  but   how   you 
should  indulge  in  it,  and  yet  conceal  it:  and,  it  may  be,  you  have 
succeeded  in  both,  to  a  great  degree  ;  living  in  uncleanness,  or 
drunkenness,  or  in  some  other  sin,  and  yet  concealing  it  from  the 
world,  and  filling  up  your  place  in  the  house  of  God.     And  now 
you  can  hear  the  most  awful  threatenings  and  the  most  melting  ex- 
postulations, unmoved.     Your  heart  is  become  callous   and  insen- 
sible.    Conscience  itself  is  seared,  as  with  a  hot  iron.     In  a  word, 
you  are  past  feeling.     Many  have  perished  in  this  state,  and  many, 
doubtless,  will  perish  :  yet,  even  from  this  state  of  distance,  some 
have  been  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ :  If  from  thence 
thou  shalt  seek  the  Lord  thy  God.,  thou  shalt  find  him,  if  thou  seek 
him  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul. — For  the  Lord  thy  God 
Is  a  merciful  God  ' 

Thus  fir  we  have  considered  the  distance  of  sinners  from  God, 
merely  in  respect  of  their  alienation  of  heart  from  him  ;  but  we 
must  not  confine  if  to  this  :  as  men  have  wickedly  departed  from 
God,  God  has  righteously  withdrawn  from  them  ;  and  thus  the 
distance,  being  mutual,  is  increased.  While  man  continued  obedi- 
ent, his  Creator  admitted  him  to  near  communion  with  him,  as  is 
intimated  by  his  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day  ;  but. 


Sermon  XX.]  AND  OF  GRACL.  347, 

when  he  transgressed  his  commandment,  he  withdrew  his  favour 
thrust  himoutof  paradise,  and  placed  a  guard  about  the  tree  of  life, 
rendering  it  inaccessible. 

Had  there  been  no  provision  of  mercy  through  the  promised 
seed,  there  could  have  been  no  more  communion  between  God 
and  man,  any  more  than  between  God  and  the  fallen  angels.  Men 
might  have  dragged  out  a  guilty  and  miserable  existence  in  the 
world,  but  they  must  hiive  lived  and  died  under  the  curse.* 
Whatever  had  been  bestowed  upon  them,  it  would  have  been  in 
wrath,  in  like  manner  as  riches  are  given  some  men  to  their  luirt. 
Whatever  had  been  their  troubles,  they  would  have  had  no  God 
to  repair  to  under  them  ;  and  whatever  their  prospects,  the  hope 
of  a  blessed  hereafter  would  have  made  no  part  of  tliem. 

This  awful  state  of  distance  from  God  is  still  the  condition  of 
the  unbelieving  and  the  ungodly.  The  interposition  of  Christ 
avails  not  in  behalf  of  them.  He  that  bclteveth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life  :  and  he  thai  belicveth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life  ; 
but  the  wrath  of  God  abidclh  on  him.  Being  without  Christ,  they 
are  without  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world.  Every  thing 
they  do  is  evil  ;   every  thing  they  possess   is   cursed  ;  and  every 

*  Some  have  thought,  that  the  death  threatened  in  Gen.  ii.  17.  was  merely 
corporal,  and  that,  if  it  had  been  executed,  man  would  have  been  immediate- 
ly struck  out  of  existence.  But  the  death  there  threatened,  whatever  it  was 
passed  upon  all  men,  whicii  imijlies  the  existence  of  all  men,  and  which  would 
have  been  prevented,  i(  Adaui  had,  at  tliat  time,  been  reduced  to  a  state  of 
non-existence,  or  had  even  been  banished  from  this  world.  The  original 
constitution  of  things  must,  therefore,  have  provided  for  tlie  existence  of 
every  individual  that  has  since  been  born  into  the  world  ;  and  this,  whether 
man  should  stand  or  fall.  The  death  here  threatened,  doubtless,  included 
that  of  the  body,  and  which  God  might  execute  at  pleasure  :  the  day  he 
should  eat,  he  would  be  dead  in  law  ;  but  it  also  included  the  loss  of  the  di- 
vine favour,  and  an  exposedness  to  hi?  wrath.  If  it  were  not  so,  the  redemp- 
tion of  Christ  would  not  be  properly  opposed  to  it,  which  it  frequently  is- 
Rom.  V.  12 — 21.  It  must  be  to  this  sentence  that  the  apostle  refers  in  Heb. 
ix, 27.  It  is  appoinled  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the  judgment;  or 
Christ's  being  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  and  bis  coming  a  second 
time  without  sin  unto  satration,  would  not  have  been  introduced  as  antidotes 
to  the  evils:  but  if  the  sentence  included  holh  death  and  jud'^ment,  it  must  be 
more  than  corporal  death. 


348  A  STATE  OF  NATURE  [Sermon  XX- 

hour  they  live  in  that  state  of  mind  adds  to  their  guilt  and  misery. 
As  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  so  all 
things  work  together  for  evil  to  them  that  love  bim  not.  Under 
all  their  calamities  and  troubles,  they  have  no  God  on  whom  to 
cast  their  cares,  and,  in  death,  have  nothing  but  a  fearful  looking 
for  of  judgment.  The  very  messengers  of  mercy  are  charged,  oo 
their  peril,  to  say  to  the  wicked.  It  shall  be  ill  with  him. 

How  tremendously  awful,  then,  is  the  condition  of  the  unbe- 
lieving and  the  ungodly  !  There  is  one  way  of  escape,  and  but 
one  :  and  is  it  possible  that  this  can  be  disregarded ;  and  that 
men  can  live  easy  and  unconcerned,  with  the  curse  of  God  over 
their  heads  ?  Surely  this  must  be  owing  to  a  disbelief  of  the  di- 
vine ihreatenings,  as  well  as  of  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel.  But 
take  heed,  lest  there  should  be  among  you  a  root  that  beareth  gall 
and  wormwood  ;  and  it  come  to  pass  when  he  heareth  the  words  of 
this  cva-se,  that  he  bless  himself  in  his  heart,  saying,  I  shall  have 
peace,  though  I  walk  in  the  imagination  of  mine  heart,  to  add 
drunkenness  to  thirst :  the  Lord  will  not  spare  him,  but  then  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  and  his  jealousy  shall  smoke  against  that  man, 
and  all  the  <urscs  that  are  written  in  this  book  shall  lie  upon  him, 
and  the  Lord  shall  blot  out  his  name  from  under  heaven/  In  this 
terrible  condition  the  gospel  finds  us.  To  this  door  of  hope  we 
shall  now  direct  your  attention,  by  considering, 

III.  The  way  in  which  sinners  are  recovered,  and  brought 
5IGH  TO  God  It  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  by  the  blood  of  Christy 
In  Christ  we  possesp  all.  It  is  as  being  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  we 
possess  all  spiritual  blessings  ;  and  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood 
they  were  obtained. 

The  blood  of  Christ  may  be  considered  in  three  views  :  as  shed 
upon  the  cross  ;  as  proclaimed  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel ; 
and  as  believed  in  for  salvation  by  the  perishing  sinner.  These, 
being  united,  bring  near  those  who  were  once  far  off. 

1 .  By  the  blood  of  Christ,  as  shed  upon  the  cross,  atonement  was 
made,  sin  reas  expiated,  and  a  way  opened  for  God  to  draw  near  to 
the  sinner,  and  the  sinner  to  God.  In  punishing  transsgresors,  dis- 
pleasure is  expressed  against  transgression.  In  substitutionary 
sacrifices,  displeasure  was  expressed   against  transgression  ;  but. 


Sermon  XX.]  AND  OF  GRACE.  349 

tvithal,  mercy  to  the  transgressor  :  the  first,  as  signifying  that  thus 
the  offerer  deserved  to  have  been  treated  ;  the  last,  as  accepting 
a  substitute  in  his  stead.  In  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  both  these 
sentiments  were  expressed  in  the  highest  degree  :  God  sent  his 
own  Son  in  the  likeness  oj  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  (or  by  a  sacrifice 
for  sin,)  CONDEMNED  sin  in  the  flesh. — He  that  spared  not  his  own 
Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also 
freely  give  us  all  things  ?  In  proportion  as  God's  own  Son  was 
dear  to  him,  and,  as  possessed  of  divine  dignity,  estimable  by  him? 
such  were  the  hatred  of  sin,  and  the  love  to  sinners,  manifested  in 
smiting  him. 

If  mercy  had  been  exercised  to  man  without  such  an  expression 
of  displeasure  against  their  sin,  it  must  have  appeared  to  the  crea- 
tion to  be  connivance,  and  the  character  of  God  must  have  sunk  in 
their  estimation.  He  must  have  appeared  to  be  very  strict  indeed 
in  his  precepts,  and  severe  in  his  threalenings  ;  but  as  lax  in  en- 
forcing them,  as  though  he  had  known,  from  the  beginning,  that 
they  would  not  bear  to  he  acted  upon.  The  fallen  angels,  in  par- 
ticular, must  have  felt,  that  it  could  not  he  justice  that  consigned 
them  to  hopeless  perdition  ;  for  justice  is  impartial.  If  the  Creator 
could  connive  at  sin  in  one  instance,  he  could  in  another.  Thus 
the  bands  of  moral  government  had  been  broken,  and  the  cords 
which  held  creation  together,  cast  away. 

But,  by  the  atonement  of  Christ,  a  way  is  opened  for  the  con- 
sistent exercise  of  mercy.  There  was  a  kind  of  atonement  made 
by  the  vengeance  taken  on  the  old  world  ;  also  by  that  on  the 
Benjamites,  as  recorded  in  the  last  chapters  of  Judges.  Each  of 
these  events  served  to  express  the  divine  displeasure  against  sin, 
and  each  made  way  for  the  exercise  of  mercy :  the  one,  toward 
Noah  and  his  posterity ;  and  the  other,  toward  the  remnant  that 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  rock  Rimmon.  Thus,  in  the  death  of 
Christ,  though  he  died  the  just  for  the  unjust,  yet  God  herein  ex- 
pressed his  displeasure  against  sin,  and,  having  done  this,  could  be 
just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus.  There  is 
now  no  bar,  in  respect  of  the  government  of  God,  why  any  sinner 
should  not,  on  returning  to  him  in  the  name  of  his  Son,  find  mercy. 
On  this  ground,  sinners,  without  distinction,  are  actually  invited  f(v 


350  A  STATE  OF  NATURE  [Sermow  XX. 

come  unto  him,  and  be  saved.  The  only  bar  that  remains  is  a 
spirit  of  pride  and  unbelief'.  If  they  can  believe  in  Jesus,  receiving 
salvation  as  God's  free  gift  through  him,  all  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth. 

When,  on  visiting  a  dying  man,  I  hear  him  talk  of  having  'made 
bis  peace  with  God,'  I  tre.mble  for  him.  If  our  peace  t>e  made 
with  God,  it  is  by  the  blood  of  the  cross.  What  are  our  confes- 
sions, or  prayers,  or  tears?  Can  they  heal  the  awful  breach  ? 
If  so,  God  would  have  spared  his  own  Son,  and  not  have  delivered 
him  vp  to  be  made  a  sacrifice.  It  had  then  been  possible  for  the 
cup  10  pass  from  him,  and  it  would,  no  doubt,  have  passed  from 
him.  If  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  be  no  remission; 
and  if  it  were  impossible  for  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  to  take 
away  sin,  the  consequence  is,  that  either  Christ  must  be  the  sacri- 
fice, or  we  must  die  m  our  sins,  and  perish.  He  hath  made  peace 
by  the  blood  of  his  cross  :  it  is  not  lor  us  to  assume  to  be  peace- 
makers, but  to  accept  of  his  mediation. 

2.  T?ie  bluod  of  Christ,  as  proclaimed  in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
is  the  appointed  mean  of  bringing  sinners  near  to  God.  It  is  the  doc- 
trine of  salvation  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  is,  by  way  of  emi- 
nenc}',  called  the  gospel.  It  was  this  doctrine  which  Christ  commis- 
sioned his  disciples  to  preach  to  every  creature  :  Thus  it  is  written 
and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day  :  and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
PREACHF.ruN  HIS  NAME,  AMONG  ALL  NATIONS,  beginning  at  Jerusa- 
salem  !  This  doctrine  is  good  news  to  every  creature  ;  and  that, 
whether  it  be  received  or  rejected.  It  is  good  news,  that  a  way 
is  opened,  by  the  death  of  Christ,  for  any  sinner  to  return  to  God, 
and  be  saved  ;  and  Ihi'.t,  if  any  sinner  walk  therein,  he  shall  be 
saved.  It  is  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  in  which  the  servants 
of  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  by  them,  pray  men  in  Christ's 
stead,  saying.  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  Its  being  made  light  of  by 
the  greater  part  of  men  does  not  alter  its  nature  ;  and  this  they  shall 
know  another  day.  God  brings  7iear  his  righteousness,  even  to 
them  that  are  stout-hearted  and  far  from  righteousness.  Into 
Tsi-Jia'^orvrr  city  ye  enter,  said  our  Lord,  and  they  receive  yau.  eat 
such  things  as  are  set  before  you  :  and  heal  the  sifk  that  ate  there- 


Sermon  XX.]  AND  OF  GRACE.       ^  35I 

in,  and  say  unto  them,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto 
YOU.  But  into  mhatsoever  city  ye  enter ,  and  they  receive  you  not, 
go  your  ways  out  into  the  streets  of  the  same,  and  say,  Even  the 
very  dust  of  your  city,  which  cleaveth  on  us,  ae  do  wipe  off"  against 
you :  noticithstanding,  be  ye  sure  of  this,  that  TjiE  kingdom  of 
God  is  come  mqh  unto  you.  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  it  shall 
he  more  tolerable  in  that  day  for  Sodom  than  for  that  city. 

3.  By  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  we 
are  actually  brought  nigh.  As  the  prodigal  was  brought  home  to 
his  father's  house  and  family,  so  we  are  brought  home  to  God, 
It  is  thus  that  we  become  actually  reconciled  to  God.  If  when  we 
were  encm?c«,says  the  Apostle,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death 
of  his  Son;  much  more  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his 
life.  The  term  reconciled  is  here  manifestly  used  in  different 
senses.  In  the  first  instance,  it  refers  to  the  making  of  atonement  : 
in  the  last,  to  our  believing  acquiescence  in  it ;  or,  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  verse,  to  our  receiving  the  atonement.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  our  sins  are  forgiven  ;  that  we  are  justified,  or 
accepted,  in  the  Beloved  ;  that  we  are  invested  with  the  privilege 
of  being  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty  ;  that  God 
is  our  God  and  we  his  people,  by  a  new  and  better  covenant ; 
that  we  have  access  to  him  as  our  heavenly  Father,  and  to  all  the 
ordinances  and  privileges  of  his  house  ;  finally,  it  is  as  believing 
in  him  that  died  and  rose  again,  that  we  live  in  hope  of  eternal 
life. 

There  is  a  term  used  by  the  Apostle  in  Ephes.  iii.  12,  which 
conveys  a  very  expressive  idea,  not  only  of  the  nearness  to  which 
believers 'are  admitted  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  which  is  denoted 
by  the  term  access,  but  of  their  being  introduced  by  him,  as  by  one 
takirn^  them  by  the  hand,  and  presenting  them  to  the  King.*  We 
could  not  be  admitted  into  the  divine  presence  by  oarselves  ;  but 
our  Mediator,  taking  us  as  it  were  by  the  hand,  presents  us  to  God. 
It  is  thus  that  we  are  accepted  in  the  Beloved  on  our  first  believ- 
ing, and  in  all  our  approaches  to  the  throne  of  grace,  have  access 
to  God. 

^  TlfortLytryn,  Introduction,  manaductioa,  or  being  led  by  the  hand. 


352  A  STATE  OF  NATURE  AND  OF  GRACE,     [Sermon  XX. 

To  conclude  :  If  we  ha^e  been  made  nigh,  it  becomes  us,  not 
only  to  be  thankful  for  so  great  a  favour,  but  to  feel  a  deep  and 
anxious  concern  for  others,  who,  at  present,  are  far  off.  Whether 
we  consider  the  state  of  heathens,  of  Mahometans,  or  of  our  own 
unbelieving  countrymen,  they  have  each  a  claim  on  our  com- 
passion. And,  if  Christ  withheld  not  his  blood  to  bring  us  nigh, 
it  surely  is  not  for  us  to  withhold  any  labour  or  expense  in  carrying 
his  gracious  designs  into  execution. 


THE  NATURE  AND  IMPORTANCE  OF  LOVE  TO  GOD, 


SERMON  XXr. 


Joshua  xxiii.  !1. 
Take  good  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  that  ye  love  the  Lord  your  C.od. 


It  is  an  interesling  account  that  we  have  of"  (he  last  days  of 
Joshua.  He  is  very  anxious,  that,  when  he  should  cease  to  be 
their  leader,  Israel  should  cleave  unto  the  Lord.  To  make  as 
deep  an  impression  upon  their  minds  as  possible,  he  first  called  for 
the  elders  and  leading  men  among  them,  and  delivered  a  serious 
charge  to  them  :  after  this,  he  gathered  all  the  tribes  together  be- 
fore the  Lord  in  Shechem,  where  he  solemnly  rehearsed  the  deal- 
ings of  the  Lord  with  them,  and  bound  them,  by  every  considera- 
tion that  he  could  suggest,  not  to  forsake  him,  and  go  after  the  idols 
of  the  heathen.  It  is  in  this  connexion  that  he  introduces  the 
words  of  the  text,  Take  good  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  that 
ye  love  the  Lord  your  God  ;  intimating,  that  in  order  to  be  obedient 
to  the  Lord,  and  secure  against  idolatrous  departures  from  him, 
it  was  necessary,  not  merely  to  own  him  as  their  God,  but  to  be 
cordially  attached  to  his  name  and  government.  The  word  ren- 
dered yourselves,  in  the  text,  is,  in  the  margin  rendered  your  souls; 
denoting,  that  it  is  not  a  superficial  inspection  of  the  conduct  that 
is  meant,  but  a  looking  to  our  inmost  motives,  seeing  to  it  that  we 
love  the  Lord  from  our  very  hearts. 
Vol.  VII.  45 


354  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  [Sermon  XXL 

This  is  a  charge  that  would  well  befit  the  lips  of  an}'  servant  of 
God  before  he  leaves  the  world,  and  be  well  suited  to  the  con- 
duct of  any  people.  If  our  hearts  be  right  with  God,  all  is  right ; 
if  not,  all  is  wrong. 

In  discoursing  upon  the  subject,  we  shall  offer  a  few  remarks 
on  the  nature  of  love,  and  of  love  to  God  in  particular  ;  consider 
the  importance  of  it  in  characterizing  the  whole  of  our  religion  ; 
the  danger  of  declining  from  it ;  and  the  means  to  be  used  in  pro- 
moting it. 

I.  Let  us  offer  a  (ew  remarks  on  the  nature  of  love,  and  of 
LOVE  TO  God  in  particular.  That  we  may  perceive  the  extent 
of  the  precept,  it  is  necessary  that  we  understand  a  few  of  the  dif- 
ferent ways  in  which  love  operates. 

1.  Observe  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  love  operates  differently, 
according  to  the  condition  of  its  object.  If  directed  to  one  that  is 
miserable,  it  works  in  a  way  of  pity  and  sympathy  ;  if  to  one  that 
is  in  necessity,  it  will  impart  to  his  relief;  but  if  to  one  greatly 
our  superior,  (as  to  a  kind  and  benevolent  sovereign,  for  instance,) 
then  it  will  operate  in  the  way  of  honour,  complacency,  gratitude, 
and  obedience.  1  need  not  say,  that  God  is  not  subject  to  either 
misery  or  want,  and,  therefore,  that  our  love  to  him  cannot  ope- 
rate in  the  way  of  pity  towards  him,  or  by  communicating  to  his 
necessities.  The  ways  in  which  love  to  God  operates,  are  those 
of  honour,  complacency,  gratitude,  and  obedience. 

2.  Love  operates  differently ^  according  to  the  condition  of  the 
subject  of  it.  If  no  offence  has  existed  between  the  parties,  it  is 
peace  and  amity  ;  but,  if  otherwise,  it  will  operate  in  the  way  of 
regret,  repentance,  and  a  desire  of  reconciliation.  Man,  in  his 
original  state,  was  admitted  to  commune  with  his  Creator;  and 
love,  during  his  continuance  jn  that  state,  operated  in  a  way  of 
graieful  adoration.  But,  if  a  spark  of  love  be  kindled  in  the  breast 
of  a  fallen  creature,  it  will  work  in  a  way  of  sorrow  for  sin,  and  a 
desire  to  return  to  God,  as  the  prodigal  did  to  his  father.  More- 
over, in  an  innocent  creature,  love  to  God  would  operate  in  a  way 
of  delight  and  praise  ;  hut  in  a  fallen  creature,  under  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  it  will  induce  him  to  embrace  the  way  of  salva- 
tion by  Jesus  Christ.     Hence,  the  want  of  faith  in  Christ  is  alleged 


Sermon  XXI.]  ON  LOVE  TO  GO 3.  355 

in  proof  of  the  want  of  love  to  God  :  /  kanio  you,  that  ye  have  not 
the  love  of  God  in  yon  :  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye 
receive  me  not. 

3,  A  complacency  in  the  divine  character  still  enters  into  the 
essence  of  love.  There  may  be  aftections,  where  this  is  not;  hut 
there  can  be  no  true  love  to  God.  We  may  be  greatly  affected 
by  an  apprehension  that  our  sins  are  foiiiiven  u.«  ;  and  tlii«,  mere- 
ly from  self-love:  but  such  atfections  will  not  abide.  xMany  who 
joined  in  singing  praise  to  the  Lord  on  their  deliverance  at  the 
Red  sea,  soon  forgot  his  works;  for  their  hearts  were  not  right 
with  God.  Genuine  love  to  God  has  respect  not  merely  to  his 
benefits,  but,  to  his  name,  nature,  or  clriracter,  as  revealed  in  the 
scriptures.  As  he  that  hateth  not  sin  as  sin,  has  no  real  hatred  to 
it;  30  he  that  loveth  not  God  as  God,  has  no  real  love  to  him. 
True  love  to  God,  for  the  gift  of  his  Son  and  salvation  through  his 
death,  does  not  merely  respect  the  benefi:s  we  receive,  but  the 
holy,  just,  and  honourable  way  in  which  those  benefits  are  confer- 
red. He  that  is  affected  only  by  the  consideration  of  his  own 
safety,  regardless  of  the  way  in  which  it  is  obtained,  cannot  be 
said  to  love  God.  Whether  God  be  just  or  unjust,  is,  to  such  a 
person,  a  matter  of  indifference,  so  that  he  justifii^s  him.  The 
Love  ofGod  will  lead  us  to  prize  that  way  of  salvation  which,  in 
making  provision  for  our  necessities,  secures  the  divine  glory. 

II.  Let  us  observe  the    importanxe   of   this    principle    as 

CHAIlAt  TERIZING  THE  WHOLE    OF  OUR  RELIGION.        Love     is     nOt    SO 

much  a  particular  grace,  as  a  properly  pertaining  to  all  the  graces. 
It  is,  to  our  graces,  that  which  the  holiness  of  God  is  to  his  moral 
attributes,  pervading  and  characterizing  the  whole.  Indeed,  it  is 
holiness  itself:  if  the  law  be  the  standard  of  holiness,  that  which 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  which  love  is  said  to  be,  must  compre- 
hend the  whole  of  it.     Observe  particularly, 

1.  It  is  the  love  of  God  which  distinguishes  true  religion  from 
all  counterfeits,  and  from  the  effects  of  merely  natural  principles. 
It  is  this  that  distinguishes  repentance  from  repentance,  faith  from 
faith,  and  fear  from  fear.  Each  of  these  graces  has  its  counter- 
feit. Wherein  consisted  the  difference  between  the  repentance 
of  Judas  and  thai  of  Peter  ?     The  one  was  mere  remorse  of  con- 


356  ^^  LOVE  TO  GOD.  [Skkmon  XXI. 

science  ;  the  other  proceeded  from  love  to  him  whom  he  had  de- 
nied. Wherein  consisted  the  difTerence  between  the  belief  of 
those  rulers,  who,  because  of  the  Pharisees,  did  not  confess  the 
Saviour,  lest  they  should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  that 
which  was  to  the  saving  of  the  soul  ?  The  one  was  a  conviction 
which  forced  itself  upon  them,  while  their  hearts  were  averse  from 
it;  the  other,  was  receiving  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might 
he  saved.  And  wherein  consists  the  difference  between  the  fear 
that  has  torment,  and  godly  fear  ?  Is  it  not,  that  the  one  is  void 
of  love,  and  the  other  is  not  so  ?  Perfect  love  casteth  out  the 
former,  but  promoteth  the  latter. 

So  much  as  we  have  of  the  love  of  God,  so  much  we  have  of 
true  religion,  and  no  more.  The  love  ihat  we  bear  to  ourfellow- 
christians,  to  the  law,  to  the  gospel,  and  even  to  Christ  himself, 
is  the  love  of  God.  We  see  in  our  brethren  the  image  of  God^ 
and  love  it  ;  in  the  law  of  God,  a  glorious  transcript  of  his  mind, 
and  love  it ;  in  the  gospel,  a  more  glorious  transcript  of  his  mind, 
and  love  it  more  ;  and  in  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  the  very 
image  of  tlie  invisible  God,  and  our  hearts  are  united  to  him.  In 
loving  each  of  these  objects,  we  love  God 

2.  It  is  the  love  of  God  that  keeps  every  thing  in  a  state  of  moral 
order.  Underits  iiifluence,  every  thing  will  be  done  in  subser- 
viency to  his  glory,  and  every  thing  taken  well  at  his  hand.  If 
God  be  loved  liist,  be  will  be  sougiit  tirst.  We  shall  not  think  of 
excusing  ourselves  in  the  neglect  of  our  duty,  by  alleging,  that  we 
could  not  find  time  for  it  :  we  commonly  find  time  for  things  on 
which  our  hearts  are  fixed.  It  is  by  the  love  of  God  that  all  our 
actions  are  directed  to  his  glory.  Unbelievers  cannot  understand 
how  this  is.  Whether  they  eat  or  diink,  or  whatsoever  th.^y  do, 
it  is  merely  for  their  own  gratification,  and  they  cannot  conceive  of 
any  other  end  to  be  answered.  Yet  it  is  easy  to  perceive,  how 
men  can  make  every  thing  subservient  to  that  which  their  hearts 
are  set  upon,  whether  it  be  their  interest,  or  the  gratification  of 
their  desires.  Love  to  a  fellow-creature  will  render  every  thing 
we  do  subservient  to  the  object.  All  the  labours  and  journeys  of 
a  loving  head  of  a  fiunily  are  directed  to  their  comfort  ;  and  all 
the  busy  cares  of  an  affectionate  wife,  to  the  honour  and  happiness 


Sermon  XXI.J  ON  LOVE  TO  CxOD.  357 

of  her  husband.  If,  then,  God  be  tlie  supreme  object  of  our  love, 
whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  we  do,  we  shall  do  all  to 
hisfflory. 

It  is  thus  that  the  common  concerns  of  life  are  converted  into 
religion,  and  that  we  shall  serve  the  Lord  even  in  our  worldly 
avocations  :  Not  slothful  in  business  ;  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the 
Lord.  It  is  in  abusing  the  world,  by  giving  it  that  place  in  our 
hearts  which  belongs  to  God,  that  it  retards  us  in  our  progress  to 
heaven  If,  instead  of  this,  we  could  use  it,  it  would  be  useful  to 
us  even  for  another  life,  firnishini;  us  witli  matter  for  daily  prayer 
and  praise,  and  thus  as:=is(ing  us  in  our  progress. 

If  we  love  God,  we  shall  take  every  thing  well  at  his  hand,  and 
so  be  reconciled  to  all  his  dispensations  toward  us,  whether  they 
be  good  or  evil.  We  can  bear  almost  any  thing  from  one  whom 
we  love  ;  especially  when  we  know  that  it  is  accompanied  with 
wi.sdom,  and  directed  by  goodness.  When,  in  the  day  of  Israel's 
calamit}',  their  enemies  asked.  Where  is  now  their  God?  it  was 
sufficient  to  answer.  Our  God  is  in  the  heavens ;  he  hath  done  what- 
soever he  hatk pleased.  It  was  love  thai  dictated  tho«ie  memorable 
sayina'S  of  Job,  during  the  early  part  of  his  trials,  The  Lord  gave, 
and  the  Lord  ha/h  taken  away  ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lo?d!-^ 
Shall  we  receive  gtiod  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  we  not  re- 
ceive evil?  It  was  this  that  reconciled  David,  when  driven  from 
his  throne  by  the  rebellion  of  his  own  son:  Here  am  I,  let  him  do 
to  me  as  seeineth  good  unto  him.  And,  when  cursed  by  an  enemy, 
viewing  it  as  the  Lord's  hand  stretched  out  against  him,  he  sub- 
mitted :   The  Lord  hath  said  unto  hi/n,  Curse  David  ! 

3.  It  is  the  love  of  God  that  is  the  great  preservative  from  error. 
If,  indeed,  the  truth  of  God  were  a  matter  of  mere  speculation, 
and  we  might  take  for  granted  the  sincerity  and  impartiality  of  our 
inquiries,  error  would  then  be  innocent,  and  the  love  of  God 
would  be  no  more  of  a  preservative  from  it  than  it  is  from  a  mis- 
take in  reckoning  a  sum  in  arithmetic.  But,  if  divine  truth  be  of 
a  practical  nature,  and  be  so  clearly  revealed,  that  no  unprejudi- 
ced mind  can  materially  misunderstand,  and,  still  less,  disbelieve 
it,  error  is  not  innocent,  and  the  greatest  preservative  from  falling 
into  it  is  the  love  of  God.     Such  is  manifestly  the  import  of  the 


353  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  [Sermon  XXL 

following  passages:  IJ  any  man 'mill  do  his  will ,  he  shall  knoza  of 
the  doctrine^  whether  it  be  of  God. —  ^fhy  do  ye  not  understand  my 
speech?  even  because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word. — If  I  say  the  truth, 
why  do  ye  not  believe  me  ?  He  that  is  of  God  heareth  God's  words  : 
ye  therefore  hear  them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God. —  We  are  of 
God  :  he  that  knozveth  God,  heareth  us ;  he  that  is  not  of  God, 
heareth  not  us.  Hereby  knoxv  tee  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  the  spirit 
of  error.  If  il  be  objected,  tli;it  'Good  men  err  ;  that  to  ascribe 
their  errors  to  prejudice,  and  the  want  of  love  to  God,  is  uncan- 
did  ;'  we  answer,  No  good  man  is  free  from  prejudice,  nor  does 
he  love  God  as  he  ought.  To  ascribe  the  errors  of  others  to  the 
same  causes  to  which  we  ascribe  our  own,  supposing  us  to  be  in 
error,  cannot  be  uncandid.  If  we  loved  God  as  we  ought,  there 
would  be  no  prejudice  hanging  about  our  minds,  and  we  should 
imbibe  the  truth,  as  angels  imbibe  it,  desiring  above  all  things  to 
look  into  it.  And  if  we  loved  him  more  than  we  do,  we  should  be 
more  secure  than  we  are  from  the  seducing  influence  of  error. 
Hence  it  is,  that  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  represented  as 
teaching  us  of  all  things,  and  cau-iug  us  to  abide  in  the  truth. 
Hence  also,  those  who  have  apostatized  from  the  truth  are  de- 
scribed as  not  having  cordially  believed  it,  but  as  taking  pleasure 
in  unrighteousness. 

4.  It  is  the  love  of  God  which  is  the  grand  spring  of  evangelical 
obedience.  Respect  to  ourselves,  and  regard  to  our  present  inter- 
ests, will  produce  a  correctness  of  conduct,  sufficient  to  excite  the 
respect  of  those  around  us  ;  but  this  is  not  religion  There  is  no 
true  religion  without  the  love  of  God  ;  and  if,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  the  love  of  the  law,  of  the  gospel,  of  our  fellow-creatures 
and  fellow-christians,  and  even  of  Christ  himself,  be  only  the  love 
of  God  ramified;  it  must  follow,  that,  without  this,  we  shall  not  be 
able  to  exercise  the  others,  but  be  merely  lovers  of  our  oivn  selves. 
If  we  take  heed  to  this,  we  shall  have  but  little  else  to  take  heed 
to ;  as  every  duty  will  becsme  our  delight,  and  be  cheerfully  dis- 
charged as  a  matter  of  course.  Hence,  we  see  the  force  of  the 
wise  man's  precept.  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence  ;  for  out  of 
It  are  the  issues  of  life.     Look  well  to  the  fountain,  or  the  streams 


Sermon  XXI.j  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  359 

will  in  vain  be  expected  to  be  pure.    To  watch  our  words  and  ac- 
tions to  the  neglect  of  our  hearts,  will  be  unavailing. 

III.  Let  us  consider  the  danger  we  are  in",  of  declimng  from 
THE  LOVE  OF  GoD.  The  serious  tone  of  caution  with  which  the 
precept  is  delivered,  is  expressive  of  this  sentiment  :  it  is  only  in 
cases  of  great  danger,  that  we  are  charged  to  take  good  heed. 

The  love  of  God  is  a  plant  of  heavenly  extraction  ;  but,  being 
planted  in  an  unfriendly  soil,  it  requires  to  be  well  guarded  and 
watered.  We  are  not  only  surrounded  with  objects  which  attract 
our  affections,  and  operate  as  rivals  to  the  blessed  God,  but  have  a 
propensity  to  depart  from  him.  Whether  we  consider  ousrelves 
as  individuals  or  as  societies,  this  will  be  found  to  be  the  case. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  Christian  life,  love  is  frequently  ardent. 
The  first  believing  views  of  the  grace  of  the  gospel,  furnish  matter 
of  joyful  surprise  ;  and  a  flow  of  grateful  affection  is  the  natural 
consequence  :  I  love  the  Lord  because  he  hath  heard  my  voice  and 
my  supplications.  Because  he  hath  inclined  his  ear  unto  me,  there- 
fore mil  I  call  upon  him  as  long  as  I  live  At  this  season,  we  can 
scarcely  conceive  it  possible  to  forget  him  who  hath  done  such 
great  things  for  us  :  but  if  twenty  years  of  cares  and  temptations 
pass  over  us,  without  producing  this  effect,  it  will  be  happy  for 
us. 

In  declining  from  our  tirst  love,  we  are  seldom  sensible  of  it,  till 
some  of  its  effects  appear  ;  as  neglecting  the  more  spiritual  exer- 
cises of  religion,  or  contenting  ourselves  with  attending  to  them  as 
a  matter  of  form,  without  enjoying  God  in  them,  or  trifling  with 
those  sins  from  which  we  should  heretofore  have  started  back  with 
horror.  Our  friends  often  perceive  it,  and  feel  concerned  on  ac- 
count of  it,  before  we  are  aware  of  it  ourselves ;  and  happy  is  it 
for  us,  if,  by  their  timely  admonitions,  or  by  any  other  means,  we 
are  awakened  from  our  lethargy,  and  saved  from  some  greater  fall, 
to  the  dishonour  of  God  and  the  wounding  of  our  future  peace. 

I  have  heard  this  departure  from  our  first  love  spoken  of  as  a 
matter  of  course,  or  as  that  which  must  be  expected.  Nay,  I  have 
beard  it  compared  to  the  time  when  Isaac  was  weaned,  at  which 
Abraham  made  a  feast !  Some  old  religious  professors,  who  have 
become  sufficiently  cold  and  carnal  themselves,  will  thus  endeav- 


360  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  [Sermon  XXf. 

our  to  reconcile  young  Christians  to  the  same  state  of  mind ;  telling 
them,  with  a  cunning  sort  of  smile,  that  they  are  at  present  on  the 
mount  of  enjoyment,  but  must  expect  to  come  down.  And 
true  it  is,  that  love,  though  it  may  become  deeper  and  better 
grounded,  may  not  always  operate  with,  that  tenderness  of  fee  ling 
as  it  did  at  first.  A  change  in  the  constitution,  from  an  advance  in 
years,  will  account  for  this.  Many  things  relating  to  the  present 
world  which,  in  our  youth,  will  produce  tears,  will  not  have  this 
effect  as  we  advance  in  life,  though  they  may  still  lie  with  weight 
upon  our  minds.  But  to  confound  this  with  religious  declension, 
coldness,  and  carnality,  and  to  endeavour  to  reconcile  young 
Christians  to  it,  is  erroneous  and  mischievous.  So  did  not  the 
apostles  in  their  intercourse  with  young  Christians.  When  Bar- 
nabas visited  the  young  Christians  at  Antiocb,  he  saw  the  grace  of 
God,  and  was  glad ;  and,  instead  of  leading  them  to  expect  a  state 
of  declension  to  follow  this  their  first  love,  he  exhorted  them  all, 
that  with  purpose  of  heart  they  would  cleave  unto  the  Lord.  The 
great  head  of  the  church  had  somezihat  agamst  the  Ephesians,  he- 
cause  they  had  left  their  first  love. 

There  is  no  necessity,  in  the  nature  of  things,  for  the  abatement 
of  our  love,  or  zeal,  or  joy.  The  considerations  which  formerly 
excited  these  feelings  have  not  lost  their  force.  It  is  as  true  and 
as  important  as  ever,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners ;  and  that  he  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come 
unto  God  by  him  ;  and,  excepting  what  the  first  impression  derived 
from  its  novelty,  would,  if  we  had  not  declined  in  love,  be  as  in- 
teresting to  us.  So  far  from  our  regard  for  these  and  other  truths 
being  diminished,  there  is  grounti  for  its  being  increased.  Our  first 
views  of  Christ  and  his  gospel  were  very  defective  ;  if  we  follow 
on  to  know  the  Lord,  we  shall  know  him  in  a  much  greater  degree. 
The  path  of  the  just,  if  scripturally  pursued,  will  be  as  the  shining 
light,  shining  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  This  was  the 
course  which  the  apostles  pursued  toward  the  Christians  of  their 
times:  And  this  I  pray,  that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and 
more  in  knowledge,  and  in  all  judgtnent. —  We  arc  bound  to  thank 
God  always  for  you,  brethren,  as  it  is  meet,  because  that  your  faith 
groweth  exceedingly ,  and  the  charity  of  every  one  of  yon  all  (oioard 


SermoxV  XXI.]  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  3g  j 

each  other  aboundeth. — Beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmove- 
able,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye 
know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  The  Apostle 
himself  did  not  relax,  ns  he  drew  toward  the  end  of  his  course, 
but  forgetting  the  things  that  were  behind,  andreaching  forth  unto 
those  that  were  before,  he  pressed  toward  the  mark  for  tiie  prizo 
of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

To  decline  in  our  love  is  practically  saying,  that  we  were  once 
more  spiritually-minded,  more  tender  in  cooscience,  and  more  de- 
voted to  God,  than  was  necessary  ;  that  we  have  not  found  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  so  interesting  as  we  expected,  and  therefore, 
have  been  obliged  to  have  recouse  for  happiness  to  our  former 
pursuits  ;  and  that  what  our  old  companions  told  us  at  the  outset, 
that  our  zeal  would  soon  abate,  and  that  we  should  return  again  to 
them,  was  true.'  O  my  ■people^  zvhat  have  I  done  unto  thee  ?  and 
•wherein  have  I  wearied  thee  ?  testify  against  me  / 

if  we  be  in  danger  of  declining  as  individuals,  we  are  not  less  so 
as  societies.  Societie*,  being  composed  of  individuals,  a  number  of 
backsliding  individuals  will  soon  diffuse  their  spirit,  and  produce  a 
backsliding  people.  It  was  to  a  people  that  the  words  of  Joshua 
were  addressed.  That  generation  of  Israelites  who  went  up  with 
him  into  Canaan,  were  distinguished  by  their  love  to  God.  They 
had  seen  his  judgments  upon  their  unbelieving  fathers,  whose  car- 
casses fell  in  the  wilderness,  and  had  learned  wisdom.  It  was  of 
them  that  the  Lord  spake  by  Jeremiah,  saying,  /  remember  thee, 
the  kindness  of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou 
wentest  after  me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was  not  sown.  Is- 
rael neas  holiness  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  first-fruits  of  his  increase. — 
But  the  very  next  generation  relapsed  into  idolatry  :  Israel  served 
the  Lord  all  the  days  of  Joshua,  and  all  the  days  of  the  elders  that 
overlived  Joshua,  and  which  had  knozvn  all  the  works  of  the  Lord 
that  he  hud  done  for  Israel.  But  when  they  were  gathered  to 
their  fathers,  there  arose  another  generation  after  them,  which 
knew  not  the  Lord,  nor  yet  the  works  which  he  had  done  for  Israel. 
Even  before  the  dcatli  of  their  venerable  loader,  the  young  people 
had  begun  to  tamper  with  idolatry.  It  was  on  this  account,  that 
he  assembled   the  tribes  in  Sheehem,  and  so  solemniy  put   if    to 

VoT.vii.  46 


362  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  [Sermon  XXh 

Ihem  to  choose,  on  that  day,  Avhom  they  would  serve  ;  and  that 
wlien  they  answered,  God  forbid  that  we  should  forsake  the  Lord 
to  serve  other  gods,  he  added.  Ye  cannot  nerve  the  Lord;  for  he  is 
an  holy  God :  he  is  a  jealous  God,  he  tvill  not  forgive  your  trans- 
gressions, nor  your  sins.  This  was  telling  them,  that  they  could 
not  serve  the  Lord  and  Balaam.  Stung  with  this  suggestion,  they 
answered,  Nay,  but  loe  will  serve  the  Lord.  Then  said  Joshua, 
Fat  away  the  strange  gods  which  are  among  you,  and  incline  your 
heart  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel! 

Tliisj  interesting  account  furnishes  a  picture  of  human  nature. 
The  same  things  have  been  acted  over  again  in  the  world.  Relig- 
ion has  rarely  been  preserved  in  its  purity  for  many  generations. 
Such  is  the  tendency  to  degenerate,  that  the  greatest  and  most  im- 
portant reformations  have  commonly  begun  to  decline,  when  they 
who  have  been  principally  engaged  in  them  have  bean  gathered  to 
their  fatliers. 

Even  the  apostles  themselves,  inspired  as  they  were,  could  not 
preserve  tiie  churches  which  they  had  raised  from  degeneracy. — 
The  Lord  iiad  many  things  against  those  seven  in  Asia,  to  which 
the  Apocalypse  was  addressed.  We  know  also,  that  the  great 
body  of  professing  Christians,  in  a  few  centuries,  were  carried 
away  by  the  aiitichristian  apostasy  ;  that  the  descendants  of  the  Re- 
formers have  mostly  renounced  their  principles  ;  and  that  the 
same  is  true  of  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans  and  Non-conformists. 
Etich  of  these  cases  furnishes  a  loud  call  to  us  to  take  good  heed  un- 
to ourselves,  that  ^^'e  love  the  Lord  our  God. 

IV.  Let  us  conclude  with  a  kew  dikections  as  to  the  means 
ov  PiioMOTiNG  THE  LOVE  OF  GoD.  It  has  bccu  obscrvcd  already, 
that  love  is  a  tender  plant,  requiring  to  be  both  guarded  and  wa- 
tered. It  will  not  thrive  among  the  weeds  of  worldly  lusts.  We 
cannot  serve  the  Lord  in  this  way  :  if  we  would  serve  him,  we 
must  put  away  our  idols,  and  incline  our  hearts  unto  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel.  Beware  of  the  love  of  the.world.  He  that  loveth  the 
world,  the  love  of  God  is  not  in  him.  Beware  of  living  in  the  in- 
dulgence oi'anij  sin ;  any  habitual  sin  is  inconsistent  with  the  love 
of  God.  It  was  on  this  principle,  that  holy  David,  after  declaring 
tWe  omniscience  and   omnipresence  of  God,  invoked  his  scrutiny: 


Sermon  XXL]  ON  LOVE  TO  GOD.  363 

Search  me,  0  God,  and  kno:o  my  heart ;  tnj  me,  and  know  mij 
thoughts  ;  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  xvay  in  me,  and  lead  me 
in  the  way  everlasting.  Wicked  actions  have  been  found  in  good 
men,  who  have  lamented  them,  and  been  forgiven  ;  but  a  wicked 
"way,  is  inconsistent  with  a  state  of  grace,  vitiating  the  very  princi- 
ple of  religion,  and  turning  the  whole  into  hypocrisy.  Trans- 
gression of  this  nature  must  lead  to  perdition.  It  is  an  affecting 
consideration,  how  many  professors  of  religion  have  been  found, 
either  before,  or  soon  after,  they  have  left  the  world,  to  have  liv- 
ed in  private  drunkenness,  cencealed  lewdness,  or  undetected 
fraud. 

But  it  is  not  merely  by  avoiding  those  things  which  are  inconsis- 
tent withtlie  love  of  God,  that  we  shall  promote  it ;  we  must  also 
attend  to  those  that  cherish  it.  It  is  by  being  conversant  with  the 
mind  of  God,  as  revealed  in  his  word  ;  by  drawing  near  to  him  in 
private  prayer  ;  by  associating  with  the  most  spiritual  of  his  peo- 
ple ;  by  thinking  upon  his  name,  especially  as  displayed  in  the 
person  and  work  of  Christ,  that  the  lore  of  God  will  be  cherished. 
As  our  minds  are  insensibly  assimilated  by  the  books  we  read, 
and  the  company  we  keep,  so  it  will  be  in  reading  the  book  of 
God,  and  associating  with  his  people  ;  and  as  the  glory  of  God  is 
manifested  in  the  highest  degree  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  is 
the  principal  theme  for  our  meditation.  It  is  by  our  repairing  to 
the  cross,  that  the  love  of  God  will  be  kept  alive,  and  renew- 
ed when  ready  to  expire. 


CONFORMITY  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST. 


SERMON  XX ir. 


Phil.  iii.  10. 


Beina:  made  conformable  unto  his  death. 


Thk  death  of  Christ  is  a  subject  of  so  much  importance  ii> 
Christianity,  as  to  be  essential  to  it.  Without  this,  the  sacrifices 
and  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  would  be  nearly  A^oid  of 
meaning,  and  the  other  great  facts  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 
divested  of  importance.  It  is  not  so  much  a  member  of  the  body 
of  Christian  doctrine,  as  the  life-blood  that  runs  through  the  whole 
of  it.  The  doctrine  of  the  cross  is  the  Christian  doctrine.  In  de- 
termining not  to  know  any  thing — save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  cru- 
cijied,  the  Apostle  did  not  mean  to  contract  his  researches,  or  to 
confine  his  ministry  to  a  monotonous  repetition  of  a  favourite 
point,  to  the  neglect  of  other  things  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  shunned 
not  to  declare  the  whole  council  of  God.  The  doctrine  of  Christ, 
and  him  crucijied,  comprehended  this :  it  contained  a  scope,  which, 
inspired  as  he  was,  surpassed  his  powers  ;  and  well  it  might,  for 
angels  could  not  comprehend  it,  but  are  described  as  merely 
desiring  to  look  into  it.  There  is  not  an  important  truth,  but 
what  is  presupposed  by  it,  included  in  it,  or  arises  out  of  it ;  nor 
any  part  of  practical  religion,  but  what  hangs  upon  it. 


3C6  CONFORMITY  TO  [Sermon  XXH. 

It  was  from  this  doctrine,  that  the  New  Testament  writers  fetch- 
ed their  most  powerful  motives.  Do  they  recommend  humility? 
It  is  thus :  Let  this  mind  he  in  you,  tvhich  was  also  in  Chfist 
Jesus ;  who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  ro  bbery  to  be 
equal  with  God  ;  but  made  himself  of  no  refutation,  and  took  upon 
him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men: 
and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself  and  be- 
came obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  Do  they 
enforce  an  unreserved  devotedness  to  God?  It  is  thus  :  Ye  are  not 
your  otcn ;  for  ye  are  hotight  with  a  price  ;  therefore  glorify  God 
in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  ivhich  are  God^s.  If  they  would 
provoke  Christians  to  brotherly  love,  it  is  from  the  same  conside- 
ration :  Herein  is  love^  not  that  v^e  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  he  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  Beloved,  if 
God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another.  Do  they  urge 
^forgiving  spirit?  It  is  thus:  Be  ye  hind  one  to  another,  tender- 
hearted, forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath 
forgiven  yon.  Do  they  recommend  benevolence  to  the  poor  ?  It 
is  from  this  :  For  ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that, 
though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye 
through  his  poverty  might  be  rich. — Thanks  be  to  God  for  his 
unspeakable  gift !  Finally  :  The  common  duties  of  domestic  life 
are  enforced  from  this  principle  :  Husbands  love  your  wives,  even 
as  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it. 

It  is  in  immediate  i-elation  to  this  great  principle,  that  both  the 
ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  supper  appear  to  have  been  institu- 
ted. As  many  as  were  baptized,  were  baptized  into  Christ's 
death  ;  and  in  eating  the  bread  and  drinking  the  wine,  they  were 
directed  to  do  it  in  remembrance  of  him.  It  was  a  wonderful  in- 
stance of  condescending  love  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  desire  to 
be  remembered  by  us.  Had  we  requested,  in  the  language  of 
the  converted  thief,  to  be  remembered  by  him,  tliere  had  been 
nothing  surprising  in  it ;  but  it  is  of  the  nature  of  dying  love,  to  de- 
sire to  live  in  the  remembrance  of  those  who  are  dear  to  us.  It 
was  not,  however,,  on  his  own  account,  but  on  ours,  that  he  left 
this  dying  request,  lie  knew  that  to  remember  him,  would  an- 
swer evcrv  case  that  conld  occur.     !f  afflicted,  this  would  be  our 


Sermon  XXU.)        THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST.  367 

solace  ;  if  persecuted,  the  consideration  of  him  that  had  endured 
such  contradiction  of  sinners,  would  prevent  our  being  weary  and 
faint  in  our  minds ;  if  guilty,  this  would  point  out  the  way  of  for- 
giveness J  or  if  tempted  to  turn  aside,  this  would  bind  us  to  his 
name  and  cause. 

It  was  by  a  believing  view  of  this  great  subject,  that  the  Apostle, 
at  the  first,  counted  all  his  former  privileges  and  attainments  loss ; 
and  though,  in  consequence  of  rendering  Judaism,  he  had  exchanged 
ail  his  earthly  prospects  for  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  nakedness,  and 
perils,  and  bitter  persecutions,  yet,  after  thirty  years'  experience, 
he  does  not  repent,  but  in  atone  of  heavenly  triumph,  adds.  Yea., 
doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knoxcledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the 
loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  dung,  that  I  may  win 
Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness, 
which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  lehich  is  through  the  faith  of  Christy  the 
the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith  ! 

A  mind  thus  imbued  in  the  stiCred  tlieme,  we  should  think, 
must  have  known  much  of  Christ  already,  and,  compared  with 
us,  he  must  ;  yet,  after  all  tiiat  he  had  thought  and  preached 
and  written,  he  makes  nothing  of  his  attainments,  but  adopts  the 
language  of  one  that  had,  in  a  manner,  every  thing  to  learn  :  That 
I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrcctrG/i,  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  sufferings,  being  made  covformabie  unto  his  death. 

The  last  of  these  vehement  desires  seems  to  be  explanatory  of 
some,  if  not  all  that  precede  it.  That  is,  he  would  know  him,  and 
the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  feliovvship  of  his  sufl'erings^ 
as  BEING  made  conformable  unto  his  death. 

The  sentiment  here  conveyed  appears  to  be.  That  the  death  of 
Christ  is  a  model  to  lohich  Christians  must  aspire  to  be  coj formed. 
This  sentiment  we  shall  endeavour  to  illustrate  and  confirm. 

There  are  other  models  beside  the  death  of  Christ  ;  but  they 
are  included  in  this.  The  law  of  God  is  that  to  which  we 
must  be  conformed,  if  we  be  born  from  above,  it  is  written  in 
our  hearts.  But,  as  one  great  end  of  Christ's  death  was  to  honour 
the  divine  law,  not  only  in  its  precept  but  its  penalty,  a  conformity 
so  the  one  must  include  a  conformity  to  the  other.   The  character  of 


368  CONFORMITY  TO  [Sermon  XXllJ 

God  also  is  represented  as  a  model  to  which  believers  are  con- 
formed. The  new  man  is  created  after  God,  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness :  but,  as  in  the  death  of  Christ  God  was  glorified  in 
the  highest,  a  conformity  to  this  must  be  a  conformity  to  tbe  divine 
character.  Th&  lives  of  holy  men  are  also  held  up  for  our  im- 
itation ,  but,  as  this  is  only  in  proportion  as  they  are  followers  of 
Christ,  a  conformity  to  him  includes  all  that  is  required  of  us  res- 
pecting them. 

We  shall  consider  the  death  of  Christ  in  four  views:  namely,  in 
respect  of  the  principles  on  which  it  proceeded  ;  the  motives  by 
which  it  was  induced  ;  the  spirit  with  which  it  was  endured  ;  an*l 
the  ends  which  it  accomplished.  Under  each  of  these  views, 
we  shall  find  things   to  which   we  must  be  conformed.     Observe, 

I.  The  principles  on  which  the  death  of  Christ  pro- 
ceeded. In  them,  we  shall  find  a  standard  by  which  to  form 
our  principles,  and  shall  be  able  to  judge,  whether  they  be  of 
God. 

1.  The  death  of  Christ  presupposes,  that  we  deserved  todie.  A 
sense  of  this  truth  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  true  religion;  it  requires 
therefroe,  that  we  be  made  conformable  to  it,  God,  in  the  gift  of 
his  Son  to  die,  judged  us  to  have  been  worthy  of  death ;  Christ,  in 
giving  himself  to  die,  evinced  himself  to  be  of  the  same  mind  :  and 
such  must  be  our  mind,  or  we  can  have  no  interest  in  the  glorious 
results.  Until  we  see  and  feel  that  God  is  in  the  right  ;  that  we 
are  in  the  wrong  ;  and  that,  if  he  had  cast  us  oflf  forever,  it  had 
been  no  more  than  we  deserved  ;  we  shall  be  strangers  to  repen- 
tance, and  as  incapable  of  believing  in  Christ  for  salvation,  as  he 
that  is  whole  is,  of  appreciating  the  value  of  a  physician, 

2.  The  death  of  Christ  presupposes,  </^a?  sm  is  exceeding  sin- 
ful. If  it  were  a  matter  of  small  account,  it  may  be  presumed,  tha^ 
the  father  would  not  have  made  so  much  of  it,  as  to  give  his  son  to 
be  made  a  sacrifice  to  alone  for  it ;  and  that  the  Son  of  God  uoukl 
not  have  laid  down  his  life  for  that  purpose.  The  curses  of  the 
law,  and  the  judgments  inflicted  at  different  times  on  sinners,  fur- 
nish strong  proof  of  the  malignant  nature  of  sin  ;  especially  when 
the  native  goodness  of  God  is  taken  into  consideration  :  but  the 
blood  of  the  cross  furnishes  much  stronger.     It  was  a   great  thins; 


Sermon  XXII.]  THE  DEATH   OF  CHRIST.  3(J9 

for  the  Creator  to  destroy  the  work  of  his  han4s,  and  it  is  so  rep- 
resented: The  Lord  said,  I  will  destiny  man,  whom  i  havr  crea- 
ted,y'rowi  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  to  smite  his  beloved  Son,  was 
greater.  To  be  made  conformable  to  this  principle,  we  must  not 
conceive  of  sin  as  the  weakness,  or  frailty  of  human  nature,  a 
mere  imperfection  which  a  good  God  must  needs  overlook.  Nei- 
ther must  we  give  heed  to  those  systems  of  religion  which  are 
founded  upon  these  depreciating  notions,  which,  however  they 
may  Hatter  us  for  the  present,  will,  in  the  end,  assuredly  de- 
ceive us. 

3.  The  death  of  Christ  presupposes,  that  there  was  nothing,  in 
all  our  doings  or  sufferings,  that  could  furnish  a  ground  of  salva- 
tion, or  a  single  consideration  for  which  we  might  be  forgiven. 
Had  it  been  otherwise,  Christ  would  not  have  died.  Men  have 
ever  been  busily  employed  in  endeavours  to  propitiate  the  Deity; 
some  by  ceremonial  observances,  and  some  by  moral ;  but  instead 
of  accomplishing  the  object,  they  have  only  made  the  case  worse. 
Even  those  services  which  were  of  divine  appointment,  bee  nne, 
in  their  hands,  offensive  ;  God  was  weary  of  their  otferings. 
Christ  is  represented  as  taking  the  work  out  of  their  hands  :  Sac- 
rifice and  offering  thou  didst  not  desire;  nunc-  ears  hast  thou  opened; 
burnt-iffering  and  sin-offering  hast  thou  not  required.  Then  said 
I,  Lo,  I  came  .'  They  were,  indeed  required  as  duties  for  the  time, 
but  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  atonement.  Not  tears,  nor 
prayers,  nor  alms,  nor  any  other  of  oui  doings,  will  avail  as  terms 
of  acceptance  with  God.  If  we  are  conformed  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  we  shall  know  and  feel  this  to  be  the  case,  and  shall  seek 
salvation  by  grace  only,  through  the  Mediator.  If  we  are  not  con- 
formed to  tiie  death  of  Christ  in  this  respect,  we  have  no  reason  to 
expect  any  interest  in  it. 

4.  The  death  of  Christ  presupposes,  that,  for  mercy  to  be  exer- 
cised in  a  is:ay  consisten'  with  the  honow  of  God,  it  required  to  be 
through  a  sacrifice  of  infinite  value.  When  the  Apostle  declares, 
that  ii  zi-as  not  possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should 
take  aii'ay  sins,  he  plainly  intimates,  tlial  the  inherent  v^iue  of 
tlje  sacrifice  was  of  essential  importance  as  to  its  effect.  If  it  were 
impossible  for  animal  sacritices  to  atone  for  sin,  it  must  be  on  ac- 

VoL.  VII.  47 


370  COMFORMITY  TO  [Skhmon  XXII- 

count  of  their  insiifficiencj  to  rlemonstrate  either  the  hatred  of 
God  to  sin,  or  his  love  to  sinners  :  but  the  same  reason  would  ap- 
apply  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  if  he  were  merely  a  creature. 
Hence,  those  who  deny  his  divinity,  with  perfect  consistency  deny 
also  his  atonement.  But,  on  the  principle  of  his  (hvinity,  his  suf- 
ferings were  of  infinite  value  ;  and  to  this,  the  scriptures  ascribe 
their  efficacy.  A  careful  reader  of  the  Now  Testament  will  per- 
ceive, that,  in  exhibiting  the  valufi  and  efficaci/ of  bxs  death,  it  con- 
nects it  with  the  inherent  dignity  of  his  person  :  JVho  being  the 
brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  and 
upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  when  tie  had  by  hiji- 
SF.LP  PURGED  OUR  SINS,  sat  dowH  OH  the  right  hand  of  the  Ma- 
jesty on  high. —  If'e  have  a  great  high  priest  that  is  passed  into  the 
heavens,  Jesus  the  son  of  God. — The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son  clcanscth  us  from  nil  sin. 

The  result  is,  that  to  be  made  conformable  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  we  must  think  highly  of  it,  and  not  reduce  it  to  the  death  of 
a  mere  martyr.  It  is  a  serious  thing  to  make  light  of  the  Saviour, 
and  of  the  work  of  salvation  :  He  that  despised  Moseii^  law  died 
witliout  mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses :  of  how  much  sorer 
punishnicnt,  suppose  yc,  shall  he  hi  though*  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  cov- 
enant, wherewith  he  ivas  sanciificd.an  unholy  (or  common)  thing,  and 
hath  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know  him  thai 
hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  vnto  me,  I  will  recompense  sai'h 
the  hord.  And  again.  The  Lord  shall  judge  his  people.  It  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  livi7ig  God  ! 

Let  us  observe, 

II      T)IE  MOTIVES  BV  WHICH  THE  DKATH  OF  ChRIST  WAS  INDUCED. 

In  these  we  shall  find  a  blessed  example  to  imitate.  They  may 
all  be  summed  up  in  love  ;  love  to  God  and  men  ;  love  great,  dis- 
interested, and  unparalleled. 

There  never  was  such  an  example  of  the  love  of  God,  as  that 
which  is  furnished  by  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ.  It  was 
his  meat  and  drink  to  do  the  will  of  his  Father.  He  did  not  know 
his  nearest  relations,  but  as  doing  his  Father's  will.  When  the 
bitter  cup  was  presented  to  him,  he  said,  Noto  is  my  soul  troubled; 


Sermon  XXII.J  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST.  37I 

and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour  ?  hut  for 
t/iis  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour.  Father,  glorify  thy  name.  What 
was  this  but  exposing  his  breast,  as  we  should  say  to  the  swoid  of 
justice  :  consenting  to  be  made  a  sacrifice,  that  God  might  be  glo- 
rified in  the  salvation  of  sinneis  ?  It  was  love,  vvorking  in  a  way 
of  grief,  that  caused  that  affecting  exclamation,  Mi/  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  He  could  endure  the  cross,  and  even 
despise  the  shame  ;  hp  could  bear  to  be  betrayed,  denied,  andfoi" 
saken  by  his  own  disciples  :  but  to  be  forsaken  of  God,  wounded 
hira  beyond  any  thing.  O  to  be  made  conformable  to  his  death  in 
these  things  ;  to  love  God,  so  as  to  account  it  our  meat  and  drink 
to  do  his  will  ;  so  as  to  reckon  his  friends  our  friends,  and  his 
cause  our  cause  ;  to  be  willing  to  do  any  thing,  or  suffer  any  ihin-^-, 
for  his  name's  sake  ;  and  to  feel  the  withholding  of  his  favour  our 
severest  loss ! 

As  there  never  was  such  love  to  God,  as  that  which  was  mani- 
fested by  Christ,  30  neither  was  there  ever  such  lore  to  men.  He 
loved  us  J  and  gave  himself  for  us — loved  us,  and  washed  us  from 
our  sins  in  His  own  blood.  The  love  of  creatures  is  ordinarily 
founded  on  something  lovely  in  the  object;  but  Christ  died  for  us, 
while  we  were  yet  enemies.  To  be  made  conformable  to  his  death 
in  this,  is  to  bear  good  will  to  men,  to  seek  their  present  and  ever- 
lasting welfare  in  every  way  that  is  within  our  power;  and  this,  not- 
withstanding the  unloveliaess  of  their  character  and  conduct  :  Love 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you,  and 
persecute  you.  Unbelievers,  who  know  no  principle  superior  to 
self-love,  have  represented  this  precept  of  our  Lord  as  unnatural 
and  extravagant.  Yet  they  themselves  are  daily  partaking  of  hii 
bounty,  who  causeth  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and 
his  rain  to  descend  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  If  they  were 
the  children  of  that  Being  whom  they  acknowledge,  they  would  in 
some  degree  resemble  him.  Such  was  the  example  of  Jesus,  and 
such  must  be  ours,  if  we  be  made  conformable  to  him. 

Let  us  observe, 

III.  The  spirit  with  which  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ  were  endured.  In  this  we  shall  find  a  model  for  our  spi- 
rit.    The  Lord  Jesus  was  possessed  of  all  the  original  passions  of 


372  CONFORMITY  TO      '  [Sermon  XXII. 

human  nature  ;  as  love,  joy,  sorrow,  grief,  anger, indignation,  &c. 
When  reproached  and  injured,  he  felt  it  ;  his  enduring  the  cross 
and  despising  the  shame,  was  not  owing  to  his  being  insensible  to 
either,  but  {o  the  joy  set  before  him.  The  purity  of  his  nature  did 
not  extinguish  its  passions,  but  rendered  them  subordinate  to  the 
will  of  his  Father.  With  the  greatest  sensibility  to  reiiroach  and 
injury,  he  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart.  Under  all  the  reproach- 
es and  false  accusations  that  were  preferred  against  him  on  his  tri- 
al he  preserved  a  dignified  silence:  not.  a  word  was  uttered  tend- 
ing to  save  his  life;  but,  when  questioned  on  the  truth  of  hisMes- 
siahship,  he,  witli  equal  dignity  and  firmness,  avowed  it,  though  he 
knew  the  avowal  would  cost  him  his  life.  Nor  did  the  contradic- 
tion and  abuse  which  he  received  from  his  executioners  extinguish 
his  compassion  toward  them  :  vvliile  they  were  nailing  him  to  the 
cross  he  prayed,  saying,  Father  forgive  them:  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do. 

If  we  observe  the  spirit  of  the  apostles,  we  shall  find  them  to 
have  made  him  their  pattern  :  Being  reviled,  we  bless ;  being  per- 
secuted, we  suffer  it ;  being  defamed,  ivc  entreat:  we  are  made  as 
Ihefilih  of  the  world,  and  the  off- scouring  of  all  things  unto  this 
day.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  holy  emulation  in  the  apostle 
Paul  to  be  a  follower  of  his  Lord,  even  unto  death.  In  all  that 
befel  him,  he  kept  his  eye  on  Christ :  If  we  suffer,  ive  shall  also 
reign  WITH  niM. —  We  are  troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distres- 
sed; perplexed,  but  not  in  despair  ;  persecuted^  but  not  forsaken; 
cast  down,  but  not  destroyed,  always  bearing  about  in  the  body 
THE  DYING  OF  THE  LoRD  Jiiscs,  that  the  life  al SO  of  Jesus  might  be 
made  manifest  in  our  body.  For  ice  which  live  are  always  delivered 
unto  death  for  Jesus''  sake,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made 
manifest  in  our  mortal  Jlesh.  Such  was  that  conformity  to  the 
death  of  Christ,  after  which  he  panted  with  the  most  vehement 
desire.  Nothing  was  farther  from  his  thoughts  than  partaking  with 
him  in  the  work  of  redemption  ;  but,  so  far  as  fellowship  in  his 
sufferings  was  admissible,  it  was  the  object  of  his  most  ardent  de- 
sire. O  to  be  thus  made  like  him,  and  like  his  faithful  follow- 
ers ! 


SEnnioNXXII.]  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST.  373 

We  proceed  to  observe, 

IV.  The  ends  which  the  death  of  Christ  accomplishkd. 
In  them,  though  there  is  much  which  is  peculiar  to  himself',  yet 
there  is  also  much  in  which  we  are  made  conformable  to  him. 

Did  he  satisfy  divine  justice,  and  thereby  open  the  way  of 
salvation  ?  Certainly,  it  is  not  for  us  to  attempt  any  thing  like 
this  ;  but,  by  believing  in  him,  we  acquiesce  in  what  he  has  done 
and  suffered,  and  so  are  made  conformable  to  it.  Nor  is  this  con- 
fined to  our  first  believing  :  the  more  we  know  of  Christ,  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  the 
more  we  are,  in  this  way,  made  conformable  to  his  death.  The 
death  of  Christ  will  give  the  impression  to  the  very  enjoyment 
of  heaven.  The  Lamb  that  was  slain  will  be  the  theme  of  the  song 
forever. 

Was  he  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil  ?  If  we 
be  made  conformable  to  his  death,  we  also  shall  wage  war  with 
them.  If  we  live  in  sin,  we  are  of  the  devil,  and  must  needs  be  at 
variance  with  the  death  of  Christ  ;  sparing  that  which  he  was 
manifested  in  human  nature  to  destroy.  The  finished  work  of 
Christ  upon  the  cross  did  not  supercede  the  necessity  of  our  be- 
ing active  in  overcoming  evil.  We  must  set  our  feet  upon  the 
necks  of  these  spiritual  enemies,  taking  a  part  in  their  destruction 
Neither  did  it  supercede  the  necessity  of  our  active  perseverance 
in  the  use  of  all  means  by  which  we  may  disengage  our  souls  from 
the  entanglements  of  sin,  praying  and  struggling  from  under  its 
dominion,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.  It  is  thus  that 
we  have  to  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  ; 
and  which,  instead  of  superceding  the  death  of  Christ,  is  being 
made  conformable  to  it.  From  his  having  died  for  sin,  we  are 
exhorted  to  die  to  it,  and  to  live  unto  God.  We  cannot  enter  into 
the  end  of  Christ's  death,  which  was  to  make  an  end  of  sin,  unless 
we  become  dead  to  sin  ;  nor  into  his  resurrection,  without  rising 
with  him  into  newness  of  life. 

In  waging  war  with  sin,  it  is  necessary  to  begin  with  ourselves, 
but  not  to  end  there.  If  we  be  made  conformable  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  we  shall  be  adverse  to  sin  wherever  we  find  it ;  avoiding- 
all  participation  in  it,  through  complaisance  or  worldly  interest. 


/ 


374  CONFORMITY  TO  CHRIST'S  DEATH.      (Sermon  XXII. 

and  uniting  to  promote  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  godliness  in  its 
place. 

Finally:  Christ  died  to  save  sinners  ;  and,  if  we  be  made  con^ 
formable  to  his  death,  we  also  shall  seek  their  salvation.  Some  of 
the  first  thoughts  which  occur  to  a  believer's  mind,  on  having 
found  rest  for  his  own  soul,  respect  the  salvation  of  his  kindred 
and  acquaintance  ;  and  the  direction  given  to  one  who  had  obtain- 
ed mercy  gives  countenance  to  such  thoughts  and  desires :  Go 
home  to  thy  friends,  and  tell  them  how  great  things  the  Lord  hath 
done  for  thee,  and  hath  had  compasnion  on  thee. 

It  is  not  for  ministers  only  to  take  an  interest  in  the  salvation  of 
men:  the  army  of  the  Lamb  is  composed  of  the  whole  body  of 
Christians.  Every  disciple  of  Jesus  should  consider  himself  as  a 
missionary.  All,  indeed,  are  not  apostles,  nor  evangelists,  nor 
preachers  ;  but  all  must  be  engaged  in  serving  the  Lord  ;  some  by 
preaching,  some  by  contributing  of  their  substance,  and  all  by 
prayer  and  recommending  the  Saviour  by  a  holy  conversation. 

The  death  of  Christ  stands  connected,  in  the  divine  promise, 
with  the  salvation  of  sinners.  This  is  the  travail  of  his  soul,  which 
he  was  to  see.  and  be  satisfied ;  the  joi/  set  before  him,  in  view  of 
which  he  endured  the  cross,  and  despised  the  shame.  To  be  made 
conformable  unto  his  death,  therefore,  we  must  combine  that  which 
God  has  combined  ivith  it.  It  is  a  high  honour  conferred  on  us  to 
be  instruments  in  thus  saving  our  fellow-sinners,  and  in  thus  crown- 
ing our  Redeemer  :  nor  will  it  be  less  advantageous  to  us,  since 
he  has  said.  To  him  thai  nvercometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in 
my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  doum  with  my  Fa- 
ther in  his  throne. 


THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  THE  SECURITY  AND  FELICITY 
OF  HIS  CHURCH. 


SERMON  XXIff, 


Rev.  i.  10. 


lam  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead  :  and,  behold,  I  am  ahVe  forevermore, 
Amen  ;  aad  hnve  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death. 


Some  of  the  most  important  writings  in  the  church  of  Christ 
have  been  occasioned  by  the  persecutions  of  its  enemies.  The 
Fs;(1mjs  of  David,  in  which  a  good  man  will  find  all  the  devout  feel- 
ings of  liift  heart  pourtrayed,  were  mostly  occasioned  by  the  op- 
positions of  the  wicked.  Many  of  Paul's  Epistles  were  written 
from  prison  ;  and  this  book,  which  contains  a  system  of  prophecy 
from  the  ascension  of  Christ  to  the  end  of  time,  was  communicated 
to  the  beloved  disciple,  when  in  a  st:ite  of  banishment.  Thus  it 
is  that  the  wrath  of  man  is  made  to  praise  God;  so  much  of  it  as 
would  not  answer  this  end  is  restrained. 

Soiiie  of  the  most  distinguished  prophets  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  introduced  to  their  ivork  by  an  extraordinary  and  im- 
pressive vision.  It  was  thus  with  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel  ; 
;  nd  thus  it  was  with  the  writer  of  this  book.  They  behold  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  dispensation  under 
^^  hich  they  lived  ;  he,  being  under  a  new  dispensation,  of  which 


376  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XXIII. 

Christ  was  exalted  to  be  the  head,  saw  his  glory  both  divine  and 
human  ;  as  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  last,  and  as 
the  Son  of"  Man  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candle- 
sticks. 

On  seeing  him,  the  Apostle  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead.  He  on 
whose  bosom  he  could  formerly  lean  with  all  the  familiarity  of  a 
tViend,  is  now  possessed  of  a  glory  too  great  to  be  sustained  by  a 
mortal  man.  But  yet  how  sweetly  is  this  awful  grandeur  temper- 
ed with  gentleness  and  goodness  :  He  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me, 
saying  unto  me,  Fear  not,  I  am  the  first  and  the  last ;  I  am  he  that 
liveth,  and  was  dead  ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  forevermore,  Amen  ; 
and  have  the  keys  of  hell  aiid  of  death. 

The  force  and  beauty  of  the  passage  will  appear  to  advantage, 
if  we  observe  the  circumstances  of  the  church  and  of  the  Apostle 
at  the  time.  It  is  supposed  to  be  about  the  year  95,  under  the 
persecution  of  Domitian.  The  church,  at  that  time,  was  under  a 
dark  cloud.  Great  numbers  of  the  tirst  Christians  and  the  tirst 
ministers  would  now  have  finished  their  course  ;  many  would  be 
cut  off  by  the  persecution  ;  all  the  apostles  were  dead,  excepting 
John  ;  and  he  was  banished.  To  an  eye  of  sense  it  would  appear 
as  if  the  cause  must  be  crushed.  How  cheering,  in  such  circum- 
stances, must  it  have  been  to  be  told,  I  am  he  that  liveth  !  The 
Assyrian  invasion,  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  filled  the  breadth  of 
Immanuel's  land  ;  but  while  Jerusalem  was  preserved,  the  head 
was  above  water,  and  the  body  politic,  though  overflowed  even 
to  the  neck,  would  yet  live.  Much  more  would  the  church  in 
the  midst  of  persecution.  While  Christ  her  head  lived,  she  could 
not  die. 

It  was  on  the  hordes  day,  that  the  Apostle  was  favoured  with 
this  extraordinary  vision,  the  day  in  which  he  had  risen  from  the 
dead;  which  circumstance  would  add  force  to  what  he  said  of  him- 
self as  having  been  dead,  but  as  being  now  alive.  It  was  the  day 
also  in  which,  as  far  as  their  persecuted  state  would  admit,  the 
churches  were  assembled  for  Christian  worship  ;  and  while  they, 
doubtless,  remembered  the  venerable  Apostle  in  their  prayers, 
the  Lord,  by  him,  remembered  and  provided  for  them. 


Sermon  XXIII.J  THE  CHUPCH'S  SUPPORT.  377 

There  is  a  charming  circumlocution  in  the  passage,  which  sur- 
prises and  overwhelms  the  mind.  The  Lord  might  have  said,  as 
on  a  former  occasion.  Be  not  afraid,  it  is  I ;  but  he  dsecribes  him- 
self in  language  full  of  the  richest  consolation  :  lam  he  that  liveth, 
and  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  forcverinore,  and  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  dtafh  ! 

Let  us  observe  the  characters  which  our  Lord  assumes  ;  con- 
sider them  as  a  ground  of  security  to  the  church;  and  conclude 
with  a  few  reilections. 

L  Let  us  observe  the  characters  which  our  Lord  assumes. 
The  words  contain  four  positions ;  viz.  that  he  liveth;  that  he 
liveth  who  was  dead  ;  that  he  liveth  forevermore  ;  and  that  he  has 
the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death. 

1.  He  saith,  lam  he  that  liveth.  It  is  a  truth  that  Christ  liv- 
eth, and  always  did  and  will  live  as  the  first  and  the  last ;  but  the 
life  here  spoken  of,  being  that  which  succeeded  to  his  death,  was 
possessed  in  the  same  nature  as  that  in  which  he  died.  It  was  the 
life  which  commenced  at  his  resurrection  ;  when,  being  rained 
frnm  the  dead,  he  dicih  no  more  :  death  hath  no  more  dominion  aver 
him.  It  consists,  not  merely  in  existence,  but  in  that  blessing,  and 
honour,  and  glory,  which  he  received  as  the  reward  of  his  hurtiili- 
ation.  Is  is  the  possession  of  that  joy  that  was  set  before  him, 
in  the  prospect  of  which  he  endured  the  cross,  and  despised  the 
shame. 

There  appears  to  be  something  more  in  the  words  /  am  he  that 
liveth,  than  if  it  had  been  said  /  live ;  for  this  had  been  true  of  mill- 
ions as  well  as  of  Christ,  whereas  that  which  is  spoken  is  some- 
thing peculiar  to  him.  Paul  says  of  himself  I  live  ;  but  when  he 
had  said  it,  he,  in  a  manner,  recalled  his  words,  adding,  yet  not  I, 
but  ChriM  liveth  in  me.  Christ  is  not  only  possessed  of  life  him- 
self, but  communicates  it  to  others  :  his  life  involves  that  of  the 
church,  and  of  every  individual  believer  in  him.  In  his  life  thej 
live,  and  will  live  forevermore. 

In  the  life  of  Christ  we  trace  the  execution  of  the  great  designs 

of  bis  death.     It  is  as  living  that  he  intercedes  for  us  at  the  right 

hand  of  God.     If,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  when  we  were  enemies  we 

were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son :  much  more  being 

Vol.   VIL  18 


378  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XXIII. 

recrmciled,  we  shall  be  saved  hij  his  i.ifk.  We  see  here  three  dis- 
tinct stages  in  the  work  of  Christ.  First  :  By  his  death  he  made 
atoiiCiiient  for  us  :  this  is  expressed  by  his  having  reconciled  us  to 
God,  or  restored  us  to  his  favour  as  the  lawgiver  and  judge  of  the 
world.  Secondly  :  By  his  word  and  Spirit  we  are  subdued  to  the 
obedience  of  faith,  so  as,  of  enemies,  to  become  friends  :  this  is 
expressed  by  our  being  reconciled,  or  brought  into  a  state  of  actual 
peace  and  friendship  with  God.  Thirdly  :  By  his  life  he  saves 
us  :  this  is  that  branch  of  salvation  which  is  effected  by  his  inter- 
cession, and  which  is  denominated  saving  us  to  the  uttermost. 
From  the  first  two,  the  Apostle  argues  the  last,  as  from  what  Christ 
did  for  us  when  enemies  to  what  he  will  do  for  us  now  that  we  are 
friends,  and  from  his  having  begun  the  work  to  carrying  it  on  to 
perfection. 

In  the  life  of  Christ  we  trace  all  the  important  blessings  of  his 
reign.  The  promise  of  the  sure  .nercies  of  David  is  alleged,  by 
the  Apostle  as  a  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  But  how  does 
this  appear  ?  By  the  sure  mercies  of  David,  as  promised  in  the 
^Sth  of  Isaiah,  there  is,  doubtless,  a  reference  to  the  covenant 
made  with  David,  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,  and  which  con- 
tained all  his  salvation,  and  all  his  desire.  But  tiiis  covenant  was 
to  he  fulfdled  in  tlie  everlasting  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  sure  mercie^ 
of  David,  therefore,  are  the  blessings  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom, 
the  bestowment  of  which  iniplies  his  resurrection  ;  for,  if  death 
had  continued  to  have  dominion  over  him,  no  such  kingdom  could 
have  exi;?ted.  The  sum  is,  that,  in  saying  to  his  servant  John,  I  am 
he  t'utf  liveth,  he  furnished  one  of  the  richest  sources  of  consolation 
to  the  church  in  its  state  of  tribulation. 

2.  He  speaks  of  his  life  as  succeeding  to  bis  death :  I  am  he 
that  liveth,  and  was  deai*.  This  part  of  the  description  would 
remove  all  doubts,  if  any  existed,  as  to  who  he  was.  The  disparity 
between  his  present  appearance  and  what  he  was  when  the  Apos- 
tle saw  and  conversed  with  him  in  the  desh,  must  be  exceedingly 
great,  and  might  tend  to  stagger  his  belief  in  his  being  the  same 
person  ;  but  this  speech,  whatever  doubts  he  felt,  would  at  once 
resiiove  them.  '  Yes,  it  is  my  Lord  himself,  and  not  another.  It 
is  he  whom  I  saw  expire  upon  the  cross  !' 


Sbbmon  XXIII.]         THE  CHURCH'S  SUPPORT.  3J9 

The  connexion  between  the  death  of  Christ  on  earth  and  his 
succeeding  life  in  glory,  renders  each  of  them  more  interesting. 
There  is  great  joy  derived  from  the  consideration  of  salvation 
through  the  death  of  Christ.  It  is  the  burden  of  the  heavenly 
song.  But  this  would  be  no  joy,  were  it  not  for  the  consideration 
of  bis  life.  What  if  we  could  all  have  obtained  salvation  ;  yet,  if 
it  must  have  been  at  the  expense  of  the  eveilasting  blessedness  of 
our  deliverer,  who  could  have  enjoyed  it  ?  What  would  the 
feast  be,  if  the  Lord  of  the  feast  were  not  there  ?  Though,  in  en- 
during the  death  of  the  cross,  he  h;\d  spoiled  principalitiea  and 
powers,  and  made  a  show  of  them  openly  ;  yet,  if  he  had  not  lived 
to  enjoy  his  triumphs,  what  would  they  have  been  to  the  redeemed, 
and  even  to  the  angelic  world  ?  If  the  King's  Son  had  been  lost,  the 
victory  of  that  day  woidd  have  been  turned  into  mourning.  If  it 
had  been  possible  for  him  to  be  holden  of  death,  the  loss  to  the 
moral  empire  of  God  must  have  exceeded  the  gain,  and  the  saved 
themselves  must  have  been  ashamed  to  appear  in  heaven  at  the 
expense  of  the  general  good  !  But  we  are  not  called  to  so  painful 
a  trial.  Our  salvation,  expensive  as  it  was,  was  not  at  this  expense. 
He  was  dead,  but  he  liveth  !  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath 
begotten  us  again  xinto  a  lively  hope  hy  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead  / 

And  as  the  life  of  Christ  adds  to  the  joy  arising  from  his  death, 
so  the  death  of  Christ  adds  to  the  joy  arising  from  his  life.  There 
is  great  joy  as  we  have  seen,  derived  from  his  life  ;  but  it  would 
not  be  what  it  is,  if  this  his  lite  had  not  succeeded  his  death.  The 
life  of  Isaac  was  dear  to  Abraham  before  he  attempted  to  offer  him 
up  a  sacrifice  ;  but  it  would  be  mucli  more  so  when  he  had  re- 
ceived him  as  from  the  dead.  The  life  of  Joseph  was  dear  to  Ja- 
cob, when  he  dwelt  with  him  in  the  vale  of  Hebron  ;  but  it  would 
be  much  more  so  after  his  having,  in  a  njanner,  hurried  him.  If 
Christ  had  never  divested  himself  of  the  glory  which  he  had  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  was,  it  would  not  have  been  to  us  tliat 
which  it  will  be.  The  very  angels,  though  he  died  not  for  them, 
nor  for  any  of  their  species,  yet  honour  him  as  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain.     And  as  to  the  Redeemed  themselves,  their  song  is  sweeter 


380  THE  LIl^E  O?  CHRIST  [Sermon  XXIH. 

still :  Thou  art  worthy,  say  they, /or  thou  wast  slain,  and  host  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation ;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and 
priests  ;  and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth. 

3.  He  describes  himself  not  only  as  he  that  liveth,  and  teas  dead, 
but  «-<^  being  alive  for  evermore.  He  was  raised,  not  only  to 
life,  but  to  an  immortal  life.  He  dieth  no  more  :  death  hath  no 
more  dominion  over  him.  This  cheering  truth  arises  from  the 
perfection  of  his  sacritice.  The  sacrifices  under  the  law  could  not 
take  away  sin,  but  were  mere  shadows  of  good  things  to  come,  and 
therefore  required  to  be  often  repeated  ;  but  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
was  ONCE  for  all.  The  scriptures  lay  great  stress  on  the  term 
once,  as  applied  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ :  it  is  used  no  less  than 
six  times  in  this  connexion  :  Christ  being  raised  from  the  dead, 
saith  the  Apostle,  dieth  no  more  :  df-ath  hath  no  more  dominion  over 
him  ;  and  thus  he  accounts  for  it, — For  in  that  he  died,  he  diedunto 
sin  ONCE  :  but  in  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God.  A  transient 
sutfering  in  so  divine  a  person  was  sufficient  to  expiate  that  which 
would  have  subjected  us  to  everlasting  punishment,  and  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  permanent  life  with  God,  both  for  himself  and 
for  all  those  who  believe  in  him.  Such  was  the  value  of  his  sac- 
rifice, that  its  influence  will  continue  for  ever.  Even  when  the 
work  of  mediation  shall  be  perfected,  and  the  kingdom,  as  mediato- 
rial, delivered  up  to  the  Father,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all.  Christ 
will  live,  and  be  the  life  of  the  church  for  ever,  in  that  state 
where  there  will  be  no  temple,  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb  are  said  to  be  the  temple  thereof;  and  the  reason  given 
for  there  being  no  need  of  the  sun,  nor  of  the  moon,  is,  that  the 
glory  of  God  will  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  will  be  the  light  thereof. 

The  Amen,  which  follows  this  part  of  the  description,  seems  to 
be  added  by  the  Apostle,  and  designed  to  express  the  satisfaction 
that  he  felt  in  the  life  of  Christ.  The  words,  '  O  King,  live  for 
ever,'  as  addressed  to  an  Asiatic  sovereign,  could  only  express  the 
wish  of  the  party  that  his  life  might  be  continued  ;  and  that  in 
most  cases,  was  mere  flattery  :  but  here  is  neither  flattery  or  hy- 
perbole. The  Lord  declares  that  he  lives  for  ever,  and  the  Apos- 
tle adds  to  it  his  cordial  Amen  ! 


Sermon  XXIII.  J         THE  CHURCH'S  SUPPORT.  381 

4.  He  declares  the  authority  with  which  he  is  invested:  Jind 
have  the  keys  nf  hell  and  of  death.  By  hell  and  death,  I  understand 
the  powers  of  the  invisible  world,  which  in  reward  of  his  humili- 
ation and  death,  were  put  under  his  control.  God  raised  him 
from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  principality  and  power,  and  might,  and  do- 
minion, and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  hut 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet, 
and  gave  him  to  he  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  church. — Who  is 
gone  into  heaven,  and  is  on  the  right  hand  of  God;  angels  and  au- 
thorities, and  powers  being  made  subject  unto  him.  Hell,  with  all 
its  machinations,  can  do  no  more  than  he  permits  ;  and  death,  with 
all  its  terrors,  comes  and  goes  at  his  bidding. 

But  why  are  hell  and  death  only  mentioned  as  subjected  to 
Christ  ?  Does  not  his  empire  extend  to  the  church  as  well  as  to 
the  world,  and  to  the  visible  as  well  as  to  the  invisible  powers  ? 
Certainly  it  does  :  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  is  given  to  him  : 
but  there  was  a  fitness  in  his  here  mentioning  that  part  only  of  his 
empire  which  was  hostile  to  the  church,  and  that  kind  of  hostility 
which,  at  the  time,  threatened  to  destroy  it.  Persecution  is  the 
storming  work  of  hell  and  of  death  on  the  strong  holds  of  Zion. 
Hell  furnishes  the  plan,  and  death  carries  it  into  execution.  Men, 
indeed,  have  a  concern  in  what  is  done  against  the  church  ;  but  it 
is  as  agents  of  the  wicked  one  :  the  visible  world,  therefore,  may 
be  overlooked  as  being  influenced  by  the  invisible.  To  control 
an  army  it  is  sufficient  to  control  those  that  influence  its  move- 
ments. 

n.  Let   us   con'sider   these   interesting    characters   as   a 

SOURCE  OF  SECURITY  AND  FELICITY  TO  THE  CHURCH.  The  exist- 
ence of  the  church  in  this  depraved  world  is  one  of  the  wonders  of 
Providence.  It  is  a  vessel  living  in  a  tempestuous  sea  ;  a  bush 
on  fire,  yet  not  consumed.  If  we  reflect  on  the  enmity  of  the 
wicked  against  the  righteous,  their  great  superiority  over  them, 
the  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  exterminate  them,  the  fre- 
quent diminution  of  their  numbers  by  defection  and  death  ;  their 
existence,  and  especially  their  increase,  must  be  wonderful,  and 
can  no  otherwise  be  accounted  for  but  that  Christ  liveth. 


382  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  [Sermon  XXIII. 

When  they  were  few  in  number,  and  wandered  as  strangers 
from  one  nation  to  another,  he  suffered  no  man  to  hurt  them  ;  he 
reproved  kings  for  their  sakes  ;  saying.  Touch  not  mine  anointed, 
and  do  my  prophets  no  harm.  In  Egypt  he  saw  their  affliction, 
and  came  down  to  dehver  them.  Of  Jerusalem  the  enemy  said, 
Rase  it,  rase  it  to  the  foundation ;  but  the  Lord  remembered  it, 
and  destroyed  its  destoyer.  Under  the  Persian  dominion,  the 
captives  were  restored  to  their  own  land ;  yet  even  then  the  ene- 
my intrigued  against  them  ;  so  that  for  one  and  twenty  years  the 
building  of  the  temple  was  hindered,  and  the  prayers  of  the 
prophet  Daniel  were  unanswered.  Thus  it  was,  I  conceive,  that 
the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  withstood  the  angel  for  one 
and  twenty  days :  but  lo,  Michael  the  chief  prince  stood  with  him 
and  helped  him.* 

Under  the  gospel  dispensation,  as  the  church  became  more 
spiritual,  the  hatred  increased  ;  and  as  religion  was,  from  hence, 
more  of  a  personal  than  a  national  concern,  such  was  the  opposi- 
tion directed  against  it.  But  still  the  great  Head  of  the  church 
lived.  The  persecution  which  raged  at  the  time  of  this  prophecy 
was  the  second  often  cruel  persecutions  from  the  heathen  emper- 
ors; and  though,  after  this,  the  government  became  professedly 
Christian,  yet  such  were  the  corruptions  which  entered  in  at  this 
door,  that  in  a  little  time  that  which  was  called  the  Christian 
church  became  an  antichristian  harlot,  persecuting  the  servants  of 
Jesus,  with  a  cruelty,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  of  heathens. 
These  lloods  filled  the  breadth  of  Immanuel's  land,  reaching  even 

*  Dan.  X.  13.21.  Prideaiix  reckons,  from  the  first  interruption  of  the  Jews 
in  rebuilding  the  temple  to  tae  last  sentence  of  Dnrius  in  their  favour,  only 
hcenty  years  ;  namely,  from  the  third  year  of  Cyrus  to  the  eighth  of  Darius 
Hystaspis;  but  from  Dan.  x.  1 — 4.  it  appears,  that,  though  the  opposition 
openly  commenced  in  the  third  year,  yet  it  hbd  !  een  at  work  in  the  second. 
It  was  within  three  days  of  the  beginning  of  the  third  year,  that  the  prophet 
began  to  mourn  ;  if  one  cause  of  this  mouraiug,  therefore,  was  the  obstruction 
to  the  work  of  God  at  Jerusalem,  it  must  hare  begun  in  the  second  year  . 
which  makes  it  twenty-one  ye:irs,  corresponding  with  the  three  full  %cecks 
of  the  prophet's  mourning,  and  with  the  one  and  twenty  days  of  the  angel's 
detention,  according  to  the  usual  prophetic  reckoning,  a  day  for  a  year. 


Sermon  XXTir.]  THE  CHURCH'S  SUPPORT.  333 

JO  the  neck  ;  but  the  church's  Head  being  above  water,  she  has 
survived  them  all. 

Often  have  we  seen,  in  oursnialler  circles,  the  cause  of  God  redu- 
ced to  a  low  condition ;  sometimes  by  the  filling  away  of  Characters 
who  seemed  to  be  pillars,  and  sometimes  by  the  removal  of  great 
and  good  men  by  death.  But  under  all  this  it  is  our  comfort,  the 
Lord  liveth — the  government  is  on  his  shoulder. 

Finally  :  The  life  of  Christ  involves  not  only  the  security  of 
the  church  on  earth,  but  i!s  felicity  in  heaven.  The  members 
being  united  with  the  head,  their  life  is  bound  up  with  his  life. 
Even  in  the  present  world,  if  one  says,  /  live,  he  must  recollect 
himself,  with  the  Apostle,  and  add,  Yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me:  but  if  it  be  so  in  respect  of  spiritual  life  in  this  world,  it  will 
be  so  as  to  eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come.  Every  thing  which 
our  Lord  did  and  suffered  was  for  us  ;  and  every  degree  of  glory 
that  he  possesses  in  reward  of  it  is  for  us  :  for  us  he  became  incar- 
nate, died,  rose  from  the  dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  and  liveth 
at  the  rignt  hand  of  God.  Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ijc  also  ap- 
pear with  him  in  glory. 

From  the  whole,  we  see,  First ;  That  the  way  to  everlasting, 
life  is  to  b.elieve  in  Jesus.  The  way  of  life,  according  to  the  tenor 
of  the  first  covenant,  was,  The  man  which  doeth  these  things  shall 
live  by  them:  but  the  way  of  life  to  a  sinner  is,  If  thou  shult  con- 
fess with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesits,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart 
that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shall  be  saved.  It 
is  as  believing  in  the  Son  of  God  that  we  are  interested  in  him,  and 
having  him,  have  everlasting  life.  We  have,  in  the  life  of  Christ,- 
the  greatest  possible  encouragement  to  believe  in  him  and  be 
saved  ;  for  it  is  as  ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us,  that 
he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  those  that  come  unto  God  by 
him. 

O  my  hearers  !  this  is  the  hinge  on  which  our  salvation  or  dam- 
nation turns.  To  refuse  him  in  favour  of  your  own  rgihteousness, 
or  of  any  other  idol,  is  to  refuse  life  ;  and  to  hate  him,  is  to  love 
death.  The  question  put  to  the  house  of  Israel  is  no  less  appli- 
cable to  you  than  it  was  to  them,  Why  will  ye  die  ?     Those  who 


334  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST,  &c.  Sermon  XXHI.} 

believe  not  in  him  are  as  unwilling  to  come  to  him  that  they  may 
have  life,  as  the  house  of  Israel  were  to  cast  away  their  trans- 
gressions. God  has  no  more  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that 
dieth  eternally,  than  he  had  in  the  death  of  those  who  perished 
under  some  temporal  calamity  ;  nor  is  the  one  any  more  at  vari- 
ance with  the  doctrine  of  election  than  the  other  was  with  the 
doctrine  of  decrees  in  general,  or  of  God's  doing  all  things  after 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will.* 

Secondly  :  The  same  truth,  like  the  cloud  in  the  wilderness, 
wears  a  bright  side  to  believers,  and  a  dark  side  to  unbelievers. 
The  life  of  Christ  will  be  the  death  of  his  enemies.  To  behold 
him  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  invested  with  the  keys  of  hell 
and  of  death,  must  fill  their  hearts  with  dismay.  The  same  power 
that  has  so  often  shut  the  door  of  destruction  against  his  servants, 
so  as  to  forbid  their  entrance,  will  shut  it  upon  his  enemies,  so 
as  to  leave  no  hope  of  escape. 

*  The  doctrine  of  free  will,  as  oppo?ed  to  that  of  free  grace,  is  not,  that, 
in  doing  good,  we  act  according  to  our  choice,  and  require  to  be  exhorted  to 
it,  and  warned  against  the  contrary  ;  this  is  manifestly  scriptural  and  proper: 
but  that  it  is  owing  to  our  free  will  that  we  are  disposed  to  choose  the  good 
and  refuse  the  evil ;  if  not  to  the  exclusion  of  divine  grace,  yet  to  the  render- 
ing it  effectual  by  properly  improving  it,  and  so  to  making  ourselres  to  differ. 


CHRISTIANITY    THE    ANTIDOTE    TO    PRESUMPTION 
AND  DESPAIR. 


SERMON  XXIV. 

1  John  ii.  1. 


My  little  children,  these  things  write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not.  And  if 
any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right- 
eous. 


When  our  Saviour  ascended  up  on  high,  his  disciples,  who 
were  looking  steadfastly  toward  heaven  after  him,  were  thus  ac- 
costed by  the  angels.  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up 
into  heaven?  This  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into 
heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into 
heaven.  It  might  seem,  by  this  language,  that  whatever  our  Lord 
might  do  for  us  in  the  intermediate  period,  it  was  not  for  us  to  be 
made  acquainted  with  it.  And  it  has  been  suggested,  that  we  are 
ignorant  not  only  of"  the  place  where  he  resides,  but  of  the  occu- 
pations in  which  he  is  engaged.''*  There  is,  indeed,  nothing  re- 
vealed on  these  subjects  to  gratify  curiosity ;  but  much  to  satisfy 
faith.  If  we  know  not  God,  we  may  be  expected  to  think  lightly 
«f  sin,  and  meanly  of  the  Saviour  ;  and  if,  in  consequence  of  fhi« 

*  Mr.  Belsham's  R.eview  of  Mr.  Wilberforce's  Treatise,  p.  8i. 
Vol.  VII.  49 


3:6  THE  ANTIDOTE  TO  [Sermon  XXIV. 

Tve  disown  his  atonement,  and  perceive  no  need  of  his  interces- 
sion and  advocateehip  with  the  Father,  there  will  be  nothing  sur- 
prising in  it.  VVith  such  a  state  of  mind  we  might  have  lived  at 
the  time  when  God  was  manifest  in  thejlesh,justijiedin  the  Spirit, 
seen  of  angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles  believed  on  in  the  world 
received  up  into  glory,  and  have  been  no  more  interested  by  any 
of  these  events,  than  were  the  unbelieving  part  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion. But,  if  we  entertain  just  sentiments  of  the  moral  character 
and  government  of  God,  we  shall  perceive  the  evil  of  sin  and  the 
need  of  a  divine  Saviour,  shall  consider  his  atonement  as,  the  only 
ground  of  a  sinner's  hope,  and  his  intercession  and  advocateship 
with  the  Father  as  necessary  to  our  being  saved  to  the  utter- 
most. 

To  satisfy  ourselves  that  such  were  the  sentiments  of  the  apos- 
tles, it  is  su(^cient  candidly  to  reac'  their  writings.  If  their  author- 
ity be  rejected,  so  it  must  be  ;  but  it  is  vain  to  attempt  to  disguise 
their  nicanini;.  And,  before  we  reject  their  authority,  it  will  be 
well  to  coiisider  the  force  of  their  testimony  concerning  them- 
selves and  their  doctrine:  We  are  of  God:  he  that  knoweth  God, 
heareth  us ;  he  that  is  not  of  God,  heareth  nut  ns.  Hereby  knotp 
ae  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  error.  They  were  ei- 
ther what  they  profrsjed  to  be,  or  presumptuous  impostors  ;  and 
wiiat  they  said  of  hearir»g  their  doctrine  as  a  test  of  being  of  God, 
was  either  tiue,  or  they  were  false  witnesses  of  God  ;  and  as  all 
that  we  know  of  Clirist  is  fro.Ti  their  writings  and  those  of  the 
evangelists,  if  theirs  be  false  witness,  Christianity  itself  has  noth- 
to  authenticate  it. 

My  little  children,  said  the  venerable  Apostle,  these  things  write 
I  unto  you  that  ye  sin  not.  This  is  the  bearing  of  all  my  writings, 
as  well  as  of  all  my  other  labours.  Yet,  while  1  warn  you  against 
sin,  knowing  that  there  is  not  a  just  man  upon  earth  that  doeth 
good,  and  sinneth  not,  let  me  remind  you,  that  we  have  an  advo- 
cate Tjaifh  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous.  .Sucli  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Apostle,  an  antidote  both  to  presumption  and  despair. 
He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear  it. 
Let  us  observe. 


Seiimow  XXIV.]        PRESUMPTION  AND  DESPAIR.  337 

I.  The  general  charge  which  Christianity  gives  to  its 
ADHERENTS  :  TliBse  things  write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not.  This 
is  to  repress  presumption.  This  is  the  bearing  not  only  of  tlie 
writings  of  John,  but  of  the  whole  scriptures;  this  is  the  object 
at  which  every  doctrine  and  every  precept  aims. 

It  niay  be  thought,  and  has  sometimes  been  said,  that  '  all  reli- 
gions tend  to  make  men  better,'  and,  therefore,  that  this  property 
of  the  Apostle's  doctrine  has  nothing  peculiar  in  it.  But  this  is 
a  gratuitous  assumption.  All  religions  do  not  tend  to  make  men 
better;  but,  many  of  them,  much  worse.  Nay,  so  far  is  this  as- 
sumption from  being  true,  that  Christianity  is  the  only  religion, 
that,  strictly  speaking,  is  opposed  to  sin.  That  men  of  all  reli- 
gions have  paid  some  attention  to  morals  is  true  ;  but,  in  doing  so, 
they  have  not  been  influenced  so  much  by  their  religion  as  by  the 
necessity  which  all  men  feel  of  maintaining  somewhat  of  a  correct 
conduct  towards  one  another.  As  to  sin  against  God,  there  is  no 
religion  but  that  of  the  Bible  that  pays  any  regard  to  it.  And 
even  Christianity  itself,  in  so  far  as  it  is  corrupted,  loses  this  prop- 
erty. Every  system  of  religion  may  be  known  by  this,  whether  it 
be  of  God,  or  not.  If  it  delight  in  calling  sin  by  extenuating  names  ; 
or  represent  repentance  and  good  works  as  sufficient  to  atone  for 
it ;  or  prescribe  ceremonial  remedies  for  allaying  the  remorse 
which  it  produces  ;  it  makes  light  of  sin,  and  is  not  of  God.  Every 
doctrine  and  precept  in  the  Bible  makes  much  of  sin  ;  and  this  is 
as  much  a  distinguishing  peculiarity  of  the  true  religion,  as  any 
principle  that  can  be  named. 

Some  doctrines  are  directly  of  a  warning  nature.  Are  we 
taught,  for  instance,  the  omniscience  and  omnipresence  of  God  ? 
What  can  be  more  pungent  than  such  sentiments  as  these  ?  O 
Lord,  thou  hast  searched  me,  and  known  me.  Thou  knowest  my 
down-sitting  and  mine  up-rising ;  thou  understandest  my  thought 
afar  off.  Thou  compassest  my  path,  and  my  lying  down,  and  art 
acquainted  with  all  my  ways.  For  there  is  not  a  word  in  my 
tongue,  but,  lo,  O  Lord,  thou  knowest  it  altogether.  Thou  hast  be- 
set me  behind  and  before,  and  laid  thine  hand  upon  me. —  Whither 
shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  Jlee  from  thy  pjes- 
ence  ?     If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thoti  art  there; — if  I  take  thp 


388  '^HE  ANTIDOTE  TO  [Sbrmow  XXIV. 

wings  of  the  mornwg,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea  • 
even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  ho'd  me- 
Every  sentiment  here,  snith  to  us.  Sin  not.  Are  we  taught  the 
holiness  0^ GoA}  It  is  that  we  may  be  holy:  Who  is  like  unto 
thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods  ?  who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holinesSf 
fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders? — Ye  cannot  serve  the  Lord :  for 
he  is  an  holy  God;  he  is  a  jeahnis  God;  he  will  not  forgive  your 
transgressions  nor  your  sins.  Such  is  the  object  of  all  the  divine 
precepts  and  threatenings.  Let  us  seriously  read  the  twenty- 
eighth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  and  ask  ourselves,  What  could 
induce  the  kindest  and  best  of  Beings  thus  strictly  to  enjoin  his 
will,  and  thus  to  scatter  his  curses  against  the  breach  of  it  ?  Fi- 
nally :  Such  is  the  object  of  all  the  accounts  of  justice  and  Judg- 
ments as  executed  on  transgressors.  The  histories  of  the  flood  ; 
of  the  burning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  ;  of  the  plagues  of  Ei^ypt, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  Red  sea;  of  the  pun- 
ishments on  the  rebellious  Israelites  in  the  wilderness;  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  city  and  temple  of  Jerusalem,  first  by  the  Chalde- 
ans, and  afterwards  by  the  Romans  ;  all  speak  one  language  ;  all 
are  written  to  us  that  we  sm  7iot. 

There  is  another  set  of  scripture-truths  which  are  of  a  consola- 
tory nature  ;  yet  they  are  aimed  at  the  same  thing.  For  what 
purpose  was  the  Son  of  God  manifested  in  human  nature  ?  Was 
it  not  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil?  To  what  are 
we  elected?  That  we  should  be  holy,  and  without  blame  before 
him  in  love.  To  what  are  we  predestinated  ?  That  we  might 
be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son.  Why  did  he  give  himself 
for  us:  but  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works?  Why  are 
we  called  out  of  a  state  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light,  but 
that  we  might  walk  as  children  of  light  ?  Of  what  use  are  the  ex- 
ceeding great  and  precious  promises  of  the  scriptures  ?  Is  it  not 
that,  having  them,  we  should  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  fillhiness 
of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God?  That 
is  not  Christianity  that  does  not  operate  in  this  way.  He  that  sin- 
neth  habitually  is  of  the  devil,  and  hath  not  seen  or  known  God. 
Wicked  men  seek  a  system  of  religion  which,  rnry  '-'insist  with 


Sermow  XXIV.]        PRESUMPTION  AND  DESPAIR.  ScjQ 

their  lusts  ;  and  God,  in  righteous  judgment,  often  suffers  them  to 
find  it ;  but  it  is  not  the  gospel  :  the  language  of  the  gospel  is, 
These  things  are  written  to  you,  that  ye  sin  not ! 

The  scriptures  guard  the  doctrine  of  grace,  not  indeed  by  limit- 
ing its  operations  to  lesser  sinners,  but  by  insisting  on  its  mortify- 
ing and  sanctifying  effects.  The  Apostle  Paul,  notwithstanding  all 
that  he  had  written  on  justification  by  faith,  exempts  none  from 
condemnation,  but  those  that  were  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  admits 
none  to  be  in  Christ  Jesus,  but  those  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit.  He  still  declared,  If  ye  live  after  the  fiesh,  ye 
shall  die.  There  is  a  universality  pertaining  to  true  holiness, 
which  distinguishes  it  from  all  that  is  spurious.  We  must  be  holy 
in  ALL  MANNER  OF  CONVERSATION,  OT  there  is  no  real  holiness  in  us. 
K  sXn^e  wicked  way  w\\\  lead  to  destruction.  The  certain  per- 
severance of  the  saints  is  not,  that  a  person,  having  once  believed, 
whether  he  depart  from  God  or  not,  shall  be  finally  saved  :  but, 
that  God  having  put  his  fear  in  his  heart,  he  shall  not  be  suffered 
wholly  to  depart  from  him.  'f  any  man,  therefore,  depart  utterly 
from  God,  he  ought  to  conclude,  that  the  fear  of  God  was  not  in 
him.  If  the  blossom  go  upas  the  dust,  the  root  was  rottenness. 
If,  in  times  of  temptation,  we  fall  away,  it  is  because  we  have  no 
root  in  ourselves.  If  says  the  Apostle  John,  they  had  been  of  us. 
they  would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us  :  but  they  went  out,  that 
they  might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were  not  all  of  us.  Even  our 
partial  departures  from  God  must  render  our  state  doubtful. 
When  the  Galatians  doubted  the  gospel,  the  Apostle  stood  in  doubt 
of  them;  declaring  he  was  afraid  of  them,  lest  he  had  bestowed 
upon  them  labour  in  vain.  And  had  they  judged  according  to 
evidence,  as  he  did,  they  must  have  stood  in  doubt  of  themselves. 
To  represent,  as  some-  do,  that  doubts  and  fears  of  this  kind  are 
the  temptations  of  Satan,  or  the  workings  of  unbelief,  and  require 
to  be  resisted,  as  that  which  is  dishonourable  to  God,  is  to  pro- 
mote the  most  dangerous  delusion,  and  to  bring  the  blood  of  souls 
upon  their  own  heads.  The  things  which  they  call  the  tempta- 
tions of  Satan  may  be  found  to  be  the  dictates  of  an  awakened  con- 
science, which  they  endeavour  to  lull  asleep.  Doubts  of  the 
goodness  or  veracity  of  God,  or  of  the  all-sufficiency  or  willingness^ 


390  THE  ANTIDOTE  TO  [Sermon  XXIV. 

of  the  Saviour  to  receive  those  that  come  to  him  are,  indeed,  dis- 
honourable to  God  ;  but  doubts  ofourovvn  sincerity,  founded  upon 
our  departures  in  heart  and  conduct  from  him,  are  so  far  from  be- 
ing sinful,  that  they  are  necessary  to  awaken  us  to  self-examina- 
tion. Thus  the  Corinthians,  who  had  sunk  into  many  and  great 
evils,  were  called  upon,  not  to  hold  fast  the  persuasion  that,  not- 
withstanding this,  their  state  was  safe  ;  but  to  examine  themselves 
whether  they  were  in  the  faith,  and  to  prove  their  ownselves;  and 
assured  that,  except  indeed  they  were  reprobates,  or  disapproved 
of  God,  Jesus  Christ  was  in  them — that  is,  by  his  word  and  Spirit, 
bringing  forth  fruit. 

We  proceed  to  observe, 

II.  The  SPECIFIC  provision  for  their  faults  and  failings  : 
And  if  any  man  sin,  cue  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ  the  righteous.     This  is  to  preveiu  despair. 

It  is  here  supposed,  that  though  it  is  the  habitual  aim  of  true 
Christians  not  to  sin,  yet,  in  this  world,  they  are  not  free  from  it. 
Soi/ie  have  fallen  into  grievous  sins,  as  we  too  well  know,  from 
scripture,  observation,  and,  in  many  instances,  from  painful  expe- 
rience. Others,  who  have  not  fallen  so  as  either  to  disgrace  them- 
selves or  the  name  of  Christ,  yet  have  much  sin  wherewith  to  re- 
proach themselves,  in  deeds,  or  words,  or  unlawful  desires.  The 
petition  in  the  Lord's  prayer,/o>-^i7)e  us  our  trespasses,  shows  that 
we  sin,  and  need  forgiveness,  as  often  as  we  need  our  daily  bread. 
If  any  man  imagine  himself  to  have  arrived  to  sinless  perfection,  he 
must  be  wofully  blind  to  the  spirituality  of  the  divine  law,  and  to 
the  extent  of  his  obligations.  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  de- 
ceive ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us. 

Farther:  It  is  here  suggested,  that,  whatever  be  our  sin,  yet,  if 
we  confess  it  with  a  contrite  heart,  and  believe  in  Jesus  who  died 
for  sinners,  and  rose  from  the  dead,  and  ascended  to  the  Father, 
he  will  be  our  advocate,  and  our  sins  shall  be  forgiven  for  his  sake. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  David  was  for§|^ven.  It  is  true,  Christ  had 
not  then  died,  nor  risen,  nor  ascended  to  be  the  advocate  with  the 
Father;  but,  in  his  penitential  prayer,  he  believed  in  him  accor- 
ding to  the  light  that  he  possessed,  and  which  might  be  much 
greater  than  we  imagine.     His  prayer  to  be  purged  with  hyssop, 


akRMowXXIV.J        PRESUMPTION  AND  DESPAIR.  39  j 

doubtless,  alluded  to  the  purjalions  under  the  law,  by  dipping  a 
bunch  of  hyssop  in  blood,  and  sprinkling  it  upon  the  unclenn  :  l>ut, 
as  none  of  these  ceremonial  cleansings  were  admissible  in  cases  of 
adultery  or  murder,  he  Crinnot  be  understood  as  speaking  literally. 
He  must,  therefore,  have  believed  in  a  purgation  of  which  this  was 
only  a  shadow. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  the  Israelites  were  forgiven,  when  pray- 
ing with  their  hands  spread  towards  the  temple.  It  was  not  to  the 
building  that  they  directed  their  prayer,  but  to  Him  who  dwelt 
therein,  between  the  cherubim,  upon  the  mercy-seat.  It  was  to 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  as  thus  dwelling  upon  the  mercy-seal,  that 
Jonah,  at  the  last  extremity,  looked  and  lived  :  Then  I  said,  I  am 
east  out  of  thy  sight ;  yet  I  will  look  again  toward  thy  holy  tern- 
pie. 

In  this  way,  whatever  sins  we  have  committed,  we  must  seek 
for  mercy  ;  and,  for  our  encouragement,  we  are  assured  of  an 
advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous. 

But  here  we  must  be  a  little  more  particular.  Here  are  three 
parties  concerned ;  the  Father,  the  criminal  who  has  sinned 
against  him,  and  the  Advocate  who  undertakes  his  cause.  The 
Father,  in  this  case,  sustains  the  character  of  a  Judge  :  God  the 
Judge  of  all.  The  criminal  is  supposed  to  stand  before  the 
judgment-seat ;  not,  however,  in  an  impenitent  state  of  mind,  but 
like  Job,  when  he  said,  Behold  I  am  vile;  what  shall  I  answer 
thee  ?  I  will  lay  mine  hand  upon  my  mouth.  Once  have  I  spoken, 
iut  I  will  not  answer  ;  yea,  twice,  but  I  will  proceed  no  further. — 
J  abhor  myself ,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes!  Or  like  David, 
when  he  said,  I  acknowledge  my  transgressionii ;  and  my  sin  is 
ever  before  me.  Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and 
done  this  evil  in  thy  sight :  that  thou  mightest  be  justified  when  thou 
speakest,  and  clear  when  thou  judgest !  Here  comes  in  the  Advo- 
cate. The  sinner  could  not  be  heard  for  himself,  nor  pardoned 
in  his  own  name  but,  believing  in  Christ,  he  undertakes  to  plead 
his  cause.  He  had  said  himself,  in  effect,  '  Do  not  condemn  me!' 
To  this  the  Advocate  adds,  '  Do  not  condemn  him  !' 

On  this  part  of  the  subject,  we   must  be  still   more  particular. 
An  Advocate,  especially  one  that  undertakes  the  cause  of  sinners, 


392  THE  ANTIDOTE  TO  [Seumon  XXIV. 

requires  to  hare  an  interest  with  the  Judge  ;  to  be  interested  for 
the  sinner  ;  while  pleadiiin;  tor  him,  not  to  palhate,  but  condemn 
his  sin;  to  be  fully  acquainted  with  his  case  ;  and  to  have  some- 
thing to  plead  that  shall  etTectually  overbalance  his  unworthiness. 
Let  us  inquire,  whether  all  ti.ese  qualifications  be  not  found  in  our 
Advorate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous. 

i.  He  has  the  highest  Interest  in  tlie  favour  of  the  Judge.  For 
why  ?  He  is  the  only  begotten  Son,  who  dwelleth  in  his  bosom, 
and  who  never  offended  him  at  any  time,  but  always  did  that  which 
was  pleasing  in  his  sight.  So  well  pleased  was  the  Father  with 
his  obedience  unto  death,  that  he  highly  exalted  him,  giving  him 
a  name  which  is  above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth, 
and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glor3'of  God  the  Father.  The  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  hath 
given  all  things  into  his  hand.  Well  might  he  say,  when  on  earth, 
/  knew  that  thou  hearest  me  always ;  for  he  had,  in  prophecy,  invi- 
ted him  to  prefer  his  request :  Ask  of  me  and  I  shall  give  thee  the 
heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utterjnost  parts  of  the  earth 
for  thy  possession.  Who  can  doubt  the  success  of  a  cause  in  the 
hands  of  such  an  advocate  ? 

2.  He  is  deeply  interested  in  favour  of  the  sinner.  Ifwehadto 
be  tried  before  an  earthly  tribunal,  and  wished  to  engage  an  advo- 
cate, we  should  certainly  prefer  one  that  would  so  identify  him- 
self with  us  as  to  be  deeply  interested  in  the  issue.  When,  at  Horeb, 
Moses  pleaded  for  Israel  to  be  forgiven,  he  requested  to  die  rather 
than  not  succeed  :  O/i,  said  he,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great 
sin, — yet  now,  if  thou  wilt,  forgive  their  sin  ;  and  if  not,  blot  me,  I 
pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast  written.^  This  was  the 
true  spirit  of  an  advocate  ;  and  he  succeeded.  But  our  Advocate 
has  gone  farther  than  requesting  to  die  :  he  actually  died  for  us  ; 
and  his  death  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  on  which  his  advo- 
cateship is  founded. 

3.  While  pleading  for  sinners,  he  does  not  palliate,  but  condemns 
their  sin.  If  Moses  had  attempted  to  apologize  for  Israel's  idola- 
try, his  interposition  must  have  been  rejected.  And  if  it  had  been 
possible  for  Christ  himself  to  have  been  an  advocate  for  sin,   he 


Sermow  XXIV.]      presumption  AND  DESPAIR.  393 

could  not  have  been  heard.  But  he  was  no  less  averse  from  sin 
than  the  Judge  himself.  If  he  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,  yet  was  there  no  participation  of  it.  Though  he  descended 
and  lived  among  sinners,  yet,  in  respect  of  character,  he  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  them.  While  advocating 
their  cause,  it  was  in  his  own  proper  character  of  Jesus  Christ  thk 
RIGHTEOUS.  It  was  because  of  his  proceeding  on  these  just  and 
honourable  principles,  that  the  Father  approved  and  honoured 
him  :  Thou  loveet  righteousness,  and  hatest  wickedness  :  therefore 
God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy 
fellows. 

4.  He  is  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  case  of  those  whose  cause 
he  undertakes.  There  are  cases,  which,  if  the  advocate  had  known 
all,  he  would  not  have  undertaken  ;  and  which,  for  want  of  his  be- 
ing in  possession  of  the  whole  truth,  fail  in  his  hands.  But  our  ad- 
vocate knows  the  worst  of  us.  He  needs  not  that  any  should  tes- 
tify of  man  ;  for  he  knows  what  is  in  man.  When  Simon  the 
Pharisee  saw  a  woman  that  was  a  sinner  standing  at  the  feet  of  Je- 
sus, washing  them  with  her  tears,  wiping  them  with  the  hairs  of 
her  head,  kissing  them,  and  anointing  them  with  the  ointment,  and 
all  this  without  receiving  any  repulse  from  him  ;  he  suspected 
that  he  was  deceivedy  and  concluded  in  his  own  mind,  that  he  could 
not  be  that  prophet  that  should  come  into  the  world.  Had  he 
known  her  true  character,  he  supposed  he  would  not  have  per- 
mitted her  to  touch  him  !  To  convince  Simon  that  he  was  not 
ignorant  of  her  character,  he,  by  answering  his  private  thoughts, 
proved  himself  to  be  fully  his  ;  and  proceeded  to  plead  the  cause 
of  the  penitent  sinner,  though  her  sins  were  many,  and  to  justify 
himself  in  receiving  and  forgiving  her. 

Our  Advocate  not  only  knows  all  our  sins,  but  all  our  wants ; 
and  therefore  knows  how  to  provide  for  them.  If  previous  to  the 
prayer  for  Peter,  it  had  been  referred  to  him  what  should  be  ask- 
ed on  his  behalf,  having  no  suspicion  of  any  peculiar  temptation 
being  at  hand,  he  might  not  have  been  able  to  say  what  it  was  that 
he  most  needed.  But  his  Advocate  knowing  the  temptation  that 
awaited  him,  framed  his  plan  on  his  behalf  accordingly:  I  have 
prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  7iot. 

Vol.  VII.  50 


394  THE  ANTIDOTE  TO  [Sermon  XXIV. 

5.  Thongli  he  finds  no  worthiness  in  the  sinner^  on  which  to 
ground  his  pleas,  but  the  greatest  uriworthinesSy  yet  he  has  that  to 
plead  which  effectually  overbalances  it.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in 
that  admirable  speech  of  Judah  on  behalf  of  Benjamin,  he  did  not 
fetch  his  pleas  from  the  innocence  of  the  young  man,  nor  from  the 
possibility  of  the  cup  being  in  his  sack  without  his  knowledge,  nor 
from  the  smallness  of  his  offence  ;  but  from  his  father's  love  to 
him,  and  his  own  engagements  to  bring  him,  and  set  him  before 
him  !  I  need  not  say  that  on  this  principle  our  Advocate  has 
proceeded.  The  charges  against  Benjamin  were  mysterious  and 
doubtful,  yet,  as  Judah  could  not  prove  his  innocence,  he  admit- 
ted his  guilt.  But  our  guilt  is  beyond  doubt ;  in  pleading  our 
cause,  the  Advocate  is  supposed  to  rest  it  on  the  propitiation,  in 
consideration  ol"  which,  our  unworthiness  is  passed  over,  and  our 
sins  are  forgiven.  The  connexion  of  things  is  often  signified  by 
the  order  of  time  in  which  they  occur.  Thus  the  out-pouring  of 
the  Spirit,  that  it  might  appear  to  be  what  it  was,  a  fruit  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  followed  immediately  after  it :  and  thus,  on  his 
having  died,  and  risen  from  the  dead,  his  followers  are  directed  to 
pray  in  his  name.  His  directing  us  to  pray  in  his  name  conveys 
ttie  same  idea  as  to  the  meritorious  cause  of  forgiveness,  as  his 
being  our  Advocate  with  the  Father  on  the  ground  of  his  propiti- 
a^on. 

From  the  whole :  We  are  directed  to  commit  our  cause  to  Christ. 
We  have  a  cause  pending,  which,  if  lost,  all  is  lost  with  us,  and 
that  forever.  We  shall  not  be  able  to  plead  it  ourselves ;  for 
every  mouth  will  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  become  guilty 
before  God.  Nor  can  any  one  in  heaven  or  earth,  btsides  the 
Saviour,  be  heard  on  our  behalf.  If  we  believe  in  him,  we  have 
everlasting  life  ;  but,  if  not,  we  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of 
God  abideth  on  us. 

We  are  also  directed,  by  this  subject,  how  to  obtain  relief  un- 
der the  numerous  sins  to  wliich  we  are  subject  as  we  pass  through 
life.  We  all  have  recourse  to  some  expedient  or  other  to  re- 
lieve our  consciences,  when  oppressed  with  guilt.  Some  en- 
deavour to  lose  the  recollection  of  it  among  the  cares,  company, 
cur  amusements  of  the  world  ;  others  have  recourse  to  ceremonial 


^EllMOK  XXIV.]  PRESUMPTION  AND  DESPAIR.  395 

observances,  and  are  very  strict  in  some  things,  hoping  thereby 
to  obtain  forgiveness  for  others ;  on  some  the  death  and  advo- 
cateship of  Christ  have  the  effect  to  render  them  unconcerned, 
and  even  to  embolden  them  in  their  sins.  Painful  as  eur  burdens 
are,  we  had  better  retain  them,  than  get  relief  in  any  of  these 
methods.  The  only  way  is,  to  come  unto  God  in  the  spirit  of 
Job,  or  of  David,  before  referred  to,  seeking  mercy  through  the 
propitiation.  Thus,  while  we  plead,  '  Do  not  condemn  me  !'  our 
Advocate  will  take  it  up,  and  add,  '  Do  not  condemn  him  !' 

Finally:  From  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  propitiation,  there  is  no 
room  for  despair.  When  Jonah  was  cast  into  the  sea,  and  swal- 
lowed by  the  fish,  still  retaining  his  consciousness,  he  concluded 
that  all  was  over  with  him  :  I  said  I  am  cast  out  of  thy  sight;  yetj 
even  in  this  condition,  the  thought  occurred,  /  will  look  again  to- 
ward  thy  holy  temple.  His  body  was  confined,  but  his  mind  could 
glance  a  thought  toward  the  mercy-seat,  from  whence  he  had 
heretofore  received  relief  He  looked  and  lived.  Let  this  be 
our  determination,  whatever  be  our  circumstances  or  condition. 
Jesus  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  itnto  God  by 
him)  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 


THE    SORROW   ATTENDING    WISDOM    AND    KNOWL- 
EDGE. 


SERMON  XXV. 


EccLES.  i.  17, 18. 


And  I  gave  iny  heart  to  know  wisdom,  and  to  know  madness  and  folly.  I 
perceived  that  this  also  is  vexation  of  spirit.  For  in  much  "(ri&dom  is  much 
grief;  and  he  that  inereaseth  knowledge,  increaseth  sorrow. 


We  have,  in  this  book,  an  estimate  of  human  life.    Most  of  the 
things  that  are  seen  under  the  sun  here  pass  under  review  ;  and     ,. 
each,  as  it  passes,  is  inscribed  with  vanity. 

It  may  be  thought,  from  the  pensive  strain  of  the  writer,  to  be 
an  effusion  of  melancholy,  rather  than  the  result  of  mature  reflec- 
tion ;  but  it  should  be  considered,  that  no  man  had  greater  capa- 
city and  opportunity  for  forming  a  just  judgment ;  that  the  book 
was  written  at  the  most  mature  period  of  hfe  ;  and,  what  is  more, 
that  it  was  written  under  divine  inspiration. 

As  wisdom  and  knotoledge,  in  the  writings  of  Solomon,  common- 
ly include  true  religion,  so  madness  and  folly  seem  here  to  be 
used  for  irreligion.  He  studied  the  nature  and  effects  of  both 
good  and  evil. 

In  ascribing  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit  to  almost  every  thing 
that  passed  before  him,  he  does  not  mean,  that  they  were  in  them> 


398  THE  SORROW  ATTENDING  [Sermon  XXV. 

selves  evil,  or  of  little  or  no  value  ;  but  that  every  good  had  its 
alloy,  or  something  attached  to  it  which  subtracted  from  it.  Thus 
it  was  even  with  wisdom  and  knowledge.  It  is  because  these  were 
not  only  good  in  themselves,  but  ranked  high  in  the  scale  of  what 
is  estimable,  that  they  are  introduced.  If  the  best  things  pertain- 
ing to  human  life  have  their  alloy,  the  same  must  be  said  of  the 
rest. 

In  discoursing  on  the  subject,  we  shall  endeavour  to  show  the 
justness  of  the  remark,  and  to  draw  some  conclusions  from  it. 

I.  Let  us  endeavour  to  show  the  justness  of  the  remark, 
OR  its  agreement  with  universal  experience.  Knowledge 
may  be  distinguished,  by  its  objects,  into  three  parts,  or  branches: 
the  knowledge  of  men  and  things  about  us  ;  the  knowledge  of  our- 
selves ;  and  the  knowledge  of  God.  Each  of  these  is  good,  and 
the  practical  use  of  it  is  wisdom  ;  but  each  has  its  alloy,  subtract- 
ing from  the  enjoyment  which  it  would  otherwise  afford. 

First :  Let  us  try  the  justness  of  the  remark  in  respect  of  the 
knowledge  of  men  and  things  about  us.  None  can  deny  that  the 
thing  itself  is  good  and  valuable,  and  the  want  of  it  to  be  regretted* 
as  an  evil :  That  the  sotil  he  toithout  knowledge  it  is  not  good.  It 
is  this  which  distinguishes  men  from  brutes,  and  raises  some  men 
much  higher  in  the  scale  of  being  than  others.  Minds  thus  qual- 
ified are  susceptible  of  much  greater  enjoyments  than  others,  and 
are  able  to  do  much  more  good  in  their  generation  than  others. 
The  greatest  and  best  things  that  have  been  done  in  the  worldj 
have  been  done,  in  general,  not  by  the  ignorant,  but  by  men  o 
understanding.  Yet,  with  all  its  advantages,  there  is  that  attached 
to  it  which  increaseth  sorrow. 

1.  He  that  knows  the  most  of  mankind  will  see  the  most  of  their 
faults  and  defects,  and  so  be  compelled,  upon  the  whole,  to  think 
the  worst  of  them  ;  and  this,  to  a  good  man,  must  needs  be  a 
source  of  sorrow.  I  would  by  no  means  wish  to  cherish  a  spirit 
of  misanthropy.  1  remember,  in  a  speech  delivered  in  a  very  re- 
spectable assembly,  meeting  with  this  sentiment :  '  I  think  well 
of  man,  but  ill  of  men.'  On  the  contrary,  I  should  say,  '  f 
think  ill  of  man,  but  well  of  men,  till  I  see  cause  to  think  other- 
wise.'    Scripture,  observation,  and  experience  concur  to  justify 


SermomXXV.]  wisdom  AND  KNOWLEDGE.  399 

me  in  thinking  ill  of  human  nature  ;  but,  as  in  our  world,  there 
is,  through  the  grace  and  goodness  of  God,  a  good  number  of  up- 
right and  benevolent  characters,  it  becomes  me  to  hope  the  best  of 
every  man  I  meet,  till  I  am  obliged  by  his  conduct  or  conversation 
to  form  a  different  judgment;  and  this  I  feel  to  be  a  principle  at  a 
much  greater  remove  from  misanthropy  than  the  other. 

There  are  cases,  in  which  the  more  we  know  of  men,  the  more 
we  shall  see  reason  to  esteem  them  ;  but  this  is  not  true  of  man- 
kind in  general.  The  longer  we  live,  and  the  more  we  are  ac- 
quainted with  them,  the  more  evil  we  shall  see  in  them.  The 
characters  of  the  greater  part  of  men  will  not  bear  scrutinizing. 
If  we  look  but  a  little  below  the  surface^  whether  it  be  in  high  life 
or  low  life,  or  even  in  middle  life,  we  shall  see  enough  to  sicken 
our  hearts.  Many  a  favourable  opinion,  formed  under  the  philan- 
thropic feelings  of  youth,  has  been  obliged  to  give  way  to  obser- 
vation and  experience  ;  and  many  a  pleasing  dream,  into  which 
we  have  fallen  from  reading  books,  has  disappeared,  when  we 
came  to  read  men. 

2.  He  that  knows  the  most  of  mankind,  will  know  most  of  their 
miseries;  and,  if  he  be  a  man  of  feeling,  this  must  be  another 
source  of  sorrow.  Who  can  make  himself  acquainted  with  the 
privations  and  hardships  of  the  afflicted  poor,  without  participa- 
ting of  their  sorrows  ?  This  may  be  a  reason  why  some  who  are 
in  opulent  circumstances  decline  visiting  them.  They  seem  to 
count  the  cost,  not  merely  what  it  will  require  to  supply  their  pe- 
cuniary wants,  but  what  they  shall  lose  by  a  diminution  of  their 
pleasure. 

If,  in  addition  to  the  state  of  the  afflicted  poor  of  our  own  coun- 
try, we  knew  the  miseries  of  slavery,  would  it  not  increase  our 
sorrow  ?  Who,  that  has  only  acquainted  himself  with  the  facts 
which  have  been  established  during  the  late  parliamentary  discus- 
sions on  the  African  slave  trade,  can  forbear  weeping  over  the  mis- 
eries which  the  avarice  of  one  part  of  mankind  brings  upon  anoth- 
er ?  And  if,  in  addition  to  this,  we  knew  the  miseries  of  war,  must 
it  not  still  more  increase  our  sorrow  ?  We  hear  of  great  battles, 
on  which  depend  the  fate  of  kingdoms,  and  rejoice  or  are  sorrow- 
ful as  they  affect  the  interests  of  our  country  ;  but  did  we  know 


400  THE  SORROW  ATTENDING         [Sermon  XXV. 

all  the  individual  misery  produced  by  the  most  glorious  victory, 
how  different  would  be  our  feelings  !  Did  we  hear  the  cries  of  the 
wounded,  and  the  groans  of  the  dying  ;  could  we  know  the  state 
of  mind  in  which  they  died  ;  were  we  acquainted  with  the  near 
relations  of  the  dead,  the  widows  and  orphans  that  they  have  left 
behind  them  ;  alas,  were  we  in  the  midst  of  them,  we  might  be  re- 
duced to  the  necessity  of  trying  to  get  away,  and  to  forget  them  ! 

If,  leaving  these  scenes  of  woe,  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  abodes 
of  ease  and  opulence,  we  shall  not  find  things  as  we  might  expect. 
How  often  are  men  envied,  when,  if  we  knew  all,  we  should  pity 
them  !  We  form  our  estimates  of  human  happiness  more  by  ap- 
pearances than  by  realities.  We  little  think,  how  many  things  are 
necessary  to  make  us  happy,  any  one  of  whicli,  if  wanting,  will 
render  all  the  rest  of  little  or  no  account.  What  are  riches  and 
honours  and  amusements,  to  one  whose  life  hangs  in  doubt,  from 
some  threatning  disorder  which  he  feels  to  be  preying  upon  his 
vitals  ;  or  to  a  mind  smitten  ^^ith  melancholy,  or  corroded  with 
remorse  ;  or  to  one  whose  peace  is  destroyed  by  domestic  feuds, 
jealousies,  or  intrigues  ? 

3.  He  that  knows  most  of  the  sentiments  of  mankind  on  ever- 
lasting subjects,  will,  if  he  be  a  believer  in  divine  revelation, 
know  most  of  their  devious  and  destructive  tendency ;  and  this 
must  be  a  source  of  sorrow.  There  is  what  is  called  charity,  that 
excites  no  sorrow  on  this  account ;  but,  viewing  all  religions  as 
nearly  alike,  all  leading  to  one  happy  end,  it  renders  the  subject^ 
of  it  quite  easy  and  unconcerned.  But  Christian  charity  is  anoth- 
er thing.  It  bears  good  will  to  all  mankind,  but  does  not  think 
lightly  of  their  alienation  from  God.  He  that  should  doubt, 
whether  the  sentence  passed  against  a  number  of  traitors  was  ever 
designed  to  be  executed,  and  should  persuade  them  into  his  way 
of  thinking,  might  call  himself  a  charitable  man  ;  might  boast  of 
his  own  happiness,  and  the  happiness  he  produced  in  others  ;  and 
insist  upon  it,  that  by  entertaining  such  views,  he  did  more  hon- 
our to  the  government  than  they  who  yielded  to  the  gloomy  ap- 
prehensions of  an  execution  ;  but  if,  after  all,  his  opinions  should 
prove  false,  and  be  found  to  have  originated  in  his  own  disloyalty, 
would  not  his  charity  be  considered  as  cruel,  deceitful,  and  destruc- 


Sermon  XXV.]  WISDOM  AND  KNOWLEDGE.  401 

tive  ?  The  only  difiference  between  this  and  the  charily  in  ques- 
tion is,  that  the  one  goes  to  destroy  men's  lives,  and  the  other  their 
souls  !  Genuine  charity  would  have  endeavoured  to  convince  them 
of  their  guilt,  and  to  persuade  them  to  sue  for  mercy  to  their  justly 
offended  sovereign.  He  that  can  view  whole  nations  of  men,  who 
from  time  immemorial,  have  lived  without  Christ,  having  no  hope 
and  without  God  in  the  world,  and  not  feel  a  wish  to  burst  their 
chains,  of  whatever  religion  he  may  profess  to  be,  must  himself 
be  in  the  same  st;ite. 

To  read  the  controversies  of  former  ages,  and  those  of  the  pre- 
sent age,  even  in  the  Christinn  world,  must  be  depressing  to  a  se- 
rious mind.  He  is  either  perplexed,  and  tempted  to  indulge  in 
scepticism  ;  or,  if  he  feels  his  own  ground,  still  he  must  perceive 
great  numbers  wandering  in  the  paths  of  error  ;  and  who,  unless 
God  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth,  will 
continue  to  wander,  notwithstanding  all  that  can  be  said  or  -  -itten 
to  reclaim  them.  They  that  have  done  the  most  towards  bend- 
ing the  mind  of  man  to  that  of  Christ,  and  inculcating  just  senti- 
ments of  religion,  will  find,  after  all  their  labour,  much  remaining 
undone  ;  so  much,  both  of  the  devious  and  the  defective,  that  he 
may  retire  with  the  words  of  the  wise  man,  T'at  which  is  crooked 
cannot  be  made  straight,  and  thai  rvhich  is  wanting  cannot  be  num- 
bered ! 

4.  He  that  knows  most  of  the  religious  world  will  see  the  most 
of  its yizuZ^s  and  imperfections  ;  and  this  is  another  source  of  sor- 
row. Among  his  friends  he  will  find  some  will  prove  false,  and 
others  fickle  ;  and  what  is  worse,  many  turning  their  back  on 
Christ,  and  walking  no  more  with  him.  The  longer  we  live  in 
Christian  society,  and  the  closer  we  are  connected  with  it,  the 
more  jealousies,  envies,  evil  surmisings,  whisperings,  and  back- 
bitings,  we  shall  discover.  Those  Christians  who  have  to  (ravel 
for  the  gospel,  and  only  see  their  fellow-christians  once  in  a  week, 
are  apt  to  consider  themselves  as  under  great  disadvantages  ;  and, 
in  some  respects,  t'.iey  certainly  are  so  ;  but  in  others,  the  advan- 
tage may  be  on  their  side.  They  do  not  hear  so  many  sermons, 
but,  having  to  travel  they  may  be  more  likely  to  profit  by  those 
which    they   do  hear.     They  miss  much  social  intercourse  ;  but 

Vol..  VII.  .01 


402  THE  SORROW  ATTENDING         [SermonXXV. 

they  also  stand  aloof  from  the  evils  which  frequently  attend  it. 
In  looking  round  the  place  on  a  Lord's-day,  they  see  their  Chris- 
tian friend?,  as  we  say',  in  their  best  dress  ;  knowing  just  enough  to 
love  them  and  pray  for  them,  and  to  part  with  them  with  atlection- 
ate  regret  ;  while  those  who  are  acquainted  will)  their  faults,  as 
well  as  their  excellencies,  know  to  the  increase  of  their  sorrow. 

Once  more :  He  that  knows  most  of  the  things  of  tkis  world, 
will  feel  the  greatest  portion  of  disappointment  from  them  ;  and 
this  will  be  a  source  of  sorrow.  Riches,  honours,  and  pleasures 
promise  much,  and,  while  inexperienced,  we  may  hope  much  ; 
but  a  thorough  trial  will  convince  us,  that  happiness  is  not  in  them. 
Even  knowledge  itself,  the  treasure  of  the  mind,  is  not  only  at- 
tained with  great  labour,  but  is  attended  with  much  painful  disap- 
pointment. "  He  that  makes  the  greatest  researches,"  as  Mr. 
Poole  observes,  ''  often  finds  himself  decieved  with  knowledge 
falsely  so  called  ;  often  mistakes  error  for  truth,  and  is  perplexed 
with  manifold  doubts,  from  which  ignorant  men  are  free." 

Secondly  :  Let  us  try  the  justness  of  the  remark,  in  respect  of 
the  knowledge  of  ourselves.  Self-knowledge  is,  doubtless,  good, 
and  of  great  importance.  Without  it,  whatever  else  we  know, 
it  will  turn  to  but  little  account :  yet  this  also  is  accompanied  with 
sorrow.  He  that  knows  the  most  of  himself  sees  most  of  his 
own  faults  and  defects.  It  was  by  comparing  his  own  mind  with 
the  word  of  God,  that  David  exclaimed,  Who  can  understand  his 
errors  ?  cleanse  thou  me  from  secret  faults.  Keep  back  thy  servant 
also  from  presumptuons  sins.  The  more  we  know  of  ourselves, 
the  worse  we  shall  think  of  ourselves.  We  know  but  little  of  our- 
selves at  the  outset  of  the  Christian  life.  We  see  evils  in  others, 
and  are  shocked  at  them,  and  are  ready  to  suppose  ourselves  in- 
capable of  any  such  things  ;  but,  as  the  Lord  led  Israel  through  the 
wilderness,  to  humble  them,  and  to  prove  them,  and  to  know  what 
wa-  in  their  heart,  so  he  deals  with  us.  We  have  seen  rich  men 
high-minded,  and  may  have  thought,  that  it  God  should  give  us 
wealth,  how  humble  and  generous  we  would  be  with  it ;  we  have 
seen  poor  men  full  of  envy  and  discontent,  and  may  have  thought, 
were  we  in  their  situation,  we  would  not  repine;  we  have  seen 
men  fall  in  the   hour  of  temptation,  and  may  have  joined  in  heap- 


Sermon  XXV.]        WISDOM  AND  KNOWLEDGE.  4O3 

ing  censures  upon  them.  If  it  please  God  to  try  us  in  these  ways, 
it  maybe  to  humble  us;  and  the  knowledge  that  we  gain  may  be 
accompanied  with  not  a  little  sorrow. 

Thirdly  ;  Let  us  try  the  justness  of  the  remark,  in  respect  of 
the  knowledge  of  God.  No  one  can  suppose  but  this,  in  itself,  is 
good,  and  a  source  of  the  highest  enjoyment ;  yet  it  is  no  less  true, 
that  he  that  increasoth  in  it,  increaseth  in  sorrow. 

The  more  we  know  of  God,  the  more  we  shall  perceive  our 
contrariety  to  him.  If  like  Jos^hua  the  high-priest,  we  were  cloth- 
ed with  filthy  garments,  yet,  while  surrounded  with  darkness,  and 
in  company  with  others  like  ourselves,  we  should  be,  in  a  manner, 
insensible  of  it  ;  but,  if  brought  (0  the  light,  and  introduced  to  one 
who  was  clothed  in  white  raiment,  we  should  feel  the  disparity. 
It  is  thus,  that  not  only  those  who  are  strangers  to  divine  revela- 
tion, but  those  who  read  it  without  believing  it,  have  no  just 
sense  of  sin.  It  was  thus  that  sin,  by  the  commandment,  be- 
came to  the  Apostle  Paul  exceeding  sinful ;  and  that  the  proph- 
et Isaiah,  on  beholding  the  glory  of  God,  exclaimed,  Woe  is  me! 
for  I  am  undone,  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell 
in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  ///;«  :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts  ! 

Beside  this,  the  knowledge  of  God  draws  upon  us  the  hatred, 
and  frequently  the  persecutions  of  wicked  men ;  which,  though 
we  may  be  supported  under  them,  yet  in  themselves,  must  needs 
be  sources  of  sorrow  :  /  have  given  them  thy  word;  (said  our 
Lord,  in  committing  his  disciples  to  the  Father,)  and  the  world 
hath  hated  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  ant 
not  of  tfie  world. 

I  add,  The  knowledge  of  God  will  in  some  cases,  draw  upon  us 
the  envy  of  false  brethren.  If  a  good  man  engage  in  the  work  of 
God  from  the  purest  principles,  and  by  the  divine  blessing  on  his 
diligence  and  perseverance,  make  such  progress  in  useful  knowl- 
edge as  to  draw  upon  himself  a  portion  of  public  admiration,  he 
may  be  expected  soon  to  become  an  object  of  envy.  Men  shall 
rise  up  who  will  do  their  utmost  to  depreciate  and  eclipse  him.  1 
considered  all  travail,  and  every  right  work,  that  for  this 
A  MAN  IS  ENVIED  OF  HIS  NEIGHBOUR.  TMs  is  ttlso  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit. 


404  THE  SORROW  ATTENDING  [SermowXXV. 

II.  Let  u.s  draw  some  conclusions  from  the  subject.  If 
things  be  so,  some  may  think  we  had  better  be  without  knowl- 
edge, and  be  contented  to  live  and  die  in  ignorance.  This  is  not 
the  consequence,  however,  which  the  writer  wished  to  have 
drawn  from  what  he  wrote.  He  says,  That  the  soul  be  vnthout 
knowledge  it  is  not  good  ;  and  Wisdom  exrelleth  folhj,  as  far  as 
light  excelleih  darkness.  He  must,  therefore,  have  judged,  that, 
whatever  disadvantages  attended  wisdom  and  knowledge,  the  ad- 
vantages arising  from  them  were  far  greater.  Much  of  the  sor- 
row arising  from  a  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  God,  is  to  be 
desired,  rather  than  dreaded  ;  and,  as  to  that  which  arises  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  evils  of  the  world,  and  even  of  the  church,  it  is 
best  to  know  the  truth,  though  it  may  give  us  pain.  That  ex- 
emption from  sorrow  which  arises  from  ignorance  is  seldom  en- 
viable. To  know  the  evils  that  are  to  be  found  among  men  is 
necessary,  not  only  to  enable  us  to  guard  against  them,  but  to 
know  how  to  deal  with  them  in  religious  concerns.  If  we  be  ig- 
norant of  their  faults  and  defects,  we  shall  be  at  a  loss  to  carry 
conviction  to  their  minds,  and  so  to  m  ike  them  feel  the  need  of 
forgiveness  through  Jesus  Christ.  So,  to  be  ignorant  of  the  faults 
and  defects  of  men  professing  religion,  must  be  injurious  both  to 
them  and  to  ourselves.  Without  knowing  the  truth  concerning 
them,  we  cannot  reprove  them,  and  so  cannot  reclaim  them.  If 
those  of  the  house  of  Chloe  had  not  written  to  Paul  on  the  state 
of  things  at  Corinth,  it  would  have  saved  him  much  sorrow,  but 
then  what  Lad  been  the  state  of  the  Corinthians  ?  To  all  appear- 
ance they  were  in  the  way  to  ruin  ;  and  so  a  tribe,  as  it  were, 
would  soon  have  been  lacking  in  Israel.  And  as  to  ourselves,  by 
knowing,  in  a  certain  degree,  the  evils  that  are  to  be  found,  even 
in  the  church  of  Christ,  we  are  better  prepared  to  meet  them,  and 
less  in  danger  of  being  stumbled,  or  tempted  to  think  the  worse  of 
religion,  on  account  of  them.  By  knowing  things,  in  some  good 
degree,  as  they  are,  we  are  enabled  to  make  up  our  minds.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  falls,  and  even  the  falling  away  of  some,  while  it 
causes  much  pain,  yet  does  not  shake  our  faith.  We  learn  to 
think  well  of  religion,  let  those  who  profess  it  prove  what  they 
may  •'    Let  God  be  true,  and  ever?/  man  a  liar  !     And,  in  knowing 


SjcrmonXXV.]        wisdom  and  knowledge.  40«f 

the  faults  and  defects  even  of  sincere  Christians,  we  are  not  led 
to  think  ill  of  them  as  Christians,  or  lightly  of  Christian  commun- 
ion.    If  a  true  friend  of  his  country  could  say, 

"  England,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still !" 

much  more  will  a  true  friend  of  the  church  of  Christ  consider 
Christians,  with  all  their  faults,  as  the  excellent  of  the  earth  ;  bet- 
ter than  the  best  of  worldly  men  !  And,  if  we  love  them, 
it  will  be  in  our  hearts  to  live  and  die  with  them !  Nor  is 
it  unnecessary  that  we  should  be  acquainted  with  the  miseries  of 
mankind,  whatever  sorrow  they  may  occasion  :  otherwise,  we 
cannot  sympathize  with  them,  nor  relieve  them,  nor  pray  for  them, 
nor  feel  so  great  an  anxiety  for  the  coming  of  that  kingdom  whose 
healing  influence  shall  remove  their  sorrows. 

Three  things,  however,  are  taught  us  by  this  subject  : 
First  i  To  be  moderate  in  our  expectations,  as  to  things  pertain- 
ing to  this  life.  l(  vexation  of  spirit  be  attached  to  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  what  can  be  expected  from  less  valuable  objects  ?  We 
need  but  little,  nor  that  little  long.  The  trial  made  by  the  wise 
man,  of  mirth  and  pleasure,  of  building  and  planting,  of  the  gath- 
ering together  of  silver  and  gold,  &c.  is,  doubtless,  recorded  to 
teach  us  that  substantial  good  is  not  to  be  found  in  them.  The 
consequence  drawn  by  the  Apostle  from  the  brevity  of  life,  is  de- 
signed to  moderate  both  our  attachments  and  our  sorrows.  The 
time  is  short :  it  remaineth,  that  both  they  that  have  wives  be  as 
though  they  had  none;  and  they  that  weep  as  though  they  wept  not ; 
and  they  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and  they  that 
buy  as  though  they  possessed  not  ;  and  they  that  use  this  world,  us  not 
abusing  it :  for  the  fashion  (or  scenery)  of  this  world  passeth  away. 
It  may^  seem,  to  some,  that,  if  we  were  to  feel  and  act  up  to  this 
precept,  it  would  deprive  us  of  half  our  enjoyments  ;  but  this  is  a 
mistake.  To  be  moderate  in  our  expectations,  is  to  increase 
our  enjoyment,  while  the  contrary  diminishes  it.  Expectation, 
raised  beyond  what  truth  will  support,  must  be  disappointed  ;  and 
disappointment  will  imbitter  that  which,  if  enjoyed  in  moderation, 
would  have  been  sweet :  Better  is  little  with  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
than  great  treasure,  and  trouble  therewith. 


406  THE  SORROW  ATTENDING,  fee.        j  Sermon  XXV. 

Secondl}'  :  We  are  taught,  hereby,  to  seek  the  favour  of  GhI,  as 
the  crowjiing  blessing  lo  all  our  enjoyments.  The  vexation  of  spirit 
which  belongs  to  the  portion  of  a  good  man,  is  not  as  that  which 
attends  the  wicked.  The  first  is  accompanied  with  a  blessing,  the 
other  with  a  curse  :  God  giveth  to  a  man  that  is  good  in  his 
SIGHT,  wisdom  and  knowledge  and  joy  :  but  to  the  sinner  he  giveth 
travail^  to  gather,  and  to  heap  up,  that  he  may  give  to  him  that  is 
good  before  God.  After  all  the  particulars  enumerated  in  the 
blessing  of  Joseph,  as  the  precious  things  of  heaven,  the  dew,  and 
the  deep  thatcoucheth  ;  the  precious  fruits  brought  forth  by  the  sun, 
and  the  precious  things  put  forth  by  the  moon  ;  the  chief  things  of 
the  ancient  mountains,  the  precious  things  of  the  lasting  hills,  the 
precious  things  of  the  earth,  and  the  fulness  thereof;  the  crown- 
ing blessing  follows — and  the  good  will  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the 
bush/  If  this  be  wanting,  all  the  rest  will  be  unsatisfying.  If  this 
be  on  our  heads,  our  sorrovvs,  whatever  they  be,  will  be  turned 
into  joy. 

Thirdly  :  We  are  taught,  hereby,  to  aspire  after  a  state  in 
■which  good  ivill  be  enjoyed  without  any  mixture  of  evil,  as  a  sub- 
traction from  it.  If  our  wisdom  be  that  of  which  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  is  the  beginning,  and  the  object  of  our  knowledge  be  the  only 
true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent,  we  shall  soon  reach 
that  state  of  holiness  and  blessedness  that  is  without  alloy.  Wis- 
dom and  knowledge  and  joy,  will  then  be  given  us,  and  all 
the  sources  of  sorrow  which  have  been  enumerated  will  be 
dried  up.  The  more  we  know  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  world, 
the  belter  we  shall  think  of  them,  and  the  more  we  shall  love 
them.  Among  all  the  nations  of  the  saved  we  shall  not  find  one 
whose  character  will  not  bear  scrutinizing.  If  every  heart  were 
as  naked  to  us,  as  ours  now  are  to  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we 
have  to  do,  we  should  find  nothing  in'them  but  love.  No  hypocri- 
sies will  be  there,  nor  envies,  nor  jealousies,  nor  hard  thoughts, 
nor  evil  surmisings,  to  imbilter  the  cup  of  joy.  No  surrounding 
miseries  shall  damp  our  bliss ;  no  error  shall  throw  a  mist  over 
our  minds,  or  lead  us  aside  from  God.  And  what  is  still  more,  no 
imperfections  shall  mar  our  services,  nor  indwelling  sins  pollute 
our  souls.  To  this  ble«sed  state  may  we,  by  all  the  sorrows  of 
the  present  life,  be  led  unremittingly  to  bend  our  course  ? 


THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE. 


SERMON  XXVI. 


Ro-vi.  viii.  18—23. 

For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  liniG  are  not  worthy  to  be 
conipared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  reveiileil  in  us.  For  the  earnest  ex- 
pectation of  the  creature  waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
Fcr  tho  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  reason  of 
him  who  hatii  subjected  the  same  in  hope  :  because  the  creature  itsell  also 
shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  (he  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God.  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groanelh, 
and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now  :  and  not  only  they,  but  ourselves 
also,  which  have  the  first-fruits  of  the  spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within 
ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body. 


There  is,  in  this  part  of  the  Epistle,  a  richness  of  sentiment 
and  a  vast  compass  of  thought.  The  Apostle,  having  established 
the  great  doctrine  of  justilication  by  faith,  dwell?  heie  on  things 
connected  with  it  ;  some  of  which  are  designed  to  guard  it  against 
abuse,  and  others  to  show  its  great  importance.  There  is,  there- 
fore, now  no  condemnation,  says  he,  to  them  v^hich  are  in  Christ  Je- 
sus, who  lualk  not  after  thejlcsh,  hut  after  the  Spirit.  If  ye  live 
after  thrjl'f.h  yc  shail  die  :  but  if  ye  through  the  spirit  do  mortify 
the  deeds  of  the  body  ye  shall  live.  As  many  as  are  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God.  Having  thus  entered  on 
the  privileges  of  believers,  the  sacred  writer  is  borne  away,  as  by 
a   mighty   tide,  with  the  greatness  of  his  theme.     Heirs  of  God  ! 


408  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  [Sermon  XXVT. 

what  an  inheritnnce  !  Such  is  the  tenor  of  the  covenant  of  grace  : 
I  wiU  be  their  God,  and  they  ahall  be  wy  people.  Joint-heirs  with 
Christ  !  what  a  title  !  V\'e  possess  the  inheritance  not  in  our  own 
right,  but  in  that  of  Christ  ;  who,  being  heir  of  all  things,  looketh 
down  on  his  conllicting  servantfs,  and  saith,  To  himthnt  overcometh 
will  I  grant  to  sit  down  with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  oho  over- 
came, and  am  set  down  with  tny  Father  in  his  throne.  It  is  true, 
we  must  suffer  a  vvhile  ;  but,  if  it  be  7oith  him,  we  shall  be  glo- 
rified together. 

By  the  glory  to  be  revealed  in  ns,  is  meant,  not  that  glory  which 
we  shall  receive  at  death,  but  the  consummation  of  it  at  the  resur- 
rection. It  is  the  same  as  that  which  in  the  following  verses,  is 
called  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God — the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God — the  adoption  to  wit,  (he  redemption  of  our 
body.  It  is  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the 
great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  for  which  Christians  are 
taught  to  look  ;  that^rore  in  pursuit  of  which  we  are  exhoried  to 
gird  up  the  loins  of  our  minds,  to  be  sober,  and  hope  to  the  end.  and 
which  is  to  be  brought  unto  us  of  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  this  great  inheritance,  to  which  the  sons  of  God  are  heirs,  the 
Apostle  enlarges  in  the  words  of  the  lext.  It  is  an  object  of  such 
magnitude,  says  he,  that  all  the  sulTcrings  uf  the  present  life  are 
not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  it  ',  of  such  magnitude  as  to  in- 
terest the  whole  creation  ;  and,  finally,  of  such  magnitude  that 
our  highest  enjoyments  do  not  satisfy  us,  but  wo  groan  earnestly 
after  the  full  possession  of  it.  To  review  these  three  great  points 
is  all  that  I  shall  attempt. 

I.  Such   is  the  magmtude   of  the  glory  to  be  revealed 

IN  us,  THAT  THE  SUIFERIN'GS  OF  THF.  PRESENT  TIME  ARE  NOT 

WORTHY  TO  BE  COMPARED  WITH  IT.  lu  Speaking  of  thcsc  op- 
posites,  the  Apostle  as  by  a  kind  of  spiritual  arithmetic,  seems  to 
place  them  in  opposite  columns.  The  amount  of  the  column  of 
suflTerings,  if  viewed  by  itself,  would  appear  great.  Much  evil  at- 
tends us,  both  as  men,  and  as  good  men.  The  misery  of  man  is 
great  upon  him;  and  great  are  the  afflictions  which  have  been  en- 
dured by  the  faithful  for  Christ's  sake  For  his  sake  they  have 
been  killed  all  the  day  long,  and  accounted  a»  sheep  for  the  slaugh- 


Sermow  XXVI.]         HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  409 

ter.  He  who  entered  on  this  reckoning  could  not  have  made  light 
of  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time,  for  want  of  an  experimental 
acquaintance  with  them.  In  answer  to  those  who  depreciated  his 
ministry,  he  could  say,  Are  they  ministers  of  Christ  ?  (J  speak  as 
a  JooL')  Tmore  :  in  lahonrs  more  abundant,  in  stripes  above  vieas- 
nre,  in  prisons  more  frequent,  in  deaths  oft.  Of  the  Jews  five  times 
received  I  forty  stripes  save  one.  Thrice  2oas  I  beaten  7inth  rods, 
once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a  day  I 
have  been  in  the  deep  ;  in  journeying s  often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in 
perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by  the 
heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  jjcrils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in 
the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren  ;  in  iveariness  and  painful' 
ness,  in  watrhings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in 
cold  a7id  nakedness.  Beside  those  things  that  are  loithout,  that 
which  comet h  vp on  me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  churches.  Who  is 
weak,  and  I  am  not  weak?  Who  is  of  ended,  and  I  burn  not  ? 
Yet  the  same  person  assures  us,  that  he  reckons  the  sufferings  of 
this  present  time  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that 
shall  be  revealed  in  us.  They  may  be  heavy  and  tedious,  when 
viewed  by  themselves  ;  but,  weighed  against  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  they  are  light  and  momentary. 

It  is  thus  that,  in  the  subject  before  us,  he  considers  our  suffer- 
ings as  confined  to  this  present  time.  The  short  duration  of  suffer- 
ing ordinarily  renders  it  tolerable,  even  though,  for  a  time,  it  may 
be  acute;  and,  if  succeeded  by  lasting  enjoyment,  we  consider  it 
unmanly  to  make  much  of  it ;  and  if  it  be  in  the  service  of  a  beloved 
sovereign,  and  in  support  of  a  cause  of  great  importance,  and 
which  lies  near  the  heart,  it  is  usually  treated  as  a  matter  of  still 
less  account.  Thus  it  was  that  the  Apostle  reckoned  his  suffer- 
ings not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  to  be  revealed  in 
us. 

To  say  of  two  things,  that  one  of  them  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  the  other,  is  a  strong  mode  of  expression.  It  is  in  this  way 
that  the  great  God  expresses  his  infinite  superiority  to  the  most 
exalted  creatures  :  Who  in  the  heavens  can  he  compared  wito  the 
Lord?  who  among  the  sons  of  the  mighty  can  be  likened  unto  Je- 
hovah?    So,  when  two  things  of  an  opposite  nature  come  in  suc- 

VoL.  VII.  52 


410  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  [Sermon  XXVi. 

cession,  and  Ihe  latter  so  entirely  prevails  over  the  former  as  to 
obliterate  it,  or  in  a  manner  to  efface  the  remembrance  of  it,  it 
may  be  said  of  the  one,  that  it  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  other. 
Thus  the  joy  that  followed  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  to  the 
sorrow  that  preceded  it :  Ye  shall  weep  and  lament,  but  the  world 
sliall  rejoice  :  and  ye  shall  he  sorrowful,  hut  your  sorrow  shall  he 
tamed  into  joy.  A  woman  when  she  is  in  travail  hath  sorrow,  be- 
cause her  hour  is  come :  but  as  soon  as  she  is  delivered  of  the  child, 
she  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish,  for  joy  that  a  man  is  born 
int9  the  world.  And  ye  now  therefore  have  sorroto:  but  I  will  see 
you  again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh 
frovi  you.  Such  also  will  be  the  joy  of  the  heavenly  inheritance, 
that  it  will  efface  from  our  remembrance  the  few  years  of  sor- 
row which  have  preceded  it ;  so  efface  them,  however,  that  we 
shall  never  think  of  them  with  regret,  but  as  a  toil  to  heighten  our 
bliss. 

II.  Such  is  the  magnitude  ok  the  glory  to  bk  revealed  m 

us  AT  THE  RESURRECTION,  THAT  ITS  INFLUENCE  EXTENDS  TO  THE 

AVHOLE  CREATION.  This  I  take  to  be  generally  expressed  in  the 
19th  verse  :  For  the  earliest  expectation  of  the  creature  waitethfor 
the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  That  which  follows  in  ver- 
ses 20 — 22,  explains  and  accounts  for  it,  by  showing  how  the 
creatures  were  brought  into  a  state  of  bondage  by  the  sin  of  man, 
and  how  they  shall  be  liberated  from  it  when  he  is  liberated  :  For 
the  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  loillingly,  but  by  rea- 
son of  him  vtiho  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope;  because  the  crea- 
ture itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption^ 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  For  we  know  that 
the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  paiji  together  until 

710W. 

The  creature — the  ichole  creation — or  every  creature,  are  the 
same  thing,  and  denote,  I  apprehend,  not  man,  but  every  crea- 
ture around  him  which  has  been  brought  under  the  influence  of 
his  revolt.  As  when  Achan  sinned,  all  that  pertained  to  him  suf- 
fered ;  so,  when  our  first  parents  sinned,  the  whole  creation,  in 
so  far  as  ii  was  connected  with  man,  partook  of  the  effects.     This 


Sermon  XXVI.]  HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  411 

appears  to  be  meant  by  the  creature's  being  made  subject  to  vatt' 
ity,  and  conaing  under  the  bondage  of  corruption. 

The  creation  was  brought  into  this  state  of  bondage,  not  willing- 
ly, as  was  the  case  with  man,  but  by  the  sovereign  will  of  the 
Creator.  He  could  have  stopped  the  machinery  of  the  material 
world,  and  at  once  have  put  an  end  to  the  rebellion ;  but  he 
thought  fit  to  order  the  laws  of  nature  to  keep  their  course  ;  and, 
as  to  the  abuse  that  man  would  make  of  them,  he  should  be  called 
to  account  for  that  another  day. 

The  bondage  of  the  creatures,  however,  was  not  to  be  perpet- 
ual :  he  who  subjected  them  to  it,  subjected  them  in  hope,  be- 
cause the  creature  itself  also,  as  well  as  the  sons  of  God,  shall  be 
delivered  from  its  thraldom,  and.  as  it  were,  participate  with  them 
in  their  glorious  liberty.  The  redemption  of  our  bodies  will  be 
the  signal  of  its  emancipation  from  under  the  effects  of  sin,  and  the 
birth-day,  as  it  were,  of  a  new  creation.  As  by  man's  apostasy 
every  thing  connected  with  him  became,  in  some  way,  ^subservi- 
ent to  evil;  so,  by  the  deliverance  of  the  sons  of  God  at  the  res- 
urrection, they  shall  be  delivered  from  this  servitude,  and  the 
whole  creation,  according  to  the  natural  order  of  things,  shall 
serve  and  praise  the  Lord. 

But  we  must  inquire  more  particularly  into  this  bondage  of  the 
creatures,  and  into  their  deliverance  from  it. 

It  is  true,  that  the  ground  was  literally  cursed  for  man's  sake, 
so  as  spontaneously  to  bring  forth  briars  and  thorns,  rather  than 
fruits;  the  animals  also  have  literally  been  subjected  to  great 
misery  and  cruelty;  but  it  is  not  of  a  literal  bondage,  I  conceive, 
that  the  Apostle  speaks  ;  nor  of  a  literal  deliverance,  as  some  have 
imagined,  by  the  resurrection  of  animals  ;  nor  of  a  literal  groaning 
after  it.  The  whole  appears  to  be  what  rhetoricians  call  a  pros- 
opopoeia, or  a  figure  of  speech  in  which  sentiments  and  langnage 
are  given  to  things  as  though  they  were  persons.  Thus,  on  the 
invasion  of  Sennacherib,  the  earth  is  said  to  mourn,  and  Lebanon 
to  be  ashamed  ;  and  thus,  at  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  the 
heavens  are  called  upon  to  rejoice,  and  the  earth  to  be  glad,  the 
sea  to  roar,  the  floods  to  clap  their  hands,  and  the  trees  of  the 
wood  to  rejoice. 


4]'2  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  [Sermon  XXVU 

When  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  every  thing  was 
made,  according  to  its  nature  and  capacity,  to  show  forth  his  glo- 
ry. Thus  the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God;  and  the  firma- 
ment showeth  his  handy  work.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and 
night  unto  night  shmoeih  knowledge.  There  is  no  speech,  nor  lan- 
guage -where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  Thus  also  heaven  and  earth 
are  called  upon  to  praise  their  Maker  :  Praise  ye  him  sun  and 
moon  :  praisehim  all  ye  stars  of  light.  Praise  him  ye  heavens  of 
heavens,  and  ye  ?vafers  that  be  above  the  heavens. — Praise  the 
Lord  from  the  earth,  ye  dragons  and  all  deeps:  fire  and  hail  : 
snow  and  vapour  ;  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  word:  mountains  and 
all  hills ;  fruitful  trees,  and  all  cedars:  beasts,  and  all  cattle; 
creeping  things  and  flying  fowl.  Such  was  the  natural  order  ot 
things  established  by  the  Creator :  every  thing,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  turnished  its  tribute  of  praise  to  Him  who  is  over 
all  blessed  forever  ! 

But,  by  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  world,  the  creatures  be- 
came subservient  to  it  ;  as,  when  a  rebellion  breaks  out  in  an  em- 
pire, the  resources  of  the  country,  being  seized  by  the  rebels,  are 
turned  to  the  support  of  their  cause,  and  against  their  rightful 
owner  ,  so  every  thing  which  God  had  created  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  man,  or  in  any  way  rendered  subservient  to  his  comfort, 
was  turned  aside  from  its  original  design,  and  perverted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  corruption.  The  Lord  complains  of  the  corn,  and  wine, 
and  oil,  and  flax,  and  wool,  which  he  had  given  to  Israel,  being 
prostituted  to  Baal ;  and  threatens  to  recover  them.  Who  can 
count  the  sacritices  and  offerings  which  have  been  made  of  God's 
creatures  to  Jupiter,  Mars,  Venus,  Bacchus,  and  other  abomina- 
tions of  the  West  ;  or  to  Brama,  Veeshnoo,  Seeb,  Dhoorga,  Jug- 
gernaut, and  other  abominations  of  the  East  ?  And  though  gross 
idolatry  has  in  many  nations,  been  dispelled  by  the  light  of  the 
gospel,  yet  still  the  bounties  of  providence,  furnished  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  man,  are  made  to  serve  his  lusts.  The  sun  can- 
not emit  his  illuminating  and  fructifying  beams  but  to  furnish  food 
for  the  corrupt  propensities  of  man.  The  clouds  cannot  pour 
down  their  showers,  but  the  effects  of  them  are  made  subservient 
to  sin.     Rich  soils   and  fruitful  seasons  become  the  hot-beds  of 


Sbrmon  XXVI.  I      HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  413 

vice,  on  which,  as  in  Sodom,  men  become  ripe  for  destruction  at 
an  earlier  period  than  ordinary. 

The  creatures  have  not  only  been  subjected  to  the  vanity  of 
serving  the  idols  and  lusts  of  men  ;  but  have  themselves  been 
turned  into  gods,  and  worshipped  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Creator, 
who  is  blessed  forever'  There  is  scarcely  a  creature  in  heaven 
or  on  earth,  but  what  has  been  thus  drawn  into  the  service  of  cor- 
ruption. Not  only  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars;  but  gold  and 
silver,  and  brass,  and  wood,  and  stone,  and  birds,  and  four  footed 
beasts,  and  creeping  things  !  And  though  the  light  of  the  gospel 
has  driven  this  species  of  stupidity  out  of  Europe,  (which  the  sci- 
ence of  Greece  and  Rome  did  not  so  much  as  diminish,)  yet  it  is  in 
no  want  of  advocates  among  her  degenerate  sons.  And  they  that 
would  be  ashamed  to  plead  the  cause  of  gross  idolatry,  yet,  in  a 
manner,  idolize  the  works  of  God,  by  opposing  them  to  his  word. 
The  sweet  singer  of  Israel,  after  celebrating  the  former,  held  up 
the  latter  as  greatly  exceeding  them.  With  him,  the  light  of  na- 
ture and  that  of  revelation  were  in  harmony  ;  but  unbelievers 
place  them  at  variance.  Nature,  with  them  occupies  the  place 
of  God,  and  the  light  imparted  by  it  is  admired  at  the  expense  of 
bis  word.  They  have  no  objection  to  acknowledge  a  Supreme 
Being  as  the  author  of  the  machinery  of  nature,  provided  he  would 
give  up  his  moral  government  over  them  ;  but  the  scriptures  are 
full  of  hard  sayings  which  they  cannot  hear!  The  works  of  God 
are  silent  preachers  :  in  their  mouth,  there  is  ne  reproof  but 
what  a  hard  heart  can  misconstrue  into  the  approbation  of  the 
Creator,  understanding  his  bounties  as  rewards  conferred  on  his 
virtuous  creatures:  this,  therefore  is  the  only  preaching  which 
many  will  hear. 

In  these,  and  a  thousand  other  ways,  the  creatures  of  God  have 
been  subjected  to  vanity.  Had  they  been  possessed  of  intelli- 
gence, they  would,  from  the  first,  have  risen  up  against  us,  rath- 
er than  have  submitted  to  such  bondage.  Yes  :  rather  than  have 
been  thus  forced  into  the  service  of  sin  by  the  rebel  man,  they 
would  have  conspired  together  to  destroy  him  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  The  sun  would  have  scorched  him  ;  the  moon  witli 
her  sickly  rays  would  have  smitten  him  ;  the  stars  in  their  cours- 


414  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE         [Sermow  XXVI. 

es  would  have  fought  against  him  ;  air,  earth,  fire,  water,  birds, 
beasts,  and  even  the  stones,  would  have  conspired  to  rid  creation  of 
the  being,  who,  by  rebelling  against  the  Creator,  had  filled  it  with 
disorder  and  misery.  And  though  the  creatures  are  not  possessed 
of  intelligence,  yet  from  a  kind  of  instinctive  tendency  to  vindicate 
the  cause  of  God  and  righteousness,  they  are  naturally  at  war  with 
rebellious  man.  Were  it  not  so,  there  would  be  no  need  of  a  cove- 
nant to  be  made  on  our  behalf  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the 
fowls  of  heaven,  the  creeping  things  of  the  ground,  and  even  with 
the  stones. 

God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  saw  fit  to  subject  the  creatures  to 
this  vanity  for  a  season,  contrary  as  it  was  to  their  nature;  but  it  is 
only  for  a  season,  and  therefore  is  said  to  be  in  hope;  in  the  end,  they 
that  have  abused  them  will,  except  they  repent,  be  punished,  and 
they  themselves  be  liberated  from  their  hateful  yoke.  Thus,  for 
a  season,  he  subjected  the  seed  of  Abraham,  his  own  servants,  to 
serve  the  Egyptians  ;  but  that  nation,  says  he,  whom  they  shall 
serve,  will  I  judge ;  and  afterward  shall  they  come  out  with  great 
substance. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  deliverance  of  the  creatures  from  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  is  that  of  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of 
God.  Hence,  they  are  in  a  manner  identified  with  them :  The 
earnest  expectation  of  the  creature  waitethfor  the  manifestation  of 
the  sons  of  God;  looking  for  it  as  for  their  own  deliverance.  The 
redemption  of  our  bodies  from  the  grave  will  be  the  destruction 
of  the  last  enemy,  or,  in  respect  of  believers,  the  termination  of 
the  effects  of  sin  :  and,  as  the  thraldom  of  the  creatures  commen- 
ced with  the  commencement  of  sin,  it  is  fit  that  it  should  terminate 
with  its  termination.  Thus  our  resurrection  will  be  the  signal  of 
emancipation  to  the  creatures,  and  their  emancipation  will  mag- 
nify the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us.  Heaven,  earth,  and 
seas,  and  all  that  in  them  is,  will  no  longer  be  worshipped  in  the 
place  of  God,  nor  compelled  to  minister  to  his  enemies  ;  but,  in 
that  renovated  state  wherein  dwellefh  righteousness,  shall  exist  but 
to  praise  and  glorify  their  Creator. 


SfiRMON  XXVI. J        HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  4I3 

The  terms  used  to  express  the  tendency  of  the  creatures  to- 
wards this  great  crisis  are  very  strong.  Nature  is  personified, 
and  represented  as  upon  the  utmost  stretch  of  expectation  ;  as 
groaning  and  travailing  in  pain  to  be  delivered.  Assuredly,  that 
must  be  a  most  important  object,  the  accomplishment  of  which 
thus  interests  the  whole  creation.  This  object  is  the  glory  that 
shall  be  revealed  in  us — the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God — the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God ;  and  thus  it  is  that  the  Apos- 
tle establishes  his  position — That  such  is  the  magnitude  of  the  in- 
heritance of  believers,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  present  time  are 
not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  it. 

But  we  must  not  dismiss  this  part  of  the  subject,  without  no- 
ticing more  particularly  these  descriptions  of  the  heavenly  inher- 
itance— the  glory  to  be  revealed  in  us — the  manifestation  of  the 
sons  of  God — and  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
They  all  refer  to  the  perfecting  of  salvation  through  the  death  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  greatest  display  of  the  glory  of  God  that  ever 
has  or  will  be  made.  This  is  the  last  of  that  series  of  events 
which  have  been  carrying  on  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
and  to  the  accomplishment  of  which  they  have  all  been  subordi- 
nate. 

The  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us. — There  will,  doubtless, 
be  a  flood  of  light  and  joy  that  will  then  open  to  our  admiring 
minds  ;  but  the  words  seem  rather  to  denote  the  manifestation  of 
the  divine  glory  in  our  salvation  than  barely  its  being  revealed  to  us. 
Thus  the  Lord  Jesus  will  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to 
be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe.  The  great  Physician  will 
appear,  with  his  recovered  millions,  and,  in  the  presence  of  an 
assembled  universe,  will  present  them  to  the  Father.  Thus  the 
glory  of  God  will  be  revealed  to  the  universe  in  our  salvation. 
All  his  glorious  perfections  will  be  manifested  in  such  a  light  as 
they  never  were  by  any  other  of  his  works,  nor  by  this  till  it  was 
completed.  And  that  which  is  revealed  to  the  universe  in  us  will 
not  be  less,  but  more  of  an  enjoyment  to  us,  than  if  it  had  been 
revealed  to  us  only.  The  joy  of  the  returned  captives  was  not 
diminished,  but  increased,  by  the  surrounding  nations  saying.  The 
Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  them  I 


416  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  [Sjehmow  XXVI. 

The  manifestation  of  the  xons  of  God. — The  foregoing  descrip- 
tion of  the  heavenly  inheritance  had  respect  to  God's  manifesting 
his  glory  ;  this  to  his  manifesting  ours.  We  have  been  familiar 
with  the  terms,  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty  ;  but  who 
has  been  able  'to  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the  blessing !  Even 
an  inspired  Apostle  was  overwhelmed  in  thinking  of  it,  and  con- 
fessed his  ignorance  :  Behold,  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath 
bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God !  there- 
fore the  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not.  Beloved, 
now  are  we  the  sons  of  God  ;  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  lohat  we 
shall  be :  but  ive  knoio  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
him  ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is!  Then  the  importance  of  be- 
ing heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  will  be  apparent. 

The  sons  of  God  have  here  been  but  little  known.  Not  being 
distinguished  by  any  thing  pertaining  to  circumstances,  or  out- 
ward condition,  and  that  which  has  distinguished  them  being  of  a 
still  and  unostentatious  nature,  they  have  generally  passed  through 
the  world  without  attracting  much  of  its  notice,  unless  it  were  to 
despise  antl  persecute  them.  If  they  have  been  acknowledged  as 
pious  men,  and  have  escaped  the  persecutions  and  reproaches  of 
the  wicked,  yet,  being  mostly  poor,  and  undistinguished  by  bril- 
liancy of  talent,  they  have  ordinarily  been  considered  as  beneath 
attention.  But,  at  that  day,  the  Judge  of  heaven  and  earth  will 
distinguish  them  as  the  sheep  that  he  will  place  at  his  right  hand, 
and  as  the  blessed  of  his  Father,  whom  he  will  welcome  to  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ; 
while  those  who  have  despised  and  persecuted  them,  shall  be 
sentenced  to  everlasting  punishment. 

The  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. — The  children  of 
God  have  possessed  a  glorious  liberty  from  their  first  believing  in 
Christ.  The  son  then  made  them  free,  and  they  were  free  in- 
deed  !  And  when  the  earthly  house  of  their  tabernacle  is  dissol- 
ved, and  they  are  received  among  the  spirits  of  just  men  tnade  per- 
fect, this  is  a  liberty  more  glorious.  But,  while  their  bodies  are 
imprisoned  in  the  grave,  the  deliverance  is  not  complete.  They 
are,  as  yet,  under  thraldom.  The  promise  of  Christ  to  raise  us 
up  at  the  last  day  is  yet  unfulfilled.     They  have  been  delivered 


Sermon  XXVL]        HEaVeNLY  INHERITANCE.  4[7 

from  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  from  the  existence  of  it  in  their 
minds  ;  but  not  from  its  effects.  It  is  reserved  for  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  when  he  will  come  without  sin  unto  salvation, 
to  accomplish  this.  This  is  the  destruction  of  the  last  enemy  ; 
this,  therefore,  puts  an  end  to  the  war.  In  the  account  of  Christ's 
second  coming,  there  appears  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  blowing  of 
the  trumpet  of  jubilee,  and  the  liberation  of  the  captives:  The 
Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  zvilh  the  voice 
of  the  archnngel ,  and  with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  first :  then,  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be 
caught  lip  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air:  and  so  shall  ice  ever  be  with  the  Lord.  The  resurrection, 
then,  will  be  to  believers  n  jubilee,  a  day  of  fleliverance.  The 
account  of  it,  by  the  same  Apostle  in  the  16th  chapter  of  his  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  gives  us  the  triumphant  song  which  be- 
lievers shall  sing,  standing  over  the  graves  in  which  they  have 
been  so  long  imprisoned  :  0  death  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave 
tvhere  is  thy  victory  ?  The  sting  of  death  is  sin  ;  and  the  strength 
of  sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  otir  Lord  Jesus  Christ!  This  is  Ihe  glorious  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God,  in  which  the  whole  creation  shall  partici- 
pate. 

III.  Such  is  the   magnitudf.  of  the  gi.orv   to  be  revealed 

IN  us  AT  THE  RESURRECTION,  THAT  THOSE  CHRISTIANS  WHO  HAVE 
POSSESSED  THE  HIGHEST  ENJOYMENTS  IN  THIS  WORLD  WERE  NOT 
SATISFIED  WITH  THEM  ;  BUT  GROANED  WITHIN  THEMSELVES,  WAIT- 
ING FOR  THE  POSSESSION  OF  IT,  Aucl  nol  on 1 1/ thci/,  {the  crea- 
tures,) but  ourselves  also, — even  loe  ourselves  groan  within  our- 
selves, waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body. 
By  ice  ourselves,  I  understand  the  Apostle  to  mean,  not  believ- 
ers in  general,  but  those  believers  in  his  own  times,  who,  with  him- 
•self,  possessed  so  large  a  measure  of  grace  and  peace  as  habitually 
to  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  If  we  read  the  first  chapters  o(  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  we  shall  perceive  a  mighty  tide  of  joy  in  the  minds 
of  these  Christians  :  Jnd  they  continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in 
the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their 
meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God,  and  hav- 
VoL.  VII.  53 


418  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  THE  [Sermow  XX Vi. 

ing  favour  with  all  the  people.  They  did  not  merely  rejoice  not- 
withstanding the  persecutions  which  they  met  with,  but  in  tbem  : 
They  departed  from  the  presence  of  the  council,  (where  they  had 
been  beaten,)  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  .suffer  shame 
for  his  name.  These  good  men  seem  to  have  found  heaven  upon 
earth.  They  had  the Jirst-fruits  of  the  Spirit,  or  those  rich  com- 
munications of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which,  as  the  first-fruits  under  the 
law  were  the  best  of  the  kind,  showed  what  might  be  expected  un- 
der the  gospel-dispensation.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  imparted  to 
them,  not  only  in  a  greater  degree  than  usual,  but  under  the  pe- 
culiar character  of  the  S/JinV  q/"  arfo/j/ion,  by  which  they  were  ad- 
mitted to  near  communion  with  God,  as  children  with  a  father. 
Nor  was  this  confined  to  the  day3  of  Pentecost,  and  the  times  im- 
mediately succeeding  :  forty  years  after  this,  Peter  could  say,  of 
the  strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,  and  Bithynia,  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love  ;  in  whom, 
though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  Joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory  :  and  this  too,  at  a  time  when  the  fery 
trial  of  persecution  was  coming  or  come  upon  them. 

But.  notwithstanding  the  spiritual  enjoyment  possessed  by  these 
Christians,  they  looked  forward  with  earnest  desire  for  the  coming 
of  the  day  of  God  ;  not  only  as  those  who  hasted  towards  it,  but 
by  their  hopes  and  prayers  would  seem  to  hasten  its  approach. 
Such  are  the  accounts  given  of  them  in  the  New  Testament  :  Ye 
turned  to  God  from  idols,  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God;  and  to 
WAIT  FOR  HIS  Son  from  heaven,  tvhom  he  raised  from  the  dead, 
even  Jesut,  which  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come. — He  which 
testifeth  these  things,  saith,  Surely  I  come  quickly  ;  Amen.  Even 
so,  come.  Lord  Jesus. 

The  enjoyments  of  the  first  Christians,  instead  of  abating  their 
desire  for  the  coming  of  their  Lord,  appear  to  have  heightened  it. 
The  more  they  possessed  of  the  first-fruits,  the  more  they  desired 
the  lump.  The  fruits  of  Canaan,  brought  into  the  wilderness,  were 
not  designed  to  satisfy  Israel,  but  rather  to  excite  them  to  go  up 
and  possess  the  land. 

It  is  this  ardent  desire  that  is  expressed  by  the  terms  ^roflw/no' 
within  ourselves.     The  groaning  of  the  creation  was  in  a  figure,  but 


Sermon  XXVI.]  HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  419 

this  is  real.  These  are  those  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered, 
(verse  26,)  and  which  the  Spirit  of  God  excited  in  the  way  of  hope 
and  patience  and  prayer. 

The  terms  by  which  the  resurrection  of  believers  is  expressed, 
namely,  the  adoption,  and  the  redemption  of  our  body,  serve  to 
heighten  our  ideas  of  the  glorious  event.  It  is  observable,  that  the 
Apostle,  throughout  this  description,  makes  use  of  what  may  be  cal- 
led old  terms  in  a  new  sense.  The  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God  was,  as  we  have  seen,  enjoyed  by  them,  in  one  sense,  from 
the  day  that  they  bt^lieved  in  Jesus  ;  but,  in  describing  this  event, 
a  new  sense  is  put  upon  the  same  words.  The  idea  of  adoption 
also  had  long  been  familiarized  to  Christians  by  the  apostolic  wri- 
tings ;  but,  as  used  here,  it  has  a  new  meaning  attached  to  it. 
From  the  day  they  received  the  Saviour,  they  received  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God  ;  the  Lord  Almighty,  as  by  a  judicial  act 
and  deed,  put  them  among  his  children  :  but  still,  the  body  being 
doomed  to  die  because  of  sin,  till  this  dishonour  is  wiped  away  there 
is  something  wanting  to  complete  the  execution  of  the  deed.  Our 
vile  body  must  be  changed,  and  fashioned  like  unto  Christ's  glori- 
ous body,  ere  we  can  be  actually  and  fully  introduced  into  the 
heavenly  family.  We  must  put  on  immortality,  before  we  shall 
be  fit  company  for  immortals.  We  must  be  made  equal  to  the  an- 
gels, ere  we  can  associate  with  angels.  Finally  :  To  be  complete- 
ly the  children  of  God,  we  must  be  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. 

The  disparity  between  Old  and  New-testament  believers  was 
such,  that  the  former  were  represented  as  children  in  a  state  of 
minority,  kept  under  tutors  and  governors  till  the  time  appointed 
©f  the  Father  ;  while  the  lat*er  are  supposed  to  be  come  to  the  pos- 
session of  their  inheritance  :  (Gal.  iv.  1 — 6.)  how  much  greater, 
then,  must  be  the  disparity  between  believers  in  a  mortal,  and  in  an 
immortal  state  :  both  are  adopted  into  the  family  of  God  ;  but  the 
one  in  a  much  higher  sense  than  the  other. 

Similar  observations  might  be  made  on  the  term  redemption,  as 
here  applied  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  This  term  was 
familiarized  to  Christians,  by  the  apostolic  writings.  They  had 
redemption  through  his  blood,   even   the  forgiveness  of  sins  :  but 


420  THE  iMAGNlTUUE  OF  THE  [Sermon  XXVL 

here  the  word  is  used  in  a  new  sense,  denoting  the  hist  act  of  de- 
liverance, even  that  of  the  body,  from  under  the  thaldom  of  death 
and  tlie  imprisoiinient  of  the  grave.  It  is  in  reference  to  this  hist 
act  of  deliverance  that  Cluist  is  said  to  he  made  unto  us — redemp- 
tion. The  redemption  of  our  souls  by  his  blood  preceded  his  be- 
ing made  unto  us  wisdom,  or  righteousness,  or  sanctitication  ;  but 
the  redemption  of  our  body,  as  being  the  last  act  of  deliverance, 
succeeds  them.  The  body  is  a  part  of  Christ's  purchase,  as  re- 
ally as  the  soul.  It  is  on  this  [)rinciple  that  the  Corinthians  were 
dissuaded  from  polluting  it  by  fornication  :  Ye  are  not  your  own^ 
but  bought  with  a  price  :  therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body,  and 
in  your  spirit,  which  are  God^s.  'J'he  resurrection  of  the  body, 
therefore,  is  the  recovery  of  the  last  part  of  the  Redeemer's  pur- 
chase, signified  by  that  expressive  sentence,  so  often  repeated,  / 
will  raise  it  up  at  the  last  day. 

This  is  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us,  with  which  the 
siiflerings  of  the  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  ;  this 
is  the  great  crisis  of  creation,  to  which  all  that  precedes  it  tends, 
as  to  its  last  end  5  and  the  result  to  which  believers,  who  have 
possessed  the  richest  communications  of  grace  in  this  life,  look 
with  earnest  expectation 

To  conclude  :  We  see  here,  what  a  glorious  hope  the  gospel  sets 
before  us.  In  point  of  magnitude,  crowns  and  kingdoms  are  but 
baubles,  when  compared  with  it:  yet  it  is  not  for  crowns  and 
kingdoms  that  the  bulk  of  mankind  set  at  naught  the  heavenly 
prize,  but  for  things  of  still  less  account.  Thirty  pieces  of  silver 
were,  in  one  case,  reckoned  of  more  account  than  Christ  ;  and  in 
another,  a  mess  of  pottage  !  Jfye  then  he  risen  with  Christ,  seek 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand 
of  God.  Set  your  affection  on  things  above,  and  not  on  things  on 
the  earth.  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God.  When  Christ  who  is  our  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  him  in  gloiy. 

Farther:  We  here  see,  what  encouragement  there  is  to  pray 
and  labour  for  the  promotion  of  Chris  fs  spiritual  kingdom  in  the 
joorld.  The  glory  to  be  revealed  at  the  resurrection  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  a  solitary  event ;  but  rather  as  the  consummation  of 


Sermon  XXVI.]        HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  421 

a  series  of  events  which  shall  have  preceded  it.  Christ,  we  are 
told,  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The 
last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  The  rpi<rn  of  Christ, 
therefore,  is  now  making  progress  towards  this  great  crisis;  and, 
as  it  proceeds,  it  produces,  in  a  degree,  the  same  effects  as  it  will 
when  perfected.  As,  in  proportion,  to  the  prevalence  of  the 
cause  of  corruption,  the  creatures  of  God  are  subjected  to  the 
vanity  of  supporting  it;  so,  in  proportion  as  the  gospel  prevails, 
and  men  are  freed  from  the  dominion  of  sin  by,believing  in  Christ, 
the  creatures  also  are  emancipated  with  them  :  from  that  time 
they  are  used  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  not  abused  to  support  the 
cause  of  his  enemies.  Thus,  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ, 
we  contribute  to  the  deliverance  of  the  creation. 

Finally  :  We  must  not  forget,  that  the  possession  of  all  this  glory 
stands  connected  with  justification,  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  The 
whole  is  an  inference  ari.-ing  from  tlie  doctrine.  Whom  he  thus 
justified,  them  he  also  glorified.  It  is  a  very  serious  question,  on 
what  ground  we  rest  our  acceptance  with  God.  It  was  at  thiy  doc- 
trine  that  the  Jewish  nation  stumbled  and  fell.  Let  their  fail  be 
our  warning.  The  Gentiles,  ichich followed  not  after  righteousness, 
have  attained  to  righteousnets,  even  the  righteousness  which  is  of 
faith.  But  Israel,  which  followed  after  the  law  of  righteousness, 
hath  not  attained  to  the  law  of  righteousness.  Wherefore?  Be- 
cause they  soiight  it  not  by  fiith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  tvorks  of  the 
law  :  for  they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone. 


THE    PRIN'CIPLE.S    AND  PROSPECTS    OF    A   SERVANT 
OF  CHRIST. 


SERx>ION  XXVII. 

Delivered  at  the  funeral  of  the  Rev.  J.  Sutcliff,  of  Olney,  June  28,  1814.] 


JuDE  20,  21. 

But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most  holy  faith,  praying 
in  the  Holy  Gliost,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life. 


I  FEEL  a  difficulty  in  speaking  on  this  occasion.  A  long  and 
intimate  friendship,  cemented  by  a  similarity  of  views  and  a  co-op- 
eration in  ministerial  and  missionary  labours,  produces  a  feeling 
somewhat  resembling  that  of  a  near  relation,  who,  on  such  an  oc- 
casion, instead  of  speaking,  must  wish  to  be  indulged  in  silent 
grief.  But  the  request  of  my  deceased  brother  cannot  be  refu- 
sed. 

In  selecting  a  passage  for  so  solemn  an  occasion,  it  was  natural 
for  our  dear  friend  to  fix  on  one  that  should  express  his  last  senti- 
ments  and  \\\s  future  prospects.  He  wished  no  doubt,  to  leave  a 
testimony  of  his  firm  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  those  principle.* 
which  he  had  believed  and  taught,  anr!  to  the  hope  which  they  in- 
spired in  the  prospect  of  eternity. 


424  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPKCTS        [Sermon  XXVIl' 

The  occasion  on  which  the  passage  is  introduced  is  deserving 
of  our  notice.  Certain  men,  of  pernicious  principles,  had  crept 
unawares  into  the  churches,  so  as  to  render  it  necessary  for  the 
Apostle  to  write  even  on  the  common  salvation,  and  to  exhort  the 
brethren  earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints.  Nor  was  it  confined  to  principles  :  those  who  had  depart- 
ed from  the  faith  had  also  gone  far  into  impure  and  dissolute 
conduct;  turning  the  grace  of  God  into  lasciviousness,  defiling  the 
flesh,  despising  dominion,  and  speaking  evil  of  dignities.  It  is  no 
new  thing  for  deviations  in  Christian  doctrine  to  be  followed  by 
those  in  practice.  As  truth  sanctifies  the  mind,  so  error  pollutes 
it.  It  was  to  turn  the  apostasy  of  these  ungodly  men  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  f^^ithfid,  that  tlie  Apostle  addresses  them  as  he  does: 
But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most  holy  faith,  pray- 
ing in  the  Holy  Spirit,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking 
for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life.  Having 
exposed  the  wicked  ways  into  which  these  men  had  turned  aside, 
he  points  out  the  good  and  the  right  way,  and  holds  up  the  end  to 
which  it  leads. 

In  discoursing  on  the  subject,  we  shall  notice  the  principles 
which  we  have  suggested  to  us,  and  the  prospects  which  they 
furnish  in  respect  of  a  blessed  hereafter. 

I.  Let  us  offer  a  few  remarks  on  the  principles  which  ake 

HERE  SUGGESTED  TO  US,  AS  CONSTITUTING  TRUE  RELIGION.        Wbat- 

ever  ideas  we  have  entertained  of  truth  and  religion,  it  is  necessary 
to  bring  them  to  the  scriptures,  as  to  the  standard. 

1.  True  evangelical  religion  is  here  represented  as  a  building, 
the  foundation  of  which  is  laid  in  the  faith  of  Christ:  Building  up 
yourselves  on  your  most  holy  faith.  Whether  it  rsdate  to  personal 
or  to  social  religion,  this  must  be  the  foundation  of  the  fabric,  or 
the  whole  will  fall.  Many  persons  arc  awakened  to  some  seri- 
ous concern  about  futurity,  and  excited  to  inquire  what  they  must 
do  to  be  saved  :  and,  in  that  state  of  mind,  it  is  not  unusual  for 
them  to  have  recourse  to  reading  and  prayer,  as  a  preparation  for 
death.  Many  preachers  too,  will  think  it  sufficient  to  direct  them 
to  the  use  of  these  means.  But  if  the  death  and  mediation  of 
Christ  be  overlooked,  ii  is  not  reading,  or  prayer,    or  any  other 


Sermon  XXVII.]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  405 

religious  exercise,  that  will  avail  us.  Why  did  John  the  Baptist, 
Christ,  and  his  apostles,  lay  the  foundation  of  the  gospel  kingdom 
by  calling  on  sinners  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel?  Was  it  not 
because  all  other  duties,  prior  to  these,  were  of  no  account? 
When  some,  who  followed  Christ  for  loaves,  inquired  what  they 
must  do  to  work  the  works  of  God ;  his  answer  was,  This  is  the 
work  of  God,  That  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent ;  plainly 
intimating,  that  no  work,  prior  to  this,  could  be  pleasing  to  God. 
The  scriptures  direct  men  to  pray,  but  it  is  in  faith.  To  the 
question,  JVhat  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  there  is  but  one  answer  : 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  s halt  be  saved.  Christ 
is  the  door  ;  by  him  if  any  man  enter  in  he  shall  be  saved.  To 
direct  inquirers  to  any  thing  short  of  this,  is  to  direct  them  to  that 
which,  if  complied  with,  will  leave  them  short  of  salvation.  This 
the  scriptures  never  do :  there  is  not  a  direction  in  the  oracles 
of  God  but,  if  truly  followed,  will  lead  to  everlasting  life. 

One  lays  the  foundation  of  his  religion  in  what  he  calls  reason; 
but  which,  in  fact,  is  his  own  reasoning.  The  same  inspired  wri- 
ter who  in  one  sentence  commends  understanding,  in  the  next 
warns  us  against  leaning  to  our  own  understanding.  To  strengthen 
ourselves,  and  one  another,  in  this  way,  is  to  build  up  ourselves 
on  our  own  conceits.  Another  founds  his  religion  on  his  good 
deeds.  Good  deeds  undoubtedly  form  a  part  of  the  building,  but 
the  foundation  is  not  the  place  for  them.  They  are  not  the  cause, 
but  the  effects  of  faith.  They  prepare  us  for  heaven,  as  meeten- 
ing  us  for  it,  but  not  as  rendering  us  deserving  of  it.  A  third  builds 
his  religion  on  impressions.  It  is  not  from  the  death  of  Christ  for 
sinners,  or  any  other  gospel  truth,  that  he  derives  his  comfort ; 
but  from  an  impulse  on  his  mind  that  his  sins  are  forgiven,  and 
that  he  is  a  favourite  of  God,  which  is,  certainly,  no  where  re- 
vealed in  the  scriptures.  We  may  build  ourselves  up  in  this  way, 
but  the  building  will  fall.  A  fourth  founds  his  religion  on  faithy 
but  it  is  not  a  holy  faith,  either  in  respect  of  its  nature  or  its  effects. 
It  is  dead,  being  alone,  or  without  fruit.  The  f  lith  on  which  the 
first  Christians  build  up  themselves,  included  repentance  for  sin. 
As  when  forgiveness  is  promised  to  repentance,  faith  in  Christ  is 
supposed;  so  when  justification  is  promised  to  believing,    repen- 

V01-.  VII.  51 


426  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS       [Sermon  XXVII. 

tance  is  supposed.  However  distinct  they  are  as  to  their  nature 
and  objects,  they  have  no  separate  existence.  Hence,  in  the 
preaching  of  John,  Christ,  and  the  apostles,  they  are  united;  and 
hence,  the  faith  of  Christ,  supposing  a  renunciation  of  every  thing 
opposed  to  it,  and  including  a  cordial  acquiescence  in  the  gospel- 
way  of  salvation  through  his  death,  is  most  holy. 

These  principles  your  dear  deceased  pastor  has  long  believed 
and  taught.  May  you  long  continue  to  exemplify  their  holy  influ- 
ence. 

2.  That  religion  which  has  its  foundation  in  the  faith  of  Christ, 
will  increase  by  praying  in  the  Holy  Sjnrit.  As  there  is  no  true 
practical  religion  without  faith  in  Christ,  so  there  is  no  true  prayer 
butm  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  true,  that  men  ought  always  to  pray ^ 
and  not  to  faint ;  but  it  is  no  less  true,  that  we  know  not  what  to 
pray  for  as  we  ought,  but  as  the  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmities  : 
clear  proof  this,  by  the  way,  that  may  be  man's  duty  which  yet, 
owing  to  his  depravity,  cannot  be  performed  but  by  divine  grace; 
and  that  the  Holy  Spirit  works  that  in  us,  which  God,  as  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  world,  requires  of  us  ;  writing  his  law  upon  our  hearts, 
or  working  in  us  that  which  is  pleasing  in  his  sight. 

The  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  however,  is  not  that  of 
which  we  are  always  sensible.  We  must  not  live  in  the  neglect 
of  prayer,  at  any  time,  because  we  are  unconscious  of  being  under 
divine  influence  ;  but  rather,  as  our  Lord  directs,  pray /"or  his  Ho- 
ly Spirit.  It  is  in  prayer  that  the  Spirit  of  God  ordinarily  assists 
us.  Prayers  begun  in  dejection  have  often  ended  in  joy  and 
praise  :  of  this,  many  of  the  Psalms  of  David  furnish  us  with  ex- 
amples. 

One  of  the  sentences  uttered  by  your  deceased  pastor,  when 
drawing  near  his  end,  was,  1  wish  I  had  prayed  wore.  This 
was  one  of  those  weighty  sayings  which  are  not  unfrequently  ut- 
tered in  view  of  the  solemn  realities  of  eternity.  This  wish  has 
often  recurred  to  me  since  his  departure,  as  equally  applicable  to 
myself,  and,  with  it,  the  resolution  of  that  holy  man.  President 
Edwards, '  so  to  live  as  he  would  wish  he  had  when  he  came  to 
die.'  In  reviewing  my  own  liie,  I  wish  I  had  prayed  more  than  I 
have     for  the  success  of  the  gospel.     I  have  seen  enough  to  fur- 


Sermon  XXVIL]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  427 

nish  me  with  matter  of  thankfulness ;  but  had   1  prayed  more,  I 
might  have  seen  morei     1  wish  I  had  prayed  more  than  I  have, 
for  the  salvation  of  those  about  me,  and  who  are  given  me  in  charge. 
When  the  father  of  the  lunatic  doubted  whether  Jesus  could  do 
any  thing  for  him,  he  was  told  in  answer,  that  if  he  could  believe, 
all  things  were  possible.     On  hearing  this,  he  burst  into  tears, 
say  mg,  Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou  Mine  unbelief/     He  seems   to 
have  understood  our  Lord  as  suggesting,  that  if  the  child  was  not 
healed,  it  would  not  be  owing  to  any  want  of  power  in  hira,  but  to 
his  own  unbelief.     This  might  well  cause  him  to   weep  and  ex- 
claim as  he  did.     The  thought  of  his  unbelief  causing  the  death  of 
his  child  was  distressing.     The  same  thought  has  occurred  to  me 
as  applicable  to  the  neglect  of  the   prayer  of  faith.     Have  I  not, 
by  this  guilty  negligence,  been  accessary  to  the  destruction  of  some 
that  are  dear  to  me  ?     And  were  I  equally  concerned  for  the  souls 
of  my  connexions,  as  he  was  for  the  life  of  his  child,  should  I  not 
weep  with  him  ?     1  wish  I_^had  prayed  more  than  1  have, ybr  mjf 
own  soul :  1  might  then  have    enjoyed  much  more   communion 
with  God.     The  gospel  affords  the  same  ground  for  spiritual  en- 
joyment, as  it  did  to  the  first  Christians.     I  wish  I  had  prayed 
more  than  I  have,  in  all  my  undertakings  :  I  might  then  have  bad 
my  steps  more  directed  by  God,  and  attended  with  fewer  devia- 
tions from  his  will.     There  is  no  intercourse  with  God  without 
prayer.     It  is  thus  that  we  walk  with  God,  and  have  our  conver- 
sation in  heaven. 

3.  We  are  given  to  understand,  that  by  means  of  building  on  our 
most  holy  faith,  and  praying  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  keep  ourselves 
in  the  love  of  God.  The  love  of  God,  here,  is  to  be  understood, 
not  of  his  love  to  us,  but  of  ours  to  him  ;  as  when  our  Lord  told 
the  unbelieving  Jews  that  they  had  not  the  love  of  God  in 
them.  To  keep  alive  this  sacred  flame,  amidst  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  world,  is,  in  a  manner,  the  sum  of  the  Christian 
life.  Tf  this  be  preserved,  every  other  grace  will  thrive,  and  we 
shall  prosper  in  all  that  we  set  our  hands  to,  in  the  service  of  God. 
Not  only  must  natural  afl'ection  to  our  dearest  friends  and  relations 
give  place  to  the  love  of  God,  but  even  the  love  of  our  Christian 
brethren  must  be  on  account  of  their  obedience   to  him :   Who  is 


428  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS    [Sermon  XXVU. 

my  mother  ?  and  ivho  are  my  hreiliren  ?  Whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  7ny  Father  tchich  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and  mother. 

This  is  a  subject  into  which  jour  dear  pastor  entered  with  deep 
interest,  considering  it  as  essential  to  true  religion.  He  dwelt 
much,  in  his  preaching,  on  the  glory  of  the  divine  character  and 
government,  as  displaced  in  the  law  and  the  gospel,  and  scrupled 
not  to  declare  his  firm  persuasion  that  all  religious  affections  which 
disregarded  this  were  spurious,  and  v/ould  prove  of  no  account  at 
the  great  daj'.  He  was  persuaded,  that,  as  sin  must  be  hated  as 
sin,  or  it  is  not  hated  at  all ;  so  God  must  be  loved  as  God,  or  he 
is  not  loved  at  all.  But  to  love  God  as  God,  is  to  love  him  for 
what  he  is,  as  well  as  for  what  he  has  done  for  us.  He  had,  in- 
deed, no  such  notion  of  loving  God  for  his  own  excellency,  as 
should  render  us  indifferent  to  our  own  salvation.  On  the  contra- 
ry, he  considered  it  as  essential  to  the  love  of  God  to  desire  his  fa- 
vour as  our  chief  good.  But  we  can  no  more  desire  this,  ir- 
respective of  what  he  is,  than  we  can  desire  any  other  object  with- 
out considering  it  as  in  itself  desirable.  Unless  we  love  God  in 
respect  of  his  character,  his  favour  would  be  no  enjoyment  to  us. 

In  these  views,  I  am  persuaded  our  brother  was  in  the  right, 
and  that,  instead  of  their  being  mere  metaphysical  subtilties,  they 
enter  into  the  essence  of  true  religion.  The  glory  of  the  gospel 
consists  in  an  exhibition  of  the  glory  of  the  Divine  character.  Had 
it  been  possible  for  sin  to  have  been  forgiven,  and  sinners  accepted, 
in  a  way  inconsistent  with  righteousness,  however  agreeable  it 
might  have  been,  as  furnishing  us  with  the  means  of  escape  from 
wrath,  there  had  been  no  glory  in  it,  and,  had  we  truly  loved  God, 
no  satisfaction  to  our  minds. 

In  judging  of  what  is  true  or  fldse,  right  or  wrong,  the  love  of 
God  is  that  to  the  mind  which  an  ear  for  music  is  to  harmony,  or 
which  a  delicate  sense  of  fitness  is  to  our  speaking  and  acting  with 
propriety.  It  is  thus  that  the  Apostle  represents  it  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Fhilippians  ;  Jlnd  this  I  pray,  that  your  love  may  ahottnd 
yet  more  and  more,  in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment  :  that  ye  may 
approve  things  that  are  excellent  :  or, —  in  all  sense  ;  that  ye  may 
try  things  that  differ.     In  short,  there  is  no  calculating  the  bear- 


Sermok  XXVII.]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  459 

ings  of  this  principle  ;  it  is  the  life  blood  that  flows  through  all 
the  veins  of  true  religion.  Hence  the  prayer  of  the  Apostle  : 
The  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God. 

It  is  by  building  up  ourselves  on  our  most  holy  faith,  and  pray- 
ing in  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  are  supposed  to  keep  alive  this 
heavenly  flame.  These  are  the  means  adapted  to  that  important 
end :  they  are  to  the  love  of  God  that  which  oil  i?  to  the  fire,  tend- 
ing to  feed  and  to  enliven  it.  It  is  by  a  growing  acquaintance  with 
the  word  of  God,  accompanied  with  habitual  prayer,  that  the  love 
of  God  increases  and  abounds,  more  and  more.  There  are  things 
which  are  inconsistent  with  the  love  of  God,  such  as  the  love  of 
the  world,  and  the  indulgence  of  its  lusts  :  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  But  a  life  of  faith  and 
prayer  will  subdue  these  weeds,  no  less  than  they,  when  indulged, 
are  known  to  choke  the  word  of  God,  and  to  render  it  unfruitful. 
Let  the  field  be  but  well  occupied  with  good  seed,  and  there  will 
be  no  room  for  the  weeds  :  Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not 
fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 

4.  We  are  taught,  that,  when  we  have  done  all,  in  looking  for 
eternal  life,  we  must  keep  our  eye  singly  and  solely  on  the  mercy  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  this  part  of  the  subject  that  our  dear 
brother  particularly  repeated,  as  expressive,  I  doubt  not,  of  both 
the  ground  and  object  of  his  hope.  Every  one  who  knew  him  can 
bear  testimony  that  he  was  a  just  and  holy  man,  and  that  it  was  his 
great  concern,  in  every  station  he  filled,  to  maintain  good  works  ; 
but  his  dependence  for  acceptance  with  God  was  not  on  them.  He 
looked  for  eternal  life  through  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  best  characters  have  always  been  the  most  sensible  of  their 
own  unworthiness,  and  the  farthest  from  self-ri<fhteous  boasting. 
After  all  their  labours  in  the  cause  of  God,  they  feel  to  have  been 
unprofitable  servants,  as  having  done  on!j  what  was  their  duty  to 
do,  and  that  with  so  much  imperfection,  as  to  furnish  matter  of  hu- 
miliation and  self-abasement.  It  is  true,  that  a  servant  of  God  may 
enjoy  a  portion  of  solid  satisfaction  in  reviewing  those  things,  which, 
by  the  grace  of  God.,  he  has  been  enabled  to  accomplish  ;  and  this, 
without  any  mixture  of  self-righteous  boasiing.  This  was  the  case 
with  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.     He  could  say,  on  the  approach 


430  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS  [Sermon  XXVII. 

of  death,  /  am  now  ready  to  he  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  Jight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith  :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righteous  Judge  shall  give  me 
at  that  day  ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  his 
appearing.  But  if  Paul  himself  had  been  speaking  of  the  consider- 
ation on  which  he  hoped  to  be  accepted  and  saved,  he  would,  like 
Jude,  have  resolved  it  into  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

You  know,  brethren,  that  this  is  the  doctrine  which  your  pastor 
has  preached  among  you  for  nearly  forty  years.  It  is  true,  he  did 
not  so  represent  the  grace  of  God  as  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  slothful- 
ness  or  wantonness  ;  but,  in  all  his  labours,  it  was  his  uniform  de- 
sign to  direct  his  hearers,  whether  they  would  hear  or  whether  they 
would  forbear,  to  the  only  way  of  salvation  marked  out  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures;  By  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith  ;  and  that  not  of 
yourselves  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God.  He  preached  the  doctrine  ot 
sovereign  grace  in  such  a  manner  as  to  warn  every  man  agains^ 
trusting  to  his  own  righteousness,  and  to  teach  every  man  in  what 
way  he  must  be  saved,  if  he  be  saved  at  all,  as  well  as  to  lead  those 
who  had  believed  in  Jesus  to  ascribe  it  to  the  graee  of  God  that 
they  were  what  they  were.  And  now,  having,  as  I  said,  for  nearly 
forty  years  pointed  you  to  the  good  and  the  right  way,  he  has  him- 
self walked  in  it ;  leaving  you  and  all  the  world  with  this  sentiment 
upon  his  lips — Looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesiis  Christ  unto 
eternal  life. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  latter  part  of  the  subject  j  namely, 

H.  The  prospects  which  these  principles  furnish  as  to  a 
BLESSED  HEREAFTER  :  Looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  unto  eternal  life. 

By  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  understand,  that  which 
is  communicated  through  his  death,  and  with  the  dispensation  of 
which  he  is  invested,  both  now  and  at  the  day  of  judgment  :  Of 
his  fulness  have  all  tee  received,  and  grace  for  grace. — The  Lofd 
grant  unto  him  that  he  may  fad  mercy  of  the  Loi'd  in  that  day. 

We  have  already  received  much  of  th»  mercy  of  Christ.  It  was 
mercy  that  induced  him  to  assume  our  nature,  and  undertake  our 
salvation  ;  to  give  himself  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  us; 


Sermon  XXVII.J  OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  431 

to  send  his  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  us,  when  we  were  dead  in  sin  ;  to 
intercede  for  us  at  the  right  hand  of  God  ;  and  to  be  with  us  in  all 
our  labours  and  sufferings  for  his  name's  sake  :  but,  in  respect  of 
actual  enjoyment,  there  is  much  more  yet  to  be  expected.  The 
mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  communicated  in  greater  and 
greater  degrees,  till,  like  rivers  terminating  in  the  ocean,  it  issues 
in  eternal  life. 

The  first  exercise  of  mercy  which  the  scriptures  direct  us  to 
look  for,  on  our  leaving  the  body,  is,  An  immediate  reception  into 
the  presence  of  Christ,  and  the  society  of  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect.  The  beggar  died,  and  teas  carried  by  the  angels  into 
Ahrahani's  bosom. — Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy 
kingdom.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day 
slialt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise. — Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,—- 
We  are  confident  and  uilling  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and 
to  be  present  with  the  Lord. — I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  two,  having 
a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  lohich  is  far  better. — And  I 
heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are  the 
dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  :  yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labours ;  and  their  works  do  follow 
them.  What  this  overwhelming  tide  of  mercy  will  prove  we  have 
yet  to  learn.  When  the  Lord  turned  again  the  captivity  ofJudah 
they  were  like  those  that  dream  :  the  deliverance  seemed  too  great 
to  be  real.  And  thus  it  may  be  with  believers  on  their  departing 
from  the  body,  and  entering  into  the  joy  of  their  Lord.  But  of  this 
our  dear  brother  knows  more,  since  his  taking  leave  of  us,  than  we 
should  be  able  to  discover  in  a  series  of  years  on  earth,  even  though 
we  should  make  it  our  constant  study.  If  an  inspired  Apostle 
could  say,  We  know  not  what  we  shall  he,  it  is  vain  for  us  to  think 
of  forming  an  adequate  conception  of  it. 

I  do  not  know  whether  I  ought  not  to  reckon  under  this  particu- 
lar. The  glorious  progress  of  ChrisVs  kingdom  in  this  world.  Why 
should  we  suspect  whether  our  brethren  who  rest  from  their  labours 
be  from  hence  interested  in  this  object  ?  If  there  be  joy  in  hea- 
ven among  the  angels  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  why  not 
among  tha  glorified  saints  ?  And  if  over  one  sinner,  much  more 
over  the  multitudes  that  shall  be  gralhered  in  the  latter  days  from 


432  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS  [Sermon  XXVII. 

every  kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation.*  There  is  a 
sense  in  which  the  dead  know  not  any  thing  :  their  love,  and  their 
hatred,  and  their  envy,  is  now  perished,  neither  have  they  any  more 
a  portion  for  ever  in  any  thing  that  is  done  under  the  sun.  All  this 
is  true,  as  to  the  things  of  this  world  ;  but  it  does  not  follow,  that 
those  who  die  in  the  Lord  have  no  more  a  portion  in  his  spiritual 
kingdom.  As  well  might  we  infer  that  their  love  of  him  and  hatred 
of  evil  shall  perish.  But  I  ask  leave,  on  this  subject,  to  refer  to 
A  Meditation  on  the  nature  and  progressiveness  of  the  heavenly  gfo- 
n/,  contained  in  a  small  volume  of  Dialogues,  Letters,  and  Essays, 
published  in  1806. 

Another  stream  of  mercy  for  which  we  are  directed  to  look,  will 
attend  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  consist  in 
the  dead  being  raised,  and  the  living  changed.  The  Lord  himself 
shall  descend  from  heaven, — with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God  :  and  the  dead  nt  Christ  shall  rise  frst  :  then 
we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be 
with  the  Lord.  It  has  been  usual  for  nations  to  reserve  the  most 
notable  acts  of  grace  to  the  appearance  or  coronation  of  their  kings, 
as  lending  to  honour  their  entrance  on  the  government.  And  thus 
both  the  first  and  second  appearing  of  Christ  are  periods  which 
God  has  distinguished  by  the  most  glorious  displays  of  mercy.  The 
first  was  a  jubilee  to  the  Gentile  world  ;  and  the  last  will  be  the 
same  to  the  whole  creation.  As,  on  the  sounding  of  the  jubilee 
trumpet,  the  captives  were  liberated  ;  so,  when  the  trump  of  God 
shall  sound,  the  righteous  dead  shall  be  raised,  and  their  resurrec- 
tion will  be  to  the  creatures  of  God  the  signal  of  emancipation  from 
under  the  effects  of  sin. 

View  the  grave  as  a  long,  dark,  and  comfortless  abode,  and  it  is 
sufficient  to  appal  the  stoutest  spirit :  but  take  into  consideration 
that  here  the  Lord  lay  ;  that  he  was  raised  from  the  dead,  that  he 
might  be  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept  ;  and  that  of  all  that  the 

*  Such,  we  knovr,  were  the  ideas  of  our  dear  departed  brother  ;  which,  as 
some  may  remember,  he  enlarged  upon  at  the  Thursday-morning  meeting  of 
the  Association,  held  at  Kettering,  in  1813. 


Sbrmos  XXVII.]  OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  433 

Father  gave  him  he  will  lose  nothing,  but  will  raise  it  up  at  the  last 
day  ; — and  it  will  wear  a  different  aspect.  Job,  when  contempla- 
ting the  grave  as  a  long  and  dreary  habitation,  describes  it  in  the 
most  plaintive  language  :  Man  lieth  down,  and  rise'h  not  till  the 
heavens  be  710  more  f  But,  when  his  views  are  fixed  on  the  deliv- 
erance which  he  should  obtain  at  that  great  and  glori 'US  day,  his 
complaints  are  exchanged  for  triumphs.  It  is  delightful  to  observe 
the  erection  of  soul  which  a  believing  prospect  of  the  resurrection 
gave  him,  after  all  his  depressions:  Oh  that  my  icord^  irere  now 
written  f  oh  that  they  were  printed  in  a  hook  !  Thai  ihv.ij  xn-ere 
graven  xvith  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock  for  ever  /  For  I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day 
upon  the  earth  :  and  though,  after  my  skin,  worms  destroy  (his  body^ 
yet  in  my  Jiesh  shall  I  see  God:  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and 
mine  ys  shall  behold,  and  nut  another  ;  though  my  reins  be  con- 
sumed izichin  me.  Id  a  strain  very  similar  to  this,  th.'  Apostle 
Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  describes  the  victory  over 
death  and  the  grave,  representing  believers  as  actually  lai  el  from 
the  dead,  and  hs  standing  upon  their  graves,  looking  the  conquered 
enemy  in  the  face,  and  exclaiming,  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  The  sting  of  death  ts  sin  ;  and  the 
strength  of  sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lora  Jesus  Christ.  By  looking  for  this  part 
of  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  be  reconciled  to 
death,  even  before  we  meet  it. 

But  there  is  another  stream  of  mercy  beyond  this,  to  which  we 
are  directed  to  look,  and  which  pertains  to  (he  la><t  judgment.  We 
have  an  impressive  idea  given  us  of  this  in  Paul's  prayer  for  Onesi- 
phorus  :  The  Lord  give  mercy  unto  the  house  of  Onesiphorus  ;  for 
he  oft  refreshed  me,  and  was  not  ashamed  of  my  chain  :  but  when 
he  was  in  Rome,  he  sought  me  out  very  diligently,  and  found  me 
The  Lord  grant  unto  him  thai  he  may  find  mercy  of  the  Loud,  in 

THAT  DAY. 

We  have  needed  rnercy  on  many  days,  and  have  found  it ;  but 
^hat  is  a  day  in  which  we  shall  need  it  more  than  ever.  It  is  a  fond 
notion,  entertained  by  some,  that  the  sins  of  believers  will  not  be 
brought  into  judgment.     We  are   assured,  however,  that  we  must 

Vol.  VII.  56 


431  PRINCIPLES  AND  PHOSrECTS  [Sermon  XXVll. 

all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  ;  that  every  one  of 
us  shall  give  an  account  of  himself  to  God  ;  and  that  of  every  idle 
word  that  men  shall  speak  they  shall  give  account  thereof  at  the 
day  of  judgment.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord,  in  that  day,  Tvill  not 
consist  in  connivance  ;  but,  as  in  all  other  instances,  be  exercised 
consistently  with  righteousness.  In  our  present  state  of  mind,  we 
may  wish  to  have  it  otherwise.  David  might  wish  that  the  evil  he 
had  wrought  in  secret  sliould  be  kept  secret  ;  but  the  Lord  deter- 
mined to  expose  it  before  the  sun.  It  does  not  comport  with  the 
character  of  God  to  conceal  the  truth,  but  to  make  it  manifest.  If 
the  sins  of  believers  were  not  brought  into  judgment,  there  would 
be  no  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  forgiving  mercy.  It  is  from  the 
strictness  of  the  trial,  and  the  awfulness  of  the  sentence  to  which,  if 
dealt  with  according  to  their  deserts,  they  would  be  exposed  in  that 
day,  that  mercy  will  be  needed.  The  world  shall  know  their  guilt, 
and  their  repentance,  and  the  way  in  which  they  are  forgiven  ;  so 
as  to  glorify  God,  though  it  be  unwillingly,  and  to  feel  the  justice 
of  their  own  condemnation.  In  this  view  of  the  last  judgment,  the 
manifestation  of  guilt  and  wrath  and  mercy  will  each  surpass  all  our 
present  conceptions. 

It  is  commonly  represented,  in  the  scriptures,  that  every  man 
will  be  judged  according  to  his  works  :  and  true  it  is,  that  all  our 
actions  and  words,  and  even  thoughts,  will  undergo  an  impartial 
scrutiny,  and  be  considered  as  the  test  of  character.  They,  for 
example,  who  have  ministered  to  Christ's  members  in  their  neces- 
sities, will  be  treated  as  havinig  ministered  unto  him  ;  and  they 
that  have  disregarded  them,  as  having  disregarded  him  :  but,  if, 
by  being  judged  according  to  our  works,  were  meant  that  God  will 
proceed  with  us  on  the  principles  of  mere  justice,  giving  to  every 
one  his  due,  we  should  all  be  condemned  :  If  thou.  Lord,  should- 
est  mark  iniquities,  O  Lord,  tcho  shall  stand  ?  But  there  is  for- 
giveness tcith  thee,  that  thou  mayest  he  feared. 

Nor  will  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  that  day,  be 
confined  to  the  forgiveness,  of  sin  :  even  the  rewards  of  that  day, 
though  exjjressive  of  righteousness- and  faithfulness,  yet  have  their 
origin  in  mercy.  The  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord 
the  righteous  Judge  shall  give  in  that  day  to  all  who  love  his  ap- 


SeumonXXVH.J  of  a  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  436 

pearing,  will  not  be  a  reward  of  debt,  but  of  grace.  But  for  grace, 
we  should  have  had  no  good  deeds  to  be  rewarded  ;  or,  if  we  had, 
they  could  no  more  be  named  in  that  day  than  the  good  behaviour 
of  a  murderer  will  bear  to  be  alleged  as  a  balance  against  his 
crimes.  But,  being  accepted  in  Christ,  what  is  done  for  him  is 
rewarded  for  his  sake.  Hence,  the  crown  of  glory  that  shall  be 
bestowed  on  his  appearing  is  denominated,  The  grace  thfli  ts  to 
he  brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ. 

After  this,  nothing  remains  but  that  eternal  life,  into  which,  as 
into  an  ocean,  all  these  streams  of  mercy  flow  :  Come,  ye  blessed 
fif  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from-the  foun- 
dation of  the  world.  Such  was  the  object  of  your  dear  pastor's 
hope.  May  such  be  yours  and  mine  :  let  our  last  end  be  like 
his ! 

The  separation  of  a  pastor  and  a  people  is  a  serious  event.  He 
is  gone  to  give  account  of  his  ministry,  and  his  account  will  include 
many  things  pertaining  to  the  people  of  his  charge.  Some  of 
them,  1  trust,  will  be  found  to  have  received  the  love  of  the  truth, 
and  will  be  his  joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing.  Could  he  have  utter 
ed  his  heart  to  you,  his  children,  it  would  have  been  to  press  upon 
you  a  perseverance  in  the  things  that  you  have  received  and 
learned.  Nay,  he  did  so  far  utter  his  heart  as  to  say  to  those 
about  him,  "  If  any  thing  be  said  as  from  me,  let  the  last  word  be, 
jis  I  have  loved  you,  see  that  ye  love  one  another."  I  doubt  not 
but  it  has  been  his  endeavour,  that,  after  his  decease,  you  might 
have  these  things  always  in  your  remembrance  ;  and  th.it  he  was 
less  anxious  that  you  should  remember  him  than  them  :  but  I 
trust  you  will  remember  both.  Others,  I  fear,  will  be  found  to 
have  sat  under  his  ministry  in  vain.  The  word  preached  has  not 
profited  them,  not  being  mixed  with  faith.  It  is  an  ailecting  case 
to  perish  from  under  a  faithful  minister  :  for  if  he  be  pure  from 
your  blood,  on  whose  head  must  it  be  found,  but  on  your  own  ? 
Let  us  hope,  that  if  the  warning  voice  of  your  minister  has  not 
been  heard  before,  it  may  be  heard  now.  His  last  end  furnishes 
a  lesson  of  instruction,  by  which  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh. 
You  see  here,  that  if  a  man  keep  Christ's  saying,  he  will  never  see 
death.     Death  to  him  is  not  death,  but  the  introduction  to  everlast- 


436  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS       [SVirmon  XX VU. 

ing  life.  But  know  also,  that  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  will 
never  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him. 

I  gliall  conclude  with  a  brief  account  of  our  deceased  brother; 
which  I  give  partly  from  my  own  knowledge,  and  partly  from  the 
cornmunications  of  others. 

I  am  aware  that  some  great  and  good  men  have  imposed  silence 
on  these  occasions.  Without  impeaching  their  motives,  1  take  the 
liberty  to  differ  from  them.  It  is  true,  that  for  sinful  creatures,  as 
we  all  are,  to  heap  encomiums  on  one  another,  is  vain  and  sinful : 
yet  we  may  err,  on  the  other  hand,  by  concealing  what  the  grace 
of  God  has  done  for  us.  In  this  view,  one  may,  on  occasion,  speak 
of  himself,  as  did  the  Apostle  Paul ;  and,  if  so,  why  not  of  another. 
David  did  not  withhold  a  tribute  of  affection  to  the  memory  of  his 
brother  Jonathan.  Nor  did  Luke  conceal  the  fruits  of  faith  and 
love  which  had  appeared  in  Dorcas.  She  might  have  left  an  in- 
junction that  at  her  decease  nothing  should  be  said  of  her  :  but 
the  widows  must  weep,  and  show  the  garments  which  she  had 
made  for  the  poor  in  her  life  time.  It  is  not  for  us  to  suppress 
the  feelings  of  nature,  and  still  less  those  of  grace. 

Our  deceased  brother  was  born  near  Halifax,  in  Yorkshire,  on 
the  9th  of  August,  1752,  O.  S.  His  parents  were  both  of  them 
pious  characters,  and  remarkable  for  their  strict  attention  to  the 
instruction  and  government  of  their  children.  Of  course  he  would 
be  taught  t.  e  good  and  the  right  way  from  his  childhood.  It  does 
not  appear,  however,  that  he  was  made  wise  unto  snlvation, 
through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  till  about  the  sixteenth  or  seven- 
teenth year  of  his  age.  This  was  under  the  ministry  of  his  re- 
vered friend  and  father  Mr.  John  Fawceit,  pastor  of  the  church- 
meeting  at  Hepden  Bridge.  Of  this  church  he  became  a  member, 
on  May  20,  17C9.  Being  of  a  serious  and  studious  turn  of  mind, 
he  appeared  (o  his  friends  to  possess  gifts  suited  to  the  ministry, 
Avhich  was  proposed  to  his  consideration.  The  proposal  met  with 
his  own  wishes,  and  being  desirous  of  obtaining  all  the  instruction 
he  could,  he  went,  in  January  1772,  to  the  Bristol  Academy,  then 
Tinder  tho  care  of  Messrs.  Hugh  and  Caleb  Evans.  O^  his  conduct 
in  this  situation,  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  it  procured  him  the  es- 
teem of  his  tutors  to  the  end  of  their  lives. 


Sermon  XXVII.J         OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  437 

In  1774,  he  left  the  Academy,  and,  after  stopping  a  short  time 
at  different  places,  in  July  1775  he  came  to  Olney.  It  was  in  the 
spring  of  the  following  year,  when  the  Association  was  held  at 
Olney,  that  my  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  ;  and,  from 
that  day  to  this,  all  that  1  have  known  of  him  has  tended  to  endear 
him  to  me. 

I  cannot  say  when  it  was  that  ht;  first  became  acquainted  with 
the  writings  of  President  Edwards,  and  other  New  England  di- 
vines ;  but,  having  read  them,  he  drank  deeply  into  them:  par- 
ticularly, into  the  harmony  between  the  law  and  the  gospel;  be- 
tween the  obligations  of  men  to  love  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and 
their  actual  enmity  against  him  ;  and  between  the  duty  of  ministers 
to  call  on  sinners  to  repent  and  believe  in  Christ  for  salvation,  and 
the  necessity  of  omnipotent  grace  to  render  the  call  effectual. 
The  consequence  was,  that,  while  he  increased  in  his  attachment 
to  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of  human  depravity,  and  of  salvation 
by  sovereign  and  efficacious  grace,  he  rejected,  as  unscriptural, 
the  high,  or  rather  hyper  Calvinistic  notions  of  the  gospel,  which 
went  to  set  aside  the  obligations  of  sinners  to  every  thing  spiritu- 
ally good,  and  the  invitations  of  the  gospel  as  being  addressed  to 
them.*  Hence  it  was,  that  his  preaching  was  disapproved  by  a 
part  of  his  hearers,  and  that,  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry  at 
Olney,  he  had  to  encounter  a  considerable  portion  of  individual 
opposition.  "  By  patinnce^  calmness,  and  prudent  perseverance, 
however,"  says  one  of  his  friends,  "  he  lived  to  subdue  prejudice; 
and,  though  his  beginning  was  very  unpropitious,  from  a  small 
and  not  united  interest,  he  raised  it  to  a  large  body  of  people,  and 
a  congregation  most  affectionately  attached  to  !iim." 

He  bad  a  largeness  of  heart  that  led  him  to  expect  much  from 
the  promises  of  God  to  the  church  in  the  latter  days.  It  was  on 
his  motion,  I  believe,  that  the  Association  at  Nottingham,  in  the 
spring  of  1784,  agreed  to  set  apart  an  hour  on  the  evening  of  the 
first  Monday  in  every  month,  for  social  prayer  for  the  success  of 

*  His  views  of  the  gospel  may  be  seen  by  a  small  piece,  firgl  published  in 
1783,  entitled,  "  The  First  Principlep  olthe  Oracles  of  God,  represented  in  a 
plain  and  Familiar  Catechism  for  the  Use  of  Children."  It  has  gone  through 
f^everal  editions. 


438  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS       [Sermon  XXVlL 

the  gospol,  and  to  invite  Christians  of  other  denominations  to  unite 
with  them  in  it. 

It  must  have  been  about  this  time  that  he  became  acquainted 
with  Air.  Carey,  who  then  resided  at  Hackleton.  Mr.  C.  had 
been  baptized  by  Mr.  (now  Dr.)  Ryhmd,  at  Northampton,  on  the 
ijth  of  October,  1783,  and,  after  a  while,  joined  the  church  at 
Olney,  by  whom  he  was  sent  into  the  ministry.  Without  reading 
any  thing  material  on  Christian  doctrine,  besides  the  scripture,  he 
had  formed  his  own  system  ;  and  which,  on  comparison,  he  found 
to  be  so  near  that  of  several  of  the  ministers  in  his  neighbourhood, 
as  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  close  an<l  lasting  friendship  between 
them.     But  to  return  to  our  deceased  brother — 

In  all  the  conversations  between  the  years  1787  and  1792, 
which  led  on  to  the  formation  of  the  Baptist.  Missionary  Saciety,  and 
in  all  the  meetings  for  fasting  and  prayer,  both  before  and  after  it 
was  formed,  he  bore  a  part.  In  1789,  he  republished  President 
Edwards's  Hu.nhle  Attempt  to  promote  Explicit  Jlgreement  and  Vis- 
ible Union  of  God's  People  in  Extraordinary/  Prayer,  for  the  Re- 
vival of  Religion.  How  much  this  publication  contributed  to  that 
tone  of  feeling,  which,  in  the  end,  determined  live  or  six  individu- 
als to  venture,  though  with  many  fears  and  misgivings,  on  an  un- 
dertaking of  such  magnitude,  f  cannot  say  ;  but  it  doubtless  had  a 
very  considerable  mlluence  on  it. 

In  April  1791,  there  was  a  double  lecture  at  Clipstone,  and 
both  the  sermons,  one  of  which  was  delivered  by  Brother  Sutcliff, 
bore  upon  the  meditated  mission  to  the  heathen.  His  subject  was 
Jealousy  for  God,  from  1  Kings  xix.  10.  After  public  worship, 
Mr.  Carey,  perceiving  the  impression  that  the  sermons  had 
made,  entreated  that  something  might  be  resolved  on  before  we 
parted.  Nothing,  however,  was  done,  but  to  request  Brother 
Carey  to  revise  and  print  his  Enquiry  into  the  Obligations  of 
Christians  to  use  Means  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Heathen.  The 
sermons  also  were  printed  at  the  request  of  those  who  heard 
them.* 

*  If  he  published  any  other  sermons,  or  any  thing  else,  besides  his  "Cat- 
echism," and  the  "lutroJuctory  Discourse  at  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Morgan 


Sermov  XXVII.]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  439 

From  the  formation  of  the  Society  in  the  autumn  of  1792,  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  onr  brother's  heart  and  hands  have  been  in  the 
work.  On  all  occasions,  and  in  every  way,  he  was  ready  to  as- 
sist to  the  utmost  of  his  power. 

In  1796,  he  married  Miss  Jane  Johnstone ^  who  was  previously  a 
member  of  his  church.  This  connexion  appears  to  have  added 
much  to  his  comfort.  For  eighteen  years  they  lived  together,  as 
fellow-helpers  to  each  other  in  the  ways  of  God  ;  and  their  sepa- 
ration has  been  but  short.  The  tomb  that  received  hi?  remains 
has  since  been  opened  to  receive  hers.  He  died  on  the  SJ2d  of 
June,  and  she  00  the  3d  of  September  following,  possessing  the 
same  good  hope,  through  grace,  which  supported  him.  A  sermon 
was  preached  at  her  interment,  by  Mr.  Geard  of  Hitchen,  tVom 
Rom.  V.  2.  By  whom  also  n-e  have,  access  bij  faith  into  this  grace 
zi'herein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 

Mr.  SutcliiThad  been  in  a  declining  state  of  health  for  several 
years  past.  On  the  3d  of  March,  1814,  being  on  a  visit  at  London, 
he  was  seized,  about  the  middle  of  the  night,  with  a  violent  pain 
across  his  breast  and  arras,  attended  with  great  difficulty  of  breath- 
ing. This  was  succeeded  by  a  dropsy,  which,  in  about  three 
months,  issued  in  his  death. 

Two  or  three  times,  during  his  aflaiction,  I  rode  over  to  see  him. 
The  tirst  time,  he  had  thoughts  of  recovering  ;  but,  whatever  were 
his  thoughts  as  to  this,  it  seemed  to  make  no  difference  as  to  his 
peace  of  mind.  The  last  time  I  visited  him  was  on  my  way  to  the 
annual  meeting  in  London,  on  the  19ih  of  June.  Expecting  to  see 
his  face  no  more,  I  said  on  taking  leave,  "  I  wish  you,  my  dear 
brother,  an  abundant  entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ !"     At  this  he  hesitated  ;  not  as  doubting  bisen- 

of  Birmingham,"  it  has  escaped  my  recollection.  lie,  however,  wrote  sev- 
eral of  the  Circular  Letters  of  the  Northamptonshire  Association;  namely^ 
that  of  1779, ''  On  Providence  ;' '  of  17L!6,  "  On  the  Authority  and  Sanctifica- 
tionof  theLord's-day;"  of  1797,  "On  the  Diviaity  of  the  Christian  Reli- 
gion;" of  1800,  "On  the  Qualifications  for  Church  Fellowship;"  of  1803, 
"  On  the  Lord's  Supper  ;"  of  1805,  "  On  tbe  Manner  of  attending  to  Divine 
Ordinances ;"  of  J80K,  "On  Obedience  to  Positive  Institutions ;"  and  of  ISfS 
«'  On  Reading  the  Word  of  God." 


440  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPKCTS  [Sermon  XXVH. 

trance  into  the  kingdom,  but  as  questioning  whether  the  term  abund- 
ant were  applicable  to  him.  "That"  said  he,  "is  more  than  I  ex- 
pect. I  think  I  understand  the  connexion  and  import  of  those 
words — Add  to  your  faith  virtue — give  diligence  to  make  your  cal- 
ling and  election  sure — for  so  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  unto 
you  abuitdantly.  1  think  the  idea  is  that  of  a  ship  coming  into  har- 
bour with  a  fair  gale  and  a  full  tide.  If  I  may  but  reach  the  heav- 
enly shore,  though  it  be  on  a  board  or  broken  piece  of  the  ship,  I 
shall  be  satisfied." 

The  following  letter  received  from  his  brother,  ^fr.  Daniel Sut- 
cliff,  who  was  with  him  the  last  month,  vrill  furnish  a  more  particu- 
lar account  of  the  state  of  his  mind  than  1  am  able  to  give  from  my 
own  knowledge. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  his  illness,  I  found,  by  his  letters,* 
that  his  mind  was  in  general  calm  and  peaceful.  'All,'  said  he, '  is 
in  the  lumds  of  a  wise  and  gracious  God.  We  are  the  Lord's  ser- 
vants, and  he  has  a  right  to  dispose  of  us  as  he  pleases,  and  to  lay 
us  aside  at  any  time.'  Nearly  a  month  before  bis  end  I  went  to  see 
him — to  see  the  chamber  where  the  good  man  dies. 

*'  His  mind  was  generally  calm  and  happy  ;  though,  as  to  strong 
consolation,  he  said  he  had  it  not.  When  something  was  mentioned 
of  i«'hat  he  had  done,  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  replied 
with  emotion,  '  I  look  upon  it  all  as  nothing  :  I  must  enter  heaven 
on  the  same  footing  as  the  converted  thief,  and  shall  be  glad  to  take 
a  seat  by  his  side.' 

"  His  evidences  for  heaven,  he  said,  were  a  consciousness  that 
he  had  come  to  .Jesus  ;  and  that  he  felt  an  union  of  heart  with  him, 
his  people,  and  his  cause  j  and  Jesus  had  said.  If  here  I  amthere 
shall  my  friends  he.  The  heaven  that  he  hoped  for,  and  which  he 
had  in  no  small  degree  anticipated,  was,  union  and  communion 
with  Christ  and  his  people.  He  said,  '  The  idea  of  being  for  ever 
separated  from  him,  appears  to  me  more  dreadful  than  being  plung- 
ed into  non-existence,  or  than  the  greatest  possible  torture.' 

'•  He  often  intimated  that  his  views  of  divine  things  were  far 
more  vivid  and  impressive  than  they  had  ever  been  before.     He 

*  They  had  been  ujed  to  correspond  in  short-hand.  . 


Sermon  XXVIL]         OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  441 

had  a  greater  sense  of  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  and  of  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  as  consisting  in  disaffection  to  the  char- 
acter and  government  of  God,  than  at  any  former  period  of  his  life. 
He  had,  he  said,  an  inexpressibly  greater  sense  of  the  importance 
of  nninisters  having  correct  views  of  the  import  of  the  gospel-mes- 
sage, and  of  their  stating  and  urging  the  same  on  their  hearers,  than 
he  had  ever  had  before.  He  was  ready  to  think,  if  he  could  com- 
municate his  present  views  and  feelings,  they  must  produce  a  much 
greater  effect  than  his  preaching  had  ordinarily  done.  '  If  I  were 
able  to  preach  again,'  said  he,  '  I  should  say  things  which  I  never 
said  before  :  but  God  has  no  need  of  me  ;  be  can  raise  up  men  to 
say  them  better  than  I  could  say  them.*  He  would  sometimes  say, 
'  Ministers  will  never  do  much  good  till  they  begin  to  pull  sinners 
out  of  the  fire  /' 

"  To  Mrs.  Sutcliff  he  said,  '  My  love,  I  commit  you  to  Jesus.  I 
can  trust  you  with  him.  Our  separation  will  not  be  long  ;  and  I 
think  I  shall  often  be  with  you.  Read  frequently  the  book  of 
Psalms,  and  be  much  in  prayer.  I  am  sorry  I  have  not  spent  more 
time  in  prayer.'  At  another  time  he  said,  '  I  wish  I  had  conversed 
more  with  the  divine  promises  :  I  believe  I  should  have  found  the 
advantage  of  it  now.'  Others  of  his  expressions  were,  '  Flesh  and 
heart  fail. — All  the  powers  of  body  and  mind  are  going  to  pieces. — 
Shortly  this  prison  of  my  clay  must  be  dissolved  and  fall. — Why  is 
his  chariot  so  long  a  coming  ?  I  go  to  Jesus  :  let  me  go — depart 
in  peace. — I  have  seen  thy  salvation.' 

'*  A  day  or  two  before  he  died,  he  said,  '  If  any  thing  be  said  of 
me,  let  the  last  word  be,  As  I  have  loved  you,  see  that  ye  love  one 
another.^ 

"  On  the  22d  of  June,  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  an  alteration 
took  place  :  he  began  to  throw  up  blood.  On  perceiving  this,  he 
said,  'It  is  all  over  :  this  cannot  be  borne  long.'  Mr.  Welsh  of  New- 
bury being  present,  said,*You  are  prepared  for  the  issue.'  He  re- 
plied, '  I  think  I  am  :  go  and  pray  for  me.'  About  half  an  hour  be- 
fore his  departure,  he  said,  'Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit. — It  is 
come — perhaps  a  few  minutes  more — heart  and  flesh  fail — but  God 
— That  God  is  the  strength  of  his  people  is  a  truth  that  I  now  see 

Vol.  VII.  56 


442  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS    [Sermon  XXVII. 

as  I  never  saw  it  in  my  life.'     These  were  the  last  words  he  could 
be  heard  to  speak. 

''  'Life,  take  thy  chance  ;  but  O  for  such  an  end.'  " 

Mr.  Daniel  Sutcliff  adds  the  following  lines,  as  having  been  fre- 
((iMmtly  repeated  in  his  illness  : 

We  walk  a  narrow  path,  and  rough, 

And  we  are  tired  and  weak  ; 
But  soon  we  shall  have  rest  enough, 

In  those  blest  courts  we  seek. 
Soon  in  the  chariot  of  a  cloud, 

13y  flaming  angels  borne, 
I  shall  mount  up  the  milky  way, 

And  back  to  God  return. 
I  once  have  tasted  Canaan's  grapes, 

And  now  I  long  to  go 
To  where  my  Lord  his  vineyard  keeps, 

And  where  the  clusters  grow  ! 

In  saying  a  few  things  relative  to  his  character,  talents,  temper, 
&&C.  I  would  not  knowingly  deviate  in  the  smallest  degree  from 
troth.  He  possessed  the  three  cardinal  virtues,  integrity,  benevo- 
lence, and  prudence,  in  no  ordinary  degree.  To  state  this  is  proof 
sufficient,  to  every  one  who  knew  him.  He  was  economical,  for 
the  sake  ef  enabling  himself  to  give  to  them  that  needed.  The 
cause  of  God  lay  near  his  heart :  he  denied  himself  of  many 
things,  that  he  might  contribute  toward  promoting  it.  It  was  from 
a  willingness  to  instruct  his  younger  brethren  whose  minds  were 
toward  the  mission,  that,  at  the  request  of  the  Society,  he  took  sev- 
eral of  them  under  his  care  :  and  in  all  that  he  has  done  for  them 
and  others,  I  am  persuaded  he  saved  nothing  ;  but  gave  his  time 
and  talents  for  the  public  good. 

I  have  heard  him  sigh  under  troubles  ;  but  never  remember  to 
have  seen  him  weep  bat  from  joy,  or  from  sympathy.  On  his 
reading  on^hearing  the  communications  from  the  East,  containing 
at!counts  of  the  success  of  the  gospel,  the  tears  would  flow  freely 
from  his  eyes. 


Sermon  XXVII.]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  443 

His  talents  were  less  splendid  than  useful.  He  bad  not  much 
brilliancy  of  imagination,  but  considerable  strength  of  mind,  with  a 
judgment  greatly  improved  by  application.  It  was  once  remarked 
of  him,  in  my  hearing,  by  a  person  who  had  known  him  from  his 
youth,  to  this  effect — '  That  man  is  an  example  of  what  may  be  ac- 
complished by  diligence  and  perseverance.  When  young  he  was 
no  more  than  the  rest  of  us  ;  but  by  reading  and  thinking  he  has 
accumulated  a  stock  of  mental  riches  which  few  of  us  possess." 
He  would  not  very  frequently  surprise  us  with  new  or  origioal 
thoughts  ;  but  neither  would  he  shock  us  with  any  thing  devious 
from  truth  or  good  sense.  Good  Mr.  Hall  of  Arnsby,  having  heard 
him  soon  after  his  coming  to  Olney,  said  familiarly  to  me,  "  Broth- 
er Sutcliff  is  a  safe  man:  you  never  need  fear  that  he  will  say  or 
do  an  improper  thing." 

He  particularly  excelled  in  practical  judgment.  When  a  ques- 
tion of  this  nature  came  before  him,  he  would  take  a  comprehen- 
sive view  of  its  bearings,  and  form  his  opinion  with  so  much  precis- 
ion as  seldom  to  have  occasion  to  change  it.  His  thoughts  on 
these  occasions  were  prompt,  but  he  was  slow  in  uttering  them. 
He  generally  took  time  to  turn  the  subject  over,  and  to  digest  his 
answer,  If  he  saw  others  too  hasty  for  coming  to  a  decis-ion,  he 
would  pleasantly  say,  "  Let  us  consult  the  town-clerk  of  Ephesus, 
and  do  nothing  rashly."  I  have  thought,  for  many  years,  that, 
among  our  ministers,  Abraham  Booth  was  the  first  counsellor,  and 
John  Sutcli^ihe  second.  His  advice  in  conducting  the  mission 
was  of  great  importance,  and  the  loss  of  it  must  be  seriously  felt. 

It  has  been  said  that  his  temper  was  naturally  irritable,  and  that 
he  with  difficulty  bore  opposition  ;  yet  that  such  was  the  over- 
bearing influence  of  religion  in  his  heart  that  few  were  av/are  ef 
it.  If  it  were  so,  he  must  have  furnished  a  rare  example  of  the 
truth  of  the  wise  man's  remark,  Better  is  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit, 
than  he  that  taheth  a  citij.  Whatever  might  have  been  his  natural 
temper,  it  is  certain  that  mildness  and  patience  and  gentleness  were 
prominent  features  in  his  character.  One  of  the  students  who 
was  with  him,  said  be  never  saw  him  lose  his  temper  but  oqcc, 
and  then  he  immediately  retired  into  his  study.  It  was  observed 
by  one  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  at  an  Association,  that  the 


44 1  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS  [Seumon  XXVIL 

promise  of  Christ,  that  they  who  learned  of  him  who  was  meek  a7id 
lowly  in  heart  should  Jind  rest  unto  their  souls,  was  more  extensive- 
ly fulfilled  in  Mr.  Sutcliff  than  in  most  Christians.  He  was  swift 
to  hear,  slow  to  speak,  slow  to  wrath.  Thus  it  was  that  he  exem- 
plified the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle,  Giving  no  offence,  that  the 
ministry  be  not  blamed. 

There  was  a  gentleness  in  his  reproofs,  that  distinguished  them. 
He  would  rather  put  the  question  for  consideration,  than  make  a 
direct  attack  upon  a  principle  or  practice.  I  have  heard  him  re- 
peat Mr.  Henry's  note,  on  Prov.  xxv.  16.  with  approbation  :  "  We 
say,  Hard  words  break  no  bones  ;  but  it  seems  that  soft  ones  do." 
A  flint  may  be  broken  on  a  cushion,  when  no  impression  could  be 
made  on  it  upon  an  unyielding  substance.  A  young  man,  who 
came  to  be  under  his  care,  discovering  a  considerable  portion  of 
self-sufficiency,  he  gave  him  a  book  to  read  on  Self-knowledge. 

He  is  said  never  to  have  hastily  formed  his  friendships  and  ac- 
quaintances, and,  therefore,  rarely  had  reason  to  repent  of  his 
connexions  ,  while  every  year's  continued  intimacy  drew  them 
nearer  to  him  ;  so  that  he  seldom  lost  his  friends  :  but  his  friends 
have  lost  him  1 

He  had  a  great  thirst  for  leading,  which  not  only  led  him  to  ac- 
cumulate one  of  the  blest  libraries  in  this  part  of  the  country,*  but 
to  endeavour  to  draw  his  people  into  a  habit  of  reading. 

Allowing  for  a  partiality  common  to  men,  his  judgment  of  char- 
acters was  generally  correct.  Nor  was  it  less  candid  than  cor- 
rect :  he  appreciated  the  good,  and  if  required  to  speak  of  the 
evil,  it  was  with  reluctance.  His  eye  was  a  faithful  index  to  his 
mind  :  penetrating,  but  benignant.  His  character  had  much  ot 
the  decisive,  without  any  thing  conceited  or  over-bearing. 

In  his  person  he  was  above  the  ordinary  stature,  being  nearly 
six  feet  high.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  life  he  was  thin  ;  but  dur- 
ing- the  last  twenty  years  he  gathered  flesh,  though  never  so  much 
as  to  feel  it  any  inconvenience  to  him.  His  countenance  was 
grave,  but  cheerful ;  and  his  company  always  interesting. 

=■'■•  This  library  is  left, by  his  will,  to  the  Bradford  Baptist  Academy,  only  on 
condition  of  the  trustees  paying  one  hundred  pounds  to  his  relations  ;  a  sum 
far  short  of  its  value. 


Sermon  XXVII.J       OF  A  SERVANT  OP  CHRIST,  445 

I  shall  conclude  with  a  few  extracts  of  letters  concerning  him, 
which  I  have  received  since  his  decease,  from  those  who  knew 
him  intimately. 

•'  His  zeal,  for  the  cause  of  Christ,"  says  one  of  his  congregation, 
**  was  uniform  and  increasingly  ardent  to  the  end  of  his  life.  One  of 
the  last  conver:«ations  that  he  had  with  me,  he  concluded  in  these 
words  :  '  Farewell !  Do  your  utmost  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  I 
have  done  a  little,  and  am  ashamed  that  I  have  done  no  more.  1 
have  such  views  of  its  importance,  that,  had  I  ability,  I  would 
spread  the  gospel  through  the  world.'  His  knowledge  of  books 
was  very  extensive  ;  he  appeared  to  have  a  facility  in  extracting 
the  substance  of  them  in  a  short  time,  as  a  bee  extracts  the  honey 
from  the  expanded  flower.  He  possessed  an  equal  facility  in 
knowing  men,  more  especially  ministers,  and  that  not  confined  to 
his  own  denomination  :  so  that  in  a  few  minutes  he  could  give  you 
an  account  who  they  were,  what  places  they  had  occupied,  and 
what  was  their  general  reputation.  From  this  he  was,  many 
times,  able  to  give  seasonable  advice." 

♦'  1  believe,"  says  a  minister  who  had  been  one  of  his  pupils, 
*'  I  was  the  first  young  man  placed  uuder  the  care  of  our  dear  de- 
ceased father  Sutcliff.     From  my  first  acquaintance  with  divine 
things,   on   seeing  and  hearing  him   occasionally   in  my  native 
village,  I  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  general  excellence  of 
his  character  ;  and  the  intimate  knowledge  I  had  of  him,  from  re- 
siding in  his  family,  so  far  from  diminishing  my  esteem  and  vene- 
ration for  him,  greatly  increased  them.     His  piety  was  not  mere- 
ly official   and  public,  but  personal  and  hr.bitual.     The  spirit  of 
devotion  rested  on  him.     He  was  the  man  of  God  in  all  his  inter- 
course.    He  conducted  the  wor:'hip  of  his    family  with  singular 
seriousness,  ardour  and  constancy  ;  never  allowing  any  thing  to  in- 
terfere with  it,  except  great  indisposition.     He  manifested  a  pa- 
rental tenderness  and  solicitude  lor  the  welfare  of  his  pupils,  and 
took  a  lively  interest  in  their  joys  or  sorrows.     I  have  seen  him 
shed  the  sympathizing  tear  over  them  in  the  hour  of  affliction. 
Such  was  the  kindness  and  gentleness  of  his  deportment,  that  they 
could  freely  impart  their  minds  to  hini  ;  but,  while  his  affection- 
ate spirit  invited  their  confidence,  the  gravity  of  his  manner,  and 


446  PRINCIPLES  AND  PROSPECTS   [Sermon  XXVIL 

the  commanding  influence  of  his  general  character,  efifectually  pre- 
vented any  improper  freedom's  being  taken  with  him.  Such,  too, 
were  the  sentiments  with  which  he  was  regarded  among  his  peo- 
ple :  they  \ovei  and  venerated  him,  He  heard  the  sermons  of 
his  younger  brethren  with  great  candour,  and,  if  he  saw  them  timid 
and  embarrassed  on  public  occasions,  would  take  an  opportunity 
of  speaking  a  kind  and  encouraging  word  to  them,  and  aim  to  in- 
spire them  with  a  proper  degree  of  confidence.  He  was  singular- 
ly regular  and  punctual  in  fulfilling  his  engagements,  whether  in 
preaching  or  visiting,  not  only  in  attending,  but  in  being  there  at 
the  time  ;  and  earnestly  inculcated  it  on  his  pupils,  if  they  wished 
to  command  respect.  He  endeavoured  to  preserve  and  promote  the 
order  and  regularity  of  Christian  femilies  where  he  visited.  I  never 
saw  him  out  of  temper  but  once,  and  that  was  produced  by  want  of 
punctuality  in  another  person.  I  often  regret  that  I  did  not  profit 
more  by  his  instructions  and  example.  He  has  many  times,  by 
his  judicious  counsel,  'been  the  guide  of  my  youth.'  His  name 
and  his  memory  will  ever  be  dear  to  me.  *  My  father,  my  fa- 
ther V  " 

"  I  have  just  heard,"  says  another,  who  had  some  years 
since  been  his  pupil,  '*  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Sutcliff.  It  has 
returned  upon  me,  whether  alone  or  in  company.  Such  an 
event  may  well  do  so.  In  him,  I  saw  bright  lines  of  resem- 
blance to  our  Lord  and  Master,  such  as  are  seldom,  very  sel- 
<3om  to  be  met  with  in  poor  mortals.  Such  amiableness  of  man- 
ners, so  much  of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  of  sound 
judgment,  and  of  warm  affection,  we  seldom  see  united.  While 
memory  holds  her  place,  his  name  and  manner  will  be  cherished 
by  me  with  pleasing  melancholy,  not  without  anticipations  of  meet- 
ing him  in  another  and  better  world." 

"  The  memory  of  Mr.  Sutcliff,"  says  another,  who  had  been  his 
pupil,  and  whowas  present  at  his  death,  "  will  live  in  my  warmest 
affections  while  I  possess  the  powers  of  recollection.  It  seems  im- 
possible that  I  should  ever  forget  such  a  friend,  or  speak  of  him 
without  blessing  God  that  I  ever  knew  him.  I  am  grieved  that  he 
is  gone,  yet  grateful  that  he  was  continued  with  us  long  enough 
for  me  to  receive  his  instructions,  and  witness   his   example. 


Sermon  XXVIL]        OF  A  SERVANT  OF  CHRIST.  447 

You  have  heard  some  of  his  dying  sentiments.  As  his  address  to 
me  may  be  considered  as  his  dying  advice  to  the  young  men  who 
were  under  his  tuition,  I  communicate  it,  leaving  it  to  your  dis- 
cretion what  use  to  make  of  it.  About  three  in  the  morning  of 
the  day  on  which  he  died,  like  Israel  he  strengthened  himself, 
and  sat  upon  his  bed.  Galling  me  to  him,  he,  in  the  most  affec- 
tionate manner,  took  hold  of  my  hand,  and  expressed  himself  as 
follows  :  '  Preach  as  you  will  wish  you  had  when  you  come  to  die. 
It  is  one  thing  to  preach,  and  another  to  do  it  as  a  dying  man.  I  am 
glad  you  are  settled  where  you  are.  I  think  you  may  say,  I  dwell 
among  my  own  people.  I  am  glad  we  ever  knew  one  another. 
Spiritual-unions  are  sweet.  I  have  fled  to  Jesus  :  to  his  cross  I 
am  united.     The  Lord  bless  you,  and  make  you  a  blessing  !'  " 


END  OF  THE  SEVENTH  VOLUME. 


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